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Are you faced with an impossible challenge in your life—a problem for which there simply is no solution? It sounds trite to suggest that one’s attitude can make an impossible task possible. But in this Nehemiah Notes devotional, Blaine Smith argues that simply maintaining a positive attitude can make a much bigger difference than you think in your ability to deal with life’s challenges.

Smith is particularly interested in the way that we allow others’ negativity and criticism to sap our willpower. He cites the famous “spies in Canaan” account as an example of a time in Bible history when negative attitudes almost sabotaged God’s people:

It may not seem profound to say that our attitude affects our approach to challenges. In a general way we all recognize this to be true. Yet most of the time we fail to appreciate the extent to which this is true. Our pessimism can literally shut down our creative energy for solving a problem. Even more typically, it channels that energy in the wrong direction. When a problem seems difficult, we can be incredibly clever at convincing ourselves it has no solution. Once we reach that conclusion, we interpret all the evidence we see as proof we’re correct—that the problem is indeed beyond hope. Having established that, we can overlook obvious solutions which may be staring us in the face….

We are creatures of suggestion, and we easily and unconsciously absorb the positive or negative outlooks of those around us.

We see fascinating examples of both types of influence occurring throughout Scripture. It’s interesting, for instance, how frequently in Scripture individuals manage to convince one another that a situation is hopeless even though God sees it in a very different light. The spies whom Moses sent to Canaan are a classic example of how this negative “groupthink” occurs (Num 13). Even though God had promised that Israel would conquer Canaan (Num 13:1), ten of the twelve spies sent to investigate the land concluded that the obstacles to success were simply too great. We sense that these men, as brilliant as they were, used their intelligence to convince each other that the mission would be too difficult for them. In effect they talked themselves out of faith.

Smith goes on to describe the different ways, through relationships and consistent devotions, that we can develop a positive outlook about the challenges that life throws our way.

Thinking positively won’t magically solve your problems… but it does play an important role in motivating us to work to overcome them. If you’re faced with a seemingly insurmountable challenge in your life, have you allowed criticism and negative thinking to convince you that the situation is hopeless? Or are you facing it with confidence befitting a child of God?

Adam McClane recently reposted a comment he received from T.C. Porter about how Porter does church. I’ve read it a few times over the past few days and it continues to stick in my mind. The posture towards church that Porter adopts is both no-nonesense and rooted in the Bible. It’s also challenging to the status quo. For starters, their sermons are no longer than seven minutes, which leaves the congregation plenty of time to interact and support each other.

Here’s an excerpt from the Porter’s comment; you can read the whole thing at Adam’s blog on “Guest Post: Be the Church:”

- do it. stop talking about it. leave your church and do what you are saying. that’s the message i keep getting, and increasingly i have less time writing about church reform because there is, as you say, so much work to be done. people want this but we are on the leading edge and it is hard work. nonverbals are the message – what is our message – go out and get it done and build it; know that it will take a long time so you have to start now, stop writing about it folks. [...]

- a big trend that has to be bothersome is this rising chorus of critique against the church without a rising army of folks living out the alternative. gen x got its name from being meaninglessly, non-committal, and complacent. and i know too many of us who are not really engaged and fighting the good fight with a covenant community, we’re just saying things like “church is everywhere” and “love your neighbor” and yet it looks like a ministry of convenience more than anything. i like to write so i blog; i like to feed the hungry so i do that. i like beer so i drink with my neighbor. … all fine and good, but: are we becoming a generation of disciples and disciple-makers? is this generation being shaped and formed into Christlikness against he prevailing tides of individualism, hard-work, consumerism, well-touted charity, etc.

I’ve been writing for Gospel.com for a few years now, and before that I attended a Christian college. I’ve heard and read the “Church is failing!” argument more times than I care to count. Rarely, though, do people take all their anger about the church and turn it into something positive. It’s refreshing.

What do you think of Porter’s comment? Are there there things you wish your church did that were more in line with what Jesus taught?

Jesus’ words sometimes seem counter-intuitive. How exactly does being last make me first? I’ve heard a pastor refer to promises like this as following “Kingdom logic.” They don’t make much sense to us… until we try them out.

This devotional by Jang Ho Park at Today dives into Jesus’ paradoxical words in Luke 9:24: ““Whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it.” Adopting this selfless attitude, the devotional explains, is something we need to practice daily:

Christ opened the way to life through death on a cross. Not obsessed to save his own life, he became the source of life to all who trust in him. Now this same principle takes on meaning for Jesus’ followers.

As disciples of Christ, we should train every day to give of ourselves in service to our community. This means throwing away selfishness and personal ego to live a humble life of self-denial that serves others.

What kinds of efforts and sacrifices are we making as Jesus’ disciples? Jesus says we must deny ourselves, take up our cross daily, and follow him. We must be true disciples who face up to the challenges of living for Christ each day in this world, setting aside our own comforts and desires to reach out to others for the sake of God’s kingdom.

Read the entire devotional at thisistoday.org

Have you ever seen selflessness lead to life? What can you do today to set aside your “own comforts and desires to reach out to others for the sake of God’s kingdom?”

I once worked with somebody who never took vacations. This was a point of pride for her; if you asked her why, she would explain that there was so much work that needed doing that she simply couldn’t justify taking any time off. While she never said it in so many words, her words contained the not-so-subtle suggestion that people who went on vacations took their work less seriously than they ought.

At the time, I was impressed by her dedication. In retrospect, her refusal to ever rest seems like a pretty questionable choice. Most of us would probably affirm the value of peroidically taking time away from our tasks to rest and recharge. But in this Daily Strength devotional, Joe Stowell reminds us that resting isn’t just a practical decision; it’s a spiritual mandate:

…for some reason, we sometimes seem apologetic about taking time off or needing a change of pace for a little while. It may be that our internal understanding of a real “work ethic” demands that we feel a little guilty about time that we’re not being “productive” or “efficient.” Or maybe we are concerned that those projects and clients we have been carefully nurturing along will fall to pieces if we put them on hold for a week or two. Maybe we are distorting Paul’s words to the Ephesians, resisting vacations and working nonstop so that we can “make the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil” (Ephesians 5:16)….

Reason number one: it’s commanded in Scripture. The fourth commandment tells us to “remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy” (Exodus 20:8). That means more than just going to church on Sunday. The principle of “Sabbath”—rooted in God’s example through creation of resting on the seventh day—intertwines with the Old Testament law code.

Occasional rest isn’t the enemy of a successful job, nor is it a disruption of your Christian walk. On the contrary, it’s an integral part of a balanced life.

Do you feel the temptation to never stop for a rest, perhaps worrying that taking a break is a violation of your “work ethic”? If you’ve been working too hard for too long and are starting to feel the strain of overwork, perhaps it’s time for a prayerful pause.

Lillian Kwon writes in a recent Christian Post article about the ways that Claremont School of Theology is partnering with colleges from other faiths. Their goal is to create a multi-faith seminary.

Understandably, this has some Christian leaders taken aback. Here’s a portion of the article; you can read the whole thing to get a few dissenting opinions on Claremont’s plan:

Claremont’s president, the Rev. Jerry Campbell, announced Wednesday that the seminary will be partnering with Jewish and Islamic schools to offer clerical training to students of various faiths. Students will be trained in their own religious traditions as well as gain understanding of other faiths through shared classes with the Academy for Jewish Religion and the Islamic Center of Southern California. Eventually, the seminary plans to expand its training to include Hinduism and Buddhism, among others.

The new consortium of graduate schools, which is believed to be the first of its kind, is being launched to essentially better prepare students for the multi-religious world they are living in.

But a multi-religious environment isn’t anything new, said Mark Tooley, president of the Institute on Religion and Democracy, a conservative watchdog that monitors mainline denominations.

Christians have had to deal with such an environment for the past 2,000 years and Christianity has stuck to its truth claims amid the diversity, he noted during Mohler’s radio program.

“If they are to be faithful to the Gospel then they should be accepting the multi-religious environment as a challenge rather than trying to accommodate it or succumb to it,” Tooley commented.

While I think that Claremont’s reasoning for partnering with other schools is a little theologically shaky, the end result could be interesting. Keeping one’s faith intact in a setting like this would require a deep understanding of and commitment to one’s Christian faith. I have a hunch that Christian students at this school will find themselves articulating their faith to outsiders nearly every day.

Also, a World Religions class in this environment could be excellent; instead of one professor attempting to accurately describe many different religions, spiritual leaders from those religion could come in to teach. As a consequence, Christian students might leave with a much better understanding of the intricacies of preaching the Gospel to adherents of those religions.

What do you think? Assuming the Christian arm of the seminary is orthodox, do you think there’s value in a multi-faith seminary?

In a handful of places throughout the Bible, an individual is singled out by the text and described as a particularly respected or upright person: Job was the “greatest of all the men of the east;” Joseph found “success in everything he did,” and Daniel “possessed an extraordinary spirit.” What did these men do to merit these glowing descriptions… and what can we do do emulate them?

According to Charles Swindoll in this Day by Day devotional, what set these “great men” of the Bible apart was not luck, good fortune, cleverness, or inborn talent, but something much simpler:

What did these men have in common? Perfection? These men were far from perfect. Easy times? Hardly. How about slick rhetoric? Wrong again. What they had in common was character—high moral character. They walked securely; they didn’t fear being “found out.” [....]

We have every right to expect of ourselves and others virtue, dignity, self-mastery, resoluteness, determination, strength of will, moral purity, and personal integrity—in public and in private. The fact that many fail to live up to the minimal daily requirement does not change the ideal.

If men like Job and Joseph and Daniel could demonstrate character in the worst of times, you and I can do so now. And because we can, we must.

Do you consider yourself to be a person of character… and would the people you interact with each day describe you that way? What can you do to develop the type of character that set the heroes of the Bible apart from their contemporaries?

This devotional from Lifetime Guarantee challenges us to consider Psalm 73:23-24(a): “Yet I am always with You; You hold me by my right hand. You guide me with Your counsel.”

Each of the three phrases in this passage details a different part of God’s relationship to us. He is near; He holds our hand; and He guides us with His counsel. When life is going well, these are comforting promises, but what about during the ugly times, when we let sin dominate us? Wouldn’t it actually feel better if God wasn’t there when we were actively sinning?

Taking this passage seriously means recognizing that God is with us in everything we do. How then should our lives reflect this knowledge? Anabel Gillham writes:

“I am always with You”

Do I really believe this? Do I walk in this? Am I consciously aware that everywhere I go I am in His presence-in the car on the way to town; walking the dog; sitting at my desk; at the supper table? I am always with You. If I accept this as truth, then I won’t ever, ever consider Him to be not listening, not interested, somewhere far away where I have to concentrate to get in touch with Him or isolate myself to be with Him. Never will I have to do this. The teaching that tells me I have to implore God to listen, to beg God to intercede, to inform Him of my problems pales in the light of His constant presence with me-always.

Read the rest of the devotional at Lifetime.org.

Is it hard for you to think of God as always near you? How does knowing that God is holding your hand influence your actions? Do you seek God’s counsel on your decisions?

A recent survey found that 90% of evangelicals in the NAE are okay with contraception. These days it’s probably not the most surprising survey result, but I can’t help but wonder how the results would have been 50 years ago around when the Pill first hit the streets in the US.

Here’s an excerpt from the Christian Post article:

The National Association of Evangelicals, which represents more than 45,000 churches in the United States, released a report Tuesday showing that nearly 90 percent approve of contraception.

Several leaders, however, expressed opposition to drugs or procedures that terminate a pregnancy once conception has taken place.

“Most associate evangelicals with Catholics in their steady leadership in pro-life advocacy, and rightly so,” said Leith Anderson, president of the NAE, in a statement. “But it may come as a surprise that unlike the Catholic church, we are open to contraception.”

Evangelicals in the pews hold similar views. A 2009 poll conducted by the NAE in partnership with Gallup, Inc., found that at least 90 percent of evangelicals say hormonal/barrier methods of contraception are morally acceptable for adults.

Surveyed leaders in the most recent poll said the purpose of sex is not limited to procreation but it extends to the consummation and expression of love within marriage.

Read the rest of the article at christianpost.com.

Whenever the question of contraception is raised in the context of Christian faith, I think of organizations like Quiverfull. One of their basic beliefs is that using contraception is taking control away from God and therefore wrong. It’s interesting to contrast Quiverfull’s theology with results from the NAE surveys. Both sides argue from the Bible. Both come to very different conclusions.

What do you think? Would you side with the majority of the NAE respondents or do you hold to a different view?

If God is a loving and all-powerful God, why does He allow evil and suffering to exist? And if evil exists, where did it come from—is it possible that God Himself is the author of evil?

People have probably been asking these questions since the moment Adam and Eve were driven out of the Garden of Eden. And despite the countless philosophers and theologians who have tried to sort them out, each new generation asks these questions anew. Fortunately, Christians do have an answer to the “problem of evil,” as today’s Hard Saying of the Day explains:

Christianity has more than answered the problem of the presence of evil (for that is the whole message of the cross) and the problem of the outcome of evil (for Christ’s resurrection demonstrates that God can beat out even the last enemy and greatest evil, death itself). But Christianity’s most difficult question is the origin of evil. Why did God ever allow “that stuff” in the first place?

Augustine taught that evil is not a substance. It is, as it were, a byproduct of our freedom, and especially of our sin. The effects of that sin did not fall solely on the world of humans. Its debilitating effects hit the whole natural world as well. Nevertheless, it is not as if God can do nothing or that he is just as surprised as we are by natural evil. Any disaster must fall within the sovereign will of God, even though God is not the sponsor or author of that evil. When we attempt to harmonize these statements we begin to invade the realms of divine mystery.

What we can be sure of, however, is the fact that God is never, ever, the originator and author of evil. It would be contrary to his whole nature and being as consistently revealed in Scripture.

You may be facing terrible trials in your life—the loss of a loved one, a major personal setback, or another form of suffering. But it’s important that, even in the midst of suffering, you see God for who He truly is: a help and support during your hour of need; and not the author of your troubles.

I’ve listened to hundreds, if not thousands, of sermons in my life. Sadly, I remember very very few of them. But the ones I do remember are etched in my mind as life-changing events.

The two that really stand out to me:

The first was at the church I grew up in. One of the pastors there gave a sermon about how different personality types approach faith and the Bible. He illustrated this with different hats. For me, as a young kid confused about nearly everything in life, hearing that not every Christian had to be the same was mind-blowing. It opened me up to the reality that the body of Christ is full of all kinds of people, and that I had a place in it.

The other sermon was about a year ago at my previous church. The main pastor and one of our regular guest preachers team-taught on the end of Acts 2 about the church and giving. The sermon was generally excellent; but what seared it in my memory was what happened afterward. They set out buckets at the front and asked those who weren’t in need to put some money in the bucket. Likewise, they asked those that were in need to come up and take some money out. There were a lot of tears of joy in that service. It taught me some important lessons about freely giving to those in need.

What about you? What sermon has impacted you the most?