BUILDING A PURE LIFE
A workbook for counselors, individuals and small groups
By Dave Coats. Day One. 262 pages. £10.00
ISBN 978 1 846 253 515
This is an eight-week daily course with ten appendices. It comes from the nouthetic counselling stable in the USA and the author is a pastor, counsellor and former missionary.
The writer is concerned with purity in a world of lust, porn and the internet, and is particularly troubled by the issues that men face, pornography in particular. The book is well laid out, with spaces to write down personal reflections. The author is pointing the reader to finding satisfaction in Christ, rather than the idols of the heart, such as porn. This is done through the study of Scripture passages, meditations on Bible verses and songs. The book also contains instructions and strategies for dealing with temptations and old habits. The appendices include an honest look at masturbation, but the author tries not to be too explicit in what he describes.
This book is a welcome addition to material on this subject that has been published recently by reliable publishing houses. My reservations are based on using the material in a small group. How easy would it be if the leader did not have some experience or training in helping people? I wonder also about the wisdom of using the material in a small group composed of members of only one church.
Sheila Stephen,
practising counsellor and visiting lecturer at WEST in Active Listening for Pastoral Practice
