Raising Real Men

Don’t miss the contest at the bottom of this post, friends!

Although we have never adopted, when author Cheryl Ellicott offered me a review copy of This Means War: Equipping Christian Families for Fostercare or Adoption, I jumped at the chance! You see, I had read the first chapter of the book as a sample she offered a group of fellow authors. I had seldom read anything so honest and practical about the spiritual warfare a Christian family can face and I was dying to read the rest of the book.

Cheryl Ellicott, an adoptive mother, speaks from experience in her upcoming book, This Means War. Remembering how ill-prepared she was to deal with the very real spiritual warfare she faced in trying to rescue children and give them a family, she reaches out to prospective families and helps them to gird up their spiritual armor and be prepared for the fight of their lives. I don’t know why we should be surprised that Satan doesn’t readily give up the children whose families he has devastated, but many adoptive parents are, according to Cheryl. This book should be an essential part of every Christian family’s preparation.

Full of first person accounts and excellent advice, This Means War is grounded on the Word of God and the recognition that what we do makes a difference in the spiritual realm. Although some families may be discouraged from fostering or adopting after understanding the challenge, those who press on will be much better prepared to accomplish the ultimate goal in adoption – to rescue a child not just physically, but spiritually. Cheryl explains everything from the physical and emotional effects of the disrupted situations these children come from to the tactics our enemy tends to use to distract and discourage us along the way. This is wise counsel for families thinking of imitating the Lord in adopting one of these little ones.

Those aren’t the only ones who will find this book helpful, though. The first couple of chapters give the most practical explanation of what spiritual warfare looks like in family life that I have ever read. Seriously. I have thought about what this books says many times since I read it as I more readily recognize what’s going on when strife, or distraction, or Sunday morning chaos strikes our family. I would love to see Cheryl write an entire book on this subject alone. This is good stuff! Highly recommended.

This Means War: Equipping Christian Families for Fostercare or Adoption, Sweetwater Still Publishing, 172 pages, October 15, 2010, $14.99.

Sweetwater Still Publishing gave us a free copy of this book in return for our honest review.

Get a prerelease copy at Sweetwater Still Publishing with free shipping! And fan them on Facebook, too.

Want to win a copy??? Leave a comment on this post! Get additional entries by posting about the contest and linking back to this blog on Facebook, Twitter, your email loops or blogs — just be sure to leave a comment telling us that you posted. Contest ends Wednesday, August 4th at noon.