Reading this book is a bit like watching one of those ubiquitous Channel Four housing programmes:- wherever you dip in you are given a quick resumé of the message of the entire book! This is a book about dealing with the buried hurts of the past, and the anger – expressed or buried – that has resulted. Written from the perspective of a skilled professional counsellor and a church pastor, it is a good combination of practical counselling and biblical perspective. The author presents anger in a very positive light: - a God-given gift to warn us of danger, and to energise us to resolve the threat. The problems arise when we misuse, misdirect or suppress that anger, or when the perceived threat is not a real one. He talks extensively about the buried hurts and anger in the past which can fill up a cauldron of resentment and bitterness in our lives which if not dealt with, constantly overflows in a tirade of rage or depressed resentment, at the least provocation. Anger management only skims off the surface, but we need to open a tap of forgiveness to drain the entire cauldron of hurts in order to regain peace and wholeness. As a pastor myself, I found much here to help me, both in the understanding of myself and the support I can give to others. His analysis of how anger expresses itself, both actively and passively, and of how we use and misuse our anger, was insightful. His teaching on forgiveness and how to apply it was thorough and very accessible. However, I was left with an uneasy feeling particularly about the issue of internalised anger. The repeated implication was that all anger which is self-directed is miss-directed. I don’t doubt that we often internalise anger destructively – but sometimes we do genuinely contribute to our own downfall and I feel that dealing with our own real guilt and shame was the one area that was not handled adequately in an otherwise excellent book.

Reading this book is a bit like watching one of those ubiquitous Channel Four housing programmes:- wherever you dip in you are given a quick resumé of the message of the entire book! This is a book about dealing with the buried hurts of the past, and the anger – expressed or buried – that has resulted. Written from the perspective of a skilled professional counsellor and a church pastor, it is a good combination of practical counselling and biblical perspective. The author presents anger in a very positive light: - a God-given gift to warn us of danger, and to energise us to resolve the threat. The problems arise when we misuse, misdirect or suppress that anger, or when the perceived threat is not a real one. He talks extensively about the buried hurts and anger in the past which can fill up a cauldron of resentment and bitterness in our lives which if not dealt with, constantly overflows in a tirade of rage or depressed resentment, at the least provocation. Anger management only skims off the surface, but we need to open a tap of forgiveness to drain the entire cauldron of hurts in order to regain peace and wholeness. As a pastor myself, I found much here to help me, both in the understanding of myself and the support I can give to others. His analysis of how anger expresses itself, both actively and passively, and of how we use and misuse our anger, was insightful. His teaching on forgiveness and how to apply it was thorough and very accessible. However, I was left with an uneasy feeling particularly about the issue of internalised anger. The repeated implication was that all anger which is self-directed is miss-directed. I don’t doubt that we often internalise anger destructively – but sometimes we do genuinely contribute to our own downfall and I feel that dealing with our own real guilt and shame was the one area that was not handled adequately in an otherwise excellent book.

Reading this book is a bit like watching one of those ubiquitous Channel Four housing programmes:- wherever you dip in you are given a quick resumé of the message of the entire book! This is a book about dealing with the buried hurts of the past, and the anger – expressed or buried – that has resulted. Written from the perspective of a skilled professional counsellor and a church pastor, it is a good combination of practical counselling and biblical perspective. The author presents anger in a very positive light: - a God-given gift to warn us of danger, and to energise us to resolve the threat. The problems arise when we misuse, misdirect or suppress that anger, or when the perceived threat is not a real one. He talks extensively about the buried hurts and anger in the past which can fill up a cauldron of resentment and bitterness in our lives which if not dealt with, constantly overflows in a tirade of rage or depressed resentment, at the least provocation. Anger management only skims off the surface, but we need to open a tap of forgiveness to drain the entire cauldron of hurts in order to regain peace and wholeness. As a pastor myself, I found much here to help me, both in the understanding of myself and the support I can give to others. His analysis of how anger expresses itself, both actively and passively, and of how we use and misuse our anger, was insightful. His teaching on forgiveness and how to apply it was thorough and very accessible. However, I was left with an uneasy feeling particularly about the issue of internalised anger. The repeated implication was that all anger which is self-directed is miss-directed. I don’t doubt that we often internalise anger destructively – but sometimes we do genuinely contribute to our own downfall and I feel that dealing with our own real guilt and shame was the one area that was not handled adequately in an otherwise excellent book.