Weekend Reads: Learning through bad examples

The Solomon Seduction: What You Can Learn from the Wisest Fool in the Bible

By Mark Atteberry

Solomon had a thousand wives. It’s well known. But only Mark Atteberry would think of them all lined up outside the bathroom door in their curlers and fuzzy slippers.

That image in itself tells you what Atteberry does best. He takes truth from long ago and far away and suddenly makes it very contemporary. That’s the strong suit of The Solomon Seduction: What You Can Learn from the Wisest Fool in the Bible (Thomas Nelson, 2014 da).

For example, the account of Solomon’s reign begins with an interesting verse: “Solomon made a marriage alliance with Pharaoh king of Egypt. He took Pharaoh’s daughter” (1 Kings 3:1). This was contrary to God’s commands not to marry foreign women, but it consolidated Solomon’s power. Modern translation: Things are going wrong when “sin seems like a great idea.” Later, Solomon had a great relationship with Hiram, the king of Tyre—but after two decades gave him some territory so bad that Hiram called it “Cabul,” “worthless.” Atteberry’s application: You’re in trouble when your faithful friends question your behavior.

The best chapter in the book describes the difference between repentance and sin management. Sin management wants to hang onto the sin but keep it under control. First of all, that’s not possible. Second, it will land you in hell. Repentance does not try to hang on to some particular pet sin. It ejects all of it. “Repentance is a change of mind that leads to a change of behavior,” says Atteberry. This half-definition encapsulates Solomon Seduction’sglaring omission of any account of the mercy of God in Christ. Solomon was the man of shalom, peace—and his descendant, the real Prince of Peace, is the one whose mercy allows us to admit our sin and turn from it in repentance. But if that bit of good news is in this book, it’s well hidden.

The Good Dad: Becoming the Father You Were Meant to Be

By Jim Daly and Paul Asay

The president and CEO of Focus on the Family grew up fatherless. Though his new book, The Good Dad: Becoming the Father You Were Meant to Be (Zondervan, 2014), is not directly autobiographical, Jim Daly (with co-author Paul Asay) filters fatherhood through his own experiences.

Nearly one third of American children are growing up without their fathers. Yet 92 percent of Americans say that fathers make a “unique contribution” to their kids’ lives. Why the fatherlessness? Daly explains that men are wired to step up and save the day with one big grand act of sacrifice. Daily little acts of sacrifice are not where men excel, even though daily sacrifice is vital for true fatherhood. Further, men often lose their nerve. The task seems so hard that they simply give up and walk away.

Daly’s biological father was an alcoholic who walked out on the family and then died a few years later when Daly was only 12. In between, young Jim lived with his stepfather, a foster father, and then his older brother. So how does he fill that father-shaped hole in his life? With his Heavenly Father’s approval. Though The Good Dad doesn’t spend a lot of time on God the Father, Daly’s vision of fatherhood is clearly biblical. We are accepted because of the death of God the Son—which also gives us the power to learn and do better. “As Christ himself showed, the fall doesn’t matter as much as the ability to rise again.”

Despite the subtitle, The Good Dad is not really a self-help book. A hundred and fifty years ago, it would have simply been called Thoughts on Fatherhood. But they’re good thoughts, and if you apply everything Daly says, you certainly will be a good dad. Of course, it will be hard. But in this world, and the next, there is no greater joy than a Father’s embrace.