Several years ago I was broadcasting a girl’s basketball game on the radio. One of the girl’s names on our opponent’s team was familiar to me. I asked my broadcast partner, “You don’t suppose this is Ted’s daughter, that guy we used to play football against?”

I then asked my partner if he remembered this one particular play from that game thirty years before? My partner said he didn’t remember any particular play. So I said the two middle linebackers on that team were big guys. One was 6’1” and 235 and the other was 6’3” and 235. The bigger one kept trying to time the snap count and go between the guard and center gap on most every play.

On one particular play the linebacker went back about 7 or 8 yards to get a running head start to go along with his snap count guess. The quarterback realized what the linebacker was doing and didn’t give the final “hut” and just kept quiet. That big old linebacker just kept coming anyway and hit the center head on and with a forearm shiver stood the center straight up. He then pushed the center into the quarterback and wrapped both of them up in his arms. Then he drove them into the ground with the quarterback landing on his back, the center between them with the linebacker on top.

My broadcast partner starts laughing and said yes, he remembered that play. About 5 minutes later this big guy is standing in front of us as we are trying to call the ball game. He is yelling at me, “What are you saying about me on the radio?” I suddenly recognized him as I took off my headset and said, “Ted, I am Tim McGonagle.” Ted immediately smiles and says, “Hey man, how are you?” I asked my broadcast partner to take off his headset and give it to Ted and asked Ted to sit down and talk to me for a minute or two.

I quickly told him the story I just told on the air and he starts laughing. He said he remembered it just like I told it. I told him the next week at school when our coach showed us the film, he kept running the film back and forth, back and forth and we were all just laughing. Ted said the same thing happened at their school. So after a short visit we shook hands and he took off to finish watching his daughter play basketball.

At the end of your life, when you’re in that box, at your final party we call your funeral. You will only have three things left with you; your faith, your family and your friends. I pray that your life is abundant, with all three.

It is called growing pains for a reason. As you grow as a child some have physical pain from growing so quickly. As you grow mentally and spiritually into an adult there are other growing pains to experience. The death of loved ones is a long lasting pain. The loss of a loved one in a romantic situation is another kind of pain. The experience of leaving home after high school may be painful.

Football practice is also a place to experience growing pains. Football practice at times is just plain uncomfortable. Weightlifting is of course a painful thing, the day after a heavy workout.

The idea of putting ourselves into painful situations in order to grow as a person is almost a lost concept today. We are all about the next pleasure and what’s in it for me and because of it; we are becoming a weak nation.

Who in our nation today experiences difficulty? The immigrant, the poor, the disadvantaged, those who join the military, small acreage farmers and ranchers and dare I say, those high school kids who go out for football. These are people that have been raised or exposed to harsh conditions and taught that life is tough, sometimes not fair and the strong survive.

As a Christian are you still growing? Do you ever feel uncomfortable? Do you ever feel the pain of growing? Do you go to church once a week in your comfortable environment and feel you have done your weekly duty after an hour? Where as a Christian should you feel the growing pain?

During repentance or confession, when you truly humble yourself and ask to be forgiven, you should feel weakness that turns into strength. That weakness to strength thing is a growing pain.

Daily prayer is painful at times, because you should do it in the quiet times of life. That will be before everyone gets up or after everyone goes to bed in your house. It is painful to miss out on sleep.

Bible reading of course is on our list. Many people have told me how difficult the Bible is to read. To big a book, to long a book, to boring, don’t have time to read, don’t like to read and all those excuses sound so painful, like growing pains that you don’t want any part of.

Do you ever fast from food? Spiritual fasting involves turning away from evil and turning back to God, but the lack of food can be difficult on the body. John Wesley was very famous for fasting. His main fast was from sundown on Thursday night until Friday at 3:00 p.m. Try that just one day next week. My guess is you will feel some pain on Friday.

I challenge you to continue to grow this next week and may it be painful.

2 Corinthians 12:10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Happy Birthday to Martin Luther King, Jr.

One man come in the name of love
One man come and go
One man come he to justify
One man to overthrow

In the name of love
What more in the name of love
In the name of love
What more in the name of love

One man caught on a barbed wire fence
One man he resist
One man washed up on an empty beach
One man betrayed with a kiss

In the name of love
What more in the name of love
In the name of love
What more in the name of love

Early morning, April four
Shot rings out in the Memphis sky
Free at last, they took your life
They could not take your pride

In the name of love
What more in the name of love
In the name of love
What more in the name of love

In the name of love
What more in the name of love
In the name of love
What more in the name of love

John 15:18 If the world hates you, know that it hated Me before it hated you.

The main goal of the game of football is to score touchdowns and win the game. Over the past 100 years, how we arrive at the end zone has changed many times. Different schemes, plays, ideas and the game changes every year, but the main goal is to score touchdowns.

The main goal of life is holiness on this earth now, while we live our lives. What is holiness? Some think to be holy you have to be the preacher or the priest. Some think we must give up all the fun things we do.

Holiness is surrendering to the will of God. Therefore, it is knowing right from wrong and saying yes to God in all areas of our lives. When you see holiness in someone else you recognize it and you want to be around them.

For me in my life, two of the men who inspired me to be a Christian, were a couple of my high school football coaches. They both were very straight forward tough men, but they also helped lead our Fellowship of Christian Athletes organization. You would also find them in church every Sunday morning. They led us by the example of how they lived their lives.

I have also been fortunate to be around other holy men, over the course of my life, a Methodist preacher, two Catholic priests and an Episcopal priest, that have encouraged me to seek and serve God.

Let us remember that holiness is something God does to us while we are doing the will of God. Just like the game of football that continues to change, so our lives also change. We grow and we think differently, but holiness is still the goal.

2 Timothy 1:9 He has saved us and called us to a holy life–not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time.