Michael R. Emlet

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 it s true, but how does an ancient book, written thousands of years ago, connect with our twenty-first century problems? In CrossTalk: Where Life and 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.… (meer)

This won’t be a long review since this is a short book. If you are a pastor or church counselor, this book would be a great addition to your shelves or office. It’s a book that is filled with great information for those seeking help with their mental illnesses. It’s filled with Biblical sections and will help them better understand ways to help. The pages within give you a better understanding of the illnesses and what psych meds are used to help them.

Since I am not a pastor or a church counselor I can’t give this more than 3.5 stars since I am not into this type of book. However, that said, I am recommending this book to those that are in the clergy of the churches to help with those that come to them. You will gain good Biblical insight, along with good medical insight to help. Hats off to Dr. Emlet on creating an informative book for the churches.

*Cafinated Reads received a complimentary copy of this book from LitFuse Blog Tours and was under no obligation to post a review, positive or negative.*… (meer)

At first I wasn’t going to read this book because it is geared toward pastors and Christian counseling. My curiosity got the best of me and I decided I wanted to see how the author stood on this issue. I was pleasantly surprised to see how he balanced what the worlds view and the Christian view is. This is a very tough topic for many to talk about, but is much needed as many suffer from mental disabilities.

There was a time when someone was diagnosed with a mental illness and it seemed like people thought they had the plague. With the authors careful and thoughtful research, we can better understand how to cope with it. I did like the example the author gave about medicine for depression. There are so many different medications on the market today for depression, it is hard to figure out which one is best to prescribe . He goes on to explain that speaking with someone about your depression is important because it helps to balance their thinking. Don’t we all go to a friend or spouse when we are feeling down? Just talking to someone helps us feel less stress. I liked the point he made that “Rather, my aim is simply to get you thinking about the fact that helping a struggling person to evaluate his emotions and thoughts and to bring them into line with reality affects change in depression. God does not bypass the body in the sanctification process. To the extent that a person’s thoughts, emotions, desires, motivations, and actions align with God’s revealed way of living in Scripture, our neutral patterns should reveal that reality.”

I loved the scriptures he gave referring to suffering and how God is there to help us. He doesn’t want us to suffer, but to have health and wisdom. Throughout the book, the author provides both sides of this subject with compassion in a non bias approach. For me, I think it should be left up to each individual how they want to pursue treatment. However there may be times when others may need to step in if they think a person may be in danger of hurting themselves or others. Whatever path a person decides to take, it is important not to judge or condemn them. We can best help by reaching out and listening to them. I enjoyed the book and the authors way he presented both sides in a clear and concise manner.

I received a copy of this book from LitFuse. The review is my own opinion.… (meer)