CHARGER NATION: GAME #9

CHARGER NATION: GAME #9

CHARGER NATION,

Tonight is our last regular season home game and senior night.  It seems like just yesterday we were getting started. I am very proud of our football team and this group of seniors.  They have come to work each and every day and done everything we have asked them to do. What else can you do?  Winning is never guaranteed.  I believe success is becoming the absolute best you can become with the talent God has given you.  I believe this team is working toward that end.  We have often challenged the seniors to do more and to lead better and they have always responded the right way.  They have a desire to excel.  

Tonight we play Mt. Vernon.  Mt. Vernon has some very good football players.  They are 6-2.  We have been preparing for a battle all week.  The talent they have has our football teams attention.  I am good friends with their coaches and have a lot of respect for them.  They do things the right way and coach their boys hard.  It will be a great challenge tonight.  We have had a good week of practice and now it is time to go play!

This week the word diligence was on the mind of our defensive coordinator, Brett Collier.  He came down to the weight room sighting me the definition of diligence: “steady, earnest, and energetic effort: persevering application.”  It is a great word.  The Bible has this to say about diligence: “A slack hand causes poverty, but the hand of the diligent makes rich” (Proverbs 10:4).  Another good verse that says the same thing: “The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance, but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty” (Proverbs 21:5).  

I’ve only met one man that as anxious and stressed out as me Sunday afternoon through Wednesday and that is Brett.  We are anxious and stressed because that is when all of our game planning is done.  It is not an unhealthy anxiety and stress driven by worrying.  We want to get our plan right.   Working and solving the problems relieves the anxiety and the stress. The anxiety and the stress drive the work.  The diligent man works.  The non-diligent man talks: “In all toil there is profit, but mere talk tends only to poverty” (Proverbs 14:23).  

For Brett and me, and our coaching staff, our diligent days are Sunday afternoon until Thursday around 5.  We are watching film and developing a gameplan.  We then move into watching practice film and perfecting our plan. Usually we feel horrible Monday, bad on Tuesday, ok on Wednesday, and then good on Thursday after breaking down Wednesday practice film with the boys Thursday morning.  For me by Thursday afternoon my anxiety and stress are gone and I’m ready to play.  People often think that Friday is a stressful day for me.  Friday is a day of agony cause I’m ready to play.  But I’m not stressed out.  I’m ready due to the diligent preparation done during the week. (*now I am battling being anxious today because of the rain.  The rain creates variables we do not control.  But Mt. Vernon has to deal with the rain too.  It is not an excuse.  Sometimes in life we have a great plan but we are thrown variables we can’t control. So here is another great life lesson. No excuses-get it done!)

This diligent work that we put in Sunday through Thursday is absolutely necessary because we want to win on Friday night.  Our job as coaches is to put our players in position to win.  We are to provide them with the tools and instruction to win.  It is our job to have a plan of preparation that will lead them to victory if they execute our plan correctly.  It is our job to demand that practice appropriately so they can win.  This desire to win on Friday night provides a sense of urgency Sunday through Thursday.  The byproduct of this urgency is diligent work and preparation.  Here is my diligent quote: “What I do today determines my success tomorrow.”

My question to myself this week as Brett stood their talking about diligence is, “Why do I not live with the same sense of urgency for Jesus Christ and his Kingdom? “  I sit here and kill myself all week long to win a game that is going to come and go. I have a sense of urgency about a football game because I know it is coming.  I can taste it and I can see it.  I must work!  But the Kingdom of God and eternal life is infinitely more important than a football game. It is a matter of our souls in eternity. The salvation of my friends and my family, the gospel going out to everyone around me is so much more important than a football game.  Why do I not have the same sense of urgency when it comes the things of God?

The answer is simple.  I do believe in Jesus Christ.  I do live for Jesus Christ.  I have surrendered my life to Christ.  I am saved by the blood of Jesus Christ.  However, I do not see my days as numbered and I do not always walk “seeking the things that are above where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God,” and I do not always walk with my mind “on the things that are above, not on the things that are on earth” (Colossians 3:1-2).  Since I do not live thinking my death is imminent (whether it be today or 50 years from now), I do not live with the sense of urgency I should.  Since I do not always walk with an attitude of gratitude for Jesus Christ and what he has done in saving me from death and the wrath of God by dying on the cross for my sins, I do not  live with a sense of urgency to tell people of this amazing grace and mercy in, by and through  Jesus Christ. 

My goal is not to be a more diligent coach.  My goal is to be more diligent in my pursuit of Christ and proclaiming the good news of the gospel.  I constantly tell the boys to not be the “coulda” guy or “shoulda” guy. You know who I’m talking about: The guy that constantly says I could have done this or I should have done that.   He is the guy that never did anything so he constantly says he could have done.  I don’t want to die and wish I would have done this or should have done that.  I don’t want to leave this life and wish I would have pursued Christ more and I should have proclaimed Christ more.  

During the week we are diligently preparing in hopes when that final whistle blows on Friday night there will be no regrets and that we will be victorious. This vision drives us to work with diligence.  It is more important that we live our lives knowing that one day we will stand before the Creator of the Universe.  We will give an account of our lives and our pursuits.  We must live today in preparation for that day.  When that final whistle blows on our life here on this year, may we stand victorious.

The only way we stand victorious is through the blood of Jesus Christ.  We were all dead in our sins.  We rebelled against a Holy God and rejected him.  We rejected God because we wanted to be god. We are guilty of the highest treaston against a Holy God.  We stand condemned and deserve the eternal wrath of a Holy God we rejected.  BUT GOD-- in our rejection of God, he sent his son, Jesus Christ, to die in our place.  “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ-by grace you have been saved” (Ephesians 2:4-5)

For those who accept this and believe in Jesus Christ for their salvation will stand victorious.  And as we accept Jesus Christ as Lord, he transforms us in this life in preparation for that great day when we will stand victorious when our time on this earth is done.   I pray we believe this and I pray we diligently spread this good news. 

Our boys are ready!  Rain or shine: I can’t wait to play!  NO EXCUSES. Let’s get it done!

Beat Mt. Vernon!

“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 #8

CHARGER NATION: GAME #8

Charger Nation,

            Last night our JV season and our middle school season came to an end.  Our middle school team lost their championship game.  I am very proud of the resiliency of our middle school players and coaching staff.  Yes, we would have rather gone out with a win, but I like how they battled at the end of the season.  Our JV team won their league by beating Mays High School 48-6. They finished the season with a 6-0 record.  I want to thank our varsity coaching staff for the time, effort, and energy they put into those boys.  Our varsity staff coaches our JV.  Josh Worsham is our JV head coach and he does an awesome job.  

            It has been very enjoyable to watch our 9^thgraders and 10^thgraders improve this year.  We make them work out everyday and then we coach them everyday. Part of the reason we practice so long on Monday’s and Tuesday’s is so we can fit JV development time in.  I have watched boys start off the season and grow into legitimate 2^ndstring varsity players.  I have watched our JV defensive backs guard three division 1 wide receivers in practice everyday.  You guys see three interceptions last night but you don’t see them doing a fantastic job guarding the varsity wide receivers everyday.  I am not surprised with our interceptions. The boys have been working.  Good things come to those who work.  I could go over each position and say the same things. 

Middle school parents, I will get your boys in the weight room and we will develop them.  We are a school that takes players and develops them and demands excellence from them. The improvement you see from 9^thgrade to 12^thgrade is the best in the country.  Some kids will quit and some will stay.  THOSE WHO STAY WILL BECOME CHAMPIONS!  Your son will get 100% better each year if you keep him with me and support me in what I demand from them.  

“For what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God.” Luke 16:15

            As I was reading through Luke this week this verse caught my attention.  Jesus was talking the Pharisees in this particular moment.  The Pharisees were religious people who on the surface seemed good but their hearts were bad.  They would do good deeds for selfish gain.  They would use people to gain power.  They would use God to promote themselves and try to attain worldly glory. They were desperate for the approval and acceptance of man.  

            In many ways we are just like the Pharisees. They didn’t know their actions were wicked.  They did not understand that God analyzes the intentions of our heart when we do something.  God does not look at their actions and give them a stamp of approval; God looked deep into their heart to see why they were doing what they were doing.  

            So, in this verse Jesus is calling the things they celebrate over, even in God’s name, an abomination.  They hated Jesus for this.  They wanted people to see their good deeds and glorify them for it. Jesus exposed the hypocrisy of their good deeds.  He tells them the only reason they good deeds is so they may receive glory from the men around them.   They would do good deeds but then prey upon unmarried women and widows.  They would do good deeds as long as the public was watching, but then bypass a beat up man on the side of the street if no one was watching.  They would do good deeds, but make excuses why they didn’t have to serve their parents when their parents could no longer take care of themselves.  They would do good deeds but they make up rules and laws for the people to keep that they themselves would not keep.  They were liars and thieves at the core but tried to mask it with a beautiful surface.  

The Pharisees were desperate to look good on the surface but deep down on the inside they were wicked.  They wanted the public to see them as a servant but they were corrupt and wicked on the inside.  Jesus exposed the corruption of their hearts.  He exposed their secret sins.   He told them: “It doesn’t matter what you do or how great an act it is, it is an abomination in my sight.  It is an abomination because your motives and your intentions are wrong.  You people take advantage of people.  You destroy people.  You are users.”  Because Jesus exposed them, the Pharisees hated him.  They killed him.  

            The only way we are going to keep our motives pure is to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.  As we seek Christ and read his word, the Lord exposes to us our sin. As he exposes to us our sin we see the evil intentions we have in our hearts.  Proverbs 3:5-6 talks about how God will make our paths straight.  By ourselves he will be crooked.  I like the word pure.  God makes our relationships and our pursuits pure.  He makes our motives pure.  And by pure I mean every thought and action processed through the lens of Jesus Christ.  In anything that I say or do I ask: “Does this honor God?  Is this for God’s glory or is it for my own?”  (*well the goal is to always ask ourselves this and live this way. Sometimes I don’t and when I move and act without seeking God I usually sin.)

            As I was pondering over this verse and thinking about all of this I began to think about how lost this world is.  We live our lives striving to gain the world and to what end?  We are desperate for our kids to get the best educations and get the best jobs.  The only reason we want this is so they can make the most money or be something this world considers valuable.  We are very much like the Pharisees.  We care desperately about the things of the world and our hearts are sick.  We raise our children to be enslaved to the world and the approval of the world. Being slaves we create slaves.  

            God wants us to do our best but for his glory.  He doesn’t want us to do our best so we can make a lot of money or go to what the world considers the best college.  At the end of the day, the money I make and the college I go to are sources of pride and acceptance for me.  Just like the Pharisees, we are into self-promotion and glory.  God knows the end of this is death.  Chasing these things will lead to your demise.  

            I am not saying these things are bad.  You must analyze why you want what you want.  That is what God does for us with a relationship with him.  He shows us the sin of our actions.  God wants us to be our best.  But he wants us to do it for his glory.  This is why we were created.  God knows that if we are chasing our own glory we will become further and further enslaved to sin and death.  

            The world whispers to us that if we can only attain this (whatever your this is) then we will be happy.  The world tells us we will arrive when we attain this (whatever your this is).  We listen and we chase and it is never enough.  In our chasing glory and the things of this world we destroy our families and friendships.        

            Just like us, the Pharisees were chasing worldly power and glory.  They were raising up their children to chase worldly power and glory.  They were using and abusing people.  On the surface they looked sweet, innocent and good.  But on the inside they were wretched.  Jesus exposed them.  We are the Pharisees and the story is for us.  Jesus wants to transform us and make us men and women who truly impact the world for good.  He wants to make us men and women who live for his glory and find the joy for which we were created.  God knows this world will kill us.  He knows this world is in rebellion against him.  He wants to save us.  We must give him our lives.

            In thinking about all of this, a verse from Psalm 84 popped into my mind.  The verse popped into my mind but and I knew it was in the Psalms but I had no idea where. I’m not smart enough to have every verse memorized and where it is.  Google helped me find the exact location:

“For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere.” Psalm 84:10

I cannot fully understand this verse yet and I am praying I can taste it and see it.  However, I know this: I was made for God and his glory.  I find joy and peace in this life by seeking Christ and doing things to bring him glory and honor.  The more I make it about me the more desperate, worrisome, and anxious I become. The more I make it about Christ the more I rest in his sovereign power.  When it is about my glory my actions are not pure and my heart is not pure. When it is for God’s glory he enters into every thought and every relationship and he makes it pure and right. 

            The height of any coach’s career must be to win a national championship.  I thought about Dabo Swinney because I know he is a Christian.  The exclamation mark on Coach Swinney’s career was the national championship he won two years ago.  I imagine the feeling he had as he held that trophy up in front of 1000’s of cheering fans was amazing.  I know when we win the moments after are just moments of great peace and satisfaction you cannot replicate on a daily basis in life.  

            But as I was thinking about that joy and satisfaction that Coach Swinney had in that moment and that night and even into the next day, it pales in comparison to what we will experience in the courts of our Lord and Savior.  This verse promises us that this one day coach Swinney had winning a championship, he can have 1000 of these days in a row, as one day in the Lord’s courts is better than 1000 of our best days.

            Our problem is we cannot imagine the good that is waiting for us and is for us now in Christ Jesus.  We are so enslaved to our sin and this world that we cannot taste and see the Lord is good.  We cannot see his courts.  We do not long to be his presence unstained from sin.  We are so enslaved to this world, the approval of man, and seeking glory we are blind.  But I pray, I pray God will open our eyes and our hearts to his goodness.  That we will see He is the reason we have been created. That we will value Jesus Christ and the blood he shed on the cross so that we may be forgiven of our sins and reunited with the Father.  That he will make our ways pure and we will live for his glory.  This is life and life abundantly!

Our boys are ready! I’m fired up to play tonight! BEAT Strong Rock!

“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 #7

CHARGER NATION,

            Tonight is Homecoming.  It will be fun seeing some alumni I have not seen in a year.  The ELCA administration always does an awesome job of creating an awesome environment on Homecoming.  There will be a festive spirit in the air tonight.  It would be nice if it actually felt like fall but it actually is going to feel like the middle of summer tonight.  We all are ready for fall but it just won’t come! 

            The festivities that go along with homecoming are always fun.  However, with a teenage boy, he can easily become distracted and lose focus.  As a coaching staff, we worked hard keeping their eyes focused on the task at hand and the opportunity of getting better each day.  We have had great discussions about extrinsic motivation and intrinsic motivation this week.   We all know, people who succeed at a high level are the ones who are motivated from within.

            I think we have a great group of young men that we are coaching this year.  Obviously when I’m coaching a good group, I know I have parents who desire excellence for and from their child.   We ask our varsity starters to be at film 6am Monday morning and stay until 8pm Monday. On Tuesday we ask them to stay until 8pm.  On Wednesday we ask them to come in at 6:50 am and watch film. On Thursdays we ask them to come in at 7:00 am and watch film.  Each one of them come to film and they don’t miss.  We set a standard of excellence and they meet it.  Many of our boys have 3.5 GPAs or higher.  Academics should never suffer because of busy schedule. Find a way!  Parents, you buy in and support this process.  

            On Wednesday morning I was getting on to the offense in the offensive film meeting.  I was exposing poor effort plays that happened on Tuesday as we watched the film.   In film I probably say things that aren’t nice.  I have had all the teacher classes where they tell me I am supposed to affirm and lift up students.  I agree with this stuff sometimes.  But what about when you have a young man who can perform at a high level but he is performing at a low level solely because he is allowing himself to give poor effort? Does this behavior need to be affirmed or ignored?  We watch film together to hold each other accountable.  So when I have a young man who can perform at a high level performing at a low level we trace this right back to effort.  Effort is something we can control.  For me, I have 0 toleration for poor effort.  Football is a team game.  It’s not about the individual.  If the individual is giving poor effort it impact the entire team. So an individual’s poor effort must be addressed because it is impacting everyone.  We expose this behavior and call that person out during film.  And then we challenge them (sometimes it’s the whole group): We must have a better day today!

            We have to give our best effort everyday so we can grow in what we do.  This weekend and all day Monday, I study film of the opposing team.  We study the other teams offense, defense and special teams. Studying the opposing teams defense is always tricky.  You are trying to find out what their base defense is and then the adjustments they make to each formation.  As I’m studying it, I’m not just looking for what they do but why they do it.  If I understand why the coach does something then I’ll have answers to many other questions.  So we study the games we have of them and we find they run 3 different defensive fronts and 2 or 3 coverages behind it.  I played this coach we are playing tonight back in 2012 so I went back and studied that game so I could see find a pattern.  Usually how a coach wants to play defense doesn’t change over time. Little things may change but the overall philosophy will stay the same.  

            A lot of work went into studying the film Sunday and Monday.  As practice time got closer I had not figured out the why.  So I developed my script to run plays against a certain defense by formation.  The studying was over for that day and now we had to go to practice.  At practice, the very second we moved from one formation against a certain defense to the second formation against the second defense, the why struck me right there on the football field.  I couldn’t see the why in the adjustment through watching the film. But on the practice field my eyes were opened to it.  I cracked the why and now, having a full understanding of what is going on, it is easier for me to develop an offensive game plan and then call plays on Friday night.

            My point in telling that story is that success comes from the struggle, the toil.  For coaches, if we are going to be successful in our game plan then we are going to have to spend many hours watching film and studying our notes.  If we avoid the struggle then we are going into the game blind. It is like a young man who has a calculus test.  If he does not put in the work leading up to the test, he is going to go and take the test and fail.  He was not prepared because he lacked effort leading up to the test.  If you are waiting until the night before the test or the day of the test to focus you will not do well.  

            In football, in school, in life, the only way a young man is going to reach his full potential is to embrace the hard work and demand excellence from himself.  If you refuse to do the work you won’t find success.  But this isn’t easy.  There are no tangible rewards they can see for good performance on a Tuesday. I’m old and life experiences have taught me that what I do today impacts my tomorrow.  Yes, I won’t get a tangible reward for anything I do on a Monday or Tuesday, but I know the reward a I want on Friday (a win), will not happen unless we get better each day.  This is the lesson and the demands we are trying to show your boys.  If you want to be great a year from now, then you better have 275 great work days between now and then.  (I didn’t say 365 because I’m a big believe in the work/rest/recovery relationship).

            All of this drove me to thought to a few of my coaching friends:  “Success is only found deep deep deep down in the struggle and the toil.  Most will work but few to the point of pain.  And there, at that point, is where your eyes and your mind will see what it takes to succeed.  Many aren’t willing to go there.  But for the select few that are, they will reap the rewards.”  This is what we are trying to show the boys.  I might be coaching a future doctor and he may be in medical school one day and he is going to need to understand this. He can embrace the pain of mental and physical exhaustion and press forward, or he can quit and not become a doctor. Same for anything else these boys might be called to do.  Whatever God calls them to do, our goal is that they do it with excellence.  Maybe it was that Wednesday morning film session that help get them there.

            In my walk with Christ, I find that success is deep in the struggle as well.  We are all sinners and we struggle with sin.  Just like a football team should be growing and not be making the same mistakes over and over, so it is with us as Christians.  But to say there is not a struggle with sin is a lie.  To say the Christian walk is not one of toil is a lie. To say God is ok with your sin is a lie. The Bible uses hard words: “Deny yourselves;” “Crucify yourselves;” “Do not love the world.” It’s like a Wednesday morning film session.  But what is God’s aim?  To make us men and women who will shine as lights in this world for God’s glory.  If you are in Christ, you accept these teachings not as teachings that drive you to despair: “God I cannot measure up, I quit.” No, for you know that the love of God will never depart from you no matter how many times you mess up if you truly love God and have surrendered your life to him.  You know God desires the most for you.  You know that when God has called you he then is in the process of sanctifying you and equipping you.  As he makes you into a man or woman who will shine as a light in this evil world and as he molds and shapes you to do his work, He will expose the evil in you and lead you in the way you should go.  It’s not an easy process, but we can have joy in knowing God is shaping and molding us.

            This is what I’m trying to do for the boys that play football.  I want to make them the very best they can be.   I want to challenge their effort and their performance everyday.  I will call out and expose their poor effort and their bad attitudes.  I don’t care if they get mad at me.   I don’t want them to get mad at me.  I want them to respond and have a great day.  But I honestly don’t care if their 17-year-old selves like me.  I don’t care if they think I’m cool, or relevant.  In fact, if they think those two things about me than I am a poor poor leader.  I want them to love me when they are 27.  Mom and Dad, me and you are laying a foundation for a successful man.  We are not their friend, we are their mentor and instructor.  My goal is to make these boys into men I want to be friends with when they are 25.

At the end of the film session, I looked out and there were 20 eyes on me watching the film way before any other kid and most teachers come to school. Coach Collier had 20 more in the coach’s office watching film and he was doing the same thing.  My heart was encouraged as I thought: “These boys really do want to be good and they really do want to be leaders.  If they didn’t, they wouldn’t show up.”  So of course, I then sent them an encouraging text.  And of course, they respond as they always do with a great practice on Wednesday even though some of them were still made at me.

            Our relationship with Jesus Christ is no different. We are in a film session constantly with God.  As soon as we do something stupid, if we are walking with Christ, he exposes the stupidity of our actions.  If you are walking with Christ he will expose the stupidity of your actions before you do it. We are so enslaved to sin we do it anyway sometimes.  When we sin God doesn’t first say to me I love you.  He knows that I know he loves me.  He knows I don’t need to hear that.  His Holy Spirit lives inside of me and testifies of God’s love for me.  He showed this love on the cross.  No, when I sin, I hear the words foolish and dumb.  He isn’t calling me dumb and foolish but the action.  --God does uses words like stupid.  He isn’t calling us stupid but the action: “Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates reproof us stupid” Proverbs 12:1)-- As I tell the kids during film, “Keep practicing like this and your going to get beat.”  God tells me: “Keep doing these foolish (stupid) things and you will find yourself in a spot you don’t want to be in.”  

            Whether it be a player for me or our pursuit of Christ, the goal is we have less and less of these conversations about our poor effort. My goal is that we create a young man who goes to college and plays football and the college coach tell me that his effort and attention to detail is second to none.  My goal is that we create a young man who goes to college and thrives academically because his work ethic and attention to detail is second to none.  My goal is that we create great husbands, fathers and men who impact the community for Jesus Christ because their work ethic and attention to detail is second to none. And this is God’s goal too.  He is in the business of taking really messed up people completely enslaved to sin and transforming them into men and women who shine as lights in this dark world.  It isn’t easy but “he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”  Philippians 1:6

Our boys are ready for tonight!  

“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