Book Review: Disciplines of a Godly Young Man by Hughes and Hughes

Disciplines of a Godly Young Man by R. Kent Hughes and W. Carey Hughes
ISBN: 9781433526026
Hardcover, 191 pages
Publisher: Crossway
Retail: $14.99

From the back:
Point blank, this is a punchy, no-holds-barred book for young men. Laying out the challenge to be disciplined, godly, and sold-out for Jesus, the authors talk about purity in your thought-life, cultural pressure, and perseverance as a Christian. Let father and son Kent and Carey Hughes help you live a life of integrity and become the man God is calling you to be.

This book is designed for men, more specifically young men. I’m not either of those {although I am not old, thank you}. I do have a son who is becoming a young man. He is moving beyond his child years and into a young man. Scary territory!

This book covers relationships (purity and friendship), soul (refusal, filling, devotion and prayer), character (tongue, work and perseverance), ministry (church, giving, witness) and discipline. It begins with defining what it means to train for godliness {1 Timothy 4:7}- it means to actually work, to sweat. From the very beginning of this book, you get the impression that striving to be godly isn’t going to be easy. Each section of the book discusses the topic, gives examples of modern day and then more importantly shows how it needs to be dealt with, biblically.

Just an example in relationships and purity, David is the example. For modern day example, we are given generalizations of men who watch tv or surf the internet looking for what David saw- which leads to impurity. On relationships and friendships, Jonathon is the example. The authors give guidelines for good friendships (prayer, devotion, listening).

There are verses and scripture throughout this book and it has sound reasoning. It also includes a lot of quotes and references to Christian authors. Each chapter ends with Food for Thought, Application/Response and Resources (when relevant). It is heavy on the sports applications and examples; we’re not sporty people here but I didn’t feel it was overly much. It really tells it like it is. I feel it is a good book. I know I won’t be giving it to my son to read for a few more years (the talk about sex is straight forward –deals with pornography and sex before marriage).

I received this book free from Crossway in exchange of an honest review. No compensation was given.