Malestrom

  I recently finished reading the book pictured above, titled: "Malestrom: Manhood Swept into the Currents of a Changing World" by Carolyn Custis James.  I am of the firm conviction that no summary I can give will ever sufficiently replace reading a book on your own, and I would never want to lead someone to think that by reading my thoughts they have sufficient enough grasp of a book in order to not read it on their own.  So, having said that, my hearty recommendation is that you read this book for yourself!
  While reading this book, I found myself profoundly affected by the exegesis James does with the text of Scripture as a whole, helping me as a man see a great many things between the cultural and narratival lines that I had never seen before.  It was amazing!
  At the heart of this book, is the realization that most if not all of the Bible is written on the backdrop of a broken system called patriarchy.  Simply put, patriarchy is the cultural system in which men are the central power holders, and women and/or children are only assigned value in relationship to the men in their life.  For example, a woman is only valued in so much as she has a husband or sons.
  James is masterful in reading a variety of stories in the Bible with careful attention to the reality of patriarchy, and additionally, she opens the readers eyes to the work of God in the story to dismantle the brokenness of patriarchy all over the place.  There are numerous characters whose lives and actions back up James' reading of the text, but ultimately, she lands on Jesus as the penultimate patriarchy smasher.  And, Jesus is also the central Imago Dei (Image of God) restorer!
  My pastoral admonition to everyone is to read this and allow the text to be presented to you in a new and fresh way, that will hopefully help you see one key form of systemic brokenness while at the same time giving you hope that systems can be remade in light of the Gospel of Jesus, and men and women can enter into what James calls - "the Blessed Alliance."  Read it!