Beyond the Diamond w/ Bray Goode: How Faith Prepares You for Life's Biggest Innings

What does authentic faith look like for a high school athlete facing peer pressure and life's big transitions? Alexandria High School senior baseball star Bray Goode opens up about his journey from religious performance to genuine faith.

Bray, a gifted pitcher headed to the University of South Alabama on a baseball scholarship, candidly shares how he moved beyond "checking religious boxes" to experiencing the transformative power of the Holy Spirit. "I got good at it," he admits about wearing a spiritual mask before his authentic conversion five years ago. This refreshing honesty reveals the challenges many church-raised young people face in developing personal faith.

With remarkable maturity, Bray discusses navigating the often-challenging environment of high school sports teams. "If you're not joining in throwing the dart, sometimes you become the target," he explains, detailing moments when standing for his beliefs has positioned him as an outsider. Yet these experiences have strengthened his resolve as he prepares for college life, where he'll face new temptations while separated from his support system.

Perhaps most powerful is Bray's advice to younger athletes: "It's not always ponies and rainbows. You're going to screw up and slip up. But the main thing is knowing where you are in Christ." This grace-filled perspective acknowledges the reality of struggle while emphasizing that our identity remains secure regardless of failures.

Whether you're a student athlete, a parent, or someone navigating your own faith journey, Bray's story offers a compelling testament to the power of authentic belief that transcends social pressure and athletic achievement. Listen now and be inspired to live boldly for what matters most.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:10):
Good morning guys and welcome to Word Up.
I am here on this Saturdaymorning with Bray Good, a senior
at Alexandria High School.
Star of the baseball team got amean arm on him and y'all seen
him play.
I'm sure a great pitcher, greatathlete, but, most importantly,

(00:31):
a great child of God.
And I did not know Bray at alluntil last year.
I started meeting with theAlexandria baseball team and
going to the FCA huddles atAlexandria middle school and
Bray was kind of just the faceof FCA.
He was the one that wasorganizing it for the baseball
team and he joined me everyThursday morning and still does

(00:54):
at Alexandria Middle School justto pour into those students
that are looking up to him.
And so as we've started doingthe student spotlight and
bringing somebody in so that youcould just hear their hearts
and what God has done in theirlife, I thought there's nobody
better to bring in than Bray,because I've just really been

(01:17):
excited to see how God uses himand how bold he is in his faith.
So, bray, thank you for joiningus today.
Glad to have you here on thepodcast, glad to be here.
So, bray, let's jump straightin.
Tell some people a little bitabout you as far as you've, do
you play any sports besidesbaseball?

(01:38):
No, sir.

Speaker 2 (01:40):
I only play baseball.
That's about it.

Speaker 1 (01:41):
And you played it your whole life.

Speaker 2 (01:43):
Yes, sir.

Speaker 1 (01:44):
And what positions do you play?

Speaker 2 (01:46):
I mainly play pitcher and first base.

Speaker 1 (01:49):
Pitcher and first base.
What are your plans after highschool?
So you've only got a few monthsleft at Alexandria High School
and what are your plans goingforward?

Speaker 2 (02:00):
So I'm planning on going and attending the
University of South Alabama andI'm going there to pitch.
I'm a baseball team and I'llprobably think about entering to
business as my major.

Speaker 1 (02:13):
Outstanding, Outstanding.
So Bray, like I said, he is anawesome athlete, awesome pitcher
has an opportunity to go playat the next level, which I know
is a huge accomplishment,something that he's worked his
whole life for.
But even greater than that ishis calling that God has on his

(02:36):
life.
So, Bray, how long have youbeen a follower of Christ?

Speaker 2 (02:41):
I've probably been five years, four years somewhere
around there.

Speaker 1 (02:46):
And where were you whenever you first felt God call
you to a relationship with Him?

Speaker 2 (02:53):
I was at a man's conference with Rick from Rick
and Bubba, and he was callingfor people to accept Christ in
their life and I felt led to, soI raised my hand and took the
next step.

Speaker 1 (03:10):
That's awesome.
That is awesome, and I'massuming that you've probably
been raised in church yourentire life, have you not?

Speaker 2 (03:18):
I have my whole life.

Speaker 1 (03:21):
A lot like me.
That's a lot like my testimony.
We've got good parents, we'reraising a good family, we know
what it means to go to churchall the time and we even
probably, I would say you wouldagree you learned how to put the
mask on and to check all theboxes to look like a Christian,
did you not?
Oh, I got good at it.

Speaker 2 (03:41):
Very good at it.

Speaker 1 (03:43):
And I'm sure all the girls in high school and all
their parents thought, oh Bray,good, he's just such a great kid
.
And you know they look at usand they think we got it all
together.
But there comes the place inour lives when God says all
right, it's time to take off themask, show people who you
really are and truly follow me.

(04:03):
And so I'm glad that you werewilling and I know that's a hard
step to take, especially whenwe've been raised in church and
we've been faking it for so long, but I'm glad that you made
that decision.
So what would you say is thebiggest thing that changed in
your life?
What's the biggest thing fromthe time that you took the fake

(04:25):
off and truly gave your life tothe Lord?
What changed?

Speaker 2 (04:30):
I'd say being filled with the Holy Spirit.
I just felt like my whole moodchanged, my point in life.
I felt like it all changed.

Speaker 1 (04:40):
I try and get through day to day, and now I feel like
I have a more and deepermeaningfully purpose to try to
go and spread the word and tryto get as many people as I can
across and Bray, I didn't knowyou before your relationship
with Christ, but I know what Isee in my own life and what I

(05:03):
see in other students' lives,and that fake can only carry you
so far.
You can go to church onWednesdays and you can go to
church on Sundays and you can doall those things, but you can't
take the stand that you takeand you can't want to be a part
of a middle school ministry andyou can't want to make sure that
somebody's speaking to yourbrothers on the team.

(05:25):
We don't take those stands whenwe're faking it.
It takes the power of the HolySpirit to really push us in that
direction, and so I candefinitely see the boldness that
God has put in you Now.
I know that, being around agroup of guys and being on a
sports team, that oftentimesthere's sin in the camp, right,

(05:48):
I mean, it's just natural.
We've got a lot of foullanguage, we've got a lot of
locker room talk, things likethat, and so just tell our other
students that are listening.
Have there ever been timeswhere it's been tough for you to
maintain your stand for Christ?
Just in that environment whereyou just kind of feel like an
outcast when you're standing forGod?

Speaker 2 (06:10):
There's been many, many times.
At those points you get inthere and they start talking
about this random stuff andyou're really having to stand
firm because you know if you sayanything against it, you know
you kind of get a weird look andyou know they start coming at
you now you know.
So sometimes it does get kindof difficult.

Speaker 1 (06:32):
If you're not joining in throwing the dart, sometimes
you become the target Is thatnot right.
Oh yeah, oh yeah, it's tough,but you know what, honestly, you
become the target.
Is that not right?
Oh yeah, oh yeah it's tough,but you know what, honestly, in
the grand scheme of things, tobe the target for a moment is
much better than to be thetarget forever.
You know, and God is going tobless those times and those hard

(06:52):
times that you face, and so Iwant to talk about.
You're about to step into awhole new world.
You go to South Alabama.
I went this past weekend.
I took our kids to theAlabama-Tennessee baseball game
in Tuscaloosa and man, we weresitting next to the bullpen.
And just in the moment that I'msitting next to the bullpen,

(07:17):
I'm going to be honest with you.
It was just filthy, like it wasabsolutely filthy, right.
And there was a time when I wasin college and I was probably
one of those ones that parentswere pulling their kids away
from my conversations because Idid not accept Christ at the age
that you did and I wasn'tliving for the Lord at that time

(07:38):
in my life.
That you did and I wasn'tliving for the Lord at that time
in my life.
And so not passing judgment onthose guys, but you're about to
go into a lost world.
You know, I recently went on atrip to Africa where it was 97%
unreached and people didn't knowwhat sin was and all the things
.
Well, we know what it is here,but I'm telling you, the college
world, the college scene, is alot of lost folks and you're

(08:00):
going to face challenges thatyou've never faced before.
So how do you think your timehere at Alexandria and your walk
with Christ has prepared you tobe able to reach lost people
coming from all over to playbaseball?

Speaker 2 (08:17):
You know I'd say there's going to be a lot of
stuff that I see down there thatI haven't seen or heard or been
a part of.
But I think being on mybaseball team and being at, I
guess, a school that's publichas kind of prepared me in a way

(08:38):
that I feel like I will hear,you know I'll be around the same
stuff that I've always beenaround.
So it's, I guess it's justreassuring to know that what
I've been facing I can continueto face it with, you know, the
full faith that God willcontinue to be with me, because
I've already lived it and I'vealready been through it.

(08:59):
So of course, there'll be newchallenges and new things that I
have to approach, because andme down there by myself, with a
whole bunch of other guys thatare down there by themselves, so
there will be a lot of newchallenges out to face, but I'm
ready for it.

Speaker 1 (09:12):
I believe you are and you know just for some of our
other people that are listeningand the things that they're
dealing with like I know there'sgoing to be a time where you're
going to get down there and youknow what you may go through a
slump, you may be on a stretchwhere you feel like you're not
playing up the standard and andyou feel lonely, and so you've

(09:34):
got all these guys around youand the only way to to really
fit in with them hey, we're allgoing out to party on a Friday
night.
Everybody's going out, we'reall going to get drunk, we're
going to have a good time, andhere I am.
I feel like I'm.
I'm not producing, I'm not ofthe team.
So now do I stay back in myapartment by myself or do I go
out and engage with these guys?

(09:55):
Or maybe there's going to be abunch of pretty girls that are
coming to the game, that seeO'Brie Good on the mound
throwing the heat, and they wantto go out on a date on Friday
night, and so a lot of thosechallenges come in your way.
But I truly believe that if youwill stand firm, stay in God's
word.
You've already taken the standshere, just like what we talked

(10:17):
about.
That locker room is a toughplace and the challenges are
going to get harder, but God hasalready put those in your life
to show you that you canovercome.
You don't need to fall totemptation, you don't need those
things.
You are a leader.
He has designed you to be aleader and it is your job now to

(10:38):
impact those lives at the nextlevel.
And so, even more than youropportunity to go and make South
Alabama successful in baseball,I pray that you make South
Alabama baseball successful inthe kingdom, and so I know
you're up to that challenge.

(10:59):
And before we sign off heretoday, is there anything for
that 7th and 8th grade baseballplayer that's coming up through
Alexandria, welburn, sacs, allthe schools around us that may
be listening to this, eventhroughout the state?
What advice would you give themto prepare themselves for the

(11:20):
challenges that are coming?

Speaker 2 (11:24):
I think one of the main things is preparing
themselves, understanding thatthey're going to mess up.
Things are going to go bad.
It's not always ponies andrainbows.
You're going to screw up andyou're going to slip up.
Things are going to happen.
But I think the main thing isknowing where you are in Christ,
knowing that, even though youmade the mistakes, there's a

(11:46):
loving God right there waitingon you to turn back around and
look at Him, and that, throughit all, you've got to be strong
in your faith and just trust inHim through it all.

Speaker 1 (11:59):
That is so good.
You heard it right there fromBray Good, and I hope that all
of our listeners will join me inpraying for him in the next
steps that he's taking, the nextchallenges that he's going to
face, and for the students thathave tuned in today.
Know that even through thestorms, even through the
challenges, you can rely on Godand no matter where you are, no

(12:20):
matter who thinks it's not cool,standing for God is bigger than
anything in this world.
It's bigger than baseball.
It's bigger than our friends.
It is the most important thing.
So dig into God's Word, makeHim first and allow Him to use
you wherever he sends you.
Thank you for joining us, bray,and good luck to you on your

(12:42):
next adventure.
Thank you.
Thank you, all right guys.
I will see you back here Mondaymorning.
Thank you for All right guys.
I will see you back here Mondaymorning.
Thank you for joining us.