Making sense of sex for boys

 

I can still remember the first issue of Playboy I found in the front hedge of our house. The images are etched in my mind. Little did I know this encounter would lead me down a path of desolation and destruction that would dismantle and distort the God-given design and gift of sexuality. Like so many of my young peers, I could have used some guidance and direction. In today's world, the need for that kind of guidance and direction is even more necessary.

 

In a new book by Stephen Arterburn and Fred Stoeker, Every Young Man's Battle: Strategies for Victory in the Real World of Sexual Temptation (WaterBrook Press, 2002; ISBN 1-57856-537-5), the mysterious and often secret world of adolescent boys is pulled back in a shockingly real and boldly honest way. The authors share personal stories of temptation, sinfulness, conviction, heartache, backsliding and transformation. They don't gratuitously boast about, or dwell on, their sordid pasts or continuing struggles, but genuinely connect with teen boys while encouraging them to live sexually pure lives against a backdrop of a culture that is increasingly permissive and sexually saturated.

 

Ephesians 5:3 is the inspiration behind the book's content—"But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality" (NIV). Realistic, practical and biblical strategies are mapped out in order to combat the enemy and control the God-given urges and desires that are perverted by today's culture. Teen boys will be challenged by God's promise to "walk with them (not for them)" as they "bounce their eyes," captivate their thoughts and "knock it off" with illicit behaviors.

 

Anyone who works with teenage boys will benefit by gaining insight on, and understanding about, the struggles and susceptibility to the many seductive and enticing messages bombarding them from popular culture and bubbling from within their transforming bodies.

 

—Doug West