Radebaugh speaks to FCA crowd

CHARLESTON, S.C. – A familiar face delivered an inspiring and life-changing message to Charleston Southern athletes on Monday night, as Hope Radebaugh, wife of Head Basketball Coach Barclay Radebaugh, addressed the monthly Fellowship of Christian Athletes meeting. Over 300 Buccaneer student-athletes were in attendance as Radebaugh spoke about God’s plan of salvation and hope for His children.

Radebaugh, a high school teacher at Northwoods Academy in North Charleston, was speaking to the FCA crowd for the first time. She has also previously addressed the CSU student body during a Convocation service in 2007.

Radebaugh began her stirring message with a profound question that troubles all Christ-followers at some point during their walk – why is God not working for me?

“This is the number one question students in my class ask from me,” Radebaugh said. “They want to know why God isn’t doing a work in their lives, even when they are praying, reading God’s Word, and going to church.”

The answer, Radebaugh said, rests with the believer who is struggling. “The problem is not God,” Radebaugh said. “When we are struggling and God isn’t doing a work in our lives, the problem rests with us.”

According to Radebaugh, to understand why God isn’t working in your life, you must first understand the nature of God, which is revealed in the first two chapters of Genesis. “Look at the days of creation,” Radebaugh said. “In each day, God revealed his nature to us through what he created for us.”

“On the sixth day, God created you, and made you special. He breathed his spirit into you, and threw you your first birthday party.”

However, Radebaugh said, God set parameters for his creation that were broken in Genesis 3 when Adam and Eve ate of the tree. She highlighted the point by quoting Romans 5:12, which says “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned (KJV).”

Radebaugh compared the sin we all experience to a black bucket. And despite trying to distract ourselves with money, relationships, worldly pleasures or more sin, the only way to make our buckets white is to accept God’s salvation.

“When you repent and ask for God’s forgiveness in your life, you will be saved. And he will replace the black bucket with a white one,” Radebaugh said.

“So then the questions still remain: why do we still sin, and why isn’t God doing a work in our lives?”

The answer, Radebaugh said, is because we allow Satan to put things in our lives that make us drown.

“We allow ourselves to choke on saltwater and drown because we allow Satan to wrap us in chains,” Radebaugh said. “Satan offers us things to make us drown, and we still accept them.”

So how do we stay afloat?

“We need to realize that our worth doesn’t come from sports or relationships or other things,” Radebaugh said. “It comes from God’s truth. When we stop believing the lies and start believing God’s truth, we will stay afloat. Our chains will fall off, and God will begin to work greatly in our lives.”

Mike Wilson, Head Coach of the Buccaneer men’s golf team, found the message inspiring and perfect for the goal of FCA. “FCA is a tremendous ministry for our CSU student-athletes,” Wilson said after the event. “And messages of truth like the one delivered tonight by Hope Radebaugh are what will draw our student body closer to the Lord.”

The Radebaugh family attends Riverbluff Baptist Church in North Charleston, S.C. In 2008, Radebaugh authored a book: Gym Rats: A Devotional Guide for the Coach’s Wife.

Previous FCA speakers this semester include USC Football Chaplain Adrian Despres, who spoke in February, and former CSU football player Matt Shelly, who spoke in March.

Charleston Southern’s goal is to provide a competitive NCAA Division I athletic program in compliance with NCAA guidelines, enhancing the academic, emotional, and spiritual development of the university's student-athletes.

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