MarcAlanSchelske.com

Life at the intersection of Grace and Growth.

Comments?

I’ve been back and forth and up and down on the issue of comments.  When this blog was with a different host and had a different design, I had comments.  Then with the redesign, I removed them. The truth is, I have a very mixed relationship with comments on the internet.  The “bottom half” of the internet is a cesspool of yelling, selling and depersonalizing attacks.  Honestly, I don’t even read the comments anymore on most blogs that I follow.

Someone is WRONG on the Internet!

Hmmm… Maybe Romans 14 would help? (From the venerable internet comic xkcd.)

But at the same time, I’m not opposed to conversation.  Just the opposite.  I want to hear from you.  I want to understand your experience.  I want to know when my writing serves you well, and I want to know when you think I’m off track — so long as you can do that in a respectful way, open to real discussion. After hearing from a number of people who follow my blog, and the counsel of some mentors as I’m building this thing, I’ve decided to open up the comments again. So, here we go.

I have a bit of anxiety about this because writing about spirituality, sometimes controversial connections to our emotional health, theology and church practice is all touchy for folks, and there are some out there who seem to live for correcting others.  And I guess, I’m just not willing to provide a forum for ego, spiritual arrogance, name-calling and all that stinks about internet comments. So, having said all of that, I unveil to you my new comment policy.  It’s adapted from Michael Hyatt’s blog and seems like a clear and wise set of standards.  We will adapt, adopt and improve as things develop around here.  Please read the new Comment Policy before commenting. Looking forward to hearing from you and interacting more. M.

Myth #5: Ignore Your Emotions and They Will Just Go Away

And now onto the last myth in this series:  Myth #5.  Ignore your emotions and they will just go away.

This is the myth that does the most damage.  The body count is enormous—marriages ended, relationships broken, churches split and destroyed—all because people with influence were unwilling to stop and look at the uncomfortable emotions they are feeling.

It’s no mystery why this happens.  Our culture has trained us that emotions aren’t trust-worthy.  Men have been told since boyhood that showing emotions makes them weak.  It only gets worse if you’re a Christian:  If you believe that emotions aren’t Godly, that all they do is lead you into sin, that showing emotion makes you shallow, then what choice do you have?

So, we practice denial.  We change the subject.  We take antacids for the clenching in our gut and anti-depressants for the sadness in our spirits.  We treat our negative emotions like the symptoms of a cold, medicating them into suppression so that we can get on with our lives.

But it doesn’t work that way.

[Read more…]

Myth #4: Emotional Christians are Shallow.

Here’s Part 4.

Try something for me.  Wherever you are right now—at your computer, or iPad or iPhone—look away from the screen.  If there’s a mirror there, all the better.  Take stock of how you feel, and then when you’re ready say this sentence:

“You seem really reasonable today.”

Now, take stock of how you feel.  OK, ignore the silliness of talking to yourself out loud.  Just notice how you feel.  How would it feel to say this to someone else?  How would it feel if someone else walked into the room and said it to you? Now try one more sentence:

“You seem really emotional today.”

Now, same as before.  How do you feel, having said that?  How would it feel to say it to someone else?  How would it feel if someone had walked in and said it to you?

[Read more…]

Myth #3: Emotions Aren’t Spiritual

Now, onto Myth #3:  Emotions Aren’t Spiritual.

There is one particular story in the life of Jesus that was really uncomfortable for the little church I grew up in. It’s found in every one of the Gospels, so it wasn’t possible to ignore. Something about the story was powerful and important, but something else was a bit uncomfortable. The story? Jesus throwing a temper tantrum in the temple, ejecting the merchants and kicking over the table. OK… maybe it wasn’t a temper tantrum.

Are you uncomfortable yet?

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If you feel like God, You will do justice.

I attended The Justice Conference in Portland in 2012.  This is part 2 of my reflections.  You can catch up on part 1 (Love, Justice & the Problem of Indifferent Christians) here.

Part 2: If You Feel Like God, You Will Do Justice.

As I sat through speaker after speaker at the conference, one question kept surfacing for me.  If the need is this demonstrably urgent, and the Bible is so plainly clear about God’s heart for the cause of the needy, why isn’t there a flood of Christians giving their time, talents, and resources?

Francis Chan, the closing speaker, put it in these terms.  There are 800,000 children in the American foster system, children in desperate need of homes and love.  There are more than 2,000,000 people in America who self-identify as Christians.  How can those two numbers co-exist?  How is that statistic even possible?

[Read more…]

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This blog is centered around helping you find belonging, redemption and growth, learning that you are God’s artwork made for a good purpose, and giving you tools to live that life with your whole heart, soul, strength and mind.

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