Disciplines of a Godly Young Man
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Great for Father/Son or small group
About this Book: Point blank, this is a punchy, no-holds-barred book for young men. Laying out the challenges to be disciplined, godly and sold-out for Jesus, the authors talk about purity in your thought-life, cultural pressure, and perserverance as a Christian. Let father and son Ken and Carey Hughes help you live a life of integrity and become the man God is calling you to be.
Our Thoughts: I have to be honest and tell you that when Disciplines of a Godly Young Man arrived in the mail, I handed it to my husband and asked him to read it for review so this review is all his thoughts on the book. As parents to a son, we would love nothing less to see him grow up in the Lord, get saved and live sold-out for Jesus in everything he does. This book covers 14 disciplines such as friendship, prayer, work, our speech, witnessing, tithing and more that all Christian men (regardless of age) need to have in their lives. Each chapter contains not only their thoughts/writings but also includes "Food for Thought", a life application that summarizes what you've read in that particular chapter and even a list of additional resources for the discipline you've just learned about. My husband said this book was filled with lots of "sports stories" and since it is written to be geared toward young men and their fathers I guess that is why they chose sports stories. However, if you are not a big sports fan (like my husband who prefers the outdoors to a sports event) you quickly get tired of the sports illustrations. Thankfully he said there were a few non-sports related illustrations but sports seemed to be the theme of illustrations and stories in this book. At 180 pages, this book is very easy to read and written in a manner that young men could easily understand as well.
Disciplines of a Godly Young Man is available through Crossway and not only makes a great father/son study but would make a great small group Bible study as well. It would also be a wonderful homeschool Bible study for middle and high school age young men as well.
June 4, 2012
Good tool for deepening a Christian walk
Disciplines of a Godly Young Man, by R. Kent Hughes and W. Carey Hughes, discusses, as the title suggests, 14 disciplines that need to be developed in Christians. (Although we are not saved by works, our actions and choices can help us walk more closely with God.) I was immediately drawn into the book when the introduction described the lives of men that we consider geniuses in their respective fields. Leonardo da Vinci is known, among other talents, for his amazing drawings of the human figure. But he drew thousands of hands as training for this skill. Mozart tallied up 3500 hours of piano practice before his sixth birthday! Thomas Edison invented the light bulb after a thousand failures. The authors make the valid point that if we Christians want to achieve Christ-like character and an intimate relationship with God, then we need to put effort into achieving these goals.
The disciplines discussed include: purity, friendship, mind, devotion, prayer, perseverance, church, giving, witness, ministry, and tongue. A chapter including scripture references and real-life examples is devoted to each.
Although the intended audience of this book is young men, I found these disciplines applicable for my life as well. Many chapters were both convicting, motivating, and applicable to my life. I highly recommend this book for young men of high school or college age who desire to become godly men and are motivated to work toward that goal.
Disclaimer: I received a free review copy of this book as a member of the Crossway Review program. All opinions are my own.
May 15, 2012
great resource for teenage boys
What is discipline? For many people, the first answer that comes to mind is punishing a child to correct a wrong. ThatâÂÂs part of it, but thereâÂÂs so much more. The basic meaning of âÂÂdisciplineâ is training. âÂÂTrain yourself for godliness; for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptanceâ (2 Timothy 4:7-9). Based upon this passage, Disciplines of a Godly Young Man encourages young men to develop and nurture twelve different disciplines grouped in four categories in order to be godly. After a couple of introductory chapters, they are Relationships: Purity, Friendship; Soul: Mind, Devotion, Prayer; Character: Tongue, Work, Perseverance; and Ministry: Church, Giving, Witness, Ministry, followed by a concluding chapter on the âÂÂGrace of Discipline.âÂÂ
The theme of the book is found on pages 22-23: âÂÂUnderstanding this, we now get down to the reason for this book, which is that in todayâÂÂs world and church, young Christian men who are disciplined are the exception, not the rule. Why? The answer is that the popular, politically correct culture of the new millennium suppresses manliness, and especially the manliness and leadership of young men who attempt to follow Christ. The reasons are several (feminism, entertainment, and legalism), and together they are daunting.â Under âÂÂPurity,â the talk about sex is frank, though certainly not salacious, but it is very true and needed! There are some excellent comments under âÂÂMindâ about television and movies, under âÂÂWorkâ about the need for a spiritually disciplined work life, and under âÂÂChurchâ about the importance of church attendance and the benefits of worship. Also, the Hugheses have a great discussion about the difference between discipline and legalism.
I will say that the use of all the sports examples, apparently cited to make the book appealing to young men in our athletic-saturated society, leaves me somewhat cold because I am totally disinterested in sports. However, I suspect that many readers will find them meaningful, and other kinds of illustrations are provided for those who are not into athletics. Depending upon their religious background, there may be a few word usages and theological concepts with which some may disagree. However, these differences are minor to the purpose of the book, and I think that Disciplines of a Godly Young Man would make a great resource for use in a âÂÂlife curriculumâ for a homeschooled teenage boy. R. Kent Hughes, who authored Disciplines of a Godly Man, is âÂÂSenior Pastor Emeritusâ of College Church in Wheaton, IL, and his son Carey Hughes is âÂÂSenior Pastorâ of Christ the Redeemer Church in Spokane, WA. KentâÂÂs wife Barbara wrote Disciplines of a Godly Woman, and together they produced Disciplines of a Godly Family.
May 12, 2012
This product is very user friendly
This father/son combo serves as a practical guide designed specifically for young men to aid them in pursuing a life of godliness. The key text throughout the book is 1 Timothy 4:7-8, "But have nothing to do with irreverent and silly myths. Rather, train yourself in godliness, for the training of the body has a limited benefit, but godliness is beneficial in every way, for the present life and also for the life to come."
The book is set up around twelve "disciplines" of the Christian life: purity, friendship, mind, devotion, prayer, tongue, work, perseverance, church, giving, witness, and ministry. It is both an easy read and clearly written. It is not heavily theological and is helpful for the young man who is either brand new in the faith or for a young man who has never been a reader.
THE GOOD
1)The Hughes' have delivered on their intent to be practical. There are lots of helpful things they have to say in the area of application. The young man will glean many ideas that will help him jump start his walk with Christ.
2)Each section ends with a series of questions designed to help the reader dig deeper in the area of that particular discipline. This makes this book ideal for a small group study and discussion. In fact, I personally think the book's primary value is in the area of small group ministry.
3)The book is designed to be an "entry level" type book and is very easy to read. It will not intimidate the new believer or the young man who is part of the "non reader" group that the book mentions.
THE BAD
1)There is little explanation of the gospel in this book. It is never clearly stated that godliness is the result of Jesus Christ's substitutionary atonement on the cross. If fact, there are times when the book seems to imply that Jesus' primary work on the earth was to serve as our example to follow in disciplining ourselves.
2)The Hughes warn about the danger of legalism but go on to give a list of over 100 items in their book. They try to explain that this is not legalism, but it comes across as very confusing.
3)The message of the book boils down to "try harder". Throughout the book there is a reference to discipline being like going to the gym and the reader is on numerous occasions are exhorted to employ "spiritual sweat". The cloud of witnesses of Hebrews 12 are even said to be cheering "you can do it!" to believers down here on earth (p. 125). It would have been good to see "you can't do it, but that's ok because Jesus did it for you!" which serves as the true motivation for godliness.
Overall Disciplines of a Godly Young Man is a mixed bag. The Hughes have a lot of good things to say about disciplining your mind and church attendance, for example. However, the book is mostly self effort and not a reliance upon God's grace. Trusting in God's race as you discipline your life is not mentioned until the final three pages, almost as an afterthought. As I already mentioned, this book would make an excellent book to handle in a study group, and I recommend it for that purpose.
February 11, 2012
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