'Men' is a really thoughtful book that has clearly been fuelled by Al Stewart's experiences both as a man and a minister in dealing with the male condition. It was helpful in identifying the various feelings/emotions/thoughts that it is easy to slip into thinking and then providing thoughtful biblically based answers to some of those issues. I would highly recommend it for all ages! Equally there are some great Bruce Springsteen quotes included.

The church needs non-professional Christian men – ie, men who are not employed by organisations with explicit Christian aims or who are not paid to exercise spiritual gifts – to live out the life God calls them to. But there is little written or preached on this – especially for the Christian man in mid life who is realising more clearly his mortality yet still wants to be useful and looks forward to hearing “Well done, good and faithful servant”. What is such a man to do?

“Men: firing through all of life” is written Al Stewart - a professional Christian (an Australian bishop) yet he does understand the world I have inhabited for most of my 47 years. And any Christian book that quotes Bruce Springsteen, mentions sex (quite a lot) and discusses frustration from the perspective of the Old Testament book of Ecclesiastes was always going to appeal to me.

The first part of the book – Groundhog Day – discusses why life can seem the same one day after another. And I was pleased to see a professional Christian writing this. For those of us who were already Christians as we moved into adulthood, or who became Christians then and have since settled down, raised a family, worked hard, the exciting life changes that happened between the years of ten and 30 are past and we are left wondering where the excitement of the Christian life has gone. Perhaps we didn’t realise that what we thought was an exciting Christian life was more just the excitement of being young and discovering Christian truths for the first time and having spending time with other young people who, like us, had few responsibilities– or did not have “work to do and bills to pay” (as Bruce Springsteen reminds us).

And Mr Stewart acknowledges that life – for the Christian and the non-Christian – can be Groundhog Day. He does not pretend otherwise. He also acknowledges that in mid-life your friends start to die – literally – and life can become lonely.

In the second part of the book Mr Stewart considers solutions that men turn to – ranging from trading the wife in for a younger model to just a resigned acceptance of it all. In all this, Mr Stewart often returns to Ecclesiastes, comparing our questions and attempted solutions to what ‘the preacher’ found well over two thousand years ago.

The final part of the book, ‘A radical solution’ looks at how Jesus transforms lives. Early on the question is posed: “Does this mean the end of Groundhog day if you’re a Christian?” I was delighted to read the answer, “Yes and No”. Mr Stewart understands the reality of a life with “work to do and bills to pay”.

The book ends with four recommendations in how to live in mid-life and beyond: make time for fun; invest in relationships; use accumulated resources; and share with younger blokes.

Buy if: you’re a male amateur Christian over 35; or you’re a professional Christian who wants to understand their world.

A book about facing the mid-life crisis.

Good at explaining what happens in mid-life.

Not so good at translating the message of Ecclesiastes into that vaccuum.

But worth the read.

The target audience for this seems to be non-Christian men approaching their fifties who are starting to appraise their position in the world with a realisation that they probably have less time left than they've already had!

The style is very open and appealing, and really easy to read. As a fairly short book with short chapters, it's also easy to pick up and put down. The application of Ecclesiastes is perfectly measured and well delivered.

Al Stewart builds in some helpful later chapters on the physical aspects of growing older, too. This was unexpected but makes the book much more rounded and probably more likely to be read by non-Christians.

I heard Al speak at the London Men's Convention 2008, and this book follows similar themes. He's an engaging writer, and doesn't shirk the difficult questions. This book is quite short (I read it in just over a day) but is worth the purchase. Al's a funny guy, but a deep thinker too.