Good and Angry: Letting Go of Irritation, Complaining, and Bitterness by David Powlison

 

About: Good and Angry.

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.

Endorsement

Anger can teach us something good not only about ourselves, but about God—and my friend David Powlison shows us how. I highly recommend Good and Angry, especially for Christian leaders, counselors, parents, and young people!
Joni Eareckson Tada, Joni and Friends International Disability Center

Good and Angry is a remarkably penetrating treatment of a vital but neglected subject. Powlison’s insights are profound, not only on anger, but patience, forgiveness, mercy, and grace. I personally benefited from this excellent book. I highly recommend it.
Randy Alcorn, Author of If God Is Good, Heaven, and Happiness

It is rather rare to have a twenty-year history behind a commendation of a new book, but Good and Angry by Powlison now takes its rightful place as my number one recommendation on anger—not to mention it now stands as the fullest and wisest Christian response to the sub-theme of self-hatred and self-anger I have ever read.
Tony Reinke, Desiring God; host of the Ask Pastor John podcast; author of Newton on the Christian Life: To Live Is Christ 

If there is any counselor on the planet who is qualified to come alongside you and point you to the truth about yourself and the Lord who loves you, it is David Powlison. For decades now he’s been the primary voice of grace-saturated counsel and he speaks from a position of deep wisdom and careful exegesis. If you or someone you know has a problem with anger, this book is for you. In other words, everyone should buy it.
Elyse Fitzpatrick, Author of Counsel from the Cross

I’ve had righteous anger before, I think, but not very often. Most of my anger is more than a little bit unrighteous. In this wise and immensely practical book, David Powlison brings a lifetime of skill at understanding the human heart to help us deal with one of the world’s biggest problems: anger, and everything that leads up to it. Philip Ryken, President, Wheaton College

All of us struggle with the hot unpleasantness of emotions and desires on the spectrum of anger. This problem frustrates us, saddens us, and often enslaves us. We need a wise and gracious guide to point us to the mercy of God’s Word. David Powlison is a man of peace and his words in this book breathe wisdom and point to Christ’s own grace for change. Since anger is all of our problem, we all need this book.
Heath Lambert, Executive Director of the Association of Certified Biblical Counselors and Associate Pastor at First Baptist Church Jacksonville, FL 

About the Author

David Powlison, M.Div., Ph.D. is Executive Director of Christian Counseling & Educational Foundation (CCEF) as well as a CCEF faculty member and Senior Editor of the Journal of Biblical Counseling. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania, as well as an M.Div. from Westminster Theological Seminary.

David has been counseling for over thirty years and has written numerous articles on biblical counseling and on the relationship between faith and psychology. His books include Speaking Truth in Love; Seeing with New Eyes; Power Encounters: Reclaiming Spiritual Warfare; and The Biblical Counseling Movement: History and Context. His minibook titles include Facing Death with Hope; Healing after Abortion; Recovering from Child Abuse; and Renewing Marital Intimacy. 

David has taught across the United States and in Korea, India, Brazil, Europe, and Sri Lanka. He blogs periodically at CCEF and The Gospel Coalition.