Rating: 
Summary: Read this book cover to cover!
Review: "The Emotionally Healthy Church" is not another another "pop psychology" "feel good" "happy church" book. Pastor Pete Scazzero takes off the Band-Aid and digs deep...now healing can begin! If you are at a loss as to where to put your foot down next, spiritually speaking, read this book! You will find your next step on the road to true Christian maturity! This book has "integrity" written all over it!
Rating:
Summary: Read this book cover to cover!
Review: "The Emotionally Healthy Church" is not another another "pop psychology" "feel good" "happy church" book. Pastor Pete Scazzero takes off the Band-Aid and digs deep...now healing can begin! If you are at a loss as to where to put your foot down next, spiritually speaking, read this book! You will find your next step on the road to true Christian maturity! This book has "integrity" written all over it!
Rating:
Summary: Better than expected...
Review: Although the title is The Emotionally Healthy Church, you can substitute almost anything for the word "Church". The Emotionally Healthy Life comes to mind immediately. The book is a quick read, written for the average person, giving real life experiences and real, hard lessons. The reader finds out, rather quickly, that the author has an appreciation of life and wants to share it with the world. The evaluation exercises are a help to the reader to gauge his own life and take practical steps toward health while honoring God. A must for any type of leader.
Rating:
Summary: A must-read for all pastors, churchleaders, and church-goers
Review: Every organization has "emotional" problems, which runs in two directions. First, individual members may be hurt by others in the organization. This, in turn, may undermine the productivity of the organization. Churches are no exception. If anything, they are especially vaulnerable to "emotional" issues caused by interpersonal clashes and private conflicts because of its very nature. Peter Scaazzero approaches the problem that exists in many contemporary churches by 1) exposing the flawed "paradigm" of imbalanced spirtuality under which many churches operate; and, 2) introducing a new "paradigm" guided by 6 principles of emotional health/maturity.The Emotionally Healhty Church is autobiographical in part, drawing many examples from the author's experiences in his personal life and his ministry at New Life Fellowship in Queens, New York. It is written in an easy and engaging style and includes illustrative diagrams. The most useful parts may be the diagnostic "Emotional/Spiritual Health Inventory," and a "Discussion Guide" at the end of the book, and would be appropriate to discuss in planning and leadership retreats.
Rating:
Summary: MUST READ FOR PASTORS, by a pastor
Review: God really wants us to be healthy, and so many times in the name of "ministry" we shrivel up our lives, our families, and our hearts. Peter Scazzero has written a book on this very topic that I think should be next on the "to read" list of every pastor, and every person considering becoming a pastor (and even those of key volunteer positions at churches). Peter addresses what it means to be emotionally healthy and unpacks some of the "taking the high road" misconceptions Christians carry. Now, this is not another attempt to be Dr. Phil for Christians. Open this book and check out the chapters and if you can read the first chapter, give it a glance.
I really believe this book has opened a journey that I must take and as I walk this path of discovery. Through this experience I will begin to understand my past, my pains, my passions, and my weaknesses; it will help me cope; and perhaps it will lead those around me to be emotional healthy and a move closer to God. I hope it is as helpful for you as it has been for me.
Rating:
Summary: Always in a position to change...
Review: I have been a member of the author's church, New Life Fellowship for many years. Because my husband and I were "there" to live through the experiences shared in this book, I thought reading it would be a fun experience, but I didn't think it would be a life changing experience for me. After all, I had been sitting under the teaching Pastor Pete shares in this book, experientially for many years now and it is woven (by the Holy Spirit) into the very fabric of our being a local church. But, much to my surprise (and yes, temporary horror) I found the Holy Spirit confronting me with issues in my life in which I used to walk in greater emotional (and thereby spiritual) maturity but due to some hard experiences in my walk, I had reverted to a more unhealthy practice in my life. God is SO good and so faithful to use this book to grow me in yet one more area by revealing this fact to me through it. Now I am allowing the Holy Spirit to a more healthy practice in that area. I have found with the Lord, that my heart needs to always be in a position to change as He seeks to heal me and bring me from glory to glory. The best and most wonderful step of all those presented in this book is the last step, "loving well" because that is what Jesus did and what He call us to do as well. The important and most amazing thing is that none of us can get to that place of loving well until we work through the proceeding steps. These steps are laid out in a simple, honest and easily digestible fashion that anyone can appreciate and which pastors and church leaders should embrace. Pastor Pete's open and honest vulnerability before God and us, has caused him to love us well, and his example, like Christ's is a empartation to us to do the same.
Rating:
Summary: Always in a position to change...
Review: I have been a member of the author's church, New Life Fellowship for many years. Because my husband and I were "there" to live through the experiences shared in this book, I thought reading it would be a fun experience, but I didn't think it would be a life changing experience for me. After all, I had been sitting under the teaching Pastor Pete shares in this book, experientially for many years now and it is woven (by the Holy Spirit) into the very fabric of our being a local church. But, much to my surprise (and yes, temporary horror) I found the Holy Spirit confronting me with issues in my life in which I used to walk in greater emotional (and thereby spiritual) maturity but due to some hard experiences in my walk, I had reverted to a more unhealthy practice in my life. God is SO good and so faithful to use this book to grow me in yet one more area by revealing this fact to me through it. Now I am allowing the Holy Spirit to a more healthy practice in that area. I have found with the Lord, that my heart needs to always be in a position to change as He seeks to heal me and bring me from glory to glory. The best and most wonderful step of all those presented in this book is the last step, "loving well" because that is what Jesus did and what He call us to do as well. The important and most amazing thing is that none of us can get to that place of loving well until we work through the proceeding steps. These steps are laid out in a simple, honest and easily digestible fashion that anyone can appreciate and which pastors and church leaders should embrace. Pastor Pete's open and honest vulnerability before God and us, has caused him to love us well, and his example, like Christ's is a empartation to us to do the same.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful and deeply needed book
Review: I wish a book like this wasn't necessary. I wish the evangelical church was in fact the place the world looked toward for models of emotional strength and maturity. Unfortunately that is not the case. Scazerro's book is educational in both its format and in its content. He models what he recommends, sharing intimately and powerfully from his own life as a pastor and a husband. Ted Koppel will never interview Scazerro on Nightline, and yet what the author proposes is of far greater consequence than almost anything else that gets reported about the church in America. A wonderful and deeply needed book. Please read it.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful and deeply needed book
Review: I wish a book like this wasn't necessary. I wish the evangelical church was in fact the place the world looked toward for models of emotional strength and maturity. Unfortunately that is not the case. Scazerro's book is educational in both its format and in its content. He models what he recommends, sharing intimately and powerfully from his own life as a pastor and a husband. Ted Koppel will never interview Scazerro on Nightline, and yet what the author proposes is of far greater consequence than almost anything else that gets reported about the church in America. A wonderful and deeply needed book. Please read it.
Rating:
Summary: Emotional Health as a Leader by Jesus' human example
Review: Perhaps the thing that helped me appreciate and learn from Scazzero's work the most was his own profound heart change in response to considering the humanity of Jesus. He's right, and I can see it clearly in my life. In my journey, I tend to pursue deeper understanding of Christ's divine attributes and related personal application, but tend to undervalue or minimalize what scripture teaches so clearly about Jesus' emotional needs and frailty as a human. This view of Jesus has profound implications affecting practical application of the 6 principles outlined by Scazerro. As a Bible College graduate and believer of 26 years, I've had plenty of exposure to the concept of the Kenosis (concept that Jesus came to earth being both fully God and fully man, see Philippians 2), but Scazzero has challenged me to consider more personally Christ's humanity, and what I am to learn from it. The Emotional Maturity inventory is a valuable tool and makes the book immensely and personally practical.
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