Something that matters to you just isn’t right. First you see the problem, then you feel it. It starts with a rush of adrenaline and often a rush of words, but it ends with an overwhelming sense of irritation that impacts how we talk to those we live and work with, complaining,and maybe even a settled bitterness to a person or a group of person. We know anger affects us negatively, but we don’t know any other way to respond when life goes wrong.
Good and Angry, a groundbreaking new book from David Powlison, contends that anger is more than a problem to solve. Anger is our complex human response to things we perceive as wrong in a complex world, thus we must learn how to fruitfully and honestly deal with it. Powlison undertakes an in-depth exploration of the roots of anger, moral judgment, and righteous response by looking in a surprising place: God’s own anger.
Powlison reminds us that God gets angry too. He sees things in this world that aren’t right and he wants justice too. But God’s anger doesn’t devolve into manipulation or trying to control others to get his own way. Instead his anger is good and redemptive. It causes him to step into our world to make wrongs right, sending his own Son to die so that we can be reconciled. He is both our model for change and our power to change.
Good and Angry sets readers on a path toward a faithful and fruitful expression of anger, in which we return good for evil and redeem wrongs. Powlison offers practical help for people who struggle with irritation, complaining, or bitterness and gives guidance for how to respond constructively when life goes wrong. You, your family, and your friends will all be glad that you read this book.
David Powlison on Good & Angry
Book Details
246 pages
Publisher: New Growth Press
Publication Year: 2016
Contents
Section 1: Our Experience
Chapter 1 – Angry People
Chapter 2 – Do You Have a Serious Problem with Anger?
Chapter 3 – How Does That Shoe Fit?
Section 2: What Is Anger?
Chapter 4 – “I’m Against That”
Chapter 5 – All of You Does Anger
Chapter 6 – Nature, Nurture…and Human Nature
Chapter 7 – The Constructive Displeasure of Mercy, Part 1: Patience and Forgiveness
Chapter 8 – The Constructive Displeasure of Mercy, Part 2: Charity and Constructive Conflict
Chapter 9 – Good and Angry?
Chapter 10 – The Best Anger, the Best Love
Section 3: How to Change
Chapter 11 – A Mirror on Your Anger
Chapter 12 – He Gives More Grace
Chapter 13 – Eight Questions: Taking Your Anger Apart to Put You Back Together
Section 4: Tackling the Hard Cases
Chapter 14 – “I’ll Never Get Over It”
Chapter 15 – The Everyday Angers
Chapter 16 – Do You Ever Get Angry at Yourself?
Chapter 17 – Anger at God
A Final Word
