Church of Christ kid and small-town high school athlete Colt McCoy grew up to be one of the greatest college football players of all time before going on to play 13 seasons in the National Football League.

Just a few weeks before recording this conversation with The Christian Chronicle, McCoy announced his retirement from playing the sport that made him famous.

In this episode, he opens up about what it is like to do something at such a high level for so long, only to wake up one day and recognize that it is all over. He shares how, through the loss of big games (like the 2009 BCS National Championship) and missed opportunities (like being the Heisman Trophy runner-up his senior year), God taught him how to stay hopeful in loss.

McCoy also opens up about how he found ways to lead his teammates, tolerate constant (and sometimes debilitating) pain and see God everywhere he went in college and professional football.

Most of all, he explains how he kept his focus on God and on representing Christ in the bright lights, constant temptations and enormous pressure of big time football. And he lets us wonder with him what God might do next as he enters the second act of his life after football.

Link to The Christian Chronicle's archive of Colt McCoy interviews and stories from his 18-year college and professional football career

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This episode is brought to you by Freed-Hardeman University Church Leadership Workshop, September 27 - 28, 2024, at Mid-South Youth Camp in Henderson, Tennessee. FREE for all church leaders who register in advance.

Go to fhu.edu and type "Church Leadership Workshop" in the search bar

Visit our partners at OnlineSpanishChurch.com to find out how they can help your congregation start reaching your Spanish-speaking neighbors.

Darcy Todd (Woodland West Church of Christ, Arlington, Texas) is the 2024 Starbucks North America Barista Champion. She recently beat out 17,000 Starbucks baristas for the title.

In this episode, she'll not only tell the story of how she did it, she'll explain how working in a Starbucks is not so different from working in a church (one with exceptional coffee!). She'll even throw in a few suggestions for special (non-menu) drinks you should try next time you're at Starbucks.

Link to The Christian Chronicle's announcement of Darcy Todd's big win in the Starbucks barista competition

Link to the Starbucks company magazine story about Darcy

Link to Nehemiah Coffee Co. (referenced by Darcy in this episode)

Find more news and stories at christianchronicle.org

Donate to support this ministry of "information and inspiration" at christianchronicle.org/donate

Send your comments, ideas, and suggestions to podcast@christianchronicle.org

This episode is brought to you by Freed-Hardeman University Church Leadership Workshop, September 27 - 28, 2024, at Mid-South Youth Camp in Henderson, Tennessee. FREE for all church leaders who register in advance.

Go to fhu.edu and type "Church Leadership Workshop" in the search bar

Visit our partners at OnlineSpanishChurch.com to find out how they can help your congregation start reaching your Spanish-speaking neighbors.

In 2010, Ose Ehimare and her four(!) unborn children faced poor chances of survival unless they could get special medical care not available where they lived in Abuja, Nigeria. God made a way for Ose to come to the U.S. to get the care she needed for herself and her children at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta.

But she was 6,000 miles from home and all alone in a strange land. That's when the Northlake Church of Christ in nearby Tucker, Ga., gave her and her children a home and surrounded them in extraordinary care until they were all healthy and strong enough to return to Nigeria.

Fourteen years after their birth, Ose's four children, Alyssa, Bibiana, Noah and Valencia, asked to return to Northlake Church of Christ to be born again. On August 25, all four of them went down together into the waters of baptism.

In this episode, we hear from Ose Ehimare and Bibiana Ehimare, one of her daughters who returned to Northlake Church of Christ for her baptism. We also hear from Cathy Hendrick, the Northlake member who, along with her husband, Jeff, made their own house a home for Ose and her babies in 2010.

The closing song is the Northlake Church of Christ singing "Great Things".

Link to The Christian Chronicle's Erik Tryggestad's original 2010 report on Northlake Church of Christ coming alongside Ose Ehimare and her quadruplets

Link to Erik Tryggestad's Christian Chronicle report on Alyssa, Bibiana, Noah, and Valencia coming back to Northlake Church of Christ for their baptisms in 2024

Find more news and stories at christianchronicle.org

Donate to support this ministry of "information and inspiration" at christianchronicle.org/donate

Send your comments, ideas, and suggestions to podcast@christianchronicle.org

This episode is brought to you by Freed-Hardeman University Church Leadership Workshop, September 27 - 28, 2024, at Mid-South Youth Camp in Henderson, Tennessee. FREE for all church leaders who register in advance.

Go to fhu.edu and type "Church Leadership Workshop" in the search bar

Visit our partners at OnlineSpanishChurch.com to find out how they can help your congregation start reaching your Spanish-speaking neighbors.