Sexual Purity - "Hero" The Book

Over the past two days I spent eleven hours driving, visited seven cities, rushed through five airports, crammed onto four planes, and played two gigs. It sounds busy, but there were actually lots of times where I was just sitting without much to do. These are the times that allow me to get my reading done. This time it was a brand new book entitled “Hero” by my friend Fred Stoeker. I want to say much about this book so this will be the first of maybe 3 posts about it.

This book “Hero” subtitle: “Becoming the Man She Desires” is a very special book. Written by Fred and his son Jasen with some powerful excerpts from Jasen’s wife Rose, we are offered a glimpse into a Godly family where the men truly are heroes. As a father to two boys this book has provided inspiration and guidance for how I’d like to raise my boys and see my future family tree.

You may have heard of the book “Every Man’s Battle” that Fred wrote back in 2000. Or you may have heard of the “Every Man” series as there are now many other books that have since followed. Fred is, I think, the first person I heard to speak out about the battle us men have to fight for sexual purity. It was so refreshing and freeing to first read Every Man’s Battle. In a time where the internet, television, movies and all of culture have made staying pure feel impossible for men, Fred has offered his story and Biblical principles as a great example to help us continue to win this battle every day. I don’t believe this is a battle we can one day say on this Earth, “I won, I did it!” This is a daily, sometimes hourly battle that is made up of hundreds of victories and Fred, with the help of his other co writers, has offered many tools to aid along the way.

I’m certainly no book reviewer but I’d like to share some of my highlights from the book.

Immediately in chapter 1 I had welled up with tears. I think as I age I’m getting softer! This is a good thing. The beautiful picture of a wedding and marriage that is painted directly from the lives of Jasen and Rose is alone worth reading. You can’t help but be brought to tears when you see truth and beauty so clearly. All I could think was, yes! Yes! This is exactly what God wants for His children!! This is how it’s supposed to be. I couldn’t wait to read on to see how they got to this place.

Chapter 2 provided somewhat of a foundation for the rest of the book. Fred compared today's sex-crazed culture to that of the Baal-worshiping Canaanites. Even God's chosen people the Israelites eventually bowed to the Idol. The similarities are so close they are scary. I won't go into all of them but the one that stood out most to me was the link between today's abortions and the Canaanites child sacrifice. It seems like a stretch when I just type it here but as Fred provides background and context you may be surprised. The Canaanites sacrificed their children to Baal as an act of adoration. Our culture adores sex and ourselves so much that we are willing to sacrifice our children in order to appease our desires.

You can see why I had no trouble plowing through the book in two days. I'll share some of my favorite quotes in my next post.

GL