Randy Alcorn's Blog, page 117

The Proper Study of a Christian Is the Godhead: Charles Spurgeon on the Subject of God

Nanci and I have been going deep in the character of God as we face her cancer and the treatments. She read a portion of this to me the other day, and I went back and found Spurgeon’s larger context, which we first posted on our site eight years ago, to read to her. We were both encouraged that there is nothing like the attributes of God to overwhelm us with a sense of eternal perspective as well as to give us comfort and encouragement.

It also reminds me of the seeming impossibility of a 20-year-old with such a grasp of who God is and such a command of the English language. While it is true that there is only one Spurgeon, there have been countless people in the past who’ve been saturated in the knowledge of God at very young ages. I think we should raise the bar of our expectations for our children and young people in our churches, and challenge and stretch them to read and meditate and go deep in the person and Word and works of our incomparable God.

Over 160 years ago, on January 7, 1855, a pastor in England rose to preach. His name was Charles Haddon Spurgeon. He was only twenty years old. This is the introduction to his sermon about God:

It has been said that “the proper study of mankind is man.” I believe it is equally true that the proper study of God’s elect is God; the proper study of a Christian is the Godhead. The highest science, the loftiest speculation, the mightiest philosophy, which can ever engage the attention of a child of God, is the name, the nature, the person, the work, the doings, and the existence of the great God whom he calls his Father.

There is something exceedingly improving to the mind in a contemplation of the Divinity. It is a subject so vast, that all our thoughts are lost in its immensity; so deep, that our pride is drowned in its infinity. Other subjects we can grapple with; in them we feel a kind of self-content, and go our way with the thought, “Behold I am wise.” But when we come to this master science, finding that our plumbline cannot sound its depth, and that our eagle eye cannot see its height, we turn away with the thought that vain man would be wise, but he is like a wild ass’s colt; and with solemn exclamation, “I am but of yesterday, and know nothing.” No subject of contemplation will tend more to humble the mind, than thoughts of God....

But while the subject humbles the mind, it also expands it. He who often thinks of God, will have a larger mind than the man who simply plods around this narrow globe.... The most excellent study for expanding the soul, is the science of Christ, and Him crucified, and the knowledge of the Godhead in the glorious Trinity. Nothing will so enlarge the intellect, nothing so magnify the whole soul of man, as a devout, earnest, continued investigation of the great subject of the Deity.

And, while humbling and expanding, this subject is eminently consolatory. Oh, there is, in contemplating Christ, a balm for every wound; in musing on the Father, there is a quietus for every grief; and in the influence of the Holy Ghost, there is a balsam for every sore.

Would you lose your sorrow? Would you drown your cares? Then go, plunge yourself in the Godhead’s deepest sea; be lost in his immensity; and you shall come forth as from a couch of rest, refreshed and invigorated. I know nothing which can so comfort the soul; so calm the swelling billows of sorrow and grief; so speak peace to the winds of trial, as a devout musing upon the subject of the Godhead. It is to that subject that I invite you this morning.

Excerpted from “The Immutability of God,” A sermon by Charles H. Spurgeon at New Park Street Chapel, Southwark. J. I. Packer quotes from this message in Knowing God .

Photo by Joshua Earle on Unsplash

Young Adults with Down Syndrome Speak Out: “Our Lives Are Worth Living, Too”

Years ago, the television series “Life Goes On” portrayed a teenager named Corky who had Down syndrome. The starring role was played by a young man with Down syndrome, and many people were touched by his winsome performance. Critics raved. But many of the same critics favor the killing of these children, just like Corky, before they are born.

A survey of pediatricians and pediatric surgeons revealed that more than two out of three would go along with parents’ wishes to deny lifesaving surgery to a child with Down syndrome. Nearly three out of four said that if they had a Down syndrome child, they would choose to let him starve to death. [1] This is not only horrible, but baffling, for many Down children are the happiest you’ll ever meet. These children require special care, of course, but surely they deserve to be born and to live as much as any of us. (Over the years, the most popular character in my novel Deadline has been a Down syndrome boy named Little Finn. He also appears in my novel Dominion. In Deadline, I also portray another Down syndrome child teaching people in Heaven, with a startling depth of insight.)

Some argue: “It’s cruel to let a Down syndrome or handicapped child be born to a miserable and meaningless life.” We may define a meaningful life one way, but we should ask ourselves what is meaningful to the handicapped themselves:

A 2011 study by Harvard University researchers found that rather than leading lives of suffering, people with Down syndrome have unusually high rates of happiness. An amazing 99 percent said they are happy with their lives, 97 percent like who they are, and 96 percent like how they look. “Overall, the overwhelming majority of people with Down syndrome surveyed indicate they live happy and fulfilling lives,” the researchers found. [2]

“A slew of recent studies has shown that people with Down syndrome report happier lives than us ‘normal’ folk. Even happier than rich, good looking and intelligent people.” [3]

Wouldn’t you suppose we’d want more people of any group characterized by such happiness? Tragically, however, studies show that of mothers who receive a positive diagnosis of Down syndrome during the prenatal period, 89 to 97 percent choose abortion. [4] This means that the children most likely to be happy are also most likely to be killed before birth.  Reports show that Iceland’s abortion rate for unborn Down syndrome babies is almost 100%. Denmark’s is 98%. [5]

When adults kill a handicapped child, preborn or born, they may think it's for her or his good, to prevent future suffering. But in doing so, they aren’t preventing cruelty to the child; they’re committing cruelty to the child. And in reality, it’s most often done in order to prevent difficulties for themselves and others.

I was touched by a video of Charlotte Fien, a British young woman who eloquently challenged a UN “expert” on human rights who advocates for aborting Down syndrome babies.

Here’s a transcript of what Charlotte said:

Mr. Ben Achour, your comments about people with Down syndrome deeply offend me. I felt you attacked me for being who I am. Who am I, Mr. Ben Achour? I’m a human being just like you. Our only difference is an extra chromosome. My extra chromosome makes me far more tolerant than you, sir. . . . If any other heritable traits like skin color were used to eradicate a group of people the world would cry out. Why are you not crying out when people like me are being made extinct? What have WE done to make you want us to disappear? As far as I know my community doesn’t hate, discriminate, or commit crimes. . . .

I keep hearing you use the word “suffering” in relation to Down syndrome. The ONLY thing we have to suffer are horrible people who want to make us extinct. I have a brilliant life. I have a family that loves me. I have great friends. I have an active social life.

Mr. Ben Achour, what you are suggesting is eugenics. It’s disgusting and evil. You need to apologize for your horrible comments. You should also be removed from the Human Rights Committee as an expert. You are not an expert about Down syndrome. You sir, do not speak for my community. The Human Rights Committee needs people who will genuinely fight for the rights of others who are being oppressed. I suggest that the Human Rights Committee appoint me as an expert. I will fight for our right to exist for the rest of my life.

Charlotte is joined by a chorus of courageous individuals with Down syndrome who are speaking out about their right to life. In her TEDx talk, my fellow Oregonian Karen Gaffney asked, “I have one more chromosome than you. So what?” An accomplished open-water swimmer, Karen has crossed the English Channel in a relay race and completed the swimming leg of the Escape from Alcatraz triathlon.

Last year, 18-year-old Natalie Dedreux from Cologne asked German Chancellor Angela Merkel a tough question about Germany’s abortion laws: “Mrs. Merkel, you are a politician. You make laws. I’m an editor at a magazine for people like me who have Down syndrome. Nine out of ten babies with Down syndrome in Germany aren’t born. A baby with Down syndrome can be aborted days before the birth, in what is called ‘late stage abortion.’ My colleagues and I want to know what your opinion on late-stage abortion is, Mrs. Merkel. Why can babies with Down syndrome be aborted shortly before birth?”

“I don’t want to be aborted, I want to be born,” Natalie concluded, to applause.

When Frank Stephens, a young man with Down syndrome, gave a speech before a U.S. House appropriations panel, he told members of Congress, “Just so there is no confusion, let me say that I am not a research scientist. However, no one knows more about life with Down syndrome than I do. Whatever you learn today, please remember this: I am a man with Down syndrome and my life is worth living.”

There is one recent positive sign in American society: Gerber named Lucas Warren, who has Down syndrome, as their . Looking at Lucas’s precious smile, how could there be any doubt that he and other children with Down syndrome have lives worth protecting and cherishing?

[1] Curtis Young, The Least of These (Chicago, IL: Moody Press, 1983), 118.

[2] Marc A. Thiessen, “When will we stop killing humans with Down syndrome?,” The Washington Post, March 8, 2018.

[3] Jevan, “People with Down Syndrome Are Happier than Normal People,” The Tribal Way (blog), October 2, 2012.

[4] H. Choi, M. Van Riper, and S. Thoyre, “Decision Making Following a Prenatal Diagnosis of Down Syndrome: An Integrative Review,” Journal of Midwifery and Women’s Health 57, no. 2 (March/April 2012): 156–164.

[5] Marc A. Thiessen, “When will we stop killing humans with Down syndrome?,” The Washington Post, March 8, 2018.

Top photo by Nathan Anderson on Unsplash

Of Marriage and Uprooting Our Idols: Three Pieces of Advice for Newlywed Women

Today’s guest blog is from Shauna Hernandez, a vital and beloved member of our team at EPM. What she has to share here is wise, insightful, and transparent. I think it’s helpful not only for newlyweds, but also those who’ve been married for many years. And I believe husbands of all ages should read it to help better understand, honor, and serve their wives, in the spirit of 1 Peter 3:7. Thanks so much for these insights, Shauna!  —Randy Alcorn

On October 21, 2017, I walked down the aisle and married Ryan Hernandez, a man so good for me and yet quite different from me. We were a bit older when we got married; I was 29 and he had just turned 34. Starting marriage a little further along in life compared to other friends has its benefits. We know who we are, what we like, and how we do life.

We both had been international missionaries and had each lived several years in three different countries: six countries total! We’d both lived on our own, with and without roommates. We had great relationships with our families. We loved the Lord and attended church regularly. We loved each other and were committed and faithful to one another. We went through pre-marital counseling, and had wise people speaking into our relationship. Ryan walked me through (and continually does) the grief of losing my mom just a year before we got married. So why did marriage seem so hard? Why did I feel like I was crying over every little hardship? Hadn’t we done the hard work before so that we’d sail smoothly into the horizon of marital bliss?

Don’t get me wrong—I love Ryan and would do anything for him. But those first couple of months I felt like I was failing as a wife. I didn’t have a perfect dinner schedule figured out. Our precious little apartment wasn’t ever fully clean (even though I felt like we were constantly cleaning!). I just couldn’t seem to happily balance working two jobs, cooking, cleaning, and spending time with my husband. And my emotions were all over the place.

I looked at my wifely “accomplishments” as a way of increasing Ryan’s love for me. If I did better at being a wife, in my mind he loved me more. This is when I realized that I view my relationship with God similarly.

The Lord gave me insight this spring when we took our church’s high school youth group on our annual retreat. Our topic was modern-day idols, and I talked about identifying, uprooting, and replacing our idols with the Lord. In the process of planning these talks, I came face-to-face with my idol of security.  But this isn’t just an issue between Ryan and me. It affects my relationship with the Lord and causes me to strive to be secure by doing better, having a full schedule, and being a “good” Christian to somehow earn His love.

I began to understand that I haven’t fully accepted that my security rests in the fact that God loves me regardless of what I do. Yes, of course He wants me close to Him, keeping His commands and remaining in His love (John 15:10), but the love God has for me isn’t based on what I’ve done for Him. First John 4:19 says that we love because He first loved us. He extended His love to us first, and my love for Him is a response.

As I’m choosing to let the truth of God’s unconditional love—and my husband’s—wash over me, I’ve thought of three things I’ve been learning in these early stages of marriage. I’ve been married just six months, so I don’t pretend to know everything, but these insights have helped me:

1. Choose the better thing. This little phrase has been bouncing around in my head for several weeks. Sometimes I’m so stressed to have a phenomenal dinner ready that I choose anxiety about preparing a meal for my husband over spending time with him. He kindly suggested that our meals don’t always need a wow-factor (no thanks to you, Pinterest!), but can sometimes just be spaghetti. Wives, don’t worry about always making fantastic meals that take hours to prepare. Sometimes a bag of noodles and a jar of Ragu will do the trick. Choose the better thing: spending time with your husband and less time in the kitchen.

2. Don’t compare. Let me say this loudly: DON’T COMPARE. Just don’t. Don’t compare your skills to your friends’. Don’t compare yourself to your mother-in-law. Don’t compare your husband to other men. Don’t compare your husband to your dad. And how’s this one? Don’t compare yourself to your husband. Ryan is an excellent cook. He learned from the best, my dear mother-in-law and her mother, and for this I’m grateful! However, Ryan’s abilities in cooking tend to cause me to second guess mine and I need to remember that I’m learning and that’s OK.  

3. Have a heart of grace. The other morning, Ryan prayed over us that we’d have hearts of grace for each other. In the first precious and challenging months of marriage, choose to show grace to your husband. That could mean choosing to not bring up something hard before bed (when one person is worried and the other is sleepy). It definitely means thinking the best of each other. It’s very likely (though of course there are terrible situations where this could be true) that your spouse isn’t out to get you or make you feel dumb. Trust that they’re in process too.

Marriage is a beautiful and challenging thing. Keep the Lord first, continually going to Him and His Word for counsel and leaning into His unconditional love. Throughout the seasons of life and marriage, He is our unchanging security. And finally, know that you don’t have to have it all figured out. We’re always going to be in process, but what a beautiful thing it is if we choose to walk the road humbly together!

Photo by Jon Asato on Unsplash

A Quiet Place and Our Silencing of the Unborn

Nanci and I saw The Quiet Place, a unique and unforgettable film which left us instinctively whispering and not wanting to make noises afterward. If you see the movie, which I don’t recommend unless you like 90 minutes of tension and lots of dread, you’ll know what I mean. But for sure, if you can put up with the terror presented by the blind but super-hearing aliens, there are some strong family values in this movie. One in particular, an emphatic prolife message, is celebrated in this article by Greg Morse. —Randy Alcorn

Fighting for Life in ‘A Quiet Place’

By Greg Morse

Sound is deadly.

So you play monopoly with cloth pieces and roll the dice on carpet. Even the crunch of a leaf can be fatal, so you pour sand on paths to travel from one place to another. You learn sign language to communicate with children. You bow your head in prayer, hold your family’s hands, but no one raises their voice unto the Lord. You laugh on mute, cry on mute, cry out in pain on mute, sing on mute, live on mute — or you do not live at all.

This is the world in A Quiet Place (PG–13), the new thriller written and directed by John Krasinski who also plays the lead (Lee Abbott). His wife, actress Emily Blunt, plays his wife in the movie (Evelyn Abbott). The married couple fights to survive with their son and daughter as monsters lurk in the woods. For them, there is no such thing as safe and sound. The monsters can’t see them, but they can hear them. And if they can hear them, they will find them.

In such apocalyptic circumstances, the movie follows the Abbotts as they sneak through life, trying to do whatever they can to retain some semblance of a normal, albeit silent, existence.

A Quieter Place

But then the couple gets pregnant. And as parents know, no child comes quietly.

Yet, in this world of chilling, life-or-death silence, the Abbotts never even consider preventing a screaming, crying, fussing child from coming into the world. Surely this is a dire threat to the family security. Surely they could not bring the loud infant into their quiet place without risking everything. Surely this baby would get them all killed. Surely such circumstances made it more understandable for one to ponder one’s “reproductive rights” and opt to exercise one’s “reproductive freedom” to “terminate the pregnancy.”

If pregnancy was your reality in this silent world, and you had nine months to make the decision, would you invade the quiet place inside of her and snuff out the voice that would most likely get you killed? The Abbotts chose to silently say, “No.”

Death in a Quiet Place

Many in our society hear the same question and quickly, even casually, answer, “Yes.”

We kill our children daily by the thousands. No monsters prowl our woods, but they live in our homes. We have become them. We have turned forceps on those noisy creatures who would interrupt our plans, our comforts, our television shows. And if we know they have a disability — if they will be especially needy — we silence them at an even higher rate. We are the ones who attack the helpless in the quietest place, in their mother’s womb.

A Quiet Place is not properly a horror film, but it is extremely suspenseful and contains violent and frightening scenes. After an hour and a half, you can walk out of the theater and nobody really died. But the same is not true for the horror films taking place in abortion clinics across the U.S. and around the world — silent assassinations in sterile rooms. They wear white coats. They make death a business. They snatch children from deceived mothers, who tragically pay to have them taken away. We live in a society full of this movie’s monsters. And they seem so ordinary.

The Church in a Quiet Place

We not only attack those who have no voice, but we attack those who try to speak up for them. One cannot shriek too loudly on social media, in conversations around the dinner table, or in any civilized conversation about abortion. Polite society on this issue means a silent society. Hate that we plunge needles into baby skulls, suction out their brains, and bury them — not in a grave — but in a garbage can, and you too become a target. If we personally refuse to call evil good and good evil, put dark for light and sweet for bitter (Isaiah 5:20), then at least we better shut up about it.

Many Christians in the West have grown weary of being maligned on this issue. They have grown tired of doing good and speaking boldly for a taboo cause. Following Jesus is divisive enough without lending our voices to speak about what grieves and infuriates him. So, his body refuses to speak and we silence him too. And our mumbling of, “We didn’t know” doesn’t suffice.

If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small. Rescue those who are being taken away to death; hold back those who are stumbling to the slaughter. If you say, “Behold, we did not know this,” does not he who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not he who keeps watch over your soul know it, and will he not repay man according to his work? (Proverbs 24:10–12)

Many have fainted in this day of adversity. They are reduced to protest on mute, speak righteously on mute, be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation on mute — live Christianly on mute. They live on manicured lawns and must not make a sound while they put our children into Sheol.

They have retired from the fight and live as good citizens in a quiet place — a quiet, civilized place that muffles its children indefinitely.

Sacrifice in a Quiet Place

This is not an endorsement of the movie — for we have enough violence and fright in real life that we do not need to escape into it. But at times, witnessing fictional terror can help us see the domesticated horrors that surround us every day — and the beauty of selfless love that rises to confront it.

Against all the loud, pink, pro-choice banners around us, A Quiet Place stands for human lives worth sacrificing for. Even when a baby would cost them everything, even when they had every excuse to declare their own rights, Lee and Evelyn Abbott fought for their family and their coming son. They risked their lives for their children. They exhausted every ounce of energy to protect them. I don’t know what John Krasinski wanted the world to know about unborn children, but in his movie, I witnessed God’s relentless, sacrificial, and beautiful love for the least and youngest of these.

And what was acted on screen in A Quiet Place was acted out by God in history. “To us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6).

Jesus, an everlasting father to us, did not sacrifice his children but died for them. He laid his life down so that full pardon and full sonship would be secured for his blood-bought family. He gives former monsters (turned children) a new mind, a new heart, and a new courage to protect and fight for the most defenseless of his creation, hidden within a quiet place.

This article was originally posted on DesiringGod.org and is us ed by permission of the author.

Photo by Kristina Flour on Unsplash

Paul Young’s “Lies We Believe About God” Dismantles Precious Truths from Scripture

I wrote what follows nearly a year ago. I didn’t post it then because honestly, I hate to get involved in quarrels with the many people who will disagree. But as time goes on, I continue to see people adversely influenced by the theology expressed in this book. While it’s increasingly popular today, it stands in conflict with God’s Word. So I will go ahead and post it now.

Last year, Paul Young, author of The Shack, had a book come out called Lies We Believe About God. Ironically, many of the doctrinal concerns that I and many others expressed about his novel The Shack (and in response, were told “it’s just fiction” and “this isn’t theology” and “that’s not what he’s saying”) have proven to be true. This book clearly reveals the author’s actual theology.  

I wanted to believe the best, and not be quick to misunderstand or accuse. I have friends who read Paul’s writings, and my desire isn’t to take away from the positives they’ve received from The Shack. However, Lies We Believe About God shows in the author’s own words how far he has departed from some basic and central evangelical doctrines. I’ve read the whole book, and I saw truth intermixed with unbiblical error. But as is often the case with false doctrine, the truth serves to make the error appear more credible.

Given the book’s popularity, and the subsequent release of the movie by the same title, I’m disappointed and concerned that the countless people influenced by The Shack and many of its more implicit errors will be led into increasingly significant explicit errors by reading Lies We Believe About God.

To be clear, The Shack has many explicit errors too, but people debated or seemed to not notice what the author was really saying. Many were able to overlook some of the theological problems while at the same time being impacted by the good they found. But in Lies We Believe About God, Paul Young has stated more forthrightly not only his universalism, but also a number of other unbiblical doctrines.

He admits at last (several years ago, I had two three-hour conversations with him in which he hinted this without saying it directly) he really is a universalist: “Are you suggesting that everyone is saved? That you believe in universal salvation? That is exactly what I am saying!” (p. 118). That makes it official: no more arguments about whether The Shack teaches universalism.

Some of what Lies We Believe About God says about the evangelical view of the cross of Christ makes it sound like those who teach substitutionary atonement would actually be pro-child abuse. In fact, Scripture reveals a Father who sent His Son, and a Son, coeternal and coequal with the Father and the Holy Spirit, who willingly laid His life down for us on the cross (John 10:17-18). He was and is the God-man, and He was both sent by the Father and went willingly to the cross, not as a helpless or victimized child. (See Bruce Ware’s article The Father Sent Jesus to the Cross.)

In reading Lies We Believe About God, at times I marveled at all the precious truths the author is calling outright falsehoods. Below are some statements he claims are all lies, along with some quotes from the book:

God is good. I am not.

God is in control.

“God submits rather than controls and joins us in the resulting mess of relationship, to participate in co-creating the possibility of life, even in the face of death.” (p. 44)

God does not submit.

“What is the incarnation—God becoming fully human—if not complete and utter submission to us? What about the cross, in which God submits to our anger, rage, and wrath?” (p. 48)

God wants to use me.


You need to get saved.

“The Good News is not that Jesus has opened up the possibility of salvation and you have been invited to receive Jesus into your life. The Gospel is that Jesus has already included you into His life, into His relationship with God the Father, and into His anointing in the Holy Spirit. The Good News is that Jesus did this without your vote, and whether you believe it or not won’t make it any less or more true.” (pp. 117-118)

Hell is separation from God.

“I propose the possibility that hell is not separation from Jesus but that it is the pain of resisting our salvation in Jesus while not being able to escape Him who is True Love.” (p. 138)

Not everyone is a child of God.

Sin separates us from God.

“Does sin separate us from God? Separation is the fundamental building block of religion. …Once division and separation are established as real, entire religious systems, institutions, and hierarchies can be built as the path to salvation or enlightenment, and people will pay blood, sweat, tears, and money to get from the damned side to the saved. We Christians have long espoused a theology of separation. A lot of ‘my people’ will believe that the following statement is in the Bible, but it isn’t: ‘You have sinned, and you are separated from God.’” (pp. 230-231)

The Cross was God’s idea.

These are not lies! They are truths, and there is plenty of biblical support for each of them. Of course, not everything everyone says related to these truths is accurate (but that’s always true). To say these are all “lies” is unbiblical, irresponsible, and misleading. 

While I could elaborate with a number of Scriptures for each of these, take just the last one, said to be a lie: the Cross was God’s idea. Acts 4:27-28 says, “Indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed. They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen.”

We could add the words of Isaiah 53, that Jesus was “punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all…for the transgression of my people he was punished….though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it was the LORD’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer.”

Here is a book supposedly identifying lies we believe about God while dismantling biblical truths at the heart of the Gospel message. It attempts to replace these truths with ACTUAL untruths, lies about God!

If it seems unfair for someone to say the author is speaking lies, consider that his entire book is dedicated to the idea that evangelical pastors and Christ-followers who have been teaching these biblical doctrines for hundreds or thousands of years are liars.

The truth is, we desperately need to be saved by Jesus—that is, to embrace what He has provided on our behalf: “We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God” (2 Corinthians 5:20). We need to be saved from our sins, to be rescued, delivered, reconciled, and born again, so we can enter into God’s goodness and the righteousness of Jesus.  

I recommend this summary of some of the unbiblical content in Lies We Believe About God, well expressed by Tim Challies.

While Paul Young remains a likable person, this doesn’t change the danger of revising God’s truth and telling people nice-sounding things on God’s behalf, when some of those explicitly contradict what He tells us in His Word: “Every word of God proves true; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him. Do not add to his words, lest he rebuke you and you be found a liar” (Proverbs 30:5-6).

What God said to Jeremiah about the dreams and words of so-called prophets in that day applies to us today when it comes to our choice between believing what God has said in His revealed Word, or believing the new and more appealing things that people say to replace the biblical teachings:

“I have heard what the prophets say who prophesy lies in my name. They say, ‘I had a dream! I had a dream!’ How long will this continue in the hearts of these lying prophets, who prophesy the delusions of their own minds?  They think the dreams they tell one another will make my people forget my name, just as their ancestors forgot my name through Baal worship. 

“Let the prophet who has a dream recount the dream, but let the one who has my word speak it faithfully. For what has straw to do with grain?” declares the Lord. “Is not my word like fire,” declares the Lord, “and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces?

“Therefore,” declares the Lord, “I am against the prophets who steal from one another words supposedly from me. Yes,” declares the Lord, “I am against the prophets who wag their own tongues and yet declare, ‘The Lord declares.’ 

“Indeed, I am against those who prophesy false dreams,” declares the Lord. “They tell them and lead my people astray with their reckless lies, yet I did not send or appoint them. They do not benefit these people in the least,” declares the Lord.

—Jeremiah 23:25-32

For more on the topic of truth, see Randy Alcorn’s devotional  Truth: A Bigger View of God’s Word .

Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash

Nine of My Spiritual Heroes

I have only one Lord, but many spiritual heroes. Here are nine of mine. (This is a repost of an article I shared several years ago; this version has been expanded and updated with links to more on each of my heroes.)

1) Pastor Charles Haddon Spurgeon

Even as a twenty year old, Spurgeon spoke with an incredible depth and biblical insight, and his sermons and writings, which are full of grace and truth (and unsurpassed eloquence), always draw me to Christ. He led his church in building homes to care for elderly women and orphans, as well as a large school for hundreds of children. 

I wrote an introduction and conclusion about Spurgeon in my book We Shall See God, and quoted from his Heaven sermons extensively (the book is 60% Spurgeon). I’ve also blogged about him over the years, including in Charles Spurgeon Meets Rapper Shai Linne, Spurgeon’s Worst Sermon, and His Joy and Fruitfulness in Ministry, Born Out of Suffering and Sorrow. Several years ago when I was experiencing a season of depression, I wrote three posts about Spurgeon’s personal depression experience.

2) Eric Liddell

Eric was an Olympic champion and missionary to China (best known from the movie Chariots of Fire), whose “rest of the story” was told to me by a woman in England, Margaret Holder. I share in my book The Grace and Truth Paradox how as a teenager Margaret lived in a Japanese internment camp in China, where Eric Liddell was also imprisoned and ended up dying of a brain tumor. She spoke of how Liddell held the camp together by his devotion to Christ and care for the children, who after his death were dramatically rescued by American paratroopers. See The Little Known Story of Olympian Eric Liddell’s Final Years.

3) Keith Green

Keith’s songs resonated with my soul more than anyone’s. I can still hear him pounding on that piano and singing “There is a Redeemer.” (“Thank you, oh my Father, for giving us Your Son, and leaving Your Spirit, till the work on Earth is done.”) I remember in 1982 I was at our church office, where I was a pastor, when I heard that his plane had crashed. Keith was 28 years old, the same age as Nanci and I were. I loved his passion for Christ, and I still listen to his music on my iPod. Jon Bloom, co-founder of Desiring God, shared some great thoughts about Keith and his impact.

4) Francis Schaeffer

Schaeffer was an intellectual and Christ-lover, who responded with a wonderful handwritten letter to me after I wrote to him as a college student, telling him how God had shaped me through his books. (On the 25th anniversary of his home going, I shared the letter he sent me.) I loved all his books, but my all-time favorite was He Is There and He Is Not Silent. Schaeffer also awakened me to the importance of the prolife issue.

My friend Doug Nichols shared a wonderful story about Francis and his humility. Also see my tribute to his wife Edith.

5) C. S. Lewis

Lewis not only wrote books that have touched me to the core, but also in a spirit of humility and kindness answered letters from those who had nothing to offer him. He gave away the majority of his royalties to the needy.

Nanci and I have been to Oxford several times, visiting Lewis’s college, chapel, rooms, his house the Kilns, and his favorite pubs. We walked Addison’s Walk, where he was helped to come to faith in a conversation with two friends, one of them J. R. R. Tolkien. I share some memories of our visit with our girls here, and some pictures and memories from one of Nanci’s and my trips here.

I didn’t know of Lewis until I picked up The Problem of Pain as a new Christian in 1969. In my books, I cite Lewis far more than anyone else besides Scripture. He’s even a character in my novel Dominion. (Yes, there are any number of areas in which I disagree with Lewis, but the quotes from him I put in my books are very insightful observations in which I do agree with him.)

I wrote a couple of blogs about his impact on my life and writing. And at the 2013 Desiring God National Conference, I gave a presentation about C.S. Lewis on Heaven and the New Earth.

6) Joni Eareckson Tada

Joni’s life resonates with depth, honesty, compassion, and Christ’s joy. Through adversity God has made a diamond out of her. (In fact, that’s the theme of a message she shared several years ago, how God uses suffering to refine us.) We’ve made an appointment to run together in a meadow on the New Earth. I’m sure she’ll have to slow down to let me catch her. Nanci and I love Joni. We have great memories of an evening spent with her and Ken in their home.

Joni gave a wonderful message last year at our church’s Sanctity of Human Life Sunday service. Here’s a blog and video I did last year in honor of the 50th anniversary of her life-altering accident. I’ve also shared several posts about or by Joni over the years on my blog.

7) John Perkins

John was tortured and humiliated in a Mississippi jailhouse for the crime of being black, but rose above the hatred to become the Voice of Calvary. I have never seen greater love coming out of a man. Except for the grace of Jesus, there is no explanation for such a life.

When researching my novel Dominion, I walked with John through Jackson, Mississippi. I was with him when he bought a hat in one of their ministry thrift stores for a quarter. They wanted to give it to him, since he founded the whole ministry, but he insisted on paying. John was my spiritual inspiration for the character Obadiah Abernathy in Dominion.

They have a daily newspaper at the Christian booksellers’ convention, and one day it had this picture of me talking with John. So I asked for a copy of it. It still brings tears to my eyes. What a guy! It was an honor to write the foreword to his book Dream With Me.

8) Bert Elliot

Bert is brother of martyred missionary Jim Elliot (another one of my heroes). He and his wife Colleen served as missionaries in South America for over sixty years. Bert said something to me the day I met him that I’ll never forget: “Jim and I both served Christ, but differently. Jim was a great meteor, streaking through the sky.” Unlike his brother Jim, the shooting star, Bert was a faint star that rose night after night, faithfully crossing the same path in the sky, to God’s glory. I share more about that meeting with him and his wife in this blog.

9) A. W. Tozer

Tozer is one of three authors who had the most profound influence on me as a young Christian (the other two are Lewis and Schaeffer). He continues to impact me. Tozer’s The Knowledge of the Holy, a fabulous book on the attributes of God, is my favorite nonfiction book of all time. I’ve shared several blogs over the years featuring excerpts from his books.

Tozer’s insights about God’s character have been of great encouragement again to Nanci and I lately, as we face the many unknowns of this year with her colon cancer treatments.

These are some of the people whose writings and lives have shaped mine, and to whom I will repeatedly say “Thank you” in the ages to come (always thanking Christ, the Source of all joys, for them). And of course, there are many more people the Lord has used in my life over the years through personal relationship, including godly men and women at our home church, such as Jim Spinks, Cal Hess, and Garland Gabbert.

What a pleasure to know I will live forever with the Lord I worship and the people, His servants, I admire. Likely many of those I will come to admire most, and ask to sit next to at dinner, are ones whose stories I don’t even know yet. I can’t wait to meet them!

A Prayer to the Shepherd of My Life

Earlier this year, my wife and best friend Nanci was diagnosed with colon cancer, and is now beginning a combination of radiation and chemotherapy treatments. (You can read more on her Caring Bridge page; we would really appreciate your prayers.) Nanci recently wrote a prayer based on Psalm 23. It spoke to me, and I hope it speaks to you too, as you reflect on your heavenly Shepherd and the ways He leads and cares for you through every circumstance. Read Psalm 23 first, then enter into Nanci’s prayer. —Randy Alcorn

Psalm 23:

The Lord is my shepherd;
I shall not want.
He makes me to lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside the still waters.
He restores my soul;
He leads me in the paths of righteousness
For His name’s sake.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil;
For You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
You anoint my head with oil;
My cup runs over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
All the days of my life;
And I will dwell in the house of the Lord
Forever.

Nanci Alcorn’s prayer:

Please, Shepherd of my life,

Cause me to want nothing more—not even good health—than to have you as my Shepherd.


Reveal to me that the pastures and waters to which you lead me are green and still—because you are there!


Engage my heart to receive the restoration of my soul by your Holy Spirit.


Renew my conviction that, for your name’s sake, righteousness is the direction of each path you have for me.  


May your Holy Spirit—the Comforter—banish all my fears of evil (being out of control, letting pride inflate me, weakness, pain, loss of plans) as I walk through this valley—because you are with me!


Open my eyes and my ears to the protection and comfort of your rod and staff. Don’t let me miss those things and people which you have provided me for this purpose.


Help me experience the table you have prepared for me in the presence of this cancer.


Don’t let me overlook—or fail to ask for—your every healing drop of oil on my head.


Keep my perspective on my daily overflowing cup of your goodness and mercy.


Direct my longing toward my place in your house, forever!

Photo by Jaka Škrlep on Unsplash

The Early Christians Experienced Happiness in Christ Despite Suffering; So Can We

Recently Nanci and I saw the movie Paul, Apostle of Christ. We were both surprised at how dark it was, focusing almost exclusively on Rome’s brutal violence done against Christians and their children. Paul is suffering in prison nearly all the movie, and even the flashbacks are either him suffering or inflicting suffering on others.

Of course, historically there was plenty of such violence, and we don’t want it whitewashed! That’s not my concern. But Paul’s life contained many events that were beautiful—including strong relationships, miracles, healings, demons cast out, and radical conversions with infusions of happiness. We wished for a few happy flashbacks of the joy he experienced knowing and serving Jesus, as seen throughout the book of Acts. (Given the good reviews I read, no doubt God is using the movie in some people’s lives. And if you’re among them, that’s great!)

It also seemed odd to show the community of faith’s suffering endlessly without depicting their joy. In the movie, the believers in hiding are portrayed as divided and squabbling and nearly always distraught. I’m all for realistic portrayals of suffering and hardship (I’ve written three books on the problem of evil and suffering), and certainly first-century Christians experienced much heartbreak and persecution. But they also experienced happiness, celebration, and the abundant life in the midst of difficulty. Their lives were punctuated by feasting and singing and laughing and rejoicing. (It almost feels like there’s an underlying assumption in this movie that God has called His people to unhappiness in this life and that happiness is unspiritual. I address this issue here.)

Nanci and I felt like the takeaway was, “Christians live miserable lives now, but in the end Heaven will make up for it.” Well, true, Heaven will more than make up for a miserable life, but the early Christians, while enduring some miseries to be sure, were characterized in this life by a transcendent joy and hope and peace.

The Early Church’s Happiness in Jesus

We see the seeds of the early church’s happiness right away after Jesus ascended (Luke 24:51-52): “While he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven. And they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy.” The CEV says, “They returned to Jerusalem and were very happy.” Because Jesus was alive, and because he promised to be with his followers always and return for them one day, their joy went deep and overflowed the banks of their lives.

The early church enjoyed both the Lord’s Supper (breaking bread) and “love feasts” (Jude 1:12). Acts 2:46 describes the gatherings of the believers: “Day after day they met together in the temple. They broke bread together in different homes and shared their food happily and freely” (CEV).

There’s an intriguing phrase in Acts 2:47 that describes the church in Jerusalem as “having favor with all the people.” What exactly were these early Christians doing that brought them such esteem? The preceding verses tell us: “And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts” (v. 45-46).

When unbelievers witnessed the generosity and joy of these believers, they saw how they loved one another, and many came to faith: “And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved” (Acts 2:47, italics mine). Their open hands and genuine happiness demonstrated the life-changing power of the gospel.

Athenian philosopher Aristides wrote to the Emperor Hadrian (c. 117-138 AD) and said this about the early church:

Every morning and all hours on account of the goodness of God toward them, they render praise and laud Him over their food and their drink; they render Him thanks. And if any righteous person of their number passes away from this world, they rejoice and give thanks to God and they follow his body as though he were moving from one place to another. And when a child is born to them, they praise God, and if again it chances to die in its infancy, they praise God mightily, as for one who has passed through the world without sins.

Supernatural Joy and Gladness in Persecution

Scripture tells us something even more surprising. When believers in the early church faced persecution for following Jesus, this was their response: “They left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name” (Acts 5:41). The Contemporary English Version and five others translate it, “They were happy.” How could anyone be happy in suffering? Because they found joy in being enough like Jesus to be treated as He had been. Note that they rejoiced not because they suffered (self-glorifying masochism) but because they were considered worthy to suffer for Jesus (God-glorifying grace).

We see this same supernatural reality in other passages (see Matthew 5:12; Romans 5:3; James 1:2-3; 1 Peter 4:13). It’s as if our eternal happiness works its way backward into the suffering of the present moment, washing over us as a foretaste of our imminent, unending joy.

Consider what happened to Paul and Silas in Philippi: “The crowd joined in attacking them, and the magistrates tore the garments off them and gave orders to beat them with rods. And when they had inflicted many blows upon them, they threw them into prison. . . . [The jailer] put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks” (Acts 16:22-24).

Sadly, God’s people have been treated this way throughout history, but the next verse is astonishing: “About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them” (verse 25). Why were the prisoners listening? Because to sing hymns is to express praise and joy and focus on God, not oneself.

Such actions speak powerfully to unbelievers. Words alone are cheap, but joy in suffering gets people’s attention—it demands a supernatural explanation! Countless believers have used their platform of suffering, combined with Christ-centered happiness, to attract people to the gospel.

Paul’s Rejoicing in the Lord

Paul’s joyful, peaceful response to imprisonment in Philippi was characteristic of his walk with Jesus, although yes, as a result of following Christ, he lost everything. He described his daily adversity, persecution, and nearness to death (2 Corinthians 4:7-12). Two chapters later Paul referred to his troubles, hardships, distresses, beatings, imprisonments, riots, sleepless nights, and hunger, as well as the experience of nearly dying, and being sorrowful and poor (2 Corinthians 6:3-10). And in chapter 11, he wrote an even more graphic portrayal of his hardships (v. 23-29). Ultimately, his imprisonment led to his death at Nero’s command.

Yet this same Paul said he was “sorrowful, yet always rejoicing” (2 Corinthians 6:10). Sorrow and joy can and do coexist, for now. Note that the “always” in this verse is applied to rejoicing, not being sorrowful. Sometimes sorrow and joy do battle; sometimes they coexist, but when our hearts and minds are on Christ, joy is never far away: “You changed my sorrow into dancing. You took away my clothes of sadness, and clothed me in happiness” (Psalm 30:11, NCV).

Paul, writing from prison in Rome, calls on us to rejoice in the Lord not periodically, but always:  “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!” (Philippian 4:4). Surely, with the Holy Spirit’s help, he followed his own instructions! That word translated rejoice means to be glad, to be happy, to delight in, to find pleasure in. The Hebrew and Greek words that are translated joy are synonyms of happiness. This verse could just as easily be translated, “Be happy in the Lord; again I say be happy.” But notice what we’re to be happy in. We’re to be happy in the Lord.

Paul followed verse 4 with this encouragement: “The Lord is at hand,” which itself is a reason to rejoice. God is with us, never abandons us, and will deliver us soon, whether by death or by His return.

Paul understood that those who know Christ can be happy in Him when every outward circumstance argues against being happy. This is what David experienced when he wrote, “When the cares of my heart are many, your consolations cheer my soul” (Psalm 94:19). It’s what James and Peter were saying when they told believers to be glad when facing hardships (see James 1:2; 1 Peter 4:13).

Nowhere in Scripture is happiness reserved for when life seems to be going our way. Life’s dramas constantly conspire to rob us of joy. But these circumstances, and our short-comings, aren’t nearly as big or as permanent or as powerful as God and His happiness, which in His grace He offers His beloved children. And this offer is not just for “then and there,” after we die, but for “here and now,” while we still live in a fallen world, in and with and by the grace of a risen Jesus. The apostle Paul and the rest of the early church experienced this kind of supernatural happiness, and because the same Holy Spirit that indwelt them lives in us, so can we.

By the way, if you’d like to study Paul’s life more, I recommend first reading or listening to the book of Acts and letters of Paul.  If you want a quick illustrated read on the apostle Paul see my graphic novel The Apostle. I spent a lot of time studying his life to write it, and chose many of the great action scenes in Acts and added some scenes to tie it together. Or if you want a serious biography, The Apostle: A Life of Paul is a classic.

Photo: iStock

The MLK50 Conference on Why Racial Unity Is a Gospel Issue (and Some Thoughts About John Perkins)

Last week, the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission and The Gospel Coalition hosted the MLK50 Conference, which focused on the state of racial unity in the church and the culture 50 years after Martin Luther King Jr.’s death. I watched parts of the conference over their free livestream, and one of our EPM staff members, Kathy Norquist, watched all of it. She wrote this:

I’m so glad Randy encouraged our staff to watch the livestream. If you’ve ever thought “I wish they would stop playing the race card” or “I’m glad racial discrimination is behind us” or “It wasn’t me personally who participated in the past so quit blaming us” then I urge you to watch these videos. You might not always like what’s being said or agree 100%, but go with an open mind and listen, listen, listen to these godly men and women who love Jesus and seek to live for Him. I had a lot of questions in my mind and most of them were answered through the panel discussions. I wish this conference could be repeated all over the U.S. as, I for one, would be there!

I wholeheartedly agree. To watch the videos, sign up here. After you do so, you’ll be able to scroll down and choose the sessions you’d like to watch.

I really appreciated Russell Moore’s opening address, “Black and White and Red All Over: Why Racial Justice Is a Gospel Issue.” Mika Edmonson’s message titled “The Power of Unearned Suffering: Celebrating MLK’s Legacy after 50 Years,” was powerful, as was Matt Chandler’s session on “A House Divided Cannot Stand: Understanding and Overcoming the Inconsistencies in White Evangelicals on Racial Issues.” Other speakers included Benjamin Watson, Ralph West, John Piper, Jackie Hill Perry, and Eric Mason.

And don’t miss the session with one of my heroes, John Perkins, who talked about “The Civil Rights Movement 50 Years after MLK.” Years ago John was tortured and humiliated in a Mississippi jailhouse for the crime of being black, but rose above the hatred to become the Voice of Calvary. Except for the grace of Jesus, there is no explanation for such a life.

I first met John when we spoke at a conference together in Minnesota in 1987. Eight years later I went to Jackson, Mississippi to spend time with John when researching my novel Dominion, and modeled parts of my character Obadiah Abernathy after him. In 2008, the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association honored John Perkins with the Lifetime Achievement Award.  After John spoke, I waited at a distance. Though ten years had passed since we’d last seen each other, his face lit up when he saw me, and he called me by name. A photographer snapped a picture of John greeting me, his hand on my shoulder, which appeared on the front page of a newspaper the next day. I still treasure that photo.

More recently John asked me to write the foreword to his autobiography, Dream With Me, which I was honored to do.

Finally, I loved this excellent profile of John Perkins related to his book One Blood: Parting Words to the Church on Race, which he calls his “final manifesto”:

The Final Call of John Perkins

By Sarah Eekhoff Zylstra

At 87 years old, John Perkins is ready for his eighth career.

After being a janitor, welder, equipment designer, Bible teacher, civil-rights activist, community developer, and author, Perkins wants to “devote the rest of my life to biblical reconciliation.”

It would be hard to find someone better qualified.

Perkins grew up in a sharecropping family on a Southern plantation, with an absentee father and a mother who died of malnutrition when he was seven months old. He remembers the sting of a white boy’s BB gun (and the frustration of knowing he couldn’t fight back), going around to the main house’s back door, and watching old black men step off the sidewalk to let white women pass by.

Things didn’t get better. Perkins spent most of his adult life working in under-resourced black communities, held down by white segregation and oppression. His older brother, freshly back from serving in World War II, was killed by a white police officer. And Perkins himself was jailed and tortured by racist white police in 1970.

But while Perkins spent the next 50 years fighting back—he led demonstrations and filed lawsuits on behalf of blacks on issues of equal pay, hiring practices, poor treatment of inmates, and voting rights—he also championed forgiveness and reconciliation.

“What I admire about Dr. Perkins is that he wouldn’t hold his tongue about justice, but he is also critical of people doing justice not grounded in the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ,” pastor CJ Rhodes said. “He is able to hold together a profound justice critique with a biblical worldview.”

That makes his message a powerful one for both white and black church leaders.

“This is a God-sized problem,” Perkins wrote in One Blood: Parting Words to the Church on Race. The book—Perkins’s “final manifesto”—is due out tomorrow. “It is one that only the church, through the power of the Holy Spirit, can heal. It requires the quality of love that only our Savior can provide.”

Love—as defined by 1 John 3—is Perkins’s legacy, said Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission president and TGC Council member Russell Moore. “It’s a love for God and one another that is not merely verbal or emotional, but an active, working, reconciling love.”

Read the rest.

Why Does the Truth Matter?

In an age of endless Internet gossip, tabloids, false advertising, lying politicians, and “made up reality,” how important is the truth? Reformer Ulrich Zwingli wrote, “The business of the truth is not to be deserted, even to the sacrifice of our lives.”

Luke makes a profound observation: “Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true” (Acts 17:11).

They searched the Scriptures—probing, not just skimming. The Bible should be primary, all other truth-claims secondary. We need a worldview informed and corrected by God’s Word.

They searched the Scriptures daily. (People died to get the Bible into our hands; the least we can do is read it!) Unless we establish a strong biblical grid, a scriptural filter with which to screen and interpret the world, we’ll end up thinking like the world. We desperately need not only Bible teaching, but group Bible study that explores the text and applies it to daily life.

In this video, I share more thoughts on why truth matters:

For more on this subject, see Randy’s devotional Truth: A Bigger View of God's Word.

Photo by Kiwihug on Unsplash