“There’s a vicious opponent of masculinity dancing around the cultural ring these days, throwing punches at men and their God-given identities. It is no secret who our opponents are,” says Dr. Tim Clinton in his new book co-authored with Max Davis, Take It Back: Reclaiming Biblical Masculinity – The Heart and Strength of Being a Man.
Our country is locked in a battle of the ages, with good and evil pitted against one another; and men are right in the middle. Manhood is not celebrated, but demonized. Men are being pounded daily—they aren’t just on the verge of being knocked out, they’re on the verge of dying—their voices and influence eliminated.
“This distorted view of masculinity is weakening our whole society,” Clinton says. “All you have to do is turn on the television and watch the latest sitcoms and their commercials to confirm this. Instead of strong men such as those in Braveheart and The Patriot, traditional males today—fathers particularly—are more often than not portrayed as nitwits or chauvinistic. Their counterparts, however, are usually cool, quick-witted males who are heavily effeminate, not to mention often atheist with a sarcastic or condescending tone against those bigoted, mindless Christians and conservatives. Vicious progressives will stop at nothing to achieve their godless agenda.”
The reason for this is simple. Satan wants to destroy the family, and the way he does that is to undermine men, destroy their God-given roles and redefine the biblical definition of manhood because he wants to see the family unravel and society crumble, Pastor Tony Evans warns. “What we’re seeing, and will continue to see, is the decimation of the family, because the man is the foundation of the family, and the family is the foundation of society.”
“Traditional masculinity is a threat to their whole [liberal] system, and their goal is to silence and neuter the men who stand for it,” Clinton says. “At first it was only a small percentage of society, but now their poison has infiltrated mainstream life, affecting nearly everyone.”
The American Psychological Association, citing 40 years of research, has come right out and said as much: “Traditional masculinity is psychologically harmful.” Furthermore, the APA states that “Forcing men to behave in accordance with the worst stereotypes of manliness harms them—and it harms others.”
“In other words, according to them, being manly is dangerous. Can you believe such”? Clinton asks. “This is not some back-alley, fringe organization promoting this. It’s the top secular psychological organization in America. And this is how they are indoctrinating our kids nowadays, starting in elementary school all the way through college.
“There has been an unprecedented misrepresentation of what true, biblical manhood really looks like,” Clinton says. “It is a concerted effort by our opponents to vilify Christianity and for our country to rid itself of our Judeo-Christian heritage, including men and their God-given roles,” he adds, citing this statement from the Huffington Post to demonstrate this point: “The faster conservative religion is overwhelmingly seen as mean, crazy, violent, hateful, misogynistic and anti-science, the faster we as a society can move on.”
“Notice, it is their goal to ‘move on’ from conservative religious values,” Clinton says. “In other words, the God of the Bible. To ‘move on,’ it’s imperative that they make those conservative values, including traditional masculinity, look their way, regardless of the facts or of reality.
“Whenever the word ‘stereotypes’ is used when describing men, they are almost always talking disparagingly about common-sense, healthy, traditional biological definitions and most definitely, ‘biblical’ standards,” Clinton says.
He reminds readers that there is hope, that God has equipped men to fight back and win: “The good news is God’s men have never backed down from a fight. In fact, throughout biblical and secular history, they’ve been called upon again and again to rise up and take it back.”
In Take It Back: Reclaiming Biblical Masculinity – The Heart and Strength of Being a Man, Clinton, president of the American Association of Christian Counselors, challenges readers to reject the culture’s redefinition and seek biblical examples of true manhood. Fast-paced, filled with relevant, biblical stories of godly men like David and Nehemiah, and contemporary stories of godly men like George Foreman and Tim Tebow, Take It Back empowers men to be who God created them to be and to impact a culture in desperate need of their influence. Study and discussion questions at the end of each chapter make Take It Back a perfect resource for men’s Bible studies and small groups.
Dr. Tim Clinton, EdD, LPC, LMFT, is president of AACC, the largest and most diverse Christian counseling association in the world. Dr. Clinton also serves as co-host of Dr. James Dobson’s Family Talk, heard on nearly 1,400 radio outlets daily. Licensed as a professional counselor and as a marriage and family therapist, Clinton is recognized as a world leader in mental health and relationship issues and spends much of his time working with Christian leaders and professional athletes. He has authored or edited nearly 30 books. Clinton and his wife, Julie, have two children and a granddaughter.
Max Davis is the author of over 30 books that have been featured in USA Today, Publisher’s Weekly, Bible Gateway and on The Today Show and The 700 Club. He holds degrees in journalism and biblical studies. In addition to his own works, he’s done a variety of collaboration projects with highly notable leaders.
Take It Back was released on April 6, by Charisma House, which publishes books that challenge, encourage, teach and equip Christians. {eoa}
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