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Sr. Vice President, Orlando Magic basketball team, since 1989
Author of numerous books
43 years in professional baseball/basketball as a player and executive
Served as general manager, Philadelphia 76ers
Manager of Chicago Bulls and Atlanta Hawks
Motivational speaker, averages 150 appearances each year
Has appeared in publications like Sports Illustrated, Reader’s Digest, The Wall Street Journal, etc.
Father of 19 children: 4 birth kids, 14 by international adoption and 1 by remarriage
The Warrior Within (Regal Books, 2006)
CBN.com
– THE 7:40 CLUB
Over Labor Day weekend 2004, Pat was in Peoria, Illinois as the guest of Northwoods Community Church. He watched the news as Hurricane Frances churned her way across Florida. Frances was the size of Texas and headed straight for Pat’s house in Orlando. After speaking at the church, the pastor accompanied Pat to the airport in case his flight was cancelled. The pastor asked Pat, “If you get marooned in Peoria, you can come with me to our 7:40 Club.” Pat asked, “What’s the7:40 Club?” The pastor explained that their club was a group of men who met on the first Saturday of each month at 7:40 a.m. Intrigued, Pat asked about the club. The pastor had stumbled onto 1 Chronicles 7:40. In the passage of Scripture, the Bible explains that a man named Asher had numerous descendants (26,000) and were “heads of families.” Pat pulled out his Bible and read the verse for himself. The “heads of families” were godly husbands and fathers, and also brave warriors and courageous men of strong convictions.
“If it hadn’t been for a hurricane in Florida, I probably never would have heard of Asher,” says Pat.
Ever since his life-changing experience in Peoria, Pat says he has been learning everything he can about Asher. Through his research, Pat discovered that Asher was the eighth son of Jacob whose mother was Zilpah. His name means happy and when Jacob blessed his sons in Genesis 49, he predicted that Asher’s food would be rich. Moses also blessed Asher and said that he would be favored by his brothers and that his feet would bathe in oil. (The lands once possessed by the tribe of Asher are still olive-growing regions to this day and provides an abundance of olive oil.) Pat says rabbinical literatures tells us Asher was honest and honerable. He was considered a virtuous man focused on bringing peace to his family and building relationships among his brothers. The 26,000 man tribe of Asher was not the most numerous but they were “choice” men, known for quality not quantity.
From what Pat discovered about Asher, it was clear Asher was a special man, complete in four dimensions of godly manhood: fatherhood, character, boldness and leadership. While God speaks quite pointedly about Asher, His description of him is compressed into a single verse. But God wants us to take note of Asher and learn some important lessons. “I believe God wants all of us, as men of God, to become spiritual descendants and imitators of Asher, complete in four dimensions of godly manhood,” says Pat.
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