It's Good to Be a Man

It's Good to Be a Man: A Handbook for Godly Masculinity, Embrace the Masculine Man that God Created, Inspiring Christian Books for Men by Michael Foster
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A solid book. Short, to the point, and clear.
Boys need to grow up, take responsibility, and pursue God’s calling on their lives. This involves virtue, vocation, friendship, and marriage. Men need to learn how to be strong, as this is their calling. (They don’t really say this, but strength – not just physical – is how men serve others around them.) Exhortations to endure adversity and work hard are the heart and strength of this book. But the authors do not overlook a reliance on God’s grace to see themselves as sons of a loving Father. Men are earners in the world, but no one earns God’s favor by being manly. We become godly men because we have God’s favor.

The chapter on the effeminate church is the longest, I think, and quite good. In music style, pastor behavior, and much else, the church is catering to a feminine mindset that turns away men.

The writing style is direct, suited well for men. I appreciated the concise simplicity.

Yet, on this subject of men’s and women’s roles, I am prone to want to nuance things carefully, which this book doesn’t do. I don’t fault them much for this – it needed to be a concise and simple book. But my biggest concern is that young men read this and get the wrong idea. Exhorting men to be wise and strong by saying there is a uniquely masculine way to manifest these, can imply that women are less called to their own sorts of wisdom and strength. Or even that they are called to other virtues altogether. Must the man supply all wisdom and strength for his wife and family?

Frankly, there are times a husband relies on his wife’s strength or wisdom, and this book seems to rule that out of the question. “Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted” (Isaiah 40:30). The famous next verse doesn’t say if they wait on the Lord that will never happen, but that their strength will be renewed, will return. When a wife strengthens her husband as he flags in discouragement, wisdom, or foresight, it isn’t some perversion of God’s design. It IS God’s design. She is a helper in these things, not just in caring for children and home. She tends him, even as he tends her. There must be a way to exhort men to godliness without implying “It’s all up to you.” When a father flags or fails, in certainly leaves an imprint, yet God’s grace can supply the lack.

A key theme is a man’s mission, and the same dynamic applies. Foster and Tennant get it basically right that his mission should be more front and center than it tends to be. But is it right to imply that marriage is subordinate to his mission? One can make a biblical case for this: the woman was given to the man to help him be fruitful and multiply. But this can easily be distorted to “My career comes before my marriage.” And what if the man’s mission/vocation changes over time?

But the authors are right that generally speaking a man should provide strength, a mission, wisdom, and more for his family. The authors do well in urging them on to this, and I recommend this book.

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Rules for Reformers - a review

Rules for Reformers by Douglas Wilson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

An outstanding book. A MUST read for anyone engaged as a Christian in cultural and political engagement as a vocation.

Christians fall into one of two ditches in the culture wars. They either opt out altogether, believing we are exiles in this world and shouldn’t get involved, especially not as the church. Or they are revolutionary firebrands, left or right, that seek to burn things down instead of build deliberately. The group I grew up in teetered on the brink of the ditch of the first group, and thus were completely ineffective – they could talk a good game about abortion and same sex marriage in church, but nothing much ever happened beyond that.

Wilson is a different breed, driving right down the healthy middle. Don’t be apathetic. And don’t be an impatient revolutionary. Think tactically about how to advance the kingdom in the public domain, and play it as it lies. Don’t be afraid to defeat Christ’s enemies politically, even as you seek to evangelize and love them personally. And above all, root any cultural or political engagement deeply in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Who talks this way, today?

As always, I have my quibbles with Wilson. His “I told you so” preface is a bit of a turn off, as is the chapter composed wholly of his tweets. (“Here’s how it’s done, folks.”)

But in the main, this book is well worth the read. Here are some samples.

“As you go to hear the Word preached… be sure to disconnect your inner lawyer (203).”

“As the body without the spirit is dead, so also a sermon without application is dead (200).”

“For us, ‘I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me’ is a Christian school slogan for our track teams’ T-shirts. Paul was talking there (Phil. 4:13) about this profound death and resurrection cycle in his own life, while we tend to think it is about jumping higher, running faster, hanging with cuter girls afterward, and all with whiter teeth (266).”

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The Best Christmas Pageant Ever - a review

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The movie now out in theaters, produced by Dallas Jenkins, producer of The Chosen series, is based on this book.

It’s a short book, geared to youth, but great to read as a family at Christmas time. The low-class, nearly-feral, unchurched family winds up with all the main parts in the annual Christmas pageant. They don’t know the story at all, so come to it with fresh eyes. It edifies some, and scandalizes others.

The angel says, “Hey! Instead of Behold!”
Mary burps the baby Jesus and is possessive of him, instead of simply looking pious.
The wise men give the one big gift they got in real life from the church to Jesus, and won’t take it back.
And why isn’t Herod in the pageant, and get what’s coming to him?

Newer converts to the faith can often translate Gospel truth to their lives far better than traditionalists. Alice Wendleken was sure Mary shouldn’t burp baby Jesus. But the Herdman kids figured out that Jesus was for THEM.

A final important lesson: Christ is not only for a certain personality type: the buttoned-down and sanctimonious. The brash, say-it-like-it-is types need a voice in the church.

Highly recommended reading!

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Something Wicked This Way Comes – Ray Bradbury – a review

Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Read this 5 years ago, and just reread it. Older review is below.

With a low-grade Jabberwocky-like, engaging style, Bradbury spins a fun yarn that addresses wickedness.

When a circus come to town at 3 in the morning, Jim and Will are both excited and disturbed. That’s the response sin evokes in all of us. They are both drawn to it and repulsed by it. Mr. Dark promises free rides and pleasure, but delivers death.

Evil captures souls, and doesn’t let go. Friends see it happen to their loved ones and object. Protest. Call them back. But it isn’t an easy project. It takes a mentor (in this case, Will’s father) to see through it, and explain it to the next generation. It’s no coincidence that he works at the library, finding refuge and wisdom there. When we learn the history of evil, it is in part defanged, unveiled, shown for the tawdry, shallow lies it promises.

But while the book is high on writing style, it is low on substance. The only answer given to defeating the Wicked that comes at you is – laughter. This is in part a good answer. The expulsive power of a better affection, as Thomas Chalmers wrote, is a good answer to the temptations of wickedness. But Bradbury’s laughter is as hollow as Mr Dark’s promises. Secular solutions to wickedness fall flat.

Will’s father is a faint hint of our true Deliverer from evil. Not just a stable, wise, joyful refuge, who evades and tricks the enemy. But a Deliverer who defeats him, head on. Bradbury depicts refreshingly the reality of evil in his secular time. But his worldview has no real answer to it. For that we need the Lord Jesus Christ.


2019 review:
Best known for his Martian Chronicles or Fahrenheit 451, Bradbury is an excellent writer – pretty easy to read, yet stretching vocabulary and compelling prose at times.

“The stuff of nightmare is their plain bread. They butter it with pain. They set their clocks by deathwatch beetles, and thrive the centuries. They were the men with the leather-ribbon whips who sweated up the Pyramids seasoning it with other people's salt and other people's cracked hearts.”

He evokes the looming sense of dread quite well, that something wicked this way is coming. He depicts friendship between the two boys beautifully.


Bradbury’s worldview is sad. Pathetic. The basic message seems to be that we make too much of death and evil, and give it its power by our own fears. If we would just smile, sing and dance, evil would vanish in a puff of smoke, and death would be undone. This is literally what happens at the end. It’s a ridiculous counterfeit savior from death, evil and hell.

1 star for content; 3 for writing skill. 2 stars over all.

Good reading for high school boys who can spot inadequate secular solutions to real spiritual problems.

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Leadership and Emotional Sabotage - a review

Leadership and Emotional Sabotage: Resisting the Anxiety That Will Wreck Your Family, Destroy Your Church, and Ruin the World by Joe Rigney
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Joe Rigney has done the Christian world a service with this short book. Addressing a particular kind of problem, he delves into what it takes to be a good leader when things go sideways in the family or church or community. Keep your cool, don’t get anxious. This is done by staying grounded in Scripture and the Gospel, and by detecting manipulation or sabotage. Don’t let the anxiety, anger, or any emotions of others drive things, whether it is a child, wife, church member or elder.

This book is mainly addressed to fathers and pastors, and they would do well to read it and strengthen their leadership by it.

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Men and Marriage - a Review

Men and Marriage by George Gilder
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A detailed and devasting critique of the sexual revolution. A fascinating and insightful look at the differences between men and women. Written in the late 70s, revised in the early 80s, Gilder questions feminist assumptions in detail. Assumptions which have settled into conventional wisdom since he wrote. Many of his assertions are shocking, now, but would have been casually received wisdom 100 years ago. He goes a bit beyond PG13 in his vivid descriptions of sex differences, which was new and interesting territory, especially psychologically and sociologically. I found his writing style gripping, though it’s a bit academic. He is a social critic who disagrees with 90% of sociologists in his thesis.

Basic thesis: If young men are not tamed by female virtue and sexuality, and brought into civilization, they become a destructive force. The only way to tame them, by the laws of nature designed by God, is for them to marry and commit to a woman and their children.

Gilder is prescient on many fronts. Here’s one:
“Rather than defending society, the young men attack it and exalt macho foreign potentates and desperadoes” (158). Read, Putin, on the right. On the left: Che Guevarra. Hamas.

Here’s a sampling of other quotes, to get you to take up and read yourselves.

"women in the home are not performing some optional role that can be more efficiently fulfilled by the welfare state. Women in the home are not 'wasting' their human resources. The role of the mother is the paramount support of civilized human society. It is essential to the socialization of both men and of children. The maternal love and nurture of small children is an asset that can be replaced, if at all, only at vastly greater cost." (210)

"Crucial to creating a civilized society is inducing girls to say no to boys. This requires strong and usually religious rationales and sanctions that differentiate by gender. Value-free sex education is a powerful invitation to premature sex (223)."

"There are no 'human beings,' just men and women... Men will do most of the production and women most of the reproduction" (227).

"To the average sexual liberal, the role of women seems so routine that it can be assumed by a few bureaucrats managing child development centers.... the duties of the home are so undemanding that they can be accomplished with part-time effort" (228).

"The woman's role is nothing less than the hub of the human community" (230).

"…the desire for male protection and support, the hope for a stable community life, and the aspiration toward a better long-term future. The success or failure of civilized society depends on how well the women can transmit these values to the men... those matters that we consider of such supreme importance that we do not ascribe a financial worth to them" (230).

"[Sexual liberals] deeply misunderstand what makes people happy. The pursuit of sexual promiscuous pleasures, which many of them offer as an alternative to the duties of family, leads chiefly to misery and despair. It is procreation that ultimately makes sex gratifying and important, and it is home and family that give resonance and meaning to life" (240).

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The Count of Monte Cristo - review

The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Read this years ago, but just finished it again.

A sweeping, dramatic, Romantic tale of unjust suffering, vengeance, and providence.

Edmond Dantes is wrongly accused of a political crime and locked away, so a “friend” can marry his girlfriend instead of him. After 14 years in a dank dungeon, Edmond emerges educated and fabulously wealthy, thanks to a fellow prisoner and priest. Edmond proceeds to wreak slow vengeance on each of his persecutors, seeing himself as an agent of God’s avenging providence. He is confident, patient, methodical, and unyielding, bringing each to their knees in terrible suffering for what they have done. But when at the very end his actions take the life of others he did not intend, he stops, realizing that God alone can bring justice to men. He saves the life of the innocent, leaving much of his wealth to them.

Dumas includes many different situations of injustice. A spoiled child, a jilted lover, a Romeo and Juliet scene, a son confident of his father’s innocence when he is actually guilty, a man wrongly imprisoned for 14 years, and more. Most of these are resolved in the story, giving the impression that justice CAN be done on earth. One wonders if Dumas had read Kant, about justice being left for the next life, and mostly demurring in this grand novel.

Providence is a recurring theme. The Count is repeatedly referred to as the hand, the very voice, of God Himself. He seems all-knowing, but can any mortal truly be so? To what extent can we carry out God’s will as human agents? Will we miscarry and harm others in the process? If we pursue justice over-much, does poetic justice turn into injustice? Is it right to take up vengeance personally, or should we leave it to much less competent and knowledgeable civil magistrates?

I HIGHLY recommend this book, both for these weighty themes and for the entertainment of the story itself, very well written. Dumas is a high romantic, so it may come across as overly dramatic and fraught at points. But it’s a great story, in the Princess Bride vein, which also raises important themes we should think more about.

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