Customer Reviews

Every Man's Battle: Every Man's Guide to Winning the War on Sexual Temptation One Victory at a Time (The Every Man Series)

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4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is not a 'coffee table' book. Once you read it, you'll see why. This book lands every punch when it comes to the challenges facing men trying to live pure, spirit led lives in a sexually-saturated society. If you're sick of old habits and destructive patterns of behavior and thoughts, then it's time you got serious about the reality of the fight we're in. This book goes straight for the jugular and tackles the major issues you're likely to have faced in a direct and unflinching manor. If you're not serious about getting sorted in this area, then this book will only frustrate you, and you'll find plenty of reasons to dismiss it, and carry on living in the same way. If you are serious then prepare to have some major renovation work done.

The book tackles the problems of sexual sin, addiction and negative behavior patterns, in a very practical and gritty way. Looking at the reality of the problem, and often the simplicity of the answer. Avoiding long winded protracted arguments about the nature of sin or spirituality it offers simple, direct advice on how to break old lifestyle habits and begin to walk in freedom, one step at a time. And it genuinely works!

This is no great work of theology, or literary masterpiece. It's just simple, straight advice about how to live the sort of life the Bible calls us to, in a society which gives us every opportunity not to.

There are some omissions in the book, such as the role of emotions, but all in all there's enough to be getting on with. It's an abrupt challenge to the heart of every man who knows that there's more freedom to be had, and longs to walk with purity and integrity, with helpful sections written by the wives of the authors which give an insight into how women perceive men's struggles.

And although the suggestions are hardly flawless, if you were drowning in the ocean, would you start picking holes in the nearest dinghy you could reach?

The focus of the book is two fold. Firstly it is a self council book as it deals with a lot of personal issues and methods of disciplining one's self.
The second purpose is guidance. The book essentially teaches you how to interact with other men on its theme topic and guide them into dealing with the issues at hand.
It's focus is on male intimacy issues that concentrate on dealing with pornography, masturbation and relational progress. There are three main life skills that are brought out of the book.

1) Temptation and Habit:
The first issue to be dealt with in the book, is the trap and temptation of pornography and masturbation. The focus is on the consequence of wrapping yourself in these habits and identifying the different cause that lead to negative sexual habits. We learn that it is through a lack of intimacy and lack of strong relationships that root men in these desires. We see how different things like boredom and depression or 'low moments' can lead to men resorting to self gratification in order to feel some level of intimacy.

2) Battle defences:
The second issues deals with setting up personal defences against temptation and habits in order to break out of sexual restraints. The focus is on habits that can be broken through practices of discipline and focusing the mind on things that are pure and separate for realms of self gratification. It focus on placing the individual in places of social safe guarding and the setting of personal accountability in order to help with the self discipline process.

3) Intimacy:
The final running focus of the book is based around intimacy. That guys need to have a deep and intimate relationship with God, and with the people around them. Often when energy is not put into these to areas, men can feel alone (or perhaps rejected socially) and resort to self gratification. The focus point here is to build relationships that are significant and strong, and spend time engaging with God in order to fulfil the emotional needs that a man needs.

Summary of the book:
Many taboo issues are dealt with in this book, and their causes of the emotional void are identified well. The void is there because men lack input into relational areas and so resort to sexual gratification to make them feel whole (if only for a moment). The book does a very good job in articulating the voice and feelings of many men who struggle with habits of self-gratification and as guilty conscience It doesn't just identify the problem but equips you to deal with your self and help deal with others when battling against temptation.

This is an excellent and practical book. I bought this for my son who has been struggling with being faithful to his long-time girlfriend, and with whom he has two children. It has proved to be a great help to him and offers a wealth of encouragement, especially on the spiritual side. He loves it!

This excellent book has helped to save our marriage.After discovering that my husband was one of the vast numbers of men caught up in viewing pornography on the internet I was devastated, being a strong Christian I knew Jesus regarded it as adultery, I thought my marriage was over and that I would never be able to trust my husband again. I contacted a Solicitor straight away and waited for the divorce proceedings to begin, but my husband asked for another chance saying he knew it was wrong and that he would never do this sort of thing again,I wanted to believe him and knew I would have to try to forgive his sin, I realised he needed help to keep his promise. I came across this book on the internet and sent for it in the hope it would provide my husband with the help he needed, it proved to be a gift from God it not only gave my husband an arsenal of weapons with which to fight against satan's temptations, it gave me as his wife, an insight into how the male mind works differently to the female mind. Men being generally sexually aroused visually are constantly faced with the assault of sensual images from all sorts of directions, TV, magazines, the internet, movies,the high street etc. This book explains that it may not be possible to avoid the bombardment of sexually provocative images all around us and the temptations that the enemy uses to entice men into sin, but it is possible to rise above and resist these temptations. "Every Man's Battle" shares the stories of dozens who have succeeded in escaping the trap of sexual immorality,and offers a practical, detailed plan for any man who sincerely wants to grow in sexual purity and remain faithful to his wife or future wife. The book calls for courage, commitment and self discipline.

Awesome. If you can read this book (and you're a Christian man) and think that you don't need to put into practice what it preaches, then you're either lying or there's something disturbingly wrong with you. The subjects that Stoeker and Arterburn tackle in this book have been swept under the carpet too many times. Their candid and practical approach to the problem of sexual integrity is utterly refreshing and at the same time devestatingly effective. If you want to be set free from sexual sin ('...there should not be even a HINT of sexual immorality among you...') this book is essential reading.

I have read many books like this, and none has come close. This book hits you like a punch in the face. Absolutely spot on, but unlike so many other books, in a realistic way you can actually see yourself benefitting from, rather than just making you feel guilty!

Not sure how you could possibly find this book anything less than wonderful, unless you're being force-read it whilst tied up or something... If you struggle with your eyes and thoughts, and lets face it at least 90% of men do, and you want to be able to control yourself, this book is for you.

If, however, you don't feel it is a problem to ogle every woman you want even though you're married, you'll disagree with this book. But then, why would you even pick up a book like this? :)

Personal experience... my marriage (which has always been happy) has been improved more than I ever could have imagined by reading and applying this book's wisdom. I borrowed my brother-in-law's copy, read it through in 2 days and now I'm ordering it, planning to read it at least once a year for the rest of my life.

Get it on your shelf next to the Bible and Nicky & Sila Lee's Marriage Book. A better marriage can surely only be a good thing!

Extremely heavy christian bias throughout, unfortunately I didn't read that before I bought it. very full on in terms of sin and other christian concepts; Basically unless you believe in the 'christian' way of life , I would steer well clear. Trying not to offend people here, but even if you believe in the underlying philosophy, its not a great book, little practical advice, more on a level of sheer willpower and self- flagellation. This is just my opinion.

I read this book a few years ago, during my ongoing struggle with sexual sin, and at the time I believed it would solve many of my problems. However it quite simply did not.

The most commendable thing about this book is that it is based on practical solutions and its motivational sections serve to supplement these. Many other sources I've read on the subject seem to focus too much on the latter, making this offering a refreshing one. Much of the purely practical advice contained in the book is in fact very useful; it asks questions about the lines we draw in the battle for purity and gives very specific ways of defending these. The whole approach of 'bouncing the eyes' and tackling the thought processes behind this I found particularly useful.

Unfortunately the flaws in this book go rather deeper.

The practical advice in this book is aimed at the married man, and all suggestions are made with the assumption that there is a legitimate outlet for your sexual energies. I believe this approach has made this book almost redundant for helping single men. The one page of advice offered for them is flippant at best.

Moreover, the book appears to make the fatal error of presenting male sexuality as something that is, at its core, dirty, and must be occasionally pacified by one's spouse and every attempt must be made to supress its expression outside of this. Being unmarried I cannot say how succesful this approach would be for married men, but it seems fundamentally flawed that the authors would discount the emotional and profoundly spiritual nature of sexuality and speak of sexual temptation soley in terms of a very masculine disdain for God's standards for purity and a need to fulfill animalistic desires.

The accusatory and fearful rhetorical stance, coupled with the frankly unrealistic perfectionism it demands, particularly of the motivational sections, will I fear prove counter-productive as it could quite plausibly feed into a cycle of guilt and comfort seeking that is so pivotal to the struggle of many men, an oversight I find hard to forgive.

This book may offer some very useful practical advice for those seeking to strengthen themselves in the fight against sexual sin, however the battle goes much deeper than this book takes you. Take its advice with a large pinch of salt, as I found many of the opinions unbalanced and statements presented as fact to be unsubstantiated.

If like me your struggle seems more serious, if it feels more intertwined with your past and your person, and if you are single then I would recommend something like Rob Bell's 'Sex God' or John Eldridge's 'Wild at Heart' to introduce you to the issues that may need to be faced as part of your battle. Otherwise I would only recommend this book with a great deal of hesitation and as a supplement to a deeper issue.

When I first bought this book a few years ago I didn't read it. I wish now that I had read it over and over agin so that the truths contained in the writing had been ingrained on my mind so that I could have avoided the pitfalls of life and hurt that I have caused through my actions. If you are a man that is struggling with any kind of sexual struggle, buy and read this book. Know that you are not alone in your struggles and that real men all over the world share in your plight, but also that there is a way forward. READ IT BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE FOR YOU.

Brilliant. Absolutely brill. I've read it and still am and so has my wife for that matter. In fact, even though I bought the book, she read the book first and highly endorsed it to me.

I've since purchased a number of copies and busy giving them away as I see fit.

It's one of those books that you just KNOW, EVERY man needs to read. Singles, husbands, fathers and sons. The truths and insights contained in the book are essential.

The book is honest and transparent, challenging and practically very useful.

It's excellent and really addresses the subject matter well.