The Five Marks of a Man: Finding Your Path to Courageous Manhood

by Brian Tome

A boy doesn't automatically become a man at age 18. What differentiates a man from a boy is the way he lives. A boy lives day to day, wants to be MVP, plays, wants the reassurance of the crowd, and is a predator. A man has a vision for his life, is a team player, works, has the courage to take a minority position, and is a protector. These are the five marks of a man. It's not enough to just know them. A real man aggressively pursues them on a daily basis.

Drawing from his own experience and the lives of others, pastor Brian Tome calls on men to examine themselves and take steps in the direction of a fully realized manhood that honors God, respects women, elevates others, and works purposefully for an end greater than their own satisfaction or pleasure. It's time for men to step into their honorable place in the world and lean into a new reality--one defined by strength, purpose, and honor.

Audible Audio

Published October 2, 2018

Reviews

[Alex Flores · Rating 3 out of 5]

A brother that disciples me every week picked this book for us to read. We are almost finished walking chapter by chapter but of course my inner nerd had to read ahead and finish. This book had a lot of great insight and wisdom from Brian Tome. The reason I only gave it three stars is because I picked up a few tiny elements of woke-ism and leftist terminology mixed in with the book. Also, his writing can be incredibly cringe at times as if he is trying way too hard. Those are just minor and personal gripes.

That aside, Tome does have some very good ideologies about manhood and they are pretty much all backed by scripture. He dives into how men of God should carry themselves in all avenues of life. the five marks of a man that he elaborates on are 1. Men have a vision || 2. Men take a minority position (specifically on biblical truth when it is not popular at all) || 3. Men are team players || 4. Men work. || 5. Men protect.

I loved the details that he went into about each mark. He gives practical and biblical advice on how to live out that mark, and also at the end some chapters he has a section called "Now do something" which has several thought provoking questions to ask yourself about what you just read. The questions are actually very well put together and do a great job of getting you to apply the material of the chapter.
Regardless of the writing and certain terminology I didn't agree with, I definitely feel challenged as a Godly man to step up in the ways I have failed on the past. I also feel equipped with good advice and encouragement to do so. Over all a well balanced book that I would recommend to any man of God.

[Drew · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s not bad. There are some very important truths in there. The degree to which you struggle to unearth them is proportionate to the degree to which you have escaped the church camp/youth group Christian bubble you may have been trapped in growing up.

For me it wasn’t easy but there are indeed some important principles to have as handles to help me consistently define what true manhood looks like.

I think I’d enjoy some vices and good conversations with Brian, but he’s not getting me to one of those Man Camp things so that might never happen.

[Jason · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall, the book has a lot of good advice for men about how to grow as a man. The downside is that the author uses a lot of male stereotypes throughout this book, and while he will (at times) recognize that those stereotypes aren’t true, and aren’t necessarily helpful, I can see this book not reaching a number of men because they don’t fall into the traditional “masculine” stereotypes of America. If he could have skipped some of those stereotypes, this would have been a much better book.

[Kenneth Morgann · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is very practical in the sense of what you will learn in the ideas to becoming a man. Some sections and chapters were informational for me and I felt I learned a lot. Some chapters didn’t quite hit me like others, but hey this book is for all boys looking to become men, or for a man to become a better man in every sense of the word.