Blog Archives

GETTING THE BUGS OUT

10/23/2013

My wife and I have had this new-fangled, wireless, combination printer, copier, scanner, and fax-machine for a few months now.  It is truly a marvelous thing to behold as it undertakes its many and varied tasks.

Recently, however, it just stopped working. As we fiddled with it, we noticed that it was showing us on its information panel that it was having problems with the printer head – whatever that is. We were not really certain of what we were facing.  Nevertheless, we decided to tackle the thing.

So, we turned it off and turned it back on. It still had a problem.  We unplugged it and let it sit awhile before re-plugging it.  It still had a problem. We then pulled out the four ink cartridges and reinstalled them.  It still had a problem. We repeated all of the above steps once again.  Only, this time, when I went to replace the ink cartridges, I noticed something.

There it was – fast asleep on the ridge of the yellow cartridge. The culprit? A little “stink bug”. At least that is what we call them. Our home has had a veritable infestation of them, or so it seems. We have probably caught around a dozen or so of them in the last few weeks.  But I never dreamed one of them would set up housekeeping down inside the printer!

According to the internet, the “Brown Marmorated Stink Bug” was introduced accidentally into this country from the Far East in 1998. They have exploded in population since.  Being agricultural pests, they eat only plants; but they can be a nuisance to homeowners as they tend to come inside houses in the fall of the year for hibernation purposes.

The problem is that they defend themselves by releasing a pungent odor from a gland in their abdomen.  So they are perhaps best left alone. But I would rather have smelly fingers than a printer that does not work.  Thus, I did battle with the beast!  And though I got some stink on me in the process, I nonetheless prevailed.

As I sat reveling in my victory, printing away, I thought about the fact that another home was invaded by an outsider. Genesis chapter 3 relates how a culprit named Satan came into the Garden of Eden from the outside and got a stinky substance called sin all over Adam and Eve, fouling up their insides, and preventing them from functioning as their Master intended.

For thousands of years, the process of vicarious animal sacrifices in the Old Testament kept attempting to restart men and women. But nothing really worked.  Thus, in due time, the Master decided to reach down into the heart of the matter and address the real problem.  Through Jesus Christ, the finished work of salvation was wrought as sin and its ugly stink was taken from our hearts and placed upon Him.

The result was that He was tarnished; but we were cleansed. And because of this, we can once again function as our Maker intended.

I hope you have experienced the cleansing work of Christ. I hope you have allowed Him to reach into your heart and fix your real problem. If not, now would be a great time to do just that! Nothing in this world compares to getting to the heart of the matter and getting things cleaned up, so that the stink is gone and the bugs are out!

I leave you with these words from the Apostle John in his first New Testament letter I John 1:9): “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”   Amen!  Praise God for that.

GOT POWER?

10/20/2013

I use it virtually every Sunday and Wednesday, week in and week out. It has never failed me yet. But that does not mean I do not fret and worry about the fact that one day it will. I am referring, of course, to my microphone.  I obsess over it not letting me down.

Why? Because I have seen this very thing happen to other preachers and public speakers; and I know how frustrating it can be whenever the battery gives out and a speaker suddenly cannot be heard. Often, the whole flow of the message is interrupted; and it can be very hard to recapture the moment once it has been lost.

Recently, after taking note of the fact that the sound engineers at our church change my microphone battery out before some messages, but not before others, I inquired as to why this was. Thereupon, our Worship Pastor took my microphone, turned it over, and showed me an obscure little battery meter on the bottom.  It read three quarters full of power; and I was greatly reassured before heading off to the pulpit.

And yet, the question remained. I did not recall him ever checking it before our conversation. How did he know the status of my battery charge? His response caught me by surprise: “Oh, that’s easy.  We have a parallel display upstairs in the sound booth that allows us to monitor exactly how much battery power you have left. We know well in advance whenever you are going to need more juice!”

At the moment, all I could think to say was, “Thank goodness!  I am greatly relieved to know that. Now, I will no longer be worried about my power running low.” But upon further reflection, I must admit that I did feel a little foolish.  Here I had spent all of that time fretting over something that, in truth, was never really in danger of happening.  That was because, all along, the powers that be had been watching over me and my needs from up above.

And then it hit me:  this is a pretty good picture of how things so often go with regard to the Lord and me.  For my part, I spend an awful lot of time fretting and worrying about whether or not I will have what all I need to get by each day of my life.   And all the while, up there in Heaven, God is closely monitoring my level of resources.

He knows full well just how much spiritual energy I am expending at all times. He also knows just how much more I will need in any situation. Because of this, He will never put more of a load on me than I can handle.  And He will always replenish my strength just when I need it the most.

There are a great many Bible verses which show us this truth. Joshua, David, Peter, Paul, and many other Biblical characters give abundant testimony to God’s power. And yet, one Biblical writer who felt led of God to stress this more than most others was the prophet Isaiah. In chapter 40 (verses 28-31), he states:

“Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; His understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength.  Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.”

Isaiah underscores this message once again in the following chapter (41:10) when he conveys this message to us from God: “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”

Translation: Take heart. God is watching your power meter right now. He knows just how strong you are. He also knows whenever you are running a little low on spiritual strength. And He comes at just the right time to boost your supply with power from on high! Because of this, you do not ever have to fret or worry - not in the least bit.  For you see, my friend, He’s got you covered!  And you will never want for strength!

NOTE:  Encouraging scriptures relating to God’s power can be found at: http://www.whatchristianswanttoknow.com/bible-verses-about-strength-25-encouraging-scripture-quotes/#ixzz2iJBEJvCs.

NOTHING TO FEAR

10/17/2013

In my last post, I shared some humorous epitaphs from around the world. Today, I thought I would go in another direction. In 1933, W. Somerset Maugham penned the definitive version of an ancient parable, which he titled The Appointment in Samarra. The speaker is Death itself.

There was a merchant in Bagdad who sent his servant to market to buy provisions and in a little while the servant came back, white and trembling, and said, "Master, just now when I was in the marketplace, I was jostled by a woman in the crowd; and when I turned I saw it was Death that jostled me."

"She looked at me and made a threatening gesture. Now, lend me your horse, and I will ride away from this city and avoid my fate. I will go to Samarra and there Death will not find me." The merchant lent him his horse; and the servant mounted it; and he dug his spurs in its flanks and as fast as the horse could gallop he went.

Then the merchant went down to the marketplace and he saw me standing in the crowd and he came to me and said, "Why did you make a threating gesture to my servant when you saw him this morning?" "That was not a threatening gesture," I said, "it was only a start of surprise. I was astonished to see him in Bagdad, for I had an appointment with him tonight in Samarra."*

As I said in my last post, a great many people fear death. But for those who know Jesus Christ, there is no need for this.  I would like to elaborate on that assertion today.

Biblically, death only exists as a consequence of sin against God. Sin and the curse it brings first entered the world in Genesis 3. In the process, sin brought about spiritual death; and that necessarily involved physical death.  Thus, we read in the Old Testament book by the Prophet Ezekiel (18:20): "The one who sins is the one who will die." And in the New Testament book of Romans (6:23a), the Apostle Paul adds, "The wages of sin is death."

But God loved the men and women He had created in His image so much that He immediately set about redressing the situation. The process of sacrifice and blood atonement found in the Old Testament was a temporary solution whereby an animal vicariously died on behalf of sinful men and women. The writer of Hebrews in the New Testament stresses how the sacrificial process was not sufficient in the long run because it was a never-ending process.

But, in His Son Jesus Christ, God was about the business of reconciling the lost and dying world to Himself once and for all.  Thus, Hebrews 9:28 tells us that Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many.  Because of this, the Apostle Paul says (in Romans 6:23b) that "...the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Jesus, as the only begotten Son of God, lived a sinless life, and therefore became the only acceptable sacrifice for the sins of men and women. Thus, He gave His life on an old rugged cross in order that we all might have life.  This one sacrifice forever atoned for the sins of men and women.

Accordingly, in his second New Testament letter to the Corinthians (5:21), the Apostle Paul says, "God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God."

As a result of this, we no longer need to fear death.  For this reason, in his first New Testament letter to the Corinthians, (15:50-58) the Apostle Paul has this to say:

I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.  Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed - 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.  For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality.

When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: "Death has been swallowed up in victory." "Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?" The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.  But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.  Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm.  Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

And to this, the Apostle John adds these words in the New Testament book of Revelation (21:3-5):

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!"

Praise God for this great truth. We need not fear death!  For we have read the back of the Book, and we win! But there is one caveat.

Physical death awaits us all.  But spiritual death awaits only those who have not embraced the freely offered grace of God in Jesus Christ.  As one famous evangelist put it, "Born once, die twice.  Born twice, die once." **

The meaning is this. If we live only a physical existence, we are destined to die both a physical and a spiritual death. However, if we are born physically, and then are born again spiritually through Jesus Christ, we will die only a physical death, but not a spiritual one.

And thus, in response to Nicodemus' question about what it means to be "born again" (in the Gospel of John, chapter 3)Jesus Christ said:

Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’

Thereupon, the Apostle John records the most famous Bible verses ever written (John 3:16-18) :

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.

And to this, John later adds (I John 5:11-12):

And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.  Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.

Amen! I hope you have found life by placing your faith and trust in Jesus Christ today.  If you have, you will never have to fear death.

*SOURCE:
http://www.k-state.edu/english/baker/english320/Maugham-AS.htm.
**SOURCE:
http://www.harvest.org/devotional/archive/devotion/2013-04-08.html.

SCARED TO DEATH

10/14/2013

The thirty-first of October is just a few days away. At this time of year, a lot of people’s thoughts turn to scary things and spooky places.  Graveyards, in particular, seem to get a lot of attention.

So I thought I would post a humorous piece today that I recently came across.  It is a collection of funny epitaphs from real tombstones found throughout the world.

On the grave of Ezekiel Aikle in East Dalhousie Cemetery, Nova Scotia:
Here lies Ezekiel Aikle
Age 102
The Good Die Young.

In a Thurmont, Maryland cemetery:
Here lies an Atheist.
All dressed up
And no place to go.

In a London, England cemetery:
Here lies Ann Mann,
Who lived an old maid
But died an old Mann.
Dec. 8, 1767

In a Ribbesford, England cemetery:
The children of Israel wanted bread
And the Lord sent them manna,
Old clerk Wallace wanted a wife,
And the Devil sent him Anna.

Playing with names in a Ruidoso, New Mexico cemetery:
Here lies Johnny Yeast.
Pardon me for not rising.

Memory of an accident in a Uniontown, Pennsylvania cemetery:
Here lies the body
of Jonathan Blake.
Stepped on the gas
Instead of the brake.

In a Silver City, Nevada cemetery:
Here lays Butch,
We planted him raw.
He was quick on the trigger,
But slow on the draw.

A widow wrote this epitaph in a Vermont cemetery:
Sacred to the memory of
my husband John Barnes
who died January 3, 1803.
His comely young widow, aged 23,
has many qualifications of a good wife,
and yearns to be comforted.

A lawyer's epitaph in England:
Sir John Strange
Here lies an honest lawyer,
And that is Strange.

Someone determined to be anonymous in Stowe, Vermont:
I was somebody.
Who, is no business
Of yours.

Lester Moore was a Wells, Fargo Co. station agent for Naco, Arizona in the cowboy days of the 1880's. He's buried in the Boot Hill Cemetery in Tombstone, Arizona:
Here lies Lester Moore
Four slugs from a .44
No Les No More.

In a Georgia cemetery:
"I told you I was sick!"

John Penny's epitaph in the Wimborne, England cemetery:
Reader if cash thou art
In want of any
Dig 4 feet deep
And thou wilt find a Penny.

On Margaret Daniels grave at Hollywood Cemetery Richmond, Virginia:
She always said her feet were killing her
but nobody believed her.

In a cemetery in Hartscombe, England:
On the 22nd of June
- Jonathan Fiddle -
Went out of tune.

Anna Hopewell's grave in Enosburg Falls, Vermont has an epitaph that sounds like something from a Three Stooges movie:
Here lies the body of our Anna,
Done to death by a banana.
It wasn't the fruit that laid her low,
But the skin of the thing that made her go.

More fun with names with Owen Moore in Battersea, London,
England:
Owen Moore.
Gone away
Owin' more
Than he could pay.

Someone in Winslow, Maine didn't like Mr. Wood:
In Memory of Beza Wood
Departed this life Nov. 2, 1837 - Age 45 yrs.
Here lies one Wood
Enclosed in wood
One Wood
Within another.
The outer wood
Is very good:
We cannot praise
The other.

On a grave from the 1880's in Nantucket, Massachusetts:
Under the sod and under the trees
Lies the body of Jonathan Pease.
He is not here, there's only the pod:
Pease shelled out and went to God.

The grave of Ellen Shannon in Girard, Pennsylvania is almost a consumer tip:
Who was fatally burned March 21, 1870
by the explosion of a lamp
filled with "R.E. Danforth's
Non-Explosive Burning Fluid"

Oops! Harry Edsel Smith of Albany, New York:
Born 1903--Died 1942
Looked up the elevator shaft
to see if the car
was on the way down.
It was.

Many people do fear cemeteries; mostly because they fear death. And, of course, it goes without saying that death itself is no funny thing.  Just ask anyone who is facing it; or anyone who has recently lost a loved one.

But praise God, we need not fear death. While physical death is inevitable and awaits each of us, spiritual death is another matter altogether.

In the Old Testament (Job 14:14), miserable Job asks the ultimate question:  "If a man dies, will he live again?"

Later on, in the New Testament (John 3:16), the Apostle John gives the definitive answer to that question:   "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."  This is why Jesus Himself said (in John 10:10): "I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full."

If you fear death today, why not read a little further on what the Bible has to say on the subject? I think you will find it very helpful. And then you too can focus less on dying and more on living. As a result, while you might not laugh at death, you might just have a joyous smile on your face whenever it does cross your mind!

SOURCE:
http://www.et.byu.edu/~tom/jokes/Funny_Epitaphs.html.

A WILLING SACRIFICE

10/10/2013

We recently concluded our year-long weekly Bible study in the Biblical book of Genesis. As we worked though the last chapter, I was struck by the fact that, after the death of Jacob, Joseph’s brothers feared that he would turn on them.

For seventeen years, they had all lived in harmony together in the land of Goshen.  But now, with the death of their father, they feared that the one who sat on the right hand of the king of Egypt, the most powerful king on earth, would forget about the forgiveness he had offered so many years before.

Joseph, of course, reassured them that this was not to be the case. I underscored his love for them as he reminded them that they might have intended to do him harm when they had sold him into slavery and told his father he was dead; but that God had intended it all for good.

While he had certainly been mistreated at their hands, his love for them was nonetheless beyond question.  Why? Because God had required him to suffer in order that that they might be saved from a terrible famine, and then that they might be protected in Goshen while they grew into the great nation He wanted them to be. Though he had suffered, he had been delivered by God. And because of this, so had they.

In this respect, Joseph is certainly a type of Jesus Christ.  As chapters 52-53 of the Old Testament book of Isaiah make plain, Jesus was the One Who suffered on our behalf. God laid on Him the iniquity of us all; and by His stripes we are healed.

You see, just like with Joseph, Jesus' own brethren turned on him. Blood was shed and He was then placed down in a pit. He went from there to the prison of the underworld. But, just as He had done for Joseph, God also delivered Jesus! For lo and behold, He later came back up... quite alive and well!  Thereafter, He ascended to the right hand of a King. Only this was not just the king of some puny little earthly kingdom, but rather the King of the entire Universe!

And yet, in spite of all this, Jesus still offers us forgiveness! Why? Because He knows that His suffering was ordained of God.  What we had intended for evil; God intended for good. His sacrifice bought our freedom.  And that sacrifice was one of love.

As John 3:16-18 says, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son."

Dr. R. G. Lee, long time Pastor of Bellevue Baptist Church in Memphis, Tennessee, once told a powerful story illustrating the love God has for us in Jesus Christ. It was that of a pioneer woman crossing a prairie with her baby in her arms.

"As she journeyed along, she saw in the distance a dark cloud of smoke; small at first but gradually increasing in size until it grew to immense proportions. She knew it was a prairie fire. She saw she could not possibly escape the scorching and singeing tongues of the flame because it was traveling with lighting-like speed.

She prepared for the inevitable. As the fiery billows rolled like a seething mass across the prairie, she knelt down, dug a hole as quickly and as deeply as she could and laid her baby in the hole. As the roaring flames, like merciless demons approached, she threw herself across the hole in the ground.

In a moment it was all over. Later her charred body was found over the spot. But the baby was alive. She had given herself for her babe. Her sacrifice saved the babe from a fiery death."

Dr. Lee concluded with these remarks, "Likewise Christ died. With His scourge-cut, thorn-pierced, beaten and crucified body, Jesus COVERED us from the burning wrath of God who, as to sins, is a consuming fire."

Oh the grace and mercy of God made possible through Jesus Christ. No, it is not deserved! But it is freely offered and freely given. And once given and received, it will never be taken away.

Have you sought it today? If not, will you?

SOURCE: Dr. Lee was a master communicator, known far and wide for his famous sermon titled "Payday Someday". This particular story is available widely on the internet. See, for example, the version found at this page: http://www.uu.edu/centers/rglee/fellows/SPRING98/Massey.htm.

WHICH WAY WILL I GO?

10/7/2013

I stumbled upon it on E-bay quite by accident. It certainly struck me as unique. It was called a “Push Me-Pull Me” Car. Actually, someone has rather cleverly taken two Volkswagen Beetles, cut them in half, and then welded the two front ends together back to back to make one vehicle. The result was quite an eye-catcher. Take a look…

Of course, as the name indicates, this concept is based on the famous “Pushmi-Pullyu” character from the "Doctor Doolittle" movies. The most recent version starred Eddie Murphy. In that case, the poor beast was a "gazelle-unicorn cross", which had two heads, one of each, at opposite ends of its body.

Most of us older Baby-boomers will remember the 1967 film version with Rex Harrison in which the “Pushmi-Pullyu” was portrayed as a double-headed llama…

Both films were based on Hugh Lofting’s popular 1920's book: The Story of Doctor Doolittle, Being the History of His Peculiar Life at Home and Astonishing Adventures in Foreign Parts, which was a children's novel about a doctor who talks to animals and becomes an advocate on their behalf.

But whether one is reading the book or watching a film version, the point is well made:  with two heads, there is bound to be a lot of confusion.  Needless to say, whenever the “Pushmi-Pullyu” tries to move, it is in turmoil.  Both ends want to go in their respective direction. And this is because each head insists on having its own way, thereby making the decision for both ends.

In reality, a two-headed animal can only go in one direction at a time. That is why, whenever an animal is occasionally born in the wild with two heads, it is doomed to a very short lifespan.

Likewise, a car with two front ends can still only go in one direction at a time. Thus, a closer examination of the car above reveals that the back end of the "Push Me-Pull Me" car above is actually a fake front end, with a fake steering wheel and a fake set of pedals, etc… As well it should be. No car can be driven efficiently in either direction.

And now for my point. In chapter one of the New Testament Book of James, in a passage dealing specifically with the importance of believers having an unwavering faith in the midst of temptation, the Bible affirms that: “A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.”

James points out that if we spend our lives vacillating between two directions, we will be like the waves of the sea - driven and tossed.  As a result, wherever we wind up will be determined by any number of unnecessary and unworthy factors.

By contrast, if we set our eyes clearly on a goal, and then resolutely go only in that one direction, our dreams will eventually be realized.

What about you?  Where are you headed? Which way should you be headed? Elijah's famous question from I Kings 18:21 still lingers for most of us: "How long will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow Him; but if Baal is God, follow him."

The Bible teaches that Jesus Christ is the one true Head of the church.  This means He, and He alone, should reign supreme in the life of a Christian. So why not let Him make the decision about where you should be going in life? Let Him guide you; and then go with Him. You will invariably be glad that you did.

VW PICTURE SOURCE: http://ebay-stories.com/an-incredible-push-me-pull-you-vw-beetle.

PUSHMI-PULLYU PICTURE SOURCE:  http://acertaincinema.com/wp-conten
t/loads/2012/08/harrison-dolittle.jpg.

LIFE COACH

10/3/2013

Okay, I couldn’t resist. One more football story…

It seems that the star football player for the University of South Carolina was flunking math and was about to be dropped from the team.  The famed “Old Ball Coach” was interceding on his behalf: "Look, we need Bubba for the team. What do you say? Give him just one more chance, OK?"

The math teacher was somewhat sympathetic; so he did his best to accommodate the young man. He replied, "Ok, Ok! Bubba, if you can just answer this one simple question right, then you will pass math.  Now, listen carefully.  What is 5 times 5?" With great trepidation, Bubba ventured his answer: "Is it… 25?"

Overcome with frustration, the “Old Ball Coach” immediately grabbed his visor and flung it to the ground as he blurted out: "Oh, come on!  You’ve got to give him just one more chance!"*

Seriously, by the first Saturday in October, most college football players and their coaches pretty much know one thing.  They know what sort of season they are probably going to have. For some, it is a time of much excitement and anticipation as a great season appears to be unfolding. For others, it is a time of growing concern as the middle of the season approaches without much promise of success.

For my own part, I would not want to be a football coach. As one comedian quipped, “Who wants to know that your entire livelihood is dependent upon what a bunch of adolescent young men do on a Friday or Saturday night?!”  How true!

And yet, few people are in such a position of influence as are the men and women who coach athletics.  When I look back over my life, I remember with fondness those individuals who so impacted my life. In addition to my parents, I think of ministers, teachers, and employers. But I also remember a coach or two along the way. And I thank God for them as I do.

I have a friend who coaches football in the public school system. He pours his life into his players. And some of them genuinely need it. The stories he could tell you would break your heart.  In a society where increasing numbers of children are now born and raised in dysfunctional homes, and where so many young people lack wholesome role models to help instill values in them as a result, especially from fathers, the influence of a ball coach simply cannot be overstated.

That is why I am so thankful for men like Mark Richt at the University of Georgia, who is (by length of service, at least) the “Dean” of Southeastern Conference football coaches. Coach Richt is a deeply committed Christian who takes seriously his role as a coach.

But he also understands that his impact upon his players goes much deeper than just his interaction with them on the football field.   He knows that, for many of the young men who play for him, his influence upon them will last their whole lives.

Coach Richt’s own personal testimony of the impact of another coach on his life can be found online at: https://www.cbn.com/entertainment/sports/Mark_Richt_102
907.aspx.  As you read it, note that it was under the influence of a man named Bobby Bowden that his own life was turned completely around!

Who knows? Perhaps the day will come when some young college football player from the University of Georgia will be a prominent college football coach in his own right.  And perhaps he will look back with great appreciation on the influence that Mark Richt had on his life and the difference that made.

But whether or not the young men who play for him go on one day to play professional ball, and whether or not they one day become coaches themselves, I trust the impact of Coach Richt will be longstanding in their lives.

For an individual’s life unfolds just like a football season does:  one day at a time. And at this point in the game of life, even if they might have stumbled up front, no doubt many young men who came to the University of Georgia to play football have been given a reason to be excited and to anticipate great things ahead in life. And this is, in part at least, due to the inspiration and guidance of a coach named Mark Richt.

*JOKE SOURCE: Based on another version found at: http://jrcministries.org/jokes/i_sports.html.