Customer Reviews

Anchor Man: How a Father Can Anchor His Family in Christ for the Next 100 Years

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Steve has done an outstanding job on explaining the purpose of fathering and how to go about doing it. The illustrations that he uses aren't ones that you just quickly read over and forget, but ones you take with you. With so much fluff coming at fathers from the media, this book really gives you something you can sink your teeth into.

I passed this book on to a gentleman who was bound and determined to get a divorce. This book along with prayer turned his life around. He is now involved in a local church and is committed to keeping is family together as one godly unit! Everyone should have this in their library to save a marriage or family. If you are considering divorce or seperation, please read at least the first four chapters of this book.

Grounded in Christian principals, this book is a foundational guide to successful fatherhood in todays chaotic environment. Anchor Man is a real-world evaluation of the challenges and triumphs facing Christian men.

Having read Point Man a few years ago, I expected to be challenged by this book, and I was not disappointed. In it, Steve Farrar takes a realistic look into what it takes to be a successful Christian father. He starts the book by commenting about the social decay we see in the US and around the world. Simply put, Farrar believes (and argues pretty convincingly) that we have a fatherhood crisis and it is destroying our nation one generation at a time.

Farrar then explains the bibilical view of fatherhood and the promise of God to bless a man's family (for many generations) if he follows the plan. The last section gets more into the practical steps for a Christian father to take in order to anchor his family in Christ.

Overall, the concept of the book is not new, but Farrar's approach is more straight forward than others, and may come off as pretty tough to some readers. He does not pull any punches when he explains that divorce is not an option, that men need to memorize the Word of God, that there is no substitute for spending time with your kids, and how important the man's role is at home. This book has given me a lot to think about and help me to assess the things I do well versus those areas that I have neglected, or postponed.

I highly recommend this book to any Christian man looking for a ways to make your family better, and methods for strengthening your walk (and your kid's walk) with Christ. Lastly, if you are considering divorce, whether you are a believer, or not, you should read the first few chapters of this book. It clearly articulates the danger you face, and the problems your kids will face after the papers are signed.

To propose that a man can have an impact on generations to come is a facinating concept. What man doesn't want to see his children and grandchildren (and possibly more) successful and happy? Steve Farrar presents a solid argument for fathering in a way that will last for years. We all know or remember that elderly man down the street or in church who always knew what to say and how to handle difficult situations. The one who seemed to be wisdom personified. Those men are becoming more and more rare. Steve Farrrar explains why that is so and how difficult it can be to turn out children and grandchildren who are pleasing to God.

If you read Christian books on parenting (Dobson, etc.), you may not find a lot of new information. Yes, we know that an effective father must be the spiritual leader, must love and be faithful to his wife, and must be involved in his children's lives. The interesting part is the framework of doing these things with an eye toward, not just the next generation, but the generation after that. That takes vision. And that is something our instant-gratification culture has nearly erased.

This book seemed to get better as it went on. The first chapters descibe the fathering crisis our country faces. (I know there is a problem; that is why I'm reading it.) But the later chapters become more practical, use more Scripture (the real source of wisdom), and are more direct in their approach.

While this book makes an excellent gift for the young father, don't forget the grandfather who may feel that he can not be an influence in his grandkids' lives. The premise alone should cause all men to evaluate their priorities.

With similarities to "Point Man," this book gives straight talk to men specifically about being a dad. Forget the failures of the past, and start now, wherever you are in the process.

Conversational style makes this book easy to read; it's hard to put it down. The author says he wants to "shoot straight" with you, and indeed he does.

This book gives good coverage of the many aspects of being a dad, including some you might not even have thought of, and so I say, "read it first." It has good references for futher study on the subject.

This is an excellent book for fathers that would like to learn about great examples of providing reasons to allow our children to have the same christian charateristics as we had growing up ( and even talks about those of us that didn't have that support). As I finished the book, I had a renewed sense of what I need to do in raising my daughter.

Anchor Man is one of the best books not only to encourage myself and to encourage men and even boys who have kids to stay with there families. I found it to be a very good eye opener to myself with all the things I have done in my life and with my children, how every thing affects all aspects of your life and your children's life.

Issues I had as a child are in my son's and daughters life, Generational issues are TRUE and don't let anyone tell you different. I once hear it said that whatever you do today you have to sleep with tonight. "I believe whatever I - we do today our family has to live with for the rest of there life's"

I'm going through this book with a young man and we are both discovering things in our family and in our life that need to addressed. I have been blessed to see the convictions come alive in this young mans life and mine and am waiting to see how God moves through him to minister to his young family.

Fathers are called Fathers because we are called to be an example in our children's life, a post they can grab onto, to support them, to guide them, to love them, to correct them. Men it's about time we take that Responsibility back from our wife's.

Thank you Steve Farrar for listening to that still voice and sharing with so many people what God has shared with you. God Bless.

Vintage Farrar. This is an in-your-face, no-nonsense-kind-of-book for dads. Farrar states that it is the responsibility of the father to be the anchor for his family - to prevent "drift" away from the values and principles upon which family is built. Farrar points fingers at the men in this country who are far more concerned with other things far less valuable than their families and warns them that they have accepted the responsibility of a family with marriage and with the bearing of children - it is not a choice that is made after the fact, it is one that has already been made and many men are either neglecting their duty or walking away from it!

The best part about Farrar is that while he's chastising you, he's entertaining you with his stories and wit. The book is written in a manner that men will actually enjoy and find humorous at times - but the message is anything but funny. Farrar talks about the generations of devastation resulting from the poor decisions of one man who neglects his responsibility to his family.

Farrar ends this clarion call to fathers with some practical suggestions about having a devotional time with their children as well as working to produce memorial stones or markers of spiritual growth and development to measure and prevent against drift. I would suggest this book to every father, especially a young man about to get married or just having his first child - the patterns of a good father need to begin early before the pattern of this world squeezes a man into its mold.

Based on the other reviews I'm the only person who didn't come away challenged and encouraged from this book.

Why I EVEN gave it two stars:
1) The stories are numerous and provide a little something for everyone's tastes

2) It has a study guide with question prompts in the back, in case this books gets used in a small group format or for teaching a class.

3) Yes, he talks straight to the reader and doesn't pull any punches.

4) He gives a nice list of activities to do with your kids other than watch a movie (but that might be on there too...I'll have to go back and check)

Why I ONLY gave it two stars:
1) Out of 242 pages he could have presented all his points on one page and maybe another two pages per story or two to support on each of his points; giving us a total of 20-25 pages. But of course that wouldn't do for the publisher and the need to meet a page quota.

2) I felt he used more stories than he did scripture to support his points. This left me wanting more meat and less milk...if you know what I mean.

3) I got the point already by the third or fourth example...oh, wait...I hit that point already in #1 of this part. *wink*

4) He doesn't pull any punches but to me most of the chapters were plain common sense (i.e. spend quality and quantity time with kids). Thus even if he doesn't pull any punches there isn't a lot of power behind them to begin with.

I have a few other books on my shelf from authors like Dobson who I hope will raise the bar on the content. I could see how this may be useful for someone who have walked away from the Lord or don't know the Lord. It wasn't nearly as challenging as the Man In The Mirror book, so I can NOT see how this can effectively be used as a bible study curriculum.

Just my two humble cents worth.