New Book Encourages Fathers and Sons to Stand Fast on Biblical Manhood

Many Christian readers know Douglas Bond through his historical fiction trilogy, Crown and Covenant, which brings to life the heroics of the Scottish Covenanters in 17^th century Scotland.

Bond's always lively pen has produced a hard-hitting new work of non-fiction, a work that serves as a robust clarion call to fathers and sons to live out Paul's admonition in 1 Cor. 16:13: "Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong."  

Fathers & Sons: Stand Fast in the Way of Truth (P&R), is the first in a two-volume study designed to teach men and boys to execute joyfully their God-ordained responsibilities as fathers, sons and leaders. Written in the form of a hortatory address in the second person singular, Bond speaks directly and firmly to sons in terms of God's expectations as they relate to His infinitely-wise blueprint for manhood.

For example, in a chapter on a young man's heroes and true greatness, Bond admonishes his young readers to shun the passing vainglory of those whom the world honors-Hollywood celebrities, pro sports stars and pop music icons-and calls on them to find their role models among those who live with abandon to the glory of God.

"Throw your lot in with the truly greats. Know your citizenship. Paul says that it is ‘in heaven' (Phil. 3:20). Know that most of the world's heroes are frauds. Their power, their prestige, their wealth is all borrowed and will someday be swept away with them. ‘Their destiny is destruction' (Phil. 3:19). No real man would throw his lot in with losers like that. You, young man of God, were predestined for a glorious body, transformed by the infinite power of the Lord Jesus Christ. Make him your ultimate hero, honor those who honor him, and resolve that he will have no worldly rival."

In seven sections, Bond gives both fathers and sons an engagingly written feast of penetrating biblical/theological analysis and robust application on:

• Young men and their way — Here, he sets forth how a young man is to think, seek God, avoid falling prey to sin and self-destruction.
• Young men and their idols — This chapter examines worship—both true and false—and details how a young man may run the race of life on the broad path that leads to destruction. Bond also helps the young man to put sports and competition in their proper perspectives.
• Young men and their relationships — Bond looks at the utter necessity of exercising self-control with respect to women, sex, dating and ethics.
• Young men and their words and manners — Bond unpacks for the young man a biblical theology of speech, gratitude and good manners and unmasks what he calls "the farce of cool," which he describes as a sinful self-centered ethos, one that contemporary culture prizes supremely.
• Young men and their heroes and loyalties — See the above quote.
• Young men and their witness — The author points the young man to the crucial nature of understanding the complementarity of Word and Spirit as they conspire to work out progressive sanctification in his heart.
• The young man and his praying and reading — Bond demonstrates how a young man is to pray and interpret the Bible, concluding that a robust prayer life, a Christ-centered hermeneutic and a theology centered on sovereign grace serve as fundamental cornerstones upon which a comprehensive Christian worldview must be built.

Stand Fast is filled with Scripture and also quotes many important figures in church history, including the Reformers and the Puritans. Helpful appendices include a bibliography of books that constitute must-reading for every young man (Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress and J.C. Ryle's Thoughts for Young Men are two examples) who would dare to be faithful to God as well as "A Young Man's Hymnal," which provides lyrics for numerous classic hymns such as Luther's "A Mighty Fortress" and Walter Chalmers Smith's "Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise."

Bond's second volume, Fathers and Sons: Hold Fast in a Broken World, will be released in the near future by P&R.  Bond heads the English department at Covenant High School in Tacoma, Wash., and is a ruling elder in the Presbyterian Church in America.