{"id":6139,"date":"2015-02-02T07:24:38","date_gmt":"2015-02-02T07:24:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/?p=6139"},"modified":"2015-06-02T14:41:28","modified_gmt":"2015-06-02T14:41:28","slug":"stamina-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/rawfaith\/stamina-2\/","title":{"rendered":"STAMINA"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img style=\"border: none; width: 565px;\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/villa-park.jpg?w=750\" alt=\"villa-park\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Arsenal vs Aston Villa, 1st of February 2015. 5 minutes gone \u2013 1:0 to the Arsenal. 90+2 minutes gone \u2013 5:0 to the Arsenal. 612 minutes gone \u2013 Since Aston Villa last scored a goal.<\/p>\n<p>Being a villa fan during the 2014\/15 season has not been easy. We waited over 600 minutes for one goal and endured a record breaking 7 match losing streak. To remain a Villa faithful after all that has taken a great deal of stamina. But what is Stamina? Is it the size of your heart? How far you\u2019ve come minus how far is left to go? Your ability to not stop, to just keep on going? Perhaps it\u2019s all of these. One thing that\u2019s certain is we\u2019ve all got it.<\/p>\n<p>I think as Christians there is a certain type of stamina in particular we have. Faith stamina. Faith stamina has its ups and its downs but it keeps us going. Our beliefs are what set us apart, what drive us forward and are what we live for.<\/p>\n<p>I am an Aston Villa fan \u2013 but first I am a Christian. On match day I cheer and jeer and the next morning I cheer for a different cause. Only the cheers on Sunday should not stop there. They should come through our lives into the week, through the turnstiles and onto the stands. Our Sunday faith should be evident on match day.<\/p>\n<p>Let\u2019s switch our main focus from the match before us to those sat around us. Sure, enjoy the game! But be intentional with your faith; look to stand out to those around you.<\/p>\n<p>Be a counter cultural fan \u2013 be the chap that doesn\u2019t call the ref an expletive word when he makes a bad decision, the fan who doesn\u2019t go too far when baiting the opposition fans, the fan who looks for the positives not the negatives in the game (believe me after over 600 minutes without a single goal, that\u2019s a tough ask). And yes, maybe your team is losing like mine was this season. But trust me, it\u2019s worth it.<\/p>\n<p>What for? Well, its for the bloke sat two rows down from you who gets a pie every game 5 minutes before half time, or the bloke sat 5 seats behind, 3 to the left who doesn\u2019t know the difference between a swear word and a compliment. Those guys. They are whom we have this faith stamina for. They are the blokes who a few years down the line not only will be sat around us on Saturdays at 3pm, but also on Sunday mornings as well. In the same way you dig in deep during what may turn out to be your teams record breaking losing streak, dig in deeper now in anticipation for what God has in store for you and those sat around you at the match.<\/p>\n<div class=\"linkwithin_hook\" id=\"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/rawfaith\/stamina-2\/\"><\/div><script>\n<!-- \/\/LinkWithinCodeStart\nvar linkwithin_site_id = 897245;\nvar linkwithin_div_class = \"linkwithin_hook\";\n\/\/LinkWithinCodeEnd -->\n<\/script>\n<script src=\"http:\/\/www.linkwithin.com\/widget.js\"><\/script>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.linkwithin.com\/\"><img src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.linkwithin.com\/pixel.png?w=750\" alt=\"Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...\" style=\"border: 0\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Arsenal vs Aston Villa, 1st of February 2015. 5 minutes gone \u2013 1:0 to the Arsenal. 90+2 minutes gone \u2013 5:0 to the Arsenal. 612 minutes gone \u2013 Since Aston Villa last scored a goal. Being a villa fan during the 2014\/15 season has not been easy. We waited over 600 minutes for one goal [&hellip;]<\/p>\n<script>\n<!-- \/\/LinkWithinCodeStart\nvar linkwithin_site_id = 897245;\nvar linkwithin_div_class = \"linkwithin_hook\";\n\/\/LinkWithinCodeEnd -->\n<\/script>\n<script src=\"http:\/\/www.linkwithin.com\/widget.js\"><\/script>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.linkwithin.com\/\"><img src=\"http:\/\/www.linkwithin.com\/pixel.png\" alt=\"Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...\" style=\"border: 0\" \/><\/a>","protected":false},"author":61,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1073],"tags":[1075,377,1074],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7PoLK-1B1","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3323,"url":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/the-bouras-bulletin\/the-bouras-bulletin-43\/","url_meta":{"origin":6139,"position":0},"title":"The Bouras Bulletin","date":"12 November 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Luis Suarez once again scored a vital goal for Liverpool, heading in the equaliser in his side\u2019s 1-1 draw with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Sunday. John Terry had given Chelsea the lead having taken advantage of some slack defending from a corner but Suarez met Jamie Carragher\u2019s flick to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Bouras Bulletin&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6141,"url":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/rawfaith\/one-mans-story-of-football-family-and-faith\/","url_meta":{"origin":6139,"position":1},"title":"ONE MAN&#8217;S STORY OF FOOTBALL, FAMILY AND FAITH","date":"2 February 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"'The Soul of Football' is a new book from Mark Chester of Who Let the Dads Out.\u00a0One man's story of football, family and faith by Mark Chester Cloning Jamie Carragher Lionel Messi's mistakes It's all Wayne Rooney's fault\u2026 ... are just three of the issues BRF's Who Let The Dads\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Rawfaith&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Soul-of-Football.jpg?fit=250%2C382&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6796,"url":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/rawfaith\/an-example-to-others\/","url_meta":{"origin":6139,"position":2},"title":"An Example To Others","date":"20 January 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"After being awarded the Ballon d\u2019Or title, this weekend was all about Lionel Messi at the Camp Nou stadium. The 28 year old argentine striker presented his fifth ballon d\u2019Or trophy to the on looking fans, players and coaching staff. At the award ceremony it was to be Messi\u2019s night\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Rawfaith&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3411,"url":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/the-bouras-bulletin\/the-bouras-bulletin-44\/","url_meta":{"origin":6139,"position":3},"title":"The Bouras Bulletin","date":"19 November 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"England lost the first test in India by nine wickets after an atrocious first couple of days at Ahmedabad. England could only manage 191 in their first innings but, after being forced to follow, scored 406 to give them hope of a turnaround. That was snuffed out by the top\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Bouras Bulletin&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2222,"url":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/the-bouras-bulletin\/the-bouras-bulletin-4\/","url_meta":{"origin":6139,"position":4},"title":"The Bouras Bulletin","date":"30 January 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"World number one Novak Djokovic successfully defended his Australian Open title by beating Rafael Nadal in an incredible five-set final in what was the longest match in the tournament\u2019s history at five hours 53 minutes. Djokovic won the match 5-7 6-4 6-2 6-7 (5-7) 7-5, just 48 hours after Andy\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Bouras Bulletin&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6524,"url":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/rawfaith\/the-ultimate-away-day\/","url_meta":{"origin":6139,"position":5},"title":"The Ultimate Away Day","date":"23 December 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Last week, news broke about one fan in particular who had travelled quite a bit further than your usual away day supporter. Unfortunately for Andrew Urry from Brisbane, Australia, he was unable to watch his team Southend United take on Bradford City away at Valley Parade due to the match\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Rawfaith&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6139"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/61"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6139"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6139\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6144,"href":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6139\/revisions\/6144"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6139"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6139"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6139"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}