Kansasfcacoaches's Blog

Fast Food Beliefs

kansasfcacoaches — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 14:44:01 +0000

When I hear about coaches getting fired after a year or two at a school it breaks my heart. I once told an athletic director that it would take four years to turn the program around to contend for a league championship. That was not what he wanted to hear and I did not get the job. In our society we want everything right now. Actually we wanted it yesterday. We drive through to get our food. At most fast food places they do not even hold a cup anymore to put your drink in it. They put it on a belt of some sort, it goes under the fountain, they push a button and the drink comes out. I suppose it is faster. I am not sure it is better but it is faster. In our world of sports it is not different. It is almost rare to see a Sports Center show without something about performance enhancing substances or some other way that an athlete or a coach is trying to get to the top faster. That is not what sports was meant to be. A few years ago I read Coach John Heisman’s book on football. You might recall that Coach Heisman has a little award named after him. In the book, Coach Heisman never once used the win. He talked about character and building young men into quality men. Isn’t that what sports should be about? When we compare sports to our walk with God, the same is true. There are no short cuts. You can not take a shot or a pill and grow closer to God quicker. You have to put in the time and the effort. It will not happen overnight. There will be tests and trials. There will be hard times. In the end those hard times are what make the good times that much more sweeter. Today make it a point to put the same amount of effort into your relationship with Jesus as you do into other relationships in your life. What would your marriage look like if you were looking for short cuts? What would your relationships with friends look like if you did not put time into them? Our relationship with Jesus is the same way. We have to grow it like any other and that takes time.

Just Do It

kansasfcacoaches — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 20:29:57 +0000

Nike sold a lot of shoes with the slogan “Just Do It”. Now I am not a bible scholar or a schooled professional minister, but I think Nike should give some church some where some amount of money because they did not come up with it. The VCU basketball team took the quote to heart in the upset win over Kansas in the NCAA basketball tournament. Every coach goes into each game with a certain game plan. The idea is that you come up with a plan and put your players in position to basically win the game. The catch is the players have to follow the game plan. They have to “Just Do It”. The VCU players did just that. They listened to their coach and they followed his game plan. Well, God has a game plan for us. In James we read that we are not supposed to just read the game plan but we are to put it into practice also. If the VCU players would have just read and listened to the coach’s game plan and not put it into practice they have not have come out on top. It is good to read the bible, God’s Game Plan, but if we don’t put it into practice it does us very little good. If we read on in James 1 we see James telling people that we listen but do it we are like a man that forgets what he looks like after he has just looked into a mirror. In the last few words of James 1:25 James tells us that when we read God’s Game Plan and put it into action we will be blessed for what we do. Just like the VCU basketball team we will profit from following God’s Game Plan. Every coach wants to win. Every coach puts together a game plan that will give his or her team the best opportunity to win, be blessed. We have the perfect coach in God. When we are only readers of the word and not doers of the word, we short change the plan that God has for us. We must be compelled to put His plan into action in our daily lives.

Don’t leave my side.

kansasfcacoaches — Sun, 27 Mar 2011 22:05:55 +0000

I heard this a lot when I was a freshman in college. The conversation was pretty much one sided and it went something like this, “If you want to get on the field, don’t leave my side. When you are not in there, stay right next to me. When I need a defensive lineman, I am only going to yell once.” I thought it was such a good coaching technique that I used it myself when I coached. I usually had one or two players following me around like lost puppies. When I read James 4:8 I am reminded of these days. God tells us that when we come near Him, He will come near to us. In the game of life we will all be on the field. There will come a day when we are put into circumstances that will define us as humans and Christians. It is during these times, just like critical times in athletic contests, that we had better be ready. Athletes get ready for these crunch times by spending time and drawing near to their coach. Shouldn’t we do the same with our God? Jeremiah 30:17 tells us that God will heal us and restore our health. When the time comes when we are tempted, when the time comes that we know we are in a battle for God, shouldn’t we be as healthy as we can possibly be? In Psalm 23:3 we read about God refreshing our souls. As coaches when we put athletes into games, we are counting on them to be fresh and ready to get the job done. When step onto the field for Jesus, He expects us to be as fresh as we can be. In the end, I always wanted to be on the field. I always wanted my athletes to want to be on the field. I also wanted to be as fresh and in shape as possible so I could give all that I had for my team. Shouldn’t we want the same from ourselves when we step into the battle for Jesus?

Humble Champion

kansasfcacoaches — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 18:19:16 +0000

How many times do we see a football player cross the goal line and do some sort of celebration? Either they bring attention to themselves or they point to the sky to bring attention someone else. We get all excited and say, “Look they are giving God the glory.” Well maybe they are or maybe they are not. The only person that knows for sure is the person with the finger in the air. It seems like these days even humble things are brought under the microscope. Even players who seem humble end up not being so humble. It is hard to be humble when everybody around is feeding your ego. Being a coach is no difference. Be honest, have you ever looked at a loosing program and thought, “I could turn that program around and win a state title in no time flat.” Just like everybody I have been turned down for my share of head coach jobs. The first one was a large high school in a large city. I saw the talent walking the hallways and knew I could win a title in four years. When I didn’t get the job I was bitter and thought the school just didn’t know who I was. In my mind and heart I thought it was their loss. In a couple of years I was turned down again for a large school in a suburb of a large city. This time my prayer through out the whole interview process was, “God put YOUR coach in the position of head coach.” I didn’t get the job and even was an assistant to the coach that beat me out. It was fine this time, because I knew that God’s will had been done. I wish I had read the last line in the Coach’s Mandate a lot earlier in my career. It would have taken away a lot of bitterness to be focused in the right way. Coach with humble gratitude as one privileged to be God’s coach. When we look at our coaching as a gift from God one question comes up. Who are we as sinnful fallen men to take any glory from God? Compare us to God in verse 28 from Isaiah 40, “Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.” I don’t know about you but I have not created a world and I get tired all the time. Who gets the glory when you and your team take the field of competition coach? I could go on and on about God’s glory and His amazing power, but this is suppose to be short. So the next time you need to be remembered of God’s glory just watch one of your athletes glide over the ground and thank God for the blessing to watch it.

A Plan

kansasfcacoaches — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 16:05:05 +0000

How many of us have ever started a practice, game or even a season without a plan? That statement just does not make sense what so ever. We have plans coming out our ears as coaches. I started working on next season just as soon as the season was over. After all, I had to recruit in coming freshman and keep the athletes that were coming back to keep them coming back. The last thing I wanted was for them to loose interest in being part of the team. I am such a pack rat, I have plans for sports that I was an assistant coach in but never a head coach. You never know when you might just be asked to be the head coach of a sport. You just have to be ready at a moments notice right? When we read line 12 of the Coach’s Mandate we see something a little different, “Trust God to produce in my athletes His chosen purposes, regardless of whether the wins are readily visible.” I love Jeremiah 29:11. In the New Living Translation it reads like this, “For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” Here is a direct promis of God for our lives and yet we struggle with to apply it to our coaching lives. For years I thought I was sold out coaching for Jesus. The attitude I had was a little different. I trusted God to provide for me and my family. I trusted His plan for my life would put me at the school He knew I needed to be at. That was about where it ended. How arrogant does this sound, “God I know you are God. I know You love me and have a plan for me. I know all this, but I got this football thing. Don’t worry about it. I know what I am doing.” Really? Did I not think God could come up with a better game plan than I could? Did I actually think I could break down game film better than God could? How stupid was that!?!?! Now don’t get me wrong. I am not saying we should stop watching film, stop having practice schedules or just wing it when Friday nights come around. I am saying that since I knew how to break film down better than God I missed out on the first four years of my oldest daughter’s life. I was too busy being my own little football god instead of growing closer to Him in ALL aspects of my life. The line from the Coach’s Mandate says it is HIS chosen purpose in our athlete’s lives, not our’s. We can not and are not suppose to be God in our player’s lives. I beg you don’t try to be. Grow your relationship with God and enjoy ALL the blessings He has given you not just the team He has placed you on.

Product

kansasfcacoaches — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 23:23:03 +0000

As coaches how are we measured? How does the world see us as a success or a failure? OK ready, now how do WE see ourselves as a success or a failure? One more, how does GOD see us as success or failure? The 11th line of the Coach’s Mandate reads, “Allow my coaching to exude the fruit of the Spirit thus producing Christ-like athletes.” Matthew 28:19-20 puts it this way, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Well, if we are to make disciples everywhere, isn’t your field or court part of everywhere? It is so very easy to get caught up in the wins and loses. It is the world we live in. You know I have heard it said we are to be in the world not of it though. Coach let me try to encourage you. When it looks like everything is against you, remember you are to be coaching for the glory of the Risen King. When someone asks you why you didn’t win the championship by MORE points, rember you are STILL coaching for the same Risen King’s glory. This world can not tell you how to feel. When you ask Christ to be Lord of your life, you leave behind earthly success and failure. Ask yourself one more question before you go to practice or take the court for that next game, ask yourself, “Why do I coach?”

Game Face

kansasfcacoaches — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 20:28:36 +0000

How many times have we heard in the world of athletics to get our game face on? It is a saying used to bring up an idea or feeling of focus. When a person has their game face on they are ready for the game. They are ready for the trial that is ahead of them. They are ready to give their all. They are totally 100% focused. Most of us reading these lines would at one time or another in our careers know what getting our game face on is all about. What about our Christian game face?

The same things that help us put on our game face for sports help us put on our game face for God. As athletes we spend hours and hours at times years and years developing our game. The same must be true with our relationship with Jesus. We must work on it. We read in the bible that Jesus is knocking at the door. With Him knocking the question is, will and how often do we open the door? Revelation 3:20 reads, “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.” We know a football player is a football player because of their actions. The same is true with a soccer player or basketball player or whatever sport you do. The same is supposed to be true with us as Christians. The early church did call themselves Christians it was a name given to them by people who observed their game face for Jesus. In Acts 11:26 we read, “and when he found him, he brought him to Antioch. So for a whole year Barnabas and Saul met with the church and taught great numbers of people. The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch.” Could someone know you were a Christian by your game face for Jesus?

We achieve the Jesus game face the same way we do with our sports game face. We must practice and listen to the head coach. As Christians we are supposed to listen to God. How do we do that? We pray. Paul wrote in 1 Thessalonians 5:17, “pray continually.” We pray in times of goodness and hardship. We pray. It is simply having a conversation with our Head Coach and getting the plan for the day.

Pregame Meal

kansasfcacoaches — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 20:35:12 +0000

Our coach in junior college wanted the best of everything. He was the AD and he had the biggest office. We won two bowl rings that year and his were the fanciest. He wanted the best. One thing that I remember were the pregame meals. We had steak every meal before we played. It was great! Did you know that Jesus offers us a pregame meal even more amazing than steak? We find it in Galatians 5:22, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness.” Follow me on this line of thought now. God gave the world Jesus and Jesus gave the world the Holy Spirit. We read that the fruit of the Spirit are what we are given by the Holy Spirit. Can you imagine something tasting better than fruit from God? Now lets take another look at things. We read in the 11th line of the Coach’s Mandate, “Allow my coaching to exude the fruit of the Spirit thus producing Christ – like athletes.” It don’t get any easier than that. We are called to allow our coaching to exude the food that God gives us through the fruit of the Spirit. OK here is the big question. We expect our athletes to do what we tell them to, right? Are we doing what our Head Coach tells us to?

What If

kansasfcacoaches — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 16:37:44 +0000

So like every other has been football player I was watching the national championship football game Monday night. I had a flash of remembering the out of breathe feeling that the Auburn defensive line showed. Here were these big, huge athletes sucking A LOT of wind. The showed glimpses of the coaching staffs. There was one guy, I am not sure his position with Auburn, who was going nutty after every Auburn play. The verse that verse that came to me was Psalm 42:1, “As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God.” This started me wondering what if? What if our souls our very being in the thing that makes us go daily the soul that moves us to get out of bed in the morning, what if we panted after God’s presence as these players and coaches were panting out of breathe during a simple child’s game?

One not two

kansasfcacoaches — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 14:40:07 +0000

The saying goes that a chain is only as strong as the weakest link. Nobody wants to be that weak link. We all want to be good teammates. Jesus was a team guy too. In Colossians 3:23 we read just how good a team guy He is, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters.” When you first read this you might think that isn’t about team. What better defines a team player than someone who does not seek the spot light? If you focus all your energy into giving Jesus the glory are you not shying away from the spotlight that sports give you? In the Coach’s Mandate we read, “Recognize that it is impossible to bring glory to both myself and Christ at the same time.” There is no way we can be in the spotlight and live out the life Jesus wants from us. “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money,” is what Jesus tells us in Matthew 6:24. Take out the word money and put in the word glory. There is no way you can serve two masters. You will end up hating both. Today, coach, choose to serve the One True Master that is the giver of ALL THINGS, God the Father, Jesus the Son and the Holy Spirit.