I saw the name of college football coach Hugh Freeze was trending. Then I saw that it said he had resigned as the head football coach at Ole Miss. Then my heart broke when I read that he had been forced to resign because they had found at least one call to an “escort service”. The whole thing is so sad, not the least of which is prostitution is a large cause of human trafficking. The other part of this that bothers me so is that Hugh Freeze claims to be a radical follower of Jesus. I’ve listened to him give testimony. I follow his twitter posts about his faith. And I have heard him give God glory over and over.
Now to probably oversimplify the situation, I see it as one of two things going on. Either Freeze has been a fraud using Jesus to gain the trust of football recruits and fool the public and football donors, or he has been taken down by the devil, becoming yet another Jesus follower to fail to resist the devil. And I want to think that he loves Jesus and he was overcome by the enemy of God.
Sometimes I talk a good game, but I do fear the devil. I read about what he did to Job. I see how he takes down pastors, church leaders, and public professors of faith like Hugh Freeze. He is like the bees the painters found today outside in the hand rail coming up the steps at the front of the church. Any nook or cranny, and he makes his way in and starts to set up shop. (…give no opportunity to the devil. ~Ephesians 4:27)
Every time something like that happens to someone whose Christian walk I admire, I am always reminded there is an enemy out there – one who seeks to kill and destroy. He wears many masks and he will fill any gap you leave between you and Jesus. It is all the more reason to stay close to Jesus.
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Scott Knowlton's Blog 