Book Review - God's House Rules by Donald Bastian

Bishop Emeritus Donald N. Bastian preached a wonderful series of sermons last April at our church on Christian family life (you can listen to those sermons here) .  These sermons are the heart of his newly released book, God's House Rules , published by BPS of Canada.  My copy came in the mail yesterday, and I could not put it down.

Pastors, if you are looking for a book to give you spot-on illustrations for preaching on marriage, or if you need a text to give to couples in premarital counseling to help them establish a biblical view of marriage, this is the book for you.

Here are the chapter titles to give you a sense of what the book covers:

    1.  How Adam Got His Wife

    2.  Submission Is for Everyone

    3.  Submission Is a Love Gift

    4.  Husbands, Take the High Road

    5.   What God Says to Children

    6.   Recovering Fatherhood

    7.  The Family at Work

    Appendix: A Special Word to Fathers

In his book, Bastian skillfully raises the reader's esteem of marriage as a God-given institution and blessing in chapter 1, "How Adam Got His Wife."  Since our society no longer holds marriage in high esteem, this chapter is crucial for giving readers a vision of what marriage can be.  Then Bastian moves on in the rest of his book to deal with three key New Testament passages that collectively express "God's House Rules" - rules for family living.  These passages are Ephesians 5:21-6:9, Colossians 3:18-22 and 1 Peter 3:1-7.  I have never read an author deal with the controversial submission issue in such a gentle, clear handed way that did not water down the concept of submission.  Bastian pulls this off gracefully.  He does this though careful interpretation and with the kind of illustrations that enable him to clarify just what he means and does not mean.  The illustrations alone are worth the price of the book.

Particularly helpful points in the book are that submission is something all people are called to in some form or other in life, not just wives, and that submission is a love gift from wife to husband, i.e., it cannot be coerced.  Further, the husband submits to his wife through servant leadership.  Again, Bastian's illustrations clarify his vision of what submission looks like in the marriage relationship.

Also helpful is a pointed discussion of the role of husbands and fathers and the high demands God makes of them.  This section alone is a must-read in our day of disengaged, distant, and absentee fathers.

Buy the book.  Give it as a gift.  Put it in your church library.  Give one to your pastor.  Read it together as a couple.  It will bless you.