Today’s episode is an audio lecture from one of our online courses, Helping Relationships, which is taught by Ed Welch. This lecture is titled “Pursue & Know People” and it covers one of the foundational ideas to this course and to all of biblical counseling: that we aim to know people well and pursue them like Jesus.

Registration for this course is open through December 3. Register at ccef.org/school.

The CCEF School of Biblical Counseling offers 6 courses that make up 2 certificates designed to equip you for biblical counseling. Our students include pastors, elders, ministry leaders, counselors, and any Christian wanting to grow in wise soul care. You can learn more at ccef.org/school.

Today’s episode is a rerun of an episode we released a few years ago titled “Negative Emotions: Part 1.” In it, I consider some common questions: Is it okay for Christians to feel really bad? Is it okay for Christians to get upset and feel terrible, to be angry, or sad, or afraid? How do we rightly view negative emotions? I hope this episode helps you as you engage with your own negative emotions.

Today’s episode is a session from our 2020 National Conference: Created to Draw Near. The session is by Mike Emlet and is titled “Beyond Devotional Doldrums: Using Scripture and Prayer to Foster Intimacy with God.” Emlet discusses some practices to faithfully and creatively engage in Scripture reading and prayer, which are two means God has provided for believers to regularly draw near to him and strengthen our faith.

We’re looking forward to our 2024 National Conference: Rest in just a few weeks! There’s still time to register for the conference in-person and virtually. Learn more at ccef.org/2024.

This fall we’re taking a longer break from the podcast while we work on a new format with more frequent episodes. We’re excited to launch that in 2025! In the meantime, we’ll be sharing some previously released resources with you.

Today’s episode is a rerun of an episode we released a few years ago titled “Rest.” We hope you’re encouraged by this episode to draw near to the God of rest.

Mentioned in this episode: We’re thinking a lot about rest as we prepare for our national conference on the topic. We hope you’ll join us for the conference this October, whether online or in Chattanooga, TN. You can learn more at ccef.org/2024.

Enjoy a bonus episode while we’re on break over the summer! This episode is a recording of Ed Welch's plenary session from the 2023 National Conference: Trauma.

This year's national conference will explore the topic of rest: a foundational way of living out the Christian life that can only be learned from Christ and put into practice amid the challenges of daily life. Learn more and register at ccef.org/2024.

To receive a $25 discount on your in-person registration, use the code “podcast” at checkout. This discount is valid through the end of August 2024.

Find all the sessions from our 2023 National Conference: Trauma here.

1. How does a Christian deal with a tendency to struggle with joy and happiness even when life is relatively good? [3:50]
2. Is it a good thing when we can’t control our emotions? [11:56]
3. Is the emotion of frustration a sin? [18:08]
4. What about people who don’t know what they feel? [23:50]
5. What about when a woman’s monthly period or menopause, where emotions “happen” to us and are not “our fault”? [28:00]
6. How do I manage or overcome strong romantic emotions that are misleading? [35:22]
7. What’s your encouragement for someone who says he’s a thinker, not a feeler? [39:48]
8. What do you do with emotions that you should not act out on, but are still important to process? [42:02]
9. How do you have empathy but also encourage resilience? [45:36]
10. How do we handle anger, jealousy, negative emotions, and other things that may lead to bitterness? [50:55]
11. Can you speak to rumination and sadness over relationships that are over? [54:12]

Is it okay to be happy? Was Jesus happy? Are you happy? Listen as Alasdair Groves considers these three questions.

This is episode 5 in a miniseries on emotions, where we are considering how to understand Jesus’s emotions and how that helps us understand our own.

Mentioned in this episode: we recently released our latest issue of the Journal of Biblical Counseling, which includes articles on topics such as trauma, the empty nest, faithfulness in marriage, and scrupulosity. Learn more here.

Find a transcript of the episode here

For more resources on emotions, including blogs, podcasts, videos, and more, click here.

Today we’re excited to share with you a recent project we’ve been working on. We started a new podcast called the CCEF Blogcast, where CCEF faculty read their own blogs. We hope you enjoy this special episode as Ed Welch reads his blog, “Become a Psalmist.” For more content like this, check out the CCEF Blogcast wherever you listen to podcasts.

Music: "Created by Design" by Cody Martin

• Good & Angry | Book by David Powlison
• Be Angry & Do Not Sin | Blog post by Ed Welch
• Untangling Emotions | Book by Alasdair Groves

• Because He Cares—for Me? | Blog post by Alasdair Groves
• Saints, Sufferers, and Sinners | Book by Mike Emlet