Coach’s Commentary:

I Peter 3:15, "but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence"

Last Wednesday I got the type of call a coach never wants to get. My quarterback, our captain and fun loving 17 year old teammate had drowned. I couldn’t believe it, I wouldn’t accept it. I knew his character so I knew there were no drugs or drinking or stupid behavior involved. I was right. He simply was unable to finish the swim.

How do you cope? How do you help his family? His mom and dad, his three sisters, his brother-in-law, his girlfriend; what do you say? As I drove to the accident site I felt a flood of emotions, sadness, and numbness. I cried for Jered, I cried for his wonderful family, and I cried for the Crusader family. At the site I could hardly breathe, yet I knew Jered was a Christian. I knew with absolute certainty he would be in heaven. I knew all that, but as our coaches hugged and cried with the family that truth seemed very inadequate.

On Friday, visiting hours were held and I got to see the Holy Spirit up close and personal. Rick Pyles, Jered’s dad, is a champion! Rick and his family consoled us! The funeral home had seldom seen so many people come to pay their respects. The Pyles family may be the most functional family I have ever seen, but what I witnessed from them gave new meaning to giving "an account for the hope that is within us." As Rick said, "I’m hanging by a thread at times, but it is a strong thread." He was trusting the fact that Jered had crossed the final goal line and was waiting for the rest of us to join him in the end zone celebration.

You might be asking how Rick and Kerry could have such hope, such confident expectation. How could I be so sure I would see Jered again? Let me share with you a final exam paper Jered had written only hours before he died:

We grieve, but we do not "grieve as do the rest who have no hope", I Thessalonians 4:13. We cry not for Jered but for those of us who will miss him. I thank God for the time I got to spend with him and for the vitality of a life well-lived.

But what about you? Do you have Jered"s hope? If the people you love were looking into your coffin would they have the hope, the confident expectation that they would see you again in heaven? In Job 27:8, Job asked himself a critical question: "For what is the hope of the godless when he is cut off. When God requires his life?" What is the hope of the God less, a person without the Savior Jesus Christ?

To know you are going to heaven is as simple as A - B - C: A - Agree with God that you have sinned. B - Believe that Jesus died for your sins and has risen from the dead just as the Bible tells us. C - Choose to accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior because He died to pay the penalty for your sins.

Talk to Jesus through prayer expressing your trust in Him.

"Lord God, I know that I am a sinner. I believe that Jesus Christ died for my sins. I turn to You, God, believing that Jesus Christ rose from the dead to offer eternal life. Thank you, Jesus. I choose to accept your gift. Amen and Amen.

Whether you prayed this prayer now or long before, make sure those you love know where you stand and where you are going. I’ve already spoken with my wife and children; have you?

Now, go Honor Jesus!!!