Husbands Who Won't Lead and Wives Who Won't Follow [Paperback]

James Walker (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2000

Helping husbands and wives understand their roles in marriage, the variation in their expectations, and what makes those expectations so different.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

James Walker graduated with a B.A. in Speech Education from the University of Washington. He later received an M.Div. from Talbot Theological Seminary.

In earlier years, he found interesting work at Knotts Berry Farm in California where he was employed as a stagecoach driver and shotgun guard while attending school. Then, Walker was off to join the U.S. Air Force where he became the youngest Drill Sergeant in the history of the Air Force. Walker also worked as an Air Force Survival Training Instructor, which gave him the opportunity to teach pilots the art of wilderness survival. He specialized in the area of prisoner-of-war survival with an emphasis on escape and evasion.

To add to the diversity, Walker has served in several ministry capacities. He served as Senior Pastor of the Evangelical Free Church in Laguna Hills, California as well ministering with the Navigators in both their Collegiate and Community ministries for over 15 years.

In addition, Walker worked as a creative and leadership consultant for companies such as Hewlett Packer and Wells Fargo Bank.

Currently, Walker is a member of the Western Writers of America, a group of writers who write the fiction and history of the West for publication, television and screen. He is also a member of the Western Lawman and Outlaw Association—a group of national writers who specialize in history of the Old West.

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Bethany House (April 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 076422350X
• ISBN-13: 978-0764223501
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #294,229 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good Start to Understanding, But Lacks in Broadness, December 16, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Husbands Who Won't Lead and Wives Who Won't Follow (Paperback)

On the plus side, the book does explain why women and men often find themselves frustrated in fruitless marriages. It mentions, for example, the lazy, couch-potato husband who finds responsibility inimical to his (lack of) thought processes, and the wife who finds herself, in response, either enmeshed in the irresponsibility, or avoiding him completely.

Therefore, descriptions are good, if not overly simplistic. The descriptions are interwoven, unfortunately, with references to the life of David, which the Bible is a little fuzzy on. I wish it had been interwoven with precise quotation of Scripture that deals specifically with marriage, instead of extrapolating on the quality of David's mariage, which we know little about.

The solutions part is a problem, since I also find them too simplistic. For example, the author states that a woman caught in a marriage to an escapist should not fall into the morass herself. However, the author never gives a broad explanation of the "how." How exactly does she not fall into it, yet maintain her attitude of submissiveness to her husband? These are the kinds of questions I could not find answers to.

In addition, solutions, as simplitic as they are, are not combined with a prayer program, meaning that God doesn't seem to enter the picture very clearly. I wish the author would have used prayer passages from the Bible so that a woman, or a man, could learn to pray to God appropriately for help in marriage.

All in all, then, the book is good at offering basic descriptions of dysfunctionality in marriage, but does not seem to offer good examples from Scriptures, nor a sound prayer program, to allow a man or woman to see what the Bible says about the problem, or to utilize God's partnership in the marriage through proper prayer.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best on the subject, May 2, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Husbands Who Won't Lead and Wives Who Won't Follow (Paperback)

When reading James Walker's book I was struck by it's honesty and hard-hitting style. It's like he had been an uninvited guest in our home for many years. His book deals with Male passivity and how women go crazy when they feel like they are carrying the whole load. He also gives practical suggestions on how to save your marriage along with your sanity. When I read it I wanted to colapse and breathe a huge sigh of relief.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very Helpful and Biblical, June 18, 2005

By 

David R. Bess (Charleston, WV) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Husbands Who Won't Lead and Wives Who Won't Follow (Paperback)

This book by Walker is very helpful and Biblical on the entire subject of men leading in the home and wives supporting the husband's leadership. While certainly not politically correct, this volume is Biblically correct in its affirmation of the husband as the servant leader of the household. Walker divides his work into two halves, the first half addressing men who won't lead, and the second addressing women who won't follow.

This book is not to be used as a defense of a complimentarian view of marriage. For Christians who have a complimentarian view however, it is extremely helpful in putting that view into practice.