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Eight Ways to Fill the Emptiness Inside
The rise in depression and anxiety signal to me that many do not know how to fill the emptiness inside themselves. And I want to note that there are as many different kinds of emptiness as there are people. And, point in fact, many choose emptiness over the alternative. Being vacant can be a significant defense in our hurting world. Much of the emptiness that we suffer is actually avoidance, a refusal to face the pain we are sure awaits us. The other major source is simply the endless drain of our energy and emotion that life imposes. Children, work, spouses, church, and even our expectations of our own selves…
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The Painful Truth about Spiritual Rebellion
Spiritual rebellion is not a popular topic for the sermon of the week. I think that is because even pastors can be somewhat unclear as to what it really is. The word, rebellion, summons up pouty teenagers staying out past curfew or military coups somewhere overseas. Most people I ask believe that spiritual rebellion is disobeying God. I suppose it is in a very vague sense, though occasionally I do disobey God, and I am no longer in spiritual rebellion. Spiritual rebellion is an incredibly painful rejection of the life that God has given you. Do you wish you had been born to another family? Do you wish that you…
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Thoughts Hijacking Your Emotions? How to Fix That…
I want to start this post by pointing out that nowhere in the Bible does it say that we need to take our emotions captive. And yet, the scripture that tells us to take our thoughts captive is often misinterpreted to mean just that. The reason why lies in the fact that we are rarely taught to differentiate our emotional life from our thought life. Though they are two sides to our soulish coin, the difference between thoughts and feelings is profound. You see, we don’t choose our emotions. We can choose what we do with them, but emotions arise from bodily reactions to events. In fact, I am not…
Healing Through Art & Words
