Your friend just left his wife. You catch your child posting something inappropriate on the Internet. Someone in your small group is depressed. A relative was just diagnosed with an incurable disease. When those you know and love experience trouble, you don't want to hand out pat answers or religious platitudes. Instead, you want to offer real hope and help from God's Word.

You know the gospel is true, but how does an ancient book, written thousands of years ago, connect with our twenty-first century problems as Christians? In CrossTalk: Where Life and Christian Scripture Meet, Michael R. Emlet gives you the tools to connect the Bible to your life and to the lives of your family, friends, neighbors, and coworkers. You will learn to understand people and God's Word in ways that promote gospel-centered, rich conversations that help you and those you know grow in love for God and others.

This book will make the whole Bible come alive to you. Instead of platitudes, you can offer a cup of living water to those who are struggling in this broken world.

If we're honest, most of us can remember eating more than we need. More often than we might care to admit, we finish a meal knowing we've had too much. Why do we push the limits of our food consumption? Does God have anything to say about this struggle?

Physician and counselor Michael R. Emlet walks us through the many reasons we may overeat and reminds us of biblical themes that should guide how we think about food and the way we eat. He reminds us that our use of food is not morally neutral, but reflects many layers of heart motivation.

Instead of experiencing guilt or shame over this struggle, however, he invites us to see that our identity is in Jesus, not in our weaknesses. Readers will be encouraged to consider new thought processes and practices that will bring new freedom to mealtime.

Chronic pain is different from other kinds of physical pain because it doesn't stop. It is daily, unrelenting, soul-wearying pain for which there is no end in sight. Can you still experience God's grace and help even in the midst of never ending pain?

Michael R. Emlet, physician and counselor, includes a brief overview of the physiological aspects of pain and then goes on to outline a God-shaped perspective on chronic pain. When you turn to God, your pain may not disappear, but fear, anxiety, and despair can be replaced with a simple trust in God's understanding, care, and love.

You spend your days (and maybe nights) helping someone else. If you are a caregiver for someone who is chronically ill, you have already discovered there is a need to be more compassionate, thoughtful, and sacrificial than you ever anticipated. But, to be able to continue your physically and spiritually demanding caregiving, you need help too.

Dr. Michael R. Emlet offers you help to think biblically about your struggles and the struggles of the person you are caring for. Then he shares useful strategies for avoiding social, physical, and spiritual caregiving burnout.