Randy Alcorn's Blog, page 106

NFL Weekend Playoffs Include a Number of Christ-followers

Before anything else, let me highly recommend pastors and churches consider using the resources of Football Sunday in their churches the day of the Super Bowl, which is the single largest secular event people gather together for each year.

Even prior to last year’s event, the biggest yet, over 20,000 people had come to Christ through the clear gospel presentation and the testimonies of players. You can use the full video, or any parts of it you choose in church. It also makes a great half-time alternative where you hear players talk about their faith in Christ. It’s not preachy, but it’s powerful. Watch last year’s 2018 Football Sunday event, hosted by commentator James Brown, to get a feel for what it’s like.

There are easily more than fifty faithful believers among the players and coaches on the remaining eight playoff teams this weekend. If you’re not a football fan you probably don’t care, but this serves as a reminder that God has His people everywhere. He may not care that much about the game outcomes, but He certainly cares a great deal about His children, and as much for those on the losing side as the winning one.

I am most closely connected to the Philadelphia Eagles vs. New Orleans Saints game, because I know a number of players on both teams who are faithful believers. In fact I’ve exchanged messages with several on both teams this week.

Because of his open testimony for Christ and his defense of racial justice and the unborn, I have from time to time written about Ben Watson, tight end for the New Orleans Saints. This season when New Orleans QB Drew Brees, also a Christ-follower and the author of Coming Back Stronger, had another milestone in an incredible career, he said this: “One of the greatest things about the 500th touchdown pass, it was caught by one of my favorite teammates of all time. I couldn’t think of a better guy to catch this touchdown than Ben Watson. He is a terrific veteran, and I look up to him.”

After scoring a touchdown in a game, Ben, in the end zone, creatively announced that he and his wife Kirsten are expecting twins, their sixth and seventh children (watch the video here).

Check out this delightful feature of Ben and his wife and children, done by NFL Films after Ben announced recently he is retiring at the end of this season. (It also shows one of the most spectacular plays in NFL history, where tight end Ben Watson, then playing for the Patriots, runs down a fast Denver cornerback at the one yard line to prevent what should have  been a 101 interception touchdown).

I have highly recommended Ben’s book Under Our Skin. Ben has also written The New Dad’s Playbook, and is a powerful prolife advocate. Here he is speaking at the 2017 March for Life in Washington DC.   

I’ve also written before about Nick Foles. Nick is a good friend who I deeply appreciate. The most important thing about him is not that he holds five NFL records, but that he follows Jesus and loves his family. I shared about Nick’s book Believe It: My Journey of Success, Failure, and Overcoming the Odds when it was released in June. I highly recommend you read it. It doesn’t just tell another story of how great it is to win, though as MVP as last year’s Super Bowl Nick could have focused on that only. He didn’t. After winning the Super Bowl, at a press conference, Nick talked about failure and how important it is in forming our lives. In the book we see this fleshed out:

The Indianapolis Colts are also in the playoffs. Their head coach is Frank Reich, who some believe should be declared coach of the year. I met Frank shortly after he retired from professional football, and was attending seminary. I was doing a book signing on the East Coast, where people would tell me their names and I would sign the book to them. This guy standing next in line said, “Frank Reich.” I looked up and said, “The Frank Reich who holds the all-time record for best comebacks in college football AND NFL history?”

He smiled and asked “You knew that?” We had a brief conversation. He went on to finish Reformed Theological Seminary, and eventually he became the RTS president. Then years later I heard he was an assistant coach in the NFL.

In November 2017 I saw Frank for the second time when he was the offensive coordinator of the Philadelphia Eagles. I was asked to speak to a team Bible study where Nick Foles introduced me. It was great to see Frank again. He told me he’s read my Heaven book, and he smiled pleasantly as I talked about Heaven to players, including all three Philly quarterbacks—each of them solid believers. (Frank wrote the foreword to Nick’s book.)

I loved this recent article about Frank’s background as an athlete and one of the most unlikely backgrounds for any NFL head coach: evangelical seminary president!

You don’t have to be in the playoffs to be God’s faithful servant. And the eight remaining teams, being only one fourth of the teams in the league, probably only have a fourth of the total number of believers.

Case Keenum, quarterback of the Denver Broncos, is a great brother who I respect and appreciate. I also loved his book Playing for More: Trust Beyond What You Can See, which really touched me. I highly recommend it.

Finally, I’ll mention Kirk Cousins, quarterback of the Minnesota Vikings—another faithful and Christ-centered brother. A few months ago the Julie and Kirk Cousins Foundation began. I can’t think of a better way to wrap up this blog that to let Kirk and Julie Cousins (shown here with their son Cooper) share about their vision for the foundation, which is about investing in what matters and will outlast this life. More about their foundation and the worthy ministries they support is here.

Resting on God: A Puritan Prayer

Nanci and I love The Valley of Vision, which is a collection of brief and profound Puritan prayers compiled by Arthur Bennett (I love the leather edition linked to. It’s one of the few books worthy of having in leather!). We find them powerful and penetrating.

Here’s one I appreciated:

O God, most high, most glorious, the thought of Your infinite serenity cheers me, for I am toiling and moiling, troubled and distressed, but You are for ever at perfect peace. Your designs cause You no fear or care of unfulfilment, they stand fast as the eternal hills. Your power knows no bond, Your goodness no stint. You bring order out of confusion, and my defeats are Your victories: The Lord God omnipotent reigneth. 

I come to You as a sinner with cares and sorrows, to leave every concern entirely to You, every sin calling for Christ's precious blood; revive deep spirituality in my heart; let me live near to the great Shepherd, hear His voice, know its tones, follow its calls. Keep me from deception by causing me to abide in the truth, from harm by helping me to walk in the power of the Spirit. Give me intenser faith in the eternal verities, burning into me by experience the things I know; Let me never be ashamed of the truth of the gospel, that I may bear its reproach, vindicate it, see Jesus as its essence, know in it the power of the Spirit. 

Lord, help me, for I am often lukewarm and chill; unbelief mars my confidence, sin makes me forget You. Let the weeds that grow in my soul be cut at their roots; grant me to know that I truly live only when I live to You, that all else is trifling. Your presence alone can make me holy, devout, strong and happy. Abide in me, gracious God. 

Photo by Austin Schmid on Unsplash

What Will It Mean for the Earth to Be “Full of the Knowledge of the LORD as the Sea Is Full of Water”?

A reader asked me, “The last part of Isaiah 11:9 says, ‘For the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the sea is full of water.’ Most of the things I’ve read focus on the first part of the verse, which says, ‘They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain.’ What are your thoughts on this beautiful promise in Isaiah 11:9 and how it relates to the New Earth?”

Here’s the context leading up to the culminating promise of a future time when the earth will be full of the knowledge of God:

6 The wolf will live with the lamb,
    the leopard will lie down with the goat,
the calf and the lion and the yearling together;
    and a little child will lead them.
7 The cow will feed with the bear,
    their young will lie down together,
    and the lion will eat straw like the ox.
8 The infant will play near the cobra’s den,
    and the young child will put its hand into the viper’s nest.
9 They will neither harm nor destroy
    on all my holy mountain,
for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord
    as the waters cover the sea. (Isaiah 11:6-9)

A parallel passage to verse 9 is, “The earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea” (Habakkuk 2:14). Glory speaks of unparalleled magnificence. To know God fully is to be overwhelmed with the luminous greatness of who He is.

As the entire sea is water, Isaiah 11:9 speaks of a time and place where the pervasive “atmosphere” of the land of all the earth will be God and the knowledge of Him. The Hebrew erets is sometimes translated land and sometimes earth, as it is here in most translations, but the comparison of water and land in this verse is noticeable. The CSB captures this well and perhaps makes it clearer: “They will not harm or destroy each other on my entire holy mountain, for the land will be as full of the knowledge of the LORD as the sea is filled with water.”

In other words, there will be nowhere and no one devoid of the true and delightful knowledge of God, who is the source of all life, truth, and joy. There will be an authentic, personal, and universal knowledge of God. This is not mere knowledge about God, but a relational knowledge of Him and with Him. Just as when you are in the sea, water is all around you, so when you walk the face of the earth, God and the knowledge of Him will be all around you, all the time.

The words immediately preceding this are, “They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain.” So this is about a time on earth utterly devoid of harm and destruction, which is the inevitable result of universal knowledge of God in the last part of the verse. The earth will be untouched by sin and curse, and safely and eternally out of the reach of Hell.

That doesn’t fit with the millennium, which is followed by sinful people rebelling against God and then being destroyed by Him (Revelation 20:7-9). Isaiah 11:9 fits perfectly, however, with the New Earth, after the final judgment that follows the millennium, where “God will dwell with them” and “wipe every tear from their eyes,” “There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain,” “nothing impure will ever enter it,” “the tree of life” will be planted as in Eden, there will be “no more curse,” “they will see his face,” and “the Lord God will give them light” (Revelation 21:3-4, 27; 22:2-4).

Here’s Isaiah 11:6-9 as paraphrased in the Message:

The wolf will romp with the lamb, the leopard sleep with the kid. Calf and lion will eat from the same trough, and a little child will tend them. Cow and bear will graze the same pasture, their calves and cubs grow up together, and the lion eat straw like the ox. The nursing child will crawl over rattlesnake dens, the toddler stick his hand down the hole of a serpent. Neither animal nor human will hurt or kill on my holy mountain. The whole earth will be brimming with knowing God-Alive, a living knowledge of God ocean-deep, ocean-wide.

This will be a totally transformed, restored, renewed, and redeemed Earth, and animals and human beings will be full of the true knowledge of the true God and therefore permeated by holiness and happiness. “We are looking forward to a New Earth, in which righteousness dwells” (2 Peter 3:13).

For more on the New Earth, see Randy’s book Heaven. You can also browse additional books and resources on Heaven available from EPM.

Photo by Sasha • Stories on Unsplash

Make Reading a Priority—and Let Books Change You—in the Coming Year

Ivan Mesa’s intro to The Gospel Coalition’s 2018 book awards is terrific, which is why I’m featuring it below. First, no, none of my books received an award, second this is a great list, and third, please click the link and look through the books and choose one or more and buy and actually READ them. Though I do read ebooks, I still believe that overall the brain connects better with the physical book you read, and carry and put in a coat pocket or brief case, and underline (yes, I know you can highlight ebooks, and I do).  

PLEASE turn off the television and open a great book and begin to read. Tell yourself you will read a minimum of ten minutes before watching something or looking at a device. I guarantee you that if you do this every day, some days you will never turn on the TV. An hour or two will go by and you’ll realize how much better reading is than watching. I love good movies, though they’re hard to find. But nothing shapes you more than books. The problem is you don’t read passively, but actively, while watching is mostly passive. Let God feed you from His Word and great books—don’t let your television spoon-feed you.

“Let us move beyond the elementary teachings about Christ and be taken forward to maturity” (Hebrews 6:1). To do that, we need to READ! And to teach our children to read—girls certainly but boys all the more because their literacy rate tends to be lower than girls, and we need more mature thinking men to lead their homes and churches.

Here’s what Ivan wrote:

“Books are long enough to change you.”

I can’t determine who originally said this (and neither can the internet), but it’s something I firmly believe—and never more so than today.

In her recent book, Reader, Come Home: The Reading Brain in a Digital World (Harper, 2018), Tufts University professor MaryAnne Wolf examines how digital distractions are rewiring our brains, and we’re losing the ability to do deep, sustained reading. While much of her focus is on raising little ones in this new media landscape, she worries that

“[W]e, their guides, do not realize the insidious narrowing of our own thinking, the imperceptible shortening of our attention to complex issues, the unsuspected diminishing of our ability to write, read, or think past 140 [now 280] characters. We must all take stock of who we are as readers, writers, and thinkers.”

This is no less an issue for the books editor at The Gospel Coalition.

Sometimes the best wisdom I give TGC readers is to stop reading TGC—and all other digital voices demanding our attention now. TGC’s desire for our local and national events, as well as the books, curriculum, articles, podcasts, videos, and reviews we publish, is to resource(but never replace) the local church. Each year we review around 300 titles between our academic journal Themelios and our regular book reviews section, so we’re firmly committed to the written word as a means of supporting church leaders. And at the end of each year we take stock of the most helpful titles across various categories, using the following fourfold criteria:

offer gospel-centered argument and application;
include faithful and foundational use of Scripture, both Old Testament and New Testament;
foster spiritual discernment of contemporary trials and trends; and
encourage efforts to unite and renew the church.

So here’s my advice this year: Buy one or more of these books (preferably in print); log out of social media; and recapture the joy of immersing yourself in a book.

As our attention spans decrease and we’re sucked into the social-media vortex with its trivialities and Outrage of the Day, one way we can quietly resist is by reading a book. Such a small act, when joined to an abiding walk with Jesus and a life of service in his church, makes a radical difference in our lives and those around us.

See the book awards list.

Also check out Tim Challies’s 2019 Reading Challenge.

Photo by Nicole Honeywill on Unsplash

John Stott’s Final Message

Like many others, I deeply loved British pastor-scholar John Stott (1921-2011) and appreciate his books and contribution to the church of Christ. He had a great impact on me as a young Christian.

Years ago, I met John Stott at a conference when my friend John Kohlenberger asked me to go with him to a private luncheon honoring Stott. John K. was invited, and at his request, I crashed the party. We were the only guys there not in coat and tie—neither of us was even close (especially me!). But John Stott, full of grace, shook our hands and spoke with us nonetheless, something we both treasured.

I loved reading John Stott’s final message, “The Model: Becoming More Like Christ,” which he preached in 2007 at the Keswick Convention. He was 86 years old, and clutched a cane as he slowly walked to the podium, accompanied by his research assistant. After the audience gave him a standing ovation, John thanked those who had introduced him, then stated with a smile, “But actually I thought I might be listening to my own obituary.”

What followed was “a clear and well-crafted journey through the evidence for this central purpose of God—to turn the world upside down by transforming His people into the image of His Son.” [1]

I hope you enjoy reading through this message:

The Model: Becoming More Like Christ

John Stott’s Final Address

I remember very vividly, some years ago, that the question which perplexed me as a younger Christian (and some of my friends as well) was this: what is God’s purpose for His people? Granted that we have been converted, granted that we have been saved and received new life in Jesus Christ, what comes next? Of course, we knew the famous statement of the Westminster Shorter Catechism: that man’s chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever: we knew that, and we believed it. We also toyed with some briefer statements, like one of only five words— love God, love your neighbor. But somehow neither of these, nor some others that we could mention, seemed wholly satisfactory. So I want to share with you where my mind has come to rest as I approach the end of my pilgrimage on earth, and it is—God wants His people to become like Christ. Christlikeness is the will of God for the people of God.

So if that is true, I am proposing the following: first to lay down the biblical basis for the call to Christlikeness; secondly, to give some New Testament examples of this; thirdly, to draw some practical conclusions. And it all relates to becoming like Christ.

Read the rest.

For more on the character and attributes of Jesus Christ, and our call to follow Him, see Randy’s devotional Face to Face with Jesus: Seeing Him as He Really Is.

[1] https://langham.org/john-stotts-final-public-address/

A Chinese Pastor’s Declaration of Faithful Disobedience

Last September, I shared a blog post about increased persecution in China, which so many believers, including some American Christian leaders, still imagine is long gone. Since that time, reports coming out of China demonstrate that persecution is only ramping up, with police even being given quotas for arrests of Christians.

The following letter was written by Pastor Wang Yi, senior pastor of Early Rain Covenant Church, who along with his wife and over 100 members of the church was arrested by Chinese authorities earlier this month. This is not just good for information on persecution in China—it also models a radical commitment to Christ that we, certainly I, can learn from. —Randy Alcorn

My Declaration of Faithful Disobedience

Originally posted on China Partnership

Editor’s note: Over 100 members of Early Rain Covenant Church in Chengdu, China, were arrested beginning Sunday, December 9. At the time of publication of this translation, arrests are still being made. Among those taken away were Pastor Wang Yi, senior pastor of Early Rain, and his wife, Jiang Rong, who have not been heard from since Sunday. 

Foreseeing this circumstance, Pastor Wang Yi wrote the declaration below to be published by his church should he be detained for more than 48 hours . In it he explains the meaning and necessity of faithful disobedience, how it is distinct from political activism or civil disobedience, and how Christians should carry it out. We thank Brent Pinkall and Amy Cheung for their contributions in translating this letter. 

On the basis of the teachings of the Bible and the mission of the gospel, I respect the authorities God has established in China. For God deposes kings and raises up kings. This is why I submit to the historical and institutional arrangements of God in China.

As a pastor of a Christian church, I have my own understanding and views, based on the Bible, about what righteous order and good government is. At the same time, I am filled with anger and disgust at the persecution of the church by this Communist regime, at the wickedness of their depriving people of the freedoms of religion and of conscience. But changing social and political institutions is not the mission I have been called to, and it is not the goal for which God has given his people the gospel.

For all hideous realities, unrighteous politics, and arbitrary laws manifest the cross of Jesus Christ, the only means by which every Chinese person must be saved. They also manifest the fact that true hope and a perfect society will never be found in the transformation of any earthly institution or culture but only in our sins being freely forgiven by Christ and in the hope of eternal life.

As a pastor, my firm belief in the gospel, my teaching, and my rebuking of all evil proceeds from Christ’s command in the gospel and from the unfathomable love of that glorious King. Every man’s life is extremely short, and God fervently commands the church to lead and call any man to repentance who is willing to repent. Christ is eager and willing to forgive all who turn from their sins. This is the goal of all the efforts of the church in China—to testify to the world about our Christ, to testify to the Middle Kingdom about the Kingdom of Heaven, to testify to earthly, momentary lives about heavenly, eternal life. This is also the pastoral calling that I have received.

For this reason, I accept and respect the fact that this Communist regime has been allowed by God to rule temporarily. As the Lord’s servant John Calvin said, wicked rulers are the judgment of God on a wicked people, the goal being to urge God’s people to repent and turn again toward Him. For this reason, I am joyfully willing to submit myself to their enforcement of the law as though submitting to the discipline and training of the Lord.

At the same time, I believe that this Communist regime’s persecution against the church is a greatly wicked, unlawful action. As a pastor of a Christian church, I must denounce this wickedness openly and severely. The calling that I have received requires me to use non-violent methods to disobey those human laws that disobey the Bible and God. My Savior Christ also requires me to joyfully bear all costs for disobeying wicked laws.

But this does not mean that my personal disobedience and the disobedience of the church is in any sense “fighting for rights” or political activism in the form of civil disobedience, because I do not have the intention of changing any institutions or laws of China. As a pastor, the only thing I care about is the disruption of man’s sinful nature by this faithful disobedience and the testimony it bears for the cross of Christ.  

As a pastor, my disobedience is one part of the gospel commission. Christ’s great commission requires of us great disobedience. The goal of disobedience is not to change the world but to testify about another world.

For the mission of the church is only to be the church and not to become a part of any secular institution. From a negative perspective, the church must separate itself from the world and keep itself from being institutionalized by the world. From a positive perspective, all acts of the church are attempts to prove to the world the real existence of another world. The Bible teaches us that, in all matters relating to the gospel and human conscience, we must obey God and not men. For this reason, spiritual disobedience and bodily suffering are both ways we testify to another eternal world and to another glorious King.

This is why I am not interested in changing any political or legal institutions in China. I’m not even interested in the question of when the Communist regime’s policies persecuting the church will change. Regardless of which regime I live under now or in the future, as long as the secular government continues to persecute the church, violating human consciences that belong to God alone, I will continue my faithful disobedience. For the entire commission God has given me is to let more Chinese people know through my actions that the hope of humanity and society is only in the redemption of Christ, in the supernatural, gracious sovereignty of God.

If God decides to use the persecution of this Communist regime against the church to help more Chinese people to despair of their futures, to lead them through a wilderness of spiritual disillusionment and through this to make them know Jesus, if through this he continues disciplining and building up his church, then I am joyfully willing to submit to God’s plans, for his plans are always benevolent and good.

Precisely because none of my words and actions are directed toward seeking and hoping for societal and political transformation, I have no fear of any social or political power. For the Bible teaches us that God establishes governmental authorities in order to terrorize evildoers, not to terrorize doers of good. If believers in Jesus do no wrong then they should not be afraid of dark powers. Even though I am often weak, I firmly believe this is the promise of the gospel. It is what I’ve devoted all of my energy to. It is the good news that I am spreading throughout Chinese society.

I also understand that this happens to be the very reason why the Communist regime is filled with fear at a church that is no longer afraid of it.

If I am imprisoned for a long or short period of time, if I can help reduce the authorities’ fear of my faith and of my Savior, I am very joyfully willing to help them in this way. But I know that only when I renounce all the wickedness of this persecution against the church and use peaceful means to disobey, will I truly be able to help the souls of the authorities and law enforcement. I hope God uses me, by means of first losing my personal freedom, to tell those who have deprived me of my personal freedom that there is an authority higher than their authority, and that there is a freedom that they cannot restrain, a freedom that fills the church of the crucified and risen Jesus Christ.

Regardless of what crime the government charges me with, whatever filth they fling at me, as long as this charge is related to my faith, my writings, my comments, and my teachings, it is merely a lie and temptation of demons. I categorically deny it. I will serve my sentence, but I will not serve the law. I will be executed, but I will not plead guilty.

Moreover, I must point out that persecution against the Lord’s church and against all Chinese people who believe in Jesus Christ is the most wicked and the most horrendous evil of Chinese society. This is not only a sin against Christians. It is also a sin against all non-Christians. For the government is brutally and ruthlessly threatening them and hindering them from coming to Jesus. There is no greater wickedness in the world than this.

If this regime is one day overthrown by God, it will be for no other reason than God’s righteous punishment and revenge for this evil. For on earth, there has only ever been a thousand-year church. There has never been a thousand-year government. There is only eternal faith. There is no eternal power.

Those who lock me up will one day be locked up by angels. Those who interrogate me will finally be questioned and judged by Christ.  When I think of this, the Lord fills me with a natural compassion and grief toward those who are attempting to and actively imprisoning me. Pray that the Lord would use me, that he would grant me patience and wisdom, that I might take the gospel to them. 

Separate me from my wife and children, ruin my reputation, destroy my life and my family – the authorities are capable of doing all of these things. However, no one in this world can force me to renounce my faith; no one can make me change my life; and no one can raise me from the dead.   

And so, respectable officers, stop committing evil. This is not for my benefit but rather for yours and your children’s. I plead earnestly with you to stay your hands, for why should you be willing to pay the price of eternal damnation in hell for the sake of a lowly sinner such as I?

Jesus is the Christ, son of the eternal, living God. He died for sinners and rose to life for us. He is my king and the king of the whole earth yesterday, today, and forever. I am his servant, and I am imprisoned because of this. I will resist in meekness those who resist God, and I will joyfully violate all laws that violate God’s laws.  

First draft on September 21st, 2018; revised on October 4th. To be published by the church after 48 hours of detention. 

Appendix: What Constitutes Faithful Disobedience

I firmly believe that the Bible has not given any branch of any government the authority to run the church or to interfere with the faith of Christians. Therefore, the Bible demands that I, through peaceable means, in meek resistance and active forbearance, filled with joy, resist all administrative policies and legal measures that oppress the church and interfere with the faith of Christians. 

I firmly believe this is a spiritual act of disobedience.  In modern authoritarian regimes that persecute the church and oppose the gospel, spiritual disobedience is an inevitable part of the gospel movement.  

I firmly believe that spiritual disobedience is an act of the last times; it is a witness to God’s eternal kingdom in the temporal kingdom of sin and evil. Disobedient Christians follow the example of the crucified Christ by walking the path of the cross. Peaceful disobedience is the way in which we love the world as well as the way in which we avoid becoming part of the world. 

I firmly believe that in carrying out spiritual disobedience, the Bible demands me to rely on the grace and resurrection power of Christ, that I must respect and not overstep two boundaries. 

The first boundary is that of the heart. Love toward the soul, and not hatred toward the body, is the motivation of spiritual disobedience. Transformation of the soul, and not the changing of circumstances, is the aim of spiritual disobedience. At any time, if external oppression and violence rob me of inner peace and endurance, so that my heart begins to breed hatred and bitterness toward those who persecute the church and abuse Christians, then spiritual disobedience fails at that point. 

The second boundary is that of behavior. The gospel demands that disobedience of faith must be non-violent. The mystery of the gospel lies in actively suffering, even being willing to endure unrighteous punishment, as a substitute for physical resistance. Peaceful disobedience is the result of love and forgiveness. The cross means being willing to suffer when one does not have to suffer. For Christ had limitless ability to fight back, yet he endured all of the humility and hurt. The way that Christ resisted the world that resisted him was by extending an olive branch of peace on the cross to the world that crucified him.  

I firmly believe that Christ has called me to carry out this faithful disobedience through a life of service, under this regime that opposes the gospel and persecutes the church. This is the means by which I preach the gospel, and it is the mystery of the gospel which I preach.

The Lord’s servant,
Wang Yi 

First draft on September 21st, 2018; revised on October 4th. To be circulated by the church after 48 hours of detention. 

For more reading, see 5 facts about persecuted Chinese pastor Wang Yi, as well as Open Door USA’s article 3 Major Factors Driving the Crackdown on the Church in China.

See also Randy’s novel Safely Home for a moving story about persecution and faithfulness in the Chinese church.

Mart Green on Life’s Greatest Investment Opportunity

My long-time friend Mart Green, of the Green family that owns Hobby Lobby, is the founder of Mardel Christian Stores and heads up the missions organization Every Tribe Every Nation. I thought this was a wonderful article he wrote (and not just because he mentions my books). Investing in eternity is what makes our lives count forever.

Many thanks to you who have supported EPM over the years. I encourage you to give generously between now and December 31, as well as throughout the coming year. EPM is just one of many worthy ministries you can support. And as you contemplate outreaches to give to as an investment in eternity, don’t forget your local church and your own community, as well as the far reaches of the earth!  —Randy Alcorn

As a business guy there are three letters that often go through my mind: R.O.I. - Return On Investment. 

Twenty years ago I applied this mindset to the ministries I funded, until an unforgettable experience in Guatemala made me realize I was missing one critical letter in God’s equation. 

Guatemala

I was on a flight down to Guatemala because Mardel Christian and Educational Supply, a company I founded, helped pay for the first-edition print Bibles for a people group who had never had the Scriptures before. I had been invited to their Bible dedication ceremony. On the plane I was given a report that said there are 30,000 Eastern Jaceltec people: 8,000 of those can read, 1,000 are believers, and 400 of the believers can read. 

The first thing that ran through my mind was, “What kind of return on investment is this!?” And then I realized the Bible translators who had worked forty years on this gave so much for only 400 people. 

But at the ceremony I watched a man named Gaspar go forward to get his Bible and he did something I’d never seen before. As he received his own copy of God’s Word he openly wept. At that same moment I felt the Holy Spirit prompt me, “Now Mart, why don’t you go tell Gaspar he’s not a good return on investment?”

I was embarrassed by the way I felt. That day God showed me we can measure the number of Bibles printed and the number of people who can read them, but we cannot measure how God’s Word can change a life forever. 

This Life and Forever

Forever… our minds can’t comprehend it. Whenever eternity enters a conversation it’s always a game-changer. Some of us may live a long life of hundred years, but in light of eternity those hundred years will either be the absolute best chapter of your life or the absolute worst chapter of your life. But the truth remains: this life on earth is only one chapter of a very long story. 

At the hinge between this life and forever, the Bible speaks of two judgments. The first is the Great White Throne Judgment where God separates believers and non-believers for their eternal destiny in heaven or hell (Revelation 20:11-15). The second judgment, referred to in Scripture as the Judgment seat of Christ, is a rewards ceremony for all who belong to Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:10). We don’t talk about this second judgment much, despite it being clearly written in Scripture. But it was Randy Alcorn’s writings, especially his book The Law of Rewards, that helped me see that what we believe determines our eternal destination, but how we behave determines our eternal rewards. 

Scripture says, “But on the judgment day, fire will reveal what kind of work each builder has done. The fire will show if a person’s work has any value. If the work survives, that builder will receive a reward. But if the work is burned up, the builder will suffer great loss. The builder will be saved, but like someone barely escaping through a wall of flames” (1 Corinthians 3:13-15, NLT).  

According to God’s word, it’s possible to be saved but not rewarded. You may receive eternal life, but your life on earth made no eternal difference. 

From God's Perspective

God invites us to put on a pair of eternity glasses and believe that today’s behavior really does impact eternity. God wants us to think about rewards, but to think about them from his perspective, not the world’s. 

With God’s perspective we can see that life’s greatest investment opportunity is not a stock, a start-up, or a piece of property. R.O.I. is not always measured by millions of people or millions of dollars. Instead, R.O.I. is only measured rightly when we add one more letter. 

God wants us to think in terms of E.R.O.I. – Eternal Return On Investment. Only three things last forever: God, His word, and the souls of men and women. Today is another chance we have to live our lives in light of eternity and give our lives for what will last forever. 

For more of Mart’s story, watch his short film This Book Is Alive. 

Photo by Blake Guidry on Unsplash

How Should We Respond to Those Who Reject Jesus Because Some Christians Are Hypocrites?

All of us probably know co-workers or family members or neighbors who say they reject Jesus because some of His followers are hypocrites. How should we respond to this? First, I think we should acknowledge to our skeptical friends that there are indeed many hypocrites. (And if you are a hypocrite, then repent, ask forgiveness, and trust God to empower you to no longer be one. And if it happens again, repent again, and get help from those walking with Jesus who can help hold you accountable for your attitude, actions, and words.)

But we also need to explain to our unbelieving friends that it makes no sense at all to reject Jesus because some of His followers, including us, can sometimes be hypocritical!

What, after all, is the gospel all about? Is it about us? No! Consider what we’re told in Acts 16:29-31:

The jailer…fell trembling before Paul and Silas…and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.”

It’s notable that Paul and Silas were in jail and instead of complaining about it, were singing songs of praise to God. So yes, their example was important. The jailer wouldn’t have been drawn to their faith had they not been visibly different than the average prisoner. The same is true for us in our neighborhoods and workplaces and locker rooms. People should see Jesus in us.

However, note what Paul and Silas did not say to the jailer:  “Believe in us—since we’re so great—and you will be saved.” No, they said, “Believe in Jesus and you’ll be saved.” The Good News is not about how great you and I are (thank God for that). It’s about how great Jesus is and the wonderful things He’s done for us.

Regarding the problem of hypocritical Christians keeping people from believing, we should point out that this is true of all groups, not just Christians. Many people of all sorts, including atheists and agnostics and Hindus, don’t live consistently with what they profess to believe. (For instance, some of the most intolerant people I know pride themselves on their tolerance, and are blind to their own intolerance, e.g. toward the sincere beliefs of Christ-followers.)

In other words, Christians don’t own the monopoly on hypocrisy. Furthermore, there are plenty of humble and lovable Christians. People need to open their eyes and see them. Unfortunately, the attention typically falls on false Christians or loudmouths or hypocrites.

This is all part of Satan’s diversionary tactics. But the gospel is all about Jesus. The Jesus that Christians believe in is good, even when His followers violate His teachings. The Bible never says you have to believe in Christians to be saved. It says you have to believe in Jesus, who said, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life; no one comes to the Father but by Me” (John 14:6). He’s the One we’re invited to come and see (John 1:46). He’s the only One who can save and transform us.

As Tim Keller puts it, “Jesus himself is the main argument for why we should believe Christianity.” That’s the life-changing truth, and that should be the message we share.

Photo by Edwin Andrade on Unsplash

The Advent Willingness of Jesus

I’ve been reading a great new book by Paul David Tripp titled Come Let Us Adore Him (Amazon, Christianbook). I spent a lot of time writing about Jesus for my latest book Face to Face with Jesus, and Paul’s book is really speaking to me. There’s no greater subject in the universe than Jesus.

Though by the time you read this it will be too late to get Come Let Us Adore Him for Christmas, I suggest you buy it and read it and just pay no attention to the dates December 1-31 on the pages! I read the December 2 entry below on December 18 and it meant just as much to me then as it would have on the 2nd. :) We are to adore Jesus every day of the year, and this book would be a great way to enter into 2019 by focusing on our Savior and Lord’s coming into this world. —Randy Alcorn

Jesus knew he had come not just to preach the gospel of sacrifice, but also to be that sacrifice, yet he was perfectly willing.

One of the dark character qualities of sin that we don’t recognize as much as we should is unwillingness. We’re often unwilling to do what God says if it doesn’t make sense to us. We’re often unwilling to inconvenience ourselves for the needs of someone else. We’re regularly unwilling to wait. We’re often unwilling to be open and honest. We’re too often unwilling to consider the loving rebuke of another. We struggle to be willing to say no to our wrong thoughts and desires. We often struggle to be willing to answer God’s ministry call. Often we are unwilling to admit that we were wrong. Too often we struggle to serve willingly and to give generously. Unwillingness is one of sin’s powerful damaging results.

So here’s what the Christmas story is all about: a willing Savior is born to rescue unwilling people from themselves because there is no other way. Jesus was willing to leave the splendor of eternity to come to this broken and groaning world. He was willing to take on human flesh with all its frailty. He was willing to endure an ignominious birth in a stable. He was willing to go through the dependency of childhood. He was willing to expose himself to all the hardships of life in this fallen world. He was willing to submit to his own law. He was willing to do his Father’s will at every point. He was willing to serve, when he deserved to be served. He was willing to be misunderstood and mistreated. He was willing to endure rejection and gross injustice. He was willing to preach a message that would cause him personal harm. He was willing to suffer public mockery. He was willing to endure physical torture. He was willing to go through the pains of his Father’s rejection. He was willing to die. He was willing to rise and ascend to be our constant advocate. Jesus was willing.

You see, it’s not just the Christmas story; rather, the entire redemptive story hinges on one thing—the eternal willingness of Jesus. Without his willingness, you and I would be without hope and without God. Without his willingness, we would be left with the power and curse of sin. Without his willingness we would be eternally damned. During this season of celebrating don’t forget to stop and celebrate your Savior’s willingness. His willingness is your hope in life, death, and eternity.

But there is even more to be said. The Advent willingness of Jesus is your guarantee that he continues to be willing today. Right here, right now, he is willing to love you on your very worst day. Right now he is willing to forgive you again and again. Here and now he is willing to be patient as you continue to grow and mature. Right now he is willing to battle on your behalf against evil within and without. Here and now he is willing to teach you through his Word. Now he is willing to supply every one of your spiritual needs. Now he is willing to be faithful even when you’re not. He, right now, is willing to empower you when you’re weak and to restore you when you’ve fallen. He is willing to comfort you when you are discouraged and protect you when you’ve stepped into danger. And he remains willing to do everything necessary to feed, guide, sustain, and protect you until eternity is your final home.

You see, the Advent story reminds us that our past, present, and future hope rest not on our willingness, but on the willingness of the One for whom the angels sang, the shepherds worshiped, and the magi searched. Willing Jesus is the only hope for unwilling sinners!

Photo by Kari Shea on Unsplash

ProLife Speaker Ryan Bomberger Discredited for Making Some Wheaton College Students Feel “Unsafe”

Ryan Bomberger, a prolife speaker and the founder of a nonprofit group called The Radiance Foundation, travels across the country advocating for the unborn and telling his own personal story, which began when his biological mother was raped. She gave him life, and Ryan was adopted into a Christian multiracial family of fifteen (ten of the thirteen children were adopted). He and his wife Bethany have four children of their own, two of whom were adopted. He says “his life defies the myth of the ‘unwanted’ child as he was adopted, loved and has flourished.”

Last month, Ryan was invited by the College Republicans at Wheaton College to share his presentation “Black Lives Matter In and Out of the Womb.” His talk was followed by a lengthy Q&A session, and Ryan also stayed afterwards to talk to students.

However, in the following days, Ryan became the center of controversy when the student body president, vice-president, and the executive VP of community diversity wrote a letter saying he made people, minorities in particular, feel “unsafe.”  The three student leaders, reportedly with the assistance of two college staff members, sent this email to the entire student body six days after the presentation:

As many of you know, a special interest club hosted an event on Wednesday night titled, “Black Lives Matter: In and Outside the Womb”. The speaker of this event, Ryan Bomberger, made several comments at the event that deeply troubled members of our community. His comments, surrounding the topic of race, made many students, staff, and faculty of color feel unheard, underrepresented, and unsafe on our campus.

As Student Government, we are committed to the College’s mission to promoting student programming that “pursues unity, embraces ethnic diversity, and practices racial reconciliation so that it will contribute to the education of whole persons”, and therefore, felt it necessary to respond to the offensive rhetoric from the speaker at this event that compromised this mission. We would like to reaffirm that call in our Community Covenant to “pursue unity and embrace ethnic diversity as part of God’s design for humanity and practice racial reconciliation as one of his redemptive purposes in Christ”. As a community, we seek to affirm the worth of all human beings as unique image-bearers of God. We also look to recognize and challenge any situations that may hinder this mission.

You can read Ryan’s email response in full, but I thought this part was great:

I am a person of color, a clarifying fact which you conveniently left out of your letter of denouncement. I was primarily presenting a perspective of those who are never heard, always underrepresented, and are actually unsafe—the unborn.

…For anyone to claim they felt “unsafe” by anything that I said is unfortunate and simply hyperbole. Are students at Wheaton taught to fear or taught to think?

According to one source, some communication then happened between Ryan and the college administration, but he still feels the matter has not been addressed satisfactorily. The position of the Wheaton College administration in response to this isn’t clear, as they haven’t made a public statement. It does appear that the initiative to write and send the letter was taken by the student leaders (only one of whom attended Ryan’s presentation). The letter being sent may or may not have been with the Wheaton administration’s approval, so I make no assumptions on this.

You can read more thoughts from Ryan here about the situation, but I thought this was especially important:

The story has now become the “hurt” and “grieving” students. It’s not about the slaughter of 2,500 innocent human lives every day in this country through the violence of abortion. This is the dangerous consequence of placing the emotional above the Eternal.

My previous blog, related to Isabella Chow, addressed the environment of the University of California Berkeley and its hostile reaction to a student leader seeking to represent Christ in a spirit of grace and truth. The situation at Wheaton is a reminder that confusion doesn’t just exist on secular campuses. Again, I am not assuming the worst of the Wheaton College administration, but I think the action by student leaders represents a clear trend that concerns me deeply.

I can attest from speaking on the campuses of a number of Christian universities that there is sometimes a trend toward stifling free speech. Some universities, both secular and Christian, are increasingly becoming centers of intellectual wimpishness.  The widespread use of the language “what you said makes me feel unsafe” implies someone has a fear of physical harm. Of course, if there is any actual threat of violence or physical aggression, that should certainly be dealt with decisively.

But the great majority of the time it appears that’s not the case. What these students are feeling is not unsafe but uncomfortable. A college campus should not protect students from being exposed to viewpoints that make them feel uncomfortable. There is a right to free speech, but not a right to hear only what you want to hear. Of course, students and faculty were, and rightly so, perfectly free not to attend Ryan Bomberger’s presentation.  And the students who invited him and Ryan himself were free to do what they did.

But unless Ryan pulled a weapon or made a threat to do so, or pushed someone, the language of feeling “unsafe” isn’t appropriate. If we wish to be safe from freedom of speech and different values and unwelcome opinions we should stay away from college campuses, or arguably from America itself, since those things are woven into who we are. No such “safety” from beliefs we don’t agree with is ever guaranteed. In fact, civil liberties and freedom of speech ensures the opposite: that in a free society all of us must face more, not fewer, uncomfortable viewpoints. What many people are experiencing is not best described as being unsafe but rather being unwilling to tolerate the viewpoints of others.

If a Christian student on a secular college campus said “I feel unsafe because my philosophy teacher is defending atheism,” I would sympathize with their discomfort but suggest that “unsafe” is the wrong word and trying to silence the professor is the wrong approach (unless it’s a Christian college and the professor is violating the school’s doctrinal statement, then it’s fair to ask the administration why a Christian college would be teaching atheism). My philosophy teacher at a secular college argued passionately against the Christian faith. My response was to talk to him after class as well as respectfully disagree in class. No big deal.

Our society and our colleges are under no obligation to protect frail and vulnerable college students from the discomforts of hearing what they don’t agree with.  In my opinion, thin-skinned intellectualism has no place on college campuses. We need to encourage students to learn how to articulate their own ideas, not to try to shut down others from articulating theirs. We need greater tolerance for diversity of opinion. (And ironically many of the people using the words “tolerance” and “diversity” are remarkably intolerant and are perpetually offended by opinions different than their own.)

One of the unfortunate aspects of the victim mentality is that when we think of ourselves as victims because others disagree with us, we minimize the world’s truly unsafe environments and real victims. As I look around the globe and consider the degree of danger in South Sudan, North Korea, Syria, Afghanistan, Somalia, Congo, and other places, one of the unsafe places that does not come to my mind is the campus of Wheaton College in an Illinois suburb. Nor any other college campus across the U.S. When there is someone shooting on campus, or at a church or a restaurant, then people are right to feel unsafe. If someone was severing people’s body parts on campuses, now that would be unsafe. Which brings us to the subject of abortion.

For unborn children, and especially for African American unborn children, there are many truly unsafe places in our country, places where they’re literally torn limb from limb. They are called abortion clinics. (And because so much proabortion rhetoric characterizes most college campuses, there is a great need for the sort of counterbalance Ryan Bomberger brings.)

One in every four pregnancies in America ends in abortion. BlackGenocide.org reports that on average, 1,876 black babies are aborted every day in the United States. Statistics show that a soldier’s chance of survival on the front lines of combat are greater than the chances of an unborn child avoiding an abortion. What should be the safest place to live in America—a mother’s womb—is now the most dangerous place.

Ryan Bomberger and I were both fortunate enough to not be aborted. The same is true of every single student and professor at every college in our country, secular and Christian. Ryan isn’t some frail flower who needs me to defend him. Neither do our college students need people to come to their rescue when they are uncomfortable with what other people say and think, and use the magic word “unsafe.” The people who most need our defense are the unsafest people in our country, and in the world: preborn children.

Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves,

    for the rights of all who are destitute.

Speak up and judge fairly;

    defend the rights of the poor and needy.

Proverbs 31:8-9, NIV

For more on the subject of abortion and the unborn, see Randy’s books Why ProLife? and ProLife Answers to ProChoice Arguments.