Jonathan Evans the son of Dr. Tony Evans a preacher in the Dallas area. Will you take the challenge to live a life of greatness?

The object of the game of football is to win the game. To win the game you must score more points than the other team. Sure defensive football coaches like to say, “If the other team never scores we will never lose.” But your team must score to eventually win that game.

So in my mind the offense is very much a part of the foundation of a football team. The foundation of the offense is the offensive line, the center, guards, tackles and yes those offensive ends.

The offensive line never gets the glory. The quarterbacks name is always in the paper. The top running back is always interviewed by the media. The defender who makes a great play or has the most tackles will get some publicity also. Once in awhile the offensive end will get some press but he has to do something besides just blocking to make the grade for the media.

This basic foundational part of football was taught to me back in high school. I was an offensive end. My high school football team ran the Wing-T with two tight ends most of the time. When the coach would divide the team up into positional practice, the offensive ends went with the offensive line coach.

I did not understand, why did I need to learn to pull like a guard, cut block, crab block, pass block or any of the other things an interior offensive lineman learns to do? Only after high school was over, did I finally realize the importance of the offensive line. When I would go to football games, post-high school, I was constantly watching the offensive line to see what was really happening in the football game. So the best education I received, about football, was when we were with our offensive line position coach.

Did you know that everyone that joins the Marine Corps is trained as a rifleman-infantryman first? Doesn’t matter if you will be an officer, enlisted, tanker or pilot you get the basics of rifleman-infantryman training first?

My thought is everyone who joins a football team should also be trained as an offensive interior lineman first. The quarterback, the running backs, the wide receivers, the defensive players, the kickers everyone should learn the basics of the offensive line. I can hear coaches now saying, “We barely have time to teach the kids their proper position let alone teach them some of the offensive line stuff!”

Doesn’t that sound just like life? Sure we go to church as often as we can. We are on the team, but we don’t have time to learn or study the basics of faith. According to studies of Bible readers, only 13% of folks read the Bible daily.1 How much time do you spend in meditation and prayer, daily? How much time do you spend in adult education in your church? Yes, the basics of faith just slip away from us.

Jesus was the kind of man who had the glory but gave it up to be a servant and savior for us. Offensive lineman, give up a chance for glory, (name in the paper or interviewed by the media after games) to deny themselves and give of themselves for the team.

Yes, Jesus is our coach today, but while he was on earth, I think he would have made a great offensive lineman. He was calling the blocking scheme at the line of scrimmage against satan’s evil team. He also was calling the offensive team to him, after the play, to come huddle up with him.

Join the team and learn the basics.

Mark 8:34 If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

(My football coach, when he got unhappy with offensive backfield players, would send them to the offensive line position coach, to learn about sacrifice.)

1. Daily Bible reading poll

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=9mDzNm7cylw

Catholic or Protestant the call to Battle is real. Discover the battle we are engaged in. Are you going to step into the breach?

The Rt. Rev. Bishop Michael Curry the new president elect of the Episcopal Church speaks about the unity and beauty of the Eucharist.

It has only been a short time, but can you remember the name of the player who collapsed in the Kansas high school football game and died the next day in a Denver hospital?

Do you remember the name of the player who collapsed at a football game in Oakley in 1996 and died? Those of us who intimately knew those young men will never forget their names. Those of us who didn’t actually know them will soon forget their names.

I can still remember the best athlete in my eighth grade class. Mike was a great football and basketball player. For several days in a row he missed school, so one day I asked one of my friends, “Where is Mike?” He said to me, “Haven’t you heard Mike has leukemia?”  Mike passed away a few months later.

My freshman year of high school three guys in the sophomore class and one guy from my freshman class were killed in a car train accident. I can still remember their names and personalities. We honor them when we remember them and we tell their stories to others in our lives.

Think about the disciples of Jesus. They went everywhere with Him for three years. They saw Jesus heal people first hand who were sick, blind, deaf, and diseased and also raised some from the dead. They also saw Jesus beaten badly by scourging and crucified on a cross by Roman soldiers.

Several days later Jesus rose from the dead and walked again on earth appearing to the disciples and others many times. Weeks later he ascended into heaven as they watched. Those disciples and others honored Jesus by remembering Him. They told His stories and lessons over and over.

Do you remember Jesus? Do you honor Him with your memory and your physical presence at church each week? About 76% of Kansans identify themselves as Christians.1 Yet even in my own community only about 20% of the people go to church on any given Sunday.2

I think the great majority of us have forgotten who Jesus was. We instead act like consumers when we think of church. You know, “I don’t like the music.” I don’t like the time they have church.” I don’t like the preacher.” I don’t like the people at church.”

When we go to church we honor God with our presence, no matter what happens at church. When we read the Bible and pray during the week we also are growing our memory and relationship with God the Father. Relationships of any kind are based on giving of your time to each other and getting to know each other. That is true with your friends and family today. It is also true with your spiritual life and your heavenly Father.

Don’t lose your memory of God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit.

Matthew 7:23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’

1. Pew research on religious composition of adults in Kansas
2. ARDA research on Scott County, Kansas

“Any time you go in and you have to change a culture, it’s always smart to start heavy handed, and you can always ease up a little, if necessary.  But if you go in easy, it’s hard to put the hammer down after that.”     Tom Herman, Head Football Coach, University of Houston

Here is a link to where I found this quote. It is a story about how Pastors should come in to new churches.

Philip Rivers on Faith, Family, Football

It is not easy says Rivers to be a man of faith in todays world, it is not easy to raise your family centered on Christ, it is not easy to play football week in and week out, but anything worth something is not easy!

If you are a father, grandfather or want to be, this might be the best 49 minute program ever to learn how to be the father you were meant to be.

7 Secrets of St. Joseph for Dads by Devin Schadt

My sophomore and junior year of Scott Community High School football there were so many guys on the football team (just under 90 counting freshman) that coach had a travel squad list. Every Thursday night, as the players went to the practice field, an assistant coach would put up a list on the field house wall of who was going to travel that Friday night to the game on the bus.

So after practice there was always a mad rush of sophomores and juniors to that list to see who was going to get to go to the game and suit up? The freshman never traveled with the varsity in those days.

When your name was not on the travel list, you were disappointed because that meant you were staying home.

The truth hurt.

Early in the football season of my junior year the head coach offered to give me a ride home from practice one night. So I jumped in his pickup and as soon as he started driving he said to me, “You are good enough to start on the varsity team this year, but I have seven seniors at your position and they have been with me for four years, so I need to figure out how to get them in the game. So you will never be a starter on varsity. Next year will be your year.”

The truth hurt.

Jesus as he stood before Pontius Pilate about to be condemned to death on the cross says to Pilate, “I have come to tell the truth.” Jesus was a radical. He was swimming upstream against the current while most of humanity was going against him and it got him killed.

Today, as Christians, we also are called to be different in our generation. What have you done today that separates you from the non-Christians?

Here is something that will make you a radical in your generation.

1 Corinthians 6:9-10 Do you not know that the wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.

And the truth hurts.