Emotional Health
Your shadow is the accumulation of untamed emotions, less-than-pure motives and thoughts that, while largely unconscious, strongly influence and shape your behaviors. - Peter Scazzero
Aware for God's Glory | 2 Tools to Help
“Self-awareness” is a popular idea in western culture. As followers of Jesus, we recognize that this is reflective of the prayer of Psalm 139:23-34 “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” As believers, we use self-awareness to help us “throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles” so we can “run with endurance the race marked out for us.” (Hebrews 12:1-2) We cannot throw off what we do not know is there. We become aware SO THAT we can bring everything to Jesus, every thought captive and obedient, and walk in freedom.
We can go through an entire day on auto-pilot. There are two tools you can use throughout the day to help you be still, check in with, and abide in the Lord. READ MORE
Your Emotions are a Gauge, Not a Guide | Jon Bloom
God designed your emotions to be gauges, not guides. They’re meant to report to you, not dictate you. The pattern of your emotions (not every caffeine-induced or sleep-deprived one!) will give you a reading on where your hope is because they are wired into what you believe and value — and how much. READ MORE
The Truth about Missionaries and Depression | Sarita Hartz
What would people say if they knew I wasn’t super human? It seems ridiculous to me now, but that’s how I really felt. I know how enticing it can be to submerge under the covers of isolation.
Depression can be a result of a difficult season, transition, or loss, or a biochemical imbalance. It can be a result of numbing our feelings to survive over time, or suppressing grief that needed to be expressed. READ MORE
Dealing with Burnout | Thriving Pastor
I can tell you what comes into my mind: the guy who found out the hard way that burning the candle at both ends does not make you brighter!
Why do I say this? Because I was that guy! I learned my lesson through tough personal experience. And I’m absolutely certain that I’m not alone. Many of us in professional ministry are living our lives as though we were an inexhaustible resource. That’s not a good idea.
Several years ago there came a day when I found myself saying to my church board, “I think I may be in trouble. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I’m experiencing increased anxiety. I find myself easily irritated with my wife and children for no apparent reason. I’m going to see a counselor. Please pray for me.”
Emotionally Healthy Spirituality | Peter Scazzero
Peter Scazzero learned the hard way: you can't be spiritually mature while remaining emotionally immature. Even though he was a pastor of a growing church, he did what most people do:
Avoid conflict in the name of Christianity
Ignore his anger, sadness, and fear
Use God to run from God
Live without boundaries
Eventually God awakened him to a biblical integration of emotional health, a relationship with Jesus, and the classic practices of contemplative spirituality. It created nothing short of a spiritual revolution, utterly transforming him and his church.
In this best-selling book Scazzero outlines his journey and the signs of emotionally unhealthy spirituality. Then he provides seven biblical, reality-tested ways to break through to the revolutionary life Christ meant for you. “The combination of emotional health and contemplative spirituality,” he says, “unleashes the Holy Spirit inside us so that we might experientially know the power of an authentic life in Christ.”
Seven Factors that Contribute to the Impact of Depression & Anxiety | Brad Hambrick
No two experiences of depression-anxiety are the same. This is partly because every person is unique. But the differences in experience go beyond personality and life history. It is not just that each individual who experiences depression-anxiety is unique, which is true, but also that each anxious-depressive experience is itself unique. In this section, we want to examine many of the factors that account for this. READ MORE
Ambivalence and our Wounded Hearts | The Allender Center Podcasts
This week on the Allender Center Podcast, Dr. Dan Allender invites us to wrestle with the category of ambivalence: that feeling of being stuck that comes when we find ourselves moving in two different directions simultaneously without actually moving at all. Dan recalls his daughter, at four-and-a-half years old, defining ambivalence as “I want something and I don’t want something, all at the same time.” LISTEN HERE
Meta-Emotion: How You Feel About Feelings | Stacy Hubbard
We all have an emotional history which comes from our upbringing and the emotional climate in that home. Some grew up in an “emotion coaching” home where feelings were encouraged and validated, where it was okay to cry and be sad, and where it was okay to be angry. Others grew up in an “emotion dismissing” home where feelings were discouraged. These kids are told “don’t be sad” or “you’ll get over it” or “boys don’t cry.” This emotional climate makes it difficult for people to connect with their own emotions as adults, and makes it difficult to validate emotions in others. One thing that can create major problems in a relationship is a meta-emotion mismatch between partners. Meta-emotions are how you feel about your feelings. READ MORE
Missionaries and Burnout | Sarita Hartz
The statistics are scary: 80% of missionaries burn out and don’t finish their term. 46% of missionaries have been diagnosed with a psychological issue, and of those 87% are diagnosed with depression. Stress is not something to be ignored. READ MORE
Am I Burning Out? | Ron McLain
Burnout has been described as “a state of physical, emotional, and mental exhaustion marked by physical depletion and chronic fatigue, feelings of helplessness and hopelessness, and by development of a negative self concept and negative attitude toward work, life, and other people.” READ MORE
Handling Negative Feelings | Ken Williams
When was the last time you had a negative feeling? A month ago? If you’re normal you regularly experience some painful feelings. These are sometimes difficult to handle, but God has given us clear principles of dealing with them.
Self Care and Lifestyle Balance Inventory | Headington Institute
This scale examines some of the more effective physical, psychological and spiritual methods of staying balanced and preventing burnout. If you have any concerns about your state of emotional health, you should consult with your team leader and/or a member of the Care Team so that they may help you assess your needs and connect you with appropriate resources. READ MORE
The Wounded Heart | Dan B. Allender
Sexual abuse knows no religious or social boundaries. Acclaimed, groundbreaking, and as essential as when it was first published, The Wounded Heart: Hope for Adult Victims of Childhood Sexual Abuse is an intensely personal and specific look at this form of abuse. Dr. Dan Allender explores the secret lament of the soul damaged by sexual abuse and lays hold of the hope buried there by the One whose unstained image we all bear. Using compelling narrative, rigorous psychological study, and a bold faith in the goodness of God, The Wounded Heart and its companion workbook offer a rich, defiant call to believe that the trauma of abuse does not have to be the end of the story.
The Oaks Counseling Ministry | Austin, Texas
The Oaks, an International Christian ministry to missionaries and cross cultural workers will bring emotional support to missionaries and workers on furlough and abroad in the field, through healing prayer and practical resources provided by trained pastoral counselors and lay leaders, and psychotherapy provided by licensed psychologists, counselors, social workers and MFTs. It is our desire to see His people abundantly supported in the mission field to continue the call on them to minister the Gospel to unreached people groups and nations.
