Our old version of this page was headed “Empowering Fathers: Biblical Guidance for Raising Sons” and never told you the name of the book or who wrote it. The book is Sons of Men: A Christian Father’s Guide to Raising Sons by J. Brett Earnest (ISBN 979-8-2186611-5-1).
The publication history, since our old page got it wrong
Our previous metadescription said the book was released in 2022. That is half right and it matters. Earnest published it locally in small batches starting in June 2022 for use inside the Sons of Men Ministries mentoring program. It reached Amazon for general sale in 2025. So it is both older than a new release and newer than a 2022 book, and it was written for men already inside a mentoring program rather than for a general readership.
Who wrote it
J. Brett Earnest has mentored and counseled young men and fathers in the United States and Europe for over twenty years. He graduated from Mercer University with majors in Christianity and Greek and attended Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. Sons of Men Ministries exists to equip fathers to set an example of accountable, responsible Christian manhood for their sons.
That is a verifiable record with real training behind it, which is worth stating plainly in a category where a lot of titles have neither.
What you get
Nine chapters and over three hundred pages. That is substantially longer than most books aimed at fathers, and it is not a devotional or a 30-day plan. It is a long-form treatment of the specific problems fathers of sons run into now, with the emphasis on steps you can take rather than on diagnosis of the culture.
The length is the honest tradeoff. Three hundred pages is a real commitment, and a father who is drowning may not finish it. If you want something you can read in a week, this is the wrong shape. If you have wanted one substantial book on this rather than five short ones, it is the right shape.
What we could not verify
We could not confirm whether the book includes discussion questions or exercises for use with the mentoring program. Given it was written for that program, some structure is likely, but we are not going to assert it. Check the preview if that matters to you.
Where we land
A serious, long book from a man who has spent two decades doing this work. Best suited to a father of sons who wants depth and will actually read three hundred pages.
Sons of Men by J. Brett Earnest on Amazon