Randy Alcorn's Blog, page 134

Does It Matter Whether We Know If a Fetus Is a Person or Not? Peter Kreeft’s Logical Analysis of Abortion Rights

I’ve long appreciated Justin Taylor’s great blog Between Two Worlds. A while ago he shared a helpful summary of Peter Kreeft’s logical analysis of the prochoice position that “we don’t know whether an unborn child is a person or not.”

It’s a good reminder that it’s not the prolife position, but the prochoice position that relies on emotionalism more than truth and logic. When we apply logic to abortion advocates’ arguments and claims, we can see how they break down. What we’re left with is the obvious truth that abortion kills a living person.

Here's Justin's summary:

The logic of the landmark abortion ruling Roe v. Wade was that ignorance about when human life begins entails that the government not impose restrictions upon abortion practice.

If you go back to August 16, 2008, Rick Warren asked presidential candidate Barack Obama when a fetus gets human rights, and Mr. Obama (who opposes any abortion restrictions for any reason, in line with Roe v. Wade) famously responded that the answer was “above his pay grade.”

Philosopher Peter Kreeft of Boston College helps us think through the logic of this position.

He makes the commonsensical point of formal logic that “either we do or do not know what a fetus is,” explaining:

Either there is “out there,” in objective fact, independent of our minds, a human life, or there is not; and either there is knowledge in our minds of this objective fact, or there is not.

The first set is an ontological claim (what is or is not); the second set is an epistemological claim (what we know or do not know). The result yields four logical possibilities:

The fetus is a person, and we know that.
The fetus is a person, but we don’t know that.
The fetus isn’t a person, but we don’t know that.
The fetus isn’t a person, and we know that.

What are the implications for these four positions? Kreeft analyzes them as follows:

Abortion in Scenario #1: The Fetus Is a Person and I Know That

In Case 1, where the fetus is a person and you know that, abortion is murder.

First-degree murder, in fact. You deliberately kill an innocent human being.

Abortion in Scenario #2: The Fetus Is a Person and I Do Not Know That

In Case 2, where the fetus is a person and you don’t know that, abortion is manslaughter.

It’s like driving over a man-shaped overcoat in the street at night or shooting toxic chemicals into a building that you’re not sure is fully evacuated. You’re not sure there is a person there, but you’re not sure there isn’t either, and it just so happens that there is a person there, and you kill him. You cannot plead ignorance. True, you didn’t know there was a person there, but you didn’t know there wasn’t either, so your act was literally the height of irresponsibility. This is the act Roe allowed.

Abortion in Scenario #3: The Fetus Is Not a Person and I Do Not Know That

In Case 3, the fetus isn’t a person, but you don’t know that. So abortion is just as irresponsible as it is in the previous case.

You ran over the overcoat or fumigated the building without knowing that there were no persons there. You were lucky; there weren’t. But you didn’t care; you didn’t take care; you were just as irresponsible. You cannot legally be charged with manslaughter, since no man was slaughtered, but you can and should be charged with criminal negligence.

Abortion in Scenario #4: The Fetus Is Not a Person and I Know That

Only in Case 4 [you know that the fetus is not a person] is abortion a reasonable, permissible, and responsible choice.

But note: What makes Case 4 permissible is not merely the fact that the fetus is not a person but also your knowledge that it is not, your overcoming of skepticism. So skepticism counts not for abortion but against it. Only if you are not a skeptic, only if you are a dogmatist, only if you are certain that there is no person in the fetus, no man in the coat, or no person in the building, may you abort, drive, or fumigate.

Related books by Randy Alcorn available from Eternal Perspective Ministries: Why ProLife?, ProLife Answers to ProChoice Arguments, and Does the Birth Control Pill Cause Abortions?

A Win-Win Way to Support Your Favorite Ministries, and Lower Your Taxable Income

Those of you who have stocks may find the following information about a unique way to give to ministries interesting. My thanks to my friend, novelist Athol Dickson, for sharing this:

Give Like a Smarty

By Athol Dickson

Give your taxes to charity!

How would you like to pay your taxes to the charity of your choice instead of to the government? Sound too good to be true? It’s not. Read on.

The IRS does not apply capital gains taxes to a charitable contribution of stock if it’s transferred directly from a donor’s account to a registered not-for-profit organisation such as a church. Also the IRS does not tax any gains when a not-for-profit sells stock and transfers the cash to its bank account. This can result in a sizable windfall for both you and for the charity of your choice. For example, compare these two scenarios:

Say you want to donate about $5,600 to charity this year, but your Christmas shopping has depleted your ready cash so you decide to sell some stock. You own 100 shares of Microsoft which you (after consulting your crystal ball) bought at the very bottom of the great recession for $15.50. Now those shares are worth $63.40. So those shares are now valued at your original investment plus a long term capital gain of $4,790. Most of us would have to pay a 15% long term capital gains tax on that amount, meaning Uncle Sam’s cut would be $718.50 ($4,790 x 15%). That leaves you with $5,621.50 to give to your favorite charity.

But what if your charity has a brokerage account? In that case you can transfer the 100 shares directly from your account to theirs. The capital gains are not taxed, neither when you transfer the stock to the charity, nor when the charity cashes out on their end. So instead of giving them $5,621.50, they get the full $6,340.

Cool deal, right?

It gets better.

In the first scenario you only get to deduct $5,621.50 from your taxable income this year. In scenario two, you can deduct the full $6,340. If your average tax rate ends up being in the 20% range, that could save you as much as $143.70 in taxes. Or, since your original goal was to give $5,600 anyway, instead of transferring the full 100 shares you could transfer just enough meet that goal and keep the rest, or give it to an additional charity.

I like to use this strategy to support charities with stock I would otherwise sell anyway for other reasons, especially when rebalancing. The IRS doesn’t allow this strategy in a tax deferred account like an IRA or 401(k) until you’re 70.5 years old. After that you can transfer stock from deferred accounts and it counts toward your Required Minimum Distributions, which could be a very handy tax planning tool for those who give to charity during retirement. And yes. this strategy does apply to mutual funds and exchange traded funds.

For specific information on supporting Eternal Perspective Ministries through transferring stock, you can contact us. (You might also like to check out this page on Planned Giving to EPM through Charitable Bequests or Stock.) We’re grateful for donors who support our work of helping others live in light of eternity!

Photo: Pixabay

Holiness and Happiness: Randy Alcorn’s Journey of Transformation and Joy

This article by Jessi Strong originally appeared in the September/October 2016 issue of Bible Study Magazine.

Growing up in a non-Christian home, Randy Alcorn’s first thoughts of God and spirituality were of emptiness and absence. With only limited exposure to the Bible, Alcorn—now a speaker, author, and director of Eternal Perspective Ministries—recalls a sort of spiritual awakening as a young teenager, when his passionate hobby was astronomy. “I would go out at night and look out at the stars; and one particular night, I located the great galaxy of Andromeda, containing over a trillion stars. I was looking at it through my telescope, and I had read that it was 2.5 million light years away; so that if it exploded tonight, it could still be seen on Earth for another 2.5 million years,” Alcorn recalls.

“I felt a sense of awe, and I just wept because the universe was so great and I was so small; I had no clue what it was all about.” When he came to faith in Christ a few years later, Alcorn says everything snapped into place. “When I heard the gospel, it totally resonated. When I read about Jesus, it just filled in those empty gaps. I think probably the single greatest thing that I sensed in my conversion was a deep-seated happiness that God was real and joy-giving, and now I was experiencing what I had always longed for.”

Learning Faithful Work

After his conversion, Alcorn began reading the Bible voraciously. He wanted to learn everything there was to know about Jesus. About a year later, he went with a couple from his church to a Bible class at Multnomah School of the Bible in Portland, OR (now Multnomah University).

“It was about 15 miles from where I lived and it was a Monday night class with Dr. John G. Mitchell, who was a cofounder of Multnomah. The first year he taught the Gospel of John. And then the next year we went back and there was another class on the book of Hebrews. Eventually, someone explained to me that this place is a Bible college, and what they do at the Bible college is actually study the Bible. I said, ‘Classes like Dr. Mitchell's? That's what you actually do? That's your college that you go to?’ And I knew in a heartbeat that was where I wanted to go.”

Alcorn recalls, “My first thought wasn't to go into ministry or to build a career; my first thought was like Paul said in Philippians 3: ‘I want to know Christ.’ Paul said this after knowing Christ for 30 years. I’d known Christ for just a couple of years, and I just wanted to know God and His Word.”

Alcorn’s new relationship with Christ also transformed his relationship with his alcoholic father. Before, Alcorn says he felt relief on nights when he came home from football practice to an empty driveway. “I didn't want him to be there because sadly, I actually hated my dad. But when I was converted, it was like a light switched on inside me, and I went from hating him to loving him and wanting to see him come in faith to Christ.”

Alcorn shared the gospel with his dad several times over the next 30 years, and was rebuffed each time. His father was adamantly opposed to the Gospel. But before his father died in his 80s, when he was in great pain in a hospital, he allowed Randy to walk him through verses in Romans 3, 6 and 10, and to pray with him. His dad repented and turned to Christ—an event Alcorn didn’t foresee happening.

“Scripture puts a great emphasis on the importance of our faith but sometimes we make it all about our faith in what God’s going to do, so that if we don’t have faith God will never act. But by that time I had zero faith that my dad was going to come to Christ. But God did it. And in doing so, He demonstrated that it was His work of grace, and it was not dependent on my confidence. If it had been, it wouldn't have happened.”

“It was probably the most powerful event in my life. I literally knew no one who was more opposed to the gospel than my dad. Nobody. I was so stunned it was like, crossing the Red Sea? No big deal compared to my dad coming to faith in Christ.”

Journey to Ministry

Alcorn’s persistence with his father also illustrates the faithfulness with which he’s learned to approach ministry over the years, first as a young Christian, then as a pastor, and later as director for Eternal Perspective Ministries.

During his time at Multnomah, Alcorn felt a strong pull to be involved in missions work overseas. After graduation, while in seminary, he decided to help plant a church in the Portland area.

“The next thing I knew, at 22 years old, I was a pastor. I loved ministering to people, even if it wasn’t overseas. Eventually, that thirst for missions came back to me, though, and as the church grew and more people came on staff, I was able to serve as our first missions pastor.”

Thirteen years after the church started, Alcorn became active with a pro-life group staging peaceful, non-violent interventions outside abortion clinics in Portland. He was arrested several times and was eventually sued by a clinic. When he learned that his wages at the church would be garnished by the clinic, he immediately resigned.

“I didn’t want to put the church in that position. It was one thing for me to follow my conscience and perform civil disobedience, but another thing to involve the church,” he explains. “So one day I was a pastor at a large, thriving church with no plans to go anywhere else, and the next day I was unemployed and starting my own nonprofit ministry.”

Eternal Perspective Ministries is a teaching ministry, based mostly around Alcorn’s writing and speaking. Alcorn chose the name from 2 Corinthians 4:16–18, because at first he didn’t have a clear picture of what his mission field would be.

“I had just written Money, Possessions, and Eternity and in it I used the illustration of the dot and the line: This life is a dot—it begins and it ends; it’s brief. But from that dot, a line extends that goes out for eternity. Second Corinthians 4:18 says, ‘So, we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.’ So if we’re smart, we’re going to live for the line, not just for the time we have in the dot—that’s eternal perspective.”

Starting a nonprofit ministry was not an easy transition for Alcorn. He went from the camaraderie of a large pastoral team—with daily conversations and ministry opportunities—to the isolation of writing from a home office and long days spent in front of a computer. “I still met with people and reached out to them, but I no longer had staff and elders meetings and conversations in office hallways. I wasn’t counseling people all day.”

As a result, Alcorn says his productivity kicked into overdrive. “When I was a pastor, I did some writing, but I didn’t feel right taking too much time away from my duties as a pastor. All of a sudden, one of my job descriptions was writing.”

Happiness

Since Alcorn began writing full-time in 1990, he has written more than 50 books, booklets and study guides. He has published fiction, devotionals, children’s books, apologetics handbooks, and comprehensive works on theological topics.

Alcorn doesn’t see each book as an individual project. “When I'm going to get really serious about a subject, I write a comprehensive book where I'm thoroughly covering the ground on a given subject. Then out of those longer books—after I’ve done all the research and I feel like I’ve got a grasp on the subject—I write smaller books on the same subject. Often they’re somewhat derivative, but I feel that they are often better books than they would have been, because I’ve had a chance to absorb and distill all the information.”

Alcorn’s latest large-scale project was published in 2015 and titled Happiness—a topic he decided to tackle after noticing the word “happiness” buried under words such as “blessed” and set in artificial contrast to joy.

“Two of the Hebrew and Greek words translated ‘blessed’ mean ‘happy,’” he explains. “A hundred years ago the English word blessed still meant being happy in God. Today Christians often say, ‘If you want to find happiness, you've got to go out in the world. If you want holiness, you find it in Christ and in the church, but we're not about happiness.’ That does a horrible injustice to both happiness and holiness, because in reality they are two sides of the same coin.”

The separation is usually illustrated by contrasting happiness—described as superficial and worldly—with joy, rooted in a relationship with Jesus. Alcorn’s extensive research covers Greek and Hebrew words used in Scripture, and their interpretation, and is peppered with quotations from church fathers, pastors, and theologians from every era of Christianity. He concludes that any division between happiness and joy is a recent, misguided phenomenon: “This whole separation of joy and happiness is false, and it leads us to justify being critical and discontent by saying, ‘Well, I'm not really happy, because that's just superficial and worldly.’”

“The world is not going to be attracted to a gospel or to a church that is pretty much misery-inducing. And that’s how the world so often views us. Now, there really are a lot of Christians that are happy in Jesus and pleasant and delightful, and they make the best neighbors. But, boy, we've managed to send a message that is usually about judgment and criticism.”

“Do you want to spend eternity with miserable people or happy people? You wouldn't want to spend eternity with a God who just couldn't laugh, or who would frown upon us for laughing,” Alcorn says. “We need to expand our minds when it comes to God. This attribute—His happiness—has been terribly neglected. There are a lot of systematic theologies that deal with it as one of God’s attributes, but it’s almost always called God’s blessedness. Often the first line is ‘God’s blessedness means His happiness.’ Well, if that’s what it means, why not just call it ‘God’s happiness’?”

The More You Know

For Alcorn, research for his books usually isn’t separate from his devotional reading of the Bible. “Whenever I'm looking at Scripture, I want to be in a spirit and attitude of prayer. I can be looking at the Hebrew and Greek, I can be looking at different theological things about the deity of Christ in Colossians 1 or whatever, but I'm still looking at the inspired text of Scripture and asking and expecting God to speak to my heart and transform my life. This is God's love letter to us, and it should be personal. So I do academic work with careful, thoughtful, studious research. I use the Logos Bible software all the time. You could call my Bible study academic, but it's also feeding my soul, which makes it personal and devotional.”

Alcorn is currently reading through the Bible with a plan that points him to a different genre each day of the week. He likes to make sure he has one takeaway at the end of his reading to meditate on through the rest of his day. “Psalm 1:2 and many other passages in the Bible talk about meditating on God’s law day and night,” he says. “You shouldn’t just check off the box and be done for the day. Take in God’s Word and give it an ongoing presence. Put verses on a 3x5 card—keep it on your desk at work. Carry it with you through the day.”

While Alcorn acknowledges that it can be difficult for many people to study the Bible consistently, he encourages his audience, saying, “The things we enjoy most about life are the things we know about. My wife and I love dogs. She has an app on her iPad that has quizzes on dog breeds, and out of hundreds of breeds in the world, she can name even the most obscure. And the interesting thing is, the more she learns about dogs, the more she loves dogs. And the more she loves dogs, the more she learns about dogs. It's a cycle that feeds into itself. So if you're not getting a lot out of your Bible study, that’s the best argument there is for studying your Bible more, not less. Eventually, a breakthrough happens. We find ourselves thinking and talking about whatever we’re choosing to study and read about.”

Alcorn also suggests using outside resources to further your study. “To use Psalm 1 as an example, as you learn more, you can branch out to see what some of the Puritans had to say about Psalm 1, and what Spurgeon had to say in his Treasury of David. Look at great commentaries on the Psalms. Read what Calvin had to say about the Psalms,” he adds. “Listen to Piper or Keller preach on the Psalms. Follow some of the delightful rabbit trails you go off on using the Logos software. The more you learn, the more excited and engaged you get, and the more you can't wait to get back to it.”

Eventually, consistent Bible study has a snowball effect. “If you stay away from the Bible and you minimize it, or you just view it as a duty to get out of the way so you can get on with the things in life that really interest you, you're really going to be missing out on the joy of exploration and discovery, and drawing closer to Jesus.”

Photo: Unsplash

Addressing the Problem of Evil and Suffering in a Moral Philosophy Class

I’ve long believed that in light of the great number of young people who reject their faith as college students or young adults, we need to ask ourselves two questions: What are we doing to help nominally Christian young people come to a true faith in Christ? And what are we doing to help youthful genuine Christians go deeper in exploring Scripture, learning sound theology, and developing a truly Christian worldview, not a superficial one?

In my book If God Is Good, I explain that having grown up in a non-Christian home, and still vividly remembering my unbelief as a young teenager, I’m convinced that Christianity’s explanation of why evil and suffering exist beats that of any other worldview. Its explanation of why we can expect God to forever deliver His redeemed people from evil and suffering is better still. The answers revealed in Scripture not only account for how the world is, they offer the greatest hope for where the world is headed.

Not long ago I came across a blog post from Ryan MacPherson, who teaches American history, history of science, and bioethics at Bethany Lutheran College. Ryan describes how the usual book he used for his Moral Philosophy class went out of print, and he was seeking an alternative, “out of the box” text for his students. Here’s an excerpt from his blog, describing how he ended up using If God Is Good:

At the suggestion of my wife, I read Randy Alcorn’s If God Is Good: Faith in the Midst of Suffering and Evil. I was impressed in several ways:

Alcorn makes the Problem of Evil accessible to a broad audience. (The famous “Problem” is this: If God exists, and God is almighty, and God is loving, then how can evil exist?)
Alcorn explores a wide variety of attempted solutions to the Problem of Evil, and analyzes them both philosophically and theologically.
Although Alcorn is a Christian, he provides a fair representation of the views of atheists and agnostics. The fact that he is a Christian convert who previously was in their camp perhaps makes him more sensitive to their point of view.
Although Alcorn leans toward Calvinism, he provides a fair-minded assessment of Arminianism and also acknowledges criticisms of Calvinism. In fact, he suggests a nuanced spectrum, distinguishing how Calvinists define their own position versus how their position appears from the vantage point of Arminians, and vice versa. Aside from helpfully analyzing this particular topic (divine sovereignty vs. human freedom), Alcorn’s framework provides a model for fostering a balanced discussion of other topics as well.
In the end, Alcorn lets Scripture speak for itself, and does not attempt to over-explain the paradox of God’s sovereignty and human freedom, or the implications of this paradox for the philosophical issues involving free will and moral responsibility.

Throughout the book, Alcorn also cites major philosophers and theologians from the past and present, including many of the philosophers whom my students are studying. Although his book is by no means a survey text for an introductory course in philosophy, it did serve as a pedagogical complement to the primary texts I assigned to my students and the classroom discussions that we had concerning those texts.

Two Bonus Benefits

In addition to serving well as a supplementary text for a moral philosophy course, Alcorn’s If God Is Good also provided two other advantages that confirmed my decision to assign his book rather than following the latest trends in the textbook industry.

First, he wove together numerous people and concepts that constitute “cultural literacy.” In other words, he helped my students to navigate their world. He expanded their horizons. And isn’t that what any college course should accomplish? If my students did not already know the following people, they do now.

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
Alvin Plantiga
Benjamin Warfield
C. S. Lewis
Carl Sagan
Charles Finney
Charles Spurgeon
Chuck Colson
Cicero
Corrie ten Boom
David Livingstone
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Dinesh D’Souza
Elisabeth Elliot
Fanny Crosby
Fyodor Dostoevsky
G. K. Chesterton
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
Helen Keller
J.R.R. Tolkien
Joel Osteen
John Calvin
John Piper
Jonathan Edwards
Joni Aereckson Tada
Joseph Stalin
Justin Martyr
Mao Zedong
Molech
Peter van Inwagen
Pol Pot
Richard Baxter
Richard Wurmbrand
Sam Harris
Samuel Rutherford
Vladimir Lenin
Voltaire
Wayne Grudem

Second, If God Is Good reinforces the chief mission of Christian education. As much as I appreciate the personal attention that I can provide to students because I teach at a small college, and as exciting as it is that about nine out of every ten graduates become employed in their preferred field soon after graduation, or else get admitted to their first choice among graduate schools, none of these “success statistics” matters as much as the main reason why Christian education should be treasured. Put frankly, Christian education matters because people die. It happens every semester. Usually someone’s grandparent. Sometimes a parent or a sibling. Sometimes even a classmate. Most recently, it was my faculty colleague. And so the question arises: If God is good, then why does He permit evil and suffering? Why death? Why this person’s death today, why now?

Philosophers have vexed over these questions. Second-rate theologians have side-stepped the real issues. Alcorn’s If God Is Good takes seriously the confusion and doubts that people have about God’s existence, about His love, and about a whole host of other issues centering around God’s nature, man’s nature, and the relationship between the two. Ultimately, Alcorn guides his readers back to Scripture, where the mystery is revealed in part even while some paradoxes remain. “Those without a biblically grounded theology of suffering are always just one accident, disease, natural disaster, or combat fatality away from losing their faith,” warns Alcorn. On the other hand, those who understand from Scripture that God works all things for the good of His children (Romans 8:28) will experience hardships differently—rather than losing their faith, they will grow in their trust that God is almighty, that God is gracious, that God is in control, and that even when the evils and tragedies of this world do not make sense to us—why would a loving God permit such suffering?—God and His saints ultimately will overcome and obtain the victory.

Alcorn connects a wealth of Scripture passages, wisdom from the great theologians of the ages, and the raw experiences of people who have suffered greatly in order to provide comfort, courage, and above all Christ to readers who are struggling with hardships and temptations. That alone makes the book worth reading. The fact that he interweaves major themes from influential philosophers, past and present, makes the book also suitable as a supplemental text for a philosophy course in ethics. (For those desiring to continue the discussion, I’d also recommend his books entitled Happiness and Heaven.)

Excerpted from Ryan C. MacPherson, "Moral Philosophy beyond the Textbook," (C) 2016 Into Your Hands LLC, used by permission.

Thanks, Ryan, for your kind words. I’m honored that If God Is Good was used in your class!

If you’d like to check it out, the book is available from our ministry in both hardcover and paperback. Also available are 90 Days of God’s Goodness, ideal for those who want to digest key sections from the larger book in a daily reading format; and The Goodness of God, a specially focused condensation of If God Is Good, which also includes additional material. Many people have also handed out the If God Is Good booklets.

Ray Ortlund on What Makes a Gospel-Centered Church

I deeply appreciate Raymond C. Ortlund Jr., just as I did his father and mother, who I’ve mentioned before. I have really enjoyed Ray’s powerful little book, The Gospel: How the Church Portrays the Beauty of Christ, which I would highly recommend to anyone desiring to start or help refocus a church on the Gospel. This is a segment from the beginning of that fine book (which is available from Amazon and Christianbook.com).

News to Make Man’s Heart Glad

Evangelion (what we call “the gospel”) is a Greek word, signifying good, merry, glad and joyful news, that makes a man’s heart glad and makes him sing, dance and leap for joy.” [1]

William Tyndale, the pioneer translator of the Bible into English, wrote those delightful words in 1525. And he sealed them with a martyr’s death. What a world we live in, that something so happy would be so hated! But so it is.

As Tyndale pointed out, the very form of the Greek word translated “gospel” means good news. [2] The gospel is not law, demanding that we pay our own way. The gospel is a welcome announcement, declaring that Jesus paid it all. It’s like a long-awaited telephone call. When the phone finally rings, we grab the phone and eagerly take that call. This gospel is a message to be proclaimed and believed (Mark 1:14–15). It is the point of the whole Bible (Gal. 3:8). It comes from God above (Gal. 1:11–12). It is worthy of our utmost (Phil. 1:27–30).

Here is the essential message Bible-believing people rally around:

God, through the perfect life, atoning death, and bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ, rescues all his people from the wrath of God into peace with God, with a promise of the full restoration of his created order forever—all to the praise of the glory of his grace.

Salvation from the judgment of God into fellowship with God is all of God. It is not of us. That is good news indeed! And this gospel is widely known and sincerely preached in our churches today.

Something Troubling

But here is something troubling. If a message so good lies at the defining center of our churches, why do we see such bad things in those same churches—ranging from active strife to sheer exhaustion? Where is the saving power of the gospel? Why don’t we see more of Tyndale’s singing, dancing, and leaping for joy in our churches, if the good news is setting the tone?

In his prophetic book Witness, Whittaker Chambers tells of a young German woman whose father had been fervently pro-Communist. Then he became strongly anti-Communist. Why? She said: “You will laugh at me, but you must not laugh at my father. One night, in Moscow, he heard screams. That’s all. Simply one night he heard screams.” [3]

This happens in our churches too. People come to hear good news. But then they hear screams. They hear cries of anguish and distress in churches that preach the gospel in concept but inflict pain in reality. That is shocking, but it is not new.

How many people in our cities are ex-Christians, and even strongly anti-Christian, because they went to church to hear “good news of great joy” (Luke 2:10) but it was drowned out by strife and trouble?

Let’s not assume that our churches are faithful to the gospel. Let’s examine whether they are. After all, “Every institution tends to produce its opposite.” [4] A church with the truth of the gospel in its theology can produce the opposite of the gospel in its practice.

The Test of a Gospel-Centered Church

Not long after his life-altering crisis of faith, brought on by the personal ugliness he saw in his denomination, Francis Schaeffer wrote an article entitled “How Heresy Should Be Met.” Here is his main point:

The final problem is not to prove men wrong but to win them back to Christ. Therefore, the only ultimately successful apologetic is, first, a clear, intellectual statement of what is wrong with the false doctrine, plus a clear, intellectual return to the proper scriptural emphasis, in all its vitality and in its relation to the total Christian Faith, plus a demonstration in the life that this correct and vital scriptural emphasis meets the genuine needs and aspirations of men in a way that Satan’s counterfeit does not. [5]

So the test of a gospel-centered church is its doctrine on paper plus its culture in practice—“a demonstration in the life that this correct and vital scriptural emphasis meets the genuine needs and aspirations of men.” If a church’s gospel culture has been lost, or was never built, the only remedy is found at the feet of Christ. That church needs a fresh rediscovery of his gospel in all its beauty. It needs to prayerfully reconsider everything it believes and practices. Nothing is gained by merely repackaging the church in forms more attractive to outsiders.

First and foremost, the gospel of Christ must be fully believed and embraced by our churches. That is more profound than a momentary upsurge of enthusiasm.

The need of our times is nothing less than the re-Christianization of our churches, according to the gospel alone, in both doctrine and culture, by Christ himself.

Nothing less than the beauty of Christ will suffice today, though what a renewed church will look like might, at present, lie beyond our imaginations.

Notes: 

[1] William Tyndale, “A Pathway into the Holy Scripture,” in Doctrinal Treatises(Cambridge: The University Press, 1848), 8. Style updated. 

[2] F. Blass and A. Debrunner, A Greek Grammar of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, trans. Robert W. Funk (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1973), § 119(1). 

[3] Whittaker Chambers, Witness (New York: Random House, 1952), 14. Edited for clarity. 

[4] D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, What Is an Evangelical? (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1992), 9–10. Lloyd-Jones continues: “The position of most of the Protestant churches today is almost the exact opposite of their position when they originally came into being. . . . It is no use assuming that because a thing has started correctly it is going to continue to be correct. There is a process at work, because of sin and evil, which tends to produce not only change but even degeneration.” 

[5] Francis A. Schaeffer, “How Heresy Should Be Met,” Reformation Review, July 1954, 9. Emphasis original.

Photo: Unsplash

Highlights from the Linger, Kingdom Advisors, and Pro Athletes Outreach Conferences

Over the last several weeks, I’ve spoken at three great conferences across the country. I thought I’d share a short report on each in today’s post, along with some pictures and videos.

In early February, I spoke at the 2017 Linger Conference in Texas, which was hosted by Stonebriar Community Church, where Chuck Swindoll is senior pastor.

I enjoyed speaking at Linger two years ago, at Watermark Church, and this year’s conference was wonderful as well. They had a great lineup of speakers and artists, including Shane & Shane, Lauren Daigle, Eric Mason, Thabiti Anyabwile, Ben Stuart, Bethany Barnard, Jonathan Pokluda, People & Songs, JR Vassar, Todd Wagner, and Paul Baloche, as well as Chuck Swindoll. (They’ve put up all the sessions for free on their website; I encourage you to check them out.)

It was great to connect with old friends and new, including Thabiti and Kristie Anyabwile. Kristie is a precious sister, and Thabiti is a man of great wisdom and character. We first met them at the Gospel Coalition’s national conference; they are gold.

I was interviewed on Heaven and the New Earth by my friend Todd Wagner, pastor of Watermark Community Church.

Here's the video:

The Truth and Reality of a Physical Heaven That We Can Look Forward to

I also participated in the panel session. What a great group of guys.

Here's the panel video:

Linger Conference Panel Discussion 

Also in February, I went to Orlando for the Kingdom Advisor’s annual conference, which gathered more than 1,000 Christian financial professionals, who influence their clients to give generously to God’s kingdom. I did a Q&A on giving:

Randy Alcorn on Giving and Eternity at the Kingdom Advisors Conference

Two weeks later, I headed back to Orlando, this time with Nanci, for the Pro Athletes Outreach annual conference for NFL players, where I did several sessions and had the opportunity to connect with lots of great people. Last year and again this year, Nanci and I were deeply touched by the ministry of PAO and the difference they’re making in the lives of players and their wives.

I also enjoyed talking with Lecrae, who was there to do a couple of sessions. I’ve blogged before about my deep appreciation for Lecrae and how he has used the platform God has given him. (See my posts on his God-honoring rap, his song “Don’t Waste Your Life,” and this great discussion he did with John Piper and John Ensor about abortion.) He has had a big impact on my grandson Jake, and when Lecrae told me my books had significantly influenced him, it really touched my heart.  

Thank you, Lord, for your faithful ministry to your followers, so evident at Linger, Kingdom Advisors, and PAO. How encouraging to know you have your people everywhere, in every walk of life. And what a joy it is to talk, worship, and be with those who love you!

“You make him happy with the joy of your presence” (Psalm 21:6, CEB).

Should We Give Money to the Poor Even When There’s a Risk of Waste or Misuse?

Recently a reader sent me this question:

What is your perspective on the documentary Poverty, Inc.? We are giving generously to the Kingdom and are saddened by the waste we see in this film. Do your recommended organizations overcome these issues?

If you’ve not yet heard of the documentary, here’s the synopsis:

The West has positioned itself as the protagonist of development, giving rise to a vast multi-billion dollar poverty industry—the business of doing good has never been better.

Yet the results have been mixed, in some cases even catastrophic, and leaders in the developing world are growing increasingly vocal in calling for change.

Drawing from over 200 interviews filmed in 20 countries, Poverty, Inc. unearths an uncomfortable side of charity we can no longer ignore.

From TOMs Shoes to international adoptions, from solar panels to U.S. agricultural subsidies, the film challenges each of us to ask the tough question: Could I be part of the problem?

As stewards, we should invest wisely in eternity. This means we must give intelligently, based on an accurate appraisal of those to whom we entrust God’s money. In other words, we need to do our homework before we give. This might include asking our pastors for advice, carefully examining a ministry’s publications (including financial statements), meeting with a ministry representative, visiting an office or the mission field and observing the work, or consulting with others in a position to know more intimately what a particular ministry is really like.

It’s true that some organizations are sincere but are culturally insensitive, have poor contacts or distribution methods in foreign countries, and sometimes are attempting short-term solutions that contribute to long-term problems. For example, some local farmers in the Developing World have been put out of business by deliveries of free food from relief organizations. The farmers have worked all year to grow their crops only to see their food go to waste and their efforts go unrewarded because no one will buy food when they can get it for free. Consequently, the farmers lose their incentive and no longer grow food, thus ensuring the crisis will get worse and creating an endless dependence on the outside world. A sensitive relief organization (and there are some excellent ones) will work toward encouraging rather than discouraging local workers and the local economy, with a goal not only of immediate famine relief but also of ongoing famine prevention.

Every good thing can have a bad effect. The solution isn’t to avoid sponsoring children or to never support national ministries, but to exercise great care. Yes, not all of the funds we give will be used wisely, and some may end up being used corruptly. That comes with the territory. But we know that Christ commands us to give, to help the poor and needy, and to lay up treasures in Heaven (Matthew 6:19-21, Matthew 19:21, Luke 12:33). And we know He offers us great rewards for giving. So the solution is not to give less, but to give carefully and wisely while still giving generously.

We dare not ignore what God clearly says to us. These are just a few of dozens and dozens of passages commanding us to give to help the poor:

Give generously to [the poor] and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to. There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your brothers and toward the poor and needy in your land (Deuteronomy 15:10-11).

He who is kind to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will reward him for what he has done (Proverbs 19:17).

He who gives to the poor will lack nothing, but he who closes his eyes to them receives many curses (Proverbs 28:27).

Tabitha “was always doing good and helping the poor” (Acts 9:36). Luke says of Cornelius the centurion, “He and all his family were devout and God-fearing; he gave generously to those in need and prayed to God regularly.” An angel appears in a vision and tells him, “Your prayers and gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial offering before God” (Acts 10:2-4).

The early church leaders emphasized giving to the poor: “All they asked was that we should continue to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do” (Galatians 2:10). “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world” (James 1:27).  (Here’s an excerpt from my book Money, Possessions and Eternity with further perspectives about helping the poor, and more of what God says in His Word about helping them.)

Of course, all these commands to give generously do not negate the need for us to also give wisely. There are important characteristics to look for in any ministry you might choose to support. (These are 19 questions I encourage people to ask before giving to any ministry. An abbreviated version is also available.) But I strongly object to what I’ve heard a number of people say: “I no longer give to relief work since it’s all a waste.” That’s simply untrue. Some waste is always a possibility but “it’s all a waste” is a gross overstatement that ends up justifying lack of generosity and even spiritualizing materialism—“Since it won’t really help others, I’ll just spend it all on myself.”

I’ve seen people discourage giving even to help with natural disasters—but surely this is wrong, given the clear and repeated commands of both testaments to help the poor and needy and helpless. Unfortunately, in my experience, people get depressed and paralyzed when they hear of waste and counterproductive efforts. Rather than working to find the RIGHT ways to TRULY help, they figure that since the money isn’t doing any good overseas, they may as well buy a vacation home or car or new television.

Over the years, Eternal Perspective Ministries has given regularly to World Relief, a ministry that brings immediate help, long-term development, and the gospel of Christ to the needy throughout the world.  Because of his first-hand experience in helping the poor and needy, I asked my good friend Dan Brose, former Africa Regional Director at World Relief, to share his thoughts on Poverty, Inc. Dan and Tambry spend part of the year in Burundi and part in the U.S.:

I believe strongly that Americans who want to “help” poor Africans (or poor Americans for that matter) need to seriously consider what is required to properly help. We need to recognize that there aren’t any easy answers. It is really tough and complex. I think that Americans generally know this regarding problems in America, but more often we slip into simplistic thinking about how to solve problems in Africa.

For example, when the film states: “It makes us feel good to show up and help…to be superman,” this is so true, and all of us have experienced the thrill and fulfilment that comes from being on the front lines and meeting an urgent and life-threatening need.  But in the end, this is more about us and less about those we are trying to help. The tough work of changing the long-term problems that created the life-threatening event aren’t so exciting, often involving countless hours of desk work and meetings, and far removed from the “action.” But without this long-term effort and sacrifice, nothing will truly be changed.

This statement in the Poverty Inc. film is also true: “As we act, grow and learn—we realize that we are making mistakes and that there is a better way to accomplish our goal.” All of us working cross-culturally have experienced this. Transformation is always a two-way street, and we are transformed as we endeavor to help others to be transformed. But again, it takes a lot of time and is tough work.

So what are we to do?

It’s OK to admit that we don’t have the answers and to take some time to learn. My firm conviction is that the best place for Americans to learn is in their own backyard—volunteering, mentoring, advising, giving, and helping to address difficult and complex problems in the U.S. It might involve mentoring kids after school in the city, volunteering at a local nonprofit clinic, going to the local prison on a regular basis to fellowship and worship together, mentoring young single mothers, advising young men who want to work, or joining a local nonprofit board.

Let’s give even more generously to good organizations working around the world. Not all are the same, and not all are making the mistakes mentioned in the documentary. There are very good organizations that are truly committed to strong partnerships and ensuring that the poor have a voice and a place at the table. Look for organizations that demonstrate these habits:

They are continuously learning and communicating their mistakes and what they have learned and modified as a result of making those mistakes.
They don’t “dumb down” the issues, but they take the time and space to educate their donors and constituency—even when that means that they get less income than those organizations who communicate simple and quick solutions through their marketing.
They elevate their local partners, freely sharing power, relationships, and access.

I encourage people to consider strongly supporting development activities that address some of the root causes of catastrophes. For example, a significant amount of money raised for any disaster or catastrophe should be used for long-term work to address the root causes and to build resiliency of the communities to absorb shock in the future.

Much of what we saw in the Poverty Inc. film revolved around power—who has money, who has food, who makes decisions, who gets the profit, who controls the assumptions, who sets the table, and indeed how we handle power in cross-cultural settings is critical to long-term success and fruitful relationships. Are we as wealthy Americans willing to give up power in order to reverse this dynamic so that power can be in balance? Are we willing to be uncomfortable, to re-examine our assumptions, and to confess our sin? We must allow our pre-conceived notions to be challenged, and we must be humble.

Dan notes it will take generations to address the core problems facing our broken world. Ingrained problems of poverty, corruption, violence, and conflict will not simply disappear. Realistically, we know that such issues will continue until Christ returns, the Curse is reversed, and we experience life on the New Earth. Meanwhile, He has called us to be His hands and feet, wisely and compassionately ministering to the needy through our actions and giving, and doing what we can to share His Good News and to bring a preview of the New Earth to this hurting world.

Above all let me encourage you to GIVE GENEROUSLY and GIVE WISELY. Don’t let the fact that there are immense difficulties in helping the world’s poor keep you from doing what you can to help! Too many people think, “Well, if the money isn’t really helping, I may as well just spend it on myself.” That is not the answer.

From Eternal Perspective Ministries: Also see Randy’s books The Treasure Principle, Managing God’s Money, and The Law of Rewards. 

Photo: Pixabay

Lottery Winner Says Winning “Has Ruined My Life”

One of the great ironies of gambling is that the vast majority of people lose money, while the few who win discover money doesn’t make them happy—and often it actually ruins their lives! One study reported that “six months after winning the lottery, you are likely to be no happier than if you had been paralyzed in a car crash.”

I’ve written before about the misery of many lottery winners. Here’s yet another: in 2013, Jane Park, then 17, won about $1.2 million in the U.K.’s EuroMillions lottery. Now 21, Jane was recently considering taking legal action for what she calls negligence, claiming that a person her age shouldn’t have been allowed to win. (She has since dropped her plans for a lawsuit.)

Here’s what Jane Park actually said:

“At times it feels like winning the lottery has ruined my life.”

“I thought it would make it 10 times better but it’s made it 10 times worse.”

“I wish I had no money most days. I say to myself, ‘My life would be so much easier if I hadn’t won.’”

“People look at me and think, ‘I wish I had her lifestyle, I wish I had her money.’ But they don’t realise the extent of my stress.”

“I have material things but apart from that my life is empty. What is my purpose in life?”

“My nana Anne told me, ‘You might as well have given me a gun.’ I was like, ‘Nana, what are you talking about? This is the best thing ever?’ But now I totally agree.”

Yet when asked if she’s considered ridding herself of the money that has brought such misery, her answer was an incredulous, “What?”

Although there’s nothing inherently wrong with money, there’s something desperately wrong with devotion to money. “People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil” (1 Timothy 6:9-10).

Note the self-destructive nature of money love. It’s a life of self-mutilation in which we repeatedly pierce ourselves with grief after grief. The good we seek destroys us. We load our idols with expectations they cannot deliver. The happiness we try to wrest from them can only be found elsewhere.

Of course we should all be grateful for God’s provision, and should never glorify poverty. But if the source of our happiness isn’t God, then wealth becomes our false god. And Jesus said, “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money” (Matthew 6:24).

In a chapter that gives us a lot of bad news about wealth, we also find some strikingly good news about how we can overcome materialism through generous giving:

Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life. (1 Timothy 6:17-19)

It shouldn’t take winning a jackpot for all of us to discover that money—of any amount—won’t bring us lasting happiness. God, on the other hand, “satisfies the longing soul, and the hungry soul he fills with good things” (Psalm 107:9).

May God’s people be liberated from money-love, break the back of materialism through generous giving to the needy, and pursue the lasting pleasures found in knowing and serving Christ.

For more on money and giving, see Randy’s books The Treasure Principle, Managing God’s Money, and Money, Possessions, and Eternity.

Photo: Pixabay

The Key to Your Lasting Happiness

The Christian life is largely won and lost on the battlefield of ideas regarding what makes us happy. If we believe the lie that saying no to sin means saying no to happiness, then no amount of self-restraint will keep us from ultimately seeking happiness in sin. John Piper writes, “You were created to treasure Christ with all your heart—more than you treasure sex or sugar or sports or shopping. If you have little taste for Jesus, competing pleasures will triumph.”

Our Creator lovingly warns us that sin is utterly disastrous. Disobeying God never brings happiness. Its fruit is death, self-destruction, loss, and disgrace (see Proverbs 1:31-33; 2:19, 22; 3:35). Of course, there are “fleeting pleasures of sin” (Hebrews 11:25). An injection of heroin or an immoral act can bring moments of pleasure—but not deep and lasting happiness. Sin can for the short term make us happy, but it won’t leave us happy.

If we see Jesus as the heart and soul of happiness, we’ll much more effectively resist the constant temptations to turn from Him. I share more in this video, which is an excerpt from Happiness 101, a seminary-level course I taught at Western Seminary:

If you’d like to learn more about the class, here’s the description for Happiness 101. It’s now available from our ministry on DVDs. (We also offer my classes on Heaven and stewardship.) I think even those who’ve read my Happiness book will benefit from this in-depth discussion of God’s happiness, and ours:

Is God happy? Should His children be happy?

Many believers today are taught that God wants us to be holy, but not happy, and that joy and happiness are fundamentally different. They’ve even been left with the impression that God Himself isn’t happy.

But joy, gladness, delight, celebration, and happiness in Christ are based on solid redemptive facts, including God’s love and sovereignty. Through the Gospel, called in Isaiah 52:7 the “good news of happiness,” God makes possible a settled happiness in Him despite life’s very real difficulties and sorrows.

The Happiness 101 class, filmed at author Randy Alcorn's Western Seminary course, contains 12 one-hour sessions on 6 DVDs that will guide your study of our God-given quest for happiness. Randy examines the triune God’s own happiness that makes Him the source of ours, as well as the rich constellation of Hebrew and Greek happiness synonyms in Scripture. You’ll discover how the most popular Bible translations have obscured many happiness passages, and how the now pervasive evangelical contrast between joy and happiness is both unbiblical and misleading.

This video series will help you cultivate a foundational happiness in Christ that enriches you, encourages your family and friends, and draws unbelievers to Jesus.

The people of God ought to be the happiest people in all the wide world! —A. W. Tozer

I really enjoyed the class. Randy did an excellent job teaching! This is really a paradigm shifting truth.  I know it will have an impact upon my ministry! —J.S., pastor

EPM also offers a free study guide.

Photo: Unsplash

Five Reminders As We Serve the Dying and Their Families

Before I started Eternal Perspective Ministries, I served as a pastor for 14 years. When I was in the ministry, I found myself spending a great deal of time ministering to dying people and comforting their families. People look to pastors for guidance, help, and perspective during difficult times of life.

Joel Woodard serves as a pastor at Cornerstone Church in Gresham, Oregon, along with my friend Barry Arnold. Several of our EPM staff members are part of Cornerstone, and have recently experienced the deaths of loved ones, and Barry and Joel were there for them. In fact, Nanci and I attended three memorial services the two of them conducted together, and I was touched by their hearts of love for these dear families.

Joel recently shared five great reminders for pastors as they serve the dying and their families. These are helpful points for all of us non-pastors too as we minister to friends and family members. —Randy Alcorn

I never imagined that I would find myself so familiar with death as a pastor. I studied theology in seminary and learned about expositing a text and leading the church, but I don’t ever remember reading a book about what to do when visiting someone on their deathbed.

Looking back over the past seven years, I’m astonished at how many times I’ve found myself in that exact position, feeling very unprepared as I kneel beside someone’s bed, hold their hand, and pray with the family. I know every hospital in the city near where I live, and even where to find the good clergy parking spots.

I’ve also seen firsthand how we, as a society, are so uncomfortable with death. Most people simply don’t know what to do or say in those moments, and so they call for a pastor.

A few months ago, I received such a call and went to visit an elderly man, the father of someone in our church. The family had gathered in the small living room of a care facility where we exchanged friendly conversation, while the nurses were busy attending to this man’s needs in his bedroom. The nurses emerged from the bedroom with a smile and a nod and gave us permission to go inside. Everyone slowly got up as if they each wanted to be the last one to leave. They made their way into the room and stood awkwardly along the walls and in the doorway. It was obvious no one wanted to approach the bed. The man’s son, whom I knew, leaned over and said, “Dad, this is Joel. He’s a pastor.” Then he moved out of the way to give me room to do whatever it is that pastors do in situations like this. As I stepped toward this elderly man, I remember thinking that I was putting on the mantle of a pastor approaching a death bed, which I’ve learned means five things:

1. You serve as a priest. The first several times I was asked to make hospital visits, I went along with an older pastor. He told me, “In situations like these, people just want to hear you say God.” They simply want to know that God is there and has not forgotten them. As a priest, you represent God to people and are given the opportunity to pour His words over them as a blessing during difficult times. Enter that time ready to share from His word, say a prayer, and offer comfort. You represent Christ in that moment!

2. You enter sacred space. For several years, my wife Amy and I served as missionaries in a little Alpine village in Slovenia. The old Catholic church in the middle of town marked each hour with the ringing of the bells. What I wasn’t prepared for is that it marked every holiday, wedding, and call to mass as well. I can still hear those bells ring if I close my eyes. Those bells also rang as funeral processions marched from that old church building to the cemetery located directly behind it. The long ringing of the funeral march was off rhythm, almost like it was causing a rift in time. In that place, you’re born, get married, and celebrate holidays all in the rhythm of the bells, but upon your death, the bells are interrupted. I always thought of these moments as sacred space, caught between this world and the next. It’s the precious moments of transition when eternity takes the baton from the runner who has left their earthly body. So set time aside to enter these hallowed moments. Holidays will come and go, work and school will fall back into place once the funeral bells are done, and life will go on. Don’t miss the window to be in that sacred space.

3. You sit in cultural discomfort. I remember one time in Slovenia we were crowded in a small farm kitchen doing training with a team from America that would be helping to put on an English camp. I asked them, “Do you know what Americans hate most?” and then left the question floating in the air. After a few seconds, some muffled responses came back. “We don’t know,” they said. I still didn’t answer and the silence was becoming uncomfortable. Everyone began saying, “Just tell us! What is it?” Finally, after what probably seemed like a small eternity, I answered, “Silence.”

In those moments by the deathbed, it helps to remember you don’t leave when it gets uncomfortable, and you don’t have to fill the silence with empty words.

As a pastor, you also enter cultural discomfort about the dying body. For some reason, many people are afraid to touch a person on a hospital bed. Maybe they’re afraid they will break the person or make it worse, but those last touches are special: a kiss on the forehead, the caress of a hand, a whispered “I love you.” If everyone is hugging the wall, lean right in. Grab the person’s hand if you’re able, and invite their loves ones to get over their discomfort and embrace those intimate moments.

4. You invite people to see eternity. If sickness hits or the cancer comes back, we naturally hope for the best. We might say, “You’ll be fine” or “You can beat this!” That optimism is helpful when facing a tragic diagnosis, but there usually seems to come a point in time when the fighting is over and the loved one is no longer prolonging life, but prolonging death.

That change is often hard to notice when the person is overwhelmed by medications, with doctors examining things and nurses checking vitals. In those moments, you can help a family understand that it may be time to say their final goodbyes and discuss any last wishes for services or special items if they haven’t already. It’s not something you naturally want to do, as everyone wants to hold out hope until the very end. But a gentle invitation to see eternity may come as a helpful gift. There is usually never a perfect moment, so if you wait too long, they may only be left with regret.

5. You shepherd the family. Shepherding is more than just a visit to the hospital and a prayer. Shepherding is a continued process, not a completed task. A good shepherd protects his sheep, and sometimes you need to protect the family during these vulnerable times. It may mean being the contact person and telling someone that they shouldn’t come to visit at that moment. It may mean calling a boss to let them know what is going on, or helping the family navigate the medical issues. More than likely you’ll need to guide them in decisions after the loved one has passed. Making decisions about a casket, burial plot, headstone, flowers, and the million other things that go along with a funeral can be overwhelming. In those vulnerable times people can often feel taken advantage of and even abandoned by their pastors. It helps to know average costs, procedures, and businesses that you can refer people to that they can trust.

Engaging with death and dying is not something we can choose to opt out of as believers. In many ways, it’s the culmination of our life’s work. May we be well prepared to represent the Lord and enter that sacred space!

Related resource from Eternal Perspective Ministries: The Heaven booklet by Randy Alcorn is a sampling of the questions and answers found in his larger Heaven book and is distributed widely at memorial services and funerals, and used as an evangelistic tool. 

Photo: Pixabay