Hugh's News & Commentary

This is from a press conference in Athens, GA from the University of Georgia's Head Football Coach, Mark Richt on how he has personally handled criticism this year:

“I know you never know what tomorrow is going to bring, so it’s not like we’ve arrived or anything like that. But we have played well lately and we’ve won lately so that’s a big deal.

Quite frankly, I love the game of football. I love my job. I love Georgia. But what I do is not who I am. I’ve said that before. I think sometimes if we become what we do, and then things aren’t going just right, then all of a sudden our entire world falls apart.

I’ve got a faith in my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and I know that God loves me and is going to take care of me. I just truly believe that. When all the games are done and all the life is lived, I know where I’ll be for eternity. Not to say I don’t care about what happens in this world because that’s not true.

Colossians 3:23 says ‘whatever you do, do your work heartily as unto the Lord,’ so that’s what I was doing on a daily basis. I was doing my job as best I could and trying to do it for His glory and try not to worry about anything else. That’s kind of how I navigated that time and there will be more tough times I’m sure. That’s the way life is.”

[Editor's comment: What a powerful testimony from Mark Richt.  It was Bobby Bowden, Florida State's former head football coach, who led Mark to the Lord when he was the offensive coordinator at Florida State University.

I had the privilege of meeting Mark Richt on a Delta non-stop flight from Atlanta to San Francisco a few years ago. I talked with him at length. I told him about Fran Tarkenton who grew up in the Pentecostal Holiness Church and his father and mother were both preachers.

After we moved to Athens, GA, in 1986, when I was the senior pastor at Tarkenton Memorial Church (IPHC), I used to talk with Mrs. Frances Tarkenton frequently. She persuaded me to pray for Fran (she called him Francis) the famed All-American Quarterback of Georgia, the Minnesota Vikings, and the New York Giants. She believed with all of her heart that God was at work in Fran's heart and mind, and that God was going to mightily use him in the Church to bring many people to Jesus. I told Coach Mark Richt that I did not know the spiritual status of Fran, but that He, like all of us, need the Lord Jesus Christ. Coach Richt promised he would pray with me for Fran Tarkenton.

In the Book of Revelation is a scene where the four living creatures and the four and twenty elders prostrated themselves before the Lamb (Jesus Christ). It says that each was holding a harp, and they had golden bowls (vessels) full of incense (fragrant spices and gums for burning), which are the prayers of God's people (the saints). Quoted from the Amplified Bible.

Mrs. Frances Tarkenton's prayers, and that of her husband Dallas M. Tarkenton, are stored in golden vessels in heaven and being answered now. So, that means that no prayer is ever lost. Long after we have lived our lives and gone to heaven, our prayers for others, especially our children are still being answered.

May I enlist you to pray for the three Tarkenton sons: Dallas II, Frances, and Wendell. Dallas II needs your prayers for his healing. We serve a supernatual God Who still heals today. Whatever is the spiritual life of Fran or Francis Tarkenton, may the Holy Spirit tenderly minister to his heart and mind, and for the youngest of the three, Wendell, may God continue to use him as a man of faith who is full of the Holy Spirit, and is a gifted Bible teacher.

At this Thanksgiving time, I want to thank God for allowing me to meet each member of this outstanding family--The Dallas and Frances Tarkentons.