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Summary: Summary: Cursed is the one who trusts in man
Review: As a professional counselor Ed Welch in this book simply explains the natures of the peer pressure, codependency and the fear of man and gives biblically refreshing solutions.
Ed Welch is a counselor with Resources for Changing Lives, a ministry of the Christian Counseling and Educational Foundation. He starts in his book with a personal life story rounded around `love tank' which must be filled by others.
The author stress that we must follow the steps first to find out how and why do we fear others and how can we overcome the fear of man. Therefore, he has three sub headings in the first part: 1. You must recognize that the major theme in the Bible and your own life is the fear of man (Biblical view). 2. You must identify where you fear of man has been intensified in your past (experiential or self view). 3. You must find out your assumptions of the world (world view).
Summary of the part two is "Fear the Lord, you saints, for those who fear him lack nothing" Psalm 34:9. Welch stress that our greatest need is not psychological nor biological but spiritual. Our deepest needs are not psychological deficits like love, meaning and longing for significance that must be filled as being passive empty-cups before others, but God be acknowledged and be worshiped in our daily lives. God has given us fear nature and man and woman must fear. The way to get rid of the fear of man is not following the `no fear' motto or challenging our fears by joining the show `Fear Factor' TV Show since they are the results of focusing on self not God but changing our fear from man to God, which he calls this `Growing in the fear of the Lord'.
The book is superb in its assessment and solution to the fear of man; it is through in its sphere of discussion and it is simple in its communication of the life-changing message.
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Summary: This book's incredible in applying the Gospel to daily life.
Review: Ed Welch gets right to the point when he writes of our worshiping people instead of God! If we fear people more than we fear the Lord, we're in trouble. The basic theme is that we must need other people less and love them more!
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Summary: A really convicting and transforming book!
Review: I read a lot of books but this book is one of the few that i would re-read again and make notes so that i can really get a good grasp of its wonderful and convicting teaching. It is also one of the few books that i can say really challenges my thinking and living.This book also got me more interested in counselling and "Christian" psychology. Some of the views written challenges many common Christian Psychology/counselling teachings - he challenges some of Larry Crabb's views. But besides these "differences" (which i need to look more into), i think this book is an excellent read - especially for Christians who are in leadership positions. There is always a tendency to be controlled by the opinions of man, and thus in Welch's terms, succumb to a fear of man, rather than to be controlled by what God teaches, therefore be a God fearing Christian. This book calls us to deny ourselves, to crucify our ungodly desires for popularity, fame and good opinions of man. It calls us to see God as bigger than man and once we do that, we will start to fear God and not man. Wonderful thought-provoking, life- and attitude-challenging stuff.
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Summary: Even better than expected
Review: This book was recommended to me, but I must admit at first the title seemed a little too obvious. I thought it would end up being a redundant study of materials I've covered in depth in other recent books I've studied including the Proverbs, Exodus and Hebrews. Welch digs surprisingly deep into a subject that sort of gets glazed over all too often for this exact reason. **Stick with him from chapter to chapter, because a few of his main points take the entire book to completely unravel. For instance, his criticism of the "love cup" analogy seems to miss the mark in the beginning chapters, but is fully rounded when the later chapters unravel. I think he grinds the ax a little too much around phsycological needs, admitting that love is a God-given need, but convinced that it is in the spiritual needs category. It doesn't matter to me which category it goes into so much, but his insights into how distorted this need has become for us is very well-developed. Just as any biological or spiritual need can become sin through distortion, so can our need for acceptance and love which should always stem from Christ and the glorification of Him alone.
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Summary: Bar None, the most helpful, the best book I have ever read
Review: This book was recommended to my husband and I during marriage counseling with a very prestigious, well known doctor. I wish we had read it a long time ago. I have never had the biblical concept of *love* in its truest sense explained so clearly. I would highly recommend this book to anyone that has struggled with dysfunctional family relationships, codependency issues, or even just loving your enemies. I want to buy a case of these and pass them out to everyone we know!! That's how great this book is.
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Summary: Our focus should be on God, not people.
Review: This is a must-read for everyone! Dr. Welch explains how putting people ahead of God (making them "bigger") leads to anxiety and neediness. Instead of caring what others think of us, thus giving them power to control us, we must trust Him; we must submit to God's authority and obey Him. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. Proverbs 9:10
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Summary: Excellent Book on God's Greatness!
Review: Welch has written a gem on the need for us to realize how great God really is and how we need to stop fearing other people so much! The focus of Welch's book is to have a greater healthy fear of God to the point that other people have less power and control over our lives. The points Welch describes in his book include: 1. The fear of God is the best treatment for the fear of man.
2. Jesus was not a people-pleaser.
3. Having more fear of man than God is idolatry.
4. When we fear God we think of ourselves less.
5. When we spend more time with God, opinions of ourselves and what others think of us matter less.
6. We should love people more and need them less (only God can truly provide for our needs).
7. We love others because God first loved us.
8. When God is reduced to our feelings, He becomes less awesome to us while people become larger. The "fear of God" may be defined as having a healthy reverence for God - He loves us and does not want us to be so afraid of Him that we are scared of having a personal relationship with Him. Read the book and be encouraged to be more concerned about what God thinks and less concerned about what other people think!
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Summary: An invaluable tool for today's counseling pastor.
Review: Welch writes clearly, insightfully, and biblically. The content is of utmost relevance to our age. Not only does he make his point clear, but he leads the reader to life-changing application of truth. Every Christian counselor, paricularly every God-fearing pastor who attempts to meet the "self-esteem" needs of his flock, should read this book. He would do well to have an extra copy available to hand to counselees. As a counselor and one who has struggled personally with self-worth, I have found nothing as helpful or biblical as this book.
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Summary: An invaluable tool for today's counseling pastor.
Review: Welch writes clearly, insightfully, and biblically. The content is of utmost relevance to our age. Not only does he make his point clear, but he leads the reader to life-changing application of truth. Every Christian counselor, paricularly every God-fearing pastor who attempts to meet the "self-esteem" needs of his flock, should read this book. He would do well to have an extra copy available to hand to counselees. As a counselor and one who has struggled personally with self-worth, I have found nothing as helpful or biblical as this book.
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