Tag Archives: GodandPain

When evil goes public as it did in Las Vegas last week—brazenly, tragically, and fatally—many Christians feel they need to do for God something God doesn’t feel the need to do for Himself. They become His Perry Mason’s. They make Him their client and seek to defend Him in the court of human opinion. That court’s […]

It happens to just about every Christian. For some reason, prayer flies standby in most of our lives. Something happens and it gets bumped from the day’s flight. So, family stresses or business demands or spiritual laziness make you skip prayer one day. And before you know it you’re on a slippery slope. And five […]

Pessimism is to our spirit what kryptonite is to Superman. It weakens us as that green rock weakened the Man of Steel. Optimism about God—that grace-sired assurance that God is with us and for us—is to our spirit what momentum is to a football team, wind is to sails, and a tough-to-please dad’s “great job” […]

I can because Jesus can is a single sentence pep talk we ought to give ourselves whenever life makes us feel like a team in the locker room at halftime down by three touchdowns. Sometimes a command from God makes us feel this way doesn’t it? Orders from Him like forgive someone who’s wronged you […]

In the death-defeating language of the Bible, last week Andrew James Chase—beloved son and grandson—fell asleep in Jesus. He was 4½ days young. He came into the world early. He entered by C-Section three months before his due date. Weight: 1 lb. 12 oz. Length: 12 inches. He entered wounded and gutsy. Wounded because he […]

In our three previous posts on Hebrews 12:5-13 we’ve seen that trials are as certain as rain in Seattle; as potentially profitable as a big day on Wall Street; yet as easily mishandled as a poisonous snake in the hands of a frightened faith healer. The Truth About Optimism So, the question: How do we […]

To paraphrase Paul, before God saved me, “for me to live was basketball.” I was so dedicated that after I became a Christian an older minister friend told me, “Charley, if you follow Jesus the way you followed basketball you’ll be someone God really uses.” God says something similar to us about our trials. As […]

Too many of us find our troubles Bear instead of Bull Markets. Why? Because we don’t face them as Grace Focused Optimists. Why not? Because we don’t listen to what God tells us about them. The point is not that we don’t listen to some of what God says about our troubles. It’s worse. We […]

I’m a Grace Focused Optimist. I live with The Christian Attitude toward life. That’s optimism . . . the optimism that through Jesus my life is a grace G.O.O.D. A God orchestrated opportunity for development (into Christlikeness) through disposition (optimism) for doxology (giving God glory). Today we conclude our series on the O in our […]

As a Grace Focused Optimist I face life with The Christian Attitude of optimism that my life is a grace G.O.O.D.—a God orchestrated opportunity for development, disposition, and doxology. In the last two posts we’ve examined the truth that O is for Orchestration by answering the questions “Why do bad things happen to Christians?” and […]