Stephen Mansfield - Mansfield’s Book of Manly Men

PRAISE FOR MANLY MEN

Stephen Mansfield gives us yet another fantastic book, this time covering a topic so misunderstood and misrepresented in society today. He creates a blueprint for true manhood, building upon stories from the worlds greatest menone of whom was my great-grandfather, Winston Churchill. I applaud Stephen for the massive research he has done. I will read this book again and again and learn something new every time. Mansfield truly is a Manly Man.

JONATHAN SANDYS
great-grandson of Sir Winston Churchill

Im sick to death of seeing men portrayed as bumbling morons in movies and TV commercials. Were living in a culture that tries to make masculinity a punch line, and its having a devastating effect on our families and society. In Mansfields Book of Manly Men, Stephen takes the bold, potentially offensive step of calling men to be men again. Its about time!

DAVE RAMSEY
New York Times best-selling author and nationally syndicated radio show host

We live in such a fast-paced society and yet many of our men sit around and do nothing! Its time to get off the bench and get in the game. In Mansfields Book of Manly Men, Stephen challenges us to do the very thing God has intended for us to do... act! To act like men and do what men do. Buckle your chinstrap before you pick up this book because it is truth and its challenge will hit you as youve never been hit. A must read for every man!

MARK BRUNELL
former NFL quarterback; Head of Football, Episcopal School of Jacksonville

Mansfields Book of Manly Men cuts to the heart of what it means to be a true man. In a culture where authentic masculinity is often buried beneath myriad counterfeits and stereotypes, Mansfields vision of manhood is a refreshing and challenging ideal. Replete with inspiring biographies of heroic men, interwoven with spiritual insight, this is a book of action, initiation, and honor. Society says being a real man means driving expensive cars, owning a big house, dominating a woman, and not being bound to anything except the advancement of your own career. In contrast, Mansfield reminds us that to be a true man is to be honest, humble, compassionate, responsible, courageous, and faithful. I hope many people read this book, including my sons.

JONATHAN JACKSON
star of the hit ABC show Nashville

MANSFIELDS BOOK
OF MANLY MEN

ALSO BY STEPHEN MANSFIELD

Never Give In:

The Extraordinary Character of Winston Churchill

Then Darkness Fled:

The Liberating Wisdom of Booker T. Washington

Forgotten Founding Father:

The Heroic Legacy of George Whitefield

The Faith of George W. Bush

The Faith of the American Soldier

Benedict XVI: His Life and Mission

The Faith of Barack Obama

The Search for God and Guinness

Lincolns Battle with God

Killing Jesus

2013 by Stephen Mansfield

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, scanning, or otherexcept for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Published in Nashville, Tennessee, by Nelson Books, an imprint of Thomas Nelson. Nelson Books and Thomas Nelson are registered trademarks of HarperCollins Christian Publishing, Inc.

Thomas Nelson, Inc., titles may be purchased in bulk for educational, business, fund-raising, or sales promotional use. For information, please e-mail SpecialMarkets@ThomasNelson.com.

Scripture quotations marked ESV are from the ENGLISH STANDARD VERSION. 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.

Scripture quotations marked NET are from the New English Translation, NET Bible. Copyright 19962006 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked NIV are from the Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com.

Poems without citations are in the public domain.

Original illustrations by Clint Hansen.

Interior page design by Walter Petrie.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Mansfield, Stephen, 1958

Mansfields book of manly men : an utterly invigorating guide to being your most masculine self / Stephen Mansfield.

pages cm

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN 978-1-59555-373-7

1. MenConduct of life. 2. Men Christian theology) I. Title.

BJ1601.M36 2013

248.8'42dc23

2013016866

Printed in the United States of America

13 14 15 16 17 RRD 6 5 4 3 2 1

To Jim Laffoon

Pride of the 82nd Airborne Division

Pride of the millions he has taught

Pride of the author, his friend

Masculinity is not something given to you, but something you gain. And you gain it by winning small battles with honor.

Norman Mailer, Cannibals and Christians (1966)

CONTENTS

by Lt. Gen. William G. Boykin (ret.)

by
Lieutenant General William G. Boykin (retired)
Former commander, Delta Force

FEW PERSONALITIES IN THE BIBLE ARE MORE RECOGNIZED FOR their manly qualities than the man after Gods own heart, the great King David. He was an extraordinary warrior, an accomplished musician, a skilled author, a man of great wisdom, and, as important, a dutiful shepherd over his fathers flocks. He was also courageous, passionate, and certainly flawed. David was a manly man who achieved greatness in his lifetime, a man all men today should study for the lessons they can learn.

David knew what it was to be a man. As he lay dying, he called his son Solomon to his bedside and gave him final instructions: I am about to go the way of all the earth. So be strong and show yourself a man. These are the last recorded words of one of the greatest kings to ever live. Of all he might have said to his son with his final breath, he chose to instruct him to be a man. They are words we should never forget.

Today the concept of being a manly man is something every American male should contemplate. The truth is most men are not at all clear about what it means to be a real man in American society. The feminist movement has severely reworked the image of manhood, and this has damaged the self-esteem of many men. Likewise, the constant intrusion of government into the family structure in our nation has contributed dramatically to confusion about what God intends men to be. When a government perpetuates the myth that its programs are more important than fathers in the home, men will naturally suffer a crisis of identity.

Men also face the popular but false notion that women can do anything a man can do. This, too, serves to emasculate men, just as it ignores Gods highest and noblest intentions for men and women. It has given our nation a plague of gender confusion that masquerades as trendy gender neutrality and leaves us everything from unisex dress to mixing the sexes in frontline combat units in our military. This is one of many signs of Americas deepening gender crisis, a crisis that is devastating American men.