{"id":4231,"date":"2010-09-30T09:04:30","date_gmt":"2010-09-30T15:04:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jesusneedsnewpr.net\/?p=4231"},"modified":"2011-05-03T16:59:58","modified_gmt":"2011-05-03T16:59:58","slug":"does-god-play-football-win-chad_gibbs-book","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesusneedsnewpr\/2010\/09\/does-god-play-football-win-chad_gibbs-book.html","title":{"rendered":"Does God Play Football? (Win @Chad_Gibbs Book)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>This is a guest post by my friend Chad Gibbs<\/a>, the author of the very thoughtful and hilarious God and Football<\/a><\/em>. (You can follow him on Twitter here… @chad_gibbs<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Last week when I excitedly told my wife that Matthew Paul Turner had asked me to guest post on his blog, she replied, \u201cThat\u2019s great. Who are they?\u201d I went on to explain that Matthew Paul Turner was in fact one person, and not to be confused with Matthew, Paul, and Turner, the 60\u2019s folk trio. She nodded, but still lacked the excitement I thought the moment deserved, so I went on to explain that MPT is pretty famous, and he\u2019s written nearly a dozen books, and his blog has millions of readers, half of who are likely to buy my book after reading my post. \u201cSo what\u2019s his blog about?\u201d she asked, finally sensing the enormity of the moment. I told her it\u2019s about pop culture and the church, and sometimes sex, and once a week or so
\nhe posts funny pictures of Jesus. \u201cAnd he thinks his readers want to hear from a guy who wrote a book about college football?\u201d And with that my excitement level dropped down to meet hers, because while Matthew does have millions of readers, I\u2019m not sure any of you care about college football.<\/p>\n

But here\u2019s the thing, I don\u2019t really care about football either. I mean I obviously care about it on some level, I wrote an entire book about how much I struggle with my passion for my favorite team. But as for the game of football goes, the X\u2019s and O\u2019s if you will, I couldn\u2019t care less. In fact, most of my knowledge of formations and blitz schemes comes from playing years of John Madden on PlayStation. That being said, football is one of the most important things in my life, particularly in the fall. Not because I\u2019m a player, or a coach, or some degenerate gambler with last week\u2019s paycheck on the line. No, football is important to me because at some point in my life I decided my worth as a person is directly proportionate to the success of my favorite team. Not the healthiest perspective on spectator sports, I know, but at least I\u2019m now aware of how messed up I am.<\/p>\n

This level of self-awareness didn\u2019t come easy, and it didn\u2019t come at all until 2008, when my Auburn Tigers suffered through a particularly poor season. I began to wonder why after losses I had trouble even making myself go to church, let alone worshiping the God of the universe. I mean in the end football is just entertainment, and if I see a bad movie on Saturday night, I don\u2019t sulk through Sunday morning\u2019s praises choruses.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

So in the fall of 2009 I decided to tour the SEC, and spend a football weekend at each of the 12 schools. At each stop I spent time with rabid, Christian fans, like myself, and tried to get a sense of how others were able to keep football in it\u2019s proper place. And through this journey I began to realize football felt so important to me, only because I was attaching so much importance to it. We all do it, maybe not with football, but with our job, our spouse, or even our church. It\u2019s when we replace God with something that isn\u2019t God that things start to get out of whack. You know I\u2019m happy to live in the south, where the passion and pageantry of college football is unmatched. There is nothing like spending a crisp fall Saturday with friends and family, watching your favorite team on TV or in the stadium. And I\u2019m happy that this sport, as great as it is, isn\u2019t my God. I just hope I can remember that this fall.<\/p>\n

So would you like a free copy of my book, God and Football: Faith and Fanaticism in the SEC? It\u2019s being called an illuminating, laugh out loud look at the place where faith, football, and fanaticism meet. Of course I\u2019m the one who\u2019s calling it that, but we\u2019re giving away copies here, so if the book sucks at least you didn\u2019t pay for it. Anyway, Matthew, Paul, and Turner have five copies to give away, and all you have to do to win is post the name of your favorite team below. Any league, any sport, doesn\u2019t matter, although if you throw in a \u2018War Eagle\u2019 you may get extra consideration.<\/p>\n

WIN CHAD’S BOOK: <\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

HERE’S HOW TO ENTER…<\/strong><\/p>\n

Leave 1 comment.<\/p>\n

Leave 1 more comment for every time you re-Tweet this giveaway!<\/p>\n

Tweet and enter as many times as you like.<\/p>\n

**Contest ends Saturday**<\/p>\n

Chad Gibbs found football at the age of eight, found God one year later, and has spent the rest of his life worshiping one of the two. He and his wife live in Auburn, AL with their dogs Bob Vance and Harper.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is a guest post by my friend Chad Gibbs, the author of the very thoughtful and hilarious God and Football. (You can follow him on Twitter here… @chad_gibbs) Last week when I excitedly told my wife that Matthew Paul Turner had asked me to guest post on his blog, she replied, \u201cThat\u2019s great. Who…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":412,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,71,103],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4231","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-books","category-giveaway","category-guest-post"],"yoast_head":"\nDoes God Play Football? 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