Fight for the Family by Jill Briscoe (Kingsway Publications, f1.95).
THE Christian family is under constant and debilitating attack. Easy divorce, permissive attitudes to extra-marital sex and the materialistic emphasis on self-interest and selfgratification before all else are all taking their tragic toll on the weakest and most defenceless, our children and our old people.
In Fight for the Family Jill Briscoe, herself a mother of three children, sets out her plan of defence and counterattack against the enemies of Christian values. Taking up an Old Testament theme, she makes Nehemiah's efforts to rebuild the shattered walls of Jerusalem a metaphor for the efforts of Christian parents to rebuild the defences around their familes.
The book is divided into four sections, the first two describing the current state of the family and highlighting the areas of greatest vulnerability.
The third section deals with the task of rebuilding family values, and the fourth pinpoints critical matters such as conflicts within the family, forgiveness, priorities, peer pressures and the care of the elderly. Worksheets at the end of each chapter provide a useful basis for group discussion.
Maureen Vincent Mu//ally