"Call to Action" by Alun Ebenezer. A Review

 

As a dad of daughters and sons, I've always looked for resources to read with them and help bring about discussions. As they got older we went this way, and then that to try and achieve some aspect of "covering all our bases," as the saying goes. Even though my children have all moved on into adulthood, I still look for resources for other parents. So I was interested in "Call to Action: Become the Man God Designed You to Be." This wee 128-page manual looked to be something I would have used when the kids still lived at home. Alun Ebenezer, CEO and Executive Headmaster of Fulham Boys School in London, England, has given parents and youth ministers a little handbook they might just find useful. The working assumption in the book is, if "you get the men, you get the home, the church, and the culture" (viii), and that seems right to me.

This small compendium includes 30 short chapters that cover a number of aspects fathers, mothers, and pastors would likely want to cover with their young men. For example, the first several chapters dwell deeply on the gospel and coming to faith in Christ. Beyond that, many of the subjects move on to normal discipleship areas like prayer, church membership and involvement, and more. The subjects covered were to the point, but gracious and helpful. Such as when the author was discussing the need to listen and learn, he wittily observes, "Today we think we know best, and we act as if the two-thousand-year-old church has been waiting for us to arrive on the scene" (86). Or, while talking about the boys growing up as leaders doing the right thing, which is not always the easiest thing, Ebenezer turns toward these young male readers one day being husbands. In this regard he rightly states, "They are meant to lead in such a way that wives will find it easy to submit" (97).

This small book is easy to keep on track with, and follow along. It is ideal for dads and moms with sons, Christian Schools, and even churches. It appears that these volumes can be picked up individually but also in discounted case sizes to make it simpler for putting them in parents' hands. I recommend the book.

My thanks to Reformation Heritage Books for sending me a review copy at my request. This evaluation is all mine, freely made and freely given.