12 Jan, 2009
Pictured is Gainesville State School (GSS) football coach, Mark Williams, smiling from ear to ear as his high school football team douses him with Gatorade at the end of a game. There's nothing strange or outstanding about the picture at first glance . . . you've got to know the story behind it. You've got to know that Williams' team just lost their ninth game of the season. You've got to know that the Gainesville State School is a maximum security correctional facility, and each of Williams' players are hardened criminals. So why the smiles and celebration?
That night, Gainesville played against Grapevine Faith Christian High School - it was a game they would never forget. Faith's head coach, Kris Hogan, unbeknownst to his opponents, emailed the parents and fans of Faith students and asked half of them to be GSS fans for the night, "Here's the message I want you to send:" Hogan wrote. "You are just as valuable as any other person on planet Earth." The Gainesville Tornados were blown away when they ran onto the field through a spirit tunnel created just for them by the Faith cheerleaders, and then came out the other end to see a crowd of fans yelling and screaming for them! Imagine their surprise when the cheering never let up! One Faith player asked Hogan why they were doing it. This was Hogan's response: "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."
Never had they had so many fans. "We can tell people are a little afraid of us when we come to the games," said a GSS lineman who will serve 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!"
The Tornados lost the game, 33-14, but they left the field that night feeling blessed beyond words. When they gathered in the middle of the field to pray with the players of Faith Christian, one of the GSS students asked if he could lead. "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."
Read the complete story at www.espn.com
Photo by Melinda Right, www.espn.com
You Want Me To Do What?!?
Luke 6:27-28, 32, 35-36
27 "But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.
32 "If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' love those who love them . . . 35 But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. 36 Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful."
What does today's God's Story teach us about loving our enemies and those who seem "unlovable?"
Jesus said a lot of controversial and seemingly confusing things during his ministry on Earth. Imagine how radical it must've seemed to hear him say that we are to love our enemies, treat them well, and pray for them?! Probably about as crazy as it seemed to the Faith Christian School fans who were asked to cheer on a group of convicted felons, encouraging them to beat their own sons who were playing against them on the field! But, what an incredible testimony of love and grace was shown by those willing to take the risk and do what was asked of them!
Jesus calls us, every day, to be loving, kind, and merciful not just to those whom we love and call friends but, even more importantly, to the "unlovable" - to our enemies: those who challenge us, hurt us, and curse us. "Be merciful, just as your father is merciful (vs. 36)."
How can we connect today's God's Story to our lives?
- Consider the people in your life. When you think of someone who is "unlovable," someone who is just hard to love, who comes to mind? Pray that God would give you an attitude of Christ in dealing with them.
- Maybe you have a hard time loving and showing love to those in your life who seem unlovable because you've forgotten how much God loves you, despite all the ways you may be "unlovable." Pray and ask God to remind you and show you how much HE loves you this week. Pray that God would give you the love you need to love others.
- Take some time today to pray for your enemies - those that God brought to mind. Pray for them personally and spiritually - that they would see and experience God this week.
- Take the challenge and do it! Find at least one way this week to show your "enemies" that you (because of Christ) love them. Show them mercy and kindness. Serve them however you can, serving them as if you were serving Christ himself, not man (Col. 3:23).
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