This is a must have book in the time of Grieving. A freind gave this book to me because of the tough time of loosing my spouse. Without this book I would be so LOST! I am able to read it over and over again. Evey time it helps. This is a very special book that you need to read due to a Loss in your Life. There is something very special in this to help every one. This is a tested and proven resource book that is just so great. It supplies you with 16 weeks of daily readings with prayer and a wonderful thought for the day. With the loss of someone very special to you, I guarantee this will be a Significant Help to you or a great gift for that special friend who needs comforting!!

This book was givin to my wife and I as a gift before we were married. It covers many topics that are relevant to couples that are going to be married. My wife and I both read this book before we were married and were pleasantly surprised with how familiar we were with some of the problems/issues that the book discusses. Perfect for couples of all ages and religious backgrounds. It has some religious overtones, but is not overbearing or presumptuous. I still pull this book out once a year or so and flip through it. It will help you relate to your spouse.

My husband and I received this book as a wedding gift from my hometown pastor. Like so many other self-help books I've been given, I placed it on a shelf figuring it would gather dust. Within our first year of marriage, we hit a major bump and I thought our marriage was going to pieces, so I picked the book up and began to read.

What I read has given me new hope and the strength and wisdom to hang on and ride this bump out. The book is filled with wonderful ideas on how to improve communications and how to help recognize the differences in the needs each partner has in the relationship. My favorite section of the book is "We Promise You Trouble". The section reminds us that there will always be trouble in life, the marriage doesn't cause the trouble, trouble just happens.

The Erdahl's originally wrote this book as a letter to their nephew on the eve of his wedding, a gift they hoped would be meaningful and helpful. They found that many others enjoyed and found this letter useful, so it was published as a book.

I would reccommend this book as a gift for engaged couples as well as to any couple at any stage in marriage!

Lutheran Bishop Lowell Erdahl's book was an attempt to bridge the pro-life movement, the peace movement, and the anti-death penalty movement under a consistent ethic of life. The fact that the book is out of print shows that it probably never spoke to a significant constituency. Even though Erdahl's ethic may seem logical, even to people who disagree with him, few on either side of the great American political divides between left and right/liberal and conservative seem willing to have their orthodoxies challenged. Without proclaiming any "curses on both their houses" this book along with the writings of Nat Hentoff and Ron Sider offered just such a challenge. The message of the book is simple: if human life is sacred it doesn't matter whether it's born or unborn.

Erdahl begins the book with a general discussion of the sancity of human life before proceeding to specific issues. As a Lutheran his beliefs are based in Christianity and the general belief that humanity is created in God's image. He is opposed to taking human life, but he is not absolutely opposed under all circumstances. Absolute pacifists may find an ally, but Erdahl's approach is not deontological. Exceptions are acknowledged, but Erdahl cautions that we must be careful to never let the exceptions become the rule. The rest of book is a treatment of specific issues such as abortion, war, euthanasia, and capital punishment. These chapters are dated because they were current to the mid 1980s when the book was published.

Pro-life/Pro-peace is by no means a conclusive statement on the sanctity of life and the applications of this principle. It can serve as an interesting starting point for attempting to bridge issues that are not usually championed by the same people in the same place.

This book takes tolerance to the point of ridiculous. Two former bishops in the Lutheran church--who therefore should have a strong sense of responsibility as teachers--Chilstrom and Erdahl claim to put forth a middle ground in this book on sexuality. Instead, they ultimately end up suggesting a life style that is hard to distinguish from "If it feels good, do it."

Their discussion on homosexuality is a good case-in-point. They had held the traditional church view until they met with many GLBT people who spoke openly about their sexuality. Based on this testimony the authors were convinced their previous conservative point of view was incorrect and over time started advocating for their church to change its stance.

This methodology would be akin to the following:
Over the course of my life I have met many alcoholics who claim
*their drinking has not hurt anyone
*everyone else is making a bigger deal about this then they should.
*their lifestyle is not the problem, rather it is all those AA people who are making their life terrible by convincing everyone that alcoholism is bad
*if judgemental people would just back off everyone could live happier lives

If I were to take this information from these first-hand, passionate sources and write a statement to the Lutheran church advocating for tolerance for alcoholics, I would be writing in the spirit of Chilstrom and Erdahl. My book would be very popular among people who are looking for an excuse to drink more and have theyir decadent desires ordained by the church. It would be very tolerant--as long as people overlook those who are hurt by it.

Chilstrom and Erdahl have overlooked many things in order to get their conclusions in this book. They have overlooked the true joy that comes from not following every sexual urge. They have overlooked harmful side affects (both physical and psychological) of some of the practices they are condoning. They have also overlooked what affect these practices have on the community around those who live them out. Finally, they have overlooked the biblical witness which claims that we are sinful beings and therefore our carnal desires _may_ not always be holy or healthy.

Herbert Chilstrom and Lowell Erdahl make use of the fact that they have been pastors and officials in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America to validate their book. The fact is that their book is neither evangelical nor Lutheran nor in keeping with the teachings of the church. Therefore they should in fairness have refrained from bolstering their opinions with references to their service in the church. The members of their church have every right to resent this.

The ELCA's constitution holds that the Scriptures are superior to human opinion and reason. Obviously this principle is not upheld by Erdahl and Chilstrom.

Walks a fine path between conservative traditionalism and permissivism, Chilstrom and Erdahl's work offers practical Christian hope between the extremes.