Customer Reviews

Intimate Marriage Leader's Guide

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

 

 

Quite frankly, I was very disappointed with this leader's guide. It accompanies a book by Dan Allender and Tremper Longman called "The Intimate Mystery," which was a fine, if largely unspectacular, marriage book. But this leader's guide got my blood boiling.

Basically, I found the attitude of the authors in the first few chapters of this leader's guide to be extremely arrogant. In broad paraphrase, they claimed that every other book about marriage that has ever been written has been fluff. They claim that all small group study guides are superficial. And they suggest that this book and its accompanying study guides are deep and profound and amazingly insightful, and they provide the only chance for marriages and small groups to be saved from their inherent triviality.

Of course, I am speaking in some hyperbole, but this is the general thrust of their approach with this leader's guide. I was immediately offput by this attitude, to the point that I didn't read the final few chapters. They are correct to suggest that some silly books about marriage have been written. And they are correct to suggest that some small group study guides are pointless. But neither of these situations is pervasive, and quite frankly, I have read several other marriage books that were significantly more impacting than "Intimate Mystery." (Gary Thomas' "Sacred Marriage" rocks my world every time I read it.)

There is some value in this leader's guide, particularly for novice group leaders. There are some helpful tips for leading significant small groups, but similar resources can be found elsewhere. Ultimately, I think it's unfortunate that they expect groups to purchase a hardcover book, a study guide (actually, there are six study guides, and they expect groups to go through all six of them), and this leader's guide. That's a lot of expense, when some of those resources could have been consolidated.

If your group is going through "The Intimate Mystery" and you've never lead a small group before, this leader's guide might be worthwhile. Otherwise, I'd recommend that you avoid the unnecessary arrogance and expense of this leader's guide.