Every Man’s Challenge: How Far Are You Willing to Go for God?

by Stephen Arterburn & Fred Stoeker

Every Man’s Challenge is the last of the Every Man series currently in publication. And if you never get to this one, you won’t be missing too much.

After the wonderfully-written Every Man’s Battle and Every Man, God’s Man, I expected another good book, but one that focused on a different aspect of men’s life. What I found instead was many of the same things from the first two books written less effectively. And that, really, is the downfall of this series: what was bold and fresh the first time and slightly-refocused and good the second time is sadly repetitive the third time.

Additionally, it is never as obvious as it is in Challenge that when the authors talk of Jesus speaking to them, they really believe that Jesus literally spoke to them. The clearest example of this is the story of a girl who was assaulted by a hotel swimming pool while her parents were packing up to leave. Later, at the hospital, her dad was arrested for the crime. But then, Jesus came to the mom and told her exactly what happened and, ultimately, he was set free. And that is only one example of the personal dialogue that they believe they conduct with God.

In fairness, there were a few good chapters and points made in this book. But, ultimately, you can just as well skip this one, read the other two, and not have missed anything groundbreaking.

The Editors do not advocate everything taught by the authors of the books we review. Like us, these authors are fallible humans and those who choose to read these books should measure them by the bible, the one true standard.