Starting before the Face of the King

The inside cover of the copy of “Words of
Wisdom” Coach Moore sent me.

The world will remember Appalachian State head football coach Jerry Moore for his impressive career statistics. Heaven will remember him for a different set of numbers.

I interviewed Moore six years ago for Baptist Press Sports. They had just won their second straight NCAA Division I FCS national championship. They went on to win the championship the next year as well.

Over his 24-year career at Appalachian State, Moore compiled a 215-87 record, making him the winningest coach in Southern Conference history. His team won ten conference titles, including six straight from 2005-10.

He illustrious career came to an end after last season. Some say he retired, some say he was pushed out. But either way, I have a feeling the 73-year-old won’t be thinking about his career statistics. Instead he’ll be thinking about the players he has coached over the years.

But let me back up a little.

When I talked to him, he came to life when I asked him about his devotional habits. He told me he uses a 31-day devotional guide called “Words of Wisdom” that a friend gave him while he was an assistant coach at Arkansas in 1989. The book only includes the words of the Psalms and Proverbs – broken down into daily readings of five psalms and one proverb.

“When I get up in the morning, I’ll pour myself a cup of coffee and I won’t read a newspaper,” Moore told me. “I won’t watch the news. I won’t read a flyer that may be laying there. I won’t read anything until I’ve read my five psalms and one proverb. I haven’t been a hundred percent, but I’ve started nearly every day that way since 1989.”

He tapes pictures of his relatives and friends throughout the book so he can remember to pray for them. And he has given hundreds of his players a copy of the book as well. Before he hands them a copy, he inscribes a quote from F.B. Meyer on the inside cover: “Let the first moments of the day, when your heart is fresh, be given to God. Do not see the face of man till you have seen the King.”

He once brought in a speaker who presented the gospel and 57 players and one coach either placed their faith in Christ for the first time or made a recommitment. He wrote down all 58 names in his “Words of Wisdom” book and he told me he prays for them regularly. It’s a beautiful legacy of one man who starts each morning before the face of the King of Kings.

A few days after our interview, a package arrived at my house. I opened it and found my own leather bound copy of “Words of Wisdom” from Coach Moore. He had my name engraved on the cover and inside he wrote the F.B. Meyer quote.

I think the book has gone through several editions and they are hard to come by, but I found one edition still available through Amazon.com (they have 19 used copies as of this writing). Of course, you don’t need to buy a copy. You can read five psalms and one proverb every day out of your own Bible. But the edition Moore sent me has is compact and has room for notes, prayers, and photos, so that’s nice too.

Either way, if you are struggling with something and need wisdom from on high, what better place to turn for the next month than the Psalms and Proverbs?