Stepping Up Book Review by Jeff Bush

By Dennis Rainey

• A man stepping up does the following five things: 

1. 1. 1. 1. Protects his Passion. He does not touch or mess with a woman that is not his wife. He protects his eyes.
         2. Provides for his family. 2 Thes. 3:10
         3. Protects his family. If there’s a thief that comes, the man steps up and protects his family. Proverbs 4:10–15 says a father passes on wisdom to his son.
         4. Serves and leads his family. 
         5. Follows God‘s design for true masculinity. Micah 6:8. The core of a man’s life should be his relationship with God. 

• Too many boys are growing up without fathers. So they grow up looking mature, but they are not. 

• A boy must know his identity, who he is to God. That he’s accountable to a Creator God. 

• A boy must know God has a plan for his specific life. 

• They will get their life’s mission from their dad. 

• A boy without a father figure is like an explorer without a map. 

• Don’t leave your son to find out life on his own. 

• Every boy needs a father who is a role model. Be involved and intentional as you raise your son. 

• A boy doesn’t know that today’s foolishness is tomorrow’s shame. 

• Your greatest pressure as a dad is to withdraw from your son when he kicks back against you. 

• Many fathers help their son know how to work and drive but not how to avoid sin traps, character, convictions and become a man. 

• A dad needs a relationship with his son. Relationships are built on trust and transparency. 

• Stepping up to be a man is not a one time decision but a journey of a million steps, its a lifetime process. 

• Nothing comes to the man that is passive, except for failure.

• Real men accept responsibility instead of passing blame; they find solutions instead of making excuses. 

• Being a man requires initiative and initiative requires action. 

• Doing nothing is the easiest thing to do, it’s what the majority of people do. Take a stand to teach your son to respect, your daughter to dress correctly, your own eyes to not wander and loving your spouse. 

• Praying with you wife is one of the most powerful things you can do as a man. 

• No amount of success at work can take the place of failure at home. 

• We were made to generationally outlive ourselves by mentoring other young men. 

• “All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing”— Edmund Burke

• Protect your marriage, your relationship with your wife. 

• If there’s ever been a day for men to put their hand to the plow and not let up (with their wife and family), it’s today.