How
God Makes Men by Patrick Morley is a good book.
Morley goes through ten
chapters guiding the reader to look at the faith of Abraham, the perseverance
of Joseph, the humility of Moses, the courage of Gideon, the heart of David,
the wisdom of Solomon, the zeal of Nehemiah, the integrity of Job, the boldness
of Peter, and the passion of Paul, arguing that in these ten histories form the
Scripture, one finds ten proven principles for living a godly life as a man.
The book is written in
a conversational tone and can be read quickly.
Morley intersperses the biblical story with personal and historical
anecdotes to show the principles in action.
Each of the ten major chapters has a principle to take away and a set of
questions for reflection and discussion.
In the tenth chapter,
Morley says that these are only truly accomplished in the person who has
surrendered to Christ – and he includes a “sinner’s prayer” for any who desire
to surrender or re-surrender their lives to Christ (170).
It is a good book. Morley explains why these are principles of
living that every Christian man should strive for. But it is not a great book. I say that because it tends towards
moralism. That is, rather than showing
how these principles are fulfilled in Christ and Christians are being matured
into them through sanctification, he almost makes it sound too doable. The struggle of becoming holy is not evident,
nor is the goal of Christ-likeness repeatedly affirmed and commended.
That’s why I say it’s a
good book, but not a great book. Better
ones can be found.
[I received this book
free from Waterbrook/Multnomah for a review and have posted the review on my
blog and on their website.]
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