2 MINUTE WARNING

George Washington was the target of Indian snipers in the Seven Years War at the battle of Monongahela.  He had two horses shot out from underneath him and after the battle they found 4 bullets in his coat….the Indian Chief prophesied that he would be the “Father of a Great Empire”.

And here we are…..July 4, 2018…..

Living in the “land of the free….and the home of the brave”

Living out the call that Jesus so freely offered some 2000 years ago.

John 8 36 So if the son sets you free you will be free indeed.

We have many problems that we will be called to face as we move forward in this politically charged time…….

But let us not forget that we are a nation founded on this incredible principle:

The Son has set us free….and we are free indeed!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5YOCbiRWXY

In The Name of the Father and the

Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

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Coach J

One of my favorite verses in the Bible is in Job…..after experiencing incredible persecution and trauma…..Job responds like a champion:

Job 1 20 At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship 21 and said:  “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart.  The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised.”

It is easy to live for God when life is easy.

It is easy to spout out scripture in times where it convicts us.

It is easy to worship when we have it easy and when all the things that we desire line up just the way that we want them to……

But life is not always easy.

A more poignant reality for all of us is that we live in a culture that has forgotten the Lord…..and when tragedy hits, our focus goes from ignoring Him to blaming Him…..

So today I encourage all of us……

Remember Your Place

We have an opportunity in front of us……and that is the chance to get ourselves, and all we love, into heaven.

He has created us to have eternal peace and hope and relationship.

He has created us to be free from the binds of Satan, and sin, and death.

He has created us to obey….to actually follow all the things that He has given us with the covering of Christ.

He has created us to worship….to actually raise our hands to heaven and cry out in worship.  To give Him His place above all things.

He has created us to forgive….to clothe ourselves with Jesus and to let go of all the baggage that can actually bring us to our knees and cripple us.

He has created us to serve….to love others.  To give our time, talents and money that others might come to know Him.  And to do what Jesus said would make us great.  “Who wants to be great among you?….must be a servant….for the Son of man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to offer His life as a ransom for many.”  Mark 10

He created us to REMEMBER OUR PLACE

He created us to Be Who He Has Called Us To Be

And in doing just that we begin to LIVE…..

In The Name of the Father and the

Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

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Coach J

Solomon wrote an incredible book….and it is a book that is as applicable in 2018 as it was the day that he wrote it…….

I think it could be called “meaning of life book”…….

He goes and he tries everything……

Partying….

Hooking Up With Women….

Getting Rich….

Popularity….

Being A Genius….

Power….

Solomon tries to FILL his life with all that he can gain…..and he finds his life EMPTY.

So where am I going with this?

Here is where I am going:

• Someone has already TRIED to destroy their life by trying to find it.
• Someone has already TRIED to find the meaning of life.
• Someone has already TRIED to store up a bunch of treasures only to discover they are poor.
• Someone has already TRIED to find love by having a “perverted tryout” with the “best” there was to offer.
• Someone has already TRIED to do all that man is STILL trying to do……..

And at the end of ALL that……that someone said that their life was EMPTY……and then…..after spiritual reflection…….they said this:

Ecclesiastes 12 13 Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.

God has given us an amazing document.  Men died that we can read it today.  It gives us the greatest advice that we could ever find.

And all we have to do is read it.

Fear God And Keep His Commandments…

For THIS……Is The Whole Duty Of Man

Could it truly be this simple?

You decide…..

In The Name of the Father and the

Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

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Coach J

“Your Belief Is Everything”

As those words came out of my mouth to my football team I had an immediate check in the spirit…..a moment where I felt I heard God saying:  THAT is your answer.

I had always pondered “why is our belief so important?” …… and in some senses I still understand why I did not understand …….

But the game of football has taught me so much about life …. And God has used it to teach me so many things.

Get up.

Be tough.

Be unselfish.

Celebrate the successes of your teammates.

And so on…..

But the one that I want to address today has to do with belief…..In football:

• If I am the 2 deep safety and I do not believe that the corner will funnel and do his job then I will open too wide and offer the inside cut to the receiver.
• If I am the end and I do not believe the the linebacker will fill, I can lose my contain and let the back outside.
• If I am the safety and I do not believe that my teammates will stop the run….then I might take unnecessary chances that offer up much worse outcomes then the ones I am trying to prevent.
• If I am the QB and I get drilled in the blind side because the tackle does not block….I might lose my belief that he will block and make terrible decisions with the ball because I don’t believe that the line will protect me.

And so on……

I think this idea is summed up in this verse:

James 1 6 But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.

There are two things I want to touch on here today.

• When others let us down, we must decide whether we have the belief…the faith….to be back in the game.  Forgiveness is a part of this. Faith is a part of this. Our will is a part of this. It is simply a matter of our will controlling our mind…..it is our will telling our mind to restore….to believe….to dream again.  It is okay to dream again. It is okay to ask the Lord to restore your hope. It is okay for you to will yourself back to faith.  Because FAITH and BELIEF will give you a new hope.

• God will never let us down.  Our fallen world will always oppose us.  People’s bad choices (including our own) will always be able to affect us.  And the enemy will always look to steal, kill, and destroy us. In the temporary, death will eventually get to us……but in the eternal—God wins…… and  He’s got ALL WHO WOULD CALL ON HIM AND RECEIVE HIS FREE GIFT.

As I read this verse I had a visual of a sea turtle fighting to get out to sea…..getting tossed and blown around by the wind and the waves and the surf.  His little body having to fight for all that he has just to GET into the water…….. And, no matter what he does…..the waves will sometimes determine his destiny.

Let’s not live in that realm as believers.

Let’s WILL ourselves to have faith and belief.  Our Will To Believe can literally change the destiny of our day, or week, our outcomes…….and without our DECISION, or CHOICE, to believe—-we are like a turtle getting tossed around like a rag doll.

Let’s Believe and Not Doubt

Because our God…..He did just that….and He did it right up to His dying breath on that cross.

In The Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

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Coach J

One of my favorite stories in the Word of God involves a woman who was caught in adultery and about to be stoned……..until Jesus shows up in the temple courts and challenges the angry mob to have the man without sin cast the first stone……..

John 8  9At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. 10Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”  11“No one, sir,” she said.  “Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”  

Love it.  And yet….I had to ask, how does someone:  Go now and leave your life of sin ?

How does a person leave their life of sin?  I am 100% positive that this woman absolutely sinned again……

We tend to read scripture like we do a Disney story…..one that might end:  And they lived happily ever after …..

And yet, that is not at all the world that we live in.

It is the tension of scripture…..

It is the fact that By His Stripes We Are Healed AND If We Claim To Be Without Sin We Deceive Ourselves And The Truth Is Not In Us …..  It is the fact that He said It Is Finished AND We Are Being Made Holy.  

How can we be without sin and full of sin at the same time?

How can we be paid in full and not yet there at the same time?

How can we be perfected and yet imperfect at the same time?

It is the answer no unbeliever wants to hear:  Jesus.

Jesus Christ.

It is why we make such a big deal out of Him and the world constantly tries to downplay Him.

You can pray…..just don’t mention Jesus

And so on…..

And yet, He told the church of Laodicea that He was about to “spit them out of His mouth” because they were neither cold nor hot.

The gospel is clear……He is clear.

We must be born again into a new kingdom…..where we are totally dependent upon Him and given the opportunity to realign in the areas where we are not.

When we decide to follow Him…..we must understand daily that our we now live in a world:

• Where we have nothing without Him.
• Where we have sinful actions, but forgiveness by Him.
• Where we have perfection….because of Him.

Let’s put it this way:  You and Jesus have a 2 man team that is undefeated, unblemished, and unbreakable…………….But if you take Him off of your team——you won’t even be allowed to play the game.

Now…..

RESPOND

Pray & Thank Him & Recommit To Being His

Go And Tell Someone About Him

In The Name of the Father and the

Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

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Coach J

From a porch on top of the city, David became tempted to do the unthinkable.

He betrayed his own soldier.

He committed adultery.

He then tried to cover it up with murder.

And David paid a great price that forever changed his worldly destiny.

It is the classic story of a man who was God’s own turning and running in the wrong direction……..

The walk back can be long and difficult……but we can always do it.

One of the greatest lies from the pits of Hell is:  “It is too late to go back now…..”  And that’s because when we say it we almost always do something else to cover up the lie that covered up the other lie that covered up the other lie……

But the gospel was never meant to cover up the lie……

In God’s world–and it is HIS world–things are meant to be brought into the light.

Satan would have you cover it up.  He would have you conceal it and leave it unrevealed…..and what he shows you as enticing he would love to condemn later.  Satan’s talent is in thought life……it is to hide and then accuse in the hiding place……

What freedom the gospel brings!  Instead of getting beat down in the dark—we get to proclaim our weakness out in the open…..and the freedom that follows is incredible.

David found this freedom…….

Psalm 51 10 Create in me a pure heart, O God,

and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

11 Do not cast me from your presence

or take your Holy Spirit from me.

12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation

and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

There are times we need to just enjoy the Lord’s gifts over our lives….to live in the freedom that He gives us….to not walk in guilt and shame and condemnation.….And there are times we just need to repent and start over–to confess and shine the light on our brokenness.

THAT is the gospel.  That is what Jesus offered and offers—

It is the right to become children of God born again into what Jesus has offered…..and all we have to do is RECEIVE HIM.

So if you need an overhaul today….ask Him to renew your spirit…to create in you a pure heart…to keep you in His presence….

RECEIVE HIM….He is the prize

In The Name of the Father and the

Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

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Coach J

There are so many times that we want to hear the Lord speaking into our lives…..so many times when we need direction.

And yet…..we don’t listen.

Proverbs 27 Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses.

What should we do when someone we love says something that we don’t like?  

We should listen.  

It might be the very thing that God is trying to tell us.  It might be the very thing that we need to hear.

And what should we do when someone who has no part in loving us tells us things?…..we should proceed with caution.

It is an age-old proverb and yet it is one that is as important today as it was the day that it was written.

So many times in life we seek counsel from someone so that they can tell us what we want to hear.  We want to confirm our position or solidify our stance or get encouragement as we head down a prideful path…..

But what we really need is to be told the truth……and the truth sometimes hurts…or disagrees…or is not what we want to hear.

Who is the person in your life that God has put in place to advise and support?  Who is the person who is connected to the Lord with wisdom and has nothing to gain from your position?

That is the voice of God in your life.  He has put them there to keep you on track and to help you seek counsel.

So pray.

And read the word.

And seek counsel.

But do not stray from the words of those He has placed in your life to give you the wisdom that you truly need.

In The Name of the Father and the

Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

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Coach J

God moves on behalf of those who have great courage……..

And by courage….I mean FAITH in the Lord.

There are many miracles in the Bible—-but perhaps none greater than the one that happened as a result of Nehemiah.

Jerusalem was in ruins.

The wall was broken and the gates were unguarded.

The city was a sitting duck for all who would oppose them.

But Nehemiah ……..

It is always a man (or woman) who stands in faith that changes the world.  He (or she) activates the Living God…..because God moves on behalf of His people.

Nehemiah 2  17 Then I said to them, “You see the trouble we are in: Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been burned with fire. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem

It sounds all too familiar…..

A man sees something in ruins.

He prays and asks the Lord for help.

He walks out and believes Him who is the author of our lives.

Nehemiah got permission from a king.

He influenced a few strong leaders.

He sold a crazy idea to a large group of people.

He influenced individuals to work as a team in a construction project that had no large blueprint.

And a wall was built that created a safe haven for those who might DARE to recognize GOD as the King of the Universe.

INCREDIBLE….

Miraculous…..

When people who follow God get together and pray and obey…..walls can be built that will defend our “city”.

So I say to you………

Do not be dismayed by the decay around you.

Stand up.

Pray.

Find your cause.

And build your wall.

People acting in great faith do great things….and those things last for an eternity.

Cry out to the Savior of the world and “build your wall” …. whatever that might be.

Because our world is crying out for a safe haven….a covering….a place where we do not defile and dishonor and rebel…..

Our world is crying out for a Savior…….and He is the only hope we could ever have.

In The Name of the Father and the

Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

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Coach J

The Book of Psalms is a great place to go when our emotions are overriding our thinking patterns.  They are encouraging writings that bring direction over us……..

And if there was one truth that I wish we could give to all man….it would be this:

You Are Not An Accident

When man thinks he is worthless, when he thinks he doesn’t belong, when he thinks he has no purpose….this is when, I believe, that the enemy begins to alter and influence his plans for the worse…….

In the investigations and study of the cell….we have discovered so much…..In a cell we have design and order that we can not comprehend…..many systems working together to organize, clean, communicate, and restructure…..all within a structure that is about 1/10,000 the size of a head of a pin.

It is hard for me to fathom that people think that these systems, these processes, came to be without oversight……which is why I try to communicate to all that I know that You Are Not An Accident.

And so should you.

Imagine what the Lord could do through each of us if we came to the realization that He has us RIGHT WHERE WE ARE so that we can do something great…..

He does and we can……

Psalm 139

11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me

and the light become night around me,”

12 even the darkness will not be dark to you;

the night will shine like the day,

for darkness is as light to you.

13 For you created my inmost being;

you knit me together in my mother’s womb.

14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

your works are wonderful,

I know that full well.

I don’t know where you are today.

I don’t know if you are walking in pain or in joy.

I don’t know if you are struggling to climb a hill or gliding down one.

I don’t know if you are in great health or struggling.

But this I do know:

Even the dark is light to God

He knows your thoughts before they come to you

You are Fearfully and Wonderfully made

I pray that today….

He would bring order to your chaos

He would bring clarity to your thoughts

He would bring you to a place of worship and awe

Because He has you…..and He has those you love.

And a broken world, a legitimate enemy, and even the end of life as we know it here on earth…..can do NOTHING to loosen His grip on both you and all you hold dear.

So take a moment today to find your knees and worship…..because He has a plan for you that is better than what you have for yourself.

In The Name of the Father and the

Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

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Coach J