MSI Press Blog

  Anger is one of those emotions we’d rather not admit to, especially if we’re trying to live a life shaped by grace. Yet Scripture never tells us to avoid anger. It tells us to discern it. “Be angry, but do not sin” is both permission and warning. It assumes anger can be holy — and also that it can go terribly wrong. Righteous anger begins with love. Righteous anger rises when something good, true, or vulnerable is harmed. It is the heart’s instinctive defense of what God loves: the dignity of a person the protection of the weak the honoring of truth the defense of justice Righteous anger is outward‑facing. It is not about me being offended; it is about someone else being harmed. It moves us toward action, not explosion — toward repair, not revenge. It is the kind of anger that clears the fog and sharpens the moral landscape. It is anger that stands up, steps in, and says, “This must not continue.” Sinful anger begins with the self. Sinful anger is not about justice; it is abo...

  Anger Today It’s everywhere now—on the road, in the checkout line, in the comment thread, in the meeting that should have been an email. Anger has become the background noise of daily life, humming beneath our conversations, shaping our reactions, coloring our judgments. It’s not just personal anymore; it’s cultural. How Widespread It Is We see it in families, where old wounds flare over small disagreements. We see it at work, where frustration over workload or recognition turns into sharpness. We see it in politics, where outrage has become a kind of currency. Even in places meant for rest—churches, parks, social media feeds—anger leaks in, disguised as conviction or humor or “just being honest.” It’s not that anger is new. It’s that it’s ambient now—shared, contagious, and often unexamined. What’s Fueling It Much of today’s anger grows from exhaustion and fear. People feel unheard, unseen, overextended. They’re carrying too much—responsibility, uncertainty, grief—and the small...

  How Emotions Are Made by Lisa Feldman Barrett argues something that initially sounds almost unbelievable: Emotions are not pre-packaged reactions hidden inside us waiting to “come out.” Instead, the brain constructs emotions. That sounds strange because most of us intuitively think emotions work like reflexes: something happens the brain detects it an emotion fires automatically Barrett argues it is more complicated than that. The Brain as a Prediction Machine Her central idea is that the brain is constantly trying to predict what is happening and what the body needs next. Your brain is not passively receiving reality like a camera. It is actively: interpreting sensory input predicting meaning preparing bodily responses using past experience to make sense of present sensations So when your heart races, stomach tightens, breathing changes, and attention narrows, the brain has to answer: “What does this mean?” And the answer is not always fixed. T...