"He must become greater; I must become less"

“I pray that out of His glorious riches He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together will all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge- that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” -Ephesians 5:16-19

Since we left Sunday, I still feel the burden of what was said this weekend. As I loaded my stuff in the van, I dreaded leaving. The small town of Lavaca had a huge impact on me. Maybe it was the sermon or possibly the music. Maybe it was when one of my girls came to me crying minutes before I left asking me not to go. What do you do in that moment? My heart broke because in all honesty, I was just as upset about leaving as she was. I’m aware that this DNow was only a weekend event, but it only took a day for me to realize that I love these girls. God definitely brought us close together and worked in all of us. I had six 9th graders. All of them were full of energy and very talkative, which I absolutely loved. It did not take long for me to realize that it would be a fantastic weekend. This weekend I acted like a kid. I stayed up and talked till 2a.m. and we even had a dance party. We played paint dodge ball and in the group picture, you can see everyone smiling but Chris Comstock and I. He looks like a duck and I’m doing the creeper face. We were all able to hang out and have fun but in our group times, we calmed down and talked about the sermons. I shared my testimony Friday night and the girls really opened up and were honest with me. They told me what they were struggling with and shared that many of them struggled with the things I shared in my testimony. My heart really went out to these girls. They are so young, yet many are struggling with problems beyond their control. But they gave it to God. I was so encouraged when I heard them say “Im struggling with this, but Im giving it to God.” At such a young age they understood what it meant when Jesus died on the cross. They saw the grace God gives and the freedom in confession. I was inspired by how much I saw God move in my group this weekend. I pray that God will continue to move in their lives and help them to see that their identity is in none other than Christ.

Ephesians 3:16-19

There are some games in which cheering for the other side feels better than winning.

by Rick Reilly

Gainesville State players douse head coach Mark Williams in celebration.

They played the oddest game in high school football history last month down in Grapevine, Texas.

It was Grapevine Faith vs. Gainesville State School and everything about it was upside down. For instance, when Gainesville came out to take the field, the Faith fans made a 40-yard spirit line for them to run through.

Did you hear that? The other team’s fans?

They even made a banner for players to crash through at the end. It said, “Go Tornadoes!” Which is also weird, because Faith is the Lions.

“I WOULDN’T EXPECT ANOTHER PARENT TO TELL SOMEBODY TO HIT THEIR KIDS. BUT THEY WANTED US TO!”

It was rivers running uphill and cats petting dogs. More than 200 Faith fans sat on the Gainesville side and kept cheering the Gainesville players on—by name.

“I never in my life thought I’d hear people cheering for us to hit their kids,” recalls Gainesville’s QB and middle linebacker, Isaiah. “I wouldn’t expect another parent to tell somebody to hit their kids. But they wanted us to!”

And even though Faith walloped them 33-14, the Gainesville kids were so happy that after the game they gave head coach Mark Williams a sideline squirt-bottle shower like he’d just won state. Gotta be the first Gatorade bath in history for an 0-9 coach.

But then you saw the 12 uniformed officers escorting the 14 Gainesville players off the field and two and two started to make four. They lined the players up in groups of five—handcuffs ready in their back pockets—and marched them to the team bus. That’s because Gainesville is a maximum-security correctional facility 75 miles north of Dallas. Every game it plays is on the road.

This all started when Faith’s head coach, Kris Hogan, wanted to do something kind for the Gainesville team. Faith had never played Gainesville, but he already knew the score. After all, Faith was 7-2 going into the game, Gainesville 0-8 with 2 TDs all year. Faith has 70 kids, 11 coaches, the latest equipment and involved parents. Gainesville has a lot of kids with convictions for drugs, assault and robbery—many of whose families had disowned them—wearing seven-year-old shoulder pads and ancient helmets.

So Hogan had this idea. What if half of our fans—for one night only—cheered for the other team? He sent out an email asking the Faithful to do just that. “Here’s the message I want you to send:” Hogan wrote. “You are just as valuable as any other person on planet Earth.”

Some people were naturally confused. One Faith player walked into Hogan’s office and asked, “Coach, why are we doing this?”

And Hogan said, “Imagine if you didn’t have a home life. Imagine if everybody had pretty much given up on you. Now imagine what it would mean for hundreds of people to suddenly believe in you.”

Next thing you know, the Gainesville Tornadoes were turning around on their bench to see something they never had before. Hundreds of fans. And actual cheerleaders!

“I thought maybe they were confused,” said Alex, a Gainesville lineman (only first names are released by the prison). “They started yelling ‘DEE-fense!’ when their team had the ball. I said, ‘What? Why they cheerin’ for us?’”

It was a strange experience for boys who most people cross the street to avoid. “We can tell people are a little afraid of us when we come to the games,” says Gerald, a lineman who will wind up doing more than three years. “You can see it in their eyes. They’re lookin’ at us like we’re criminals. But these people, they were yellin’ for us! By our names!”

Maybe it figures that Gainesville played better than it had all season, scoring the game’s last two touchdowns. Of course, this might be because Hogan put his third-string nose guard at safety and his third-string cornerback at defensive end. Still.

After the game, both teams gathered in the middle of the field to pray and that’s when Isaiah surprised everybody by asking to lead. “We had no idea what the kid was going to say,” remembers Coach Hogan. But Isaiah said this: “Lord, I don’t know how this happened, so I don’t know how to say thank You, but I never would’ve known there was so many people in the world that cared about us.”

And it was a good thing everybody’s heads were bowed because they might’ve seen Hogan wiping away tears.

As the Tornadoes walked back to their bus under guard, they each were handed a bag for the ride home—a burger, some fries, a soda, some candy, a Bible and an encouraging letter from a Faith player.

The Gainesville coach saw Hogan, grabbed him hard by the shoulders and said, “You’ll never know what your people did for these kids tonight. You’ll never, ever know.”

And as the bus pulled away, all the Gainesville players crammed to one side and pressed their hands to the window, staring at these people they’d never met before, watching their waves and smiles disappearing into the night.

Anyway, with the economy six feet under and Christmas running on about three and a half reindeer, it’s nice to know that one of the best presents you can give is still absolutely free.

Hope.

“For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” -Jeremiah 29:11. 

Last week was difficult. I had to stand in front of the man who has poured into me this past year and who has taught me how to walk with Christ and tell him that I am not coming back next year. Not only did I have to tell him, but the rest of the group. The people that I have learned so much from, who have helped me in my walk with Christ. Who have been my role models. It breaks my heart to leave, but I know it is the right decision. God has given me so many opportunities to serve back in Memphis. I am so grateful that I had the opportunity to be in this mission program. I learned so much just in this year alone. Looking back at my life, how it use to be, even a year ago…I was a completely different person. I didn’t truly know what it meant to die to self and live for Christ. Going through Romans with a group of such strong believers helped me realize that I was not where I needed to be. Not at all. It has been a struggle to keep up and try to be at “their level.” But God taught me something through this. He has taught (and is continually teaching) me patience. He taught me to slow down. I don’t have to be “caught up”, that doesn’t make me any less of a Christian. I realized I needed to slow down and enjoy God and learn from His word rather than trying to cram scripture in my head that I would forget a day later. I started writing in a journal…writing out my prayers, my dreams, desires and my future plans. I decided to wake up an hour earlier each morning and read scripture and write in my journal. Which was weird to me at first because I hate silence. I like being around alot of people. I like to talk…alot. But in the mornings, when I had this time with God, I became silent. I read scripture, I prayed and I listened. After doing this for a few months, I started seeing small changes in my life. When we pray, we aren’t doing it for God’s benefit, he already knows everything, but we are doing it for our own. Prayer syncs our hearts with His will, His plan. My life is not about me. I have to die to self daily and live for Christ. If it ever becomes all about me, then it is a waste. I would hate to get to Heaven one day and have to admit, “Oh hey God, I lived my life for myself…” It would be completely meaningless. 

Going back to Memphis is just the beginning of my journey. I want and desire for God to use me to do great things in life. What amazes me, is that He will. I just have to trust Him and be willing to go wherever He calls me to go. So in the words of Matt Papa, “Here and I send me, I’ll follow wherever You lead.”

 If you want to live a life of adventure and purpose, then I dare you to follow Christ.