Customer Reviews

Game Plan for Life: Your Personal Playbook for Success

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Joe Gibbs has had an incredible professional career in sports - three-time Super Bowl winning head coach of the Washington Redskins and owner of a three-time NASCAR championship team that has nearly 500 employees - but it was never a clear trail to the winner's circle.

He has stumbled off the path and needed to double-back a few times due to feeling that he had all the questions and answers to life. Yes, this successful head coach sometimes thought he could outsmart the Head Coach.

"Life to me is a game, and you and I are the players. God is our Head Coach, and no one wants to lose the biggest game of all," writes Gibbs. "In the game of life, our Head Coach loved us enough to send His Son to die for our sins."

Christian faith is the cornerstone to gaining a true understanding to the meaning of life - through the Head Coach (God) and Playbook (the Bible) - and Gibbs utilizes personal accounts that are candid and conversational in tone to set the foundation for tackling a number of issues within the 14 chapters of Game Plan for Life: Your Personal Playbook for Success (2009 hardcover; Tyndale House Publishers).

Gibbs personally commissioned a respected national public opinion research firm to survey men and find out what they are most concerned about and where they'd like to have success in their lives. It revealed 11 areas of prime concern - including health, finances, relationships and overcoming sin - which then allowed him to develop a team of experts to address each topic.

"See, the bottom line is that I have found something special, something that works, something that has given me a sense of peace and purpose and fulfillment. But despite what a few sportswriters and a kind business associate or two have said along the way, I'm about as far from being an intellectual as you can get," Gibbs writes. "I was a P.E. major. You know, physical education: ballroom dancing and handball!

"I'm no scholar. I'm a regular guy who saw his dream come true."

There are 11 unique voices, with Dr. Ken Boa (The Coach: Who Is God?), Ravi Zacharias (Sin and Addiction: How Do I Deal with Sin?), Charles Colson (Salvation: How Do I Get on God's Winning Team?) and Don Meredith (What Does God Say about Marriage and Sex?) delivering particularly strong messages.

The book is truly organic in design and an educational tool that can be utilized and shared with others for many years. "Remember, life is a team sport," Gibbs writes.

Joe Gibbs - the man behind Joe Gibbs Racing (NASCAR) and two stints as head coach of the Washington Redskins - has released a book with his new "team" of experts.

Game Plan for Life is written for men. But I don't understand why women couldn't have been involved as experts. Maybe it's just his way. (But don't be offended, it's still a great book)

Each chapter is devoted to an area of life men are concerned about. Gibbs asks 11 different people to address each topic after he shares a few pages from his own life.

The topics include:
Finances by Ron Blue
Health by Dr Walt Larimore
Relationships by Don Meredith
Vocation by Dr Os Guinness
The Bible by Josh McDowell
God by Dr Ken Boa
Creation by Dr John Lennox
Sin and Addiction by Ravi Zacharias
Salvation by Chuck Colson
Purpose by Dr Tony Evans
Heaven by Randy Alcorn

As a fan of football and those who profess to be followers of Christ in the national media, I greatly enjoyed reading about the struggles and success of Coach Gibbs and how he became a devoted man of God.

I have been reading Joe Gibbs book "game plan for life" and wanted to share my thoughts so others will also read this book. I was expecting a book like Tony Dungy's. I really enjoyed his book and was hoping for another good one. As I started reading Gibbs book, I realized that his book is much deeper than Dungy's. Game plan for life goes deeper into topics of Christianity and lets ones know the truth about various topics.

This book is broken up by various authors who share their thoughts on various topics. Gibbs selected various ones who are educated in certain areas to share their thoughts.

Football is mentioned in this book, but it is not the main topic in this book. Gibbs does a good job of introducing different religious topics.

I would recognmend checking this book out at your local bookstore.

Although Joe Gibbs was writing for men in this superb book, it is one that can be just as valuable for women. I think it is a must read for people of both genders - both Christians and those who are not (at least yet).

As Coach Gibbs was gearing this work for men, he started off by polling a large sample (700) of them to find out what they think is really important. From this data, Gibbs and his team decided to focus on eleven areas that are of great interest to men. Then as a great leader, he found eleven subject matter experts to address these topics. In the various chapters, the author penned his own thoughts and experiences in these subjects and then had a substantial contribution from his various specialists. Had women been included in the poll, my guess is that most of the topics would have remained the same.

Frankly, the wisdom of Gibbs is very impressive in and of itself, but he has added immeasurably to that with the different contributors. The very important topics covered are the following:

Can I Believe The Bible?
Who Is God?
How Did Life Begin?
How Do I Deal With Sin?
How Do I Get On God's Winning Team?
What Does God Say About Marriage And Sex?
How Do I Master My Money?
How Do I Build A Successful Life And Career?
How Do I Achieve True Health?
How Do I Get The Most Out of Life?
Where Will I Spend Eternity?

When it comes to covering a wide range of critical topics, I think it would be pretty tough to top this list.

The first of these topics is covered by Josh McDowell. A world renowned expert on Christian apologetics, he gives a short, but very powerful lesson on the reliability of Scripture. Buying the book would be worth it for this chapter alone. When I read this section, I did not think it could be topped. That may be true, but several others are at least equally as good.

Another excellent one is the section on 'Who Is God?' by Ken Boa. As he says, 'There are two kinds of people - those who seek to know God, and those who seek to avoid Him. Both will succeed in the end.' In this part, Dr. Boa will certainly help readers gain a strong grasp on this topic. I have not previously read any of Boa's books, but I have certainly put some of them on my 'to read' list.

I could go on for a long time about each chapter as they are all excellent. In the interest of space, I will avoid doing that. I will say that the chapters by John C. Lennox, Ravi Zacharias, Charles Colson, and Randy Alcorn are some of the most important writings that anyone could read.

I heartily recommend this book for everyone. For Christians, some of the topics listed are obviously of interest. I would argue that anyone who is interested in the biggest questions of life would be wise to invest in this.

Buy this for yourself. Buy it for friends and family members for a gift. Read it and enjoy. It is a great journey.

Share this book with anyone willing to read it. Helped me in ways I can't describe, & explained alot of things I had questions about.
I plan on rereading portions again & again. I only wish I could meet Joe Gibbs in person to let him know how much this book has meant to me & my family.

I ordered this book for my husband and he is not a reader. He sat down and started reading the book and couldn't put it down. He said it is really great and was thinking of ordering it for all his sales reps.

This is a fantastic book by coach Gibbs, I recommend it to everyone. It especially hits at the heart of men. Every chapter is thoughtfully applicable, and it very nicely shows how a life plan is tied to God.

I gave a copy of this book to all the guys on my Christmas list! It was perfect for each one - ages 18 to 87. Sure made shopping easy this year! Many wonderful men (there are a few heroes still out there!) contributed to Coach Gibbs' book. Terrific buy!!!

In this book, Coach Gibbs uniquely combines his sports background, his strong faith, and the viewpoints of several other well known spiritual writers into a thought provoking and uplifting book for men. He puts the heavy spiritual stuff into everyday language that men can relate to and understand. A good and interesting book for any man. I ordered more copies of this book for my sons and my son in law!

This is an inspiring book.Joe Gibbs is a great man, and tells us all how God led him to overcome obstacles and become the incredibly successful and happy man he is today. An easy read, and his co-authors are wonderful. All three, Joe Gibbs, God, and this book are winners.