CHARGER NATION: GAME #6

Charger Nation,

            I want to congratulate our middle school team and our JV team for victories last night.  Our middle school won 30-20 and our JV won 30-0.  It’s always good to win and I appreciate the coaches involved in each program!

            This has been a crazy week because the school was on fall break but the middle school, JV and varsity football programs all had games.  I know teachers start school July 25^th and the benefit of starting that early is we get a week off in September.  But the coaches didn’t and I want to thank them for their sacrifice this week.  I also want to praise each of you who had your sons here this week and at practice.  Each of you could have done something different but you chose to make your son follow through with his commitments and I appreciate this and believe it is a very valuable lesson we can teach young boys.   Duty, responsibility and taking ownership of commitments is something that is lost in the world we live in.  We have a successful program because our parents are bought into the process of what we are doing. 

            I was really proud of the way our boys this week considering they were off school and the rhythm of their days changed drastically.  I am a creature of habit and I like my days to be the same and the rhythm to never change.  I think most people are like this even if they don’t realize it.  This week our boys came in at 2 and worked out, watched film and then practiced for a few hours.  I never thought their attitude was bad and never really heard griping and complaining about practice.  This showed a level of maturity uncommon in most teenagers.  We had a great week and are prepared for the task at hand tonight.

           

“Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts!  And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!”

Psalm 139:23-24

From a football coach’s standpoint, practice film is my most prized possession.  By watching practice film our mistakes are identified and we can fix the problem (or try to) before Friday night.  When I tell a player he did wrong at practice he looks at me like I’m an idiot because he doesn’t think he did wrong.  When I can show him on film he did wrong then he sees it and he gets it.  Film is much better teaching tool than me telling them they did wrong at practice.  Film exposes our football sins! **A football sin is not doing what you are supposed to do!  God doesn’t judge us for this (I don’t think??)  The goal of coaching through the season is that players become aware of their mistakes and quit making them because they are aware of them. 

Spiritually we are no different.  As I walk during the day I do a lot of stupid stuff and I don’t always see the sin behind my comments or my actions.  We cannot go back and watch film but the Holy Spirit will lead us and show us our mistakes as we seek him.  He promises to walk with us and lead us (Psalm 32:8).  As we come to Christ he will expose our sin.  We will be able to see the mistakes in our head like we were watching film.  As we grow in Christ we become more and more aware of our mistakes and can start living a life that God honoring each day.  Our Christian walk is like a long football season.  Just like in football where our goal is to eliminate mistakes week to week, as Christians we want to destroy sin in our life more and more week to week. 

            Sin is sneaky as it creeps in on us without us ever seeing it.  Sin takes on many forms.  Of course we always hear about the big ones like adultery and stealing and I guess that can make us feel better about ourselves if we haven’t done those two things as we gossip about those who have (which is also a sin).  We all have sin in our lives that is grievous and we need God to open our eyes to it.  What we would consider a little sin in our life right now eventually becomes what we consider the big sin.   God views them both as sin.  We don’t see the little sins that lead to big sins because we are sinful men and women and we aren’t seeking the Lord.  Apart from Christ and his influence we are going to choose sin every single time.   This sin is going to fester until it destroys us. 

 We are sinners and that is why we need a Savior.  If we could do it on our own and we were aware of our sinfulness apart from Christ then He would have never needed to come save us.  We aren’t praying and asking God to search us.  We aren’t begging him to try us and know our thoughts.  We are not asking him to reveal to us the grievous way in us.  We aren’t concerned with God leading us in the way everlasting.  And because of this, man gets himself into lots of trouble!  Apart from Christ we never will.

Each week we are on a quest to become a better football team and eliminate our mistakes.  We go to great links as coaches to expose these mistakes to our players through the countless hours of watching film on our own and with them.  I pray that each of us would do the same with the sin in our lives through spending time with the Lord and asking him to search us and know our hearts.  Try us and know our thoughts.  And if there be any grievous way in us, then lead us in the way everlasting. 

“The horse is made ready for battle, but victory belongs to the Lord.”

Proverbs 21:31

Beat Woodward!

Wholly for Christ,

Coach Gess

             

Charger Nation: Game #5

Charger Nation: Game #5

     Before I get started I want to congratulate our middle school for winning again Thursday.  This makes them 2-0 on the season.  It’s always good to win!

     Tonight we have another big game against Whitewater.  Whitewater is an AAAA school with a great tradition of winning in the past.  They beat us last year and they had a great football team.  They have struggled early this year but they also have played extremely good football teams.  They will be coming in here tonight looking to get a win and get their season back on track.  I look forward to the game, as I believe it will be a battle.

      This week I want to share a message with you I gave to our team Monday morning.  To the world this looks like a message of weakness but I want you to read it with these following verses in your mind:

“Blessed is the man who makes the Lord his trust, who does not turn to the proud, to those who go astray after a lie.”  Psalm 40:4

“Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord.”  Jeremiah 17:7

       I also want to share this with you before I begin:  I love to win!  I hate losing!  But I realize with this love of winning opens me up to the sin of self-confidence and trust in self.  I daily must run to the Lord!

       I love watching college football.  I could sit around Saturdays and do nothing but watch college football all day long.  As much as I love watching it, I grow more and more aggravated with all the talking that goes along with it.  This summer a different preseason “hype” video would come out for different teams each day and coaches and players would constantly talk about having the best this or that.   The media and even coaches try and create a buzz about certain programs.  To make it even worse, the way in which schools have to promote their program through boasting and bold proclamations for recruiting purposes is almost shameful.  The constant drawing attention to oneself and one’s program before any accomplishment has been made does not fit in to the Win the Day philosophy.  **The Win the Day philosophy here at ELCA is straight from the Bible…it’s not mine!

       As I set there watching college football on Saturday and all of the upsets that almost happened and the upsets that did happen I could not help but think that this is why you do not boast about what you are going to do and how you are going to do it.  You do not boast in that your any good or that any of your players are any good.  This verse was popping up into my mind:

“Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring.”

Proverbs 27:1

       You will not hear me talk about a state championship very much or even a region championship.  You will not ever hear me say that we will win this game or that game.  I humbly, by Jesus Christ working in and through me, approach each week not having a clue what God has in store for us that particular Friday night.  I will not create hype in saying we will do this or we will do that.  I will not create an arrogant atmosphere by saying this player or coach is the best this or that.

       But what you will hear me say constantly is Win the Day.  I have no control over tomorrow and don’t even know if God will let me see tomorrow.  I humbly approach each day knowing that this is the day God has given me and he controls the outcome of my tomorrows.  I will never boldly proclaim we will win this game or we will win the region or we will win state because I have no clue if we will do any of those things.  But what I do know is we are going to work our tails off to Win this Day!   All the opportunity lies in this day God has given us.

“This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it.” Psalm 118:24

      Now, don’t get me wrong.  I will quietly work behind the scenes to promote our players and our team but I will never do it in a public setting.  For me to talk to a coach privately and boast about one of our players is much different than me talking to the paper and boasting about our guys.   I want to be diligent never to create a culture of arrogance and pride.  We want to maintain our culture of hard work and humility.  A culture that trusts in the Lord to provide---not us to provide if that makes sense.

       I have not always thought this way.  Early in my career I thought I had to make bold proclamations that we are going to win state and we are going to be the best program in the country.  Really stupid stuff was coming out of my mouth.  The Lord has a way of handling arrogance, pride, and self-confidence because he hates it!  It took a while and some hard lessons before I could humbly say: “I have no clue what tomorrow holds.  I have no clue if we win region.  I have no clue if we will win state.  I have no clue if my players can get a D1 scholarship.”  What happened is God striped me of my self-confidence and taught me how to make Him my Hope, my Trust, my Confidence.

       I will not boast about tomorrow.  I will not proclaim we are good and that we will win this or that.  I will not boast in our past accomplishments.  I will not worry about events and situations that are out of my control.  I will boldly run to this day and work my tail off and push my players and coaches to Win this Day.  Let’s be a state champion today!  Let’s win Monday!  Let’s win Tuesday!  Let’s become the best we can become today…the day God has actually given us.

      I will not boast about tomorrow and strive to make a name for myself.   I will humbly submit to the will of God and his Sovereign control over all the events in my life.  My confidence will never be in myself.  My pride will never be in my accomplishments or my future accomplishments.  My pride and my confidence will be in Jesus Christ.   I will die to myself and live in Jesus Christ.

       I will not boast about tomorrow.  I will humbly set my eyes on Jesus Christ and work hard today.  I will put building young boys into men for Jesus Christ as my top priority before ever winning a football game.  I will enjoy the process of getting better each day.  I will enjoy the process of giving my all this day to get a little bit better.  I will boast in Christ and not self.

       Chargers, this is a foreign word in the midst of a culture that embraces creating hype and the boasting of tomorrow.  But if you buy into this and think this is the way to go you will only find yourself tomorrow with shattered dreams.  You will become paralyzed in anxiety, fretting and worrying.  You will fall into the trap of measuring yourself against another man and slowly embrace the sin of coveting which will just lead to bitterness.  There is freedom in Christ.  The chords of sin entangle us and we don’t even know that we are being choked by our sin of self-confidence, self-righteousness, and pride.  I challenge us all to die to self and live in the freedom of Jesus Christ!  Make the Lord your Trust and your Confidence!

“Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.”  Proverbs 19:21

Win the Day!

Wholly for Christ,

Coach Gess

CHARGER NATION: GAME #4

Charger Nation: Game #4

Charger Nation,

Here is a verse that Coach Dallas loves to quote which has resonated with me since he has been here:

“for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”  Nehemiah 8:10

**To have this joy is a daily WAR!

            This has been a crazy week because it has been homecoming week.  I believe the boys have had fun with it and I know everyone is looking forward to tonight.  Usually you are supposed to play a bad team for homecoming, but we don’t have a bad team on our schedule.  Mt. Pisgah is a good team and they beat us last year.   But we are focused and ready.  Three of the five starters who were out last week are back and should be able to go tonight.  I’m excited to play this game tonight against a team that we need to be able to beat if we are a state championship caliber team.

            In the life of a coach, losing takes one to the bottom emotionally and physically.  I know everyone in their particular careers face this same issue.  I don’t care who we lose to or how good they are or the circumstances as to why we lose, I am way down after a loss.  Dangerous thoughts creep into the mind: “I’m a loser;” “I can’t do this;” “I’m a failure;” “We aren’t doing the right things;” you get the point of the stuff that enters into the mind. 

            As I play with Uriah he is getting old enough to get very aggravated when he can’t do something.  We were throwing in the backyard and he got real aggravated that he couldn’t catch the ball and started saying and crying that he couldn’t.  He even gets mad at me when I throw a bad pass (they actually are catchable passes he just is learning he is a center like his daddy—tough lesson.)  As a Daddy it made me mad that he wasn’t saying he couldn’t…we will just keep trying!  I don’t care if he can catch the ball or not, but I do care if he thinks he can’t.  I do care if he quits trying.  I do not want to hear negativity coming from him. 

            In the same way but so much more we have a Father who loves us and cares for us and does not want to hear us say negative things.  He does not want the seed of doubt to enter our minds. As I woke up wallowing in self pity on the inside for our loss against GAC the Holy Spirit convicted me with these thoughts: “Get over yourself.”  That thought turned into me praying: “Lord, strip me of myself.”  You see, one of the problems with all of us is we are prideful.  I’m wallowing in self-pity Saturday morning because I am embarrassed.  When I fail at the job everyone knows it and everyone sees.  In fact, everyone critiques it.   I take great pride in winning and probably have the exact opposite feeling when we lose.

            I’m not wallowing in self-pity to the extent of depression and locking myself up.  No, I function rather well but I do not have joy and I certainly do not have joy in the gifts that God has given me.  My little boy wants to wake up Saturday morning and jump on the trampoline with his dad who he doesn’t see very much or play racecars.  He could care less if we won or lost and, in reality, most people don’t care.  I need to get over myself and enjoy the time I have with my little boy and my family.  God has given me great gifts but my pride and my ego destroy my joy in the great gifts God has given me.

            So I stood their convicted and praying, “Lord, strip me of myself.”  It was freeing to pray this prayer.  It was like the ropes that were entangling me choking me started to loosen their grip.  I came back to the verse that I love so dearly:

“I have been crucified with Christ.  It is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me.  And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”             

                                                                                                           Galatians 2:20. 

If I have been crucified in and with Christ, then my pride and my ego don’t exist anymore.  In fact, my pride and my ego are now in Christ.  Christ is the reason I live and Christ is in what I will boast.  So when I wake up Saturday morning and we have lost, I need to claim Christ who is the one who has conquered death.  I am never a loser in Jesus Christ.  He is the All-Powerful Savior of the world.  He controls all things.  When we lose it is for my good and our teams good because he promises to work out all things for our good.  He is my Hope and my Trust.  In success and in failure I can be a man of strength and courage because my strength and courage does not lie in my power, but in the power of Jesus Christ. 

            In life I do not control much.  God has given each of us complete control into the effort we put into things and the attitude with which we approach those things.  But we do not control the outcome.  A farmer can do everything correctly but he does not control the rain.  I think it is important that we have great joy in the toil God has given us and trust in him with great anticipation.  And even in failure always have great anticipation of what is to come.  Never give up!  Never let the seed of doubt set in and take over.  It will whisper, but claim Christ and kill it!   We must stand firm and never give up due to failure or become prideful in success.  Never be too high in success or too low in failure with the things here on earth; but always take great pride in the things of Jesus Christ.  If we want joy here on this earth that does not revolve around our circumstances then we must die to ourselves and live in Jesus Christ. 

            Just as my pride can be wrapped up in my performance Friday night, I often see dads whose pride is wrapped up in the success or failure of their son on Friday night.  I feel great sadness for their sons.  Their sons are learning that their Dad’s joy is in their success.  Can you imagine how paralyzing this is for high school boys?  They are learning that their Dad’s happiness in them or just overall joy revolves around their performance in a game.  I know Dad’s don’t mean to do this but it is the unintended consequence of pride.  As I have a two year old I see how not only can my pride kill me, but it can kill the spirit of my Son.  I pray daily God will strip me of myself not so I just don’t destroy my spirit, but my little boys as well.  We must learn to not put our happiness into on the field performance, but rather the day-to-day effort and attitude our boys put forth in their pursuit of excellence.  We must learn to put our pride in their pursuit of Christ and the overseeing of this process.  We must learn to love our boys for the young men God has made them and not what we so desperately want them to be.  It will be freeing for our sons and our personal souls!  Since it is so easy for us to be blind to our pride, we must walk vigilantly with our eyes on Christ, not on this world. 

            Therefore, after having died to my prideful self and living in Christ, I run to this game tonight with great anticipation and excitement.  I will have great joy in this day God has given me.  And win or lose tonight, I will wake up tomorrow fighting for humility if we win and joy if we lose because who I am is not wrapped up in what I do but in Jesus Christ.  Jesus Christ: This is where steadfast joy, strength and courage exist!  He destroys the bonds of sin that entangle us and gives us new life.  In Christ there is freedom. 

Win the Day!

“The horse is made ready for Battle, but victory belongs to the Lord.”

Proverbs 21:31

Wholly for Christ!

Coach Gess 

CHARGER NATION: Game #3

CHARGER NATION: Game #3

Charger Nation,

            Thursday was a great day for ECLA football as our 3^rd and 4^th grade team got to play in the Georgia Dome, our 5^th and 6^th grade team won big, our middle school team beat Strong Rock 12-0, and our JV beat Strong Rock 39-6.  I want to thank the coaches on each team for their investment in the boys and in the program.  I appreciate these men as they sacrifice so much to invest in the young boys at ELCA.  If you are going to do it right, being a football coach is very demanding and I am proud to work with men who believe in Excellence.

            Tonight the varsity has another tough opponent in Greater Atlanta Christian.  Last year GAC finished the state runner up in AA and I think they are ranked #3 right now.  The star of their team is their quarterback and their tailback/defensive back #2.  They are well coached and do everything right.  It will be a great game tonight.

             One of the things we say in our football program is Win the Day.  I know everyone is saying that these days but I stole it right from Chip Kelly.  He came in recruiting in 2010 and I got to sit down with him for three hours while he was waiting on a student to finish an exam.  I asked him, “Coach are you guys ready for the national championship game against Auburn.”  He replied: “No, that is 22 days away and I can’t worry about 22 days from now.  But I am excited about today and getting better today and doing the things we need to do today in order to be better tomorrow.”  I sat their thinking….good answer and boy did I ask a stupid question.   But I got it…we aren’t guaranteed tomorrow and if I sit around thinking about tomorrow or worrying about tomorrow than I am going to miss the opportunity that exists today!  The more I pondered over what he said God brought me this verse:

“But seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you.  Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself.  Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”  Proverbs 6:33-34

When we began the week Monday I found out that our QB, DJ Hammond, was not going to be able to play Friday.  We went to practice and I found out our two slot wide receivers, which are critical to us running our offense were hurt with minor injuries, but could not play.  Wednesday provided another blow as our starting corner and wr got hurt in non-contact drills.   It’s not that I don’t believe in the guys we are playing in their place because I do.  But I kept having to change the line up and adjust the finer points of the offense and I was becoming a mental basket case in my head.  I kept thinking over and over: quit worrying; quit stressing: Win the Day. 

Winning the Day is all about controlling the variables you can control in life.  I don’t control injuries and I don’t control the outcome on Friday nights.  To sit around and worry and stress over things I cannot control is foolish (even though I struggle with it daily!).  But what I do control is my preparation and developing a game plan around the players that are going to play.  I can focus on their strengths and build a plan that utilizes those strengths.  Whoever is playing, I can make sure we get better each day and perfect what we do and become great at it.  Worrying and stressing does me no good and it only prevents progress. 

There is no way to Win the Day with a poor attitude.  If I approach the day feeling sorry for myself and/or fretting and worrying about variables God did not give me control over I am going to be a miserable creature.  I tell the boys all the time and I remind myself all the time: “My attitude determines my effectiveness.”  If my attitude is right I can Win the Day.  The great thing about winning today is what I do today impacts my success tomorrow.  By taking care of today and Winning the Day today I will reap the benefits tomorrow. 

I sit here and I am talking to you about football.   Remember football is just a tool God has given us to teach young boys to become Godly men.  Our world idolizes this game and I struggle with idolizing it, but it’s just a game.  It is not who we are.  It does not define us!  There is a much great game going on in this world than football.  Everyday I coach a bunch of young boys who the Devil is after and he wants nothing more than to destroy them right now before they can become men for Jesus Christ.  We live in a culture that is vile and wretched but the culture is raising our children because our children are addicted to their phones, computers and TV.  Our young boys are faced with challenges every single day that are way more serious than what they will face on Friday night and situations which are more complicated and difficult than anything they will see on Friday night.  The battle for their souls being waged by the enemy is so much more serious than the battle we will face tonight.    It is the same for you and me.

As men, as husbands, as wives, as mothers it is imperative that every single day we wake up and Win the Day for Jesus Christ.  The devil wants nothing more than to destroy us and ruin the great things God has given us.  There will be many days we feel destroyed or we feel the attacks of the enemy and that we cannot overcome.  I challenge you and I challenge me: Win the Day.  The only way I am going to Win the Day for Jesus Christ is by keeping my eyes on Jesus Christ (Col 3).  I am weak but Christ is Strong.  He is my Hope, my Strength and my Trust.  I will boldly run into this day knowing that I have surrendered my life to the Sovereign God who makes my paths straight.  He gives me what I need and gives me what is best for me.  He is my Future and my Hope.  He will walk with me and take care of me.  He will Strengthen me in distress.   He will humble me in my pride.  He is my Righteousness.  He is my Savior.  I will Win this Day by walking with God and keeping my eyes on him.  And he promises me this: “I will teach you and instruct you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eyes upon you.”  Psalm 32:8  --Walk with Him!

“The horse is made ready for battle but victory belongs to the Lord.” Proverbs 21:31

Let’s Win the Day!

Wholly for Christ,

Coach Gess