Should we try to improve society and govenment if we are living in end times?

When talking to a friend recently about how we, as Christians, need to become more involved in influencing our society and government for good, I got a response that surprised me. My buddy told me that he didn’t want to become involved in such activity because he considered it futile since we are nearing end times. He went on to say and the Bible tells us, that Christians can expect persecution before Christ returns and, therefore, we should just learn to live with it. I really didn’t know how to respond to such rationale for staying uninvolved in getting our nation back on track, so I steered the conversation in a different direction. A few days later while reading Wayne Grudem’s book entitled Politics- According to the Bible, I came across what I thought was a reasonable response to my friend’s thoughts on this matter. Grudem states that no one knows when Christ will return or when the events preceding His coming will occur (Mathew 24:36; 25:13). He continues by stating that what we do know is that while we have opportunity, God tells us not to give up but to go one teaching “the whole counsel of God” (Acts 20:27). God also tells us to continue doing good works (Ephesians 2:10) and loving our neighbors as ourselves (Mathew 22:39). From these scriptures, I think we can infer that we should go on trying to influence society and government for good as long as we are able to do so. Grudem concludes by urging that if all Christians who have influenced governments for good in previous centuries had given up, then none of the good changes in laws and societies would have come about. Instead of giving in, previous generations sought to do good for others and for governments, and God often blessed their efforts. Do you believe that we should continue to try to do good for others and for governments despite the fact that that Jesus’ return may be eminent?

Would You Like to Initiated The Faith-Based Mentoring Program at Your Church

FAITH-BASED MENTORING PROGRAM

The Faith-Based Mentoring Program is a partnership between two men, one more experienced and one in the early stage of his career that allows the younger man to benefit from the wisdom and experience of someone who has “been there and done that.” This initiative is designed to engage and empower young professionals (mentees) so that they can live in a way that impacts their workplace and marketplace for the cause of Christ.

WHO: The mentors involved in this program will be individuals who currently have or have had successful careers in the business, medical, legal, teaching, coaching, political, financial, law enforcement, military, computer/technology, agricultural, engineering, media/communications, insurance, trades, banking, etc, fields. Mentors do not have to be “experts,” but must be strong, mature Christians who have experience, knowledge, and skills in a particular field, as well as time they are willing to share with mentees. Mentees have no requirements other than a desire to learn and grow. There are no formal age requirements, although mentors will typically be ten to forty years older that mentees. Ideally, the mentor and mentee are matched by occupational area so they can share specific insight to their professional field as well as general truths about life and work.

WHAT: Mentoring is not teaching; there is no curriculum and the mentor will not “lecture” the mentee. The mentee shall set the agenda for the meetings. He will develop a list of goals and objectives for their relationship. The two of them will develop a plan for reaching them.

HOW LONG: Mentoring does not involve a significant time commitment. The program is designed to last nine months, meeting as a minimum of once per month for one hour, typically over coffee or a meal. The mentoring pair may choose to meet more frequently, if they so desire. Often mentor/mentees choose to continue meeting after the nine-month partnership, but this is entirely optional.

WHY MENTORING?
Young professionals are increasingly interested in connecting with individuals who can be positive influences, serve as resources for personal development, help them “learn the ropes,” provide experienced input for answering life questions, and walk beside them during the peaks and valleys of their early professional lives.
On the other hand, many mature Christians are experiencing a desire to pass on the knowledge that they have gleamed over the years in their chosen professions to those who are in the early stages of their vocations. The lessons that they have learned relate not simply to job skills, but also to navigating workplace politics, locating resources for professional growth, developing appropriate social skills, and connecting to people who can expose them to new concepts, and how to integrate ones faith in the workplace.

WHY FAITH-BASED MENTORING?
Christians have a special obligation to be the best that they can possibly be in their field of work because they are instructed to perform as a direct service to Jesus Christ (Colossians 3:23). They are also warned that only fools ignore advice, whereas the wise seek out the counsel of others (Proverbs 12:15). Faith-based mentoring is a way for men to tap into that wisdom in order to grow in their ability to honor Christ. Christians often face challenges at work related to sexual temptations, ethical dilemmas, and sharing their faith. It is very important for young professionals to connect with a mentor who has a faith-based worldview.

ABOUT THE FOUNDER OF THE FAITH-BASED MENTORING PROGRAM
Bill Elder’s recent retirement brought to close a forty-year career as a Hall of Fame college basketball coach and administrator. Since retiring, he has become a published author and is currently a member of the Alabama Coalition’s Board of Directors. Bill and his wife, Vivian, are members of the Frazer United Methodist Church in Montgomery, Alabama where Vivian serves as teacher of the Women in Christ Sunday School class. They have two married daughters, both living in Chicago, who have given them five grandchildren. Bill’s experience of being thrust early on in his career as a head coach at the college level without a mentor has given him a passion to connect men to those who can “coach” them both personally and professionally.

Sign-Up
If you are interested in initiating the Faith-Based Mentoring Program at your church, please contact me at williamtelder@charter.net.

Join the Save Our Nation Movement

SAVE OUR NATION MOVEMENT

Purpose:
The purpose of the Save Our Nation movement is to stop American’s downward ethical and moral spiral and begin reversing this trend by recognizing that our hope lies in God’s good intentions toward His children. One of these good intentions is detailed in II Chronicles 7:14: “If my people, which are called by my name, will humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”

Positions:
1. I believe that God’s promise to heal our land stated in II Chronicles 7:14 is relevant for today.
2. I believe that we can realize this promise by humbling ourselves, praying, seeking His face, and turning from our wicked ways.
3. I believe that if we join forces with other Christians to fulfill the conditions of this promise, God will withhold the judgment our nation deserves.
4. I also believe that if we fulfill these conditions, God will restore our country to moral and spiritual health and save our nation.

Description:
Over the years, I have sadly watched our nation retreat from many of the positive values that were commonly accepted only a few decades ago, values that made this nation great, and to which I pray we will return. I sometimes wonder what has happened to the country that I knew as a young man and loved. We, as Christians, know that all is not right with America. We deeply need a moral and spiritual renewal to help us meet the many problems that we face.
I was recently reading in the eighteenth and nineteenth chapters of Genesis about the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah and was struck by some of the striking similarities between the depravity of these cities and the current moral condition of the United States. The point of this story is that God sometimes withholds judgment on a nation that is openly wicked in its ways if there are righteous men in residence. If there are not, He will eventually destroy it. The question is do we have enough righteous people in the United States to cause Him to spare us our deserved judgment?
I know that the God that I believe in is mighty and in control of everything that happens on Earth. Proverbs 21:1 says, “The King’s heart is in the hand of the Lord; He directs it like a watercourse wherever he pleases.” This suggests that God is in control of the lives and actions of our national leaders – our President, Senators, Congressmen, Governors, etc. - directing them to do whatever He pleases, even if they do not acknowledge Him. If He so chooses, He can change the hearts of these individuals, causing them to do a complete about-face and make decisions based on what is best for the citizens of our country rather than on what is the most politically expedient for themselves.
I believe that we can stop our country’s downward spiral and begin a reverse trend by recognizing that our hope lies in God’s good intentions toward His children. One of these good intentions is detailed in II Chronicles 7:14: “If my people, which are called by my name, will humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” By “my people,” I believe God means people who know Him, who enjoy a relationship with Him. I think that He is saying that if we Christians humble ourselves and pray and seek His face and abandon habits and ways which are evil, then He will forgive us and RESTORE OUR LAND! What surprises me here is that He doesn’t talk about what nonbelievers should do – just those of us who call ourselves “Christians.” To me, this means if we – we Christians – obey this command, God will restore our land, benefiting both Christians and non-Christians.
If we do indeed believe that God’s promise to heal our land is relevant for today, how do we go about realizing it? As I mentioned earlier, II Chronicles 7:14 states that we can receive this promise if we (personally and as a group) do the following: humble ourselves, pray, seek His face, and turn from our wicked ways.
To humble ourselves before God, I believe that we need to follow Jesus’ example of humility. In Philippians 2:7-9, it says, “But [Jesus] made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death – even death on a cross.” This scripture describes how Jesus came into the world without regard to having His personal rights (as the Son of God) recognized, focused instead on hearing from God and subsequently responding to the needs of people around Him. He lived a life of genuine humility – knowing who He was, but giving up the rights that were attached to being that person. We too have position with God – we are the “apple of His eye” and are “precious in His sight,” but we can choose to put aside our obsession with self-fulfillment and self-satisfaction to seek and do the will of our God.
We all have sin in our lives and need to go to God in prayer daily with a contrite heart to ask for forgiveness, not only of our iniquities but also of that despicable part of ourselves that causes us to commit those iniquities. How do we determine what things in our lives are displeasing to God? We can do this through prayer and reading the Bible, asking the Holy Spirit to reveal those things that we need to deal with. We need to honestly determine exactly what lies hidden in our own hearts and compare that to what God requires of us. After we pray for forgiveness of our personal transgressions, I believe it is appropriate for us to pray specifically for our nation.
After we humble ourselves before God and pray, the next step is to “seek God’s face.” As a child, I used to wonder exactly what our pastor meant when he talked about this. Later in life, I have come to believe that it means being passionate about knowing God’s heart and mind. We should desire to hear from Him related to how we should conduct our lives. I believe that God wants a heart-to-heart relationship with every believer. He desires intimacy with us. With this in mind, I think that we should seek fellowship with Him through reading the Bible, through prayer, and in worship.
The final step in the healing-our-land process is to “turn from our wicked ways.” I believe “turning from our wicked ways” means that after humbling ourselves before God, admitting that we are sinners, confessing our sins, and asking for forgiveness of them, we must actually turn from our sins. I think that God is asking us not to return to the sins that He has forgiven us.
What does God mean in II Chronicles 7:14 when he says he will heal our land? I can’t say that I know exactly what a “healed land” would look like. I do, however, believe that God will somehow diminish spiritual apathy and opposition, stirring up an awakening among both believers and ultimately nonbelievers and restoring His favor on our nation. I believe that if we, as believers, will fulfill the conditions of the promise that He has set forth in II Chronicles 7:14, He will provide these blessings and unimaginable others to our United States. I believe that despite the unbelievable moral and ethical downslide that our nation has chosen, God will keep His promise. I think that He is waiting for us – for Christians – to humble ourselves, pray, seek His face, and abandon our wicked ways. I believe that God is willing to withhold the judgment on our nation (much like He was willing to do for Sodom and Gomorrah) if we prove to have an element of sincerely righteous people. I feel that we do indeed at this point have a significant number of righteous people in the United States and that if we join together in appropriating His conditional promise, He will respond. I challenge believers – including myself – to join forces with other Christians in a movement to fulfill the conditions of this promise from God. The future of our nation may depend on our willingness to do so.

Commitment:
I agree as a Christian to join this cause and signify that I am in agreement with the following:
• I believe that God’s promise to heal our land stated in II Chronicles 7:14 is relevant for today.
• I believe that we can realize this promise by humbling ourselves, praying, seeking His face, and turning from our wicked ways.
• I believe that if I join forces with other Christians to fulfill the conditions of this promise, God will withhold the judgment that our nation deserves, restore our country to moral and spiritual health, and save our nation.

The significance of the number forty in the Bible:
The number forty holds a particular significance in the Bible. It is associated with a period of time spent searching, wondering, listening, and receiving new revelations. There are a least ten instances in the Old Testament and New Testament were the number forty is mentioned, either in terms of days or years. For example, Jesus fasted in the wilderness for forty days, and was seen on the earth for forty days after His crucifixion. Noah warned the city of Nineveh that they had forty days until God would overthrow the city. The people repented during those forty days and God spared the city. Goliath taunted the Israelite army for forty days before being killed by David. With the significance of this number in mind, I would like to challenge you to commit to examining yourself on a daily basis (for a minimum of forty days) to determine if you are humbling yourself before God, acknowledging that you are a sinner, confessing your sins, asking for forgiveness, seeking God’s face, and turning from your wicked ways.

Are you willing to take the forty-day challenge?
If you are willing to join forces with other Christians in accepting the forty-day challenge to humble yourself, pray, seek God’s face, and turn from your wicked ways, I would appreciate it if you would let me know via this blog. If not, I would be interested in hearing your thoughts concerning this matter. I also will be glad to answer any questions that you may have related to this movement.

DON HASKINS, AN AMERICAN HERO

When I was asked by Brian Seidman of NewSouth Books to share my feelings about the recent passing of Don Haskins, my first thoughts were that Coach Haskins, long-time basketball coach at the University of Texas at El Paso (known at Texas Western for may years),was a true American hero. He was well know for establishing a stellar coaching record of 719 wins and 354 losses, winning a NCAA National Basketball Championship, and being inducted into the NCAA Basketball Coaches' Hall of Fame.

Despite the significance of these accomplishments, I think that Haskins' greatest achievement was having the courage to start five black players at a predominately white insitution during the 1965-66 basketball season. Many college (especially in the South) had not even integrated their athletic programs at this time, much less considered starting five black players. For many of the schools already integrated, there seemed to be an unwritten rule related to how many black players should be permitted to start a gme. The rule was that you should not start more than "three black players at home and four on the road." It was in this culture that Coach Haskins chose to do the right thing and start his best five players, regardless of skin color. In today's culture this does not seem like a big deal but in the 1960s it was a radical decision.

Coach Haskins' decision not only proved to be the right one on the court where his Texas Western squad defeated the all white University of Kentucky team coached by the legendary Adolf Rupp for the national championship, but it also proved to be one of the most socially meaningful decisions in the history of sports. The victory drew attention to the egregious racially exclusionary policies practiced in the world of college athletics and changed the face of the recruitment of black athletes across the nation.

Coach Haskins was a man of exceptional courage and integrity and will be greatly missed.

Book Review by Angela Reinhardt

I was excited when I learned that Frazer Memorial United Methodist Church member Bill Elder had written his first book and was open to having it reviewed for the Frazer Family News. I agreed immediately, without knowing so much as the title, nor what the book was about.

I was suprised when I found out the book was an autobiography of Bill's life as a college basketball coach in segregated Alabama.

Admittedly, I am not a big sports fan, but I decided not to let that deter me from giving the book and honest chance and seeing how God would speak to me through it.

With that said, I can say that Bill's book, All Gut and Not Glory, is more that a coach's story about how he lead his team to victory, or how he got to be a coach in the first place. In fact, the book has something most don't; an underlying foundation of historical facts interwoven with a gentle mention of Christ.

In 1970, Bill met much opposition and prejudice when he recuited the first black basketball player for a small community college in Sand Mountain, Alabama. From that point, both Bill and the players he was coaching became the target for many racial attacks including attempts on his and his players' lives on more that one occassion.

Elder tells his story with great passion and proves readily that God truly does endow His chosen with great courage and wisdom.

I am not from Alabama, in fact I grew up in California, and can honestly say that I was taught nothing about the struggles and hardships that occurred in the South during the 1960s and `70s. This book not only taught me what a battle it was fighting for desegregation, but how important such an act was for the country as a whole.

Bill's story is an empowering one. He not only writes with honesty and recounts the various trials he faced, but he presents it with an non-threatening tone and quietly speaks of his love for Christ and the way it influenced him. In fact, Bill avoids saturating his story with sermons and teachings, and instead focuses on letting his experience as a whole speak for itself. Truly, it does.

As I read the autobiography, I felt a bit convicted. In his early 20's, Bill had the courage and wisdom to stand up for what was right, and aid in the change for freedom and viewing everyone as equal. To tackle such a feat proves the strength of our God has and reflects His will to truly use His people to make a difference and stand up for what is right.

I met Bill briefly just before I started reading his story. During our discussion he said something that has stuck with me during my time of reading the book. "As a child I can remember observing the ways of racial prejudice and never having it sit well with me. I guess God was always preparing me for my first job."

What a great God we have! A God that works and develops his children early on, and is always preparing us for something much bigger than we could ever imagine. I truly believe this story will inspire everyone who reads it to seek the Lord's own will for their lives, and to make a change somewhere, somehow, for His Kingdom.

Angela Reinhardt is a news staff writer for the Frazer Family News.

Bucyrus Little League Old Timers Game

I had a great time returning to my old home town to play in a Little League "old timers" game. The contest was played to honor members of the inaugural Bucyrus(Ohio)Little League teams. I achieved my personal goal by finishing the game without getting injured. At my age, I consider this a major victory. I had the honor of playing with some of my former Timken teammates (Brownie Miller, Artie Leonhardt and Jim Leonhardt) as well as some of my old rivals. I will have to say it was not a pretty sight seeing a bunch of senior citizens running around trying to recapture their "glory days." As they say, the heart was willing but the body would just not cooperate. Despite the "low" caliber of play, it was a memorable experience.

Pictured in photograph are John Paetznick(on left) and Bill Elder (on right)

Original Bucyrus Little Leaguers take the field

With great fear and trepidation, I will make a trek to Bucyrus, Ohio, in early May to play in a Little League "Old Timers" game. The two inning softball game will feature players from the 1953-60 era and will start at 5:30 PM on Friday, May 2. Having been a member of the Timken squad during the league's inaugural season, I will be one of the oldest participants. Taking into consideration that fact that I have not thrown or batted a ball in over thirty years, my play probably will not be a pleasant sight. I am in hopes that the league's officials will have adequate medical personnel on site. Regardless, I look forward to getting to visit with my old teammates and rivals.

Bill Elder's Comments on Black Magic Documentary

Dan Klores's Black Magic is both a painful and uplifting documentary that details how black basketball players and coaches overcame oppressive racial prejudice to make an indelible impact on the game of college basketball. Through the lense of basketball, Klores provides an honest look at the complicated and deep-seated issues of race during the days of segregation and later at a time after laws had been changed but hearts remained pretty much the same.

Klores's work is of special interest to me since I grew up during the time of segregation and early integration and observed some of this overt racial prejudice first hand as a child and later as a college basketball player and coach. After graduating from college in the mid `60's, I started my college basketball coaching career and recruited the first black players to a small college in Alabama. I spent most of my career coaching at NAIA schools, the NAIA being the first college athletic association to allow black playeres to participate. Despite the fact that the NAIA initially had restrictions on the number of black teams that could participate in their post season tournament, I am proud of the early stance (prior to that of the NCAA) that this organization took.

I was inspired by the documentary's portrayal of the inner spirit and courage of the black players and coaches during this troubled time, a spirit that enabled them to continue playing and coaching the game that they loved despite the fact that so many doors were shut to them at the college and professional levels. The documentary gave me new insight into the role of the historically black colleges and universities during this time of limited educational and athletic opportunities for African Americans. These school not only provided young black students a higher education but also served as a place of nurturing and mentoring - "safe houses," as one speaker called them - during this troubled time in our country. They also served as a platform for many very creatve and talented coaches to demonstrate their worth.

The documentary Black Magic exudes the sheer joy of black athletes who absolutely loved the game of basketball - players who honed their skills to perfection in less-than adequate circumstances and then persevered through the injustice and unending frustration of racial intolerance for further opportunity to play the game.

A portion of the second part of the documentary details how the civil rights movement helped open doors for black players to play in increasing numbers at predominately white institutions throughout the nation. The most significant changes in this area, however, were in the South where college basketball teams had been totally segregated. Unfortunately, it was years before black basketball coaches were given the opportunity to serve as head coaches at predominately white schools.

One consequence of black players' being given the opportunity to play at predominately white schools was that the tremendous talent pool that was available to coaches at historically black institutions was eventually depleted. In my opinion, the talent level at many of these schools was comparable to that of major colleges. Despite the fact that there are still a significant number of very strong teams at historically black schools, the overall talent level is not as good as it once was. The number of players from these institutions drafted to play in the NBA has sigificantly decreased over the years. On a postive note, the opportunity for black coaches to serve as head coaches at predominately white colleges as well as in the professional ranks has increased dramatically in recent years.

I think that all of us (black and white) owe the courageous black players and coaches who toiled for years under the national radar screen at historically black schools a debt of gratitude. Their efforts helped give deserving black players a venue to display their skills during a time of oppressive racial discrimination, provided significant impetus to the civil rights movement, and helped lay the groundwork for what the game of basketball has become today.

As a former college basketball coach, I have gained a new insight into the plight of black players and coaches during this time in our history through Dan Klores's documentary. I have always had a deep respect for the players and coaches mentioned in this produciton but after watching Black Magic, I have even greater admiration for their efforts.

Bill Elder is inducted into Lindsey Wilson College Athletic Hall of Fame

Bill Elder(on left) is pictured with Lindsey Wilson College Athletic Director Willis Pooler (center) and fellow inductee Don Green(on right).

Book Review in Montgomery Advertiser

Dr. Alan Gribben's (featured in attached photograph) review of Bill Elder's book entitled All Guts and No Glory was included in the February 10, 2008, edition of the Montgomery Advertiser. The review was listed in the Books Section (page 8F).

Lindsey Wilson College Athletic Hall of Fame Induction

I have recently been informed that I will be inducted into the Lindsey Wilson College Athletic Hall of Fame on February 16, 2008, at 6:00 PM. The ceremonies will be held at the Cramer Dinning and Convention Center on the campus of Lindsey Wilson College (located in Columbia, Kentucky).

Alan Gribben's Book Review of "All Guts and No Glory"

Surely most college coaches contemplate the idea of writing a book about their sports world experiences after they retire, but Bill Elder, who spent forty years as a coach and athletic director on various Alabama campuses, managed to accomplish this feat.

Elder confines his first memoir to his days as a student-athlete in the 1950s and 1960s and his first job at the age of twenty-three as basketball coach and athletic director at the fledgling Northeast State Junior College. The school was located close to Sand Mountain, an Appalachian ridge of insular communities known for its tasty tomatoes but in 1965 deserving its reputation as a Klan-dominated hotbed of resistance to the Civil Rights movement. In the nearby town of Scottsboro, to Elder's disgust, the movie theater still enforced a "Clored Only" balcony.

Initially Elder abided by stipulated racial restrictions in recruiting his players, but in his fourth season the college president gave Elder the green light to racially integrate his basketball team. Elder began rounding up prospective African American players, hoping to emulate Vanderbilt's decision three years earlier to abandon athletic segregation. However, he soon found that while "Scottsboro was only a hundred and fifty miles from Nashville," in terms of the citizens' willingness to accept change "it might as well have been in another country."

Two of Elder's black signees and their white teammates were immediately tauted and assaulted with fists outside a campus-area restaurant, and a mob stormed the school looking for the basketball players. Intruders broke into the house and turned on the gas stove. Members of the Klan became increasingly bold in their attacks that the school's registrar suggested, "as a friend" that Elder tell the black athletes "it would be better for them to go home before someone gets seriously hurt."

Elder's prose style in succinct and unequivocal. "The best thing that I did after practice that day was to go into Scottsboro and apply of a permit to carry a pistol. Since the ...local thugs were all armed, I might as well be, too." When the team played Brewer State Junior College in Fayette, Elder had his team picked up at another location, which proved to be a prudent decision, since the empty bus was blocked on Highway 35 by a group of men with guns looking for the black players. After a local attorney named Loy Campbell was critically injured by a car bomb in 1972 for defending black clients, Elder was warned in a telephone call that "you might be the next." Shunned by that faculty table in the school cafeteria, Elder found that his applications for other coaching jobs brought no responses. Reluctantly he gave up his coaching job and left for Tuscaloosa to study for a doctorate to qualify him for athletic administration. Nevertheless, "I am convinced now" writes Elder, "that one reason God placed me on Earth was to coach at Northeast State Junior Collge and provide the opportunity for black athletes to get a college education.

Elder's All Guts and No Glory deserves a place on the short shelf of highly readable coaches' memoirs as well as (on a higher shelf) inclusion in the stack of titles recording the toll of breaking down color barriers to create the New South

Dr. Alan Gribben is a professor of English at Auburn University Montgomery

Photograph from Alabama State University Book Reading/Signing

Some of the participants(Dr.Derryn Moten, Dr. Jimmy Cal and me) in my recent book reading/signing at Alabama State University are featured in the attached photograph.

Book Reading/Signing at Alabama State University

I have been invited to do a book reading/signing at Alabama State University on Thursday, January 24, 2008. The event will be held at the Thelma Glass Auditorium and start at 4:00 PM.

Paul Finebaum's Book Review of "All Guts and No Glory"

When the galley to All Guts and No Glory arrived in the mail in early spring, I shook my head, saying, "I know it sounds interesting, but I've been there and done that." How many more books can I handle set with the civil rights movement as the backdrop? A month later, with the tome gathering dust, I had inched no closer to cracking it open. Finally, knowing the deadline was knocking on the door, I took a shot and honestly couldn't put the book down. From the first page until the last, I was rivited by the words, dancing off the page, singing and humming and resonationg in a way I could not have imagined.

The book by Bill Elder, who has spent more than a quarter of a century as an athletic director and coach, has an eagle-eye approach to the early days of desegregation in Alabama. Brilliantly reported and exquisitely written, All Guts and No Glory should be a must reading for those interested in politics and religion as well as the sports audience.

Unlike many historical accounts of this dark era in American history, to say nothing of Alabama, Elder takes you there on the front line, or in his case the front row, as he painstakingly details his own experiences as the basketball coach at Northeast Alabama Junior College. He recruited the first black player to the school, and he talks about the cause and effect of his gut-wrenching and decisive decision.

Interestingly, it wasn't easy at first, not only because of the ground-breaking move but because black players didn't want to play there. Much of this had to do with the setting on Sand Mountain, just a stone's throw from Scottsboro, where one of the seminal moments in modern American history occurred-the famous case of the Scottsboro Boys.

Elder does a skillful job of weaving his profound faith into the ideas and ideals written in the book without being preachy. And in the end, the reader is treated to a wonderful personal journey through one of Alabama's darkest times.

It's also significant that Bill Elder's journey was not at a major school like Alabama or Auburn where the eyes of the nation were focused. His odyssey took place in the backwoods, which makes this book that much more enjoyable and heartfelt.

Finally, after reading the book, I had only one minor regret. I wish I had read it sooner.

Paul Finebaum is a sports columnist for the Mobile Press-Register and hosts a daily syndicated talk-radio show from Birmingham.

Chriss Doss's Endorsement of "All Guts and No Glory"

"Bill Elder is representative of many individual leaders in sensitive positions of surpervision who because of personal belief, were able to facilitate change that reflected and acknowledged genuine value and human worth regardless of skin color. All Guts and No Glory is a profound story of an era when our nation made significant strides at the grassroots, far beyond the court of sports." - Chriss Doss, attorney, Birmingham, Alabama

John Ed Mathison's Tribute to "All Guts and No Glory"

"Bill Elder coached during a time of high racial tensions, but knew what was right and proceeded to do what was right. He faced many adversities, but always sensed that God was with him." - John Ed Mathison, Senior Pastor, Frazer United Methodist Church, Montgomery, Alabama

Nancy Anderson's Compliments for "All Guts and No Glory"

"All Guts and No Glory is a painful story told with poignancy and candor. Such a narrative reminds us once again that we must remember our history so that we are not cursed to repeat it." - Nancy Anderson, Distinguished Teaching Associate, Professor of English and Philosophy, and Director, Actions Build Community, Auburn University Montgomery

Praise for "All Guts and No Glory" by Clifton Taulbert

"Through the lens of basketball, Bill Elder provides an honest look at the complicated and deep-seated issues of race while he was growing up and becoming a man (player and basketball coach) in pre-integrated Alabama." - Clifton L. Taulbert, Author of Once Upon a Time When We Were Colored

Praise for "All Guts and No Glory" by Wayne Flynt

"Bill Elder's memoir combines the three most powerful and sacred elements of Alabama folk culture: sports, religion, and race. Based on his experiences as basketball coach of Northeast State Junior College when he recrutied the school's first black student-athletes during the racially charged 1970s, Elder reminds us how harrowing those years were for racial iconoclasts in places such as Scottsboro and on Sand Mountain. His strength is recognizing paradox when he sees it: the evangelical religious values that provoked him to challenge segregation while different religious values caused his Southern Baptist brethren to ostracize him; college faculty and administrators who encouraged his martyrdom while running for cover themselves; sports offering opportunities for blacks that churches rejected. Memoirs like Elder's ...open entirely new vistas into the civil rights struggles after laws were changed but hearts stayed pretty much the same." - Wayne Flynt, Distinguised University Professor, Auburn University

Summary of "All Guts and No Glory"

Picture this: a white junior college on Sand Mountain, Alabama, in the early 1970s; a directive to integrate the basketball team; a faculty, staff and administration which, by and large, did not support this endeavor; and a community known for tis segregationist violence and KKK activity. This is the situation into which a young Bill Elder, a future inductee into the NAIA Basketball Coaches' Hall of Fame, cautiously brought several black players.

Things went well the first year; but unbeknownst to Elder, the community's white supremacist anger bubbled just under the surface. Soon, the team would face numerous threats, racial slurs and epithets, a mob attack on a team bus, a gang showing up at the college gym on a scheduled game night to "make things clear," and a house set to blow up upon entry-as well as anonymous phone calls suggesting Elder was on a "hit list." In the midst of all of this, Elder, with wisdom beyond his years-for which he credits God-led his team of young men unscathed through a two-year period of unbelievable obstacles intended to generate fear and intimidation. And they won on the court, too.

Elder's engaging, tell-it-like-it-is style makes All Guts and No Glory a memoir both thought-provoking and worth reading.

How I got started writing my first book

It is still hard for me to believe that I have written a book that has actually been published. I know that anyone who knew me "back in the day" is suprised as I was that a publisher would be interested in my work. I spent my entire professional career working in college athletics as a basketball coach and athletic director, never dreaming that I would some day be a published author.

While serving as the Athletic Director at Lindsey Wilson College (Kentucky), I was encouraged by a friend (an English professor at the college) to write about the experiences I had while recruiting the first black basketball players to play at a nearly all white junior college during the early 1970s. The school is located on Sand Mountain , one of the most racist areas in Alabama during that time. Taking into consideration that fact that I had no formal writing experience, I didn't really take my friend's encouragement too seriously. Sometime later, however, I decided to start spending an hour or two each night putting my thoughts on paper.

I quickly found out that writing a book is like running a marathon. I started out feeling positive about my initial progress, but before too long I felt as if I had run into brick wall. After many stops and starts, I completed a three-hundred plus page, single-spaced first draft that I was honestly ashamed for anyone to review. Secretly, I feared that anyone who read my work would either die laughing or think that I had finally lost my mind, thinking that a pubisher would be interested in my work.

After working up enough courage to present my manuscript to several publishers, I was pleasantly suprised that NewSouth Books thought that my work had enough merit to be published, if I made the changes that they recommended.