Blessed. Blessed. Eight Steps to Emotional, Relational, Spiritual Wholeness: The Healing Power of the Beatitudes will challenge the reader to a deeper application of Jesus's words as they apply to health in a contemporary global context. Overview: Blessed--to be envied--wealthy--fortunate--happy. Yes! This is what one seeks in life. But after forty years of preaching about the Beatitudes, the most famous "Blessed" passage in the Bible, the authors feel strongly that what the Lord says leads to "blessings" and what the World means by "blessings" are almost diametrically opposed.

Blessed: Eight Steps to Emotional, Relational, Spiritual Wholeness: The Healing Power of the Beatitudes explores the excruciating journey everyone must take to arrive at a life of fulfillment and joy. Jesus leaves us guidelines that transcend time and culture. Modern psychology and sociology have many insights for this journey; however, they are not really "modern." The Bible outlined these processes thousands of years before our current academic pursuits "discovered" them. Describing current psychological thought, such as archetypes and self-fulling prophecy through the lens of the Beatitudes, provides the reader with a means to discuss and apply biblical truths.

The authors seek to add a cultural depth to the understanding of health and wholeness as they reflect on their years of overseas ministry. Cultural sidebars enlighten the topics discussed. Stories about beggars, empleadas, filial piety are included.

Each "blessed" is part of a relationship, an attitude. Humankind is responsible for four basic relationships: with self, society, nature/technology, and God. How do the specifics of the Beatitudes express themselves through these relationships? How does one bring wholeness out of the dysfunction in each of these areas? The Beatitudes have the answer. The Beatitudes succinctly demonstrate how to progress in life and the specific rewards for one's efforts. The Beatitudes were presented by Jesus as the beginning of his Sermon on the Mount. They encapsulate his teaching as very few other statements. They were examined for millennia by specific scholars of that time who spoke directly to that culture and people group. Contemporary culture looks for an approach that examines Christ's words from a psychological/sociological perspective and speaks to relationships.