LION NATION

LION NATION!  GAME #4

Before I get rolling I want to congratulate some of our teams.  Our JV won last night 34-0 over Monroe Area.  That puts them at 3-0 on the season.  Our middle school won 49-12 last night.  That puts them at 4-0 on the season. Our 6th grade team won big on Tuesday night and that makes them 4-0 on the season.  Our 5th grade team (which plays in the 6th grade league) tied 14-14 Tuesday night.  I honestly don’t know their record and my own son plays on the team.  Our 3rd/4th grade team is practicing and getting ready for their first game. Our four flag football teams (ages 5-7) went to Prince Avenue this week and had their first games against opposing teams.  It has been a great week for Hebron Football!  Thankyou to all of the coaches!!!!!!  I appreciate you!  

Tonight we travel to play Christ School in Asheville, NC.  It’s actually in Arden, NC, but that is near Asheville.  Christ School is a boarding school for boys. They have a great tradition of great football.  They won a state championship in 2020.  They have some great players.  Once again it should be a great battle and test for our boys!  

“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:4-7

OH–before I get started I deal with issues from flat all the way to high school.  You might think I’m talking to you but I might not be…as always…I write thinking about my own issues and issues of life…

I often find myself having a bad attitude.  It might not be something you see but in my mind and my heart, my attitude is trash.  As a Christian, I know that I struggle with sin and my default setting is sin.  Griping and complaining is a natural emotion (see Philippians 2:14). When I accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior, I was convicted of my sin and need of a Savior.  As a man apart from Christ, I walked in sin because it was how I was born.  Christ came to transform us and redeem us so that we might have eternal life and become a people who shine as a light for his glory….A people who turn from sin and REJOICE and are THANKFUL!  Having a bad attitude or negative thoughts is sin.  Above when it says REJOICE and GIVE THANKS or WITH THANKSGIVING…those are commands, not suggestions.  God is telling us… the remedy for a bitter, negative and sorry attitude is thankfulness and rejoicing.  

Do you know why all the news is negative? Because it is what the human flesh desires.  In our sin nature, we long for negative information.  We long for controversy.  We long to be mad at people.  Even though all the negative emotion is detrimental to our well being, we long for it.  That is what sin does…it traps us…we long and desire the things that will actually ruin us.  

This is my 18th year as a head football coach.  I want to give you guys a great scenario of horrible parenting that stems from lack of joy and lack of thankfulness.  I am privileged in the fact that I get to raise my son having seen some great parenting and bad parenting.  Obviously I don’t want to be a bad parent.  I don’t want to suffocate and stress out my son by having silly expectations for him as an athlete or student.  I don’t want my son stressed out after spending time with me because all I did was talk about his performance on the field or some other scenario.  As a teacher I also have seen insane academic parents. Insanity is everywhere! 

I have coached many kids with insane fathers…and mothers.  I do not condone smoking marijuana and I have honestly never touched the stuff.  But I guess it helps people relax.  A bunch of years ago I coached a kid with a dad that was insane.  The man drove me insane.  When a dad drives me insane about their kids' performance you can imagine what is going on at home.  I started getting reports from teachers and administrators that they thought this kid was high at school and on drugs.  I thought to myself…if I had to go home to that dad every day I bet I’d be on something as well.  Just my interactions with the man left me longing for something…

Mom and Dad, no matter how dumb your kid acts or how they might try to distance themselves from you in front of their peers, they long to please you.  They want you to be proud of them. They want to hear encouraging words.  You loving on them and praising them could actually help their performance.  What if they could just play for fun and relax.  What if they could just play to help their team win and have a great time with their friends competing, rather than trying to live up to daddy’s crazy expectations?  What if they came home and you didn’t ping them with questions about their performance?

Our expectations for our kids should be the exact same as they should be for ourselves: to wake up everyday stiving to give great effort with a great attitude…that the energy we put off is positive and uplifting to all of those around us.  

There is a difference between pursuing performance and excellence.  When we pursue performance we measure ourselves against everyone else.  We look and see how people at our own positions are doing and we measure ourselves against that.  This is suffocating.  Excellence is when you measure yourself against yourself…am I doing all that I can do to become the best version of myself?  Am I daily working my tail off to become all that God has created me to be?  There can be much joy in this as you see improvement and progress in yourself daily…I am not suffocated by measuring myself against someone who has way different circumstances than me and might be naturally better than me.  In chasing performance, which leads to comparing myself against other people, joy and thankfulness will never be a part of who I am.  

As I chase performance, selfishness will consume me…my carries, my passes, my yards, my sacks, my tackles…my, my, my, my…me, me, me, me…I, I, I, I…But when I chase excellence, I am now open to serve my teammates.  When I chase excellence, whatever the coach calls me to do is important…if it is to block, then block…if it is to hand the ball off, then do it with excellence…if it is to keep the offensive linemen from getting to the linebacker so the linebacker can get the tackle, then do it with excellence…if it is to get my teammate water, then do it with excellence…if it is to play cover 3 and not get beat deep and make less tackles and less interceptions, then do it with excellence.  

You see mom and dad, here is what I have learned as I am in the middle of my 18th year as a head coach with over 100 players going to college to play football and some guys made it to the NFL: Stats have never gotten a kid offered.  I had a QB that became the mountain west player of the year.  I remember a game where he only threw one time.  I had another QB who just graduated from PENN. In the state semifinal game he threw for 250 and in the state championship game he threw for 0 (that is not a lie.)  We won both games.  I have had a running back rush for 1000 yards and get offered by every school in the nation and I have had a running back rush for 2000 and have no offers.  I have coached a defensive linemen who had 8 sacks his senior year and he made it to the NFL.  I have coached a defensive linemen who had 16 sacks and he had to walk on in college.  

What I learned through all of this is to chase excellence.  As a coach I don’t have silly goals of yards per game of some giving up 0 per game…that is chasing performance.  My goal as a head coach is am I creating a team—offense, defense, special teams—that takes advantage of each player's ability.  Am I maximizing the ability of the players on my team to create the best team possible? Does our offense and defense and special teams work in unison? I am not chasing winning and my win/lose record as a coach.  I am not trying to create some offense or defense that is going to create crazy stat lines so I can get glory.  No, all I care about is creating great men who chase excellence.  I want them to be more consumed with serving their team than the team serving them.  I want them to chase having a great attitude, giving great effort, and being sources of light and joy for all of those around them.  I will fight for this daily and demand excellence daily because I know this…when and if I can get a group of boys to buy into each other and the team, instead of themselves, not only will the team become great, but they will become great individually as well!  Man…if we can get to this point what a great team we can be!!!!

Listen…all of this is hard because we all struggle with being sinful and selfish.  As fathers and mothers, our children are extensions of us.  We take our selfishness and sinfulness to them.  We take our stupid expectations for them, that they don’t even have for themselves, and we enslave them to the god of performance.  I have to tell myself…chase excellence for Uriah and teach him this!  Oh it's hard…we are sinners and it's so easy to chase PERFORMANCE…to chase ME.

BUT HERE IS THE GOOD THING–Jesus has come to transform us.  I can repent daily of my selfishness and sinfulness and put on a good attitude in Christ.  I can praise my son for being the best ball-handling QB in the world.  I can praise my son for blocking.  I can praise my son for his effort and his attitude.  I can coach those things in him.  BUT goodness, when I resort back to my sinful self and start pursuing performance…what a miserable existence for myself and him!  

Parents, let’s be a community at Hebron where we chase excellence in our children and not performance.  Let’s be people who love our children because they are great teammates rather than great performers.  Let’s be a people who chase CHRIST and are consumed with CHRIST rather than the things of the world (performance).  When we do this we can then taste the sweet JOY in life and live a life of THANKFULNESS!

It’s always a battle to be a man of excellence rather than a man of performance…such is life!!

OK…we have another form of a battle tonight in this football game!  Next stop: Arden, NC!  

“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

LION NATION!

Game #3!

I want to congratulate a few guys before I get rolling…Head JV Coach Joseph Courson and our JV team won 28-0 last night (1-0).  Head Coach Trey Granville and the middle school team won 38-3 last night (2-0).  Head Coach Josh Higginbotham and our 6th grade team won 48-7 Tuesday night (3-0).  Head Coach Neil Krock and our 5th grade team lost this week but they are 5th graders playing up in a 6th grade league.  We had our first flag football games last night and I want to thank our youth football director, David Lincoln, for the awesome job he is doing.  Our 3rd and 4th grade team is gearing up for their season as they have been playing Lion Ball and are moving to their 11 man team.  Tyler Mixon and Jason Wood and some other coaches are doing a phenomenal job with those boys!  

I said all of that above because I am super thankful for the work that the coaches and dads are doing in our football program.  A great program consists of great people.  My vision for our football program from 5 years old to seniors in high school, is that we are using the game of football to build boys into men for Jesus Christ.  I am thankful for the work of those who are helping.  We are building the future of the church and this country.  There is no more important work than the investment in these boys!!!

Tonight the varsity plays University Christian from Jacksonville Florida.  They have been a consistently good program for many years.  I don’t know much about them because there are no common opponents.  All I know is what I see on film.  They are big and they have good players. We have no easy games.  All of our opponents are good.  This should be a good one!  

EAi

I’ll tell you what EAi is in a minute.  But I must first tell you how I got there on Tuesday.  Our Monday practice was not good.  As a coach you want to be pushing your players to greatness.  I expect them to come to practice with a great attitude and give amazing effort.  We have 4 days of preparation before the game on Friday.  Every single second matters.  What we do on Monday - Thursday will show up on Friday.  Pretend you are in AP Calculus.  You have a big test on Friday over a specific chapter.  If you don’t learn what the teacher teaches on Monday you are behind and you are going to fail on Friday.  What we do Monday - Thursday is absolutely critical to our success on Friday.  

ON Monday… instead of pushing them, I am pulling them.  I felt like as a coach I was pulling a 5000 lb sled. One play made me spiral…let’s just say an individual who is one of our leaders and a kid I trust to get the job done, decided to give 0 effort.  I mean 0.  I was blown away…his particular lack of effort summed up the sloppy practice we had.  Now you might have been watching and didn’t think practice was that bad.  But we are a program that demands excellence.  We are not going to accept poor effort and attitude.  We are not going to accept selfishness.  We are going to wage war against those things.  And what I saw and what I was getting was poor effort and bad attitudes…I was getting a bunch of players who had chosen to not push through uncomfort and be great.  

Now, listen, I always have some players who give great effort everyday.  I was mad because some of our leaders weren’t leading.  I sent everyone home after practice and we didn’t watch film which we do on Mondays.  I told them, “Why would we watch film when you don’t even want to practice? Watching film is a privilege…it’s what great teams do who want to win.”  I was so mad and angry after practice.  I went back to my office and just sat there disgusted with what I just had witnessed.  I was exhausted, tired, frustrated, mad, angry, disappointed–all of the emotions that can lead you into dark despair.  

The next morning I get up and start reading my Bible but I am still frustrated.  As I am reading and praying the visual of this particular play at practice and the lack of effort given comes to my mind.  It is the play that actually sent me spiraling…the visual comes to my mind and the Lord showed me: “You do the exact same thing to me sometimes.”  I am the coach watching the player give poor effort, having a poor attitude, and choosing to give in to his poor attitude and selfishness.  The Lord showed me: “What you saw in that player is what I see in you sometimes…your lips speak of me but often your attitude and effort are far from me…you choose yourself often rather than sacrifice for me and others.”  

Here is the beautiful thing about God–He does not leave us in that state.  He doesn’t condemn but rather he convicts.  And as he convicts us we have a choice: We can turn and repent or we can continue down the path of selfishness and sin.  When we turn and repent the Lord forgives us and restores us. He is full of grace and mercy and his aim is to make us all that we can be.  He wants to remove all sin and selfishness from our lives so that we can be productive for Christ in this world.  His aim is to make us as great as we possibly can be for his glory.  When I say great I do not mean great in worldly fame and glory…I mean great servants and leaders for Christ.  And since we are his children, He is going to convict us of and remove all of the ugliness in us.  

Let’s just use this poor effort and attitude as a metaphor for sin.  There is always a good excuse for sin.  There was a great reason for poor effort on Monday:  It was super hot and they were tired from a trip they had just been on all weekend.  We have great excuses for sin to…we live in a body of sin and we live in a world of temptation and sin.  We live amongst people who have the same issues and can be problems for us.  So when we sin we have great excuses. When we have sorry practices we have great excuses.  But excuses get you beat.  Excuses prevent you from becoming everything God desires you to be.  There is no excuse for poor effort, bad attitudes, and selfishness.  Yes of course there are excuses…but if you want to be great you must die to your excuses!  

As Christians, if we are going to allow God to do an amazing work in us, we have to die to our sin.  We have to wake up daily giving great effort in our pursuit of Christ and being obedient to him.  We must put on great attitudes which overflow into thankfulness and gratefulness as we walk through the day.  We must become little i’s and die to ourselves and live in the power of Christ which is walking in humility and thankfulness.  

That player who gave the poor effort…he apologized and he came back tuesday and had his best practice ever.  That’s all we want as coaches…give me your best effort daily.  And honestly it isn’t even so we can win…it’s so he can win.  There is no end to how good this particular player could be if he would bring great effort and have a great attitude everyday at practice.  If he would practice the way he did Tuesday everyday, he will be in the NFL one day.  You see as coaches we can envision what a player can be one day…but they have to do the work daily.  

It is no different for how God views you and me.  He has the vision of what we can be one day.  He has created us for a purpose!  But we must give amazing effort in pursuit of him everyday.  We are saved by the blood of Jesus Christ on the cross and there is no work here on this earth that can get us into heaven.  But, what we do for Christ on this earth has everything to do with the work we are willing to put in for Christ.  And it begins in our hearts..to have a heart that desires to live for Christ and walk in obedience.  The desires of the heart lead to the actions of the body.  If my heart is Christ, then my actions will be for Christ….and it is here that we will do mighty things for the Kingdom of God by the power of Jesus Christ working in us.  

EAi – That is Energy, Attitude, and being a little i (HUMiLITY)...We control these things and they are our responsibility.  If we walk in excellence in those areas we will do well in life.  

OK…praise Jesus for his forgiveness and how he redirects us in life.  May we be a people who are quick to forgive and love others.  We were bad on Monday, but the Lord convicted us and we turned and were great the rest of the week.  Praise Jesus for his mercy and grace.  God is good!  We are thankful!  

OK!! Time to go play this 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

LION NATION! Game #2

First off I want to congratulate all of our youth coaches.  We successfully kicked off flag football last Saturday and got our 3rd and 4th graders rolling.  Neil Krock and our 5th grade team had a huge win Tuesday night against Athens Academy 16-14.  Our 5th grade team is 1-0, 6th grade team is 1-0 and our middle school team is 1-0.  I appreciate all the coaches and their investment in the boys and the program!  

Tonight, we have a big game against Fellowship Christian.  Fellowship has been a consistently good program for a while now.  I played them in the 2016 state championship game.  This is their most talented team they have ever had.  We feel like we have a team that can compete for a state championship…well they do as well. They are led by their right tackle is is ranked as high as the #13 player in the country.  Then they have a QB who is an amazing athlete that is very hard to tackle.  They have a 6’4 200 lb WR committed to UNC.  They are surrounded by a bunch of boys that play hard!  I say all of this to say this will be a great game and it will be a battle!  You work your tail off as an athlete to be able to go and compete in games like this!

“Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!” Psalm 133:1

There are so many facets of a team. First and foremost you have to get individuals to buy in and want to be a part of the team.  Then you have to make them work their tail off to become their absolute best. When you get a bunch of people working individually to become their absolute best you then have a building blocks for a great team.  As coaches, we are daily attacking your work ethic and demanding excellence.  

Then you get into putting the team together when you start practice.  Yes, there were tons of hours spent on developing teamwork and chemistry in the off-season, but it becomes real when you start having practice in preparation for games.  Coaches, players, parents, we all have our own ideas and agendas.  The game of football is won by coaches and players working in unison.  But, due to our sin nature, we want what we want.  So quickly a team can be fractured by people being focused on themselves and not the team.  We all are prone to this…we want what we want…

What a good leader and/or a great organization is successful at doing is getting everyone in the organization (the team) to buy in to do what is best for the team…to buy into the mission of the organization and be willing to do whatever the team needs.  As leaders, we have to wake up everyday and fight for the great good of the team and be able to combat selfish motives.  As soon as you lose focus on people on your team, your team will implode.  The most important thing I can do everyday is be around the kids and coach their attitudes away from the field. WHo they are away from the field is who they are on the field.  You have to fight daily for your culture.  Your culture is the people…it is not activities or sayings…it is our investment in the people: “your culture is not what you say it is, but what you deliver on a daily basis!.”

This war is never going away…rather it be in our homes, our teams, or our work, we must constantly die to our own selfish agendas and serve our families, our teams, our organizations.  

Unity is a simple word but the application is extremely hard.  There is unIty and then there is UNiTY. Actually the first unity with the big I is just a word.  When you get a bunch of people who only care about themselves and not the team, the team is awful.  However, when you get a team where everyone operates as little i’s you have a chance for a very special workplace!  

As a football coach, part of demanding excellence is demanding everyone serve the team.  In serving the team we do whatever is necessary for the team.  We are excited and happy when our teammates have success…my teammates' success is my success.  The hard part is getting them to want to do it.  How can we become a people who think less of ourselves and more of others? How can we be a people who do whatever the team requires, whenever the team requires, for the love of the team…for the love of our teammates?  

The answer is simple but extremely hard: 

“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.” -Galatians 2:20

How can I go from living my life as an I to living my life as an i.  Life would go so well for us if we could just be less consumed with ourselves.  What if you, as a parent, could go to the game and be more concerned with how your son serves the team rather than how the team serves your son.  What if we all lived our lives thinking about what we can give rather than what we can get? What if we could die to all selfishness? What if we walked around thinking about how we can serve the people around us.  80% of our misery comes from being consumed with ourselves.  The other 20% is outside of our control and we are to give it to the Lord…but most of the time my #1 problem isn’t anyone else…it is myself!  

If we would live the Galatians 2:20 life how good and pleasant our lives would be.  If we would die to ourselves and live in the power of Christ, what amazing things God could do for us.  God gives us a command to not be selfish and not be jealous because, yes it destroys the team, but it destroys the individual first.  He cares about us and he knows selfishness destroys people. The Lord desires we reach our true potential and to do this we must die to ourselves and live in the power of Christ.  

Here is the crazy thing…some selfishness had crept into our team.  It can divide a team quickly if not handled.  It makes me mad when people are so consumed with themselves.  We can win and people aren’t happy which blows our minds right…but the Lord showed me…I do the exact same thing.  So often when I see selfishness in kids or parents, the Lord reveals to me areas where I am selfish.  When I get mad and angry at a kid for having a selfish agenda which leads to a host of other problems, the Lord calms me down by showing me areas in my life where I am just like that kid.  The Lord whispers: “You are mad at that kid for doing this to the team but you do the very same thing to me.”  

But here is the beauty of the God we serve…he is just not God but he is Savior.  His mercy and grace never fell.  When we get off track he gets us back on track.  He confronts us with our sin and we stand convicted.  How great it is that  we serve a God where we can repent and he forgives us and restores us!  There are no organizations where sin and selfishness are absent.  But great organizations are those that identify problems and the people address and fix the problems.  We are God’s great organization.  We are his people.  He is about transforming us into his image so that we can shine as lights for his glory.  He will not allow our sin…he demands excellence and he is consumed with us becoming our absolute best for his glory.  But in order to become all that God has created us to be, we must die to ourselves and live in the power of Christ. This is a journey and a process…we must daily wake up and keep chopping…never giving up!  

“The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.” 1 Thessalonians 5:24

OK…time to go play a 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

Lion Nation!  

Game #1

This week has been the first week of school and it also has been the first week of games for many of our football teams. Our 6th grade team, led by Josh Higginbotham, won on Tuesday night 20-14.  Last night, our middle school team, led by Trey Granville, won 39-0.  To cap it off, the high school team plays game #1 this afternoon at 4:30 PM.  The game is on tv on the Peachtree Sports Network if you are out of town and want to watch.  If you are in town we need you at the game!!!

I love football because it is such a great teacher of life. You will have your good days and you will have your bad days.  You will win and you will lose.  You will have major setbacks and also amazing success.  Everyday there will be some challenges or things that aggravate. You will have situations that smack you in the face and make you want to quit or drive off a cliff.  Then you will have high’s that you could never have doing anything else.  

The challenge is remaining steadfast in the midst of it all…and this is the challenge of life.  In the good times and in the bad times, can I have an unwavering spirit that continues to put one foot in front of the other? In times of success, can I remain humble and shine as a light for Christ instead of stealing all the glory for myself?  In times of failure and despair, can I remain faithful and trusting in the goodness of God…and keep getting up and never giving up?

As it is game week #1…I want to share three verses with you that will center us over the course of this football season–and you can just apply them to whatever “season”  you are in in your life.  

“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.” Psalm 127:1

This is a great verse that centers me in understanding our purpose is Christ. We can work and build the greatest empire on earth, but if Christ is not the center and the purpose behind our building we labor in vain. Our work is aimless apart from Christ. This centers me in building for the Lord.  

“I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you.” -Psalm 32:8

As we labor and build, we can seek the Lord in prayer and the reading of his word, and his promise is that He will teach us and instruct us in the way we should go…he will counsel us with his eye upon us. If you go back to the first verse you see that if we build apart from Christ, it will turn out as meaningless labor.  Well, how do I make sure that I am not working in vain…that I am not working just to glorify myself and get things for myself?  How can I know that I am serving the Lord and others through my work?  Seek the Lord and He will guide you. Pray to God to show you the way you should go.  I don’t know about you but I am an idiot.  I naturally make the wrong decisions and try to build apart from Christ.  I can read the Bible and pray in the morning, seeking the Lord’s will and guidance, and then an hour later I’m doing things my way.  

It is a beautiful thing that the God of the Universe and the Savior of man is willing to lead and guide us in the way that we should go; that He would counsel us with his eye upon us.  But you know what…you can’t be counseled if you aren’t engaged and present.  This is not just a prayer we should pray, but it is a state of being.  We must walk with God through the power of His Holy Spirit working in us, every second of the day.  We have this power of the Almighty God to lead us…but we must walk in him to receive this guidance.  

“Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands upon us; yes, establish the work of our hands.” -Psalm 90:17

I heard a great quote that is very secular but very true: “If you take care of your work, your work will take care of you.” As Christians, we want to work hard for the glory of God. If we are going to shine as a light for Jesus Christ, we must be people in the community who work with great diligence.  The difference between a hard working person without Christ and a hard working person with Christ is motive. If we are not careful we will work hard but our aim will be the glorification of self and the pleasure of self.  But when we work in Christ, our work is a reflection of Christ and points people to Christ–The Savior!  

We want to be a people who work hard but we want to do it for God’s glory.  We want the Lord to teach us and instruct us in the way we should go.  We want the Lord to counsel us with his eye upon us.  As we receive the Lord’s vision for the work, we then must pray the Lord establish the work of our hands.  

These verses are kind of like anchors in my life. I am not much different than a cow who has to be corralled and led by a cowboy.  The Bible makes many references to us being sheep and Jesus being the Shepherd.  I know the Bible says we are sheep…I like to think of myself as a cow…a bull.  They are just as dumb as sheep but more aggressive.  I am prone to walk off the path.  I am prone to leave the other cows because I saw some better grass.  (I am assuming cows get away from the other cows cause they are looking for better food.)  Or maybe, the cows just completely wander off for no other reason than they just begin to wander aimlessly for no reason.  That would be more like myself…sometimes I stop and I am like: “How in the world did I get here?”

My challenge for myself and for you is that we walk in these three verses.  That our work is for the Lord and that he builds the house.  As we build, may we walk in the counsel of the Lord. May the Lord establish the Work of our hands.

As I end I always want to end pointing you to Christ.  I pray you put your faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. We are sinners and have rebelled against God and deserve the rejection of God and the punishment for rebelling against the almighty God–death and hell.  BUT, God did not leave us in this awful predicament.  He sent his Son, Jesus Christ, to live the perfect life we could not live so that He could be the perfect sacrifice for our sins.  Jesus willingly came and died so that you and I could escape our punishment.  He saved us by dying on the cross for our sins.  He became our righteousness.  Heaven is not a thing that is earned…it is eternal life that is received by the work of Jesus Christ on the cross.  He is our Savior. I pray today you would put your hope and trust in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior.  

OK–time to go play a 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

LION NATION!

Game 0 (Pre-Season Scrimmage 2024) 

***NOTE-each Friday of game weeks I write a devotion to everyone involved in our program, our school, and friends I have made over the years. I give myself about 90 minutes to do this on Friday morning. Its purpose is to center our program and focus on Christ and hopefully encourage everyone. There will be grammatical errors and mistakes because I don't have time to edit it. My goal is not perfect writing...but encouragement in Christ.***

Here we go again!  Football season is upon which means a new school year.  Excitement is in the air as we all gear up for new beginnings.  People are always excited about something new, the future, because you can put to death the failures of the past and have great hope for success in the new season and new school year.  

Our football team is the same.  We are super excited about this season.  We have been working really hard and we think we have a chance to be a really good football team.  We coulda, woulda, and shoulda last year but, like I always say, if you are using the words woulda, shoulda, and coulda, that means you didn’t.  We have been working hard all off-season.  We have had a great summer of work.  We have had a great two weeks of practice the past two weeks.  The journey of the 2024 football season began a long time ago, but it is now time to go climb the mountain and try and get to the top.  The climb is long, hard, and arduous.  There will be much pain and toil.  Success will require unwavering commitment, sacrifice, and perseverance.  The excitement will turn into a grind.  To be successful, we must hope and pray we have the correct character tools that will keep us driven through the climb.  But make no mistake, those who persevere will experience a joy through a sense of accomplishment, that the common man never will feel.  

As social media overtakes the world, we can look on social media and see hype videos for every sports team across the country.  There are motivational messages for new school years and teachers are excited.  Whether you are an administrator, coach, or teacher, you are super excited to get rolling and try out your new plans and visions for the 2024/2025 school year.  We have new words and themes for the year...the positive energy is palatable.  We are ready!!

We look at the mountain and we have great visions and hopes about getting to the top.  We will conquer the mountain!  AND THEN…the climb begins and you are presented with a relentless grind and obstacles unimaginable.  The excitement turns into a grind.  When you were at the bottom of the mountain looking to the top, it was easy to have great visions of what you were going to do and how you were going to get to the top.  But when you get on that mountain, you can’t see the top anymore, you can only see the arduous path that is right in front of you. Trees, rocks, valleys, and ravenous animals destroy your vision of the mountain top. Your mind becomes cloudy and it is easy to lose sight of your vision…the goal…getting to the top! 

I say all of this not to depress people, but to encourage people.  It is the men and women who have a steadfast resolve and persevering spirit who will in the end finish the climb and get to the top.  As educators we are leaders of the next generation.  The summit for us is fulfilling our mission of educating the next generation for Christ.  As Christian educators, our job is way more challenging than just being an educator.  We have been called to impact students for Jesus Christ.  To be effective, we are not just investing in their bodies and minds, but in their souls.  When we are called to invest in the souls of people, we are called to love as Christ loved.  The Holy Spirit empowers us to love deeply. And when you love deeply, you can be hurt and be frustrated deeply.  When you put yourself out there to invest in the souls of your students, you have drastically increased the challenges of the climb.  To teach a subject and not care about the souls of your students is easy.  But to teach and to care…there will be challenges and obstacles unimaginable which there is sure to be pain and challenges that will cause us to want to quit!

You might be thinking: “Coach Gess this is all depressing.  I am so excited right now and you are destroying my excitement.”  I tell my team all the time, it is not the team with the best pre game cheers and chants that we will win.  It is not the teams that have the best hype videos or the best social media presence that will win.  NO…it is the team that will daily get up and work their tails off each and every day who will be standing strong in the end.  Excitement is great, but this must be balanced with an unwavering commitment to work with consistency when it gets hard.  A team must begin with a resolve to conquer tough times and any challenge that is presented.  Excitement gets you started, but fortitude, resolve, perseverance, and a tenacious work ethic gets you finished!  

As we get going I want to share with the families that I coach my vision and purpose personally and through the game of football:  To love the Lord with all of my heart and serve him with all of my heart. That my heart would be surrendered to the Lord.  To love the Lord and my desire be to do his will. A heart devoted to Jesus Christ.  My aim and goal for my job as a football coach is that we can clearly articulate salvation through the blood of Jesus Christ to everyone involved in our football program and make disciples for the glory of Jesus Christ.  

I have to wake up everyday and spend time in the Bible and in prayer with Jesus Christ, so that I do not forget my purpose. I am by nature a fool and an idiot.  Our dog reminds me a lot of myself…fully focused and then chasing squirrels and rabbits.  He walks briskly on the path and instantly off course following his nose.  I have to walk all day long reminding myself what actually matters in this life and that is Jesus Christ.  I must remind myself, my coaches, and my players daily that our purpose is Christ.  It is so easy for us to make a god of winning or accomplishing our plans and procedures.  But as soon as we do this, we will forget what actually matters and that is proclaiming and living out the good news of the Gospel.  

Finally, this is getting long I know…let’s begin with understanding the good news of the Gospel  And just so you know, when people say the good news of the Gospel, what they are saying is the good news of Jesus Christ.  The Bible (the Gospel) is the story of our salvation through Jesus Christ. 

God created the world good.  If you can’t see that the world has a creator just think about your very own existence.  You breathe and you eat and you drink and your body breaks it down…then somehow it gets to your heart and your heart pumps all these nutrients and all kinds of other stuff to your body through blood.  Just pondering this will blow your mind. I know we can study biology and figure all of this out but it still doesn’t make sense that it actually works.  I mean what actually keeps your heart beating.  Yes it beats and this is how…but I dont have to plug myself in to an electrical socket…all of this screams of a Creator.  Then how is it our brain thinks and processes?  Just look at the sun and the moon and the stars? From where did all of this come? Just look at a picture of the solar system. Everything is dead and lifeless, just big rocks, but the earth is alive.  God has breathed life into this earth.  

This God created all things good.  Adam and Eve existed with no sin in the presence of God.  They rebelled and sinned against God.  Sin came into the world.  Before sin there was no death or major calamities.  When sin came into the world our fate became death.  The judgement from the almighty God who created heaven and earth was eternal hell.  So we are left here on this earth in this helpless and hopeless state.  Death is coming and after that eternal hell awaits us.  

What an evil God right? That’s what people say.  God is perfectly Holy and Good.  He is God. Yet we rejected him and sinned against him. We choose everything in the world but him. We are enslaved to pleasing man and the world…we so desire the approval and acceptance of man and the world that we rebel and neglect the God of the Universe. We would rather post something that impresses people on social media so they will think a certain way about us than spend time with God. We wander aimlessly doing the dumbest things. We deserve the wrath of God.  I deserve the wrath of God. We are sinners and rebels.  Our destiny is death and hell awaits us.  Rightfully so…

BUT GOD—you see God didn’t leave us in this condition of hopelessness.  We rejected him and rebelled against him.  This has brought upon death and hell.  See here is the good news or the Gospel–God came down to earth in the form of a man, yet fully God, Jesus, and died on the cross for our sins.  Through his death on the cross he became righteousness for us.  Death was our end and Hell our destiny from birth. But Jesus has delivered us from death and hell.  Death, for those who accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, now ushers us into heaven and into the presence of God.  

That’s the Gospel 101.  My goal is that through this football season we can know this Jesus more and grow in him.  For those of you who do not know Christ, my hope and prayer is that you know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior.  I can’t make you believe and won’t judge anyone who does not believe, but I will proclaim to you the good news of Jesus Christ and the salvation we have through the work of Jesus on the cross.  May God bless our efforts and keep us steadfast in our pursuit of him!!!

OK! It is gameday! We scrimmage at Westminster tonight at 7pm.  We are all fired up!!!!!

“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

                                    GOOD FRIDAY - April 7th

This was written for the football players and coaches on our team...but could be for anyone. 

Guys-Happy Good Friday.  I want everyone to read all of this post because it is for you and me!   

This is what the Lord has shown me today….this Good Friday!

On this day Jesus was murdered on the cross.  He did it willingly so that he could be the perfect sacrifice for our sins.  

Over and over…the past few months the Lord has been leading me back to this word: FIGHT. No better day to talk about FIGHT than the day Jesus took on the greatest enemy to humanity and defeated it!

OK—follow along with me step by step:

 1.) Jesus came to die for our sins.  Sin is rebellion against God and his laws.  It is serving myself instead of God.  It is choosing my sin over God’s commands. We are all guilty. We are all sinners and are born sinful.  We can do nice things but this doesn’t take the place of our sinful selves in the midst of an almighty perfect God who we have sinned against.  We are all chasing after self…consumed with self…and there is no evil we will not fall to if self is not checked…so, dang, we are helpless and losers…me being the chief of losers…

2.) But God loved us so much he sent his son to die on the cross for our sins.  Jesus willingly came to fight for our souls.  We rejected him.  Even if you say you don’t reject him you do so by your actions when you choose sin over Christ. I’m guilty times 

(multiplied by ) [X] infinity…Dang! We were headed for hell.  Jesus came and fought for us.  And as he died on the cross for our sins a few things happened.

Keep staying with me those of you who can’t read more than a sentence or two—F1GHT!

Here is what happened on the cross:

A.) Jesus became the perfect sacrifice for our sins.  

B.)  We were headed to hell but we no longer face hell, its claim on us has been conquered through Christ.  

C.) But he also conquered sin.  Although we struggle with sin it has lost its power to rule over us.  It can defeat us but in Christ it cannot rule over us.  But it is not without a FIGHT on our own end.

STAY WITH ME!!!!

3.) Therefore we must FIGHT.  Even though sin is powerless in Christ we still live in a sinful world and are trapped in a body that is stained by sin and lured easily to sin and constantly enticed in the world we live in. If we are to live a life for Christ we must FIGHT…”But as for you O man of God: Fight the good fight of Faith.”   1 Timothy 2:6

Think about what requires FIGHT, these are just a few random examples:

• It takes FIGHT to get up each day and have a good attitude. 

• It takes FIGHT to have a good attitude when things are going your way.

• It takes FIGHT to encourage and motivate instead of gripe and complain.

• It takes FIGHT to keep your mouth shut and not say something negative or divisive.

• It takes FIGHT to be thankful.

• It takes FIGHT to go to class and pay attention. 

• It takes FIGHT to put others before yourself.

• It takes FIGHT to come to the weight room everyday and go to WRK.

• It takes FIGHT to defeat the temptations of sin.

• It takes FIGHT to not quit…to not give up.

• It takes FIGHT to get your tail back up after getting knocked down either by falling victim to sin or just life in general — and we all fall!

• It takes FIGHT to admit you are sinful.

• It takes FIGHT to say your sorry and mean it.

• It takes FIGHT to turn from your sin.

• It takes FIGHT to keep working. 

• It takes FIGHT  to admit your wrong. 

• It takes FIGHT to show up day in and day out…it takes FIGHT to be dependable. 

• It takes FIGHT not just to be consumed with yourself and your glory but to put others before yourself.  

• To die to self and live in Christ takes FIGHT.

• To keep your eyes on Christ takes FIGHT.

• To try and win a state championship takes FIGHT.

• To not give up takes FIGHT.

Finally boys…the 1 in the F1GHT has nothing to do with us being number one in football, although that is a fun and enjoyable pursuit and goal…the 1 first stands for we are all victorious in Christ.  Winning for us means you are F1GHTING daily to be your all in Christ.  You could get every worldly trophy in the world and every worldly accolade…and in the end, if it is all done for your glory and your praise, you will be the first loser.  

So in 2023—LET’s F1GHT!

LION NATION! 

Game #10

Here we go! Big game tonight.  This is game #10. Our last regular season game.  Will we make the playoffs and earn the right to play another game in the postseason next week? Well…we must win this game. We play Stephens County. They have beaten everyone in the region so no matter what they are region champs. They are a great team! SO…we are playing for the right to make the playoffs against the region champs. Sounds like a good movie script…

“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.” -Psalm 51:10-12

I keep rehashing the two games we lost in my head. In those games there seemed to be an invisible force moving against us. I pride myself on focusing on the small details that win football games. Sometimes we can get so bogged down in the Macro of things we fail to control the Micro of things. In fact, we have four focus points to winning: 

1. Do your job

2. Do not turn the ball over

3. Do not give up explosive plays for TD’s

4. Do not commit stupid penalties

I call this: “Control the Controllables.” In life we control the outcome of events by having intense focus on the details within the event. Against Hart and Monroe we failed completely in controlling the controllables. We gave up explosive plays. We committed stupid penalties. We turned the ball over. We didn’t do our jobs. We got inside the 10 yard line 5 times and didn’t score a point. Even if they were better than us we gave ourselves no chance of winning with all the little errors we made.  A bunch of continuous mistakes leads to total disaster. And this is what we all witnessed in our two losses of the year. 

Football has always been a microcosm of life for me. I take what is happening and I can relate it to my personal walk with Christ. The controllables in our walk with Christ is obedience to Christ and his commands. But as we get overwhelmed with life, we drift and lose focus on the day to day obedience to Christ. Much of the time we choose to sin intentionally, but a lot of times we sin because our minds are focused on other things besides Christ. 

A player doesn’t fumble because he wants to…he fumbles because he lost focus on securing the ball. His quest for the endzone trumped his focus on securing the ball. A player doesn’t jump offsides because he wants to, but his desire to block the man in front of him trumped his focus on the snap count. A player doesn’t get so consumed with himself on purpose, he gets lost in the minutiae of life which leads to focus on self.

For the Christian, this is how sin works. We sin because we have lost focus on Christ. We may be so consumed with work or get caught up in the business of life that we lose focus on the very thing that is going to make us successful–an intent to focus on Christ–the pursuit of Holiness, Godliness, and Faithfulness. 

In the end, as sin festers in our hearts and we allow it, overtime it will lead to our demise. Just like in a football game, a bunch of mistakes (sins) lead to losing, so it is in our lives. A compromise to sin or a loss of focus on Christ leads to losing in all that is important in our lives.  

But God is good.  He is never for our destruction. He hates sin because he knows sin leads to our destruction. Just like we have one more game tonight to fix our mistakes and go out and play our best, so the Lord is good and gracious as he continuously calls us to repentance and to turn to him. 

If we could just play our best tonight we can win and earn the right to make the playoffs. “Oh, Lord, please let us play to the best of our ability,” I find myself praying. But I hear the Lord whisper back: “Oh that your desire to live your life to the best of your ability in obedience to me would be as important to you as your team playing to the best of its ability.” 

“Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!” 

-Psalm 34:8

The Lord is good.  The Lord has created all things for his glory and honor. We have been made in his image and for his glory. Oh that we would follow his ways and commands. Oh Lord, may the longing of our heart be to live in faithful obedience to you.  Your rules and laws are not burdensome but good and healthy. Lord, may we cherish you and seek you with all of our heart. May holiness, godliness, and goodness be our focus. May we keep our eyes on Christ. May your glory be my passion. To walk in obedience is just an overflowing of my love and trust in you.  In fact, the state of my obedience is reflective of my heart towards you. Lord, you are good! Help us Lord: May we taste and see the Lord is good! May we take refuge in you! 

OK–TIME TO GO PLAY THIS 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

LION NATION!

GAME #9

It’s Game Day! 

I want to congratulate our JV team for a great season.  We went 4-3 with losses coming to Buford, Mill Creek, and Monroe Area.  We were able to beat Prince Avenue, Athens Academy, Providence, and Holy Innocence.  This is a great foundation on which we will build for the future!  Super proud of those boys.  

Tonight is a BIG game for us. We play Hart County and if we win we have made it into the playoffs and earned a right to go compete for a region championship in our last game.  If we lose we then have to beat Stephens County to get into the playoffs. Our region is tough with 5 really good teams in it.  Someone will not make it into the postseason.  SO–LOTS on the line tonight!   

Tonight is Senior Night and I find myself thinking about the 6 seniors we have and all the players I have coached that have gone off and graduated. All these devotionals I write I put together in a picture book and give it to the seniors at our banquet so they can have it for the rest of their life.  

This Chapter of the book: Game #11 (in the book I count the scrimmages)...I will have this leader to the Seniors. As I write I think about them and all the boys I have coached and coaches I have coached with.  

DEAR SENIORS: 

It has been a pleasure and honor to coach you.  I am so glad God allowed me to be a part of your life.  In our time together I hope to have instilled in you certain values and convictions that you can take with you the rest of your life.  

1. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. BE NOT WISE IN YOUR OWN EYES; fear the Lord, and turn away from evil.” Proverbs 3:5-7

**Make Jesus Christ the foundation of your life.  We are sinners and we are prone to make the wrong choices every time. How can we choose right? How do we know what is right? Run to the Lord! Seek Him. Let your requests and desires be known to him and allow him to lead you in the right direction. He will make your paths straight.  He has the ability to help you and prevent you from dangerous decisions…decisions that might feel right and good but will only lead to your demise.  BUT…be careful…you will not seek God if you are wise in your own eyes.  Arrogance leads to destruction. The fear of God leads to wisdom and straight paths.  

2. “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you.” Psalm 32:8

***The God of the Universe…the Savior of mankind…promises to be with us and lead us wherever we may go.  Seek him…follow him…surrender to him. 

3. “for the righteous falls seven times and rises again, but the wicked stumble in times of calamity.” -Proverbs 24:16

***We are sure to fail in life.  Whether it be sinning against God, or in our work, we are going to fail. We are sinners and imperfect creatures. Perfect success is unattainable in this fallen world. Just like in a football game there is another team playing against you and they want to beat you, so it is in the real world. There is always competition and people are always going to be chasing the same thing you are chasing.  You will lose in life sometimes.  GET BACK UP!   DO NOT QUIT! The darkest part of the night is right before the sunrise…KEEP CHOPPING! 

4. WORK!!!! Remember what we said work stood for: Willpower, Ownership, Resilient, and Keep Chopping. If you are going to be successful in life you are going to have to will yourself to get up and to work.  No longer will a coach be there making you…or mom and dad be there to clean up your mess. You are going to have to OWN you and your process.  You can blame others for this and that but ultimately no one will care.  If you don’t produce and you don’t work you will be left homeless.  OWN your failures and mistakes and don’t blame. In your OWNING your failures you will be able to learn from them and turn failure into success. Resilience is a steadfastness no matter what comes your way. As you forge ahead striving for success there will be 1000 things working against you.  Resilience is putting your head down and putting one foot in front of the other to keep moving forward. KEEP CHOPPING…life is hard. Sometimes you fumble inside the 5 going into score and sometimes you score.  There is no rhyme or reason as to why this stuff happens. Good things happen and bad things happen…to the one who quits they will live getting smacked by the bad.  To the one who Keep Chopping they will find that in the end they will have had more wins than losses! 

5. WIN THE DAY! “But Seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things and all these things will be added to you…Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” - Matthew 6:33-34

6. HUMiL1TY! “So nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.” - Philippians 2:3-4

**This one very well could be the biggest struggle of our lives. We are all prideful and arrogant. We want attention and we want glory.  We are all selfish and want what we want. Satan was an angel but wanted to be God. We have this spirit in us as well.  Strive to live a life surrendered to Christ. Christ set the example of humility in that He was God but came and took on life in human form and died on the cross for you and me. This should be our aim….to live life in service to others. Think a little about yourself and a lot about others. Live a life of GIVING instead of GETTING. Be Thankful.

7. NO EXCUSES! I have learned in life that I can blame and point the finger at a lot of people when things don’t go how I want them or I don’t get what I want. But at the end of the day I control none of that.  Blaming, pointing the finger, etc…It is all the language of a loser. Don’t make excuses for when you mess up.  When Eve and Adam ate the fruit from the forbidden tree, the very first thing Adam did was make an excuse for why he disobeyed God.  He blamed Eve.  He really blamed God because he said to God: “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” (Genesis 3:12)  It’s in our nature to pass the blame.  It’s in our nature to make excuses. It’s just another form of sin which plagues our souls. OWN YOU! Own your mistakes and failures. And in your successes, pass on the praise and glory to others.  The more I think about myself the more excuses I will make. The less I think about myself the more ownership I will take.  

FINALLY…and this one doesn’t get a number because it is really all that matters…RUN TO JESUS all the time. We can get tunnel vision here on this earth and think that this is all there is. We get overwhelmed with sin and find ourselves trapped.  We can really start drinking the kool aid that our complex bodies just evolved over time and there is no God. But the truth is there is a God and he created all things for his glory. He created man in his image and for his glory. We sinned against God. We sin daily against God. The punishment for this is death and Hell. We were hopeless but Jesus Christ came and lived the perfect we could not live so he could be the perfect sacrifice for our sins. Jesus died on the cross for our sins.  He rose from the dead the third day conquering death and hell for those who believe.  Life is hard. It will be easy for you to neglect God or turn from him all together. No matter how far you fall, run to the Lord.  No matter how good things are, run to the Lord. In Christ is life. 

OK! TIME TO GO PLAY A 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

LION NATION!

GAME #8!!

It’s Game Day.  I want to congratulate our JV boys for going and competing against Mill Creek last night.  We got beat pretty good but our boys competed and physically rose to the occasion.  We have some key players on JV out and some key players on varsity out.  That means our JV team was missing a lot of players last night because a lot of JV boys were pulled up to varsity. Most teams would call and cancel (it happens to us all the time). But we didn’t and our kids fought and they got better. 

Tonight our varsity travels to Franklin County. This is our third region game. I feel like we are in the playoffs because there is no room for error anymore. 4/6 teams in our region are ranked in the top 10 making our region the strongest in AAA. Only 4 get to make the playoffs. Every game is a must win. We’ve worked hard and had a great week of practice.  Time to go play! 

WIN THE DAY

“But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you…Therefore, do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” Matthew 6:33-34

I love the Win the Day concept. If you are like me, you have a tendency to worry about everything that might happen in the future. I don’t necessarily think processing what could happen in the future is a bad thing. If you have the ability to look and foresee what might happen and then get your mind wrapped around the preparation of today, “worrying” about tomorrow might not be such a bad thing. But when you get overwhelmed and frantic about what might happen in the future it becomes a problem. When the worries over tomorrow pin you down today…there is an issue.

As a coach I need to look at what might happen on Friday nights.  They might do 40-50 different things. I need to process that and then have a plan to counter it. Once we have the plan we must get busy in the execution of our plan. I need to process the future by studying the past, but then I must get my mind fully locked into the present. The present is where I control fixing past mistakes and preparing for the future. We can’t dwell on yesterday…we can’t live in hopes or doubts of tomorrow…we must lock into the present and be fully functional in the NOW!  

I must see and process future outcomes and obstacles. I must learn from past successes and failures. Then, I must take all of this information and execute a great plan TODAY! This is what the Bible tells us. Do not be anxious for tomorrow….sufficient for the day is its own trouble.  Today is going to present so much conflict and drama – CONFLAMA – that if you allow the worries of what might happen in the future overwhelm you, the conflama of this day will crush you. 

If we take care of business today…we will have a chance to take care of business tomorrow.  As a football team, if we aren’t great on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday at practice, we have failed to take care of the things we actually have control over. We control the outcome of the game on Friday night through our preparation during the week. The anxiety and stress over winning on Friday night must be channeled into trying to win each day of preparation. We must be fully focused on the preparation and not the game during the week. Today–Friday

–it’s time to go play the game! 

When it is time to go play you will “fall to the level of your training.” Everyone can be excited before a game. You can stretch and run and do all the great training regimens to prepare your body and mind to compete before the game.  You might have some great mental awareness, self-actualization, and mental/visual processing tools you use before your big event…And that is all great…but when you get into the actual competition what matters is your training the months, weeks, and days prior to competition.  

I give the kids an example to help them understand this: I ask them how many of them pray before a test to do well but they never paid attention in class and didn’t do their homework intently leading up to the test. I then tell them it is dumb for them to pray. When we fail to prepare we have failed to prepare. God isn’t magically going to give you the answers. He gave you a fully functional brain you failed to use. So it is the same with a football game or being able to be successful at anything we want to do. If we fail to prepare and do all the things necessary that we have control over, it is foolish to have expectations of success. 

We all battle worry, stress, and anxiety. Some way more than others. I would say that I am on the high end of scale. I am learning to manage it all but I can turn manic and insane in my stress to be perfect. The Win the Day philosophy with a Matthew 6:33-34 focus helps me a great deal. It centers my mind on preparation and controlling the variables God has given me control over. The ability to focus my mind on today gives me peace. 

I’m going to leave you with one final verse that helps me a lot as well. It gives me great peace and freedom to lay down the things I cannot control at the feet of Jesus: 

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:7)

OK! Time to go play!!! We have prepared and we are ready…TODAY-full focus on this GAME!!  WIN THE DAY!!

“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

LION NATION!

GAME #7

Before I get started I want to congratulate our JV on their win last night. They won 35-0 and that puts them at 4-1 on the season. That one loss was to Buford. 

TONIGHT-Monroe Area comes to Hebron. Monroe Area has a record of 2-4 but the four games they lost came against teams that are still undefeated.  They lost in double overtime to Loganville who is 7-0. They lost 19-11 to Gainesville who is undefeated and #3 in 6A. They lost to Prince Avenue because they fumbled twice going into score inside the 5 (Prince is undefeated). Then they lost to Stephens County last week 24-27 and Stephens is undefeated.  Monroe could easily be 6-0. They are a very good team with great players. This will be a war once again. 

SOLI DEO GLORIA

Much of what I write today must be attributed to our strength coach, Spencer Arnold. He spoke in chapel a few weeks ago and one of his resources was a writing on Johann Sebastian Bach. The article on Bach and Spencer’s chapel speech has stuck with me the past few weeks and really has me pondering Soli Deo Gloria.

Bach is a famous music composer from Germany. He lived from 1685-1750. Today, in 2022, his name and his work is studied throughout the world. In every single one of his compositions he would always sign in at the bottom SDG. Soli Deo Gloria is a Latin term for Glory to God Alone. Bach possessed a genius for writing music. It was such an amazing genius that across the world people know his name and study his work. His music is played across the world. 

Why sign it SDG and not JSB? Bach was a Christian. He lived his life inspired by the Holy Spirit living inside of him. As a Christian, Bach knew that he was created in God’s image for God’s glory. He knew that any talent and ability he had, God had given it to him. By signing his pieces SDG, he was reminding himself it was for God’s glory he composed. He was reminding you and me it was for God’s glory he composed. Had he signed it JSB, his purpose would be that everyone would know the amazing work he had done. By signing it SDG, he was reminding everyone it was by God moving and working through him he composes…To God the Glory!

Bach understood by the power of the Holy Spirit working in him, that his brain could compose music in a special way because God gave him the ability. To give credit to himself or anyone else would be stealing from God’s glory. But as he consistently pointed to Jesus in all of his work, 300 years after his death, Bach is the most famous name known in the music industry. Bach never intended to make his name great. His aim was to glorify God and magnify the name of Jesus Christ. The world has glorified Bach. Bach has glorified Christ. So as the world studies Bach they see Christ. It is amazing how God works! 

The question I have been asking myself is this? Why do I do what I do? Is my purpose and aim to glorify myself or is it to glorify God? I know the correct answer: SDG! But is this truly my aim? My sin nature wants self to be glorified. We all want recognition and attention. I don’t think this is all wrong but we must analyze our motives. Self cannot be our central purpose. If it is, we will have reduced God to being our personal genie.  God will go from being the Savior of the world who all of my honor and glory is due, to being my personal assistant in my quest for glory. 

Can you write? God gave you the ability. Can you sing? God gave you the ability. Are you smart? God gave you intelligence. Are you fast? God gave you your height. Are you strong? God gave you your strength? Are you an artist? God gave you the ability. 

I find myself pondering SDG because I can see where I have been guilty in the past of chasing glory for myself. It’s an ongoing daily battle to not steal the glory due to God. Our flesh sometimes wants to sit and bask in what great things we have accomplished. It’s not wrong to have joy in your accomplishments, but wisdom points us to the one to whom has given us the ability and to whom the glory is due: Jesus Christ. 

What I have found in life is there is never enough glory you can get. You will always want to win one more game and one more championship. You think to win would satisfy your desire to win…you think to win a championship would quench your desire for a championship. But it doesn’t! It only makes the desire for it more. And this is very dangerous territory. 

Think about the guy at Enron back in the early 2000’s. He had a business and it was growing. He probably started off doing everything right. In his businesses early growth he becomes a millionaire and so does many around him. You think he could just stop right there and enjoy what he had built and slowly and legally continue to grow.  But that isn’t what success does to us for those who are not after success but after worldly glory. In his success he wanted more. He got addicted to growth and successful quarterly reports that made his stock price grow. He was winning every quarter. The world is proclaiming him a genius. This becomes his identity–the genius of a man who never fails.

So what did he do? He started cheating so his quarterly reports never showed any negative growth. He lied, cheated, and stole because he was chasing his own glory. The world thought he was a genius and he would never fail. This became his identity. He fell in love with the glory. He would do anything to keep it…to his own demise.  In the end it was one of the greatest cheating scandals in our nation’s history. 

There is freedom in SDG. You can be free from chasing glory for yourself everyday.  I know from experience it is exhausting. Just think about it…if we can just stop thinking about how I can get the next wave of attention or the next win…think about how much freedom and peace our brain can receive.  

SDG has this mentality: I am going to work as hard as I can to be successful. I pray Psalm 32:8 with my work: 

“I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you.” 

But in the end I surrender my work to Christ and it is for his glory. He will do with it what he may. If he gives success and victory then SDG. If he allows failure and defeat then we will still proclaim SDG trusting in God’s good and perfect plan. 

I’m not saying don’t work hard…I’m saying work hard for God’s glory. I am not saying don’t desire to be successful and work toward that end…I am saying do it for God’s glory. Bach was purposeful in doing his work for God’s glory. 300 years later he is the most famous music composer in the world and people are seeing that he did it for God’s glory. May this be our aim!

TIME TO GO PLAY!!!!!!

“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

LION NATION!

Game #6

It’s GAME DAY! Tonight we play Oconee County at home. It is our first region game. Oconee County has been one of the top teams in AAA for the past few years. Can we compete with the top teams in AAA? We will find out tonight! And it’s Homecoming. You should come and just make a night of it.  Our Volleyball team has Senior Night with games at 4 and 5 and then football at 7:30. 

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

Ever since I got here in March, we have been working hard just so we can step on the field and compete with teams like Oconee County. They played in the AAA State Championship in 2019 and 2020. They are an elite program in AAA. Hebron has been a mid-level program in single A in recent years. We got moved to AAA because of the multiplier GHSA applied to private schools and city schools. Our goal should be to be a relevant single A or AA program since we are a small school. BUT…we got moved to AAA. 

We had a few options about our new classification and our new region. 1.) We could sit around and whine and complain about our situation and circumstances. 2.) Hebron could have also chosen to leave the GHSA (Georgia High School Association) and go to the all private school league GISA (Georgia Independent School Association) 3.) Go with the hand we have been dealt…roll up our sleeves and get to work! 

Hebron chose #3 before I even got here. I probably wouldn’t be here if they had chosen 1 or 2…and they probably would have never wanted me to come coach had they chosen 1 or 2. The fact that our administration, led by our Head of School, Dr. Taylor, and our Athletic Director, Taylor Davis, chose option 3, spoke volumes to me about their vision of where we can take our school and athletic programs.

We embraced the challenge and got to work. It was never about Oconee County or any other AAA team. It was about us and putting in the work necessary each and everyday to become the very best we could become. We put our head down and went to work starting in March just to be able to compete with the best. Can we? Are we ready? We are about to find out tonight against one of the best!!

If you have noticed I always sign off these Game Day Devotionals with Proverbs 21:31. It tells us that the horse is made ready for the day of battle. That means we are in charge and responsible for our preparation. God has given us responsibility and ownership of the WORK. However, the VICTORY belongs to the Lord.

This does not mean that God is always going to give us victory. This is acknowledging the fact that God is in control and the final outcome is in his hands. God is Sovereign which means he is in control. When we say the victory belongs to the Lord we are glorifying God in submitting to his total authority of all situations and circumstances. This mindset keeps us humble in victory and gracious in defeat. It keeps God at the center of all we do. It centers our minds on our dependence upon God. 

People ask me all the time: “Are we going to win?” If I knew the answer I imagine we wouldn’t even play. The truth is we have no clue if we are going to win or lose. What I do know is we are going to work hard and prepare to the best of our ability. We are going to work hard to control the variables that we have been given control over. I don’t know if we are going to win but I do know we are going to work. 

People love to sit around and pontificate about what will happen. Then they love to sit around and discuss what happened. There are people who make millions of dollars talking about what might happen and what happened. And it is all just talk…no one has a clue. We have to work and then we have to go compete. Work hard and see what happens. 

Last night I was driving home and I passed by a new Raising Cane’s Chicken Tenders restaurant going up. There is already a Magoo’s right beside the school and then there is a Magoo’s right near my house. I had this thought: “Everyone eats chicken…where do all these chickens come from? There must be like 1 trillion chickens getting killed everyday so we can eat chicken. But I don’t know where one chicken is.” 

Then I started thinking about the farmer. A farmer can work his tail off cultivating the land and making everything perfect. But if the Lord doesn’t send the rain or there cannot be water found to water the crops it doesn’t matter how much work the farmer did or how much he knows…nothing is going to grow without the rain. Water is God given. No rain…no crops.

No rain…no crops…no chickens. We need rain. God sends the rain…the victory belongs to the Lord. 

With success in life there is great danger. We begin to think the victory is in our hands. We begin to think we are the masters of our own fate. Instead of looking and pondering at what God has done we begin to look and think about what we have done. We become prideful and arrogant. We become fools. We must constantly remind ourselves: “The victory belongs to the Lord.” 

I always think about amazing athletes like Lebron James when I think of this verse. Lebron probably thinks he worked himself into being the best. I am sure he worked really hard. But if was 6 feet tall and not 6’9 we wouldn’t even know his name. If he was born in another country we wouldn’t even know who he is. He had no control over his height, his athletic ability, and where he was born. But all of those things came together and he has become one of the greatest basketball players of all time. He might think he is self made.  But the truth is all he has done is maximize the ability God has given him and then he was born in the right place at the right time. He would be wise to give all the glory to God. 

Another example is Tom Brady. God gave Tom Brady an amazing mind and amazing accuracy with the football.  Another amazing thing God gave Tom Brady is a brain and body that function simultaneously. He sees and his body/arm reacts. For most people there is a slight hesitation or slower release of the ball. Yes…Brady has worked his tail off. But God gave him this amazing ability and he was born at the perfect time for this ability to flourish. All he did is cultivate the talent God gave him and take advantage of the time and age and country in which he was born. He would be wise to give God the glory.

The greatest of his day was King David. King David was more famous and fierce than Lebron James and Tom Brady. He was a Warrior King. Psalm 18 is King David attributing all of his attributes to God. For example: 

“He has made my feet like the feet of a deer and set me secure on the heights. He trains my hands for war, so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze…You gave a wide place for my steps under me, and my feet did not slip…for you equipped me with strength for battle.” 

This language acknowledges that God is in control. With attributing all his success to God and the fact that God even controls him bending the bow of bronze he glorifies God….the victory belongs to God.

The ultimate victory you and I have no control over is Jesus Christ coming to die on the cross for our sins. We all stand guilty and defeated. We have sinned against God and have rebelled against God and his Lordship. We have lost and the punishment is death and hell. We are the great losers. Death will swallow both you and me. We are all guilty before the God of Creation. BUT GOD…in his mercy and grace sent Jesus to die on the cross for our sins. And in his death and resurrection…his victory over sin and death…He has given us the opportunity for salvation. He has given us victory. Will we receive this victory in and through Jesus Christ? The same thing that causes us not to glorify God in our earthly victories–PRIDE–this also prevents us from receiving the greatest gift of all time: eternal life.  Today, will we humble ourselves and accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior? May we die to ourselves and live a life surrendered to Jesus Christ. In Christ is Victory…the VICTORY belongs to the Lord!

IT’S TIME TO GO PLAY!!!!

“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

LION NATION! 

Game #5!

CONGRATS to our JV team for winning 26-0 against Holy Innocents last night and our middle school team won 40 something to 20 something at George Walton. I was at the game but I cannot remember the exact score. It is awesome to see these coaches and these players getting better! 

Tonight we head down to play Athens Christian.  They are a team that has some really fast players.  The ones that jump out from the screen are the quarterback, #1, and the running back, #7.  To contain them will take all 11 players on defense.  It will be a great challenge and we are excited.  

MASTER THE MONOTONY

We are in our 8th week of football practice. If you count our scrimmage, this is the 6th time the boys will take the field on a Friday night. No matter what happens, the boys are guaranteed another 6 weeks of practice.  We are right in the middle of the regular season grind.  We discussed this as a football team this week and here was my warning and challenge: Beware of the Monotony…Master the Monotony! 

Football is a grind. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday practices are just really really hard. The boys wake up, go to school, go to football, go home and then study.  Day in and day out it is the same thing. It is easy to check out mentally and just fall into the trap of going through the motions.  It is easy to go from trying to Win the Day to just getting through the day. Great teams and great players embrace the grind…embrace the HARD…and make a choice to get better each day…to not just pass through the monotony but to dominate the monotony.  Bad teams and many football players (good players and bad players) get dominated by monotony.  

HOW? The monotonous grind creates mental fatigue. Mental fatigue creates mental weakness. Mental weakness overflows to physical apathy.  Lack of mental fortitude creates lack of physical output and exertion. It culminates into kids wanting to miss school or skip practice. “I’m tired, I’m worn out, I’m exhausted…” and on, and on, and on we will gripe.  If we don’t skip out all together, we will show up but there is a lack of motivation and discipline at school and on the field. Most won’t miss school or practice or work, but the willpower to push themselves towards greatness is lacking. 

As I’m discussing this with the team this week I had a flashback to my childhood.  I grew up a preacher’s son. We moved to South Carolina when I was 7 years old when my dad became the preacher at Bethel Presbyterian Church. Our house was on the church grounds.  I’d say between the church, the graveyard (which was huge) and our house, the acreage was no less than 10-15.  I remember this old man, Mr. Kendrick, mowing the lawn each week on this tractor that looked like the very first one ever made.  But that isn’t the only thing I remembered about him.  I remembered him getting an award each year for never missing Sunday school or church for the year. He received it every year.  THEN…he had gotten it like a ridiculous amount of consecutive years.  This man never missed Sunday school, he never missed church, and he never missed taking care of the grounds at the church.   

Yesterday I called my dad to ask about Mr. Kendrick. I am 43 years old and I have never asked about him. But at 43 years old I remember him….what I perceive to be a man who mastered the monotony of life….and a Godly man.  

My dad only had raving reviews of this man.  My dad was able to tell me a story that Mr. Kendrick had told him.  Let’s say Mr. Kendrick was close to 80 when I remember him.  This probably was 1990ish.  So he would have grown up 1920/30ish.  When he was a child he had to plow the fields.  Not with a tractor but with mules.  So his dad would wake him up early and he would get to plowing. Back and forth as he guided two mules.  He would go in for lunch and his dad would tell him: “OK, we have to rest the mules and get two new ones.” So the child Mr. Kendrick would go out after lunch and get two new mules and continue to plow. He would think to himself and tell the mules: “I have to replace you two mules so you can get rest…but who gets to replace me to get rest.”   

At an early age Mr. Kendrick was taught to master the monotony.  When he was older he dominated the monotony by being a man of commitment, duty, diligence, and perseverance.  He was a consistent pillar of the church in a little community in Bethel, South Carolina. Then you have me at 43 in Georgia remembering his example of Godly commitment to the church and work. God uses people as examples.

I love what we teach in football and school about daily commitment, duty, diligence and perseverance.  As your children grow older, these virtues will help them find great success in life.

But, more importantly, no christian will grow in Jesus Christ if they lack commitment, duty, diligence, and perseverance. We are constantly fighting spiritual apathy. Just like a football team must be aware of showing up and going through the motions, so must the Christan be aware of waking up and going through the emotions.  As a football coach or player, or you in your work, are we just showing up to get through the day or are we showing up to get better today? Are we trying to Win the Day or just get through the day? Much more so, as a Christian, am I waking up with a passion to live a faithful and obedient life surrendered to Jesus Christ OR am I just waking up and trying to check off some christian checklist of proper external moral behavior?

The Christian journey is long and arduous. Most of the time the biggest battle is to overcome personal sin and temptation that dwells within us. It’s the same in football…most of the time we are battling ourselves and our attitudes…our will.  As a Christian, my passion and my goal must be to choose obedience and faithfulness to Jesus Christ.  I am going to have to reject the sin and temptation that dwells within me and in this world and choose to be obedient.  Same as a football player and coach…I am going to have to CHOOSE to have a great attitude and give great effort in school, in the weight room, and on the football field. If you are waiting for a great attitude to just jump on you, then you will be waiting in misery…it’s never coming. If you are waiting for the time when you will just be obedient and faithful to God with no effort or will from yourself, you will be waiting as you are dominated by unrighteousness. 

It’s hard! PUT ON (that requires effort) a great attitude and MASTER the MONOTONY. If you master enough monotonous days back to back, I promise you will be amazed by the transformation in your attitude and your work.  

I do all of the above imperfectly…BUT…I can’t end until I point to the ultimate example is always Jesus Christ. He is the perfect one. He came and died on the cross for you and me. He died for our sins. He took on our sins and paid the penalty that you and I deserved. Each day he died to himself for you and me. Surely, we can get up and put on a great attitude today and live a life in pursuit of obedience and faithfulness to Jesus Christ! Master the Monotony! And when you fail and find yourself with a disgusting attitude or entrapped in some other sin...repent...turn…and try again!

OK—TIME TO PLAY FOOTBALL!!!!

“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

LION NATION! 

GAME DAY #4

It’s Game Day!  Tonight Morgan County comes to us for a battle of the unbeatens.  They are 3-0 and we are 3-0.  We are both AAA schools and both trying to earn respect as top 10 programs in AAA.  It will be a great test and battle for us tonight.  We have worked hard…our boys are prepared…it’s time to go play! 

STEADFAST: Resolutely or dutifully firm and unwavering.

The word that came to me last Sunday morning was STEADFAST. So much of life requires us to get up and keep going. Our game verse Commerce last Friday night reflected this. To begin the night off, it had rained all day and the field was a sponge. Seriously, when we walked on the field it was as if we were walking on a wet sponge. Then to make conditions worse, it poured once again right before kick off.  BUT…STEADFAST…whatever the conditions–put your helmet on and go play!

At the beginning of the game everything went our way and we found ourselves up 26-7 at the end of the first quarter. If we use football as a metaphor for life, life was good. However, the second quarter was the exact opposite. We couldn’t stop Commerce and they were scoring on one explosive play after another.  Something was wrong with how we were playing defense and they found it and exposed it. Heading into halftime, Commerce had come roaring back. We were up 34-28. 

It is easy to get dejected and surely doubt creeps in when you are up 27-6 and then find yourself down 28-27 with four minutes to go in the 2nd quarter. How in the world can you go from being up 27-6 to down 27-28 in the matter of 8 minutes of playing time? What a range of emotions to handle: “We are great…no we are awful…”  

As a team we had to decide who we were going to be. Were we going to put our heads down and just keep chopping away or were we going to break and give up? We could have started blaming each other and our boys could have gotten upset and have thrown temper tantrums. They could have allowed the emotions of dejection overwhelm them and melt. More often than we want to imagine we all have succumbed to giving in. 

STEADFAST! Our message to the boys was just to relax and keep going. We will figure out what is going wrong on defense.  We will start scoring points again.  KEEP GOING! Keep your composure.  Encourage one another in adversity. Take Ownership and don’t point the finger. Remain calm and just keep swinging the ax. Something positive is going to happen for us. STEADFAST! 

At halftime we remained calm and we made some defensive adjustments. We were good and we were ready to go win the second half.  In the third quarter our defense played well but our offense continued to sputter. Commerce scored late in the third quarter to tie the score 34-34. To the common man: It’s over. We are done. 

They scored putting the score at 34-34 and they were about to kick a PAT to go up 35-34. BUT…our defense didn’t give in and our big three defensive linemen broke through the front line and blocked the PAT. All of a sudden we went from NO HOPE to HOPE. All because 3 boys decided to not give up. Instead of the score being 35-34…it was 34-34.  Tied…we still had hope. STEADFAST!

All close games come down to winning the 4th quarter. We won the fourth quarter 14-0. It was awesome to see our boys remain resolute. It was awesome to see no one yelling at each other or giving up. The boys just kept battling in the face of adversity. 

Things were great and we found ourselves up 27-6. Then things were awful and we found ourselves down 27-28. What emotional swings. The message: “Boys have control over your emotions. Do not let yourself get down…keep battling…something good is going to happen.” 

This is life right? It’s not if we are going to face adversity but when and how. And then when it happens how are you going to handle it? Are you going to give up? Or are you going to keep going? 

One of the greatest quotes of all time is quite simple yet so hard to live out. Winston Churchill and Europe were in an all out war against Hitler as he was trying to overtake the world. Churchill was resolute and unwavering in his leadership. His message to his people: 

“Never give in. Never give in. Never, never, never, never--in nothing, great or small, large or petty--never give in, except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force. Never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.”

The greatest example of LOVE and STEADFASTNESS is CHRIST!

“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

God’s love for us is the example of STEADFASTNESS. We rejected God and rebelled against his commands. Rebelling against his commands is rebelling against his Lordship over us. He could have given us up. He could have given up on us and let us be in this life as Hell awaited us in the next. But he didn’t. We rejected him but he did not give up on us. We rebelled against him but he did not give up on us. We sinned against him and he did not give up on us. 

Jesus Christ, being fully God, yet taking human form to come and die on the cross for our sins is the example of STEADFASTNESS. He took on death and our sin so that we may live. Surely Christ could see what we cannot: This world is full of sin. I am full of sin. I was headed to eternal hell. Christ had a clear vision of what a state we were in, I was in. We can’t see it clearly because we are lost in our sin.  We are in bondage to our sin. We hate our Creator. We are separated from God due to our sin.  Death awaits us all and will swallow us all. Separation from God on this earth leads to Hell after death. We are in a hopeless state.  Jesus saw this when we were blind to it.

BUT GOD! God is STEADFAST in his love for us and he sent his Son Jesus Christ to die on the cross for our sins. Jesus’ work here on earth is the example of STEADFASTNESS. I pray I could see my sin more clearly. I pray I can see my rejection of the Almighty God with clear vision. Just like I could look up at that scoreboard with clear vision and see 27-28 and know adversity had struck…may I be able to see my sin and my rebelling against God. THEN…I will be able to see clearly the 48-34 and be able to appreciate all that happened for us to win the game. When we can clearly see our sin we can fully appreciate Christ’s VICTORY for us. We will then be able to see his STEADFAST LOVE. Just as that 48-34 victory was made sweeter due to all the adversity…so Christ’s love for us and his work on the cross becomes the ultimate symbol of love. Christ did not give up on us. His love is STEADFAST!

OK–TIME TO GO PLAY!!! 

“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

LION NATION!

Game Day #3!

I want to congratulate our JV team for beating Prince Avenue last night 22-7. That puts them at 2-0 for the year. I am very appreciative of the coaches and how hard they work to develop the boys.  I am proud of the boys for their effort and their work. 

Tonight we head over to play Commerce High School.  They have a very tough team and want to run the ball right at us.  Our boys have prepared and worked hard...we are excited to go play!

UNDIVIDED DEDICATION

“Teach me your way, Lord, that I may rely on your faithfulness; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name.” -Psalm 86:11

As we began this week we were preparing to take on Commerce UNDIVIDED DEDICATION came to my mind. Commerce runs a version of the triple option like GT used to do.  They do it differently but they do run some option and they try to run it right down your throat and make you beg them to stop.  As I sat there on Sunday preparing to play them, I realized our boys were going to have to be undivided in their focus and dedication towards preparation.  Each player would have a job and they must do that job to the best of their ability. 

It wasn’t if would they would do their job tonight, but would they be willing to do their job every single day in practice? Would the scout team players be dedicated to do their job of running the other teams offense and defense all week? Would the starters be dedicated to doing their job with excellence all week long? The dedication in the weight room, on the field, and in the film room all week long would be what puts us in position to win. Would everyone be willing? Would everyone be UNDIVIDED in their DEDICATION to doing their job? Winning begins way before you ever hit that field on Friday night. 

To win requires each coach and each player, every member of the organization, to be UNDIVIDED in their DEDICATION to do their job every single day at practice.  Then, by gametime, the preparation has been so good all the boys have to do is go out and execute.  

It sounds so easy right? Would you just do your job with excellence? This is what I need you to do. Would you do it well? But there are competing variables that cause us to be distracted. Maybe our selfishness causes us not to like the job we have been given so our attitude is bad. Maybe we go to practice and it is really hot so we don’t want to practice.  Maybe we go to practice and we are tired because we have been up all night. UNDIVIDED DEDICATION requires mental fortitude and focus. It requires selflessness at times. Even though we can mentally understand the importance of being undivided in our dedication, we have the inability to be undivided because our flesh and our minds are divided.

Our walk with Christ is no different. As Christians God calls us to put off the old self and to live as new persons in Christ. This requires UNDIVIDED DEDICATION in saying no to sin and living with a passion to obey the Lord and live wholly for Jesus Christ.  And that sounds so easy when I write it out like that. But there are competing forces and those forces live inside of me. I am selfish. I don’t want to do what is right. I don’t want to obey sometimes. I don’t want to “do my job.” OR, maybe I’m tired and worn out. Maybe things aren’t going my way so I don’t want to trust in God.  There are major competing forces in my UNDIVIDED DEDICATION to the Lord.

What then? Should I quit and give in? When I fail and things aren’t going my way should I reject God and move on? Never! We should never quit and never give in when we fail. My heart's posture is one of UNDIVIDED DEDICATION to the Lord. Just like in practice or any given day I may fail to be wholly UNDIVIDED in my DEDICATION to WIN, I may also sin and fail in my UNDIVIDED DEDICATION to live for Christ. When I’m struggling with my faith or in my obedience should I quit? NEVER...may the Lord in his goodness never allow me to quit!

UNDIVIDED is a posture of our heart. As a player or coach, I am going to mess up. I am going to have bad days even though I don’t want to have bad days. The question we must ask is, “Do I desire to be my best and give my all.” There are many kids that have no desire to come to practice and give their all.  They have no desire to be their best. They just exist with 0 passion towards excellence.  The posture of their heart is wrong. As a coach I cannot help this person. If there is nothing driving them inside of them, then we as coaches have no flame to fan. 

In the same way we must analyze our hearts before the Lord. Is the posture of our heart UNDIVIDED? Life will happen and we will get caught up going 1000 miles per hour and find that we have failed, but is our desire to do right? Is our desire to serve the Lord? The Lord looks and analyzes the heart. As a coach, I can pour into and help the player whose heart’s desire is to become their best. We are no different before God. The Lord can help and will help those whose hearts are right before him. A right heart before God is an undivided heart. Though we may fail, our heart's desire is to not fail.

There was only One whose heart was truly UNDIVDED and that is Jesus Christ.  He came to earth to model for us what a pure and focused UNDIVIDED heart looks like. He was UNDIVIDED in his DEDICATION as He came into this world and died on the cross for our sins that we may be saved.  He died for our divided hearts. In fact, before the Holy Spirit transforms our hearts we have hearts that have no desire for Christ or his ways. Jesus Christ came and  lived the perfect life you and I cannot live. In doing this, He was county worthy as being the perfect unblemished sacrifice for our sins. He willingly died so that you and I may live. His focus was UNDIVIDED. 

This is why we WORSHIP him. His dedication was perfect. His life was sinless. His death on the cross for our sins was perfect. By his death, you and I can be healed from our sin and our wicked hearts. By the power of his Holy Spirit working in us and can be empowered to live with a heart bent towards UNDIVIDED DEDICATION. By the work of Christ, we can actually have a heart that has a desire to live for Christ. We will surely fail but our heart’s posture will always be one of undivided dedication by the power of the Holy Spirit living in us. And when we do fail, we will repent and continue the race towards undivided dedication.

I challenge you today: Put your hope and trust in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. This is the way towards a heart transformed to UNDIVIDED DEDICATION!

God is good. He is UNDIVIDED in his DEDICATION towards those who love him and are called according to his purpose.  

“If we are faithless, he remains faithful.” 2 Timothy 2:13

We are fired up and ready to play 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

LION NATION!

Game Day #2, August 26, 2022

Game Day #2…really #3 if you count the scrimmage two weeks ago.  We are back at home and our boys are fired up and ready to play! 

I want to congratulate our JV last night for winning their first game of the season and going 1-0.  The boys have been working hard and the coaches have done a great job of developing them at practice. I also want to let everyone know that it was Spencer Arnold’s birthday yesterday.  Coach Arnold is our strength coach and he does an amazing job with our boys.  So if you see him, wish him a happy birthday! 

“You would have no authority over me unless it had been given you from above.” -John 19:11

These are the words of Jesus to Pontius Pilate right before Pilate gives him up to be crucified.  The religious people of Israel hated Jesus and had worked hard to destroy Jesus. They hated Jesus because he came to expose their sin. Even though he was going to die for their sins and pay the penalty for their sins, they hated him because he exposed their sin. They wanted him dead. The only thing that stood in their way was the approval of the Judaen Governor. The Governor was Pilate. He stood as the decision maker for the Judea which was under the rule of Rome. 

As Jesus stood before Pilate, Pilate was asking him questions but Jesus was not answering. Jesus understood his fate and he knew Pilate was going to serve him due to the political expediency of Jesus’ death. Of course, it was much bigger than the jealousy of the religious elite (the Pharisees) who wanted Jesus' death. Jesus had come to earth to die for our sins. The purpose of God was to deliver Jesus over to death that he would die for our sins. 

All of it: The Pharisees wanting Jesus dead and Pilate delivering Jesus up to death, was the will of God. It was the will of the people to have Jesus crucified. Pilate was subject not to doing what was right and delivering a guiltless man; but instead, Pilate was held hostage by his desire to give the people what they desired. By giving people what they wanted he would be loved. God was masterfully using the sin of man to deliver man from their sin.  The sin of man put Jesus on the cross. Jesus on the cross has given man forgiveness of sins and power over sin. In essence, Jesus is using sin to defeat sin. 

Although Pilate thought he had complete power to either free Jesus or hand Jesus over to death, Jesus knew Pilate could only do what he was allowed to do. Although extremely powerful, Jesus knew that Pilate was a slave to the desires of man. Pilate was not going to do what was right but, instead, he was going to give the people what they wanted to create peace: Jesus’ death on a cross. Pilate thought he was all powerful. But Jesus knew that his power was subject to the will of God. It was God’s will to have Jesus handed over to death on the cross. God used man’s sinful actions to bring about his will. Pilate was just a tool to produce the desired result. Jesus had to die that you and I might live. Pilate had no power. He was a slave to sin. This is how amazing God is: He uses man’s desire for sin to bring about his desired result of salvation to mankind. God was using the worldly power of Pilate to accomplish his purposes.

HUMiL1TY

It is our sin nature to think more highly of ourselves than we ought. We think people are dumb only because we think we are smart.  We think other people are ugly only because we think we are pretty. We think others aren’t good only because we think we are good. We are self- righteous, judgemental, and a host of other prideful things. We are very arrogant creatures if you really think about it. In fact…I’m way more like the Pharisees and Pilate than I am Jesus a lot of the time. 

Just watch the kids in football. If they break up a pass they have to do something silly with their hands or their mouth to let everyone know they did something. If someone scores a touchdown or makes an amazing play it is only in their nature to add to it by running their mouth or some type of gesture signifying they made a great play. It is just how prideful we actually are. The good play in itself is not enough…we have to add to it.  (We are working to not do this stuff!)

We are desperate, slaves really, to the attention and approval of the world. Our pride and the desire to be approved, glorified, drives our actions. We are all guilty. This is who we are but it is not a good thing. Pride will destroy you and your pride will destroy whatever in which you are a part.  

Due to our sin nature, we think we are better than we are.  We think we are more important than we are. We can’t get out of our own way to actually serve and make an organization better. Our complaining…that is actually our pride screaming. We usually complain and gripe and grow bitter because, although we are the center of our worlds, the world does not put us at the center. 

Think about a football team. A football team is a whole bunch of guys doing different jobs in order to win. There are 11 guys on the field and each player has a specific job to do. If each player will execute his job with excellence, the team will win. If each coach will perform his duty with excellence all throughout the week, they will be able to add value to the players and put them in the best possible position to win. All of this requires each person to put aside his selfish desires and do the job that is best for the team to produce the desired result of winning. 

It sounds so easy but it isn’t. Pride is constantly attacking our souls. I know it attacks mine. I can quickly begin to think about myself more highly than I should. I can quickly get aggravated with people when in reality I am the dumb one. Jesus’ words this week awaken my heart to the truth: any good that comes to me or if I am good at anything…or if I have success at anything…it is of God and to be used for the glory of God. 

You see Pilate thought he had the power to save Jesus. He thought this power was his own doing. He probably thought that he had worked so hard in life and he was so special and that is why he became Governor of Judea. Pilate had actually been put in that position in that time to deliver Jesus over to death. He as a slave to the will of God yet, in his arrogance, thought he had complete power. He told the almighty God of the universe that he had the power to save him and his life. His pride was blinding him to reality: He was standing before the One who actually had the power to save his life. 

You see, our pride distorts the truth.  Pride causes us to not see the truth.  Our pride can cause us to think too highly of ourselves or sink into deep depression because we are thinking too much of ourselves. We all struggle with pride. We are all guilty. Just like the Pharisees and Pilate, we will miss Jesus because we are infatuated with ourselves.  We are all Pilate…we are not the Jesus in the story.  

So…with Hebron Football…we preach HUMiL1TY. This does not mean our boys are perfect models of humility. We don’t preach HUMiL1TY because we are humble, but because we know we are not. The little i and big 1 is as much for me than anyone else. I am guilty of pride daily. However, I do realize the damaging effects of leaving our sin unchecked. 

Little i, big 1. The beginning of great organization is a bunch of people putting themselves and their desires aside for the greater good of the organization. Thank goodness Jesus stood there before Pilate with his mouth shut. Jesus chose not to do what was in his personal best interests. Jesus humbled himself before Pilate…I am sure it was hard to be God perfect in his emotional and mental power, and subject yourself to a slimy weasel of a man like Pilate who was a slave to the approval of man. But Jesus did…not for his own interests but for what was best for you and me: SALVATION through his death, burial, and resurrection. 

So there you go…HUMiL1TY must be one of the pillars of Hebron Football.  It is not easy. We are all like Pilate in that we think way more highly of ourselves than we ought. But in making I an i, we can become 1. But a team full of I’s will never become 1. In fact 11 I’s on the field became #11.  But put 11 i’s on the field and they become #1.  I hope you understand…it makes perfect sense.

GAME DAY!!!!!!  We are fired up and ready to play!!!!

“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

LION NATION!

Game #1, August 19th

A big congratulations is due to our middle school team for winning 38-12 last night. The boys looked real good and I am thankful for all the work the middle school coaches put into coaching.  

Tonight we head over to play Chestatee. We have had two great scrimmages in the pre-season and now it is time to play for real. Of course it is the exact same as what we have been doing, it’s just now it officially counts for our record. The boys and coaches have been working real hard. We are ready! We are excited to play!

TAKE OWNERSHIP

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

I love this verse because it speaks to the sovereignty of God and our total dependence upon him, but also speaks to the responsibility of man. It is our responsibility to work as hard as we can but then we must rest in the sovereign will of God. It is my duty to work and prepare, but the final result rests in the hands of God. He is God and he has power over all things.

Our salvation in and through the blood of Jesus Christ is no different. We are fully saved by Christ’s work on the cross. But we are “to work out our salvation with fear and trembling.” (Philippians 2:12)  This is to not say Christ’s work is not sufficient for salvation but we must be careful we do not lose faith and hope in Christ. Our salvation is fully of God. God has allowed some ownership in the working out (staying steadfast) our salvation. 

In football, winning is not guaranteed. Tonight I have zero control over a whole lot of things. But what I do have control over is the process of preparation. To win at football you need great execution. You need to not fumble, you need to not give up big plays for touchdowns, you need to not commit stupid penalties. You need to line up right on defense and make sure you know what they are trying to do. You need to react quickly and violently. Offensively you need to not beat yourself by silly mistakes such as jumping offsides or one of the players missing assignment. You need precise and fast execution.

All of those things I just mentioned, we can exercise control over those things through our diligent preparation during the week. We have a process during the week to prepare that includes lifting weights, film study, and then on the field practice.  We must OWN that process and make sure it is a great process and then hold everyone accountable to the process. It is our responsibility to take ownership of what we have control over and make it the best we can.  

In life, we have many responsibilities. We must take ownership of these responsibilities by developing a great process (routine) which will produce maximum performance. We must take ownership of this process which means executing it.

Here is our four step plan for executing our process.  I call it “The Discipline of a Champion.” 

1. Have a simple plan of execution in which you believe.

2. Commit to your plan with consistency.

3. Execute your plan with intensity.

4. Persevere unto the end.

I think the root of us taking ownership in life is owning our attitudes. Our attitude is something I think is a struggle for everyone.  I like to say this: “My attitude determines my effectiveness.” Life happens right. Someone is going to do something to which you take offense. Someone is going to pull out in front of you. You are going to encounter conflict everyday. There will be drama with people everyday. Negative people will unload on you their negativity. People will complain to you or you will be the complainer. Guess what????? You have power over your attitude. When someone offends you, don’t get offended. When there is conflict work to resolve it or if it is dumb conflict, ignore it.  Don’t let the negative person and complainer make you a negative person and a complainer.  Find the positive...find the good.  

In controlling our attitudes the key ingredient is THANKFULNESS: “And be thankful.” (Colossians 3:15)  To be thankful is something that will transform our lives. I must take ownership of being thankful. We all struggle with negative attitudes.  We all struggle with thinking our lives are the worst in the world. You know why? Because we are letting life dictate our attitudes. We must take ownership. Our lives cannot rule us...we must rule our lives.  Our attitudes cannot rule over us...we must rule over our attitudes.  Being thankful is the injection that gets us OWNERSHIP. 

Today..take ownership and be thankful.  See all the things in your life as a  blessing rather than hardships. Your job is a blessing. Your car is a blessing. The food in your refrigerator is a blessing. Our children are a blessing. Our very lives are a blessing and meant to glorify God. This school is a blessing. Playing this game tonight is a blessing. All the hard work we put in this week was a blessing. AND ABOVE ALL..Jesus Christ coming to die on this earth for our sins so that we may have a personal relationship with him and eternal life is a great call to BE THANKFUL. 

TODAY and EVERYDAY–You have power over you. You have power over your attitude. You have power over your attitude! Choose THANKFULNESS!  TAKE OWNERSHIP! If you don’t, no one else will! 

We are fired up and ready to play 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