“Knowing Christ is the best thing that has ever happened to me, although winning the US Open was a pretty good second.”
A round with God
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A round with God (Parables from the golf course), Matt Parsons, Lifeline Ministries Cornwall, 2009 ISBN 978-184426-739-2
The book is an account of the author’s experience as a golfer and preacher and the parallels that he sees between golf and Christian faith. He writes of the “wonderful link between my experiences at the golf course and my desire to share the greatest message on earth”. (Page 6)
He describes how he came to faith and how he got into golf. He draws many parallels between golf and faith:
The rules of golf and God’s rules.
The rescue club and how Jesus can rescue us.
Cheating in golf and sin in life.
Golf is inclusive; so is the Kingdom of God.
Golf club under new owner like God taking over our lives.
Matt Parsons clearly has a great love for people and has a wonderful ministry in his golf club. That does not, however, make this a great book.
He writes on the final page: “I hope that as you have read this book, you have not felt ‘preached at’ in any way”. I feel I did! Often he will end a chapter - which starts with a golf situation - with several pages of straight Christian teaching.
Golf professional, Andy Gorman, writes in the foreword: “This book is written around Matt’s experiences of the game of golf, but the principles can be applied at any work-place or social venue”. I agree and saw it as a weakness. The title suggests a book about golf. In reality, it is a book about Christian ministry.