Customer Reviews

Confessions of a Good Christian Guy: The Secrets Men Keep and the Grace that Saves Them

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My husband and I just finished reading CONFESSIONS OF A GOOD CHRISTIAN GUY by Tom Davis last week. Tom is the president of CHILDREN'S HOPECHEST, a ministry to orphans primarily in Russia and Swaziland.

Underneath the title of the book's cover are the words, "the secrets men keep and the grace that saves them". Tom's premise is that all men, even "good, Christian" ones, struggle with hard life issues. Some of these issues are more subtle such as pride and discouragement. Others are downright destructive such as alcoholism and drug addiction. Unfortunately, in the American church culture, honesty about struggles is not always encouraged. Too many men walk around wearing masks in fear that if anyone ever sees the "real" person behind the "good Christian" mask, that they will be rejected. Tom challenges men, in part by telling his own not-so-good story, to come clean. To take off the masks, admit their need for change and help, and trust God to heal and grow them through His unfailing love, mercy, and grace.

Here's an excerpt from the book:

"We will always have areas of deadwood in our lives. We will always be called to rip away the falsely righteous facades that tempt us and to talk honestly about what's truly happening in our lives. Sin flourishes whereever there are secrets. Hope, strength and an abundant life are found when grace is received and those secrets are torn away.

Hopefully our struggles dinimish as we grow to be more like Christ---our battles with sin become less frequent as we learn to live victoriously. But I don't think we ever fully arrive at our destination, this side of heaven. That's what grace is always about. We alwys need it. And it's always available to us. That's the message of this book. Grace is truly amazing. We need it like we need our next breath."

Tammy Maltby, author of CONFESSIONS OF A GOOD CHRISTIAN GIRL, has co-authored the book with Tom. Each chapter, dealing with a different sin area, is followed by Tammy's take on how people (such as wives or friends) can minister to the man in their life who is dealing with abuse, addiction to pornography, anger, etc. This aspect makes the book not just a book for men, but for the women in their lives as well.

As my husband said, Tom's book is well-written and very honest, sometimes painfully so. Sadly, my husband says that in his experience, most churches don't seem to foster the kind of relationships that encourage total transparency, accountability, and recovery. Perhaps CONFESSIONS will motivate many out there to make the changes needed to indeed develop safe, supportive environments within the church where these desperately needed male friendships can happen.

This book is a great view into what it mean to have an authentic faith that is able to get past wearing masks and be real with others and God.

Tom shares his story that shows the radical, saving nature of God's grace in personal ways. Always a page-turner this book is a great gift (that's how I got it), or for a personal gut-check. I've been thinking about doing a men's bible study on it, too. Can't recommend it enough.

Life is difficult, there are no two ways around that, and this book doesn't pretend to say otherwise. The author gives example after example of men who have, by most standards, ruined their lives, and yet found grace & hope in God's forgiveness. He does a very good job of taking those examples and giving practical advice on how to work from both sides of the table. He never tries to say that you can forgo consequences for your actions, but offers hope (in Jesus) on how to live abundantly, despite them.

Still reading this book, and have not yet finished.

BUT so far, I am thoroughly enjoying. Was afraid this book might read like a self help Christian book, but it is written the opposite of that notion. It simply shares the authors' and others experiences so that you as the reader can apply the lesson to situations in your life. Highly recommended to read.

I got Confessions of a Good Christian Guy yesterday, I'm already done with it. Reading the other reviews, I wasn't as hopeful in what I would find, but in the end I was so glad and thankful that I got a hold of such a book. This book doesn't delve into the dirty and descriptive desires of men just to shame them, it touches on struggles that differ from man to man and the real ways men overcame them.

It is not so much a confession book (although the author shares his experiences and other men he knew) as it is a psychology book. As a woman, I found much of myself in these pages. Things I couldn't explain or am learning why I do what I do...men aren't excluded to this book. Helped me see more that men want to be free from these sins and ways they respond and learned to deal with things...makes you want to PRAY and LOVE on them more with understanding, not accuse or condemn them! We are all in need of Grace; women struggle with these very same things, and so many other things, but in varying degrees and for different reasons! It's just taboo to talk about them.

The thing I loved most about this book is that it gives very sound Biblical counsel, not just the fluffy feel-good Christian stuff, but REAL help! God's grace saves us but we must be active participants! I've been very blessed by this book and this is one of few books I will recommend to others.

I started leading a guy's group at the church I work at this summer, and as we started to figure out what we wanted to talk about, the guys suggested a book. Being the leader, I started looking for a good book. I had read many other guys books, but wanted to go with something different. I looked and looked, and finally stumbled upon this one. One glance at the title, and I thought this was perfect for the group. I ordered 10 copies, and loved the price!

As we began reading the book, I confessed to the group that I didn't know how this book was going to go. I told them I read the reviews, but had never read anything by Tom Davis. The first night we started with the intro (which was written by Tammy Maltby, not Tom Davis, as we had mistakenly thought - that was interesting!) and knew this was going to be good.

What we didn't know was how good it was going to be. This book not only convicted us, but opened us up to have some very deep conversations and start letting "light shine in on our darkness." Davis does not skimp on any problem and he calls us out to be the men God wants us to be. And the thing is we can be these men. And it all involves grace. We are called to be men of grace and Davis shows us how we can be these men.

This is a fantastic book and I strongly encourage it to any men. I teamed it up with a short topical Bible study that I wrote each week and it has blessed us so much. You will get so much out of this book and will be moved to grow closer to the God of the Universe, the one who loves us more than we can think or imagine, and who had the greatest plan for our lives.