My God Ain't No Folklore (and I'm not worried about my grammar!)

We all have heard a fairy tale or two in our lives.  Cinderella, Snow White, Jack and the Beanstalk, and many others.

Some would say there is an entire book of fairy tales called the Bible.  Sometimes things can be hard to believe.  Here are some examples:

      -a man building a boat large enough for 2 of every animal on earth and his family

      -an entire nation crossing a body water which had been split and the floor of it was dry land 

     -a giant of a man being defeated by one kid and a slingshot

     -the walls of a city being destroyed because somebody played a trumpet

     -a man being carried to heaven in a chariot

     -bears coming out of the woods and mauling children

     -two men rising from the dead, one after 4 days and the other after 3

Point made.  To a first time reader, this all may seem inconceivable.  However, they all have a recurring theme.  The entire Bible has a recurring theme.  The Creator of the universe, Jehovah God, is involved in every single story.  

Well, Coach, how can you be so sure that God is real? 

God's existence is every where we look.  It's evidenced in the air we breathe.  The air of Earth has just the right amount of compounds to interact with the systems in our bodies to be healthy for us.  Tell me, God's not in that.  The human body and brain are so complex, we, being humans, don't even understand all of it.  Tell me, there's not a designer of it.  It didn't all happen by chance. 

If God is a fairy tale, then the assumption would be that we are just here because of some cosmic luck.  

God is real!  Everything in the Bible happened!  Everyday is evidence of God's existence.  He crafted the sunrise, the way the flowers blow in the wind, and  your ability to roll out of bed each and every day. 

Why does this matter?

The real God, THE Creator, wants a relationship with you!  What does it take from you? Do you need to spruce up your life? NO!  He wants you just as you are!  Come to Him, He wants the best for you.  Is a relationship with Him going to make your life easy? By no means! If anything, you'll face some adversity bear by our decision. However, my friends, this is the most important decision you could make in your life.  

God loves you, He's for you, He's not dead, and He's 100% real!!!!

Sweet Victory

The toughest thing about a football game is the outcome.  Win or lose, it's sometimes difficult.  

You think I'm crazy, but the deal with winning is, during the season, there's always another game next week, until you reach the championship, but then even that victory doesn't last forever. 

Losing is the toughest part of the entire process.  I'm not a good loser at all.  You prepare,sports-wise, for a period of time to defeat the next opponent.  When that opponent bests you, you're supposed to let it go.  Sometimes it's hard to swallow, but the season rolls on.  

Even when you break football down to a play, there's victory and loss in a play that is hard to overcome.

The great thing is, through a sport like football, you learn how to handle adversity.  I tell my athletes all the time how much they're being prepared by this sport for their lives. 

When I was their age, I didn't understand what my coach told me either.  However, now looking back, my participation in this amazing sport prepared me for the ups and downs of life.  

In life, as in football, you don't have time to let the losses get you down.  You get the opportunity to bounce up really quickly.  Life goes on, and the season goes on.  With the exception of the end of your season, or your life, there's always a chance to make up for what you failed at earlier! 

That is the beauty of the grace of God!  I know that even in my weakness, He is strong!  Paul said it in 1 Corinthians 1, the weakness of God is still stronger than any man! 

The only difference in the "game" we play as followers of Christ is we have the same opponent every time.  In HS football, you have ten different opponents to prepare for. 

 In the Christian life, we have one opponent, Satan, and we know his trick plays and audibles and schemes.

Football coaches jump at the chance to know how the opponent will react to certain things.  We watch for tendencies and scout teams to know exactly what they do and when they do.  It's truly an amazing sight, when a group of coaches discovers what other teams do and can tell when they're going to!

The great thing is, Satan has been scouted and we know what's going on.   We've got the game plan, he essentially has given up his own plan because he is so extremely obvious.  Usually anything that is good for Christ-followers, or anything that affects them, is what he's shooting for.  

The beautiful thing is, even though he may win a battle here or there, he loses the war!  You're going to stumble and you're going to fall, but you've got to get back up!

The same goes for football.  No team is completely perfect.  There's not a football team out there that has never lost a game in their history.  There are perfect seasons, but never a perfect history.  

I'm not trying to be "gloom and doom," because here is the main point I'm trying to make:  even at your weakest and worst, if you're life is in Christ, you're stronger than you've ever been.  

Christian Hip Hop artist, Trip Lee, has penned a great song on this very subject.  Long story short, he suffers from chronic fatigue syndrome.  Trip is in his mid-20s and at some points, his pain is so much that he has to be bedridden.  In his song, "Sweet Victory," Trip chronicles his disease and how he perserveers through it!  

Believe me, it is difficult to see the victory in the struggle.  Sometimes it's so dark in whatever you're in, that it is hard to see the light.  I promise you though, the light is there! God is there!  All you've got to do is call His name!  

So, all this to say, even when all the hope is out of it, we will still experience victory if we have given our lives over to Christ! That's the beauty of the Christian life, at my weakest, God is strong! 

WORK

In our society today, not everyone knows the value of hard work.  We live in a world of instant gratification.  If I don't feel like cooking (which is exactly what happened tonight), I have the ability to get in the car and go to the nearest drive-thru and get my food within five minutes.

The same thing applies with anything.  We look to get rich quick schemes for money.  We expect more for less.  For some things we use the excuse that we are too busy.  Here's the deal, we sell ourselves short.  

God created us by working.  He spent six days forming everything on this earth into existence then He rested, which shows it was work! 

"And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it He rested from all the work of creating He had done." Genesis 2:3

He then uses writers in the Bible to encourage us to work.  

"The sluggard craves and gets nothing, but the desires of the diligent are fully satisfied."  Proverbs 13:4 

God created us to work! 

"The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it."  Genesis 2:15

This shows the value God places on not only physical labor, but mental and emotional labor as well.

It is just like football and other sports. The top notch players put the necessary work in to make the difference in a game.  If you don't put on the work, then the proverb above becomes true.

Being lazy gets you nowhere, in life, in your relationship with Christ, in relationships or in sports. You have to be willing to put in the work. Whether it's getting up early to read your Bible and spend time with God or being in a constant mindset of prayer and community with Him, it's hard work!  

The most important thing to remember is:

"Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart as if working for the Lord..." Colossians 3:23

So go out and do! Refuse to be lazy! Work diligently for something!