I was handed a copy of this by my friend, brother in Christ, and local coffee shop owner, Eric Poulson. We were talking one slow day about some issues we’ve experienced over the years. He told me, “Hold on a sec.” Got up. Went behind the counter, and retrieved a copy of this book. He knows that I do book, and Bible reviews. I usually get books from the publishers to read, and review. I also buy them on occasion. This time was a bit different.

After reading this short book of 107 pages, counting the Conclusion, I determined that it would have been much more helpful to me about 20 years ago when I was raising kids. Not to say that it isn’t helpful now. At this point in my life, most of the thoughts the author Joe Rigney brings up in the book are thoughts that I had to work through without this precise, and concise work. It took a lot of Bible distilling to get things figured out. Rigney accomplished most of that work in this little book. If you are a young father, husband, and Christian, I highly recommend this book.

It is broken down into 6 chapters; 1 A Shakespearean Powder Keg, 2 Be Sober-Minded or Else, 3 Sabotage is Coming, 4 Courage in the Home, 5 Courage in the Church, 6 Courage in the World, and the Conclusion. In the first chapter he introduces the idea of degree. He gets this idea from a Shakespeare play, “Troilus, and Cressida.” He defines degree as, “the principle of cultural order or rule or hierarchy.

I found the 4th chapter to be the most helpful for young married couples, and would recommend since this is such a short book, they read it through together in a week. If they read a chapter a night, they’ll be done in 6 days. It will be helpful. I promise. One of my main considerations on recommending a book purchase is its helpfulness. After that, I consider if it is something that can be re-read over, and over again as a refresher. It should also be a book you can hand out to others. This book is all of that. Go out and buy a few copies! Here is an amazon link for you.

ISBN 978-1-59158-040-8