Episode 86 - Strength & Courage

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Our Guest Today

Virginia Tech Associate Head Wrestling Coach, Jared Frayer @AirFrayer

Coach Jared Frayer joined the VA Teach coaching staff three years ago and has been instrumental in developing the Hokie middle weights with several All Americans and the first national champion in Mekhi Lewis. Coach Frayer was a two time All-American for the University of Oklahoma. After college Frayer was an accomplish freestyle wrestler placing in the top six in the US World or Olympic trials 7 times culminating in winning the spot on the 2012 London Olympic Games at 66kg (145.51lbs for the civilians listening in)

https://hokiesports.com/sports/wrestling/roster/coaches/jared-frayer/1370

Show Notes

Quotations

“I submit to you today that, despite the American victory in the Cold War (for which we should all be grateful) and the collapse and disappearance of the Soviet Union, nothing has changed that would diminish the force or relevance of Solzhenitsyn’s words. The virtue we lack—and it is an indispensable virtue—is courage. And we must recover it. Our young men and women must regain it—not to defend us from a hostile foreign power armed with nuclear weapons, but to protect us from a far more dangerous foe, a truly deadly enemy: our own worst selves.”

From Article, Solzenitsyns Prophecy, Robert P. George is McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence and director of the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions at Princeton University.

I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.

From Nelson Mandela, Mandela in His Own Words.

Did we in our own strength confide, Our striving would be losing; Were not the right Man on our side, The Man of God’s own choosing: Dost ask who that may be? Christ Jesus, it is He; Lord Sabaoth His Name, From age to age the same, And He must win the battle.

Martin Luther, A Mighty Fortress

Scriptures Referenced

Joshua 1:6-9

6 Be strong and courageous, for you shall cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give them. 7 Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go. 8 This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. 9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go."

2 Corinthians 12:9-10

9 But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Isaiah 43:1-3

1But now thus says the LORD, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. 2When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. 3 For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.

Hebrews 13:1-6

1 Let brotherly love continue. 2 Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. 3 Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body. 4 Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous. 5 Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you." 6 So we can confidently say, "The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?"

Reid S. Monaghan

Reid Monaghan received a Bachelor of Science in Applied Computer Science with a minor in Physics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. While at UNC he also competed on the wrestling team for the then perennial ACC Champion and top ten Tarheels. He also holds a Master’s Degree in Applied Apologetics, a multidisciplinary degree involving Philosophy, Biblical studies, and Theology.

After college, he spent eight years serving alongside his wife Kasey on the college campus with the ministry of Athletes in Action. He pioneered the Athletes in Action campus ministry at Virginia Tech and was the director there from 1998-2004. During his final two years on AIA staff Reid also served as regional director for the Mid-Atlantic and Ivy League schools. From 2004-2008 Reid was on the staff of Fellowship Nashville where he started a work with young adults called Inversion, preached in the Sunday rotation and taught classes in theology and Christian Apologetics.

Along with a team of friends, Reid planted Jacob’s Well, a theologically driven and culturally engaged church in Central New Jersey. He also pioneered the Acts 29 Network in the state of New Jersey, served on the Northeast lead team, and as director for church planter assessment for the US South Central Network. Reid continues to consult and coach church planters as part of his ministry.

He is a traveling speaker where he addresses students and athletes on various campuses throughout the United States. He has spoken to college students at such institutions as Brown, Princeton, Yale, Wake Forest, Rutgers, UNC Chapel Hill, and Virginia Tech. In addition to his campus work he has spoken in chapel services for the Tennessee Titans, the Jacksonville Jaguars, and the New York Football Giants.

He has long been engaged with the task of bringing the gospel to people in culture in clear, relevant and compelling ways combining theological vision, apologetics, Christian thought and popular culture.

Some of his greatest joys in life are from the gifts God has given him in his wife Kasey (married 1996), and his kiddos Kayla (arrival 2001), Kylene (arrival 2003), and Thomas Reid (arrival 2006).

Reid has a limited number of dates each year to speak in various venues. His areas of strength are with Christian apologetics, athletes, biblical preaching, family life and worship, college students, and ethnically diverse audiences. Please contact us via our Speaker Request Form if you would like Reid to come and serve with your church or campus ministry.