Update

I posted an article a couple of weeks ago about a coach in Texas and his school that did something very special for the opposing team. They played a team that was a correctional facility for youth and they had their fans cheer for the other team because they never have any fans. It is an amazing story. If you haven't read the article you can find it here on my blog. The coach that set the whole thing up has been invited by the commisioner of the NFL to be his personal guest at the Superbowl and speak to a group of coaches on the topic of character. Here is the coach being interviewed on ESPN.

"First Things First"

Everybody knows I am a huge Steeler fan and I am looking forward to the Superbowl. I like when the Steelers play a team that I don't like; it is so easy to cheer against the Ravens or Cowboys. I have tried, but I just can't dislike the Cardinals. In fact, I have alot of respect for what they have been able to accomplish and for many players on their team. I also like coach Whisenhunt and I think he has done a tremendous job. But I have a ton of respect for their QB....Kurt Warner. Here is a guy that was out of football, stocking shelves at a grocery store and ended up playing arena football for three years before he finally got his chance in the NFL with the St. Louis Rams. When their starting QB got hurt, he got his chance and led them to a Superbowl victory and was the League MVP two times. After a couple of stops in other cities, he signed with the Cardinals and has his team in the Superbowl again. He will probably end up in the Hall of Fame. He is the real deal off the field as well...he might be the boldest Christian to ever play in the NFL, where he has professed his faith on the biggest stages possible...and then backed it up by helping less fortunate people through organizations he has personally founded. He has set a great example for all of us and has accomplished alot....I just hope he doesn't have any of that success on Sunday, lol !!!!! This video tells a little about what he is doing through his organization, First Things First.

The Silver Bullet

A couple of summers ago we went on vacation to Oklahoma to visit my wife's sister and her family. On one of the afternoons while we were there we decided to go to a water park. We had fun swimming and going down some small slides for most of the afternoon, until the kids decided they wanted to try the main attraction, "The Silver Bullet". Now...I saw it across the park, but I wasn't saying anything about it. You see...this water slide is 100 feet straight down and I am afraid of heights. My son Christian and his cousin Alley started up the endless flights of steps...I was fine just watching. They went down several times and were having a blast. This whole time, my other son Taylor was wrestling with whether to do it or not. He wanted to but he was afraid. He saw how much fun the others were having and he hated it...but he couldn't bring himself to do it. It got to the point where some tears started showing in his eyes. So I told him that if he wanted to do it...I would do it with him. (I didn't really think he would say yes, lol) After a few minutes he said okay let's do it...so we headed up the steps. He told me on the way up that he was scared, and I told him that I was too but we were going to "face our fears together". We prayed on the way too. When we got to the top I asked him if he wanted me to go first and he said no, he wanted to go. He did it...he went right down. I stood there and I have to admit, I thought about going down the steps, but I kept my word and went down the slide. (I closed my eyes the whole way down) When I got to the bottom it was worth it to see the smile on Taylor's face. Taylor learned alot from that experience about facing his fears and trusting God. He felt so good about his accomplishment, something he never could have felt if he wouldn't have been willing to take the risk.

So often in life we hold back because we are afraid, but how are we ever going to do anything great if we aren't willing to "face our fears"...if we aren't willing to take a risk. Maybe God wants to do something miraculous in your life, but he is waiting for you to trust him. Remember in the bible when Jesus was walking on water and he said to his disciples....

"Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid." Peter replies, "Lord, if it's you, tell me to come to you on the water." So Jesus invites Peter to come. Peter gets out of the boat and begins walking on the water toward Jesus. But when Peter takes his eyes off Jesus and sees the wind and waves, he begins to sink. Peter cries out to the Lord and Jesus immediately reaches out his hand and catches Peter. As they climb into the boat together, the storm ceases. Then the disciples worship Jesus, saying, "Truly you are the Son of God."

Sure...Peter took his eyes off of Jesus and fell in the water, but he was willing to take the risk and get out of the boat...and HE WALKED ON WATER! What could God do in your life if you were willing to get out of the boat?

What Will Your Dash Stand For?

This is one of my favorite poems. Read it...think about it...do something about it! "This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it." Here is the video version and the words...ENJOY!




The Dash
1996 Linda Ellis

I read of a man who stood to speak at the funeral of a friend.
He referred to the dates on his tombstone from the beginning...to the end.

He noted that first came the date of his birth and spoke of the following date with tears,
but he said what mattered most of all was the dash between those years.

For that dash represents all the time that he spent alive on earth...and now only those who loved him know what that little line is worth.

For it matters not, how much we own; the cars....the house...the cash.
What matters is how we live and love and how we spend our dash.

So think about this long and hard...are there things you'd like to change?
For you never know how much time is left that can still be rearranged.

If we could just slow down enough to consider what's true and real, and always try to understand the way other people feel.
And be less quick to anger,and show appreciation more,
and love the people in our lives like we've never loved before.

If we treat each other with respect,and more often wear a smile...remembering that this special dash might only last a little while.

So, when your eulogy is being read with your life's actions to rehash...would you be proud of the things they say about how you spent your dash?

A Testimony For Tampa

I am so excited that the Steelers are headed to Tampa to play in Superbowl XLIII. There is nothing like your team playing in the big game. I have been a Steeler fan my whole life, but when they won their last Superbowl in the 70's I was 6 years old. I barely remember that game...so I really enjoyed watching them win the Superbowl three years ago. I remember going to training camp when I was 8 years old, and when Mean Joe Greene ran by me I couldn't believe how big he was. And when I was trying to get Mike Webster's autograph with a large group of kids surrounding him, I tripped on the curb and he picked me up and made sure I was okay...then gave me his autograph. (lol) I also remember Lynn Swann sneaking out the back door of the locker room so he did't have to give autographs. (I still haven't forgiven him for that...just kidding) When I was around 12 years old I went to an autograph session in Brookville and got my picture taken with Louie Lipps. That was when the Steelers were bad, but I still watched every game. Watching the Steelers play has always been one of my favorite things to do.

We see these big, strong athletes on TV and we think that they have it all. They are stars and make lots of money, but many of them are unhappy. Many of them have problems just like you and me. Many of them have an emptiness and turn to drugs and alcohol. Just because a player is in the NFL, or just because they are successful, that doesn't mean they have joy in their life. Many of them are searching.

I have read about the Steeler teams from the 70's and many of those players were strong Christians. Guys like Donnie Shell, John Stallworth, John Kolb, and Larry Brown. Many guys on those teams would pray together and read their bibles together. Many of the recent Steelers are also Christians. We see these guys that dish out big hits on Sunday afternoons...and we think we know them. Listen to this testimony by Aaron Smith from the Pittsburgh Steelers....and see if it is much different than someone that you know!

A Simple Game of Basketball

Tonight I went with a group of friends to play basketball. Nothing out of the ordinary. Well, it wasn't an ordinary game...you see our opponents were the inmates at the Marienville Prison. This is the second year we have played them and I guess they have trouble finding people that will go into the prison to play. We had to go through a background check and then had our things searched at the prison and had to go through a medal detector. It feels like you are the one headed to the slammer! They have nice facilities there...it is a new jail...and the gym is beautiful. They get so excited for us to come because they play basketball every day, but they only get to play against each other. There are a few prison guards that stand and watch the game..for our protection...but the clock is run by inmates and the refs are inmates. Yea, that's right, we don't get too many calls that go our way...lol. When the game is over and it is time to shake hands...the imates don't just shake our hands...each and every one of them hugs us, thanks us for coming, and asks us to please come back again. They are mostly just normal men between the ages of 18 and 30, that made mistakes, and are now paying the price...some for the rest of their life. I usually feel sad when I leave though because you see these young men with their whole life ahead of them that could have been successful with the right influence and motivation. Young men that are not much different than you or me.

You are probably wondering who won the game...right? Well, we lost by 20 points each of the last two years. We go and we try to win, but that isn't the reason we go. We think of it as an outreach. We pray before the game and we show good sportsmanship and we give the inmates something to look forward to and we show them we care. We get a chance to stand and talk with them for a little while after the game and they are very appreciative... and we hope that maybe one of them might see our Lord and Savior through our kindness.

That's why we go!

The Best Gift You Can Give is Free!

I came across this article today and thought I would share it. It is an amazing story....

They played the oddest game in high school football history last month down in Grapevine, Texas.
It was Grapevine Faith vs. Gainesville State School and everything about it was upside down. For instance, when Gainesville came out to take the field, the Faith fans made a 40-yard spirit line for them to run through.
Did you hear that? The other team's fans?
They even made a banner for players to crash through at the end. It said, "Go Tornadoes!" Which is also weird, because Faith is the Lions.
It was rivers running uphill and cats petting dogs. More than 200 Faith fans sat on the Gainesville side and kept cheering the Gainesville players on—by name.
"I never in my life thought I'd hear people cheering for us to hit their kids," recalls Gainesville's QB and middle linebacker, Isaiah. "I wouldn't expect another parent to tell somebody to hit their kids. But they wanted us to!"
And even though Faith walloped them 33-14, the Gainesville kids were so happy that after the game they gave head coach Mark Williams a sideline squirt-bottle shower like he'd just won state. Gotta be the first Gatorade bath in history for an 0-9 coach.
But then you saw the 12 uniformed officers escorting the 14 Gainesville players off the field and two and two started to make four. They lined the players up in groups of five—handcuffs ready in their back pockets—and marched them to the team bus. That's because Gainesville is a maximum-security correctional facility 75 miles north of Dallas. Every game it plays is on the road.
This all started when Faith's head coach, Kris Hogan, wanted to do something kind for the Gainesville team. Faith had never played Gainesville, but he already knew the score. After all, Faith was 7-2 going into the game, Gainesville 0-8 with 2 TDs all year. Faith has 70 kids, 11 coaches, the latest equipment and involved parents. Gainesville has a lot of kids with convictions for drugs, assault and robbery—many of whose families had disowned them—wearing seven-year-old shoulder pads and ancient helmets.
So Hogan had this idea. What if half of our fans—for one night only—cheered for the other team? He sent out an email asking the Faithful to do just that. "Here's the message I want you to send:" Hogan wrote. "You are just as valuable as any other person on planet Earth."
Some people were naturally confused. One Faith player walked into Hogan's office and asked, "Coach, why are we doing this?"
And Hogan said, "Imagine if you didn't have a home life. Imagine if everybody had pretty much given up on you. Now imagine what it would mean for hundreds of people to suddenly believe in you."
Next thing you know, the Gainesville Tornadoes were turning around on their bench to see something they never had before. Hundreds of fans. And actual cheerleaders!
"I thought maybe they were confused," said Alex, a Gainesville lineman (only first names are released by the prison). "They started yelling 'DEE-fense!' when their team had the ball. I said, 'What? Why they cheerin' for us?'"
It was a strange experience for boys who most people cross the street to avoid. "We can tell people are a little afraid of us when we come to the games," says Gerald, a lineman who will wind up doing more than three years. "You can see it in their eyes. They're lookin' at us like we're criminals. But these people, they were yellin' for us! By our names!"
Maybe it figures that Gainesville played better than it had all season, scoring the game's last two touchdowns. Of course, this might be because Hogan put his third-string nose guard at safety and his third-string cornerback at defensive end. Still.
After the game, both teams gathered in the middle of the field to pray and that's when Isaiah surprised everybody by asking to lead. "We had no idea what the kid was going to say," remembers Coach Hogan. But Isaiah said this: "Lord, I don't know how this happened, so I don't know how to say thank You, but I never would've known there was so many people in the world that cared about us."
And it was a good thing everybody's heads were bowed because they might've seen Hogan wiping away tears.
As the Tornadoes walked back to their bus under guard, they each were handed a bag for the ride home—a burger, some fries, a soda, some candy, a Bible and an encouraging letter from a Faith player.
The Gainesville coach saw Hogan, grabbed him hard by the shoulders and said, "You'll never know what your people did for these kids tonight. You'll never, ever know."
And as the bus pulled away, all the Gainesville players crammed to one side and pressed their hands to the window, staring at these people they'd never met before, watching their waves and smiles disappearing into the night.
Anyway, with the economy six feet under and Christmas running on about three and a half reindeer, it's nice to know that one of the best presents you can give is still absolutely free.....Hope.

By Rick Reilly