I was in fifth grade when I told Martin Nackman girls can do everything better than boys, and I believed it with all my heart. He spent a lot of lunchtime explaining the fine art of building forts, and I’m sure he went on to be an architect or an engineer. But not even his long dark eyelashes could change my middle school mind that he was just another messed up man. After all, I was growing up in an era when men were being stripped of their manhood, when things like building forts don’t score, even for Martin Nackman. It hasn’t gotten any easier to be a man today. Most females conclude that most males are just messed up men.
A lot of women have a lot to say about men today. Whether it’s a boyfriend, a dad, a brother, a co-worker or a husband, girlfriends gather ’round to count their woes about their men who fall short of all their hopes. If we live anywhere but a convent, we’re probably going to find ourselves frustrated at some point by the men around us. For those of us who are blessed to have a godly guy to do life with, we sometimes feel like we have to keep quiet, lest we find ourselves in a real life episode of Mean Girls. I can personally say it’s not bad to be blessed. But what do we say about the messed up men? That question made me jump at the chance to read a new book by husband/wife team Tina and Dave Samples, Messed Men of the Bible – Seeing the Men in Your Life Through God’s Eyes.
What I love about Messed Up Men
- Tina and Dave wrote this together. There’s a great idea!
- This couple is really honest about life between men & women. Respectful, but honest.
- Very practical applications for truths from the stories of real men.
- Scripture is interwoven throughout all of the chapters.
- This book focuses on men like Peter, Nebuchadnezzar, Saul, Moses, Job, Elijah, Solomon, Judas, and Gideon.
- Each chapter includes “Moving Beyond the Mess” with questions to answer and further scripture to explore.
What I don’t love about Messed Up Men
Sometimes the back and forth between Tina and Dave was a little hard to follow, but I really liked hearing the blended perspectives of a man and woman. This is really written to women, and it would be a good book to work through with a friend. A real friend brings truth and grace into conversations about the messed up men in our lives.
I was a little hard on Martin Nackman. As I grew up and learned about my own messed up heart, I discovered the men in my life need the same thing the women need: grace. “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” (Philippians 1:6) Boyfriend, husband, son, brother, dad, or co-worker … we can see the men in our lives through God’s eyes.
If you want help to know how to make peace with the men in your life, Messed Up Men of the Bible may be part of the good work God wants to do in your life and his.
