Customer Reviews

The Cry of the Soul: How Our Emotions Reveal Our Deepest Questions About God

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This is an excellent book, it reveals through the Psalms how our angry questions directed at God reveal the depth of our battle with Him. It shows how are emotions lead us to the reality that the world is fallen and tragic and that we are far from home - something we would rather run away from. Its premise is that every emotion is a theological statement, that all dark emotions are rooted in our reactive response (flight) to being out of the Garden, out of fellowship with God, and our aggressive response (fihgt) in attempting to regain access to Eden. It clearly and sensitively deals with emotions like despair, sorrow, sadness, anger, fear, jealously and envy - showing that these are mirrors to our soul and also, reflections of the nature of a God. It invites ther reader to deal honestly with his or her emotions, to rise from despair and hopelessness to the mystery and miracle of godly sorrow, repentance, gratitude and worship. This is not secular pop psychology, but a thoroughly biblically based 'guide' to ourselves and our longings for meaningful relationships and ultimately, how all desire points to a hunger for God's redemption, healing and reconciliation. Hope for the hurting, wisdom for anyone wanting to be signposts to a holy and loving Creator God.

The soul is said to be the place where human emotions reside. It is the place that reacts or responds to the vertical or horizontal affects of God and society. The emotion is also said to be the link that connects the inner world with the outer world. But if the emotional make up is so active and influenced by God and man how can we as christians learn the language of the soul and communicate that language in a society that shuns reliance on emotion? Well, all these questions and more are answered in this ground breaking book. Discover how God invites His children to be respectfully honest with how they feel. Learn how to deal with the Emotional Struggles of life that seem contrary to "good christian ethics" from God's OWN Word, the Psalms. These writings in the Bible amplify the battle man faces with anger, pain, plea for justice, shame, envy and how they discoverd the goodnes of God in a "strange land". This book is for anyone wishing to face what they feel and gain a fresh perspective into the CRY OF THE SOUL.

Anger, fear, jealousy, despair. These are bad emotions, right? These are emotions to be avoided at all costs, right?

I discovered a few years ago that I was a really angry person and that I hurt people when I was angry. Solution? Avoid anger no matter what.

Not so fast! Allender and Longman point out that emotions are God-given, a gift from our Creator. And while it is true that our emotions have been corrupted by our sinful nature, they actually have a divine purpose. Cutting ourselves off completely from our emotions will hinder our spiritual growth and short-circuit our relationship to God.

Well that wasn't exactly news I was overjoyed to hear. I have spent considerable time and effort teaching myself to be unemotional. Now I learn that, not only have I been wasting my time, I have been at cross-purposes with God. At least Allender and Longman have provided me with some tools to get myself straightened-out. (I really didn't think I was doing all that great anyway.)

But now I can do better, and so can you. I can let these emotions draw me closer to the Lord and my fellow humans. We have the technology and it's in this book!

I have read many books about how emotions affect our emotional and spiritual health. These authors bring a completely new spin as to the role that anger, despair, fear, contempt, and various other "negative" emotions play in our spiritual journey. As a mental health counselor, I meet many people who want to "fix" these feelings, demanding to be happy. I find most Christians look at these negative emotions as straight from Hell, and not allowed. This book - focusing on the Psalms -reveals how "dark" emotions are vital because they raise questions - questions that will either drive us to God or away from God. It is a must read for anyone truly desiring a richer walk with God.

Dr. Dan Allender, makes a powerful case for the "righteousness" of emotion at its purist God given form. For most of my life I have been taught that emotion is wrong, from the devil, and from our brokenness. This book challenges that belief and has cleaned up emotion's reputation as it is usually drug through the mud of the sin we allow it to create in and through us. Emotion is blamed for the sin the carrier produces; much like Christ or the church is blamed for the sin Christians produce. Thank you for clearing up emotions reputation. This book has given me permission to feel. I now have a clearer picture of the Gospel of Christ!

This book is phenomenal. Too many people in the Church do not think of themselves as WHOLE people. If you've ever wondered how your emotions fit into your faithfulness to the Lord, then this book is for you. This book will help you become more emotionally aware and emotionally alive. Dig deeper and you will find the answers about what is going on in your soul.

In a culture that causes us to severe our hearts from our heads and our bodies from our minds inorder to cope, this book reminds us that this is not how God intended for us to be. It helps heal and then investigate in ourselves what we are REALLY thinking and feeling rather than what we wish we were. It teaches us to give ourselves permission to be honest and truthful so that we can be more intimate in our relationship with God and then inevitably in other relationships as well.

This book was very good reading. It was easy to follow, yet was not shallow or filled with platitudes. It causes one to truly look at the root of one's emotions and deal with them. For too long emotions have been misunderstood. One camp says that they are evil. The opposite camp states that emotions are truth. Both are wrong, and the truth regarding our emotions comes out in this book. I was very impressed with the way the authors handled the subject and challenged the reader to look deeper, with honesty, into our emotions.

It is not where Allendar and Longman actually went with this work, but where they COULD have gone that kept me from recommending this work MORE highly. Allendar and Longman could have used this work (and maybe another edition will accomplish this???) to help the hundreds of thousands (upon millions...?) of Christians in the U.S. in churches where emotions are either held at bay and suppressed as evil or they are allowed to run rampant in chaotic displays of extreme behavior. Other than that this was a very useful book that helped us see the redemptive use of our emotions in the process of our individual sanctifications. For example, shame can be a destructive thing if left unchecked, but if we allow it to drive us toward Christ and His redemptive power through the Holy Spirit, to God the Father, then we can be set free from our own personal prisons of shame. I highly recommend all of Allendar & Longman's works.

"The Cry of The Soul" will help you wrestle with God about those big questions in life. Not for the faint of heart.