Podcast: https://anchor.fm/zachery-evanssomethingspi/episodes/Coach-Andrew-All-things-work-together-for-good-e1fe4ue

Coach Andrew for Christ

“Getting into coaching was really an accident.” Coach Andrew Forbes’s plans were to go to Florida State University, but God had other plans. The theme of this article is Romans 8:28 “For God works all things together for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.”

“Somebody invited me to help out with the team, their youth basketball team, recreational basketball, and that was my first entrance into coaching and I was terrible at it at first and didn’t want to do it ever again because I lost every game.”

Forbes actually did win one game and didn’t think he would be asked back for a second go-around but…

Coach Andrew Second Chance

“I was invited back, they said I had a good rapport with the players and the families enjoyed me, and so I went back, and that was what kind of got me into coaching.

It really impacted my life because at that time I was working in entertainment marketing, and I was definitely drinking way more than I should be in the entertainment world.

Flying around, driving around the United States, and once I started working with the kids, now you can’t show up with alcohol on your breath, you can’t show up drunk or tipsy or anything like that.

It really changed my life in the manner that I just became more aware of these things and what I was doing.”

Like most of us, Forbes had a plan for his future. This plan was to go to Florida State, but God had something else in mind…

Coach Andrew Change of Plans

“That was definitely my goal as a child, I grew up an FSU fan, and played football and knew that I was going there, especially because they recruited a lot of players from my school at that time.

And I thought I’m going to be the next one in line, and it didn’t work out. Truthfully, it turned out to be the better thing for me, I wasn’t ready, I wasn’t mature. I was just a good athlete, smart student, but not mature.”

Instead of going to FSU, Forbes joined the military… He went on to say it made him a better man and he matured from it.

The verse that is his life verse is Romans 8:28, “For God works all things to those who love God and are called according to his purpose.”

Coach Andrew explains…

“I didn’t see it until later in life, and really understand it. Because even though the military helped me, I still had my downfalls and my slippages. From being injured in the military to at one point being homeless, I even lost my home.

All of it helped me to just grow in a different way. As I was growing in relationship with the Lord, Romans 8:28 just jumped out of the Bible to me. ALL things, ALL things, it doesn’t say the good things, it doesn’t say the bad things, it says ALL things.

The good, the bad, or the things you think don’t matter, all things work for good to those who love God and are called according to His purpose.

Coach Andrew Changing

When you start to live for the Lord, these things happen to help to grow you. It really grew me in so many ways. To understand all things is such a powerful thing.

You can’t exclude just the things you like, the things that make you comfortable. From a car accident to an injury to winning a million dollars, to getting married to having kids to getting divorced.

If you truly love the Lord and are called according to his purpose, it will work for your good and it will lead you to where you will benefit so much more.

So many people are turned away from Christ because they have to die to get to Heaven. But I realized we are to bring Heaven here. It’s not the streets of gold or never gets the dark type of Heaven.

It’s the heavenly living, to where you know, ‘hey, it’s good, it really is good.’ In that heavenly living, suddenly you realize I have enough. JESUS is enough.

When you say I don’t have ten dollars to put in my gas tank, but you have enough gas. It’s funny how that works. I realize from the things I saw, the disappointment, failed relationships or not getting that job, or getting injured or getting hurt.

It strengthened me in so many ways. I realized that Jesus is enough, I have everything and I have Heaven on earth.”

Coach Andrew Coaching for Christ for years

I asked Coach Forbes how long he had been coaching, he said, “Ever since I stumbled into it like I said. It’s now been 10 years, 11 years, no, this year makes 12 years.”

“I started out in recreational basketball. You’re coaching kids who can’t dribble, they don’t know anything about basketball, you have to find a way to encourage them.

So, I did that first and then someone invited me to coach football, I said no, ain’t doing that because I still have my entertainment company. I have my marketing company, I finally agreed.

I was coaching little league football, in the process, I was still coaching basketball. I met somebody, I met a gentleman who said I’m wasting my time with recreational basketball, and I started coaching travel basketball and people started paying me to coach basketball.

I coached little league football and someone came and offered me a job. I was doing things for free because I was enjoying it and working with the kids and money found me. Again, ALL things.”

Coach Andrew and Fellowship of Christian Athletes

I asked Coach Forbes why he joined FCA, he went on to say, “Joining FCA was very funny my childhood friend a guy I’d known for almost thirty years now, he joined FCA first, Demond Cook.

He was the first member of FCA and he was doing a lot of things with FCA he asked me to help him with a huddle. My help at that time was just to go pick up the pizzas.

‘I was like ok I could do that,’ because he was running behind. So, I went and got the pizzas, dropped them off at the school, and saw the huddle that he was leading, at Forest Glen Middle School.

So, I saw the huddle he was leading and sat through it and was really touched again by the kids. Being in there and you know get in the word. I knew that was something I would like to be a part of.

I became more active, started as a volunteer. Volunteered for several years, I didn’t want to commit, because I was coaching full time. I had a young son, I didn’t really want to commit myself full time.

I don’t want to take away and lose from what I’m doing. Again, God just continued to provide, led me to a place where I did more and more FCA things.

Whether it’s going to a come see or go to a fundraiser or help with a huddle or even pick up food or supplies. ‘You know what I’m kind of doing everything anyway.'”

This led to Coach Andrew doing FCA more frequently.

Coaching with FCA

“I’m fortunate I’m coaching at Calvary Christian Academy, we coach from a Biblical standpoint. FCA automatically ties into it at Calvary, so the majority of my coaching is that.

God lines everything up because recently I was just granted to be one of the directors for youth basketball in the city of Pompano. I’ll be interacting there and FCA is expanding out of schools and into clubs.

Once again, God’s lining the path, to where I can take FCA into this club and use those tools.”

I asked Coach Andrew who inspires him the most he answered, “Right now it is my son, he inspires me so much because I myself am teaching him a lot of the things that I didn’t know.

Helping him to understand the love of the Lord. When I watch him because he played football for the first time last year when I watch how he handles it based on what he’s learned. Not getting the playing time that he wants, but understanding that God got it.

Coach Andrew’s Inspiration

You know he has to watch, he’s been playing with kids who have been playing for three years. He has such a spirit in him of joy and reverence knowing that God got it.

As we teach him, as we do our bedtime Bible Study and all of that, it’s really God doing a work in him, because he wants to do it. We were at a basketball game the other night, Saturday night. He looked at me at halftime and said, ‘daddy we have church in the morning.’

He was ready to leave the game even though he was enjoying the game. He was saying, ‘We got to get to bed so we can get up for church.’ To see that in an eight-year-old, you know, how can I not?

I can move on my own he still has to rely on other people to move. He can’t get up and go on his own, mom has to take him dad has to take him. And we listened to the game on the ride home.

It is inspirational, but you ask me this question again next week and it might be another answer. I’m fortunate to talk to different people, but right now because it’s so fresh and it happened on Saturday, it’s like, ‘Why can I not?’

How can I lose focus when an eight-year-old can’t focus on anything. So who am I? I should know better.”

Coach Andrew’s favorite Coach and Athlete

I asked Coach Andrew who his favorite coach and athlete were he said, “Definitely Tony Dungy. Even though he was passed over for so many years, for a head coaching job. He never turned away from his ways to get that position.

I remember hearing him speak, ‘I was passed over several times because I was not fiery enough. How can someone who’s not cussing and yelling at the players, inspire a team to be great?”

His favorite athlete is Deion Sanders. “Although he does not speak as much on his faith as Tony Dungy does. Coach Prime as he’s known now will never hesitate to say, God.

He was my favorite player, who I sort of modeled my game after. When I look at his life and he was thinking about suicide in the prime of his life. Money coming in and this that and the other and you know tried to kill himself.

Ever since then his life has been so much more. The impact he’s having on a lot of things. His attitude towards things, people will look at him and say he’s braggadocious. I don’t see it as that I see the confidence and the belief. It’s a belief in what you’re doing.

Coach Andrew Cockiness

That could sometimes come across as arrogance or pride. If you prepare and you have the faith and you’re hungry enough to learn. And even if you have a high belief, you still are willing to learn.

And that’s something I look at him and I’m like wow, once he truly accepted Christ and you know and became that public and was able to speak about it publicly and openly.

You see how it didn’t change him. He still walked the same way. But now it’s changed, it’s changed him without changing him. You know and that’s what a lot of people fail to realize about faith in the Lord they think you have to change, no God changes you.

Coach Dungy and Coach Prime you know are special men, they’re special men. Their faith and that helps them, Coach Dungy is a member of FCA.”

Coach Andrew’s Motivation

“Every day is for me to be a better me. You know I’m still here so God’s giving me another chance. Make it count, make it count for something.

One of my biggest motivations, is with the people that I deal with. Be it my wife, my sons, the kids that I coach. They’re all my sons in my estimation and the families, to impact them in a way that they see the Lord, they see the God in me.

A lot of people always say I hear so much, especially in my community, the black community we all have godliness, but we don’t display God. You should let it always be on display.

That’s my thing just be a better me. Don’t let someone pull, we all have that inside of us, that other side inside us. It’s very easy that side sits closer than what we realize.

When you’re boiling a lot of foods, you always see a layer of stuff that rises to the top. That’s the junk that’s being pulled out of the food, and it sits right on top.

Whether it’s the grease or the bad things in it, it always rises to the top. A lot of times you couldn’t eat it and that’s why you got to scrape it off.

I take as life, that bad stuff is always sitting on the surface. It’s always sitting right there on the surface. Always right there and you have to make the effort every day to scrape it off.

You don’t want to take that into your body, that’s the stuff that you let sit there it ruins the food.”

Coach Andrew’s number one goal

The last question I asked Coach Andrew was his number one goal in life, he answered, “Is to be an example of what Christ can do.”

“To walk in a way every day to walk in a way that exemplifies the Lord. People will ask why are you so positive? That’s the Lord that’s having the Lord.

My wife at the time we were girlfriend and boyfriend and she said you’re just going to be miserable. I said I love you but you don’t contribute to my joy.

You can contribute to my happiness or my sadness, but you don’t control my joy. That’s my goal is to make sure I exemplified what God has done and who the Lord is.

Part of my prayer is Lord as I take this food in may I let go of me. Because this food is a blessing from you. Because I know it is a blessing to have a conversation, to meet somebody new. To show them this is the Lord, it’s not me it’s not you it’s the Lord.

Live a life that when I go upstairs, I hear well done Andrew, well done.

Coach Andrew a Walking Miracle

After answering my questions Coach Andrew had something more he wanted to say, and wow was it powerful.

“I’ve been very blessed. As a child, as a baby, I used to have seizures, they gave me medication to control the seizures. I was about two years old and I didn’t know what my medication was I got into it one day and I took them all.”

“AND I DIED.”

“Back in Jamaica I was born in Jamaica, and there it’s not like here where hospitals and urgent cares and everything are five minutes away. One of my neighbors just happened to come in and saw me on the floor and rushed me to the hospital.

They pumped my stomach and I NEVER had another seizure again.

Another time and I remember this so clearly I was seven and got hit by a car and that’s my second time dying and being pronounced dead.

Coach Andrew Case

I just remember at that time seeing a glow just white. Felt like time had passed forever. I just remember hearing a voice saying you have to go back.

I woke up four days later in the hospital and they had me in the bubble. Because the car hit me and I was so damaged and everything. I look back at it and I think that God was preparing me then.

Because at seven years old I had to go through all kinds of therapy. I had to eat baby food. I couldn’t digest regular food, my inside was so messed up and torn up.

I had to learn how to walk again and had a full-body cast from my armpits down to my ankles. And God was preparing me and was giving me tools and just going through that period of therapy and exercise.

Having to exercise for so long and so hard and so intensive. Crying and not wanting to do it. And that’s what made me a better athlete. Which then set the stage for everything else.

Coach Andrew Continues

God was preparing me then and knowing, knowing the peace. The peace that comes from that. Because as a child but now I did so many things. Knowing that there was a plan and God was saying, ‘You have to go back.’

Do I know the plan? No. The plan was here. I have no choice but to praise him. I don’t share that story often because a lot of people don’t understand.

I died both times and IT WAS FOR MY GOOD. Simply FOR MY GOOD. I never had to have seizures again. Going back to Romans 8:28 All things, all things work for good.

So that helped me and I never had a seizure. And to become an athlete and have sports have an impact on my life. You’d think getting hit by a car was a bad thing, but look at how it changed my life.

You just got to praise God. God doesn’t make mistakes we do.”

What an amazing inspirational story. What did you think of Coach Andrew’s story? What things in your life would you consider bad but God could turn or has turned for good. Comment I’d love to get your feedback!

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