I’m not a Broncos fan, but I’m a Tim Tebow fan.

I’ve heard through some reliable sources that Tebow, an outspoken evangelical Christian, is the real deal.

From what I can tell, he is.*

And I’m cheering and praying for him.

Last week I read his recently released autobiography:

Tim Tebow with Nathan Whitaker. Through My Eyes. New York: HarperCollins, 2011. 260 pp.

It’s a fun story to read, especially if you like football.

It’s hard not to like the guy:

1. He works hard. Really hard. It’s inspiring.
2. He competes intensely.
3. He’s good at what he does.
4. He values character, and he’s a man with character.
5. He’s a natural leader.
6. He loves his family.
7. He loves Jesus.
8. He loves telling people about Jesus.

The book tells his story well. Tebow doesn’t come across like an obnoxious street preacher with a bullhorn. He naturally and winsomely talks about God and the Bible along the way as he recounts his life story.

Sometimes his Christianity sounds generic and imprecise (e.g., praying “to accept Jesus into my heart,” p. 16), but I reminded myself that his audience is not evangelical theologians.

His mission field is massive, and he is shrewdly stewarding his influence.

I read a lot of sports books as a kid. I wish this would’ve been one of them.

*I’ve never met Tim, but I did meet Peter Tebow, one of Tim’s older brothers, when he visited Trinity Evangelical Divinity School a few years ago as a prospective student. Peter now lives in Denver with Tim and is a student at Denver Seminary.

Admission: I subscribe to several Tebow blogs in my RSS feed:

1. Dan Shanoff, TimTeBlog: Covering the Tim Tebow Era
2. Tebow’s Eye Black
3. Tebow Zone

Updates:

1. Ted Kluck reviews the book.
2. Zondervan published a young readers edition of Tebow’s book.
3. Tim Tebow’s Platform Stewardship