Confessions of a Good Christian Guy: The Secrets Men Keep and the Grace That Saves Them

Still reading this book, and have not yet finished. BUT so far, I am thoroughly enjoying. Was afraid this book might read like a self help Christian book, but it is written the opposite of that notion. It simply shares the authors' and others experiences so that you as the reader can apply the lesson to situations in your life. Highly recommended to read.

Life is difficult, there are no two ways around that, and this book doesn't pretend to say otherwise. The author gives example after example of men who have, by most standards, ruined their lives, and yet found grace & hope in God's forgiveness. He does a very good job of taking those examples and giving practical advice on how to work from both sides of the table. He never tries to say that you can forgo consequences for your actions, but offers hope (in Jesus) on how to live abundantly, despite them.

This book is a great view into what it mean to have an authentic faith that is able to get past wearing masks and be real with others and God. Tom shares his story that shows the radical, saving nature of God's grace in personal ways. Always a page-turner this book is a great gift (that's how I got it), or for a personal gut-check. I've been thinking about doing a men's bible study on it, too. Can't recommend it enough.

My husband and I just finished reading CONFESSIONS OF A GOOD CHRISTIAN GUY by Tom Davis last week. Tom is the president of CHILDREN'S HOPECHEST, a ministry to orphans primarily in Russia and Swaziland. Underneath the title of the book's cover are the words, "the secrets men keep and the grace that saves them". Tom's premise is that all men, even "good, Christian" ones, struggle with hard life issues. Some of these issues are more subtle such as pride and discouragement. Others are downright destructive such as alcoholism and drug addiction. Unfortunately, in the American church culture, honesty about struggles is not always encouraged. Too many men walk around wearing masks in fear that if anyone ever sees the "real" person behind the "good Christian" mask, that they will be rejected. Tom challenges men, in part by telling his own not-so-good story, to come clean. To take off the masks, admit their need for change and help, and trust God to heal and grow them through His unfailing love, mercy, and grace. Here's an excerpt from the book: "We will always have areas of deadwood in our lives. We will always be called to rip away the falsely righteous facades that tempt us and to talk honestly about what's truly happening in our lives. Sin flourishes whereever there are secrets. Hope, strength and an abundant life are found when grace is received and those secrets are torn away. Hopefully our struggles dinimish as we grow to be more like Christ---our battles with sin become less frequent as we learn to live victoriously. But I don't think we ever fully arrive at our destination, this side of heaven. That's what grace is always about. We alwys need it. And it's always available to us. That's the message of this book. Grace is truly amazing. We need it like we need our next breath." Tammy Maltby, author of CONFESSIONS OF A GOOD CHRISTIAN GIRL, has co-authored the book with Tom. Each chapter, dealing with a different sin area, is followed by Tammy's take on how people (such as wives or friends) can minister to the man in their life who is dealing with abuse, addiction to pornography, anger, etc. This aspect makes the book not just a book for men, but for the women in their lives as well. As my husband said, Tom's book is well-written and very honest, sometimes painfully so. Sadly, my husband says that in his experience, most churches don't seem to foster the kind of relationships that encourage total transparency, accountability, and recovery. Perhaps CONFESSIONS will motivate many out there to make the changes needed to indeed develop safe, supportive environments within the church where these desperately needed male friendships can happen.

Speaking as one of what I am sure are millions of "Good Christian Guy's", I appreciated the authenticity and fresh insight of Tom Davis' latest endeavor, "Confessions of a Good Christian Guy: The Secrets Men Keep and the Grace that Saves Them." While you may think you've seen books like this before that deal with the silent struggles of Christian men in a "high performance" religious culture, DO NOT OVERLOOK THIS BOOK. Besides the usual (and still helpful) themes of sexual purity, Tom takes us to the quieter yet no less pernicious places in our souls to reveal that we must expose our secrets to have victory over them. Dealing with the less talked about issues of pride, wanting to quit on our relationships, and numbing our pain are hard to hear, but also burden lifting as he takes you to a place of grace. I am sure I will reference this book many times more in the future.