This is an informative and helpful book. Phillips makes it very clear what a man is to be. He glorifies God in his work (ch. 3), his life (ch. 4), and relationships with his wife, children, and friends (chs. 6-12).

Phillips draws from Genesis 2:15 which says, “And the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.” To work is to serve, labor, cultivate, produce good, and cause people and things to grow. To keep is to guard, watch and protect. The calling of a man is to wield the plow and bear the sword. To build up and keep safe. A man causes good things to grow and keeps precious things safe. After laying this groundwork in the early chapters, Phillips goes into the details about what this looks like in all spheres of a man’s life. It is theological and practical from start to finish. ( )

There were parts I really enjoyed about this book and parts I didn’t. The first half was insightful, challenging, and inspiring—a wake up call to stir men to action in their field, to lead, to be image-bearers of God; confident of their call and their destiny. I was literally strapping on my armour and readying my lance for battle when I began the last half of the book about parenthood and church.

Here the book took a dive somewhat, in my opinion, into dogmatism & (a little) chauvinism. There were, in retrospect, hints of it earlier on in the book, but there were also enough gems to overlook it. In the end though, the author’s military background cast too menacing a shade on his approach to parenting and church and I found myself disagreeing more often than not with his assertions. The second half of the book was overly dominated by personality and under-supported by scripture, in my opinion, which is ironic because he finishes on the topic of “I must decrease and he must increase”. ( )