He's numbered every hair on my .... face?

He’s numbered every hair on my…face?

If you’ve seen me at some point in the past week you’ve probably noticed my hair is longer than usual and my facial hair was unkept. To be honest, I hate shaving my face. I mean, I really despise it. It’s uncomfortable, messy, and I genuinely see it as a waste of my time. It’s 5-10 minutes of my time I could give to something more productive, but instead I have to do this because society thinks my unkept beard is ugly. Coach Gess and Coach Graham have military backgrounds so I assume that’s why they’re always clean shaven. Coach McClure has impeccable discipline so I guess that’s what gets him up to shave every morning (although I think he used to have a goatee). Anyway, last night I’m going through the agonizing process of cutting the hair off my face (with an electric razor) and I  notice random hairs popping off from the razor all over the bathroom counter (sorry, Katie). I thought about these hairs flying randomly all over the place and really began to deeply consider them. What was their path? Were they rotating end over end? Were they spinning like a screw? A combination of both? What determined where each hair went and landed? Some pre-determined force in the universe? Air pressure? Movement of air in the bathroom? Gravity? Chance? Randomness? 

My mind instantly flashed to a conversation I had earlier that day with our team chaplain, Neal Dose. As I’ll show, I believe this conversation and the hairs on my face were all working as a part of the providence of God. Neal and I were talking about an old Baptist preacher named Charles Spurgeon.  Today we refer to Spurgeon as the “Prince of Preachers.” Many today look at Spurgeon as the god-father of modern preaching and take whatever he said as the gold standard. I would consider myself a Spurgeon fan, but like with any preacher, I’m very weary to take whatever they say as truth unless it is backed well by scripture. If your pastor isn’t preaching directly from the word of God then you may want to consider getting a new church. I see so many pastors today on social media and the internet spouting off garbage and “feel good” messages that aren’t in tune with scripture. They tickle your ears but they don’t feed your soul. These are false teachers and God says he will deal very harshly with those that lead his people astray. God’s word remains supreme, even over your favorite pastor. 

Spurgeon came from a long line of preachers that believed in the absolute power, omnipotence, and sovereignty of God. Now, if I asked most of you if you thought God was almighty and all powerful, we would all say “Yes, of course he is. That is, after all, what it means to be God.”  Then I would press you a little bit on that and ask, “Well, just how sovereign is God? To what degree? To what extent?”  That’s where most people start getting uncomfortable with the question. And rightfully so. This is no doubt a difficult topic Here’s how Spurgeon answered that question:

“I believe that every particle of dust that dances in the sunbeam does not move an atom more or less than God wishes—

that every particle of spray that dashes against the steamboat has its orbit, as well as the sun in the heavens—

that the chaff from the hand of the winnower is steered as the stars in their courses.

The creeping of an aphid over the rosebud is as much fixed as the march of the devastating pestilence—

the fall of sere leaves from a poplar is as fully ordained as the tumbling of an avalanche.”

So, it becomes clear that Spurgeon believed God was sovereign over and ruled, controlled, and ordained every movement of everything in existence without exception, even referencing atoms and particles alongside stars and avalanches. In Spurgeon’s view, God was controlling how those tiny hairs flew through the air from my face and where they landed on the counter (again, sorry Katie.) 

But we have to ask, can this be? Is this really true? If so, what are the implications? At the end of the day, I don’t really care at all what Charles H. Spurgeon has to say about it. What does God and His word say about it? Here are some of my favorite verses that may help us here...

“In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will,”

Ephesians 1:11

What is Paul saying here? Clearly, all things work according to the counsel of God’s will. I take “all things” to mean “all things.” Not some things—all things. Not just important things—all things. Not just things in nature—all things. Even tiny hairs. 

“The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord.”

Proverbs 16:33 

A lot was an old way of making random decisions or choices. Today we might say “the dice are cast on the table but their every decision is from the Lord.” The writer is trying to think of the most random thing he can think of...like dice. And what does he say? In God’s world, their rolling and turning isn’t random. Every single one of those decisions is from the Lord. And so are all the movements of those little hairs. 

“Remember this and stand firm, recall it to mind, you transgressors, remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,’”

Isaiah 46:8-10 

What is God telling us here? He says “Remember this! Don’t forget this!...I am God. There is none like me. From the beginning, I have ordained the end. And I will do all that I plan to do.” This is amazing. Truly, a staggering statement. But could this include something as insignificant as hair? 

Well, let’s see what Jesus says. 

“Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered.”

Matthew 10:29-30 

Sparrows were considered cheap, small, insignificant birds. One sparrow cost half a penny. And not a single one falls from a branch in a random tree in the forest apart from the will of the Lord. And even every hair on our head is numbered by God. And check this out...Jesus doesn’t simply say “my father knows how many hairs...” But he says that he has numbered them. There’s a difference. To number them means he’s involved. There is action on God’s part. He is intimately involved with us. It isn’t just knowledge, it’s care. There is deep attention to detail and provision here. We have just as many hairs as he wants us to have. And if one falls out, like the sparrow, it’s a part of his will. I think if Jesus were with me now, he’d say “Yes, even the hairs on your face.” 

Now, you can search the scriptures and find many other examples of this kind of language. From there you can decide for yourself what you think. But, I’ll ask... What if this is true? What are the implications? The implications are that I fall to my knees and worship this awesome God. I bow my head in reverence to this Lord and his infinite power and wisdom. I repent, wholeheartedly, for the foolishness and ignorance of my sin and I desperately pray that this mighty and holy God forgive me and draw me near him. I shout, I sing, and I praise the name of this God and mighty savior, that in his infinite goodness, gave me mercy and he loved me.  The same God that guides the galaxies and planets in their orbits and controls the gusts of wind or the rain drops and dust particles and, yes, even those hairs, saw it fit to be mindful of me, the rebel. Why? I don’t know. It doesn’t make sense to me. I would have given up on me. His ways are too wonderful for me, his knowledge is too high, his love is too deep.  All I can do is praise him and live for him.  All glory to Him!

Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name;
    bring an offering, and come into his courts!
Worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness
    tremble before him, all the earth!

Psalm 96:8-10

Amen! The Lord reigns!

Brett Collier

Spring Game 2019

SPRING GAME, May 17th 2019

CHARGER NATION,

            It’s May 17^th and it’s game day.  I’m writing this at 5:30 AM on Friday morning and Uriah has just woke up telling me he is ready to get up.  So we will see if I can stay focused.  And, I always have the English majors out there telling me I spelled a word wrong or grammatical errors.  My mom is a reading specialist and she likes to correct me.  Just so everyone knows, I write these things at 5 in the morning on Friday and have to be done by 6 or 630.  I type as thoughts come to my head.  I don’t have time to edit.  I’m trying to deliver motivating content so excuse my errors.  I’ll make a lot of errors coaching tonight too.  I’m doing my best. 

            Tonight we play Stockbridge.  They are always good and talented.  Coach Whitley has been the head coach for the longest time but he left in January to become the head coach at New Manchester in Douglas County.  Coach Boyd has been the Defensive Coordinator at Stockbridge and he is now the head coach.  He has always done a fantastic job on defense.  I am excited for him and his opportunity as a head coach. 

             It will be a fun and challenging game tonight.  I am excited for our boys.  We have a lot of talented young men and many competitions for starting positions.  Our goal each year is to find 22 guys who can play, 11 on offense and 11 on defense.  Some years we have 22 and come years we don’t.  I believe this year we do.  As coaches, we have the puzzle pieces; we just have to figure out where they go.  We have had a great two weeks of practice and found out a lot about our boys.  Now it’s time to throw them into the fire and see how they compete when the pressure is on!

“Take away the dross from the silver, and the silversmith has material for a vessel.”

Proverbs 25:4

            I am sure I have written about dross before.  Dross is the impurities that get on gold and silver and turn it into a different color.  You might have a beautiful silver ring or necklace, but if you leave it out and don’t take care of it, it will turn an ugly yellow color. 

            When I am coaching I go to practice each day thinking about removing the dross.  I believe have the potential on our football team for a beautiful vessel.  But right now, there is a lot of dross and we have to scrub diligently in order to remove the infirmities.  On a football team, 11 players must act in unison.  Individually, they all must have great technique and understand their responsibilities.  Then, they must be able to process and react with great technique to many different scenarios.  At this point, technique is not perfect.  They do not understand fully how their responsibility meshes with the other 10 guys.  We are constantly demanding excellence in their effort and attitudes (which have been great by the way).  All of this is dross.  As coaches, we are going out everyday to practice and we are cleaning it all up in desperate hopes of creating a beautiful vessel.  We demand they come and watch film so they can see for themselves the infirmities.  Our desire is they see the dross and make a commitment to removing the infirmities and creating a beautiful vessel. 

            This is a long and hard process of removing the dross.  Sometimes with precious metals you can scrub the infirmities off.  But often times extreme heat and fire is used to melt the medal to remove the impurities.  Silver and gold are heated to remove the dirt that cannot be removed through scrubbing.  Fire and heat is also used to melt in order to strengthen and shape.  Intense pressure and heat cleans and shapes.  Sometimes we must polish but often times heat and fire is required to produce a beautiful vessel. 

            As football coaches, we are going to do whatever is necessary to remove the dross.  Sometimes a gentle correction will get the job done.  But often times the only way we can remove the dross is through fire.  We will do whatever is necessary.  Many kids can’t handle the dross removing process.  Many will quit.  This is why we say: “Those who stay will become champions.”  We know many will quit.  We hate that they do.  But to make it easy so they will stay prohibits us from creating beautiful vessels.  There are young men who want to go through the fire because they want to become their absolute best.  And this is our aim: To help these young men become all they can become.  To make it easy is to fail those who desire excellence. 

“Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.”

2 Corinthians 7:1

            For me, football is a metaphor for the Christian walk.  I was born totally depraved.  This means nothing was good inside of me.  That doesn’t mean I wasn’t a nice person.  I was.  It means I was 100% committed to myself.  I would be nice if someone was nice.  But, due to my sin nature, I could hate and rage at anyone who offended me, didn’t think like me, or was against me.  Pride, lying, arrogance, envy, lust, wrath, jealousy, strife, bitterness, griping, complaining, etc.; these were natural responses inside of me.  To reject God’s commands and to be selfish was woven into my DNA. 

            Your boys are no different.  They are sinners.  They are bent to do the wrong thing.  We all are.  It’s exactly what I mean when I say totally depraved.  I have had parents tell me: “My son would never lie to me.”  I am always amazed at the naivety of parents.  I lied to my mom and dad all the time when I was doing wrong.  To think my son won’t do the same is foolish.  I expect kids to lie.  In fact, when I sit down with them to tell them what they did wrong, it is not an open discussion.  I’m not looking for them to offer their opinion on what happened because I expect them to lie.  I understand sin nature because A.) the Bible tells me; and B.) I am a sinner.

            Coaching high school boys, or in your case raising them, and demanding excellence from them seems hopeless.  Demanding that they take ownership, respect everyone, be thankful, be loyal, have integrity, be courageous to do right, be steadfast in trials, have discipline, be humble; this just all seems like an impossible task.  And it is if you look at it in the moment. 

            I say Win the Day, because I know everyday is going to be a war.  Not just with myself, but in coaching these boys.  I know I am going to be disappointed by their behavior.  I know their lack of understanding to what I am preaching to them is going to be discouraging.  However, I am committed to the fighting the war.  And in a war many battles are lost, but it is the one that quits that loses the war.  We will lose battles with these boys as we shape and mold them, but every battle we lose is a teaching moment with them.  Every time there is a battle it is an opportunity to remove dross.  This is a long and tenuous process. 

            There is nothing harder than raising teenagers.  I often say there is no difference than my 6 year old and a 16 year old except a 16 year old has a sex drive.  DANGEROUS! They are young and dumb.  They have no clue about life.  They have no clue about right and wrong especially when it comes to girls, but about everything as well.  And I see a dangerous thing from parents: Parents leave them to their stupidity with no correction.  Worse, when their children mess up (which is daily), their own mom and dad make excuses for them.  What I see is parents running from the battles.  In their desire for peace, they lose the war for their son’s soul.  It’s disappointing, it’s sad and it’s scary. 

            I hear some coaches all the time say they can’t wait to practice.  When a coach says that I automatically think they are a bad coach.  Practice is a grind for me.  I do not look forward to it.  It exhausts me.  You know why? Because I go out there fighting a war.  I am going to correct every mistake.  I am going to demand excellence in effort and attitudes.  Often times their wills are directly opposed to me.  To create a beautiful vessel it is hard.  It is a war.  Sometimes I just want to quit it’s so exhausting.  BUT YOU KNOW WHAT-we can’t quit.  If we fail to fight we fail the most important calling God has given us: To raise these boys us in Jesus Christ. 

            Mom and Dad, as we go forward, let us not grow weary of fighting this war.  Let us not capitulate the manipulative requests and desires of our children.  We are in the business of creating a beautiful vessel.  To not expect it be easy.  Expect a war with 1000’s of battles.  Don’t even expect to see a finished product while they are in high school.  The battle’s you embrace daily and the excellence you demand daily, this will not return void.  Your son will turn into silver at some point.  But if you do not fight the war, if you give into your child and become his best friend, the beautiful vessel your son was to become will never be seen.  In fact, he will either be living with you or in jail when he is 25. 

            We must demand excellence.  We must embrace the war.  Mom and Dad, we are here for you!  We can be your greatest asset as we demand excellence from them and do not tolerate their foolishness.  However, you must keep them with us! 

BEAT STOCKBRIDGE!

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

Proverbs 21:31

Wholly for Christ,

Coach Gess

ELCA FOOTBALL: STATE CHAMPIONSHIP 2018

ELCA FOOTBALL: STATE CHAMPIONSHIP 2018

Charger Nation,

            The day has come: State Championship 2018.  This morning we have the privilege of loading up the busses and playing in the Mercedez-Benz Stadium.  We play Athens Academy and all of you know Athens Academy.  They are the same team we played last year.  Many of their best players you remember from last year are back this year.  They have a great coach in Josh Alexander.  I would say the strength of their team is their defense.  When I watch film I always come away thinking how feisty their defense is and how they do not give up many yards.  Offensively, they want to run the ball in many different ways.  They have two very good running backs.  They have great special teams because they have a great kicker.  Yes, I am describing a team you would expect in a state championship game.  Besides playing last year, we don’t really have any similar opponents from this year.  We really don’t know how we stack up until we get out there and go at it.  It is time!

I cannot be more proud of what our boys have accomplished this year.  This 2018 ELCA Football team came in with 13 seniors and we were replacing 13 starters off of last year’s state championship team.  We knew we had talented athletes but much of that talent had not started a varsity football game.  Could those talented players become football players?  Could those seniors become leaders and take control of the locker room and the football team?  This team had to develop an identity and a chemistry if they were going to make it back to the state championship.  I felt we had the talent but could we become one?  Could we die to self and become a team? 

They only way to forge chemistry and to develop an identity is to go through hardship together.  The 2017 team, that group of seniors, we were always able to rally behind losing 49-7 in the state championship game their freshman year.  When they were sophomores they started out the season 3-3 and ended up winning the state championship.  The struggles developed an identity.  Rallying together and learning to fight developed a chemistry.  This 2018 had to endure that as well.  Losing to Pace was devastating but necessary. 

Losing to Pace taught us humility and it taught us how to persevere.  We could feel sorry for ourselves, mope, and maybe lose some more.  Or we could roll up our sleeves and continue to get better.  I know for me as an offensive play caller and then for our defensive coordinator, Brett Collier, we were figuring out what we did well.  We were trying to get the players in the right position on offense and defense.  Losing was a huge trial for us but, in the end, it was a catalyst to shaping and molding this current team. 

The other game that I believe forged our identity was the Mount Vernon game.  We were down 21-14 in the third quarter.  We couldn’t get anything going offensively.  We were struggling to stop them.  They had the ball on the 5 yard line going in to score to make it 28-14.  Our defense rose up and stopped them.  In that moment, during that goal line stand, we have seen a different football team.  There became and edge and a fight to this team.  In the last 14 minutes of the game we went on to score 28 unanswered points and have been rolling since that moment.  Our backs were up against the wall and our kids could fight or fold.  They chose to fight and they have been playing with a rage and fury that every state championship contender must have since that goal line stand. 

Those two games, those two trials, they have helped this team develop a chemistry and an identity.  All great teams have been through hardship together and overcome.  This team has overcome.  This team has learned how to be Warriors.  So here are: Time to go play the State Championship at the Benz!

“For when I am weak, then I am strong.” 2 Corinthians 13:10

            Chargers, you know very well that we use the game of football to preach Jesus Christ.  For me personally, God always teaches me many things over the course of the football season.  Each week I pour out to you what God is showing me in hopes to encourage you and point us all to Jesus Christ.  This week God has made it clear to me that I am weak.  As a football coach, I take great pride in being strong and tough.  As a football coach, I want to be mentally tougher than everyone.  If I am truthful, this is my source of pride and identity.  Deep down I like to believe I can outwork you. 

            I say God builds the house but I have great pride in our process and how hard we all work.  My pride was a little rooted in our work ethic.  But this week God let me know who was in control.  He showed me how powerless I am.  He showed me that I am not strong.  He showed me that if I try and build the house by my own power and my own strength I won’t be able to make it.  God showed me how frail I am.  God showed me that I am weak.  My heart beats because the Almighty God wills it.  My brain works because God wills it.  My body operates because the Almighty God who created wills it.  

“Be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.” Ephesians 6:10

            As God broke me down and made me helpless I saw clearly how weak and frail I am.  I thought I had complete control of my body and my mind but God showed me that I do not.  Every ounce of pride I had in my mental discipline and fortitude was stripped from me.  For a whole day and even a little bit longer God removed this ability from me.  As he gave Paul a thorn, maybe he has given me a thorn. Either way, He showed me that what I think is mine is not mine.  What I take a little bit of glory in he can quickly take away.  What helps me be successful in what I do, God can take it away.  It’s not mine.  It is his and it is to be used for his glory and his purposes.  I am to trust in him for my strength. 

I saw clearly how strong and powerful God is.  God took me and shook me; he showed me that anything that I am trying to do under my own power is meaningless.  He showed me where doing things under my own power will take me.  I will never forget that Sunday night I spent in the hospital begging God to help me.  I had no clue what was wrong with me except that I was not in control.  For the first time I my life I lay there helpless.  I could not buckle down and work my way through it.  For the first time I felt truly at God’s mercy.  I always say God makes our heart beat and our minds work.  I I00% believed it.  But Sunday night I experienced it.  I am weak. God is Strong.  God offers me and wants to be my strength. 

“Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us.” Psalm 62:8

This is the verse I started praying that night.  No, I didn’t have it memorized.  I was reading through the Psalms looking for something to quiet my mind.  God gave me this.  God is my refuge and my strength.  God is an awesome God.  He is the Almighty God of the Universe yet he desires a personal relationship with you and me.  He is God.  He is good.  He loved us so much that he sent his son Jesus Christ to die on the cross for our sins.  We were helpless and had rebelled against him.  We sought our own way and this way leads only to our demise.  It leads to hell as we rejected the Holy God of the Universe.  But Jesus Christ came to reunite us with the Father.  Jesus Christ came to die for our sins.  Jesus Christ came that we may live.  Jesus Christ came that we could be strong in the Lord.  For we were weak but Christ has made us strong.  My life, my strength; it is in Christ.  God has shown me strength in Jonathan Gess is death.  Strength in Christ is life now and forevermore.  Truly, “I will trust in him at all times, God is my refuge.” 

Now—it’s time to go play this football game!!!!

“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: SEMI-FINALS

CHARGER NATION: SEMI-FINALS

CHARGER NATION,

Today we travel down to Savannah for the semi finals of the state playoffs.  I am very proud of our boys for getting to this point.  Last year we graduated 22 seniors and had one of the greatest runs in GHSA history.  Eleven of those 22 were offered scholarships.  How would we replace those guys?  Many people didn’t know what this group was going to do.  This group has met and exceeded my expectations regardless of winning or losing tonight.  They have worked their tails off and earned the right to be in this game.  I am extremely excited for them!

            Savannah Christian is a good football team.  They have very good skill players.  Numbers that jump out on film are #2, #1, #6, and #8.  Those are the guys who get the ball the majority of the time.  Their quarterback is small but he is very good.  The more film you watch of him the better he throws the ball.  He gives them the element that has made them a semifinal team: The ability to throw the ball.   Their right guard and defensive tackle has committed to NC State (#54).  On offense, they are explosive.   On defense, they are feisty and swarm the ball. 

            Many of you don’t know that before ELCA it was Savannah Christian.  All the private schools were chasing Savannah eight years ago.  I remember they went to the dome in 2009, 2010 and 2011.  They won it in 2011.  They have always been good.  There is a rich tradition of football excellence at their school.  The coach that built the program was Coach Donald Chumley.  He retired before the 2017 season after 13 years coaching at Savannah.  His record there was 116-32-1.  He is an intense coach and his teams always got after it.   There is no doubt the culture he created in his time at Savannah still stands. 

The new coach has come in and resurrected what was already there.  For your UGA fans, Demetris Robertson who you so coveted to come play at UGA and now is finally there, he played at Savannah Christian.  He is just one of a many distinguished football alumni from Savannah Christian.  The new head coach has come from Benedictine who won the AA state championship twice I think.  Being in the semifinals is not new to him and winning is what he does.  So if you have been a private school football fan for a while, Savannah Christian and ELCA in the semi-finals is how it should be.  It should be a great game tonight.

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.  The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” 2 Corinthians 5:17

As I reviewed Tuesday’s practice with the offense Wednesday morning I found myself getting on to the boys about their poor execution: “This is who you naturally are.  This is your technique naturally.  If you aren’t intentional about what you are doing, you are lazy and sloppy.  This is slop.  This is who you naturally are.  And the only way you can fix it is to take every single rep with great focus and discipline.  You must command your body to do right and if you do it right over and over and over just maybe you can transform who you are naturally.  Just maybe if you demand that you do it right every time, you will not naturally give sloppy effort.  But to develop such perfect skill demands focus and intensity.”

Yes, it was cold on Tuesday.  Yes, the boys had already been out there for two hours and fifteen minutes.  Yes, it had gotten dark and was even colder.  Yes, we have been practicing since the end of July.  So with all of those elements thrown in there, my offensive line resorting back to the technique they had back in the spring: SLOP!  I found myself telling each linemen that what they saw on film is who they were by nature: SLOP.  They couldn’t argue with me.  They were seeing the same thing I was.  No effort, no intentional focus on perfect technique.  They were going through the motions.  Obviously, the offensive lineman they were by nature was sloppy. 

But don’t get made mom and dad for me calling your son sloppy.  I was convicted of my own sloppiness as a Christian.  If God was reviewing my life with me on film I’m sure he would say sloppy many times:  “You’re not thinking about what you are doing.  You’re just living in your old sloppy self.  Your supposed to be progressing into a new Creation but all I see is the old slop.” 

            My job as a coach is to take a group of boys and demand excellence from them.  Execution is critical to excellence on the football field.  Each player having perfect technique is critical to perfect execution.  But perfect technique is hard and it is learned.  It is a developed skill.  It takes a lot of effort and repetition.  It requires a player desperately wanting to do it right.  The right attitude leads to the right effort.  The right effort leads to the correct execution.  The attitude and effort must be there everyday.  If it is not you get slop. 

            Ultimately you are trying to develop a habit.  You want to get a young man to the point where he can’t do it wrong because he has done it so many times that perfect technique is a habit.  But the problem is it still takes effort.  You can know what to do and even want to do it right.  But if you cannot command your body to give great effort it is still slop.  So something was slop: either their technique or their effort.  Something was causing the sloppiness.  My question to them was this: “Is that who you are?  Well it is because that is what I see.  If you are better than this than that means you are giving poor effort and this must be fixed today!” 

            I addressed the whole team before practice on Wednesday challenging them to perfect effort and execution.  The boys responded.  They had their best practice of the year Wednesday.  The footwork and the technique of all the boys was on point.  If you could go back and watch Wednesday film from August and compare it to yesterday, you would say the boys are a new creation.  The old slop had disappeared and I saw a new creation.

            And this is the goal of those who are saved by the blood of Jesus Christ.  When God calls us to surrender our life to him and accept him as Lord and Savior, He calls us to become a new creation.  We are by nature slop.  When I say slop I mean sinners, sons of destruction, and children of wrath.  By nature we only seek our own way.  We are selfish.  We are full of pride, lust and greed.  I was king of the slop.  But, in Christ, we become a new creation.  He shows us how it should be.  He shows us our sin and calls us to become a new creation. 

            What I thought was cool is the boys were saying that what they were seeing wasn’t good enough.  I asked one player:  “Do you see that?  Is that who you are?  Is that the football player you are?”  And the young man was embarrassed and he said: “No.”  And of course I said: “Well, it is.  That is what I see.  That is what you see.  That is who you are.”  I am doing all of this to challenge them and motivate them.  My goal is to get a different product at Wednesday practice.  So me telling them that what I see on film is who you are is a challenge to them to not let me see that on Wednesday’s practice film. 

            Rather it is about their character or their performance on the football field, this is a constant war and battle I go through with the boys.  “You say you want to be a leader but your actions scream to me you don’t want to be a leader.  You say you want to be a great football player but your effort and your technique scream to me you don’t want to be a good football player.  If you continue down this course in life you will not be successful.” 

            It is no different for me in Christ.  Just like my objective is to create a polished leader and football player, God’s objective is to create a pure image bearer in those who are his people.  Just as I will be hard on the boys, expose their poor effort and attitudes, and challenge them constantly, so God will do the same to me.  But the goal is never to destroy and condemn.  The goal is to transform and help a young man become more than he ever imagined.  This is God’s goal.  He doesn’t want us to be enslaved to our sinful selves.  He wants a new creation:  One that will shine bright for his glory here on this earth.  And for those who are in Christ Jesus, He will do whatever he must to get us there! 

            “And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.”  Galatians 6:9

            I had to deal with some attitude issues this week.  I had to deal with some effort and technique issues this week.  It gets exhausting but I will never give up.  I will be relentless after them each and everyday.  You now why?  Because God does not give up on me when He should.  I give him slop sometimes and He convicts me.   I sin and rebel sometimes and God restores me after an attitude check (conviction of sin and then asking for forgiveness of sins.)  God does not give up on me.  He keeps me, leads me and guides me.  Me being a new creation is God’s doing and is by his grace.  He is patient towards me.  He does not give up on me.  Far be it from me to give up on these boys! 

NOW—Let’s go play some football!!!!

Beat Savannah Christian!

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

            Proverbs 21:31

Wholly for Christ!