This is a great book for men who are sports fans.  I had never given much thought as to why the game of football has become such a huge part of our culture.   What is it about this sport that captivates us and why has it not caught on in other countries.

The author does a great job of taking a look at the history of football and helping us understand how football explains who we are as a people.  For instance,  the westward movement of the early pioneers is played out on a football field as a team capture territory and then defends it.

As I was reading about the concept of the huddle, I told my wife that it reminded me of what a church is like as people meet together to affirm each other and to commit to a plan to a plan.  A few pages later, I read about one of the early proponents of the huddle, University of Chicago coach Amos Alonzo Stagg.  As it turns out Stagg has studied to go into the ministry before becoming a coach in 1892.  Here is what the book records about his view of the huddle:

“Stagg viewed the huddle as vital aspect to teach sportsmanship.  He viewed the huddle as a kind of religious congregation on the field, a place where, if you will, players minister to each other, make a plan, and promise to keep faith in the plan and each other.”

He was concerned that prior to the huddle football was a mass chaos of brutality which often resulted in fights and sometimes death. 

This may all seem like a stretch but that is simply because I cannot say it as well as this author.  Trust me this is a very interesting, easy to read book.

I picked this book up because of the title.  I read a few pages and decided to give it a shot.  It definitely appeals more to women.  That has never stopped me from reading a book and many times gleaning some valuable insight.  In this case there wasn't much to be gleaned after the first few pages.  Lynn recounts her struggles thorugh her husbands unemployment, family financial challenges and her bouts with illness and injury. 

 She has a chapter on Used People that was very good.  Used people are ready for the scrap heap of life.  They are people who have been worn out by by jobs that drive them too hard or spouses who abuse them.  Some lives stall out because of unemplyment or loneliness.  She points out that when used people stop asking why and start asking what can God do with the life he has given me,  a transformation takes place.  At this point a used person can be used by God in a very powerful way.

Unfortunately, there was just not enough in this book to keep me going.  I gave up about halfway through it and moved on to other things.

I don’t often pass on information such as this but this video is very profound.  I am speaking on Sharing the Good News this weekend at FOTP Keller. As I watched this video which is a little wordy I was reminded of how open the world is to the gospel when we present it in the right way.  Penn Jillette is the taller, bigger half of the famous magician duo,  Penn and Teller.  He is an atheist.

“Always be ready to give an answer to those who ask about the reason for the hope that we have but do it with gentleness and respect.” – I Peter 3:15

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JHS8adO3hM

Wow! What I thought would be a very low attendance day for us turned out to be our highest attendance since we started our regular services.  We had 150 people in attendance.  It was a great day as we focused on the two purposes of Christmas – celebration and reconciliation. 

I am more excited than ever about the future of Fellowship of the Parks Grapevine.  God is truly doing and amazing work through some of the most incredible people I have ever met in my life!

Our son, John, graduates from Baylor tomorrow.  I am so proud of him and so very blessed to get to be a part of his life.  He loves the Lord, his family, friends and life.

John has already accomplished so much in his life.  He served in an inner city church in Boston the summer he graduated from high school.  For some time he got up early on Friday mornings to serve food to the homeless.  He is currently mentoring three young boys who have very challenging family situations.  In addition, he served as a chaplain in one of the dorms and he is actively involved in his church.

He loves to read, is a gifted speaker and has a great sense of humor – maybe he takes after me.  More importantly he knows the importance of relationships and has so many good friends – he definitely learned all this from his mother.  Just this week, two of his friends have spent time at our house on their way elsewhere.  They, like John, love the Lord and want to make a difference in the world.  It is absolutely refreshing to be around them.

Every dad in the world should have the joy and privilege of sharing their life with a son like John.  I do and for that I will always be grateful.

I have always thought of Christmas-time, when it has come round, as a good time, a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time: the only time I know of in the long calendar year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut up hearts freely; and to think of people… And therefore, though it has never put a scrap of gold or silver in my pocket, I believe that it has done me good, and I will say, God bless it.” – Charles Dickens

I agree with Charles Dickens as far as Christmas is concerned - God bless it.

One of the most interesting books I have read in the last few years was Blink by Malcolm Gladwell who is also the author of the Tipping Point.  When I saw him being interviewed on television about his newest book Outliers, I knew I wanted to read it.  I was not disappointed.

This is a fascinating book in which Gladwell looks at the underlying factors that contribute to success or failure.  By reading it I learned why Asians are much better at math than Americans,  why most professional  hockey players in Canada are born in January, February and March, why 14 of the richest people in the history of the world were born in the U.S. within 5 years of each other, and why Korean airlines once had 17 times more crashes than the average airline.

While some of this information may sound interesting but not terribly applicable, the overall theme of the book regarding success and failure is substantiated by these stories and studies. I love this type of book and can highly recommend it to those who share my passion for intriguing views of how and why life works the way that it does.

I don’t read much fiction but each Christmas I pick out one fictional Christmas book to read.  Pat purchased a copy of this book and I saved her the trouble of reading it by reading it first.  I have to admit I read it fairly quickly but overall the story was pretty predictable.

I knew that Glenn Beck was a Mormon so I suspected that it would present spiritual things from that perspective.  However, I would say that it even fell short of that.  His presentation of spiritual matters was more along a new age bent.

All that said, it should be noted that this book has a ton of 5 star reviews listed on Amazon.  Needless, to say I am not one of them.

I had picked this book up several times in the bookstore but never bought it.  Finally a copy was given to me.  I am glad I got it because it is a very good book.  My original hesitancy was that it appeared to be a feel-good positive attitude shallow book.  It turned out to be more.  It is a very practical, Biblically based look at how we can control the 50,000 thoughts we have a day and the implications of doing so.

One of the concepts he shares is regarding RATS – really awful thoughts.  RATS paralyze our potential for joy.  All of us have them. If we are not careful we develop really crooked thinking patterns as a result of RATS.

Here are some of the thinking patterns Newvberry identifies:

Amplifiers magnify unpleasant situations with the use of words like always, never, no one, and every time.

Feelers accept negative feelings as true with questioning them.

Guessers pretend to know what other people are thinking and then assume the worst ahead of time.  ( I am really guilty of this one)

Exaggerators transform mole hills into mountains with trigger words like horrible, worst, ruined, devastated, and stunned.

Identifiers overestimate how an event it related to them. They take things to personally.

Forecasters predict the worst case scenario even before an activity begins.

Cynics have a knack of finding something wrong, even if it s the only thing wrong.

Newberry gives practical advice for changing how we think.  He looks at the far reaching implications of following the advice given in Philippians 4:8 for us to think on the things that are true, noble, excellent, admirable and praiseworthy.

This is a very good book and it helped me to learn to be more conscious of my thoughts and more intentional about thinking the right things.  It is one of those books that I probably should read again from time to time.