Book Review: Father Hunger by Douglas Wilson

Books about manhood and fatherhood are beginning to pop up everywhere for good reason. Fatherlessness is an epidemic in our culture today. Douglas Wilson addresses this enormous issue with this book. With very heady information, he walks the reader through the original intent for men and fathers. This leads well into a revelation of the ways the culture has drastically neglected those intentions. That neglect has lead us into several saddening realities in our culture as we know it today. 

The title interested me, which is why I accepted the offer to review the book for Booksneeze and Thomas Nelson. As a new father, there as encouragement in the possibility of good information regarding leading a family.

The larger surprises were found in the amount of discussion regarding sexuality, gender roles, masculinity and feminism. It grew to be a bit much at several points along the way.

There were different ways he handled certain topics, which were very enlightening. His connection of modern atheism to the fatherless epidemic is very intriguing. The connection to education is also very clear and easy to recognize.

On the other hand, there were quite a few topics addressed which felt like a great stretch. There are some generalizations that strike me more as an opinion, which smacks of conspiracy theories and “hell in a hand basket” outlooks. Even with the offerings of advice and challenges to step up as fathers, there remains a lack of restoration.

Finishing the book proved more daunting than I had expected.

I love my family TOO much: father fiction part 2

We are told to "seek first His kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be added to us" (Matt. 6:33). We want to know our children will grow to love us and their hearts will turn toward us as they continue to grow, but too often we try to make our children our numer one priority. We make them our world, and then we wonder why our godly parenting has not yielded that closeness. Jesus was starkly clear when he said in Luke 14:26 "if anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brother and sister, yes, even his own life, he cannot be my disciple."

Too many of us have made idols of our own children and spouses. We think we are loving them by doing this. We think we are raising and supporting good Christian families by doing that, but we are only idolaters. 

We are not going to build strong families by our own diligence, but only if we seek God and his kingdom first...and then all these things will be added to you.

The solution is seeing parents, and particularly men, seek to be Christ followers FIRST. It is seeing men love Jesus Christ more than their mothers, fathers, wives, and even their children.

Because when we do this, we have a fellowship and connection with the greatest love of all. When we make an idol out of our kids or family members, we lose connection and fellowship with the source of greatest love.

When we love Jesus MORE than anything and anyone, He gives us all we need. He returns children's hearts to their fathers and fathers to their children (Malachi 4:5-6).