In this episode of The Hope + Help Project, Christine Chappell interviews author/biblical counselor Alasdair Groves. They talk about his book, Untangling Emotions, to learn more about a biblical approach to addressing our overwhelming feelings, to discover how negative emotions can actually serve redemptive purposes, and finally, to understand how the gospel of Jesus Christ frees believers to engage our emotions in fruitful ways. Alasdair also offers insights into unhelpful views on the importance of our emotions, helps listeners to understand a biblical view of the mind-body connection, and gives words of encouragement to those who feel frequently overcome by their emotional state.
The counterintuitive reality is that joy and sorrow really can deeply mingle. You are allowed to feel deep grief and deep joy at the same time. Christians are called to grieve with hope (1 Thes. 4:13). Compassion and anger, joy and sorrow, various kinds of grief and a hundred more emotions need to be able to flow together, as they often did for Jesus.
About the Podcast
The Hope + Help Project podcast offers compassionate biblical conversations about life's challenging problems. The purpose of the podcast is to share Christ-centered comfort and clarity for those seeking biblical solutions for the struggles they face. The podcast accomplishes this by offering a mix of interviews with seasoned biblical counseling professionals and ministry leaders on a variety of topics. Listeners can expect to receive biblical wisdom as well as practical steps for facing suffering, struggling and sin with courage and grace. Hosted by author/writer Christine M. Chappell.
About the Guest
Alasdair Groves directs CCEF New England and is a faculty member at CCEF, where he currently serves as the Director of the School of Biblical Counseling. He received his Master of Divinity in counseling from Westminster Theological Seminary. Alasdair has served on the staff of several churches and has a background in campus ministry. He writes for the Journal of Biblical Counseling, and regularly teaches a variety of seminars around the New England region. Alasdair and his wife, Lauren, have three children. He is a fiction enthusiast, plays ultimate frisbee, and loves to produce and enjoy both good food and good music. You can see some of Alasdair’s writing and video here.
About the Book
Untangling Emotions • How do you feel about how you feel?
Our emotions are complex. Some of us seem able to ignore our feelings, while others feel controlled by them. But most of us would admit that we don’t always know what to do with how we feel.
The Bible teaches us that our emotions are an indispensable part of what makes us human—and play a crucial role in our relationships with God and others.
Exploring how God designed emotions for our good, this book shows us how to properly engage with our emotions—even the more difficult ones like fear, anger, shame, guilt, and sorrow—so we can better understand what they reveal about our hearts and handle them wisely in everyday moments.
Exploring how God designed emotions for our good, this book shows us how to properly engage with our emotions—even the more difficult ones like fear, anger, shame, guilt, and sorrow—so we can better understand what they reveal about our hearts and handle them wisely in everyday moments.
Helpful Articles from Alasdair
What If Tears Don't Come?
We struggle because grief makes us uncomfortable. Or we feel we shouldn’t grieve if God is sovereign. Or we worry that weeping with others will encourage them to stay mired in bitterness. Or we simply don’t have the first clue how to enter someone else’s emotional world. Or all of the above.
Engaging Our Emotions, Engaging with God
Throughout the Bible God continually encourages, comforts, convicts and reorients us. Instead of handing us a manual on emotional self-transformation, he patiently and tenderly invites us to simply come to him with all our feelings. This makes our emotions one of the premier opportunities to deepen our relationship with him!
About Your Host
Christine M. Chappell
Author • Writer • Podcast Host
Christine is the author of Clean Home, Messy Heart, Help! My Teen is Depressed, Help! I've Been Diagnosed with a Mental Disorder (forthcoming with Shepherd Press in early 2021), and Midnight Mercies: Hope for the Dark Hours of Motherhood (forthcoming with P&R Publishing in fall 2021.) She hosts IBCD's Hope + Help Podcast and is passionate about advocating for biblical one-another care and discipleship in the context of the local church. Her writing has been featured at Desiring God, The Gospel Coalition, Risen Motherhood, and other Christian platforms. Christine blogs regularly at christinemchappell.com and lives in South Carolina with her husband and three children.
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