A ton of prayer will never produce what an ounce of obedience will. After all of the praying, if you don’t obey, you nullify all of the praying. Belief plus action equals faith. - Edward Louis Cole
Maximized Manhood is a relatively quick read that strikes at the heart of what it is to be a real man living in the promise and provision of God. Dr Cole shares his revelation concerning how the Children of Israel were denied entry into Cannon as a result of 5 unrepentant sins. These were Lust, idolatry, fornication, tempting Christ and murmuring which Cole goes on to unpack and describe. Cole feels that these same sins are preventing men today from reaching their full potential or as he as termed it, ‘Maximized Manhood’.
Dr Cole asks men to confront the sin in their lives and confess it to God with a changed heart and changed attitude. Often the temptation is to nullify the Holy Spirit’s power to transform our lives by refusing to be convicted and instead reclassify sin as mistakes, mishaps, slipups or weaknesses.
Cole basically says it’s time to ‘man up’ and take responsibility. As men we are called to be the head of the household, but in many cases we have abdicated our duty by either fleeing the family unit or staying there but in an ineffectual manner.
This book was published in 1982, 27 years ago, the year I was born; yet is it’s message is just as relevant as it was back then. It was recommended from the platform of a men’s conference I attended as the book that turned the speaker’s life around and saved his struggling marriage. He had already reached the divorce courts when he found it.
With over a million copies in print I’m sure this is the testimony of many men. It is the first Edward Cole book that I’ve read, but it wont be the last as I’ve just ordered two more on the strength of it.
So, what’s the fuss about? Why should you read this book? For me personally, the chapter that that challenged me the most was Chapter 7 – ‘Is there a priest in the house?’ As Christian men, we are called to be prophets, priests and kings to our families. They way my daughters see me, will greatly influence their view of God. That’s a scary thought!?!
This was a wake up call for me that I need to be more authoritative than authoritarian.