Book Review: King Me by Steve Farrar

The history of Israel’s kings is marred with wretched idolaters, backsliders, and reprobates.  When you study the various regimes of Judah and Israel you will discover a pattern.  With each passing generation the leadership grew more corrupt until God rose up another man to start over with a renewed passion and commitment to things divine.  This pattern was not coincidental, it was the result of apathetic influences, or as Steve Farrar contends, failed fatherhood.

In King Me, Steve Farrar parallels the current cultural failures of fatherhood with the ungodly kings of Israel.  His affirmation is simple: there are certain things that a son desperately needs from his father: training, discipline, and approval just to name a few.  If a father fails to give his son attention, time, affection, and training, the child will inevitably find it somewhere else; typically in rebellion.

The displaced father figure seems to be a staple in modern culture.  As a result we have seen crime, frustration, and the feminization of our society at large.  The only way to reverse such trends is for men to embrace their God-given responsibilities and reconnect with their sons.

King Me is a practical handbook for fundamental fatherhood.  Farrar deals with vital issues every father faces:

• How to discipline your son with affection
• How to lead your son into manhood
• How to protect your son from an effeminate culture
• How to talk to your son about sex
• How to avoid crushing the spirit of your son
• How to overcome failed relationships
• How to detect inappropriate friendships in your son’s life
• How to guide your son to His God-give purpose

Highly recommend this read.  Not just a book to have in your library, but a book to put into immediate use.  Your son’s dynasty is depending on your influence.  Making the right investments into his life will determine whether or not he will be a king for God.

Favorite Quotes from the book King Me:

“God has called you to be his father, not a jerk” –Steve Farrar

“A son knows when his father is disciplining out of firmness and godly authority. And he knows when he isn’t.”

“Our sons need to be around masculine preaching and worship. They need to see masculine men in our pulpits, preaching like the masculine messengers in the Bible. We need Elijahs and John the Baptists, who are unafraid to speak boldly against a godless culture and call sin what it is”

“These contemporary ‘worship’ atmospheres are weak. The present trend gives the wrong impression of Christianity. It all seems so spiritual, but it isn’t. Am I in a church or a spa? At a deal like that you don’t bring your Bible; you bring your moisturizer”

“Let me shoot straight with you if you have given your post to your wife. You cannot continue to do that –it is a sin. You are violating God’s clear command to you. He wants you to do this and do it unto Him. You cannot mentor your son if you allow a strong woman to run your home”

“The last thing your son needs is the pressure to be some great success in the world. What he needs to know is that God has created him for a purpose, and if he follows the Lord with his whole heart, he will discover that purpose”

“It’s the quiet life of obedience that will earn a hearing”

“Perpetual adolescence is the curse of modern American culture. Everyone wants to be young instead of mature”

“Every father mentors his sons. But most of them are oblivious to it”