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