The Society for the Advancement of Ecclesiological Theology

October 31, 2009 by Gerald Hiestand

Raising Purity Book Give-Away

I’m pleased to announce the re-release of my book Raising Purity: Helping Parents Understand the Bible’s Perspective on Sex, Dating, and Relationships. This is a revised and expanded version of the original, and, I think, is significantly improved in a few key areas. To give you a sense of what the book is about, here’s the copy from the back cover:

Do they know? Do you? Many young people today are confused about the Bible’s perspective on sex, dating and relationships. Should they give dating a chance or kiss it goodbye? What exactly is sexual purity, and how far is too far, anyway? Perhaps our children don’t know the answers to these questions because we as parents are uncertain ourselves.

In this ground-breaking book, Gerald Hiestand provides objective, biblical answers to these vital questions, and unfolds a paradigm-shifting view of relationships and purity that challenges the basic assumptions of our Christian sub-culture. Touching on a wide range of subjects, Raising Purity is sure to help parents and children think clearly, biblically and practically about the God-ordained purpose of human sexuality.

If you’re a parent or youth pastor, this book is for you. I’m convinced our children will not have clarity on this issue until we as parents and pastors have clarity on this issue. And given the statistics, I think it’s pretty clear we lack clarity.

This topic is not necessarily my hot button. As a pastor striving to write robust eccleisal theology, a book on dating seems a bit off topic. But it’s precisely at this point that the whole “social location” thing kicks in. Early on in my ministry I did some time as a youth pastor and had to address the age old question “How far is too far?” It’s not a question most serious thoelogians in the academy have to deal with, but it’s a very live question for pastors. As I grappled with the issue and read the popular literature, I became increasingly convinced that most of our collective wisdom on this subject is simply wrong. We just haven’t grasped the Bible’s central message on purity. So I did some thinking on the issue and wrote a book. At the risk of sounding like a hubritic, I’m certain I’ve got some new things to say about purity, dating, and relationships – things that aren’t being said anywhere else. In writing the book, I’ve tried to be richly theological and eminently practical. I’ve field tested this at my home church with both parents and singles and the response has been overwhelmingly positive.

For those interested, here are a few links you might find useful.

• Download the First Two Chapters
• Buy the Book
• View the Recommendations
• View Images

Free Books
And now about that “free book” thing. . . since I’m self-publishing, I could use a little help with the marketing. So here’s my, “I’ll scratch your back if you scratch mine” proposal: I’ll send a free copy of the book to the first twenty people who send me an e-mail at ghiestand[at]harvestbiblechapel.org (include your address). But here’s the catch. You have to be a regular blogger (not a blogger whose last post was May 1, 2009), and you have to be willing to write a short review (doesn’t have to be a positive review) by Dec 31, 2009, linking back to raisingpurity.com.

I truly believe this is an important book for the church today – a life-changing book. If you’re a parent or a pastor, I hope you’ll read it. If you have read it, and have any thoughts, feel free to leave a comment. I welcome your thoughts.

Categories: Book Review