CHARGER NATION GAME #6

Charger Nation,

            It is nice to be back in action after a week off.  It is really nice to be back at home.  We have not played a home game since August 18^th.  To get back in front of our fans with our band and our cheerleaders is exciting.  Tonight we play Wesleyan.  Wesleyan is one of our top competitors in single A football.  Not only do we have to beat them to win the region, we will have to beat them to win the state championship.  Just like last year, we could see them again in the playoffs.  Wesleyan is a great football team led by a dual threat quarterback.  I have great respect for the school, the people at their school, and their coaches.  Just like us, they are a school committed not only to athletic excellence, but more importantly, academic and spiritual excellence.  It will be a fun game tonight!

            Another exciting thing about tonight is our boys finally get to put on their new blue uniforms.  I spent countless hours designing these uniforms with our Nike representative.  It’s a simple uniform but every part of it was designed with a purpose.  I love the color Navy.  I remember being in elementary school and people receiving first place ribbons at field day.  They were blue.  To me our Navy blue represents victory.  Our program is committed to the pursuit of winning and doing so in an honorable way.  You will see our numbers and our helmets are gray.  Gray represents our work ethic core values: Hard Work, Perfect Effort, No Excuses.  There is no victory without commitment to hard work.  Hard work is a core value of this football program.  We will work hard and we will embrace hard work. 

One goal of this football program is to produce a bunch of young men that work hard.  We will work out every single day and football practice will be hard.  People sit around and try to make everything fun these days.  We embrace the fact that as we pursue winning, a whole bunch of the process is not fun.  However, there is nothing like working hard and then getting to perform.  To go into a game with confidence based upon your preparation is a great feeling!  Hard work doesn’t guarantee winning and A’s, but it will give you a great shot! 

            Finally, there is a simple element to these uniforms that mean everything to me.  Our Nike checks are gold.  This is the only yellow/gold you will see on our uniforms.  It is a symbol of our commitment to excellence.  As you walk in the weight room there is a huge sign right before the boys walk in the door and it says DEMAND EXCELLENCE.  Long before we won a region championship or a state championship that sign was there.  I ask the boys for excellence every single day but I fully understand it is my job to demand it.  I also believe we are training our boys how to demand excellence from themselves. 

            What is excellence?  Have you ever thought about that?  We often talk about excellence but I what I realized when I was in the Air Force is people keep saying excellence but no one is explaining it/defining it.  We would go to meetings and people throw the word around but I’d leave with no clue what excellence looked like.  When I became a teacher schools would say they are a school of excellence but I had no idea what that meant.  It sounds nice but no one has a clue what excellence is. 

            So here is what I believe excellence is as a Christian football coach:

Excellence is seeking to bring God glory and honor by giving perfect effort to become your absolute best with the talent God has given you in ALL that God has called you to do.  A Winner is someone who wakes up each day in the pursuit of excellence.  A Champion is a person who perseveres with unwavering commitment longing to hear those words promised from our Father: “Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master” (Matthew 25:21, ESV).

            It is imperative I define words correctly.  My whole goal is be a Champion and to create Champions.  The pursuit of excellence and winning will produce Champions.  I believe the key words in the definition of excellence are “in all God has called you to do.”  These young men I coach are called to perform in school academically, honor their Father and Mother, serve the Lord with their bodies, lead for Christ in school, and then to excel as athletes.  Pursuing all of these is excellence.  As they look back over the whole year and they were successful in persevering, then they are Champions in the eyes of Christ. 

            This world glorifies men and women who have had great success on the field or in the arena yet are losers as husbands or wives, mothers or fathers, and leaders for Christ in the community.  It is not hard to become the best at the sport one plays if God has given amazing ability and one works at it.  However, it is hard to pursue excellence as an athlete, a father, a husband and a leader in the community for Jesus Christ.  Being excellent on the field or in the arena without pursuing excellence in the areas that are important to God is being a loser.  Therefore, excellence should be a term used for men who seek to do well in all aspects of their life, not just the one that will get them worldly glory!

            What is important to me will be important to my players.  If I make winning the game our main objective than my players will do the same.  If I teach our players that excellence on the field is important but secondary to pursuing Christ like character then hopefully my players will focus on this.  This is no easy task: The world and our flesh make winning on the field the only purpose of any value or importance.  I will not be praised by the world for teaching our young men and women to put on Christ and become like him. But I must remember, I do not serve the world.  I serve Jesus Christ.  My goal is to be a Champion for Jesus Christ, not this world.  I must DEMAND EXCELLENCE in this area from myself if I am going to instruct my players on this path.    

This is what the gold check is all about.  Excellence is Jesus Christ.  We have been made in his image for his glory.  May we live this way: This is excellence.  Christ has died for our sins so that we may have eternal life and live a life on this earth as sons of the almighty God.  May we live this way: This is excellence.  God has given us his Word in the Bible.  The Bible contains endless knowledge of how to live in this sin stained world.  God’s rules, laws, statutes, and commands are excellent.  May we strive everyday to obey: This is excellence.  That gold check: It is excellence-It is Jesus Christ.  That is why the check is gold and stands out.  It is Christ.  That is why it is important to me.

Beat Wesleyan!

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

Wholly for Christ,

Coach Gess

CHARGER NATION: GAME #5

ChargersNation,

            Just like that we are at game #5.  We managed a way through the storm and now it’s game day.  Tonight we go and play Holy Innocents in North Atlanta.  They are good football team that runs the triple option (Georgia Tech’s offense).  We must play great defense.  Great defenses play fast and play with great discipline.  Tonight that will even be more important.  The offense tries and tricks you on who has the ball.  Each man has a job tonight and it is vital each man does there job.  This requires discipline.  Discipline is the key tonight!

            One of our core character principles is steadfast.  It is a word not many people use to describe anyone but I believe it is of the upmost importance.  The Bible uses it a lot and mostly in the Old Testament to describe God.  Steadfast means to be unchanging or unwavering.  I like to think it means to be consistent with an intense focus on excellence.  One of the most valuable traits a young man can show me is that he is steadfast.  If I describe a young man this way it means he shows up every single day with a resolve to get better and improve.  He is a hard worker day in and day out and we can depend him to show up with a winning work ethic daily.  We trust the steadfast person.  We want to put the steadfast person in leadership positions because they are dependable and trustworthy.  It is an important characteristic in any person. 

            This week was chaotic as we all had to deal with the tropical storm Monday and Tuesday.  Not having practice on Monday and asking the kids to come in Tuesday afternoon when there was no school was different for them.  They were off there routine which messes with a young man’s mind.  On top of this the boys have been 100 percent football since July 29^th with no breaks during the week.  The key word we talked about Tuesday: Steadfast. 

            I could sense many variables that could be affecting our boys on Tuesday:  1.) The tropical storm and being off schedule; 2.) The boys are now in the 8^th week of practice and they could be becoming complacent because they are mentally exhausted; 3.) The boys are 4-0 and they might just start thinking they don’t need to work hard because they are arrogant; 4.)  There is always some other variable I know exists but I don’t know what it is.  So what is the message? Young man: remain steadfast.

            The steadfast man is unwavering.  External circumstances do not affect him.  The creeping softness thought of being mentally exhausted is squashed by the steadfast man.  For he knows he must push through and get better every single day.  The wayward thought: “I am good and I do not need to work hard”is squashed by the steadfast man.  For he knows every single day is an opportunity to improve.  The steadfast man understands that pride comes before the fall.  And in any other situation or circumstance that might be impacting us, we know to remain steadfast in adversity.  The steadfast man trusts in Romans 8:28 and draws strength from what God tells us: “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for Good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”

  

             “And you, who were once alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.”  Colossians 1: 21-23

            As we diligently try and teach our young men to be steadfast, we are equipping them with a character trait that is essential in our walk with Jesus Christ.  When we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, or let me say it better: when Jesus opens up our eyes to the truth of the Gospel, we have started a life long journey of growing to become than man or woman God has created us to be.  When God calls us he begins to equip us to become men and women who will shine as lights in a twisted and crooked generation.  This pursuit of Christ and growing in Christ in a sin stained world requires a person to be steadfast.  You will find yourself in success and in failure.  You will be happy sometimes and often times frustrated and sad.  You will wake up feeling good some days but often times you won’t feel good.  People will help you and hurt you.  No matter what: remain steadfast by keeping our eyes focused on Jesus Christ.  Do not waiver to external circumstances and to your feelings.  Put on Christ and remain steadfast. 

            Steadfast is a great word: unchanging, unwavering, faithful to the end.  It is something for which we should all strive.  In our quest to raise up young men who will be great husbands, fathers, and men who will impact the community for good, being steadfast is a character attribute that is essential to their calling.

Beat Holy Innocents!

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

Wholly for Christ,

Coach Gess

CHARGER NATION GAME #4

Charger Nation,

Game #4 is upon us.  Tonight we travel to Hart County in Northwest Georgia.  They are good football team and Hart is a town that takes great pride in their high school football.  Traditionally they have had great football.  They hired one of the states best high school football coaches last winter and he is doing a great job of getting the boys better each week.  On film they have improved each game.   I am sure they are excited to play us.   Our boys must come ready to play. 

This past Monday was a reality check for everyone.  We had the boys come in on Monday and what we always do is watch the previous game film first thing Monday.  Usually it at 6am on Monday but since school was out the boys didn’t have to come in until 2.  Every one was feeling real good about themselves Monday coming off the Knoxville Catholic game and winning like we did.  Surely we played perfect and the film would only cause the coaches to praise the boys over and over.  Wrong!  Our film time is an opportunity for us to learn from our mistakes and we made plenty of mistakes.  As we watch it we aren’t necessarily looking to tell the boys everything they did right.  We are looking to fix all mistakes and expose our weaknesses so we can fix them at practice.

Sometimes when you win big you walk around with a false sense of reality. You are blinded to the truth.  Success has a way of blinding us to our faults.  We only think about the good and the bad does not even enter into our minds.  We are blind to it.  Film exposes our flaws.  It opens our eyes.  My intentions are never to hurt kids feelings as we watch film.  I want to show them their errors so that they can become better football players and we can become a better team.  They had 48 hours to gloat in victory.  I needed one hour to open their eyes to reality: We made mistakes and we can get better!  We must get better!

It is the same thing with practice film.  We film practice on Tuesday and Wednesday and watch it with the boys Wednesday and Thursday morning.  As coaches we see probably 10 percent of the mistakes kids make at practice.  However, when we sit down and watch the film of practice we see many more mistakes.  We try and sit down with our boys and show them all the mistakes on film so they can see and learn from it.  The goal is to expose their errors so they can get better and the team can get better. 

            The boys know film is good for them but they would rather not watch it and see their mistakes.  They just want to be praised.  It all reminds me of 2 Corinthians Chapter 3 and 4.  These chapters discuss unbelievers having a veil over their eyes.  They cannot see the truth of the gospel because they are blinded to reality.  When a kid wins 55-10 he does not think of his mistakes.  He is blinded to the fact he made mistakes.  He has a veil over his eyes.  Film exposes it.  

“The God of this world has blinded the hearts of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”  2 Corinthians 4:4

When we are blinded to the reality of the gospel, we live in a false reality.  We live in the 55-10 land.  But that is for unbelievers.  For you and I, believers, our eyes are veiled to the truth when we do not come before the Lord during the day and read his word and pray.  For the Christian, this time is like our film time with the football players.  We are coming before the Lord and learning about him through the reading of the Bible.  This is where the Lord speaks to us and shows us how to live and the truth of who he is.  During this time the Holy Spirit works and unveils our eyes to our sin and need of a Savior.  This is the time where God shapes and molds us.  This is where we become better men and women.  Daily devotions sound like a job and work.  It should not be.

I probably spend 8-10 hours a week watching the previous Friday nights film and our practice film.  The boys probably get 2 hours.  (we spend more time watching the other team and game planning but this I’m talking about is watching ourselves). I don’t see it as work.  It is vital to our growth as a football team.  I learn so much and grow so much from it as a coach.   The players grow so much as students of the game and their eyes can see their mistakes.  It’s one thing for me to tell them their mistake.  But when they see it their minds are opened up.  The veil is removed.

This same thing happens in our devotional or quiet time with God.  It isn’t work.  It is a necessity.  It is life!  God shows us our faults and our errors and empowers us by his Holy Spirit to correct our behavior.  In a way only God can, he opens our eyes to our sinful ways.  He shows us the way in which we should go.  He shows us how to live in this world where the majority of people live with unveiled eyes and hearts to the reality of sin and Jesus Christ.  He promises to teach us and instruct us in the way we should go and to counsel us with his eye upon us (Psalm 32:8).  And we should come before the Lord with this humble mindset and he will surely work: “Search my heart and know me O God, try me and know my thoughts.  Reveal to me any grievous way in me and lead me in the way everlasting” (Psalm 139:23). 

I expose our players to film to make them even better football players.  God wants to the same with us.  He exposes our sin to us not to destroy us but to transform into men and women who can lead in this world filled with evil.   We become a better football team when we sit down and watch game film and practice film.  We grow in Christ when we sit down and read his word and pray.  It is vital to our growth.  It must be done!  Iron sharpens Iron!

BEAT HART COUNTY!

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

Proverbs 21:31

Wholly for Christ,

Coach Gess