I grew up in east Texas. Texarkana, to be precise. If I were to sum up my east Texas experience for someone unfamiliar with its culture and people, I would simply tell them about Gary Mills. He was a man who worked for my dad. Sort of. Gary worked when Gary wasn’t in jail.

Gary Mills owned a van that he’d bought at a pawn shop. Now, only in the piney woods of eastern Texas and portions of rural West Virginia can vehicles be acquired from pawnshops, for like two dollars. These are my people.

Driving down the road yesterday I saw something that made me take notice. Coming toward me was a middle-aged man running against traffic. Now, that did not bother me so much; I see that all the time. But what I found strange was that he had his iPod on and was running right on the edge of the cars. Then I broke out in laughter because not 10 feet from him on his left was a beautiful well-groomed sidewalk, on which there was not a single person.

Hockey Chat:  Coaches have the important job of figuring where to play his skaters.  All six players on the ice play an equally important role regardless of the position that they’ve been placed in.  They are all there with the common goal, “keep the puck out of our net and get it into theirs.”  Whatever they can do to play a part in getting to that goal, makes a winning team.

With the media magnifying all that is wrong and corrupt in the world today, it’s hard for people to believe that a loving God could let this happen. From the moment Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit, the relationship between God and man has been altered. Because of that sin, we see and experience the bad, the ugly, and the brutal. Although this is our burden, Jesus provides an escape from this world to be a part of a better place—His kingdom. God wants us to be victorious!

Through Jesus, our tests become our testimonies. In darkness, we have light. We alone don’t have the willpower nor strength to overcome what life throws at us. It is in Jesus where we can stand triumphantly, giving all the glory to God.

True satisfaction—people search for it every day. Some people spend a lifetime acquiring DVDs, MP3s, video games, clothes, cars, and relationships—hoping that more of this world will satisfy them. As coaches and athletes, we often try to find satisfaction in practices, competitions, and victories. None of these things bring fulfillment. Christ should be our first priority. He should be the reason we wake up, the reason we breathe, and the reason we coach, practice, and play. This is a tremendous challenge. We have relationships, commitments, and schedules that pull us in different directions. We must refocus and get back to the basics—spending time daily in prayer, reading the Word, and being accountable to a fellow believer.

I’ve been out of college for two years now. I haven’t changed much (at least I’d like to think), but there is one aspect of my life that I’ve let slip: my physical workouts. I did all right in the summer and fall, but once the winter months came, I wanted to stay inside where it was warm. After a long day at work I didn’t want to exert any more energy than I already had. Unfortunately, this way of thinking became a habit, and I could feel my body losing all the muscle and stamina I had worked so hard to gain. Still, I made excuses. “I’ve done my time,” I reasoned. I gave my body everything I had for eight years straight, pushing it through multiple sports in high school and college.

Anyone who knows sports knows that turnovers and missed opportunities, especially in the game of basketball, spell disaster. This was never more apparent than in the championship game of our holiday tournament, when our starting point guard had 11 turnovers before halftime, and our team faced a 12-point deficit. The message for her was simple at halftime: “What could you do with 11 more possessions? Could you score the 12 points we need? Perhaps dish out 6 assists to overcome the deficit?”

David was known as "A man after God's own heart". He made plenty of mistakes in his life, however, he always searched for truth and the truth was in the Lord. He was known as a man of integrity.

This past week, my integrity was put to test. I grew up playing baseball and continued to play into my college years. Ever since I was in high school I have wanted to become a head baseball coach at either the high school or college level. Many years later, that continuous prayer has not been answered. It is all about God's time not mine.

Our small town high school football team had a record-breaking season last year. We finished 11–1, and ranked eighth in the state. This year our record is 0–6.

As coaches, we have all had the dreaded “rebuilding” season, the one where the most you hope to gain is respect for your efforts and sportsmanship. Even the best programs have rebuilding years. The best teams experience slumps. As coaches, we find this is a frustrating time. We get angry. We do not understand how we can do well one year and so poorly the next. We vent our frustrations on the players, our assistants, and even our families.We say and do things we later regret.

When the world tends more and more toward darkness in deeds and spirit, sometimes we like to qualify how good or bad our actions or deeds are. We say things like, “I know I shouldn’t be doing that, but at least I’m not…” Does it really matter what word or phrase goes in the blank? The more we allow small amounts of evil to permeate our lives, the more Satan takes over. Give evil an inch, and the evil one will take your soul.