Hard Fighting Soldier: Finding God in Trials, Tragedies, and Triumphs

This book is amazing. I finished it in two days, the only reason it took me that long was because I started in the evening of a busy night for me. For me to finish a book that fast says a lot because I have only finished maybe 5 books in high school and college (I'm a sophomore in college now) and I have taken AP English courses in high school and literature courses in college. I just don't typically enjoy reading, but this book was so good that I could not put it down. Well written and great theology and Christian experience anyone, not just athletes, can gain from.

This book is quite different from a lot of books on the Christian faith. It has many short chapters and moves quickly from one area of Chette's life to another. It does cover some details of Auburn football because that is an early part of his life and his current position is as Chaplain for the Tigers. However a good bit of the book covers his family life, interactions with friends growing up, and his early work in Christian ministries. I thought the style of writing was execellent because it blends his view, with comments from other coaches, team members, and friends that provides a compelling view of how God does work in each of our lives - many times in ways that we only understand many years after He does the work. It is an easy read, and very entertaining to hear some of the behind the scenes stories of Division I football. I really enjoyed reading it.

Chette Williams' passion and living faith come alive in this simply elegant touching work. It is a personal, genuine and inspirational account of his challenging life as an initially troubled and lost college student and football player who in God's hands is transformed into first a team leader, and then is miraculously led on to be a minister and "fighting soldier" from the toughest neighborhoods of New Orleans to his return as chaplain for Auburn University fooball, where he continues to this day helping tranform the lives of players, coaches and all those God allows to cross his path. It is not a self help book, but with Chette's passionate anecdotal style and the intense experiences and challenges he describes, it is a markedly relevant tool for coaches, teachers and anyone ministering to or leading young people. Don't miss it. When you finish, you'll wish every college student in America could know these truths.

This is much more than a football story or sports story. It is an inspirational and entertaining story of one man's journey in faith and how he has come to have a very positive effect on many others. It also illustrates the unique opportunity that is present in every college athletic department for having a tremendous positive effect on the athletes in the various programs.

Does God help Auburn win football games becaue of the Chette Williams' ministry? Is God an Auburn fan? Is God favorably inclined toward Auburn because of all the praying Auburn does? Can a person, team or coach pray its way to victory? Deep theolgical questions all. Are we humans, messy mortals that we are, trying to manipulate the Almighty and get what we want when we want it? Are we reducing the Almighty to some kind of Santa Claus-God by some of the things we ask for, demand and expect to get? Is that true in the sport of football at Auburn? All of these questions and more are firmly, simply and plainly addressed in Chette Williams' book. One may or may not agree with the answers and perspectives addressed, but one can not come away without a deep and abiding appreciation for the depth of Chette Williams' faith and the way he has put that faith into action at Auburn. What has happened at Auburn can happen anywhere and that is one of Chette's goals in writing this book: to help other players, other coaches at other schools find that peace that passeth all human understanding that many have found at Auburn through his ministry. No, prayer doesn't win football games...hard work and preparation do that, along with talent and ability,but a sense of peace enables humans to perform at their best, and that is what Chette has done for Auburn--helped players and coaches find a peace that the secular world does not understand and sometimes refuses to accept. This is not a "preachy" book. Chette, ably assisted by Auburn alumn Dick Parker of Looking Glass Books in Atlanta, have successfully avoided that always looming pitfall in books of this type. This is a real life, down to earth, dirt under the fingernails, look at faith at work and in action. That it happens to be at Auburn is, in the end, immaterial. It's a good read, a worthwhile read for football fans of any school and especially for persons wondering about and wanting to know more about God's role in the outcome of contests and competition in the secular world.