CSRM Summit. CSRM stands for Church Sports Recreation Ministry and is a group dedicated to encouraging ministries and churches in sharing the gospel with others through sports and recreation. I became familiar with CSRM because of what New Life is doing with the nZone. Since I have no prior experience with formal sports and recreation ministry, I am at the CSRM Summit in Indianapolis basically networking with others and learning from their successes and failures. Here are some of the things I learned on Friday:
- God uses training camps (tough times) in our lives to do a work in us and through us.
- As we see with Elijah in 1 Kings 17, when the brook dries up, we see how God provides.
- Elijah learned to trust God 1 day at a time.
- To have that abundant life that Christ promises us in John 10:10, we need to be physically fit, mentally fit, emotionally fit, nutritionally fit, directionally fit and spiritually fit.
- A Sports minister needs to live a disciplined life, be a good example and be self-controlled
- Life after sports presents a huge challenge for athletes, not just pro ones. That is why they need sports chaplains to come along side them and walk through life with them during their athletic time but also after it.
- 4 keys to sports chaplaincy: be prayerful, be biblical, be relational and be available