Randy Alcorn's Blog, page 124

Graphic Abortion Display Evokes Volatile Reactions, But God Is Always at Work Behind the Scenes

Recently a prolife group at Portland State University (not far from my hometown of Gresham, Oregon), hosted a mobile display for the Genocide Awareness Project (GAP), a project which shows images of aborted children next to victims of historical and contemporary genocides and other injustices. It also includes a large banner with the words, “Abortion is genocide.”

Not surprisingly, the displays are highly controversial on college campuses, and are frequently met with opposition, protests, and sometimes even violence. This was especially true here in Oregon, a state that continues to lead the way in pushing abortion “rights.” (Earlier this year, Governor Kate Brown signed House Bill 3391, making Oregon the only state in the U.S. without any laws that restrict abortion, and one of only a handful of states that uses taxpayer money to pay for elective abortions.)

In response to the GAP display, there was an organized counter protest and some of the protesters became very antagonistic. Several men I know, part of our church’s men’s group, helped set up and dismantle the display each day. I asked if they would share their thoughts:

My friend Doug Moffatt wrote:

The set up on the first day was fairly uneventful. I was encouraged when students would come by and take pictures with their cell phones. If they send these images to their friends on social media, maybe someone contemplating ending a life will see the truth of abortion.

The take down of the display however, was a different story. I was truly not prepared for the ensuing protests. The group that had gathered was intent on discounting the truth. The words they used were as vile as you would expect. This included attacking the African-American pastor that was part of the counseling team, accusing him of turning his back on his people. The most vile statement from one student was, “At least three of you men are rapists.”

I would do something of this nature again without hesitation. There are two things that really struck me. First, there were three PSU students in the pro-life group on campus that were there as counselors. Their courage was an inspiration to me, knowing they’d be facing persecution in the days to come. Secondly, I was able to see in a very graphic manner what secular education has taught the next generation. I saw a group of people, mainly women, who have no regard for the lives of the unborn. Their mantra “it’s my body” reeks of the misinformation they’ve been given through the years.

“Abort Christians” sign with Antifa logo at protest on @Portland_State campus against Pro-Life PSU group. pic.twitter.com/HblIwTAu49

— Andy C. Ngo (@MrAndyNgo) October 16, 2017

Phil Moyer wrote:

It was sad for me to observe the hate displayed by some of these demonstrators and the unwillingness to alter their views even faced with facts. On the other hand, it was encouraging to hear about the pro-life group at PSU, which is taking the message to those students who are willing to listen. I pray they are making a difference, even if it’s one life at a time.

Dennis Mittleider said, “I’ve been in the Vietnam War but have never experienced anything like this in the States.” He shared that if anyone came up to the display and wanted to talk, the protestors would stand right next to them and shout so loudly that a conversation couldn’t take place. The protestors were taking donations for Planned Parenthood and every so often would scream out how much they’d taken in. One girl threw pepper in a woman’s face yelling, “This is against my rights, against my body!” Another student threw paint and hit a woman’s back as well as the display, and was arrested.

“I’m not the type of guy to put up with this. I really had to pray and ask the Lord to help me not react. My hats go off to those manning the display. They had such a peace about them,” Dennis observed. Even after experiencing what he did he said, “If I were asked I would do it again.”

Finally, I so appreciated what Ron Kampe shared, which relates to our church’s recent study of 1 Peter 3:13–17:

Those of us working were subjected to amazing verbal abuse. We were continually called names such as Nazis, rapists, liars, pigs, and many more that can’t be named. We were told to go home, and to f…-off, with gestures in our face continually. The organizers told us to not respond in any way to the abusers, and our recent studies of 1 Peter kept coming to my mind.

You wanted to look at these folks with disgust and complete disdain, but how would Jesus expect us to respond in the face of all this? I had to CONTINUALLY remind myself to look at them expressing love as much as possible whenever our eyes would meet. It was very difficult, and probably would have been impossible for me if we hadn’t just studied how to respond when persecuted.

Thanks so much, guys, for your willingness to do the hard thing. You are a great example of Christlikeness.

So was having the display up worth it? Taylor, the PSU Pro-Life president, wrote this after the event:

Several students have relayed to me the display had a far greater impact then we perhaps saw while being outside, as only the (very) radical ones came out to protest. …I recognized two students I spoke with at GAP the next day in my Russian class. Both were initially angry about the images, but we ended up having good, constructive conversations. I now get to continue building relationships with them for the remainder of the year and share not only the pro-life message, but the Gospel as well. They have been nothing but receptive, and I’m hopeful a change of heart is right around the corner! 

Had it not been for the display, however, we would have never connected.

Over the years, I’ve learned that the hardest things in ministry often bear fruit, but that fruit is usually buried beneath the confrontational stuff. Satan wants to discourage people from doing what’s right by convincing them it makes no difference. That’s simply not true, though often we can’t immediately see the results. (Let’s pray for these prolife students at PSU who are seeking to share the truth about abortion with other students in a balance of grace and truth.)

Years ago, I visited a college campus where a prolife group had set up similar displays of aborted babies alongside the victims of the Nazi death camps, the Killing Fields, American slavery, and other historical atrocities. Signs with warnings about the graphic photographs were posted clearly, so all those who looked did so by choice. I witnessed the profound effect on students and faculty, including those who didn’t want to believe what they were seeing.

There’s no doubt that pictures of what abortion does are horrific, but they can be a powerful tool, similar to how the Holocaust was so evil that words alone couldn’t describe it. Descriptions of Nazi death camps had long been published in American newspapers, but when these papers started printing the pictures of slaughtered people, the public finally woke up. If not for the pictures, even today most of us wouldn’t understand or believe the Holocaust.

Was the solution to the Holocaust to ban the disgusting pictures? Or was the solution to end the killing?

Is the solution to abortion getting rid of pictures of dead babies? Or is it getting rid of what’s making the babies dead?

Who Are the “Broken Wolves” in the Evangelical Community Today?

In his groundbreaking article I shared on my blog earlier this year, Joe Carter communicated something that has been heavy on my heart concerning the different nature of the heretics the church is facing today. He used the term “Broken Wolves,” which he defined as those “who use their own authenticity, pain, and brokenness to attract believers who are also suffering and broken.” 

Several readers have asked me, “When people speak of ‘broken wolves’ bringing false doctrine into the church, who are they (and you) talking about?”

While I don’t feel comfortable naming names, there are quite a few people out there who talk about the personal difficulties they’ve experienced in life, including abuse, often abuse at the hands of church people. They tend to look at certain doctrines of the faith with great suspicion or even abhorrence. Among those is the substitutionary atonement of Christ. They say that if God’s wrath was poured out on Jesus for our sin, then that means that God’s redemptive plan is centered on an act of “divine child abuse.”

Of course, since Jesus is and was and has always been God, and since He went to the cross voluntarily as an adult, not a child, it was in no sense divine child abuse. But there are many people who are questioning this doctrine now because of the pain of their own personal experiences and those of others they’ve known, which they read into the redemptive story.

Despite people’s personal wounds—and in fact, to ultimately deliver them—Scripture clearly tells us “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21). To become sin for us is to become subject on our behalf to the judgment for sin: “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). Doesn’t that mean that He was, for that time on the cross, subject to the wrath of God our sins deserve? Doesn’t it mean that the weight of God’s judgment that was due us fell upon Him instead? Isn’t saying otherwise denying something central to the atoning work of Christ on our behalf?

“In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:10). For Christ to be the propitiation for our sins means that He became the sacrifice upon which God’s wrath against sin was brought. Isaiah 53:10 says of the coming Messiah, “Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring…”

What we believe about Christ’s atoning work for us should not be interpreted in light of, or rejected because of, people’s traumatic experiences at the hands of abusers. This is just one example of someone’s own personal brokenness prompting him to deny true doctrine.

Photo: Pixabay

God’s Offer of Forgiveness and Freedom

Here are some great thoughts about salvation, forgiveness, and repentance from NFL special teams standout Matthew Slater.

Randy again:

As Matthew says, it’s vital we understand who God is, and what He says about us and our sin. To fall short of a touchdown is disappointing, but our problem is much bigger: “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). There’s bad news and good news: “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23).

Because Jesus Christ died sacrificially on the cross on our behalf, God freely offers us forgiveness. But forgiveness isn’t automatic. If we want to be forgiven, we must confess and repent of our sins: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).

There’s no righteous deed we can do that will earn us a place in Heaven (Titus 3:5). We come to Christ empty-handed. We can take no credit for salvation: “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9).

God’s greatest gift is Himself. We not only need salvation—we need the Savior, and He has a name: Jesus (which means “God saves”).

Scripture speaks of the “washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit” (Titus 3:5). Once believers are born again, we cannot continue to sin as a lifestyle because of our new natures (see 1 John 3:9). Sin is still present in our lives (see Romans 6:11-14; 1 John 1:8–2:2), but we have supernatural power to overcome it since we’ve died to sin (see Romans 6:6-9).

God’s Holy Spirit indwells us and helps us obey Him (see 2 Timothy 1:14). Christ grants believers new natures that free us from sin’s bondage (2 Corinthians 5:17). We’ll sometimes trip, but we don’t have to fall—and when we do, by His grace and strength, we can get back up. Because our hearts are changed when we’re born again, we want a better way. “You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you” (Romans 8:9).

Because of Christ’s work on our behalf, we’re free to reject sin and its misery, and instead embrace righteousness and its joy. When we do this we’ll experience a flood of God’s grace in our lives, restoring us to the abundant life of walking with the One who is our Lord, King, and best Friend (John 15:13, 15).

This blog is excerpted from a five-day devotional I wrote for Sports Spectrum, available on YouVersion. Each day’s entry features video reflections from NFL stars, including Drew Brees, Ryan Tannehill, Matthew Slater, Matt Forte, and Demario Davis. They discuss topics such as the daily refreshment of God’s Word, prayer, salvation, baptism and the courage to tell others about Jesus. Below each video, I share some additional reflections. 

Photo: Pixabay

No Persecution, Including Shootings, Will Silence the Church

I don’t agree with everything Søren Kierkegaard wrote, but I do agree with this: “The tyrant dies and his rule is over, the martyr dies and his rule begins.” 

Napoleon Bonaparte is also not my go-to guy for great quotations, but he made a great point when he said, “It is the cause, not the death, that makes the martyr.” Some people die for what’s misguided. Others die, even without forewarning, in the normal pursuit of what’s true and good.

There’s one person I always agree with, and He said this: “Happy are you when people insult you and persecute you and tell all kinds of evil lies against you because you are my followers. Be happy and glad, for a great reward is kept for you in heaven. This is how the prophets who lived before you were persecuted” (Jesus, Matthew 5:11-12).

However, that God will reward His people for their faithfulness in life and in death doesn’t minimize the pain of people being killed for their faith, or for anything else. Like most of you, I was stunned and heartbroken to hear about the shooting in Sutherland Springs, Texas this past Sunday. Our prayers go out to the victims’ families and all those who were impacted by this senseless act of violence. (Here are some powerful words shared on national television by a pastor ministering to this suffering church.)

Last Sunday also happened to be the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church, a global day of intercession for persecuted Christians worldwide. The Texas shooting was a horrific glimpse of the persecution and violence that our brothers and sisters in Christ experience. And just as our fellow believers can’t be persuaded to abandon their faith because of persecution, such violence in our own churches won’t stop us from gathering and proclaiming and celebrating the Good News of Jesus. Russell Moore said it well in this excellent article:

Why church shootings don’t intimidate the Church

By Russell Moore

While millions of other Christians were singing hymns or opening their Bibles or taking communion this past Sunday, at that very moment, a gunman was opening fire on the First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs, Tex. This, believed to be the largest church shooting in history, ended with at least 26 people killed, according to authorities.

Several children were among the fallen, including Pastor Frank Pomeroy’s 14-year-old daughter Annabelle. Whatever the shooter’s twisted objective might have been, we do know this: it won’t work.

The goal the gunman sought, to terrorize worshipers, has been attempted constantly over the centuries around the world by cold, rational governments and terrorist groups—all thinking that they could, by the trauma of violence, snuff out churches, or at least intimidate those churches into hiding from one another. Such violent tactics always end up with the exact opposite of what the intimidators intend: a resilient church that, if anything, moves forward with even more purpose than before. Why?

Whether they are crazed loners in the United States or jihadist cells in Syria or governing councils in the old Soviet bloc, these forces fundamentally misunderstand the source of Christianity’s strength in the first place. Killers assume, after all, that gunfire or poison gas or mass beheadings will show Christians how powerless we are. That is true. They assume that this sense of powerlessness will rob the community of its will to be the church. That is false.

Read the rest.

I also appreciated John Piper’s reflections in Acquainted with Grief: How God Draws Near to Sutherland Springs. And here’s a related video discussion I shared after the 2015 Charleston church murder, How Could a Good God Allow Suffering and Evil?

Further resources that might be helpful:

If God Is Good

90 Days of God’s Goodness

The Goodness of God

If God Is Good, Why Do We Hurt? (booklet)

“I Felt My Soul Rejoice”: The Christ-Centered Happiness of David Brainerd

David Brainerd (1718–1747) served as a missionary to the Delaware Indians of New Jersey. He was orphaned at fourteen, and in college he suffered from debilitating tuberculosis. Having endured great suffering while serving in a fruitful ministry, he died at age twenty-nine. His biography inspired many, including pioneer missionary William Carey as well as missionary martyr Jim Elliot. During Brainerd’s final illness, he was nursed by Jonathan Edwards’s daughter Jerusha, who may have contracted tuberculosis from him. She died four months after he did. Depressing story, right? But in fact, the story involved much happiness.

Understandably, Brainerd’s diary frequently references his pain, using the word 78 times and suffer or suffering 30 times. Yet the most striking thing about his writing is how many more references he makes to his happiness in God and others: he uses happy and happiness 60 times, delight 50 times, pleased and pleasure 177 times, joy and enjoy 350 times. He also uses blessed more than 200 times, often meaning “happy.”

Though his life was not typical, like all of us Brainerd experienced both sorrow and joy: “This morning the Lord was pleased to lift up the light of His countenance upon me. . . . Though I have been so depressed of late, respecting my hopes of future serviceableness in the cause of God, yet now I had much encouragement. . . . I felt exceedingly calm and quite resigned to God, respecting my future employment. . . . My faith lifted me above the world and removed all those mountains that I could not look over.”[i]

On his twenty-fourth birthday, racked with pain, Brainerd wrote, “This has been a sweet, a happy day to me.”[ii]

Honesty about his illness and periodic depression demonstrated Brainerd’s sincerity about his happiness. He wrote, “It appeared such a happiness to have God for my portion that I had rather be any other creature in this lower creation than not come to the enjoyment of God. . . . Lord, endear Thyself more to me!”[iii]

Brainerd spoke of “the absolute dependence of a creature upon God the Creator, for every crumb of happiness it enjoys.”[iv] He said of God, “He is the supreme good, the only soul-satisfying happiness.”[v]

One painful day he “found some relief in prayer; loved, as a feeble, afflicted, despised creature, to cast myself on a God of infinite grace and goodness, hoping for no happiness but from Him. . . . Toward night, I felt my soul rejoice that God is unchangeably happy and glorious.”[vi]

A terribly sick young man was able to rejoice that God is, always has been, and always will be happy! How many Christians today, in times of suffering, take such solace in the happiness of God?

Brainerd made the daily choice to meditate on God, see him all around, listen to his Word and God’s people, and behold him in his creation. He looked for happiness in God. He wrote, “If you hope for happiness in the world, hope for it from God, and not from the world.”[vii]

If a young man without modern medicine and dying of an excruciating disease could make choices that brought him happiness in Christ, surely we can too.

Excerpted from 60 Days of Happiness: Discover God's Promise of Relentless Joy.

[i] David Brainerd, as quoted in Jonathan Edwards, Life and Diary of David Brainerd (New York: Cosimo, 2007), 78–79.

[ii] Ibid., 81.

[iii] Ibid., 90.

[iv] Ibid., 112.

[v] Ibid., 151.

[vi] Ibid., 153, 183.

[vii] David Brainerd, as quoted in Jonathan Edwards, The Life of the Rev. David Brainerd, Missionary to the Indians (Edinburgh: H. S. Baynes, 1824), 302.

Communion with God Through Prayer

This blog is excerpted from a five-day devotional I wrote for Sports Spectrum, available on YouVersion. Each day’s entry features video reflections from NFL stars, including Drew Brees, Ryan Tannehill, Matthew Slater, Matt Forte, and Demario Davis. They discuss topics such as the daily refreshment of God’s Word, prayer, salvation, baptism and the courage to tell others about Jesus. Below each video, I share some additional reflections.

Here are some insightful reflections from NFL quarterback Ryan Tannehill about prayer and our relationship with God.

Randy again:

I confess to struggling to maintain long periods of prayer. However, over the years God has graciously taught me about praying and depending on Him continuously. As I hear requests, I often pray immediately so I don’t forget. My wife Nanci and I pray together, sometimes on the phone, as we hear about needs throughout the day.

I ask God to give me divine appointments wherever I go, and prompt me to see needs I can meet. I want prayer to be an adventure in which I enter God’s presence and become absorbed with Him. Just as we need to hear from God in His Word, we need to talk to Him, so communication is two-way.

Ryan put it so well: “Prayer plays a crucial role in any relationship with God…it’s your life-line. Once you have that tight feeling with God, you don’t want to feel anything else. He’s such a fulfilling God, a loving, giving Father that we don’t deserve…when you get a taste of it, you just want more!”

Sometimes when I’m praying, I pull out a chair and imagine Jesus sitting in it (He not only sat in chairs; He also built them!). Then I talk to Him. I’m not pretending Jesus is with me; I’m believing His promise that He really is with me. Contemplate the reality of your Father in Heaven, Christ your Savior, and the Holy Spirit your Comforter and Teacher, and you’ll find rich meaning in the phrase “spending time with God.”

No matter how busy I was, my kids were always welcome to come and talk with me. It’s the same with my grandkids today. A king’s advisers hesitate to interrupt him, but his children have unlimited access. Since our King is all-knowing, He can hear each prayer as if you or I were the only ones praying in the whole world. “Whenever we are in need, we should come bravely before the throne of our merciful God. There we will be treated with undeserved kindness, and we will find help” (Hebrews 4:16, CEV).

The more conscious our dependence on Christ, the more we’ll “pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests” (Ephesians 6:18). We can’t spend time with many of the world’s famous people, and I think they’d disappoint us if we could. We can, however, spend time with God daily. He loves us so much that He gives us constant access and always listens with genuine interest. To “pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17) isn’t an impossible chore but an ongoing delight.

Photo by Olivia Snow on Unsplash

He Suffers With Us

Safely Home, the painting by Ron DiCianni pictured here, has special meaning to me. I wrote a novel, also called Safely Home, set in China and telling the story of Li Quan, a modern day martyr. It was inspired by this beautiful work of art. To this day Ron’s painting hangs on my office wall.

The painting portrays a man on his knees. His clothing is worn and tattered. He’s just walked down a long strip of blood-red entry carpet that has led him to the foot of a throne.

The man’s arms dangle at his sides. He appears both exhausted and relieved, overcome with emotion. His head rests on the chest of one kneeling down to him, holding him tight in a loving embrace. The one hugging him has stepped off the throne. It’s the King, the Creator of the universe, who is also, incredibly, a man. King Jesus.

A few feet to the right, open shackles lie on the palace floor. The man had been a prisoner on earth. He’d suffered terribly at the hands of those who despised him because they despised his King. In his right hand, hanging limply to the ground, is a beautiful gold crown.

This man is a martyr. He has lived out Revelation 2:10—he’s been faithful unto death, and his Lord has given him the crown of life. He’s one of those who “did not love their lives to the point of death” (Revelation 12:11, CSB). He endured great suffering but is now safely home.

Several things strike me in this painting. One is Heaven’s view of earth below. Another is the look on the man’s face, at long last freed from pain and persecution.

But what really strikes me is the look on the face of King Jesus. He, too, is full of emotion. His face radiates compassion and approval. His nail-scarred hands, drawing the martyr to Himself, are silent testimony to the extent of His love.

The evil that pursued this man in the Shadowlands can no longer touch him. He’s forever beyond its reach, for between evil and him stands the Lord of the cosmos, the one who embraces him and says, “Never again will I let you suffer.”

Many people imagine that though God once suffered on the cross, He’s remote and distant from suffering. Not so! Christ made it clear that to persecute His people is to persecute Him. Whatever others do to His people, He regards as being done to Him (see Matthew 25:40–45).

After His ascension, Jesus said to the Pharisee on the Damascus road, “Saul, Saul why do you persecute me?” (Acts 9:4). Persecution, of course, entails suffering. One verse later Christ says to Saul, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.” Note the present tense—although Christ’s atoning sacrifice occurred in the past, He continues to identify with and participate in His people’s suffering until He returns to end all suffering.

Thousands of people around the world die for Christ each year, and God knows the story of each one. He knows exactly how many martyrs there will be, and He is prepared to return and set up His Kingdom when the final martyr dies (Revelation 6:11).

Though you and I may never die for following Christ, it is certain that each of us will face suffering and heartaches in this life. But we are not alone. Jesus suffered for us, He suffers with us, and our brothers and sisters throughout the world suffer alongside us as we follow our suffering Savior.

Christ calls upon us to trust that He’ll work all suffering in our lives for good (Romans 8:28). And He promises that one day on the New Earth, “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes…neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain” (Revelation 21:4).

When that day comes, and we are at last safely home, we will gaze with wonder at the scars of King Jesus that made our suffering His so that His eternal joy and comfort could become ours.

This Sunday, November 5, is the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church, a global day of intercession for persecuted Christians worldwide. It’s a day to remember and pray for the hundreds of men, women, and children killed for Christ each day, ignored by the world but watched by the eyes of heaven—those of whom the world is not worthy. Open Doors USA offers free resources, including a video, that individuals and churches can use in observance. 

If you’d like to give financially to help persecuted Christians, see The International Justice Mission (IJM), Open Doors USA, and Voice of the Martyrs. (And see IJM’s great gift catalog, for worthy gifts to give in honor of your loved ones this Christmas season.)

You can also give through EPM by donating to our persecuted church fund, and 100% of the donations will be passed on to worthy ministries.

A Message of Appreciation to Joni Eareckson Tada, in Honor of the 50th Anniversary of Her Life-Altering Accident

In 1967, 50 years ago, a diving accident left Joni Eareckson Tada a quadriplegic at age seventeen. Years later Joni wrote about what she was thinking:

I desperately wanted to kill myself....

Why on earth should a person be forced to live out such a dreary existence? How I prayed for some accident or miracle to kill me. The mental and spiritual anguish was as unbearable as the physical torture.

But... there was no way for me to commit suicide. This frustration was also unbearable. I was despondent, but I was also angry because of my helplessness. How I wished for strength and control enough in my fingers to do something, anything, to end my life.[1]

Who at that time would have said, “God is clearly working out His gracious purpose in this young woman’s life”? Yet thirty-five years later, Joni, still a quadriplegic, wrote what may seem counterintuitive, but one day we will see through different eyes:

God cares most—not about making us comfortable—but about teaching us to hate our sins, grow up spiritually, and love him. To do this, he gives us salvation’s benefits only gradually, sometimes painfully gradually. In other words, he lets us continue to feel much of sin’s sting while we’re headed for heaven...where at last, every sorrow we taste will one day prove to be the best possible thing that could have happened.[2]

My wife Nanci and I deeply love Joni. With her warm-hearted exaltation of God’s sovereign love, she has profoundly impacted our own lives and ministry, along with countless others. She’s a living example of the verse she quotes in the introduction to her wonderful Beyond Suffering Bible: “My suffering was good for me, for it taught me to pay attention to your decrees” (Psalm 119:71).

I love to look at the books on people’s shelves. One night when Nanci and I were at Ken and Joni Tada’s home, I looked through the bookshelves, lined with classic works by great theologians and preachers, including many of my favorites, such as Charles Spurgeon. The books Joni reads are rich and deep, centered in God’s Word, food for her soul. No wonder both the life she lives and the books she writes share those same qualities.

Recently I recorded a video message to be shown at an event commemorating the 50th anniversary of Joni’s accident. As I mention in the video, the fact that Joni would be celebrating something so difficult, which a sovereign and loving God has used so greatly, shows the kind of character and Christ-honoring perspective she has.

I highly recommend reading through Joni’s personal reflections on the anniversary of her diving accident (as well as this interview with her from Christianity Today). She writes:

What a difference time makes—as well as prayer, heaven-minded friends, and deep study of God’s Word. All combined, I began to see there are more important things in life than walking and having use of your hands. It sounds incredible, but I really would rather be in this wheelchair knowing Jesus as I do than be on my feet without him. 

Later she writes this:

I don’t think you could find a happier follower of Jesus than me. The more my paralysis helps me get disentangled from sin, the more joy bubbles up from within. I can’t tell you how many nights I have lain in bed, unable to move, stiff with pain, and have whispered near tears, “Oh, Jesus, I’m so happy. So very happy in you!” God shares his joy on his terms only, and those terms call for us to suffer, in some measure, like his Son. I’ll gladly take it.

Thank you, Lord, for our dear sister Joni. With people like her as our examples, we celebrate the truth that you are sovereign and loving and purposeful. We celebrate that in the coming resurrection, in our new bodies and living on your New Earth, we will no longer suffer but will forever experience joyful pleasures at your right hand. Thank you for purchasing by your deliberate suffering all of our joys, both here and in the world to come.

[1] Joni Eareckson Tada, Joni (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1976), 74–75.

[2] Joni Eareckson Tada and Steven Estes, When God Weeps (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1997), 56.

The Daily Refreshment of God’s Word

Today’s blog is excerpted from a five-day devotional I wrote for Sports Spectrum, available on YouVersion. Each day’s entry features video reflections from NFL stars, including Drew Brees, Ryan Tannehill, Matthew Slater, Matt Forte, and Demario Davis. They discuss topics such as the daily refreshment of God’s Word, prayer, salvation, baptism and the courage to tell others about Jesus. Below each video, I share some additional reflections.

Here’s NFL quarterback Drew Brees on God’s Word being the roadmap for the Christian life.

Randy again:

Occasionally I think the directions from my phone’s maps app are wrong. “I should turn here, not there.” I’ve learned the hard way to trust the GPS knows better. And while the app is occasionally wrong (though not as often as I am), God is never wrong.

I grew up in an unbelieving home, but at age 15 I came to faith in Jesus while reading the Bible. As a new believer, I couldn’t get enough of God’s Word. I learned the Bible doesn’t contradict itself, but it does contradict me—and I desperately need those mid-course corrections!

The Bible was the North Star to which I fixed my life’s compass. Forty-five years later, that’s truer than ever. As Drew said, God’s Word is a road map, but I also think of it as a corrective lens. Any day I don’t contemplate Scripture, my focus blurs, my purpose gets fuzzy, and my happiness diminishes. I become impatient, critical, self-centered, and unhappy because I lack God’s fresh infusion of grace and perspective.

We may check social media, texts, and emails several times a day, but think nothing of going multiple days without reading Scripture. No wonder we’re spiritually starved and lack the discernment to know what’s true and false.

If you already study God’s Word regularly, stick with it. If not, ask yourself: do I just sit in my recliner and hope I’ll be in shape for the next game? Then don’t procrastinate spending daily time in God’s Word. Drop everything—including this devotional. Open your Bible and meditate on it. Follow a reading plan if it helps. Not next week, not tomorrow—now.

However, don’t just do it out of guilt; do it to find great joy in Jesus! David said of God’s words, “More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb” (Psalm 19:10).  

Scripture’s depths are endless. Day after day, year after year, we discover more treasures, ones we somehow missed before. Through God’s Word, the Holy Spirit transforms our hearts and minds.

In a spirit of gratitude, read and reflect on these words: “All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17, NLT).

Photo: Pixabay

Why the Coming Resurrection Frees You from the Bucket List Mentality

The concept of a bucket list, a list of things you want to do before you “kick the bucket,” is entirely understandable for people who believe that this is the only life they will ever live, and that after they die they will no longer exist. It’s even understandable for those who believe that after they die, they will be a ghost forever and won’t have actual bodies. But for us as Christians who believe in the resurrection and the coming New Earth, we should be the last people to think in terms of a bucket list.

Now, there’s a distinction between making a bucket list and having some things you would like to do and experience with your family if God gives you the opportunity. That is fine, of course. But if it is the bucket list in the sense of, “I’m going to kick the bucket, and this is my only opportunity as a physical person to do things in a physical world”—that’s utterly and completely unbiblical, contradicted start to finish by 1 Corinthians 15 and every passage that speaks of the resurrection and eternal life.

Here’s a clip from the Linger Conference earlier this year, where I share why if you have a biblical view of Heaven, you don’t need a bucket list.

Read more about how the coming resurrection should impact our thinking, and about my and Nanci’s post-bucket lists, in the article Why the Reality of the Resurrection Means You Don’t Need a “Bucket List.”

Photo by Egzon Bytyqi on Unsplash