Monday, August 29, 2011

Playing Hurt by Brian Goins


Today, I'm doing something a little out of the ordinary here at Net's Book Notes. My husband and I are part of the Playing Hurt blog tour. And my husband wrote today's review. Read on!

Let's begin with the summary of this book:

A marriage book that husbands will actually want to read!

Everyone admires people who play hurt, from the superstar athlete to the journeyman player who finishes the game even when hurt, sick, or falling apart. Everyone looks up to these athletes and wants to mimic their “never give up” attitude. Except when it comes to marriage. Most husbands are willing to take a bullet for their wives in a life-and-death situation; but when his bride fires the bullet--hurls an insult, disrespects him in public, ignores his foreplay in private--he’d rather throw in the towel than play through the pain.

Playing Hurt is a biblical playbook for marriage that speaks in the language most men understand—the language of sports. Using a sports analogy to explain the motivation, means, and methods of playing hurt, author Brian Goins shows men how to overcome the temptation to stay on the bench. Playing Hurt is more about inspiration than instruction. It’s about finding the motivation to stay in the game, despite the pain. It’s about becoming like the One who knew more about nails and thorns than any superstar athlete. Using Ephesians 5 as a biblical basis, this book will call husbands to be the heroes they long to be--men who play hurt in order to win at marriage.

And now, Paul's review:

Playing Hurt: A Guy's Strategy for a Winning Marriage is a book for husbands written for the man who doesn’t like to read books on husbands. It is down-to-earth, real and completely understandable for the average guy yet is full of valuable tools and unusual wisdom from a seasoned veteran who knows what he’s talking about. The sports metaphor of continuing to play ball and “staying in the game” even when it’s hard is a great way to look at the difficult, sometimes confusing, but always crucial role that we husbands play in our marriages.

As a men’s pastor at my church, I would strongly recommend the book to any of the guys I work with. While I have read my share of marriage books, I believe this one offers something truly unique, relevant and even life changing for those who are willing to take a chance and embark on this journey.

The genius of the book is that it will not only remind men of the high calling of being a good, biblical husband, but it will motivate them to go after it in a fresh way rather than beat them down with legalism or obligation. You will find encouragement here rather than guilt. This is achieved by tapping into the good things and potential waiting in a man’s heart to be released. Brian Goins is able to make the goal of being a good husband seem really big, glorious and uncommon—a grand prize worth reaching for with everything you’ve got rather than just doing the minimum to get by. All of the greatest teaching on marriage will do a man no good unless he can put it into action and stay with it. When a husband can effectively motivate himself to follow wise and effective guidance, nothing will be able to stop him from building a great marriage. We need more books like this for the guys. Playing Hurt can help you save your marriage, but whether that marriage is broken or strong, every husband can benefit from it. ~ Paul Irby

~~~
About the author: 
Brian Goins is the author or editor of numerous study guides, workbooks, and Bible studies that he has developed for Insight for Living (Chuck Swindoll) and Walk Through the Bible. When he’s not traveling across the country as a Family Life Weekend to Remember speaker, he and his family reside in North Carolina.

No comments:

Post a Comment