McCartney, former head football coach at the University of Colorado, author of Ashes to Glory, and founder of Promise Keepers, believes that God wants greatness for the church and revival for its pastors. But what hampers the church and its male leadership (there is no other kind in McCartney's world) is blind spots: areas of spiritual ignorance or neglect that most pastors aren't even aware of. The most important of these, according to "Coach Mac," is "the growing divide between Christians of varying ethnic, theological and socioeconomic communities." In a folksy, half-time-pep-talk kind of way, the book's chapters spell out the importance of humility, justice, integrity, prayer, relationships and teamwork in the service of reconciliation. It spells it out, in some cases, literally: McCartney employs acrostics and other gimmicky tools, including apt aphorisms, quotable quotes (including many from the Bible) and illustrations from his own football days. For a powerful white Protestant evangelical leader to be shouting about economic justice and racism and unity in the body of Christ—this is bold and right. But the book has a few blind spots of its own. The self-declared emphasis on reconciliation between believing Jew and Gentile seems tacked on, not woven throughout the book. And the spiritual warfare language characteristic of right-wing evangelicalism is off-putting to many, as is its hyper-patriarchy. However, fans of Coach Mac and collectors of all things PK will appreciate this rather surprising book. (Mar.)
Forecast:John Eldredge's book
Wild at Heart seems to have revived the Christian men's movement, which should help boost sales, though Promise Keepers may already be past its glory days as an organization.
