Good and Angry: Redeeming Anger, Irritation, Complaining, and Bitterness

You know the feeling. Some call it "seeing red," others say they are "burned up," and of course you can say much worse when you are good and angry. Being angry doesn't feel so bad when it starts-you get a rush of adrenaline with energy to make your point and to keep making it. But the after party in your mind and heart isn't so great. There is an overwhelming sense of irritation that usually is reflected in how we talk to those we live and work with, the complaining we can't control, and maybe even a settled bitterness to a person or a group of person. We know those things are negative and affect us negatively, but how do we let them go? We start by understanding the source of our anger-something important to us isn't right. We want it to be right! We want justice-sometimes for ourselves and sometimes for others.

You might be surprised to learn 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-it's redemptive. He steps into our world to make wrongs right. He sends his own Son to die so that we could be right with him. This is both our model for change and our power to change. We go to our heavenly Father for help. We look closely at the roots of our anger. And we learn a new way, a redemptive way, of handling life when it goes wrong and gets on our last nerve. You, your family, and your friends will all be glad that you read this book.

"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

"Reading this book is like a conversation with a friend, rather than a lecture from a know-it-all. It is, above all, helpful and biblical. It is the best book I know of on this difficult topic." - Ray Ortlund, Pastor, Immanuel Church, Nashville, TN

"David Powlison does not treat anger as a disease to be cured or a vice to be crushed. After all, the Bible depicts both Jesus and his heavenly Father as sometimes angry. Expect no comforting nostrums from these pages. Here, instead, you will find biblically faithful probing and gospel hope that will make it possible to be good and angry." - D. A. Carson, Research Professor of New Testament, Trinity Evangelical School, Deerfield, IL; cofounder of The Gospel Coalition

Publisher Description

Good and Angry, a groundbreaking book from David Powlison, shows readers how anger is more than a problem to solve. Anger is our complex human response to what 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.

Good and Angry examines God's desire for justice and his anger, which doesn't devolve into manipulation. Rather, God's anger is good and redemptive, and it causes him to step into our world to make wrongs right, sending his own Son to die so we can be reconciled.

In this book full of practical and biblical help, Powlison sets readers on a path toward a faithful and fruitful expression of anger, in which we return good for evil and redeem wrongs. Powlison investigates how God is our model for change and our power for change.

Good and Angry helps people who struggle with irritation, complaining, or bitterness explore how to respond constructively when life goes wrong. You, your family, and your friends will all be glad that you read this book.