Later in his talk, Newton told a story that he described as an “urban legend, which basically means this ain’t true, but it’s a great story, right?”
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The story was of a third-string college football player whose team was headed to a bowl game. But right before the team got on the bus, the coaches pulled the player aside and informed him that his father had passed away. So instead of getting on the bus, the young man went home to be with his family.
However, later in the week when game time came, the third-stringer came to the sidelines, suited up and ready to play. Feeling sorry for the student, the coaches agreed to put him in for one play. During the play, the young man forced a fumble from the other team and recovered the ball.
So the coach kept putting the third-stringer in the game, play after play. And the young man kept performing like he never had before. At the end of the game, he was named most valuable player.
After the game, Newton recounted, the coach came up to the player. And he said, “Son, for four years, I’ve never seen you play like that. You gotta tell me what happened today.”
The young man responded by saying his father had been blind. And while his father came to every game, he had never seen the young man play.
“ But you gotta know, my daddy’s a Christian,” the young man said. “He gave his life to Jesus. And the Bible teaches that when you get to heaven, you get a whole new set of everything.”
“So the reason why I had to play today is my daddy had the opportunity to watch me play for the first time,” the player continued. “Coach, all I could hear in my ears were these words: ‘Go, son. Go.'”
Newton said, “ The Heavenly Father speaks over your life.”
“Get up,” Newton said. “‘Go, son, go.’ ‘God, daughter go.'”
, Pastor Ed Newton encouraged church leaders to listen to the voice of God more than the voice of their critics.){kind=link}