The purpose of the authors is to instruct young men along the lines of Ephesians 5 v 3 where Paul says ‘there is to be no sexual immorality or any impurity as is proper among saints’. They show how an authentic and vibrant relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ is the key to victory over temptation. They also spend much time giving instruction to young men as to how the eyes and the mind are to be trained and how to develop a realistic battle plan for remaining pure in today’s sexually soaked culture. The book is very direct and contains a good number of testimonies from young men as to their battles and how they have learned to live lives of sexual integrity. The two authors are men in their fifties and write of their own experiences also but they do provide a clear call to purity for the younger generation. The book does force men to unashamedly examine their sexuality from a Christian perspective. In years gone by these things were not spoken about nor written about in church circles, but in the current sexually soaked state of the society in which we live perhaps such a book is not only needful but vital. This book does not avoid speaking to issues which face young men and generally it handles these matters with honesty and sensitivity. Perhaps it would be good to read this book in conjunction with that of Josh Harris “I kissed Dating Goodbye’, and that of Mike Mason called ‘The Mystery of Marriage”. “Every Young Man’s Battle” is seeking to break the barriers of silence which have been present in the church when facing issues of sexual temptation and to encourage young men to face confusion and guilt concerning these areas. It would be easy to say that if young men had truly met God in a deep way and had pure hearts they would have no need to read such a book, but many in the youth groups and the churches have not had exposure to ministry which has brought them through and therefore this book most certainly helps in the right direction.
