Edited by founder and chairman of the National Fatherhood Initiative Don Eberly, The Faith Factor in Fatherhood addresses the key role that religious institutions can play in reviving what Eberly calls the 'sacred vocation of fatherhood.' In response to the wider debate regarding the increased expectations that are being placed by policy makers on faith-based institutions to serve important public purposes, contributors to this volume guide denominations, places of worship, and religious social agencies to recover the role they once played in reaching and supporting young men with a message of responsible fatherhood. Ecumenical in scope, the book addresses what each faith community can do to recover its particular heritage of engaged, involved fathering, through methods including instruction, rites of passage programs, stories, ceremonies, mentoring, and community outreach.

Are You Ready for Battle?

As a Peace Corps volunteer in rural Nigeria, a much-younger Gordon Dalbey scoffed at an illiterate laborer's account of dark spirits that had invaded his house. The man looked the highly educated American squarely in the eye. "There are no small snakes," he declared.

Even as the smallest poisonous snake can easily kill the largest and strongest man, to discount dark spiritual forces is not only arrogant, but dangerous.

"No Small Snakes "relates Dalbey's upending journey from scoffer to spiritual warrior, from arrogance to bold humility. Both spiritual memoir and soldier's manual, this book will challenge you to face the spiritual battle at hand today and prepare you to win it - in your heart and in the world.

Since Jesus, religion is obsolete. "Go figure out what this Scripture means: 'I'm after mercy, not religion.' I'm here to invite outsiders, not to coddle insiders." (Matt. 9:13,14TMB) Shortly before the prequel to this book No Small Snakes: A Journey into Spiritual Warfare went to press, my then-teenaged son and I were enjoying the summer breeze on a late-night drive in our trusty old convertible. Just that morning, I had carefully folded the windshield sunscreen and stuffed it securely under the back of the driver's seat so it wouldn't blow away with the top down. That night in the outside lane, as a pickup was about to pass us, we were startled by a loud Pop Fwhoosh Suddenly, the sunscreen leapt out behind us from under the driver's seat and flew up above us and foreword, unfolded, and fell spread-out across our faces. In a flash of blindness, we sideswiped the pickup and shot off the freeway. Slamming from 65 to zero in seconds, an explosive blast of impact left us stunned and wedged under a foot-thick tree branch just inches above the windshield. Dazed, and covered with leaves and dirt, we managed to pull ourselves out of the wreckage and debris. Soon afterwards, a patrolman arrived to find my son and me trembling and holding each other, dusty and trembling. The grey-haired officer studied the crumpled remains of our beloved sports car wedged under the huge branch-low enough to have crushed through the windshield and cabin of any sedan. Finally, he shook his head in amazement and turned to my son. "Do you go to church?" he asked. Shaken, but alive and filled with grace, we both nodded. This book, like its prequel, presumes that ours is a planet at war. What's more, the enemy of God quite deliberately attacks first and most fiercely those surrendered to Jesus, because we're the only ones capable of recognizing and empowered to overcome the kingdom of darkness. Those who are not surrendered to Jesus dare not even see the battle, because they have no power to win it. Thus opting out of the battle into denial, they bear no threat to the enemy (see 1 Corinth. 2:14). Spiritual warfare, that is, allows no conscientious objectors, but only deluded deserters and persevering victors. To withdraw is neither honorable nor safe-but simply to capitulate to the enemy, whose objective is precisely to remove opposition from the battlefield. I pray this book will stir you not only to acknowledge the battle in the larger world, but indeed, to face it within yourself; not to surrender to the enemy's deceptions as a comfortably ensconced POW, but to surrender to Father God as an active, victorious combatant. The Father of us all has set our destiny. Jesus has blazed the trail. Holy Spirit has empowered us to get there. History awaits us. Religion fabricates relationship with God. Tragically, few people today, even in the Church, dare to face and walk in this reality. Proudly, we discount spiritual power and trust instead in our own. This denial sustains religion as an unholy distraction from what God is doing and thereby, marks it as a tool of God's enemy. The enemy of God hides in religion... In fact, the increasing work of evil among us today-from warmaking, family breakups, and gender confusion to addictions, racism, and corporate greed-reveals graphically both our desperate need for saving power and the inability of religion to provide it. ... but the heart of God shines in Jesus. Chapters include Christmas after 9/11, Terrorism and Spiritual Warfare, Secularization and White Racism, Homosexuality: Outing the Man-Hating Spirit, Hollywood's X-Rated Spirituality, Ball Games and the Battle for Men's Souls, Old Demons in the New Age, Depression or Expression?, But Is Jesus the Only Way?, The Commandment to Enjoy, and Unmasking Halloween.

In his groundbreaking book fifteen years ago, Gordon Dalbey identified the fact that men's souls have been torn between strength and sensitivity. Today, the situation is even worse. The politically correct crowd cries out for men to be more sensitive, to tame their masculine nature. On the opposing side, the media bombards men with "macho" images of violence and lust. Is it any wonder men are left bewildered about who they should be?

In this newly revised and updated edition of "Healing the Masculine Soul," Dalbey claims that there's hope for restoration, hope for healing-because Christ has come to heal us. God is calling men out to a relationship with Himself and calling them out to authentic manhood. "Our task is not to curse our manhood, but to redeem it," he writes.

Gordon Dalbey's refreshing, comprehensive picture of God's design for the masculine soul dares men to be as God created them to be-not as society demands. Dalbey tackles the tough issues, including work, sexuality, marriage, and fatherhood.

Book includes Study Guide.