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Building Strong Families
The stresses of modern society are slowly eroding the foundations of American family life. What can we do to stop the decline? Offering a biblical blueprint for rebuilding our families, trusted teachers and noted authors offer vital insights into marriage, spiritual renewal, mentoring strategies, and more. Contributors include Dennis Rainey, John Piper, and Susan Hunt
240 pages, Paperback
First published June 27, 2002
About the author
Dennis Rainey
197 books36 followersDennis Rainey is president and CEO of FamilyLife, a division of Cru. Dennis and his wife, Barbara, have spoken at Weekend to Remember conferences around the world. Dennis serves as the daily host of the radio program "FamilyLife Today". He and Barbara have authored more than two dozen books, including the bestselling "Moments Together for Intimacy" and" Moments Together for Couples". The Raineys have six children and nineteen grandchildren.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
January 24, 2015
It is a long time since I started a book and was unable to finish it. I simply could not read past page 45!
My observations are as follows:
Based on the fact that the author was co-founder and Executive Director of Family Life would have been reason enough for me not to buy this book. Secondly the connection that the author has to the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood and Wayne Grudem would have been the final straw! Their Danvers Statement is restrictive to women in that it states, among other restrictive things, that leadership in the church is not for women.
The author continually speaks about the high divorce rate in the church but for him the penny does not drop! Obviously how he has been teaching about marriage i.e. submission, headship is not working!
Page 23
He suggests that some radical treatment to reverse the trend of divorce is needed and cites a "good" example of a pastor who will not marry a couple if the bride to be "intends to work outside the home after marriage." !
Page 32 and Page 33
The author sets out what the members of the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood wrote in the Danvers Statement on Page 32 and on Page 33 what egalitarians (which is what I believe emphatically!) say. For me the contrast between the two is self explanatory. When I read Page 33 I think "This is what I believe Christ came and died for". When I read Page 32 I see laws and human reasoning.
Page 34
The emphasis of the author is constantly on the creation order and how this automatically places Adam in the superior position. This is not God-thinking but human-thinking!
The author states on page 34 "It is unmistakable, then, that Adam had a leadership role in representing the entire human race, a leadership role that Eve did not have. Nor was it true that Adam and Eve together represented the human race. It was Adam alone who represented the human race, because he had a particular leadership role that God had given him, a role that Eve did not share."
I do not know how the author comes to this conclusion as the Bible gives no such indication that God’s creation of Adam first (in Gen 2) indicates that males are meant to be dominant over females. Although the Hebrews did give first preference to the first-born son, God’s acts tended toward the opposite! God chose Jacob, instead of Esau (the older twin) to be the ancestor of the Hebrews. God chose Moses, the younger brother of Aaron, to lead His people from Egypt and to become the Great Lawgiver. God chose David, the youngest son on Jesse, to be the most prominent king of Israel and the ancestor of Christ!
This book just says the most mind boggling things!
Page 38
The author quotes Raymond C Ortlund who he says rightly says "God's naming of the race "man" whispers male headship." Biblical scholars would have gladly explained to the author and Mr Ortlund that the word man = human beings. In other words, Mr and Mrs Adam not just Mr Adam!
The bible says in Genesis 1:26 "Then God said, "Let us make human beings (adam) in our image, in our likeness… verse 27 "So God created human beings, in his own image, in the image of God, he created THEM; MALE AND FEMALE he created them. I do not read anywhere in the bible that women were excluded!
When I read to page 45 I had enough! The author states the following about his wife and his relationship:
"But in every decision, whether large or small, and whether we have reached agreement or not, the responsibility to make the decision still rests with me". WOW, a recipe for disaster I would think! Are not both men and women gifted equally?
When I paged through this book I thought of a book that I have on my bookshelf entitled "10 Lies the Church Tells Women" and I would like to recommend this book which will further expose the lies told by Dennis Rainey in this book "Building Strong Families".
My observations are as follows:
Based on the fact that the author was co-founder and Executive Director of Family Life would have been reason enough for me not to buy this book. Secondly the connection that the author has to the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood and Wayne Grudem would have been the final straw! Their Danvers Statement is restrictive to women in that it states, among other restrictive things, that leadership in the church is not for women.
The author continually speaks about the high divorce rate in the church but for him the penny does not drop! Obviously how he has been teaching about marriage i.e. submission, headship is not working!
Page 23
He suggests that some radical treatment to reverse the trend of divorce is needed and cites a "good" example of a pastor who will not marry a couple if the bride to be "intends to work outside the home after marriage." !
Page 32 and Page 33
The author sets out what the members of the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood wrote in the Danvers Statement on Page 32 and on Page 33 what egalitarians (which is what I believe emphatically!) say. For me the contrast between the two is self explanatory. When I read Page 33 I think "This is what I believe Christ came and died for". When I read Page 32 I see laws and human reasoning.
Page 34
The emphasis of the author is constantly on the creation order and how this automatically places Adam in the superior position. This is not God-thinking but human-thinking!
The author states on page 34 "It is unmistakable, then, that Adam had a leadership role in representing the entire human race, a leadership role that Eve did not have. Nor was it true that Adam and Eve together represented the human race. It was Adam alone who represented the human race, because he had a particular leadership role that God had given him, a role that Eve did not share."
I do not know how the author comes to this conclusion as the Bible gives no such indication that God’s creation of Adam first (in Gen 2) indicates that males are meant to be dominant over females. Although the Hebrews did give first preference to the first-born son, God’s acts tended toward the opposite! God chose Jacob, instead of Esau (the older twin) to be the ancestor of the Hebrews. God chose Moses, the younger brother of Aaron, to lead His people from Egypt and to become the Great Lawgiver. God chose David, the youngest son on Jesse, to be the most prominent king of Israel and the ancestor of Christ!
This book just says the most mind boggling things!
Page 38
The author quotes Raymond C Ortlund who he says rightly says "God's naming of the race "man" whispers male headship." Biblical scholars would have gladly explained to the author and Mr Ortlund that the word man = human beings. In other words, Mr and Mrs Adam not just Mr Adam!
The bible says in Genesis 1:26 "Then God said, "Let us make human beings (adam) in our image, in our likeness… verse 27 "So God created human beings, in his own image, in the image of God, he created THEM; MALE AND FEMALE he created them. I do not read anywhere in the bible that women were excluded!
When I read to page 45 I had enough! The author states the following about his wife and his relationship:
"But in every decision, whether large or small, and whether we have reached agreement or not, the responsibility to make the decision still rests with me". WOW, a recipe for disaster I would think! Are not both men and women gifted equally?
When I paged through this book I thought of a book that I have on my bookshelf entitled "10 Lies the Church Tells Women" and I would like to recommend this book which will further expose the lies told by Dennis Rainey in this book "Building Strong Families".
December 21, 2023
It was okay I guess, though kinda shallow to be honest. Had a very minimal understanding of the bible with just like surface English translation understanding. They seemed to miss the whole spirit of God is feminine in Genesis, and all that. They seemed to miss that wisdom is feminine, and that emotional management is masculine. They quoted Song of Solomon but didn't understand what it was inuendoing. It is well just okay I guess.
May 30, 2012
This was a excellent book about building your family up in the Lord. Great chapters about raising boys and raising girls. Excellent advice about nurturing your marriage and what kind of affect it can have on your children. Def a must read!
November 13, 2012
This was a good book that focused on a lot of important issues. It felt disjointed at times though because it is, after all, an edited book. Overall it's worth reading for an overview of the challenges, responsibilities and ways forward for godly families.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews