Spiritual Passion

Going to the doctor can seem tedious as a child and even as a teen, but it might surprise you to find out how long it really takes people to actually start taking their health seriously. According to a survey of 2,000 adults in the United Kingdom, people don’t start seriously monitoring their health until the age of 38—and often only after some sort of health scare.

The study found that starting to experience new aches and pains or reaching a milestone birthday were also among the triggers that encouraged them to take better care of themselves. Others were prompted to take action after a loved one passed away or experienced a health issue.

Celebrities also play a part in making people take notice of their health. Around one in 30 admitted that a famous person suffering a medical problem shocked them into taking things more seriously.

Following the announcement that King Charles is undergoing treatment for an enlarged prostate, the U.K. National Health Service’s webpage about the condition received 11 times more visits than the previous day—resulting in one person visiting the site every five seconds.

Dr. Elizabeth Rogers says, “It can be very easy to disregard your health – particularly when you are young or you feel that everything is OK. Sometimes it can take a bit of a wake-up call before you start taking your health more seriously, whether that is falling ill yourself or seeing a loved one or even a well-known person experience an issue.”

The study also found that nearly half (45%) of adults didn’t take much notice at a younger age as they felt broadly fine and 25% felt that nothing bad would happen to them. In hindsight, 84% feel they took their health for granted when they were younger, and 39% regret not taking more care of their health before they reached their mid-twenties.

Dr. Rogers adds, “Making even small changes to your exercise regime or diet can make a real difference to both your physical and mental health, as well as helping to prevent future conditions developing.”

Possible Preaching Angle:

At the beginning of the New Year people begin to give attention to their physical health. We might also take this occasion to ask Christians, “When did you start to take your spiritual health seriously?” When you are young it is easy to feel that it really isn’t necessary and that you have plenty of time, but later in life you will certainly regret not developing healthy spiritual habits of Bible reading, prayer, and church attendance.

In the 2023 South East Asia 500-meter race, one runner showed what it really means to run the race well. Despite the pounding rain and her last place finish, Bou Samnang refused to give up. Cheering fans encouraged the native Cambodian as she finished the race on behalf of her country, six minutes after the race was decided.

Despite knowing that she would not finish first place, Bou Samnang was determined to finish well. According to one news source she said, "I tried to reach the finish line because I wanted to show people that in life, even though we go a bit slow or fast, we will reach our destination all the same."

It would have been easy for her to stop running, especially as she was dealing with anemia which prevented her from running as fast as she would have liked. But her determination and endurance has led to her inspiring fans around the world.

Possible Preaching Angle:

Paul wrote that our faith journey resembles a race. Running the race well doesn’t always mean finishing first. It does mean, working hard for something outside of yourself, persisting with a goal, and enduring hard times for Christ. We are encouraged to be like Bou Samnang, and through the power of the Holy Spirit, endure to the end.

Kenneth E. Bailey, who spent 40 years living and teaching New Testament in Egypt, Lebanon, Jerusalem, and Cyprus, writes:

While living in the south of Egypt, a group of friends and I traveled deep into the Sahara Desert by camel. As our trek began, the temperature soared to above 110° Fahrenheit in the shade, and there was no shade. On our way, one goat-skin water bag leaked all of its precious contents. With consumption high due to the heat, we ran out of water, and for a day and a half we pressed on while enduring intense thirst.

The goal of the excursion was a famous well named Bir Shaytoun, deep in the desert. Our guide promised us that it was never dry — ah, but could we survive to reach its life-giving liquid silver? My mouth became completely dry, and eating was impossible, because swallowing felt like the rubbing of two pieces of sandpaper together. My vision became blurred, and the struggle to keep moving became harder with each step. We knew that if the well was dry, our armed guards would probably have forcibly seized our three baggage camels, and ridden them back to the valley, leaving the rest of us to die.

As I staggered on, my mind turned to this verse ["Blessed are those who … thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled"]. I knew that I had never sought righteousness with the same single-minded passion that I now gave to the quest for water.

Editor’s Note: The group did manage to stagger to the well, and it was full of “the wine of God,” as water is named by desert tribesmen in the Middle East.

2022 saw some truly bizarre Guinness World Records, including:

• Fastest time to find and alphabetize the letters in a can of alphabet soup (2 minutes and 8.6 seconds).
• The farthest tightrope walk in high heels (639 feet, in four-inch stilettos)
• The largest gathering of people with the same first and last name (178 Hirokazu Tanakas in Japan, beating the 2005 record of 164 Martha Stewarts).
• Fastest time to eat 10 Carolina Reaper chilies.

Possible Preaching Angle:

This is a lighthearted look at human “accomplishments.” But it does raise the question, “What new and innovative activity can you accomplish for the Lord and his Kingdom this year? How can you use your spiritual gift to unlock new avenues of service or outreach for the Lord?”

Many professional athletes have their trademarks when it comes to celebrating their wins. Tiger Woods has his legendary fist pump. The eight-time Olympic gold medalist Usain Bolt has his signature "lightning bolt" pose.

Once in a while, athletes celebrate prematurely, which has proven costly. Cyclist Luka Pibernik from Slovenia sprinted to the finish line and raised his arms in triumph. Unfortunately, the race was not over and another lap remained. After a grueling 3.5 hours of cycling, Pibernik's reserves were empty and slipped from 1st place to 148th.

Possible Preaching Angle:

The Bible encourages us to persevere to the end. The Apostle Paul uses the metaphor of a marathon to illustrate the perseverance of the Christian life. We are to fix our sight on the prize and to finish the race (1 Cor. 9:24-27; Heb. 12:1-2).

Jon Krakauer cleared the ice from his oxygen mask, hunched a shoulder against the wind, and straddled the summit of Mount Everest. It was 1:17 PM on May 10th, 1996. Krakauer, an accomplished climber and journalist, had not slept in 57 hours. He had not eaten much more than a bowl of ramen soup and a handful of peanut M&M's in three days. Still, he had reached the top of the Earth's tallest peak—29,028 feet. In his oxygen deprived stupor, he had no way of knowing that storm clouds forming below would turn into a vicious blizzard that would claim the lives of five fellow climbers. Yet he knew his adventure was hardly finished.

In his book Into Thin Air, Krakauer describes what he felt:

Reaching the top of Everest is supposed to trigger a surge of intense elation; against long odds, after all, I had just attained a goal I'd coveted since childhood. But the summit was really only the halfway point. Any impulse I might have felt towards self-congratulation was extinguished by the overwhelming apprehension about the long, dangerous descent that lay ahead.

Every sport involves some level of risk. But the greatest risk must be faced by those in motorsports. In an interview with Sports History Weekly, Mario Andretti was asked the following question, “What makes a talented race car driver?” Is it fearlessness, reaction, judgment, or strategy? As the only race car driver to win the Daytona 500, Indianapolis 500, and the Formula One World Championship, fearlessness, reaction, judgment, and strategy are all talents that Andretti has in abundance. So, which one is the most important? He said, “All of the above.”

But then he added this, “. . . plus burning desire and confidence. I say burning desire because of the risk involved. If you want something so badly, you have a burning desire to do it, then you aren’t distracted by fear or risk or anything else.”

Jess Movold is an elite running coach in New York City. In an article for Runner’s World she discussed the top five principles for successful running. Factors like finishing a marathon, self-discipline, and a workout plan, are essential for guiding runners through a season. But number one on her list to maintaining a long-term relationship with running is finding what really drives you, whether it's a new sense of confidence or getting off medication.

Movold says,

Identifying this unlocks everything that's possible for a runner. That understanding of why you put on your running shoes can be used to hold yourself accountable when you're distracted or discouraged by short-term goals. Whether or not you nail a speed session, those inner passions will persist to drive you.

Possible Preaching Angle:

Scripture describes the Christian life as a race. So, we regularly set goals and we develop structured plans to accomplish these goals. But too often our goals go unrealized and we wonder why. Maybe Movold’s advice applies to spiritual marathons as well. Identifying your motivation unlocks everything that is possible for a Christian. Why do you run?

For months, a runner named Cindy posted motivational photos on Instagram and Facebook, chronicling the miles she put in to prepare for the New York Marathon. Cindy ran the race of her life, finishing the New York Marathon in just 3 hours 17 minutes and 29 seconds—a lot faster than her pace in previous half-marathon finishes, which each took a little over two hours.

“Ran my heart out today and left everything on the course. All the training paid off and qualified for the Boston Marathon!” she posted on Instagram, along with a post-race selfie and a photo with the finisher's medal.

But Cindy's incredible marathon time seemed just a little too incredible to a man sitting at his computer nearly 640 miles away. Derek Murphy, a former marathoner and business analyst, has made a name for himself exposing marathon cheats on his blog.

When Murphy heard about Cindy's speedy personal record, he started scrolling through the New York race photos looking for evidence that she had honestly run her improbably fast race. He didn't find any photos of the petite brunette running on the course. However, he did find a photo of a tall, athletically-built man running with Cindy's bib pinned to his shirt.

After Murphy sent the photos and Cindy's former half-marathon times to the New York Marathon organizers and Cindy was disqualified. She is one of about 30 runners identified by Murphy who sought entry into the 2017 Boston Marathon using fabricated times.

Cheating in a marathon can come in many forms. Some cut a few miles out of their qualifying race. Others give their racing bib to someone a bit faster. In rare cases, people pay to have their results altered. "The integrity of the sport is enormously important to us, and to the athletes who run in our races," said a spokesperson for the Boston Athletic Association.

Possible Preaching Angles: Endurance; Integrity; Rewards: For Christians running the race of life we must compete according to the rules that our Lord has set (2 Timothy 2:5). He will certainly reward each one who has run with integrity and self-discipline with their eyes on the prize.

In an article in Forbes, business consultant Liz Ryan argues that companies shouldn't be obsessed with having "happy employees." Instead, she argues that employers should focus on helping employees connect to a greater mission. She goes on to give the following example of a mission-driven person:

Let's imagine a person completely immersed in his or her work. We'll use the greatest violin maker in the world as our example. I don't know who makes the greatest violins in the world, but we'll imagine that it's an Italian violin maker named Franco and that Franco has a studio where 15 or 20 apprentice and journeyman violin makers work alongside Franco making the most exquisite violins in the world.

Is Franco happy? He is alternately ecstatic, frustrated, transported, confused, exhausted and lost in the zone. He and his work are inextricable from one another. No one would say about Franco or his employees "They're happy." Instead, people in Franco's town would say "Those guys live and breathe violins, and people around the world rejoice."

Possible Preaching Angles: (1) Disciples; Discipleship; Mission; Missions—When Jesus called us to follow him he did not promise us happiness. Instead, he promised us a deep and rich and satisfying sense of mission. (2) Work—we all long for the kind of passion in our work that these violinists had (although in our fallen world at times that is not possible).

The legend of the Loch Ness Monster is one that has both intrigued and disappointed thousands over the past century. One man, however, has remained a resilient sentinel at the lake since 1991, refusing to give in to disappointment. Steve Feltham arrived at Loch Ness over 32 years ago, having quit his job and sold his house in order to purchase a habitable van and "pursue his passion." A short documentary was filmed about the man who holds the Guinness World Record for the longest continuous search at Loch Ness, in which he addresses his seemingly absurd commitment. "The reason I sit here and I try to solve this mystery is because that is what makes my heart sing," he says in the film. "My life gives me freedom, adventure, unpredictability...it's a dream come true."

Editor’s Note: (2025) You can read more about his story here on the Guinness World Record web site.

Potential Preaching Angles: Sometimes we need to be reminded that following Jesus has never involved the easy, comfortable life society seems to think. Unlike Feltham's quest, following Jesus involves submitting to his Lordship and joining a community of people who are bringing Jesus to all the nations, But like Feltham, we are on a quest that has all the "freedom, adventure, [and] unpredictability" we could ever dream of.

Long before Christopher Columbus sailed across the Atlantic, a Chinese admiral named Zheng He launched the greatest armada the world had ever seen: more than 300 ships with nearly 28,000 men. The largest of his vessels could have fit Columbus' ship, the Santa Maria, inside of it—plus three more Santa Marias. China's emperor had ordered the construction of these megaships, which boasted nine masts, 12 sails, and four decks. They were large enough to carry 2,500 tons of cargo. The fleet's expedition, in 1405, included astronomers and scholars in addition to sailors and soldiers. The Chinese had been extending their power out to sea for hundreds of years in order to bolster trade networks.

By the time Zheng He set sail, Chinese naval technology—magnetic compasses, construction of double hulls, sail design, and rigging—was unrivaled throughout the world. They ruled the seas, eventually reaching shores as distant as the southeastern coast of Africa. But then, a generation later, the Chinese turned back. The fleet shrank, the voyages stopped, and pirates retook control of the ocean. In 1525, while the Spanish were exploring the Americas, the Chinese government had their last ships burned. The world's most powerful technology for international prestige, exploration, and trade—gone.

Destroyed not by an enemy, or by a natural disaster, but by themselves. Why? Certainly, building and maintaining ships is expensive. But what if, instead of burning those ships, they had continued exploring? What if they had sailed around Africa to Europe and beat Columbus to the Americas? Or what if they had crossed the Pacific? The Spanish explorer Hernán Cortés might have gone all the way to the west coast of America only to discover a fleet of enormous Chinese ships. Instead, they committed what some consider one of the biggest blunders in history.

Possible Preaching Angles: (1) Endurance; Perseverance; Discipleship; Obedience—What do we miss when we don't press deeply into our journey of following Christ as Lord? (2) Vision; Leadership; Risk—When leaders lose their vision there are grave consequences.

On a drizzly afternoon in early 2015 seven people gathered for Washington D.C.'s newest group—The Quitters Club. Tagline: "Let's Give Up on Our Dreams … Together!" One attendee was ready to cast aside her long-held ambition to become an actress. Same deal for a would-be writer. Another was ready to quit Washington D.C. The hodgepodge group of strangers were drawn together by the same invite that read: "Most of us have something special we'd like to do with our lives. At the Quitters Club we can help each other stomp out the brush fires set in our hearts, and get on with our lives."

Founder Justin Cannon has quit all sorts of things—filmmaking, music, graphic design. He is tortured by the dueling forces of grand ambition and intense self-doubt. Most often, the battle leaves him frozen. And despondent. At one point Cannon expressed his growing exasperation. "I was like, 'We should have a group where people want to give up on their dreams.' I was making a joke," he recalls. "But somebody said, 'You know, that's a really good idea.'"

A few days later he took action. He posted a note on Meetup for his new group. He thought he might be forming a club of one, but within 48 hours, 35 people signed up. And for the next two hours, one after another the attendees expressed their dreams and their inability to make progress. But surprisingly they end up encouraging each other to persevere. The actress, they decide, should give it a hard push for a year before tossing out her ambitions of making it on the stage. The unhappy Washingtonian should look for a new job before giving up on the city. The writer whose day job is getting in the way of her artistic pursuits should carve out time each day for her passion.

"Here we are at the Quitters Club and we're all encouraging each other to keep going," one attendee mused. "I knew that was gonna happen," Cannon says. They will meet again the following month to continue in their quest to help people quit. Or, as it turns out, to keep on trying.

Editor’s Note: You can check out their Facebook page here as of 2025

Possible Preaching Angles: 1) Persistence; Overcoming; Challenges - Perseverance is also crucial in the Christian life, especially when we don't seem to be making any progress, we need to press on to the goal. 2) Encouragement; Caring - The church should be a place where the body encourages one another in the faith, especially in times of deep discouragement or failure.

One of the greatest Christian leaders of the last century was John R. W. Stott, rector of All Souls Langham Place in London and a peerless preacher, Bible teacher, evangelist, author, global leader and friend to many. I knew him over many decades, but I will never forget my last visit to his bedside three weeks before he died.

After an unforgettable hour and more of sharing many memories over many years, I asked him how he would like me to pray for him. Lying weakly on his back and barely able to speak, he answered in a hoarse whisper, "Pray that I will be faithful to Jesus until my last breath." Would that such a prayer be the passion of our generation too.

A 12-year-old girl accidentally ran a half marathon after signing up for a family-friendly 5K run. LeeAdianez Rodríguez-Espada, a 12-year-old student from New York, was worried she was going to be late when she went to the starting line of her race. She set off with everyone else and started running. But she accidentally left 15 minutes early with a group of people running the half marathon race.

Lee, focused on putting one foot in front of the other, didn't realize until mile four that the finish line was nowhere in sight. Turning to another runner, she asked how much further. "And that's when it struck me I was in the half marathon instead of the 5k," Rodriguez-Espada said. Instead of dropping out, she decided to keep running.

Brendalee Espada, her mother, lost track of her daughter when she went to park the car. When she got to the starting line, her daughter was gone. "She gave me a really big scare," Espada told reporters. She and the police searched for Rodriguez for nearly two hours.

"She just wanted to finish the race," Espada said. "Two hours after I started looking for her, I see that one of the police officers found her. And I see she has a medal." She finished 13.1 and placed 1,885th of 2,111 finishers but she was among the youngest to run the race. Her mom said, "I don't even know how she did it. I'm so proud of her."

Possible Preaching Angles: Does your race seem longer and more difficult than you thought? Maybe this isn't the race you thought you signed up for, but God had something different in mind for your life journey. Fix your eyes on the finish line and keep running for the prize.

In October of 1781, General Cornwallis marched his British troops into Yorktown. The patriots to the south had wreaked havoc on his redcoat army, and he was hoping to rendezvous with the British Navy on Chesapeake Bay.

American and French troops, however, anticipating Cornwallis's plan, pounded them with cannon fire, while the French fleet cut off escape by sea. The British found themselves trapped.

Thomas Nelson, then governor of Virginia and a signer of the Declaration of Independence, was fighting with the patriots firing the cannons in Yorktown. Gathering the men, he pointed to a beautiful brick home. "That is my home," he explained. "It is the best one in town. And, because of that, Lord Cornwallis has almost certainly set up the British headquarters inside."

And he told the American artillerymen to open fire on his own house.

They did. As the story goes, the very first cannonball shot at Mr. Nelson's house sailed right through the large dining room window and landed on the table where several British officers were eating.

It is one thing for a man to talk about freedom. It is quite another to destroy his own home to help make that freedom a reality. Nelson understood, however, that to hold on to his current life would mean forfeiting the life he was so desperately seeking. A life of true freedom would cost him the stuff of his present life. It was a small price to pay.

On October 19, as the British troops surrendered, the Redcoat band played the song, "The World Turned Upside Down." The song was apt. The world's greatest super-power had just been defeated by an army that couldn't afford to put shoes on its soldiers' feet.

But how can you thwart an army willing to sacrifice everything they currently have, for something infinitely better waiting on the other side?

In 1977 NASA launched Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 to explore the galaxy. A golden record called The Sounds of Earth was affixed to each of the twin spacecrafts—a message from earth to anyone out there in the universe who might be listening. It contained both music and the sound of a human heartbeat.

Over thirty years later, Annie Druyan, who served as the creative director of NASA's famous Voyager Interstellar Message (VIM) Project, reflected on what she chose to include in The Sounds of Earth:

The first thing I found myself thinking of was a piece by Beethoven from Opus 130, something called the Cavatina Movement … When I [first] heard this piece of music … I thought … Beethoven, how can I ever repay you? What can I ever do for you that would be commensurate with what you've just given me? And so, as soon as [my colleague] said, "[This message is] going to last a thousand million years," I thought of … this great, beautiful, sad piece of music, on which Beethoven had written in the margin … the word sehnsucht, which is German for "longing." Part of what we wanted to capture in the Voyager message was this great longing we feel.

So in the end, NASA chose a great song of human longing and launched it into space. It's as if NASA's scientists were saying to the rest of the universe: "This is who and what we are as human beings: creatures of longing." And hidden in that basic "introduction to who we are" there are implicit questions for possible extraterrestrials: Do you feel this too? Are we the only ones? Are we crazy?

Possible Preaching Angles: Human Longings and Christ's Satisfaction—This story not only points to our deep longing for meaning, beauty, and wholeness. It can also illustrate our need for the only One who can satisfy these deep longings—Christ.

Charles Colson tells the following story about his home town of Naples, Florida, which he calls "one of the garden spots of the world."

It's an absolute nirvana for all golfers, and they all come there. They're all CEOs of major corporations, and they retire to Naples, and this is "it"—twenty-seven golf courses and miles of sparkling beach and the best country clubs. I watch these guys; they're powerful people. They have this New York look on their face; they're determined. But now, all of a sudden, they start measuring their lives by how many golf games they can get in.

I often say to them, "Do you really want to live your life counting up the number of times you chase that little white ball around those greens?" And they kind of chuckle, but it's a nervous chuckle, because in six months they've realized how banal their lives are, and they've got beautiful homes—castles—and when they get bored with that, they build a bigger castle, and they're miserable. The object of life is not what we think it is, which is to achieve money, power, pleasure. That's not the holy grail. The object of life is the maturing of the soul, and you reflect that maturing of the soul when you care more for other people than yourself.