"Men Of Sunday" Book Review

This book was written by Curtis Eichelberger who goes behind the scenes and on and off the field to give us a window into the spirtual journey of many football players, coaches. and their wives.  The book is subtitled, "How Faith Guides The Players. Coaches, and Wives Of The NFL".

Topics include:
1. How they give glory to the Lord.
2. How the players deal with the violent nature of the game as Christians who are called to love one another,
3. The sacrifices that are made especially by the wives.
4. How they overcome adversity like injuries and family concerns.
5. How they deal with temptation.
6. How they deal with transitions like life after football.
7. What it means to lead.

I would like to read through the book again and take notes even though I am not a professional athlete because the lessons of life are universal.  There is lots of wisdom these players, coaches, and wives have to offer.  Some of the people interviewed include: Tony Dungy, Ray Lewis, Aaron Rogers (very little), and Trend Dilfer and Matt Hasselback. The author also quotes many others including Tim Tebow and Joe Gibbs.  I learned a lot about some of the men that I didn't know.  I have always appreciated the faith of Tim Tebow and Tony Dungy.  I have read their books, "The Eyes of Faith" and "Quiet Strenth" respecively. Still, I learned more about these men of faith.

One important lesson that I took away from reading the book is that we must be willing to fail if we will ever accomplish anything,  A football quarterback comples am average of 62% of his passes.  That means he fails to complete 38%.  A NBA players makes 46% of his shoots and a MLB players is considered great if he fails to get a hit 70% of the time.

The other important lesson was a reminder that no matter what we go through our faith will sustain us and God is faithful to see us through even if we don't have complete understanding.

"7 Men And The Secret Of Their Greatness" Book Review

"7 Men And The Secret Of Their Greatness" was written by Eric Metaxas.  The author is a best selling author who has written several biographies incliding "Bonhoeffer". The author has chosen 7 men to serve as role models for men and those becoming men. We all need role models to inspire us and young people today certainly need men of great character and purpose to look up to.  Many of the roles models today; athletes and movie stars don't cut it.  Many of them don't even want to be role models.

I learned much about the seven men who were chosen as the role models for this book.  For instance I didn't know that Eric Little became a missionary. It was very a very interesting read. 

The 7 men written about are:

1.George Washington
2.William Wilberforce
3. Eric Liddell
4. Dietrich Bonhoeffer
5. Jackie Robinson
6. Pope John Paul II
7. Charles W. Colson

While the choosing of the 7 men are the author's prerogative, not all of them would have been mine. I would not have chosen Pope John Paul II, but I am an evangelical Christian.  I also would not have chosen Chuck Colson, although he was a great man. I can think of others I would place ahead of him. But again, this is personal opinion.  The reader would have his own ideas and I think this debate makes it even more interesting.

I recommend this book to any man and think it would be very helpful for those approaching manhood to read.  Character is the need of the hour and the secret to greatness.