Forever Strong

I've been weeping some, the past few day.

Weeping over ...

For you see, on Sunday, I witnessed a ...

I stood in the church and watched
hundreds of youth

quietly file in, to listen to
a man speak. 

The building was filled to capacity.

But instead of a pin,

we heard this man...

Larry Gelwix.

He's the man

whose life is portrayed

in the movie

Forever Strong.

It was a sight to behold.

It was a sight worthy of

weeping.

In front of a group of nearly 700

Larry Gelwix taught two

Choose what team
you're going to play for.

To put it in simple terms ...

If YOU play for Grantsville High,

you would never think of

putting on a Morgan jersey...

NEVER!

And certainly not

in the middle of a game.

Yet, The World would have us
think we can play with

one foot in Babylon and

one in the Promised Land.
The truth is, we canNOT!

It's a big lie!

To quote Coach Gelwix:
 "Put the dang jersey on and be proud
of what it represents!"

CHOOSE which team you're going to play for.

Don't play with snakes.

Snakes bite.

We know they're dangerous.

So then if we pick one up,

why are we surprised

when it bites us?

So it is with life.

Snakes... Temptations...
they are everywhere!
We know they're dangerous.
We know they'll hurt us.

And yet, we pick them up
ANYWAY.

And then why are we surprised
when life takes a wrong turn?

WRONG TURNS
are the reason for my
weeping.

The other night I heard a
real life, real serious,
SNAKE story.

In fact, for me,
The Snake Story was

Someone lost their dream,
by choosing the wrong team.

Someone gave up

the good things

placed their path.

Someone's life will never

be the same.

Suddenly, it became very real, very personal ... 
what happens when you play with

and when you forget what team you're playing for.

I pray YOU will never forget.

I pray YOU will be...