Time with God for Fathers (Review)

Jack Countryman has written a solid devotional book for fathers. It covers topics that most fathers likely face, and is written virtually all about a man's role as father. Out of the ninety devotions in the book, only one mentions his role has a husband so this is not a book to husbands masquerading as one to fathers. Both roles are different, so this book could be a fine gift to single fathers as well.

This book is certainly in the gift book genre of books. There is a "Presented To" page that one can fill with lines for the giver and the receiver and  the pages are thick and glossy. Both the red hardcover and the pages within are printed in such a way to give them an aged feel. There is also an elastic bookmark built into the book.

There are ninety devotionals in the book, each tackling the expected topics a Christian book for fathers might face - thoughts on strength, trust, providing comfort, living with integrity, and finding peace in difficult times. Each devotional has its title, about 1-3 verses from Scripture on the topic, and about 5-8 sentences of devotional. Apart from the devotions, there are reference pages for fathers regarding prayer, promises God makes and blessings He provides, the responsibilities of fathers, Biblical examples of fathers, and a crisis scripture guide.

The length of the devotions can either be its strength or its weakness depending on what is sought. This is in no way an in-depth study of anything scriptural. They are simply 30-second nuggets that fathers can use to find inspiration. Everything you might expect from a gift-book devotional, you find here. It doesn't go above and beyond, but it might not need to.

This probably isn't a standalone gift - you'd want to include it as part of something larger. If it is for Father's Day, you might want to include a pair of tickets to a football game, or perhaps throw it in the glove box of the new car you have purchased for dad - covered in that giant red bow.

Four stars (out of five).

I received a complimentary review copy of this book from Thomas Nelson.