The No Kool Aid Zone

Book Review: Think Before You Look

Posted by Byron January 3, 2006 at 10:33 pm
Filed Under Life as a Jesus-follower, Reviews | 2 Comments |

Dan Henderson, pastor of Grace Church in Eden Prairie, Wisconsin, has done men a great service with his new book Think Before You Look, which I received free of charge from Mind and Media (thanks again, Stacy!), for only the “price” of this review, and which is featured on the sidebar.

In this book, Henderson uses the approach of enumerating 40 reasons why men (and women, assumedly!) should “think before they look” at pornography. While perhaps an argument could be made that he conflates the number of reasons so that he can hit the magic number of 40, Henderson nonetheless deftly and biblically demonstrates reason after reason why we need to allow our minds (Biblically-renewed!) to rule over our impulses when it comes to what we allow our eyes to dwell on. Packaged in short, readable sections, the book would be ideal for devotional use, and to spark discussion among serious Christ-following men on how they can guard their hearts by guarding their eyes.

He articulates the effect that pornography has on a person’s relationship with God, his relationship with others both inside and outside of the body of Christ, and upon one’s spouse and children. He backs up most all of his 40 reasons with solid Scripture, and I found him to be a good writer, deftly illustrating his points with examples from everyday life. Further, Henderson really “talks turkey”, not mincing words nor dancing around issues related to the intake of porn. Finally, he finishes with 40 practical pointers on how to withstand the temptation of lust. If he stretched to make a point or two in the main body of his book, he stretched a bit further here, but nonetheless lists some great practical considerations for those serious about honoring God in this area. He lists several websites which can be of help to the Christ-follower in the battle for the eyes (and for the mind and heart!), including his own site, Strategic Renewal, from which one can access free Bible studies and a screensaver related to the subject.

Let’s face it: the internet has opened a whole new era of accessibility when it comes to the viewing of pornography; we receive unsolicited solicitations via email, and the pornographers are all-too-clever and willing to exploit every advantage they can in order to market their pernicious evil. Dan Henderson has presented us with a good argument—and with some good tools—to check their advances. I highly recommend Think Before You Look!

Four UVa helmets (out of five)