Randy Alcorn's Blog, page 12

The Glad Heart of Jesus

In the first-ever gospel message of the newborn church, the apostle Peter preached that Psalm 16 is about Christ: “David says concerning him, ‘I saw the Lord always before me, for he is at my right hand that I may not be shaken; therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced. . . . For you will not abandon my soul to Hades, or let your Holy One see corruption. . . . You will make me full of gladness with your presence’” (Acts 2:25-28, emphasis added). This effusive statement, attributed to the Messiah, is a triple affirmation of His happiness!

The passage Peter ascribed to Jesus includes Psalm 16:11: “In your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” The New Life Version says, “Being with You is to be full of joy. In Your right hand there is happiness forever.”

I’m convinced we should view this first apostolic sermon as a model for sharing the gospel today. Peter, full of the Holy Spirit, preached a prototype gospel message, asserting three times the happiness of the one who is at the center of the gospel—Jesus. Yet how many people, unbelievers and believers alike, have ever heard a modern gospel message that makes this point? Peter preached that Jesus was “full of gladness”; why shouldn’t we?

What if we regularly declared the happiness of our Savior? Imagine the response if we emphasized that what Jesus did on that terrible cross was for the sake of never-ending happiness—ours and His (see Hebrews 12:2). We would be proclaiming a part of the gospel that’s not only exceedingly attractive but also entirely true.

I share more about the happiness of the triune God in this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvVviJpk230?si=Vu36QvtxKBwluOKY

How Should We Evaluate Claims That Someone Had a Vision or Dream from God?

It’s true that far too many Bible believers are in effect anti-supernatural. Some Christians argue against the miraculous with the same scorn of atheists and agnostics. The irony is stunning, since the Christian faith is rooted in the miraculous and dependent upon it. I believe absolutely that God does miracles today. I am completely convinced, for instance, that for decades the Lord Jesus has been appearing to Muslims in dreams and visions, bringing many people to faith. The evidence is clear, repeated, and consistent.

So the reason I believe that the teachings of certain dreams, visions, and personal experiences with God are not true is not that they are miraculous. It is that they contradict the inspired Word of God. “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16). Some claims fail the test of Acts 17:11, which says the Bereans examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.

Now suppose I heard that a Muslim had a dream in which Jesus Christ said that Mohammed was a true prophet of God, and that Islam is the true faith. Here are my belief options:

1) The dream is true, and Jesus really said that. But this conflicts with Scripture—not because it is miraculous, but because Jesus and Mohammed made contradictory claims.

2) The dream really happened, but it was not Jesus speaking. Maybe it was just a dream influenced by someone’s pre-existing belief system, power of suggestion and/or by medications or even indigestion.

3) The dream really happened, and it was indeed supernatural, but it wasn’t Jesus speaking. “Even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light” (2 Corinthians 11:14).  

When there is demonic deception, the human being—sincere or not—can become a false prophet: “But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies…” (2 Peter 2:1).

As Christians we should affirm God’s miracles. This does not mean 1) we should believe that everything claimed to be a miracle really is one, or 2) even when we do believe it was a miracle, we should assume everything remembered and said by the person is entirely accurate.

I think it’s also fair to ask whether we believe that the supernatural God has supernaturally revealed Himself and important truths to us in the Bible. And whether, when there is a conflict, that supernatural revelation trumps supernatural experiences. We do not require further revelation (as if God’s Word were not enough), but when someone claims to be bringing it, we evaluate it by Scripture, which remains our authority.

Here are some further resources:

How Can We Discern between Hearing God and Hearing What We Want to Hear?

How Can I Hear God’s Voice and Know That He Is Clearly Speaking to Me?

Where's the Line Between Discernment and Lack of Faith in Miracles?

What About Those Who’ve Never Heard the Good News of Jesus?

Do the Will of God You Know; Discern the Will You Don’t

Always Walk into, Not Away from, People’s Grief

I experienced profound grief when my mother died when I was in my twenties. She wasn’t only my mom; she was one of my very closest friends. I had the joy of leading her to Jesus a year after I became a Christian in high school at age fifteen.

I’ll never forget the Sunday morning when I arrived at our church, which my mom had also attended. Though she had died that week, I decided to preach anyway. A very strange thing happened. Usually when I walked in the door, old friends and new friends—fellow church members still excited about the freshness of our young church fellowship—would immediately greet me.

But this Sunday was entirely different. People I knew and loved walked in the other direction. A friend finally dared to approach me with a hug and talk with me. Once the ice was broken, a few others joined. But until that moment, it was like the parting of the Red Sea. They just didn’t know what to say.

It taught me a great lesson: always walk into, not away from, people’s grief. Talk about their loved one. Don’t pretend that nothing is wrong. Grief is the normal reaction to a horrible loss. Grief is nothing to ignore or fear. When we don’t talk to people about their loved one who died, we make them feel lonely and out in the cold.

In her book What Grieving People Wish You Knew about What Really Helps (and What Really Hurts), Nancy Guthrie writes, “Grief is like a lens or veil through which those going through it see and experience everything. It’s like a computer program running in the background at all times. When we speak to a grieving person about the one who died, and they begin to weep, it’s not that we ‘made them cry.’ Rather, we’ve acknowledged what was beneath the surface and given them an opportunity to release some of that sadness that was already there.”

In this audio clip, I share how those grieving need the church community:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKk8r--51Rk?si=naD3PVfnrwc1lBbr

Will the New Earth Have Distinct Cultures?

There is no need to worry about culture shock in Heaven! The cultures and nations of the Old Earth will all have their place within God’s eternal Kingdom on the New Earth. This understanding fits perfectly with Daniel’s vision of the Messiah’s return to Earth: “He was given authority, honor, and royal power over all the nations of the world, so that people of every race and nation and language would obey him” (Daniel 7:14).

I interpret “every race and nation and language” literally. God has chosen people in even predominantly pagan nations and reached them by sending men and women or angels, dreams, and visions. What people groups will be worshiping Christ on the New Earth? Aztecs, Mayans, Incas, Celts, Goths, Huns, Lombards, Saxons, Serbs, Croats, Slovenes, Canaanites, Hittites, Phoenicians, Sumerians, Assyrians, Persians, Mongols, and countless other civilizations, both ancient and modern. Indeed, most of the nations Daniel prophesied about—including Babylon, Medo-Persia, and Rome—faded away long ago. Nations and cultures that no longer exist today will be raised, to God’s glory, in a purified form that includes whatever pleased God and excludes whatever didn’t.

Do you have a special interest in Europe of the Middle Ages? Then perhaps you’ll enjoy developing relationships with those who lived in that era. Perhaps on the New Earth you’ll live in a beautified version of their culture. (We shouldn’t assume that all ancient people would embrace every modern convenience, even when given the choice.)

It’s likely, too, that the New Earth’s people groups will remain politically as well as culturally distinct, with their own governments and leaders. People of every nation and ethnic group will reign on the earth (Revelation 5:9-10). Some of their saints will rule over cities; others will rule over nations. Many people assume that if God rules the universe, there’s no room for other rulers. But this can’t be true, because “all rulers will worship and obey him” (Daniel 9:27). But in contrast to the Old Earth’s corrupt leaders, they will be righteous rulers, subordinate to Christ.

Does this sound speculative? We find it in Scripture’s own words. So close your eyes and imagine Earth’s civilizations, both ancient and modern. Not just what they were and are, but what they yet will be.

Our Freedom to Choose

Seventy-six-year-old Liviu Librescu taught aerospace engineering at Virginia Tech. On April 16, 2007, when a homicidal gunman tried to enter his classroom, Librescu barricaded the door, giving all but one of his twenty students time to escape out the window. The killer shot Librescu five times. The final shot to his head killed him.

A Holocaust survivor, Librescu chose to stand between his students and a mass murderer, giving his life for them on, of all days, Holocaust Remembrance Day.

Librescu made a free and meaningful choice that saved his students’ lives.

God gave humanity a choice even though He knew what their choice would be.

Choice is a function of someone’s will. God has a will, and so do we. Satan also has a will, one opposed to God’s (see 2 Timothy 2:26). A will is the property of any intelligent being, and the ability to choose is a central aspect of personhood.

From the beginning, God knew what choices both angels and humans would make under what circumstances, and while He could have intervened to stop them from sinning, He wanted them to choose freely.

In Mere Christianity, C. S. Lewis wrote,

Some people think they can imagine a creature which was free but had no possibility of going wrong; I cannot. If a thing is free to be good it is also free to be bad. …Why, then, did God give them free will? Because free will, though it makes evil possible, is also the only thing that makes possible any love or goodness or joy worth having.

Lewis added this important point:

Of course God knew what would happen… apparently, He thought it worth the risk.… If God thinks this state of war in the universe a price worth paying for free will…making a live world in which creatures can do real good or harm and something of real importance can happen, instead of a toy world which only moves when He pulls the strings—then we may take it [that] it is worth paying.

Adam and Eve freely chose to sin.

Genesis 2:16–17 tells us, “And the Lord God commanded the man, ‘You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.’”

We should take God’s words at face value. Perhaps hundreds of trees filled Eden, but God forbade eating from only one. The biblical narrative would be nonsensical if God required Adam and Eve to make a sinful choice. God, in His sovereignty, could have chosen to forbid nothing. He could have made the fruit unattractive, kept the snake out of the garden, kept temptation away and kept them from falling. But He didn’t.

God said to Eve, “What is this you have done?” (Genesis 3:13), not, “What did Satan make you do?” or “What did I cause you to do?” Adam, Eve, and Satan all made real choices—and God judged them accordingly. His creatures chose freely to sin, yet God didn’t surrender His sovereignty for a moment.

The term free will is potentially misleading.

I don’t like the term free will because it can convey an inaccurate impression. Our free will is limited because we’re finite. Even when morally perfect, Adam and Eve had no freedom to choose to fly or to make themselves taller or shorter. God alone is infinite and has completely free will that permits Him to do whatever He wants (always in keeping with His flawless character).

In a world of cause and effect, even our small choices are influenced by people, circumstances, and events. Your “free will” concerning what shirt you buy could be affected by the weather, inventory, what’s on sale, your style preference (influenced by your older brother), and the fact that you grew up where people loved the Seahawks and hated the Patriots.

Regardless, I believe we do have the ability to consider the options in front of us and make voluntary choices that have real effects. This is what I call “meaningful choice.”

Who can choose meaningfully?

A remarkable number of Bible verses speak of God’s choices. His free will dominates Scripture. God’s Word also regularly speaks of humans making meaningful choices: what to believe and whether to love God and love people, and countless others.

After God set forth His laws to Israel, Moses assured his fellow Israelites, “Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach” (Deuteronomy 30:11). They had a choice. Therefore, Moses said, “Choose life…love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him” (verses 19–20).

Centuries later, God told His people, “I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! Why will you die, O house of Israel?” (Ezekiel 33:11). Would God make such an impassioned plea to those who had no choice except to refuse Him?

“Restricted choice” is not the same as “no choice.”

Our addictions, desires, need for approval, and vulnerability to peer pressure may turn what appears to be a free choice into a “forced choice.” We may make free choices uncoerced by any external force, but powerful internal urges may compel certain choices. In the absence of an external constraint, sinners will normally choose to sin. They don’t have to do so; under threat of instant death they will often refrain.

While we may—with effort and assistance—modify certain behaviors, and even some attitudes, Scripture reminds us we cannot, on our own, alter our fundamental nature.

So how free are we, really? Free enough to be morally accountable, free enough to make consequential choices—yet not free enough to make ourselves righteous before God.

If loving God really means something, then the choice to follow Him must be both real and meaningful.

God is certainly capable of overruling me, and He’s entitled to do so whenever He wishes. But if God predetermines every choice I make, then when I sin, He’s causing me to do evil. Surely what prompts me to do evil are the forces at work within me, through my sin nature that dishonors God. If it were God who prompted me to sin, and sin is an act against God, then God would be acting against Himself (see James 1:13–14).

“No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it” (1 Corinthians 10:13, ESV). Doesn’t this verse mean that God allows us to face only the temptations we’re capable of choosing to resist? This affirms both God’s sovereignty and our freedom to make the right choice. However, the provision of a “way of escape” doesn’t seem to guarantee the end results—even God’s children sometimes surrender to temptation. And when we do, we’re held accountable. The fact that some believers do not live in this victory provided in Christ suggests a real ability to choose to accept or reject the Holy Spirit’s empowerment.

Even limited choices can be meaningful and consequential.

A prisoner may choose to read, watch television, lift weights, write letters, pray, think about his family, or plot an escape. But he cannot catch a plane to London. The man in bondage makes meaningful choices—free, yet within very real confines.

Does God grant real, even if limited, freedom to us? Yes, we use it when we cook and paint and sing and laugh and play. He gives us the power to tell the truth or to lie.

Call it free will, meaningful choice, or anything else; it is God-given and real. If it isn’t, then our decisions are merely illusions.

We should be grateful for the freedom of choice granted us.

The heroic choice Professor Librescu made to save the lives of his students was brave, meaningful, and consequential. What made his choice both powerful and significant is that he could have chosen differently. But he made the right choice, and his students and their families remain deeply grateful.

Adapted from Randy’s book hand in Hand: The Beauty of God's Sovereignty and Meaningful Human Choice.

Was the Bible Written by Humans?

I’ve heard critics of biblical inerrancy say, “I believe the Bible was written by human beings, not God.” This statement shows a fundamental ignorance of what people who affirm biblical inspiration and inerrancy actually believe.

I’ve yet to meet anyone who believes God wrote down the words of Scripture Himself. True, He did inscribe on stone tablets the words of the Ten Commandments, which Moses later wrote in the books of Exodus and Deuteronomy. But that’s a very small portion of Scripture. Likewise, I’ve never had someone tell me they believe God dictated the Bible word for word, other than in small portions where we are told God actually did so, for instance to Isaiah (Isaiah 38:4-6) and John (Revelation 2:1-3:22).

Exodus 34:27-28 is often cited as a contradiction proving the Bible is in error. It’s worth a brief (yet somewhat related) digression to note that Exodus 34:1 indicates, “The Lord said to Moses, ‘Chisel out two stone tablets like the first ones, and I will write on them the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke.’” (See also Deuteronomy 10:1-4.) Critics point out that later in this same chapter we’re told, “Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Write down these words.’” So was it Moses or God who wrote down the words?

If you read the passage in context verse by verse (as critics never seem to do), “these words” are the words God has previously spoken that were in fact recorded by Moses in Exodus 34:10-26. This does not include the Ten Commandments, as anyone knows who reads it, but is rather a series of ceremonial and judicial instructions. Here it is in the NASB, where I’ll add in brackets what or who is being referenced:

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write down these words [v. 10-26], for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel.” So he was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights; he [Moses] did not eat bread or drink water. And he [God, as stated in verse 1] wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments.

Appropriately, the NASB inserts a footnote after this final pronoun “he,” reading “Or He, i.e., the Lord.” We know from the context that the “he” of verse 28 refers to God, because of what is revealed in verse 1. So in verse 28 we’re told that Moses wrote the contents of the previous verses, “these words,” and we’re also told that God wrote the Ten Commandments on the tablets, just as He said He would at the beginning of this text. No contradiction.

Now, back to critics who argue “The Bible was written by humans, not God.” When I say of course humans wrote the Bible, sometimes the response is, “Oh, so you admit that the Bible was written by human beings?” My reply is, “I don’t admit it; I affirm it! It’s a core part of what I believe.”

It’s like someone saying, “So you admit Jesus was human?” Admit it? I shout it from the rooftops and cling to it! I love that Jesus was and is fully human and fully God. I also love that the Bible came from God and from human beings. That may seem hard to wrap our minds around, but it’s fully compatible in God’s plan. He has given us a perfect living Word, His Son, and a perfect written Word, the Bible, each fully human and fully divine.

Someone asked me, “Why can’t we believe the Bible was written by imperfect human beings?” Actually, those of us who affirm the Bible’s inspiration do believe the humans who wrote it were imperfect! They were sinners, fully capable of errors in logic and communication, just like the rest of us. But we also believe that in the specific case of the books that form the Bible, God supernaturally worked in the human writers to guard them against error while composing the biblical text. So while they could say other things that were wrong when not supernaturally inspired by God, they could not do so while writing God’s Word. The biblical writers were not passive stenographers; they wrote from their minds and hearts, in their own styles, yet God made sure what they wrote was also God-breathed, the result of His creative breath.

In this regard the Bible tells us, “No prophecy of scripture ever comes about by the prophet’s own imagination, for no prophecy was ever borne of human impulse; rather, men carried along by the Holy Spirit spoke from God” (2 Peter 1:20-21). This doesn’t mean the biblical writers were perfect and without error in other aspects of their lives, or even in their sermons and writings that aren’t part of the Bible. Rather, it means that God specifically guided them to write Scripture, and in doing so protected them from error.

The biblical authors spoke in their own style, with their own vocabulary (for instance, the apostle John’s terminology and style is noticeably different than the apostle Paul’s). But those of us who believe this passage affirm that the writers were “carried along by the Holy Spirit” in their writing, with the result that they “spoke from God.”

“But that would require a miracle.” Of course! Who would suggest otherwise? To believe that the original biblical manuscripts were without error is to believe in a miracle. But that shouldn’t be an obstacle to Christians whose entire faith is based on God’s many interventions in human history in miraculous ways.

Just as it took a miracle for God to bring about the implantation of a blastocyst (newly conceived human being) who was Jesus (the living Word), fully human and also fully God, so it took a miracle for God to guide the words written by the biblical writers so that they were in fact the words of human beings, yet also the words of God.

To claim Christians don’t believe human beings wrote the Bible is like claiming that since we believe Jesus is God that means we don’t believe He was born of a woman, or that He’s human. In fact, we believe both, and the two are not mutually exclusive. So it’s no more of a stretch for me to believe that God supernaturally gave us His flawless Word through the writings of otherwise flawed human beings, than that He supernaturally sent His eternal Son to become a flawless human child born to a flawed (though wonderful) human named Mary.

To state or imply that those believing in biblical inspiration and inerrancy claim God wrote the Bible and humans didn’t is a straw man. It’s a false accusation that’s popular to say because it’s so easy to disprove.

Humans wrote the Bible, and God inspired the Bible so that the words humans wrote were the words of God.

If the original “God-breathed” biblical manuscripts contained errors, this would mean that God is capable of error. It would mean He didn’t inspire all of the Bible, only parts of it. But the claim is that “All Scripture is inspired by God” (2 Timothy 3:16). Since the Bible is by definition a whole and not a part, it’s contradictory to say one believes “the Bible is inspired” while believing parts of it are in error.

Some say the Bible shouldn’t be allowed to testify for itself by making claims about its own inspiration. While defendants in courtrooms don’t always testify on their own behalf, they are permitted to do so. In some cases, their testimony proves critical. Any jury should listen to their claims and determine whether or not they are credible. Sometimes jurors find the defendant to be more credible than other witnesses, who sometimes haven’t told the truth.

If God’s Word were not fully true, it could not be fully profitable and helpful—indeed it could be harmful—because what if one ended up believing, and acting on, an uninspired portion of Scripture?

William Tyndale was arrested largely for his efforts to translate God’s Word into the language of the common people. In 1536, after seventeen months in prison, William Tyndale was strangled, then burned at the stake.

In 2016, 480 years later, four Wycliffe Bible translators were murdered in the Middle East for putting God’s Word into the languages of the common people.

Who would be willing to be put to death for translating God’s Word if they thought that portions of it were false? Would anyone be willing to die to get God’s Word into people’s hands if they believed “some of it’s true and some of it isn’t; good luck figuring out which is which”?

Will You Trust God to Write the Rest of Your Story in Eternity?

In my book Heaven, I share how years ago, Nanci read me letters we’d never before seen translated, written in 1920 by her grandmother Anna Swanson to her family in Sweden. Anna suffered severe health problems. While she was in Montana, cared for by relatives, her husband, Edwin, was in Oregon, working and caring for their seven children day and night. (Anna and Edwin are with five of their children in the picture; two more were to come. Nanci's mother, Adele, is sitting on Edwin's lap.)

Anna’s letters tell how Edwin wore himself out, got sick, and died. Because Anna was too weak to care for her younger children, they, including Nanci’s mother, Adele, were given up for adoption. Anna’s letters reflect her broken heart, her nagging guilt . . . and her faith in God.

Nanci and I were overcome with tears as we read those letters. What tragic lives. What inconsolable disappointment and pain. Anna and Edwin loved Jesus. They once had great dreams for their lives and family. But poor health, misfortune, separation, and death forever stripped them of each other, their children, and their dreams.

Or did it?

As Nanci and I talked, we considered what God might choose to give this broken family on the New Earth. Perhaps they’ll go together to places they would have gone if health and finances had allowed. Certainly Anna won’t be plagued by illness, fatigue, grief, anxiety, and guilt. Isn’t it likely their gracious God, who delights in redemption and renewal and restoration, will give them wonderful family times they were robbed of on the old Earth? Perhaps the God of second chances won’t merely comfort Anna by removing her grief for what she lost. Perhaps He will in some way actually restore what she lost. Our God won’t just take away suffering; He’ll compensate by giving us greater delights than if there had been no suffering. He doesn’t merely wipe away tears; He replaces those tears with corresponding joys. Hence, “our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us” (Romans 8:18).

I believe the New Earth will offer us opportunities we wished for but never had. God’s original plan was that human beings would live happy and fulfilling lives on Earth. If our current lives are our only chances at that, God’s plan has been thwarted. Consider the injustice—many honest, faithful people never got to live fulfilling lives, while some dishonest and unfaithful people seemed to fare much better.

But God is not unjust, and this is not our only chance at life on Earth. The doctrine of the New Earth clearly demonstrates that. Do we have further biblical support for this? I believe we do.

Luke the physician tells of a great number of people who came to Jesus “to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. Those troubled by evil spirits were cured, and the people all tried to touch him, because power was coming from him and healing them all” (Luke 6:18-19). Consider what was going through Christ’s mind as He dealt with these image-bearers plagued by sickness, poverty, and spiritual oppression. He knew the world was full of people whom He wouldn’t heal in this life. He also knew that the same people He healed would one day grow weak again and die, leaving their families wailing over their graves. What could Jesus say to such people? Luke tells us: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh. Blessed are you when men hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven” (Luke 6:20-23).

Jesus tells the hungry they’ll be satisfied. Those whose eyes are swollen with tears will laugh. Those persecuted should leap for joy now. Why? Because of their great reward in Heaven later.

Where will Heaven be? In the parallel passage Jesus says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth” (Matthew 5:3-5). Earth is the setting for God’s ultimate comfort, for His reversal of life’s injustices and tragedies. We will live on what we inherit—the earth. All the blessings Jesus promised will be ours in the place we will live—the New Earth.

That’s one reason I believe that on the New Earth Anna and Edwin Swanson and their children will be able to experience much of what they didn’t on the old Earth. God promises to make up for the heartbreaks of this earth.

A few years ago, Nanci’s sister, Donna Schneider, sent Nanci and their brother Ron this note:

You are familiar with the letters that our family has from the Swanson family. I happened to pull out one of these letters recently and noticed the date.

One hundred years ago, on March 3, 1920, my grandmother Anna Swanson wrote a letter to her family in Sweden giving them the sad news that her husband, Edwin, had died on February 25.

Since Anna was in ill health she was unable to care for her seven children, ages newborn to 12 years. Now she was faced with a decision about the care and future of her children.

Below is a quote from this letter that gives me a window into her life and her faith in God:

“Yes, the Lord’s ways are strange. It would almost tear the heart from my breast. If I didn’t have God to trust in I don’t know how it would go.”

Anna provided a wonderful legacy of faith.

Anna probably never dreamed that 100 years after she wrote that letter, her grandchildren (and her great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren) would be reading her words and be touched by her trust in God.

Nanci and I talked about looking forward to meeting Anna and Edwin and thanking them for their example of faith in Jesus. I can’t wait to see how our faithful God has comforted them and how He will fulfill their dreams on the New Earth.

God isn’t done with us when we die. Our stories will go on forever in the afterlife. He will compensate for, make up for, finish, and tie up together beautifully lives that were seemingly unfinished and not what they were meant to be. But one day they will become what they were meant to be. “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago” (Ephesians 2:10, NLT).

Is Immorality Inevitable? Or Can Christians Finish Life Well, to God’s Glory?

Note from Randy: If you have a ministry of any sort—public or private—as a teacher, preacher, leader, helper, or as any kind of salt and light in the world (Matthew 5:13-16)—then take heed: you are a targeted man, a marked woman. I wish I was aware of only a fraction of the stories I know of Christians (and specifically pastors) who have fallen into sin and immorality.

One woman said to me, “There’s so much immorality among Christians now that I’m living in constant fear. It makes it difficult even to work with my associates in the ministry. It’s happened to those more godly than I, so I keep thinking that it’s probably going to happen to me. It almost seems inevitable.”

But as I write in my booklet Sexual Temptation, while God does not want us to be presumptuous, neither does He want us to be paranoid. We do not have to live each day teetering on the edge of immorality or paralyzed by the fear of a sudden fall. In the specific context of seeking to be sexually pure and resisting sexual temptation, the wise man says this to his son:

My son, preserve sound judgment and discernment,
do not let them out of your sight;
they will be life for you,
an ornament to grace your neck.
Then you will go on your way in safety,
and your foot will not stumble;
when you lie down you will not be afraid;
when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet.
Have no fear of sudden disaster
or of the ruin that overtakes the wicked,
for the LORD will be your confidence
And will keep your foot from being snared.

(Prov. 3:21-26)

If we walk daily with Christ—fleeing sexual immorality, reminding ourselves of sin’s consequences, being alert to what’s happening in our minds, implementing steps of righteousness and wisdom, and calling upon Christ to empower us—then we can go our way “in safety” and “not be afraid.”

In this article, Pastor Steve Bateman shares advice to help pastors finish serving Jesus well. It’s applicable to all believers, whether they have a public ministry or not.

Let Me Get Home Before Dark: Wisdom to Help Pastors Finish Well

By Steve Bateman

Another high-profile pastor resigns in disgrace. For love of power or a fleeting season of forbidden pleasure, he forfeits his hard-earned reputation, his position of authority, and perhaps even his marriage. But the greatest tragedy is that he stains Christ’s reputation on earth, giving skeptics what they think is good reason to continue their rebellion against the King of kings.

When I was in college in the early 1980s, the renowned and plainspoken preacher Vance Havner delivered his sermon titled “Home Before Dark” in our college chapel. By this time, Havner was an octogenarian widower, and it was probably one of his last times preaching the famous sermon. One statement he made that day has profoundly influenced me: “I’ve stood at the fresh grave of many a preacher who should have died 10 years earlier.”

Later, in 1987, after four years of youth ministry, I entered Dallas Theological Seminary. Those were the days of the televangelist scandals: Jim Bakker’s sexual affair and financial infidelity were broadcast to the world in 1987, and Jimmy Swaggart’s hiring of a prostitute was exposed in 1988. These scandals fed the stereotype of corrupt clergymen fleecing the flock. Everyone who wanted an excuse to renounce Christ and belittle his Bride celebrated these scandals.

In seminary chapels at that time, Chuck Swindoll occasionally returned to his alma mater and sternly warned us, reminding the young men preparing for ministry that we’re entrusted with a sacred duty, a charge to keep and a King to please. We mustn’t betray Christ or besmirch his name.

The day I heard Havner’s sermon, I began to pray God would take me home before I brought disgrace on the gospel. Looking back on how God used those warnings in my life, I sense a responsibility to share with a new generation some practical wisdom on finishing well. Here are five warnings and encouragements.

1. Hold yourself (and others) to high standards.

There’s no perfect pastor, but all pastors must be above reproach. After all, ministry is where you make Christ’s name great, not yours. On October 22, 1987, Swindoll’s chapel message was on David’s great sin. I still have the Bible in which I wrote down his outline (pictured). He spoke on faithfulness and integrity, on doing what’s right when no one is looking.

We must guard our integrity because pastoral ministry isn’t a place to become mature; it’s for the mature man who knows what’s expected, even if he still has much to learn. Pastors are called by God, affirmed by the church, trained in seminary, and responsible for weekly preaching God’s Word. They should know ministry’s rigors and dangers, and they must proactively guard themselves against the temptation to abuse authority for personal gain and selfish pleasure. Thank God, these things are forgivable, but they’re still inexcusable.

2. Consider what you’ll lose.

Genuine repentance can restore a fallen man to fellowship but not necessarily to leadership. God’s grace extends to fallen, brokenhearted pastors, but the hard consequences remain.

I now possess a sad collection of books and commentaries written by once-qualified pastors. They were exceptional communicators and excellent scholars with abilities far beyond mine. But no man is irreplaceable. Thousands of hours and dollars were invested in their training, and each possessed a remarkable skill set, but they’re no longer in the ministry. Some who fall lose relationships with their spouses and other Christians. For all, their days of leading the church are done. Have you considered what you could lose?

3. Be honest about the sin you’re capable of.

I temper my ire at the latest pastoral treason in the news by remembering I’m capable of all manner of sin. Better men than I have made stupid choices, so I need much grace, and I must never drop my guard.

Years ago, I witnessed a friend’s public ordination exam. Among his examiners were heavily degreed pastor-scholars, so he prepared for difficult questions about election and the hypostatic union. But the hardest question was this: “Is there any sin you think you’d never commit?” It’s a question I’ve pondered ever since. The seasoned pastor reminded us all that day of Paul’s warning in 1 Corinthians 10:12–13. It begins, “If you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!” (NIV). One of the most useful traits we can develop as pastors is a healthy self-distrust when it comes to sin and temptation.

4. Embrace your obscurity.

Uzziah’s “fame spread far, for he was marvelously helped, till he was strong. But when he was strong, he grew proud, to his destruction” (2 Chron. 26:15–16). Young pastors may dream of fame but have no idea of its costs. Few men experience great success without being assaulted by temptations. Thank God for the Calvins, Spurgeons, and Sprouls, but if you never lead a megachurch, speak at a conference, write a book, or appear on a podcast, you’ll be safer than you know.

If you preach solid sermons to the same people every week, visit them in the hospital, and officiate their weddings and funerals, your church may eventually take you for granted. The praise of strangers may be infrequent, but you’ll be close to family and elders who watch over your soul and dare to ask hard questions. If that’s your situation, embrace it.

5. Expect to finish well.

The internet amplifies every church scandal. Wolves may make the headlines, but thousands of faithful pastors do the Lord’s work without recognition. If you assume most pastors finish poorly, you’d be wrong. As I look back on all my pastors and professors these last six decades, I see faithful men you’ve never heard of who got home before dark and left a quiet legacy of faithful service. It’s not right for their success to be overshadowed by the failures of a few, but this will be righted in heaven.

Failure isn’t inevitable. By God’s grace, you can use common-sense safeguards to help you finish well as you constantly revisit Paul’s exhortation to “be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain” (1 Cor. 15:58).

Keep the End in View

Every pastor will preach a last sermon. It probably won’t be a masterpiece, but it should be faithful to the text and delivered with a good conscience.

None of us knows how long we have between our last sermon and our last breath, but keeping our funeral in view can help us make better decisions.

Havner’s sermon 40 years ago greatly influenced my college’s president, J. Robertson McQuilkin, who finished well in 2016. Before he died, he left us with a poignant prayer read at Havner’s funeral. Though he was in the sundown of his life, McQuilkin didn’t fear the “dark spectre” of death, and he put into words the cry of my heart: “But I do fear . . . that I should stain your honor, shame your name, grieve your loving heart. . . . Of your grace, Father, I humbly ask . . . Let me get home before dark.”

This article originally appeared on The Gospel Coalition , and is used with the author’s permission.

Some Animal Encounters Offer a Foretaste of Life on the New Earth

Jim Abernethy, a well-known diver and underwater photographer, works primarily with sharks. Years ago in the Bahamas, Jim encountered a large tiger shark he named Emma. Unlike most tiger sharks, Emma was friendly and curious, and as their relationship developed, Jim saw her respond to touch and learned she loved to be petted on the head. She kept coming back to him for a repeat performance.

Emma continued to seek Jim out in his frequent dives and a deep bond developed between them. Emma regularly approached him and welcomed his touch, something rare with wild sharks. Abernethy says there is something hard to describe about how deeply moving his friendship with Emma has become. They know and trust each other and delight in each other’s company. Jim says, “She’s like a big labrador retriever who wants love and affection constantly… These are, without question, sentient creatures which thrive on affection, which they never had before.”

When COVID-19 hit in 2020, global travel restrictions kept Abernethy from visiting Emma for an extended period, leaving him uninformed of her welfare.

When travel was once again possible, Abernethy returned to the Bahamas. After knowing Emma for twenty years, he was eager to see her but unsure if she would remember him after the year-long absence. Remarkably, as he descended into familiar waters, Emma approached him right away. Their reunion was emotional, with Abernethy describing it as a moment of pure joy and relief. They picked up right where they left off. Jim describes Emma as wonderful, warmhearted, and affectionate. While all animals can love others of their own kind, and even different species, the unique affection of humans with animals is something no other animal can give them. It’s as if God made humans to govern and care for animals, and to have a completely inimitable relationship with them.

Jim says of Emma, “She leaves me speechless. I don’t really know that there are words to describe what it is like to have a friendship with a wild animal like this. But it’s extreme joy, heartwarming, almost tearful.”

Watch this video and see firsthand their relationship and how much Emma appears to enjoy Jim’s company:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rr_T4Aim6Fw?si=i2zOJq4_bwNl8v7n

There are over 500 species of sharks in the world, with more being discovered all the time. Many of those are rarely aggressive with humans. I’ve been around reef sharks with no aggression on their part, including five at once. However, tiger sharks are among the most dangerous, with more attacks and kills of humans than any other sharks except great whites—they are the water equivalents of the present earth’s lions, wolves, and bears. My point is, don’t try to do what Jim Abernethy does. If you ever see a tiger shark on this side of the New Earth, do not put your hand out and try to pet him! Be patient—wait until the New Earth! 

But even now, in an often violent world, to see such an unlikely bond like Emma’s and Jim’s gives just a little taste of that coming world we see in Isaiah. Like countless other unlikely relationships of people with animals and animals with each other, it is a beautiful foreshadowing of what the Bible promises us:

The wolf shall dwell with the lamb,
and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat,
and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together;
and a little child shall lead them.
The cow and the bear shall graze;
their young shall lie down together;
and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra,
and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder’s den.
They shall not hurt or destroy
in all my holy mountain;
for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord
as the waters cover the sea. (Isaiah 11:6-9)

Check out Jim’s Instagram for more footage of sharks, and also see this video of how he’s befriended a nurse shark he’s named Relentless:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbPrRV8b2CI?si=AURCwo7P06P4keet

God Is at Work in Your Life, Even When You Can’t See It

Recently I shared Isaiah 43:19 with our Eternal Perspective Ministries staff. I was so moved by that verse that I looked it up in every translation, via Bible Gateway. Keep in mind that each of these nine versions I chose was translated by a team of Hebrew scholars who had reasons for rendering it as they did, and each has a just little different nuance or two that I loved hearing. Maybe one or more of them in particular will strike you:

See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland. (NIV)

Look, I am about to do something new; even now it is coming. Do you not see it? Indeed, I will make a way in the wilderness, rivers in the desert. (CSB)

Look! I’m doing a new thing; now it sprouts up; don’t you recognize it? I’m making a way in the desert, paths in the wilderness.  (CEB)

I am doing something new; it’s springing up — can’t you see it? I am making a road in the desert, rivers in the wastelands. (CJB)

I am creating something new. There it is! Do you see it? I have put roads in deserts, streams in thirsty lands. (CEV)

Watch for the new thing I am going to do. It is happening already—you can see it now! I will make a road through the wilderness and give you streams of water there. (GNT)

Look at the new thing I am going to do. It is already happening. Don’t you see it? I will make a road in the desert and rivers in the dry land. (NCV)

Look, I am about to do something new. Now it begins to happen! Do you not recognize it? Yes, I will make a road in the wilderness and paths in the wastelands. (NET)

For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland. (NLT)

Sometimes we need the reminder that God can do what is humanly impossible, and that He knows what is eternally best in ways we cannot. God can see ultimate purposes and plans that we can’t see. Consider what Isaiah 46:9–11 says: “I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me. I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say: My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.... What I have said, that will I bring about; what I have planned, that will I do.”

God is “the LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle!” (Psalm 24:8). The rhetorical question “Is anything too hard for the LORD?” implies a “no” answer (see Genesis 18:14; Jeremiah 32:27).

Gabriel says to Mary, “Nothing is impossible with God” (Luke 1:37). Jesus says, “With God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26).

God is the “Almighty” (2 Corinthians 6:18; Revelation 1:8). He is “able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think” (Ephesians 3:20, ESV). John the Baptist says, “God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham” (Matthew 3:9, ESV).

May you experience the reality of Isaiah 43:19 in your life. I am asking God to do this for me also!