CHARGER NATION: Game #8

 ELCA Middle School Football: 7-0 and League Champions

Charger Nation,

            I want to congratulate our JV Football team and our middle school football team for finishing the season last night undefeated.  Coach Douglas and his staff led our middle school to a 7-0 record with a 26-0 victory over Landmark last night.  Coach Jerry Barber and Dale Albrecht led our JV team to a 7-0 record with a 44-14 victory over Flowery Branch last night.  When I think of their success, I think back to all the hard work Coach Douglas put in with his team this summer in the weight room and in speed work.  It is the same for the JV players as they all were held to a very high standard this summer leading up to the season. 

            Two key tenets this football program has are DEMAND EXCELLENCE and TAKE OWNERSHIP.  I appreciate all of our coaches and our parents buying in!

            Every year I have some kids that have just graduated and gone off to college text me and thank me for the lessons we taught them through football.  They are starting to see that life isn’t so easy without mom and dad catching them at their every misstep.  Finally, they are truly forced to take ownership of their lives in a small way.  Every year I say the same thing:  It wasn’t about football!  We use the game of football to help these young boys become better men.   I think one of the first things a young boy must learn if he is going to be successful is the value of hard work.  First he must be willing to work and then he must come with a great attitude and desire to get better.  This attitude is the foundation of excellence.   As coaches we will DEMAND the players approach each day with the pursuit of EXCELLENCE.  (**Fighting this battle is a war!  Not wavering on high standards is a war.  But, coaches and parents, we must WIN!  If we let our kids be lazy we have failed them for life!)

If one is willing to work hard and give everything they have, then they are going to have some measure of success in life.  Our middle school team didn’t just go undefeated just because.  Sure, we have some good players that help them go undefeated.  But they worked their tails off this summer.  Many of the young men were consistent to be there at workouts everyday that they were in town.  Yes, I realize the tailback, Josh Rogers, is very good.  But he never missed a workout this summer.  He never loafed.  He always had a great attitude.  His dad obviously demands his son work hard.  It’s an expectation at home.  He had a core group of 12-15 guys that showed up with him everyday with parents who have the same mindset.  Guess what—if they all will continue to work hard when they get a job one day they will be good employees!  It’s not just about winning football games.  It’s about showing young boys how to be successful.  DEMAND EXCELLENCE!  Show them how to be successful.  Lead them in the process!  Coach Douglas, Coach Barber, Coach Albrecht—they all did a fabulous job showing your sons excellence and demanding from your sons excellence.  You allowed it—thankyou. 

            Last night after our JV game I challenged the boys to examine where they are right now as a football player and get to work.  Some of the boys on JV think they should be starting on varsity.  Some of the boys on JV are upset they don’t play more on JV.  I told them that we don’t play players just because.  We play the best players at each position and we strive to win.  When these young men get bosses one day there boss is going to strive to win.  He is going to keep the best employees.  This is a valuable lesson for young men to learn.  They have to transition from the youth sports culture of everyone gets a snap to the adult world of you must produce or you are getting replaced.  We are preparing them for handling the pressure of having to perform when they are 25 and I don’t apologize for it.  I know we are helping them become men.

            I told them last night to TAKE OWNERSHIP.  If you don’t like that you’re not starting or getting a lot of playing time on JV then get to work in the weight room and become a better athlete and football player.  Take practice more seriously.  If you think you should be starting on varsity then prove it everyday at practice.  Do not sit around and do what losers do and that is blame the coaches for why you aren’t playing; blame the teacher for why you have a poor grade.  Or even worse, flat out quit.  That is a loser mentality.  We teach TAKE OWNERSHIP: “This is where I am and I don’t like it.  I am getting my tail to work!”  Our varsity football team is full of kids who have worked themselves into a starting position.  Many of them started out as average players or even below average and have worked themselves into being good football players.  They have taken ownership of their developmental process.  At some point in their life they had this thought process:  “This is where I am at and I don’t like it.  I am going to get to work and see what I can become.” 

            Parents, it is an honor and blessing that you allow us to coach your children.  We really do love them and what to see them become all that they can be.  Our goal is that they are great men 10-15 years from now.  I really don’t care much about state championship rings and region championship t-shirts.  What I take great pride in is seeing these young boys grow and become great men.  And everyday we will preach to them Jesus Christ.  All of us, we can become the most successful people in the world and we can grow and be leaders in our community, but if we do not have Christ we have nothing.  We can learn to fully embrace excellence and ownership and find great success in this world, but if we don’t have Christ all of it will be meaningless as we lay on our deathbed.  As I look at my little boy, I beg God that Uriah will know how to work hard and have a great attitude.  I don’t want a whiner, excuse maker, and lazy boy in my house!  But I know this: If he does not have Christ it all is meaningless.  For Uriah, my #1 appeal to God is that Uriah know Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior and surrender all to Him.  That he would become a servant of Jesus Christ and live life in and through Christ.  I pray this exact same prayer for your son every Friday. 

Chargers, I really want to win tonight, but in the end it is meaningless.  Chasing success is like chasing after the wind.  It is the values we teach through the game of football that will last a lifetime.   It is the relationships that are forged though the game of football that will last a lifetime.  It is the love we have for one another that will be what matters 10 years from now.  And may we never ever forget this:  Christ for your son is of upmost importance for this lifetime and for the one to come!   

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

Wholly for Christ,

Coach Gess

CHARGER NATION: GAME #7

Charger Nation,

            Last weekend Charger Football had a clean sweep across the board winning every game.  After the middle school, JV, and Varsity won Thursday and Friday nights, our 3^rd/4^th grade team and our 5^th/6^th grade team had exciting victories Saturday morning.  Last night our middle school and JV won again to extend their undefeated seasons.  Hopefully we can have a repeat of last weekend!  I certainly appreciate these coaches for the investment they are putting into our boys at ELCA.  The PEOPLE, not football, is what makes ELCA Football special. 

            “So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the council and said, ‘What are we to do? For this man performs many signs.  If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.” John 11:47-48

            This verse signifies the beginning of the plot to kill Jesus by the key religious leaders of Israel during Jesus’ day.  Jesus had just healed a blind man and had just raised Lazarus from the dead.  Everyone was starting to listen to him and became very intrigued by him.  When they listened to him and watched him it was apparent his wisdom was not of this world. Jesus came to show the world God.  Jesus came to show man his sin and to show him the right way.  This is why John refers to Jesus as the “Word.”  He was the Word of God in the flesh.  He was God in the flesh.  He came to show the world their sin, to show the world the correct way, and to become the Savior of the world through death on the cross for our sins. 

            We know the plan was that Jesus would die for our sins.  But while the religious leaders planned to kill Jesus, they did not know that was God’s ultimate plan.  They wanted to kill Jesus because he was exposing the hypocritical nature of their lives and how they used God for personal gain and benefit.  He exposed their sin and threatened their power.  He threatened their glory seeking, self-exalting, and selfish lifestyle.  They wanted him dead and wanted it done quickly.  People were starting to follow Jesus and listen to him.  They were beginning to believe in him.  They were beginning to see the Truth and have a hunger for it.  Their eyes were opened up to the false ways of the Pharisees.  The Pharisees used God as a means to expand their glory, their status, their nation—their power.  Jesus was a threat to this.  They wanted him dead. 

            We read this and we just think how on earth could the Pharisees think this way and reject the living God?  How could they kill Jesus? 

            I was about to go to practice on Wednesday and I was sitting at my desk and an email from Mr. Gilliam popped up.  I don’t read emails much but of course if they are from the headmaster I click on it.  In it he had sent to us a mandate stating that no teacher in a Henry County public school can have anything Christian in their classrooms.  A teacher cannot have a Bible on their desk or a Bible verse on their wall.  They already aren’t allowed to talk about Jesus in their classroom but now they can’t even have anything personal in their classrooms that have anything to do with Jesus.  Just like the Pharisees had planned 2000 years ago---The final edict has come down from our public school system: Get Jesus out of here!  Kill Him!  (**My interpretation--But notice in John 11:47-48 that they did not use the word kill…but their thought process led to death of Jesus.  Go read verse 50.)          

              Why as a football coach do I say these things or care about these things?  I should only care about winning the game tonight.  My whole life is invested in 15-18 year old boys and preaching to them Jesus Christ.  This school has one purpose: Jesus Christ.  Everything we do in ELCA Football is all about building a man who can lead.  We make it really hard because life is really hard.  We work really hard because to be a leader you have to work really hard.  There are no shortcuts.  We obsess over the details and we demand excellence because that is what leaders do.  Success is not easy.  Responding after failure is not easy.  Leadership is not easy.  It is not for the faint of heart.  We are trying to model for them the principles that are necessary for them as they grow to be leaders in this world.  We are trying to make them strong.  We are trying to instill in them core values that point to Christ.  Believe me, I am trying to make them so much more than I ever was or ever could be.  I need these young boys growing up into Godly men and leading my family and me!  I want them to be men who are way stronger for Christ than I am.  This is what our world needs!

            We are sending our boys out into a world that is demanding that they crucify Christ once again.  The majority wants Christ crucified.  Our schools are in the process of crucifying Christ.  They don’t even want a remnant of Christ.  Are we developing young men who will be able to stand for Truth in the midst of this chaos?  Are we developing young men who will are grounded in Truth and willing to defend Truth?  Are we developing Spiritually strong men who will not bend and conform to this world?  We need tough kids!  Our children’s faith is going to have to be stronger than ours.  They now live in an era where they will be persecuted for their faith.  They are going to feel the pressure of rejecting Christ way more than we ever did.  If they fail, it will not be good.  To develop these men of Strength and Honor and Courage is why ELCA Football exists.  If I am ever forced to remove Jesus from my coaching I would have 0 reason to coach.  To coach just to win seems absolutely meaningless to me.  Wins come and go but Jesus Christ is forever.  Christ gives meaning to what we do!  May God continue to bless Christian schools with the opportunity to preach Christ.  May God bless our Christian brothers and sisters in the public school system.  It’s an honor to serve and assist you parents.  May God give us the wisdom and show us the way as we lead these young boys to become leaders for God’s Kingdom. 

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

Beat Our Lady of Mercy!

Wholly for Christ,

Coach Gess

CHARGER NATION GAME #6

Charger Nation,

Tonight is a big game for us.  From what the polls say, #1 is playing #2.  Not that the polls mean anything at this point, but it does make this a pretty big game at this moment in time.  If you are a football player, this game tonight is why you play the game.  There is nothing better:  Wesleyan is 5-0 and we are 5-0.  Both teams have won all of their games handily.  On paper it looks like both teams are extremely even.  Both sides think they are going to win—now it’s time for the talk to end and the play to begin!

            Before I begin, our JV and middle school program won last night to extend their undefeated seasons.  Our 5^th/6^th grade team and our 3^rd/4^th grade team both play at ELCA tomorrow morning starting at 10.  As always, I really appreciate all the coaches that invest in our football program.  These men spend countless hours with your sons helping them become men; helping them understand right from wrong.  It’s a grueling process with middle school and high school aged boys, but these men do it well.  As always, I thank the parents for letting us coach their boys!

            I don’t know what happens to a coach’s mind as he heads into a big game, but there is a tendency to over work and over analyze. Well, that tendency is there all the time but it is magnified in a week like this.  We stress over every area of the game and live and die on perfection at practice.  Then we watch film of that practice, then correct mistakes with our players as we make them watch film.  Then we do it again at the next practice.  Then we game plan more.  It never stops.  It is really overwhelming.  It is paralyzing really.  I find comfort in the process of how we practice and prepare during the week.  I find peace in thinking that the other team is not out preparing us and is not teaching their players like us.  So when I get overwhelmed I go back to thinking Win the Day:  “Trust in the process we have here at ELCA.  It has worked and it will work again.  Do what we do!” 

            “Trust in the process.”  As I was thinking Tuesday morning God revealed something to me:  I cannot create an idol out of the process.  I cannot allow the process to be my strength, peace and comfort.  The sinful human heart is always trying to make an idol out of anything.  When I say idol I mean something we worship.  When I put my trust in the process of how we do business I have made me that master of my fate.  I have made me my idol.  I have made the process that I have come up with my idol.  Basically I am finding strength and comfort in something that has been created. 

            The process cannot be my hope.  The process will let me down.  It has let me down.  In no way am I saying hard work and having a system is not essential to building a great program or business.  In our sin we operate like this:  God shows us something and builds something and we trust in him the entire time.  He led us and we followed.  Then when it is created we worship it as if we did it.  This is sin.  Taking the good gifts God has given us and worshiping them, idolizing them and making them our own is sin.  Instead of looking at what God has done and where he has led us and giving him all the glory we try and steal it.  We go from “How great thou Art” to “How great I am.”  And this happens so fast because we are naturally sinful people who worship and serve self.  At birth, our DNA was corrupt.

Do not get me wrong here.  I am not saying working hard is not important.  It is honoring to God for us to work hard to create great products and services.  But we must always keep the work in perspective.  It is for God’s glory and God’s honor I work.  Working hard is essential and a command of God.  But our hope, peace, and strength must always be in Jesus Christ: “Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain.  Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.  It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives his beloved sleep.” (Psalm 127:1) 

            Why is it that hard working women and men make the process their idol? Success is our God.  I am hyper competitive.  The thought of losing paralyzes me.  Not being any good scares me to death.  How would I survive?  Why would I even need to live?  So I then take control of my life and invest everything in the process and get to work.  I become my strength.  My work, my process, becomes my hope.  That is the sinful side of me that I battle everyday.  Yes it drives me but it also destroys me and can destroy my hope and trust in Jesus Christ.  The sins of the flesh destroy and kill anything good in our lives.  This is where Jesus Christ comes in and I take on Galatians 2:20: “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.”  Maybe you are not as sinful as me, but I constantly am telling myself to die and remind myself to take on Christ.  (Well the Holy Spirit is telling me that.)

            It is only natural for sinful man to put his hope and trust in himself as he seeks daily to exalt himself.  But this is not why we were created.  Yes, you may have worldly success, but trusting in the process in order to exalt self will destroy your relationship with Jesus Christ.  God did not put me on this earth to take this team and beat Wesleyan or win other football games.  He put me here to bring glory and honor to Him.  He put me here to be a Godly man who pursues Christ and who teaches young men how to be Godly men and pursue Jesus Christ.  He made me a dad to be a dad and he made me a husband to be a husband:  All for the glory of Jesus Christ. 

            So, yes, the process is important.  I want us to do things right and be the most prepared football team in America.  But we do not stand on the process or self.  I cannot find peace in my process because I know it is flawed.  I do not control man (especially 14-17 year old minds!).  There is no good process for a 14-17 year old boy.  Everyday is an adventure with them.  But I serve a God who is Sovereign and in control of all things.  In this I find rest.  “God, I am going to work hard and do my best.  I rest in your Sovereign plan.  Your will be done.”  This is my comfort zone.  I can go into this game tonight with no fear because my hope and trust is in Jesus Christ.  The Sovereign God who is in control of all things.  Only Proverbs 21:31 sums it up best: “The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but the victory belongs the Lord.” 

BEAT WESLEYAN!

Wholly for Christ,

Coach Gess