Book Details
- Author: Stephen Altrogge
- Publisher: Lulu (2008)
- Category: Christian Living
Discerning Reader Editorial Review
Reviewed 09/16/2008 by Mark Tubbs.
Recommended. Impassioned call to godly parenting couched in autobiographical reminiscence.
Chronologically, My Friend, My Hero, My Dad was Stephen Altrogge’s first book to be published. This is one of the benefits of self-publishing with services such as Lulu. Altrogge’s book is, in fact, the first Lulu-published book I have reviewed for Discerning Reader. As any author knows, self-publishing is a tricky proposition with an uncertain outcome – a tricky proposition because the writer retains control over the editing process, and it is always more difficult to edit your own work; an uncertain outcome because self-publishing companies do not often offer marketing machines to compete with the humongous publishing houses.
However, Stephen Altrogge was not out to write a million copies of a bestselling book with My Friend, but to create a written tribute to his father, pastor and songwriter Mark Altrogge of “I Stand in Awe” fame. The younger Altrogge also took the admirable and brave step – for a brand new father – of inserting frequent parental exhortations, encouraging his readers to emulate his father’s example of godly parenting. Tracing his father’s various roles, from “The Converted Sinner” of Chapter 1 to “The Faithful Caretaker” of Chapter 9, Altrogge expounds specific ways in which his father demonstrated Christlikeness as a father and husband.
As he tells it, Altrogge’s upbringing was characterized by sullen disobedience towards his father, while his father’s invariable response was one of calm, godly, Christlike patience towards his wayward son. As anyone who has read the posts of the older Altrogge at The Blazing Center blog would be aware, he would dispute the claim that he was the paragon of godly parenting, but the incalculable effect of father on son is what is significant here. Godly parenting creates an environment in which children are receptive to the admonishments and adjustments of their parents; this is a point that Altrogge drives home again and again, because he knows whereof he speaks.
Altrogge (the author) relates his father’s godly parental responses through stories of comic circumstances or family tradition, which makes for enjoyable reading. The book ends with a promise not only to carry on the valuable traditions, but more importantly, to cultivate the godly impetus behind the desire to create lasting memories – God’s command to the head of the household to raise his children in the fear of the Lord.
Since this book is self-published, there are some inevitable quirks, none of which detracted from my overall enjoyment of the book. Each chapter concludes with a brief, italicized letter to Altrogge’s father, which is fine in and of itself, but much of the content is repeated from earlier in the chapter. Besides repetition, Altrogge is given to exaggeration. Often the way that hyperbole is deployed enhances the writing, but it sometimes distracts as well.
I put this book down with a renewed desire to teach my children in the fear of the Lord and love my children with the love of the Lord. The portrayal of the senior Altrogge at the pen hand of the younger Altrogge is one I enjoyed for 114 pages, and one I want to emulate and apply for the rest of my children's lives.
