Two very famous sports figures hit the news this past week and both of them have a direct influence on the message that I am preaching today. Joe Gibbs, the former head coach of the Washington Redskins, who took them to the Super Bowl four times and who also owned a Winston Cup winning NASCAR team is leaving the sport of car racing to go back to coach the Washington Redskins. Hearing that reminded me of a true story that Coach Gibbs told about a friend of his who owned a beautiful Labrador retriever. The friend, whom we will call John, looked out his window one morning while sitting near the front porch. He thought he saw something hanging from the dog's jaws and sure enough a closer look revealed it was his neighbor's pet rabbit that was now dead.

John was not only stunned, he was scared…