The End of Conflict: Resisting False Utopia in Hope of True Restoration

- have been seriously wronged or abused

- have read lots of other "Christian" self-help books

- who are at the end of their rope, being beaten up by other Christians saying platitudes like, "Forgive and forget."

- who are not finding emotional relief and want to feel loved and valuable to God again

In this book:

- I will help you release unforgivable offenses to God

- I will help you better understand how God feels about your conflict and you

- I will help you avoid the false guilt connected to a false responsibility to forgive people who aren't sorry

- I will help you help others involved in unresolved and unresolvable conflict find sanity

- I will help you deal more effectively with the fools in your life

The End of Conflict looks at a very misunderstood topic in the Christian community: biblical conflict resolution.

The discussion is framed in terms of the now and the not yet. It is a welcome addition to the Christian literature on biblical peacemaking. Uniquely, the book looks first at God s nature and His response historically to conflict within His created order. It then lays out the key differences between the path of wisdom and the path of foolishness as it pertains to conflict resolution. Each chapter begins with the author s personal story and ends with a fictional illustration of people in real-life conflict. This is no simplistic, formulaic or simple steps approach to the problem of conflict and broken relationships.

Differentiating the author's view from the typical Christian views of the day are the following ideas: (1) Conflict is not a normal part of life but a temporary reality as a result of the fall. (2) Conflict is not the result of: our humanness, diversity, scarcity or unmet needs. (3) God deals in many different ways with conflict (forgiveness is not His only option). (4) God doesn t forgive everyone and only forgives those who come in confession and repentance (honesty before Him). (5) Christians, likewise, are not called to forgive everyone, but those who come in confession and repentance. (6) There is a biblical way to deal with conflicts that go unresolved: the way of release. (7) The Christian is called to pray for enemies, not to unilaterally forgive them or to continue in relationship as normal with them. In these and many other ways, The End of Conflict is a new (though it reflects older Christian thinking from days gone by) approach to the subject of Christian conflict resolution, conciliation and biblical peacemaking.