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472 What’s Next?

When the Japanese bombs began striking our Pacific Fleet in Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, I am certain the confidence of our fine service members was shaken.

Many of them went from “on top of the world” to wondering “What’s Next?”

I think Ralph Waldo Emerson had it right when he said:

“What Lies Behind Us and What Lies Before Us are Tiny Matters Compared to What Lies Within Us”

A more prophetic word I can not think of.

Many many many American Soldiers reached deep to find faith and go into situations where they felt broken and lost … and they found a way to free the world from an incredible evil. They showed us what God can do with broken … what He can do with a “cracked pot”.

And so I ask today, what lies within you?

You get to decide. You get to decide to tell God to “come and know me … find every offensive way in me” like David did, or you get to say what I often say: “I’ll do it on my own.”

I can ably testify: Doing It On My Own DOES NOT WORK.

I am “unable”.

And the reality is … you are also “unable”.

Like a pilot flying over an endless expanse of ocean searching for a fight … we are “lost over the Pacific” just like those pilots were as they looked for the Japanese fleet in the battle of Midway prior to finding the Japanese invasion force.

So What’s Next?

2 Corinthians 4 ⁷ But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. ⁸ We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; ⁹ persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. ¹⁰ We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. ¹¹ For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body.

What’s next is what you decide.

On your own … or inviting Him in.

As Jesus told us: “Seek First The Kingdom” and all these things will be given to you.

Without alignment with God, without His “all-surpassing power”, we are sitting ducks for Hell and all the devices of an enemy that is operating so openly in today’s society.

I urge you… Don’t partner with it, Don’t compromise with it, and Don’t join it.

Reject it.

Stand up to it.

Fight it.

And ask God to fill you so that you have the strength to do so.

Your family and friends and all around you are depending on it.

And remember—if you feel weak for the task at hand—it is because you are.

Meditate on 2 Corinthians 4:7-11 and go forward in weakness of yourself and the power of God.

In The Name of the Father and the

Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

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Coach J

August 6, 2024 0

471 The Mountain In Front Of Us

If you are like me, you have some decisions in front of you that are INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT.

This is not a heavy word. It is an encouragement.

To remind you … “What You Have To Gain Is FAR GREATER Than What You Have To Lose”

So as you walk into the mountain in front of you … I have 4 pieces of advise.

1. Decide To Be Great … (Not Your Position, Your Posture)

As the disciples jostled for position in a very unbalanced time, Jesus reminded them what being great truly was.

Mark 10 ⁴² Jesus called them together and said, “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. ⁴³ Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, ⁴⁴ and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. ⁴⁵ For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

2. Pick A Team (Loyalty Means Everything)

Our God is not a neutral decision. I know which side I am declaring … and Joshua showed us how to do it.

Joshua 24 ¹⁴ “Now fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your forefathers worshiped beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord . ¹⁵ But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord .” ¹⁶ Then the people answered, “Fa

3. Love Your Enemies (YOU Are The Lion!)

As I reminded one of my athletes this past spring — YOU are the lion. Often we see lions showing themselves in the middle of the plain … and the animals scatter. As we approach the mountain, we must remember that WE are the lion — not the scattering zebras. And as a member of the winning team, it should never burden us to pray for, and love, our enemies.

Matthew 5 ⁴³ “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ ⁴⁴ But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you …

4. Remember Who You Belong To (My Father Loves Me!)

Probably our most important verse in the entire Bible … our belonging to God and His love of us. This is exemplified in in Zephaniah and we would do well to plant this verse on our hearts.

Zephaniah 3 ¹⁷ The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.”

So go forward to the mountain.

And climb with Faith, Hope, and Alacrity.

To Him Be The Glory And The Kingdom And The Power … For Ever And Ever.

Amen.

In The Name of the Father and the

Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

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Coach J

July 30, 2024 0

470 God Does Not Manipulate Or Shame

As I was talking to Angie this morning, she said something that convicted me so much. I thought that I would share it.

In reference to something that we were conversing about, she said:

“God Does Not Manipulate Or Shame”

That’s a good word.

Sometimes we don’t know what God is leading us to.

Sometimes the decisions in front of us can stall us out and we are not sure of the direction where we should go.

And sometimes we need to start by eliminating. And her phrase to me was a GREAT place to start:

“God Does Not Manipulate Or Shame”

As you go through your day and make decisions, you can count on those words.

Romans 8 ¹ Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,

And Paul tells us this in Romans 8 because he is being true to the gospel of Jesus, and says so in Romans 8. “God Does Not Manipulate Or Shame”

Although I hear those words, I am always in need of a reminder.

And chances are … so do you.

God is so good.

And so patient.

And so ready to forgive.

Let’s celebrate Him and the fact that nothing can undo or distort what Jesus did.

In The Name of the Father and the

Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

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Coach J

July 16, 2024 0

469 Build Your House On Solid Rock

The sandstone at Lake Powell is an amazing and beautiful picture of the absolutely awe-inspiring creation of God.

But it is an incredible testimony to what Jesus said in Matthew 7.

Matthew 7 ²⁴ “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.

²⁵ The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. ²⁶ But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. ²⁷ The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.

In the time that we have docked our boat this week, rocks have been covered and they quickly erode into the water and fall away. Even some of the ground that is walked on goes from stone to sand in the snap of a finger.

Why does no one have a house on the edge of this incredible body of water? Simple answer. The sandstone. The foundation could be gone as quickly as the rising and falling water. What looks to be stable and solid is simply able to fall and sink into the water so quickly that it is absolutely humbling.

And so it is with each of us … AND … with all of us.

For each of us is it true as we, as individuals, must stay in alignment with the rocks of where we go and what we do and what we think and who we are … without these rocks we can lose our footing so quickly.

For all of us it is much the same. In our groups both great and small it is easy to divide the group if we are not following the principles that will unite us.

Jesus modeled this in every way.

He modeled our individual situations as well as our group ones.

He modeled our lives in celebration and in absolute sorrow.

He modeled how to react and how to stay silent.

This is no easy word.

The storms of life can so easily sway us and knock us off course.

And finding the truth in the daily life can be difficult.

The truth, however, in the big things, is in your Bible, and your spirit connected to God, and in the counsel of a friend who will tell you the truth and not “support you just to steer free of the conflict”.

Build your house on solid ground.

Jesus is solid. He is the rock. He is the Living Water. He is the Ladder that connects heaven to earth. And He is the Lion of the Tribe of Judah.

You can’t pick a better foundation.

In The Name of the Father and the

Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

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Coach J

June 12, 2024 0

468 Cry At A Wedding

When my father died many years ago I could not stop myself from crying … And then I encountered a vision of him in church one Sunday. He was in heaven, he was happy, and he was where he wanted to be. From that moment, the STING of losing him was gone.

There will be many times where we will legitimately cry tears of pain and anguish and despair.

Surely God has something more … In fact, we know that He has more … And so I say:

“Cry At A Wedding”

In both of these verses, God’s elect cry in joy for who He is or what He has given them:

Jeremiah 31 ⁹ They will come with weeping; they will pray as I bring them back. I will lead them beside streams of water on a level path where they will not stumble, because I am Israel’s father, and Ephraim is my firstborn son.

Luke 7 ³⁸ and as she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them.

What I recommending is not just to cry tears when we are sad … but to never forget to cry tears of joy:

As I watched Caden Wach tearfully await his soon-to-be bride come down the aisle, I was prompted by God to “cry at a wedding”.

I knew exactly what God wanted me to share out on my 2 minute warning.

When I drop my kids at the airport, I cray all the way to I-25. I am so proud of them and I love them so much.

When my daughter Jordan came around the corner for her last 4×400 relay and she “displayed incredible courage and unselfishness”, I was proud of her beyond what I could possibly say, and I cried on the corner at Jeffco Stadium.

When Teagan Malcom, the 300 meter hurdler that I “got to coach”, ran the greatest race I have ever seen, I cried at the finish line, again, at Jeffco Stadium.

For me, it happens in locker rooms, on football fields, at track stadiums, when I am with my family, and in worship of our living King.

God has given us tears for a reason … and not always for when we are sad …

And so I say …

Cry At A Wedding

In The Name of the Father and the

Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

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Coach J

June 9, 2024 0

467 This Is How I Fight My Battles

To my dear friend who I pray for tonight.

I am crying out on your behalf … to Jesus … the King of the Universe … The Lion of the Tribe of Judah … the Kinsman Redeemer.

I bind the enemy. I bind his evil schemes. And I ask that Jesus would stand over your life, over your family, over all the battles that stand before you.

May He shower you with peace and grace and the strength to rise and fight again.

Psalm 23 ¹ The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. ² He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, ³ he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. ⁴ Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. ⁵ You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. ⁶ Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

God will provide. He will shepherd over us. He prepares us a table in the presence of our enemies.

Father, show up for my friend. Bless him and keep him. Let your face shine upon him.

In Jesus Name.

In The Name of the Father and the

Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

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Coach J

June 9, 2024 0

466 In The Blink Of An Eye

Anyone who is celebrating graduation today understands how fast it truly goes …

1 Corinthians 15 ⁵² in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.

We understand that life is before us … and then an era ends. The door closes and can never be opened again. And it ends so suddenly.

If this stings you, I want to convict you that this … is the what many call “the curse of Adam”. We can define that in so many ways, but it is the true nature of what we live in when we are frustrated. This curse makes work difficult, it makes marriage difficult, it makes parenting difficult, it makes dying and even birth difficult. It is the ugly side of the coin and never to be confused with “how can a loving God do that to us?”. It is not a loving God who turned His back on us … it was our penchant to choose and truly lives in the fact that we turned our backs on a loving God.

And, the enemy stirs up in us the desire to blame someone else, to which I would reply:

Do not think that you didn’t do the same thing! You too turned your back on God and wanted to do things of your own accord. It is the reality of every man but one.

But God.

But God has given us an option. And it is the only deal we’re going to get. It is the offer of Jesus. And the Jesus offer is the deal of the millennium. It is the hope of all men.

Take it.

As Jesus told His disciples: Follow Me.

Take that deal. Follow Him.

He … is worthy of our surrender

In The Name of the Father and the

Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

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Coach J

May 25, 2024 0

465 In Spite Of Me

I can’t help but wonder if this is the most important verse in the Bible:

Romans 5 ⁶ You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.

God does not mince words.

And thank God that He doesn’t.

Because this verse saves my life … and yours.

Because it contains the idea “In Spite Of Me”.

My life is saved … “In Spite Of Me”

My hope is restored … “In Spite Of Me”

I have done absolutely nothing to give myself a chance to be right with God. Just the opposite. I could stand before Him this very day and speak words that resemble what Peter said:

“Lord, I am a sinful man. Get away from me.”

I tarnish the image.

I ruin the brand.

I hurt the family name.

But God did not care.

And He did not care to the point of death.

You won’t get a better deal than this:

Romans 5 ⁶ You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.

Not anywhere.

Not from anyone.

Thank You Jesus.

In The Name of the Father and the

Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

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Coach J

May 22, 2024 0

464 The Biggest Lie Of This Age

I am shocked at the new movement that calls out the “hatred” in Christians.

It attacks purity
It mocks obedience
It calls love hate and hate love
It is anti family and anti marriage

It is a shocking display of claiming to be the victim while acting as a perpetrator.

But it will never work.

Surrendering to Jesus is not a prison. It is the release from that prison.

Surrendering to Jesus is not slavery. It is the release into freedom.

Surrendering to Jesus is not without rules and convictions and structure. But those are the very things that protect us.

We are God’s children.

Created in His image.

Living out a call that is so genuinely freeing that it is like winning the lottery.

Matthew 8 ¹ When he came down from the mountainside, large crowds followed him. ² A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”

³ Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately he was cured of his leprosy.

Love … IS Jesus.

And this love will make us desire to make no demands of Him because we will want to follow.

He loves us in a way that no one can and releases us into a freedom that can never be substituted for a false narrative or a half truth.

It is the greatest love in the universe and the only hope for our survival.

This love is not to be taken for granted or perverted.

It is not to be changed or manipulated.

It is not to be distorted or compromised.

On the cross, on Calvary, 2000 years ago, He took the nails so that He could defeat the accuser of all mankind. His accusations, his lies, and his hideous agenda will all be turned back upon him. And there will be a day when he shames you no more. The lion of the tribe of Judah guards his brethren … and He never forsakes them.

Don’t undersell or undervalue this love.

It is your only hope.

In The Name of the Father and the

Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

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Coach J

May 2, 2024 1

2 MINUTE WARNING

WITH DOUG JOHNSON

Author