Thursday, February 7, 2013

Three Books of Impact

On 25 January I asked for your responses to this request – “Please list three books which have had a significant impact upon your service as a sport chaplain, character coach or sport mentor.” (Let’s assume the Bible is #1, so please list three others.) Thanks.


Below are the responses I received from all across the globe. Thank you very much for your thoughtful submissions.


From Stuart Weir of Verite’ Sport in the United Kingdom

1. “Sports Theology: Playing Inside Out” by Greg Smith, Indianapolis, IN: Dog Ear Publishing, 2010

2. “Scripture and sport psychology” by Derek de la Pena, iUniverse, New York 2004

3. “Real Joy” by J. Ashley Null, Hanssler, Germany, 2004

 
From Rex Stump - Buckeye Border FCA in Ohio (USA)

1. “Lead For God’s Sake” by Todd Gongwer

2. “Coming Back Stronger” by Drew Brees

3. “InsideOut Coaching” by Joe Ehrmann

 
From Morris M. Michalski of Athletes in Action in Ohio (USA)

(Obviously not satisfied to list just three.)

1. “Season of Life” by Jeffrey Marx

2. “InSideOut Coaching” by Joe Ehrmann

3. “Lead…for God's Sake” by Todd Gongwer

4. “Spiritual Leadership” by Oswald Sanders

5. “The Freedom of Self-Forgetfulness” by Timothy Keller

6. “They Call Me Coach” by John Wooden

7. “Game Day Glory” by Athletes in Action

8. “Rules of the Red Rubber Ball” by ESPN

9. “Sacred Hoops” by Phil Jackson

10. “The Winner Within” by Pat Riley

 
From Mike Berg of North Dakota (USA)

1. “Wild at Heart” by John Eldridge

2. “Mr. Jones, Meet the Master” edited by Catherine Marshall

3. “I Believe” by Grant Teaff

 
From Tim Schneckloth of IllIowa FCA (USA)

1. “Quiet Strength” by Tony Dungy

2. “Othodoxy” by G. K. Chesterton

3. “John Wooden’s Pyramid of Success”

 
From Amy Gray – Former Volleyball player in Wisconsin (USA)

1. “In the Name of Jesus” by Henri Nouwen

2. Life Together” by Dietrich Bonhoeffer

3. “When People are Big and God is Small” by Edward Welch

4. “Coach Wooden's Pyramid of Success Playbook” by John Wooden & Jay Carty

 
From Mike McGreath of Southwest Michigan FCA (USA)

1. “Lead for God's Sake” by Todd

2. “Training Camp” by Jon Gordon

3. “The Mentor Leader: by Tony Dungy

4. “Wins, Losses & Lessons” by Lou Holtz

 
From Randy Chambers of Delaware FCA (USA)

1. “Master Plan of Evangelism” by Dr. Robert Coleman

2. “Born To Reproduce” (booklet) by Dawson Troutman

3. “Living Free” by Mike Riches

4. “Not A Fan” by Kyle Idleman

5. “Radical” by David Platt

 
From Richard Gamble of Sport Chaplaincy UK

1. “Being a Chaplain” by Miranda Threlfall-Holmes

2. “Footballing Lives: As Seen by Chaplains in the Beautiful Game” by Jeffrey Heskins and Matt Baker

3. “Psychology in Football: Working with Elite and Professional Players” by Mark Nesti

4. “Thank God for Football!” by Peter Lupson

5. “Linvoy Primus: Transformed” by Linvoy Primus, Peter Jeffs

6. “Sport and Spirituality: An Introduction” (Ethics and Sport) by Jim Parry, Simon Robinson, Nick Watson, Mark Nesti

7. “Theology, Ethics and Transcendence in Sports” (Routledge Research in Sport, Culture and Society) From Routledge

8. “Keeping Faith in the Team: The Football Chaplain’s Story” by Stuart Wood

9. “Open: An Autobiography” by Andre Agassi

 
From Fred Billings of Cypress, TX (USA)

1. “Ragamuffin Gospel” by Brennan Manning

2. “Not A Fan” by Kyle Idleman

3. “Do Hard Things” by Alex & Brett Harris

4. “Wild At Heart” by John Eldridge

5. “Divine Romance” by Gene Edwards

 
From Fr. Brian Cavanaugh, TOR of Franciscan Univ. in Ohio (USA)

1. "The Road Less Traveled" by M. Scott Peck

2. "Virtuous Leadership" by Alexandre Havard

3. "The Mentor Leader" by Tony Dungy

 
From Jack Schugars of Ferris State Univ. in Michigan (USA)

1. "Sold Out" by Bill McCartney

2. "Uncommon" by Tony Dungy

3. "Bo's Lasting Lessons" by Bo Schembechler

 
From Mike Hansen of Calvary Church in St. Charles, MO (USA)

1. “The Servant” by Jim Hunter

2. “Leaders Who Last” by Dave Kraft

3. “What is the Gospel?” by Greg Gilbert

 
From Amy Hamson of Mt. Vernon, IL FCA (USA)

1. By Faith” by John Franklin

2. Any of the “First Place” Bible studies

 
From Dr. Ed Gomes of Liberty University (USA)

1. “Mentor Leader” by Tony Dungy

2. “An Invitation To A Journey” by Robert Mulholland

3. “Patterns” by Mel Lawrenze

 
From Tom Ramsay of Oregon State Football (USA)

1. “The Defining Decade” by Meg Jay

2. “Uncommon” by Tony Dungy

3. “Season of Life” by Jeffery Marx

 
From Chris Rich of Frederick Co. (Maryland) FCA (USA)

1. “Transforming Lives in Sport” by Roger Lipe We use this in all of our trainings and we give these out to all of the men and women we train as a resource. We have found this to be the most all-inclusive book and it is written for Character Coaches by one.

2. “Training Camp” by Jon Gordon We give this to many of our Character Coaches. This book is great because it is an easy read with great principles that apply to sport. It can ask then be used as a gift to coaches that they love.

3. “Coaching Character” by Randy Allen This book does a great job of giving the overview starting with the why and then moving through the how. It is also written by a coach.

 
From M. Erik Arneson of Shiloh, Illinois FCA (USA)

1. “What the Book says about Sport” by Stuart Weir

2. “Focus on Sport and Ministry” by Lowrie McCown

3. “Eric Liddell Pure Gold” a biography of Eric Liddell by David McCasland

 
From Bernd Breitmaier of SRS Pro Sportler (Germany)

1. “My Utmost for His h\Highest” by Oswald Chambers

2. Handouts from Lowrie McCown on how to serve sports people holistically

3. “Real Joy“ by Ashley Null

 
From Rich Garza of Soldiers for Faith Ministry – Co-Chaplain San Antonio Spurs (USA)

1. “The Calvary Road” by Hession

2. “The pursuit of holiness” by Jerry Bridges

3. “Experiencing God” by Henry Blackaby

 
From Rev. Henry Banda, National Director, Athletes In Action AIA, Malawi.

1. “Sports Outreach, Principles & Practice for a Successful Sports Ministry” by Steve Connor

2. “Into the Stadium” (an active guide to sport and recreation ministry in the local church) by Bryan Mason

3. “Recreation and sports ministry” ( Impacting postmodern culture) by John Garner.

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