Fearlessly Courageous
Desk of Dennis Piller
3/23/2022
FACING THE GIANTS
James 5:16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person
is powerful and effective.
The Courageous men’s group that I’m in is going through a series that really takes accountability to a different level. It could not have come at a more critical time as men have become more marginalized and dumbed down in our society today. We watched a very emotional clip from the movie "Facing the Giants" about a young man, number 54, who voiced there was no real hope in winning against this larger school. The coach called him out on it and put him through an exercise called the death crawl. Simply, one player crabs across the field on all fours with one of his teammates on his back. I remember the exercise from my high school years. It was grueling and as far as we were concerned brutal and it typically happened at the end of the practice when most of our energy had already been spent. If you were able to go 20 or 30 yards you have done well.
The coach set them in their position and told him repeatedly that he wanted a promise that he would give his very best. The young man tried to quantify it with yards but the coach kept coming back to what he wanted was his very very best. As the team looked on young 54 started his crawl 10 yards, 20 yards, 30 yards and he kept asking whether he had to go to the 40 or 45 yard line. but the coach kept holding to his point that what he wanted was his very very best. The young lad started to really struggle and strain and the coach's voice became louder… don’t give up! I want your very best. You can do this, don’t quit. And the boy continued. The coach would ask for 20 more steps don’t quit on me now, I want your very best. 10 more steps five, you’re almost there, don’t quit now! The entire team was on their feet not believing what they were seeing. And the coach finally said, you’re in the end zone and the boy collapsed. And he told him that he was the heart of that team and that if he believed they could win then everybody else could believe also. You too are the heart of your team and your family…meaning it is way too costly to quit.
YOU CAN NOT QUIT!
The movie ended with them winning the state championship in the final seconds holding off a long goal line seige by this much bigger and fresher team on their 1-yard line. It was heart-wrenching… it was emotional… it made an incredible statement about not only giving our very best but how we need each other to do that and how we need accountability to give our very best. There was never any doubt that he could never have completed that hundred yards without that coach…without that accountability partner in his face and in his ear pushing him on to give his very best!
And neither will you without that other person in your life!
The questions for the night were very deep and penetrating. They asked if there was ever a time that you had given up. And I immediately scanned my own life and thought about how I had given up on working out because I had no one to work out with. I thought about the marriage that I had given up on. I thought about the times that I had given up on God and walked away. And in all of those instances, I went it alone like most men do today. They live in the silo of there is nobody else. I don’t have any real friends to be that best friend or that person who has my back. I had no spiritual mentor or friend to say Dennis that’s wrong. You’re going in the wrong direction. That excuse that you’re trying to sell me is too lame. Stop. Don’t do this.
Towards the end of the evening, I asked the table how many men did they have in their lives who had been like that to them in their life. Four of the six men at the table said zero. I was stunned. I was heartbroken. But I was not surprised.
Too many men that are part of our Courageous men’s group would fall into exactly that same situation. They have stood alone their whole life. Without real encouragement. Without someone pushing them to give their very best. I shared with them that although many of them have made it their entire adult life without an accountability partner
or a mentor they could’ve done
much better if they have had one.
King David fled for 15 yrs and began with a huddle of misfits and vagabonds but a core group of them grew into being the inner circle around David called his Mighty Men of Valor. God is calling you to that place today. God is telling you to STOP walking alone and to humble yourself and invite a godly person into your life once a month for one hour to talk about your growth in God.
Lord help me today to decide that I want that and that I will begin praying for that counterpart. Lord I am not certain how to get there right now but I'm trusting your Holyspirit will guide me and show me how to be accountable and grow in you. I WILL NOT QUIT!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aP2kZCigZKE
Steve Green Broken and Poured Out
