Customer Reviews

Crisis in Masculinity

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

 

 

Leanne Payne effectively identifies the major problem in humanity today: the failure of man to lead, as God directed, because of man's lack of understanding of his own masculinity. Primarily this can come from the failure of his father's affirmation of his masculinity and/or a daughter's feminity. The issue is rampant in our society today and is the primary cause of contemporary deviation from a life of godliness and purity. Payne calls for man to return to God, seek His presence and to walk in obedience. Shema, O Israel. Hear, listen and obey.(Deuteronomy 6:4-9)

For those who are not christians, it may be difficult to try to accept the notions in the book. but even reading it purely from a secular angle, stripping out the religious connotations, it is an excellent book for those who want to find rapport for their feelings and excellent first step in understanding themselves in order to have faith that if they have the courage and will, they can change. I wish today's professionals have better understanding of this topic like Leanne Payne and would think twice before labelling someone to be a homosexual by birth or nature.

Leanne Payne's book penetrates the causes of much observable neurosis. She relates the roots of gender confusion to a convincing Christian doctrine of Creation, and holds out hope for restoration in the Christian doctrine of Atonement. I thought this was true after I'd read the book. I was fully convinced when I read the first three reviews on the Amazon page. I hope the identity-threatened reviewers are seeing their shrinks regularly. We should pray for them.

This book is an absolute must for every man and woman. We can have brokeness in areas we aren't even aware of, and Leanne Payne gives clear reliable direction to honestly confront our hurts and weaknesses. This book gave me helpful insight into some of my own patterns of hurtful behaviors and also reveals the path to healing for much of society. We truly cannot be all God has called us to be until we receive healing in the areas of our lives that cripple our effectiveness. This book is seasoned with grace but also helps one to deal with the big issues in life and puts you on the road to recovery through the grace of God. Amen for this book.

I am not gay myself but some of my male christian friends who are have talked to me about their struggles as they deal with same sex attractions. This book really helped me understand them and help them. Payne's equally excellent "The Broken Image" is a perfect companion to this little gem. I recomend it to parents, sibblings and friends of men and women dealing with this issue.

For those who are open to how Christ can heal the deepest recesses of what is means to be a man, I wholeheartedly recommend this book. Payne does not advocate putting women down to pick men up. I think it's unfortunate that others have characterized Leanne Payne as misogynist. Anyone who has heard her lecture on misogyny or seen her in person knows that is simply not true, unless one characterizes all who disagree with their view as misogynist.

Leanne Payne's book is a vital message for our confused generation. She tells the story of several men whose lives have been affected by their lack of a strong inner sense of masculine identity. By listening to God and coming into His healing presence, each of them was freed to recognise their own manhood, and to accept it.

We live in an age where divergent sexual "identities" are promulgated as solutions to people's inner crises. Yet the truth each of us needs is that God is our Father. Everyone of us is feminine in comparison with the strong masculinity of God. Yet also, each man among us derives his identity as a man from God and each woman also derives her sense of femininity from the Father. When God created Adam, he was both male and female, and God drew Eve from within Adam. So God is "the One from whom all Fatherhood derives its name".

Homosexuality and lesbianism are conditions men and women find themselves in, but they are not the will of God. They are, like all of us, in urgent need of the healing presence of God. There is no room for judgment of one by another. All of us shrink in one degree or another from healing, and need it so much. I am refreshed by the courage and honesty of Ms Payne in stating, against the potential wrath of the current world system, that heterosexuality is God's true pattern for humanity. To relinquish the fight for truth and to fail to offer a healing alternative to people struggling for freedom is - as Ms Payne writes elsewhere - to abandon people to "the dark demons in the blood".

The above is my personal reading of, and reaction to, Crisis in Masculinity.

One of Leanne's best, especially helpful for Christian counselors seeking developmental and spiritual theories involving the conflict between the true masculine and feminine. It's easy to pick out the reviewers who were most threatened by the book, isn't it!

Leanne Payne has been given some truly special insight into men, masculinity and the things that gone wrong. This book has helped me immensely.

I found this very interesting and got a whole new insight on homosexuality. The male role models were not there during the time that the male children needed to be affirmed by their human father.