Christianity Today recently had a piece on Justin Wren, one-time aspiring Olympic wrestler turned drug addict and eventual missionary to the Mbuti in Africa.
The story is interesting if you like the wrestling/MMA scene or bad-boy-turned-missionary stories. More relevant, though, was the picture Wren used at the top of his article:
For the uninitiated, that’s the interior of the US Air Force Academy Cadet Chapel in Colorado Springs, Read more
Olympic gold medalist in soccer Abby Wambach recently received a flight in an F-15 Eagle, courtesy of the Air National Guard in Montana.
“She was in the back seat, flying with Lt. Col. Larry Gardner, and she got to see some of the physical demands it takes to be a fighter pilot,” [Maj Cody] Smith said.
She also spoke to troops on diversity, encouragement, and “empowerment of women in the military.”
Louis Zamperini with David Rensin
Harper Collins, 2003 (2011)
Devil at My Heels is the updated autobiography of Louis Zamperini, an Olympic athlete, B-24 bombardier, POW, and Christian. It seems most people come upon the book by first finding Laura Hillenbrand’s Unbroken, the biography of the same man published around the same time.
Unsurprisingly, much of the text is the same. It is, after all, the same man’s true story. The stories are generally identical, though told in slightly different ways. As noted in the review of Unbroken, Zamperini’s story there is a well told narrative but lacks Read more
Laura Hillenbrand
Random House, 2010
Unbroken, A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption is the story of Louis Zamperini — an Olympic athlete, B-24 bombardier, POW, and Christian.
Zamperini is famous as the man who many believed “could have” beaten the 4-minute mile in the 1940s. At 19, he qualified for the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, even getting to shake Hitler’s hand after a 7th place finish — in which he sprinted one of the fastest final laps ever and beat every American time by more than Read more
Marine Sgt. George Lockhart, a martial arts instructor, recently applied for six weeks of leave in order to take part in the filming of a reality series called “The Ultimate Fighter.”
A Military Times article notes that his immediate commander had previously given him approval to try out, and Lockhart won an invitation to participate in the show that allows fighters to compete for a potentially lucrative UFC contract.
While his immediate commander also supported his request for extended leave to film the show, his commanding general ultimately determined that Lockhart’s unit was too busy to allow him the time he would need off. A Marine spokesman was also concerned about “barbaric” behavior on the show that might reflect negatively on the Marines, though that hasn’t stopped the Marines from using the show for recruiting ads.
Interestingly, Lockhart isn’t known just for his fighting:
A devout Christian who often quotes from the Bible, Lockhart said Read more