College Sports Prospects and the Beginning of the Athletics Journey

Examine what collegiate programs you would like to try for... Your dream programs and those you wouldn't mind being a part of. 

Get a list of your stats for the length of your high school career. Go back as far as you can, back to middle school.

Find areas you excel in, your top stats. Also, show areas where you have grown. Know these stats. Even know areas where you need growth. If asked, be honest about that.

Write a letter to the coaches of each of those programs. Let them know you are interested in their program and would like to know 1) what is the process of trying out for the team and possible scholarship and 2) could you come visit campus and tour their facilities. Share your highlight stats, then the areas you have grown. Mention one area of weakness and how you are working to fix it.

Include your GPA, ACT score, and any accolades you have received. Also, include a nice picture/head shot.

Have some highlight video clips converted to MPEG so you can easily e-mail them. Include these clips with your letter to the coach. Ask them to please email you back so you know they received your letter. 

Have your HS coach contact them on your behalf. If you work with a personal trainer in your sport, have them call on your behalf. It shows how serious you are. 

Once they communicate back, thank them and keep in communication with them. Work to go to some of their games during the season. Let the coach know well in advance you will be attending. The coach may take time to meet with you before or after the game. Take advantage of this! The more they see your face, hear your name, or hear from you directly, the more they will know you. 

Do not think it is a given, keep in communication. Playing at the next level is an honor, no matter the sport. Realize that a major D1 school may have you as a walk on with no scholarship the first year, or minimum scholarship. A program in D2, D3, NAIA, or other organization may take you at a larger scholarship, or even full ride.

Do not get down on yourself because you are not offered what you think you are worth. Often times coaches go after their needs. A basketball team with several bigs may look for a point guard. A baseball team may just need a catcher to swap out with their primary. 

Remember, you are an athlete AND a student, which truthfully makes you a leader. Don't do anything extracurricular that can jeopardize your possible college career. 

Facing Trials

In Joshua chapter 6 we see Joshua and Israelites before the city of Jericho. The Lord spoke to Joshua and said He had already given the city to them. Joshua relays the message to the people, saying to take the Ark of the covenant and an armed guard and to march around the city wall one time in silence. They did this for six straight days. On the seventh day they were commanded to shout for the city was theirs. What we need to see is that Joshua never told them it would take six days and on the seventh they would win. If he had told them this, if he had told them the results ahead of time, they would have believed it was of their works. 

The reason we face battles and don't know when it will end is so that we will put our faith completely in God. Sometimes the longevity of a battle is to strengthen or grow our faith. If on the first day I started working out I saw ripped abs, I would probably quit working out. Endurance strengthens our faith. Faith is what wins the battle. Greater is He who is within me, then he who is in the world. Be encouraged! As David did, strength and your self in the Lord in the midst of adversity and battle. 

Look back at the beginning of Joshua chapter 6. God spoke to Joshua and past tense. Before they ever took their first steps around Jericho, the battle had already been won! What ever you are facing today, know that it is in God's hands! Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. Have faith, strengthen your faith, and face your battle head on knowing it's in His hands.

JWL

The Nature of a Calling and the Rise of a New Ministerial Generation

In 1994 I felt a calling to ministry. This was not something I took in lightly. As a matter of fact, I didn't really want it. My father was a pastor and I knew the challenges and victories he had throughout. I knew how the politics of church worked even as a teenager. Facing such trials was not what I had in mind to deal with. However, the calling on my life was so strong I knew it was useless not to surrender. 

 

So I gave in. 

 

I gave in knowing that there were men that my father called "friend" who I could look up to and count on to guide my path. Those men plus my dad were the ones I was counting on. I preached my first message with confidence and with my father's affirming eye watching on. I knew life would be different from now on. As a soldier of the cross, I knew Satan had a target on my back wanting me to fail. 

 

I do not regret my calling to ministry or any step I have taken along the way. The good and the bad are learning curves leading to more opportunities. I am ever so thankful for the wise counsel that has been placed before me to guide me through the mine-field of ministry. My father showed me the personal side of ministry. I saw how it affected our family and how the long hours can hurt a home. I saw how he took it personal and wanted to see everyone find peace in Christ. It was trying to balance the strong desire to be faithful to God's will with the responsibility of having a young family. I also watched my family fall apart because of stress from both sides. Sometimes you learn what not to do. My mother left and a few years later my father had a stroke. 

 

I have never fully stopped playing music from the time I was a teenager, which is a ministry in so many ways. However, my first real ministry position was as a bi-vocational youth pastor. My senior pastor was Dr. Tom Stokes and he gave me so many opportunities to learn from so many viewpoints of ministry. When those opportunities arose, I saw it as a gold mine. I listened to his wisdom then, and greatly value his opinion to this very day. I usually do not make any major life decisions without discussing it with Bro. Tom. 

 

I served under Pastor Steve James whose ability in the pulpit was masterful. He preached with power, structure, and authority, all the while showing compassion and communicating to each person the goodness of the gospel as if speaking to the largest of congregations one person at a time. I learned about sermon preparation and how to handle the ebb and flow of a message. Along the way I learned the importance of hospital visitation, sitting and talking with senior adults, listening to what is important to youth, the joy of playing kickball with children, and the tender moments of prayer when a family has experienced hurt, brokenness, or loss. 

 

All in all I could not be nearly as effective as a minister of the gospel without those who paved the way before me. I opened my ears and left my ego at the door. I had no right to an ego. Sure, I had done some things in the music business, but in straight forward pastoral ministry I had to submit to the authority of those who had the experience. Even today, 22 years after that first sermon, I still hold the utmost respect for those pastors, those men who stood behind the sacred desk.

 

It astounds me today to see young people today with such a lack of respect for those who paved the way. This doesn't apply to every young minister, but the ones who feel they are "holier" or have a greater "authority" than other ministers. Ministry is NOT a choice, it's a life calling. Ezekiel 33 explains exactly my convictions toward being in ministry. It is not about reinventing the wheel, but about taking the gospel to a lost and dying world. The greatest commandment is to LOVE! Love means taking Jesus' last words and taking the gospel into all of the world in hopes that salvation becomes a reality. What does it take? Listening to those who have the experience. Allow them to mentor and fill your spirit with inspiration and guidance. So many young "preachers" want to pave their own way, reinvent the wheel, or do it better than it was done before. This is not a race. It is not a competition. It is a journey that we are all on together. 

 

Young person holding your Bible, a few words of wisdom. Slow down. You are not holier than anyone else. It is not that kind of a contest. it's not even a contest. Quit making it into one. What you are doing requires a life calling that only comes from the Lord, not a decision you made while asked to speak at your church or an event where you thought, "well, that was pretty easy."When you realize this is a calling, then take the time to listen to those who have been in your shoes and not only walked a few miles, but helped make a way through transitions and heartaches. Open your heart and mind to a solid, Bible-minded, grounded pastor to mentor you. Not a loose cannon who throws around principles instead of biblical insight. Not a person who bases all of their "ministry" on feelings instead a Bible truths. This is no time for playing around with selfish fulfillment, especially when there are lost souls at stake. A mentor is someone with wisdom they can pass down for the greater good of the kingdom of God. Anyone less is most likely going to fail the objective. Stop, bow your head in prayer, and seek wisdom from those who have been there before... seek Jesus' face in every matter.