One of my favorite topics to read about is how to grow, as a man, in my relationship with God. Becoming the man, and the husband, and the father that God desires me to be is a passion that burns inside of me.

So when I hear of a good book written for men to grow in their faith, I try to grab a copy and read it. Over the years, I’ve discovered that Patrick Morley has written several excellent books on the subject of biblical manhood.

The first book I ever read by Morley was The Man In The Mirror. That book forever changed me, and created in me the desire to grow into the man God created me to be. In fact, I reread portions of that book annually, simply to keep my focus on the areas that I know I need in place in my life to grow properly.

One of Patrick Morley’s newest books came across my desk late last year. During the month of January, I dug in and digested this book, spending only a couple of nights reading it completely.

However, after I finished, I realized that I needed to go back for a deeper and closer look at How God Makes Men.

In this book, Morley takes a close look at ten different men from the Bible, both the Old and the New Testaments, to see how God worked in and through their lives to make them into the men that they needed to be, for their personal growth, for their families, and for their times.

Taking the principles that Morley identifies from these ten lives, he applies them to men today, in twenty-first century America, to help them grow into the reality that God desires for them.

It’s becoming increasingly obvious that men are under attack in our culture today. From the home to the television to the workplace, biblical manhood is tough to find, and manhood in itself is ridiculed. Don’t believe me? Pay attention to the next few TV shows you watch. Almost every one of them will portray men, especially dads, as idiotic, stupid imbecile who have no clue how to act and live. Shows targeted towards tweens and teens are particularly bad.

But there are men in our world who want to live the lives Christ has in mind for them. The problem is that they just don’t know how to do that effectively.

That is what How God Makes Men is all about. Morley has taken ten men, and identified specific principles from each life that God used to turn them into the men he desired them to be.

Here are the lives that Patrick Morley looks at in How God Makes Men, along with the main principle from each life.

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• Abraham: God makes men by showing us how we can believe in him anyway in the face of what seem like impossible circumstances.
• Joseph: God makes men by orchestrating even the toughest circumstances of our lives for a greater good.
• Moses: God makes men by taking us through a humbling process that fundamentally changes the way we think.
• Gideon: God makes men by turning our weakness into strength in such a striking way that only he can get the glory.
• David: God makes men by doing whatever it takes to correct and restore us when we go astray.
• Solomon: God makes men by making it impossible for us to find lasting happiness in any pursuit apart from him.
• Nehemiah: God makes men by turning what breaks our hearts into a passionate calling to help redeem some broken part of his world.
• Job: God makes men by allowing us to gain through suffering what can be gained no other way.
• Peter: God makes men by a process of calling, equipping, and sending us so we can call, equip, and send others.
• Paul: God makes men by forging us into humble servants who are increasingly surrendered to the lordship of Jesus.

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Finally, he makes this statement:

There is a God we want, and there is a God who is. They are not the same God. The turning point of our lives is when we stop seeking the God we want and start seeking the God who is.

That statement shook me to the core. In order to be the man God wants me to be, I have to see him as the God that he is. I have to stop trying to fit God into my preconceived notions, and allow his truth to transform me. Each of these ten lives have a part to play in that process in my own life.

The reality is that he probably could have written ten more chapters from the lives of ten more men, or even more. But these are the lives he selected for this book.

I was impacted significantly by the lives represented in How God Makes Men. Morley kept making statement after statement that hit me where I live and challenged my thinking as a man, as a minister, as a husband and a father. As an example, within the first few pages of the book, he makes this statement, “Because God is good, your life will not turn out like you planned.”

Read that again, and think about it for a moment.

Because God is good, your life will not turn out like you planned.

That’s a reality that you and I need to hear. My plans aren’t good enough to get me where I want to be, much less where God desires me to be. That single sentence caused me to put the book down and ponder for several minutes. And it still is ruminating through my mind, challenging my life. And that’s just one example.

I was thoroughly impressed with How God Makes Men. It challenged me. It angered me, simply knowing that I wasn’t where I need to be in my faith and growth. And it inspired me to strive more and more to become the man that I need to be for my wife and children, and for my God.

I highly recommend that you pick up this book and read it. Take your time, though, because it requires you to process what you ingest so that it can effect a change in your life. This book would be a great addition to your library, or it would make the perfect gift for your father, husband, or son. Let the stories from these men in the Bible change you into the man God desire you to be.

Of the ten men listed that Patrick Morley examines in How God Makes Men, which one sounds the most intriguing to you? Why? You can leave your thoughts in the comments section below.

I highly recommend that you read How God Makes Men, by Patrick Morley.  You can purchase it at Amazon.com in print or for Kindle.

Disclosure of Material Connection:
I received this book free from Multnomah Books as part of their Blogger Review Program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. Also, some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links”. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.“