Randy Alcorn's Blog, page 139

The Uniqueness of Giving to Eternal Perspective Ministries

I’ve been asked over the years, “Why don’t you fund Eternal Perspective Ministries through the book royalties, and not receive donations?” It’s a reasonable question, and there are two main answers.

First, God has blessed the sales and impact of the books, and I believe that’s partly because we determined 27 years ago to give the Lord all the royalties, to help the poor and support strategic mission efforts all over the world. (God uses the books to further His kingdom, but He also uses the funds they generate.)

Second, EPM benefits tremendously from having financial supporters because of their partnership through prayer and accountability. If we used the royalties to fund our ministry, we wouldn’t have to rely on anyone else. That self-reliance would be a great loss to us, and a loss to our ministry partners too.

Jesus said that where we put our treasures is where our hearts will go. None of our supporters would have a heart for our ministry had we been self-supported. When people give they’re much more likely to pray. I can’t convey the depth of my gratitude to those who regularly give to EPM, and the three thousand people who receive our prayer updates! (You can sign up here if you’d like to join our prayer team.)

Paul told his readers that their prayers were a vital part of his ministry and outreach in spreading the Gospel (Romans 15:30-32, 2 Corinthians 1:10-11). Likewise, your prayers for this ministry are an eternal investment. Prayer isn’t the least you can do for us; it’s the most.

Your partnership through prayer, giving, or both, is making a difference:

for prisoners who receive books from our ministry. Many are coming to know Christ, and others are being discipled in their faith. 
for our outreach through social media and our website, as we seek to encourage and educate believers and to share the gospel with unbelievers using our resources (blogs, audios, magazines, and videos). 
for our efforts to get more of our articles and resources translated into other languages. So far, we have resources available in nine different languages (French, Spanish, Portuguese, Cambodian-Khmer, Nepali, Albanian, Tajik, Ukrainian, and Chinese – simplified), and we hope to greatly expand what’s available for each language, as well as translate material into many other languages.
for our staff as they do their work. Each phone conversation and email they answer can be a divine appointment, an opportunity to minister in Christ’s name. Each order of books they mail out can be used to glorify God and spread His good news of happiness.
for me as I continue writing books, and for the staff members who assist me through their editing. I’m profoundly aware of the difference prayer makes in my writing and speaking. To whatever degree God chooses to touch lives through the books, and whatever else I’m involved in, you who pray for me will have played a major role. Nanci and I and our EPM staff are deeply grateful. One day you’ll receive your reward.

For those who have chosen to partner with us in supporting our ministry by giving, I want you to know that we deeply appreciate each gift and seek to be good stewards with what God has provided. When you give to our general fund you’re actually partnering with us in two ways:

1) Supporting our monthly operating expenses, including the wages of our thirteen employees (most of those part-time),

2) allowing us to continue using the royalties to support many worthy Christian ministries. So, in effect, you’re supporting those ministries as well.

If you'd like to make a year-end, tax-deductible donation to EPM, please note that donations postmarked no later than December 31, or received  online  by 11:59 p.m. PT on December 31, will be included on this year’s tax receipts.

With great gratitude to God and personal appreciation of you, and on behalf of the EPM staff and board,

Randy Alcorn

Jon Bloom on How Christians Aren’t—and Are—to Judge Other Christians

Though the election is over, some of the hard feelings between Christians who disagreed with each other are not over. Unfortunately, I expect “I told you so’s” to come up often in the years to come, spoken both by those who supported Donald Trump and those who opposed him, few of whom have yet changed their minds, and some of whom never will.

That makes this article by my friend Jon Bloom as relevant now as when he wrote it shortly before the election. What he said doesn’t just apply to differing politics, but to a variety of beliefs and practices and matters of conscience, which vary widely among God’s people, and for which we are far too quick to judge and condemn each other.

I find myself often contemplating John 17:20-23 (here in the New Century Version), in which Jesus prayed: “I pray for these followers, but I am also praying for all those who will believe in me because of their teaching. Father, I pray that they can be one. As you are in me and I am in you, I pray that they can also be one in us. Then the world will believe that you sent me. I have given these people the glory that you gave me so that they can be one, just as you and I are one. I will be in them and you will be in me so that they will be completely one. Then the world will know that you sent me and that you loved them just as much as you loved me.”

Judge Not, That You May Judge Well

Christians are not to judge other Christians. And Christians are to judge other Christians. That’s what the Bible teaches. In fact, the apostle Paul says both things in the same letter just a few paragraphs apart.

Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive his commendation from God. (1 Corinthians 4:5)

Don’t judge other Christians.

For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? (1 Corinthians 5:12)

Judge other Christians.

Is Paul contradicting himself? No. Paul is simply instructing us that there are things we must not judge and things we must judge.

Read the rest of Jon’s article.

Photo: Unsplash

Giving Tuesday: An Invitation to Experience the Happiness of Giving

In Paul’s final words to the Ephesian church leaders, he said, “You must help the weak, remembering the words of the Lord Yeshua himself, ‘There is more happiness in giving than in receiving’” (Acts 20:35, CJB). Eugene Peterson paraphrases this verse in The Message, “Our Master said, ‘You’re far happier giving than getting.’”

Secular studies are emphatic in their claim that giving makes people happier. A survey of thirty thousand American households showed that “people who gave money . . . to all types of religious and secular causes were far happier than non-givers.”[i] Most of the people who conduct these studies don’t realize they’re agreeing with Jesus.

Unfortunately, we’re so easily absorbed, especially at Christmastime, with “getting what’s ours” (or with finding unneeded gifts for our friends and family who already have so much) that we miss what brings the real happiness and joy—giving God what’s His. Giving is doing what we were made for: loving God and our neighbors (Matthew 22:36–40). Giving boldly affirms Christ’s lordship. It is an act that brings great joy.  When we give, everyone but Satan wins. God is happy, those who receive our gifts are happy, and we’re happy. Everybody wins.

This leads me to bring up Giving Tuesday, which is next Tuesday, November 29. It’s the generosity community’s response to the consumerism of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, and it’s designed to provide people with a charitable day to consider giving as they go into the holiday season. (Learn more at www.givingtuesday.org.)

You can give to any ministry you choose. One ministry actively participating in a Giving Tuesday campaign is The JESUS Film. They’re offering the opportunity for people to support church planting efforts in India and bring the gospel to unreached peoples. (Through a challenge grant, gifts given to this outreach will be doubled.) I can’t think of a better gift this Christmas than the gift of knowing you gave to help get the Good News to those who’ve never heard it before!

I would also encourage you to think about giving to one or several of the wonderful ministries that EPM supports, including The Seed Company, Joni and Friends, Prison Fellowship, Elam Ministries, and CareNet. (For a longer list of recommended organizations, see our website.)           

And if the Lord leads, I’d invite you to consider giving to Eternal Perspective Ministries, and specifically to our efforts to get more of our articles and resources translated into other languages. This is a great passion of mine to grow the worldwide outreach of our website. So far, we have resources available in nine different languages (French, Spanish, Portuguese, Cambodian-Khmer, Nepali, Albanian, Tajik, Ukrainian, and Chinese – simplified.), and we hope to greatly expand what’s available for each language. If you’d like to give towards this work, please select the “Translation Fund” on our donation page. 

And of course, if you feel led to give to our general fund, this is how we pay our thirteen EPM employees, and we would be deeply grateful for your support. Or if you prefer to send a check rather than give online, our ministry address is 39085 Pioneer Blvd., Suite 206, Sandy, OR 97055.

Whether or not you participate in “Giving Tuesday,” may this Christmas season focus on the person and work of Christ. Meditate on this: “For we know the grace of Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich yet for our sakes he became poor, that we through his poverty might become rich” (2 Corinthians 8:9). God’s giving to us is the lightning; our giving to Him is the thunder. We give, because He first gave to us.

[i] Daniel M. Oppenheimer and Christopher Y. Olivola, eds., The Science of Giving (New York: Psychology Press, 2011), 8.

Gratitude Brings Happiness to Everyone

Our thankfulness glorifies God and makes Him happy: “The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me” (Psalm 50:23). But God isn’t the only one affected when we give thanks.

Psychologists asked undergraduates to complete a survey that included a happiness scale and measures of thankfulness. Over six weeks, the participants wrote down, once a week, five things they were grateful for. This practice had a dramatic effect on their happiness score. The study concluded, “Students who regularly expressed gratitude showed increases in well-being over the course of the study.”[i]

Secular books on happiness document gratitude’s role in making people happier. But cultivating gratitude proves difficult for people whose worldview leaves them with nobody to thank! Yes, they can thank someone for loaning them a car or for being their teacher. But whom can they thank for sunshine, air to breathe, and the capacity to enjoy pleasure? People who don’t believe that a sovereign God is at work through the kindness of others must thank their “lucky stars,” random circumstances, or—at best—other people. Since people are small when compared to God, the object of their gratitude is small, shrinking their capacity for happiness.

God’s common grace offers unbelievers a degree of happiness that’s greatly enhanced through thankfulness. As Christ-followers, however, we find gratitude multiplied when we return it to God, the ultimate and primary source of all goodness.

When others encourage me, I seek to always thank God for the encouragement. My happiness stems from my gratitude to the God of providence, who orchestrates our encounter. God sends others to humble me, and they, too, are character-building gifts. It may not be as easy to thank God for them, but God calls on me to “give thanks in all circumstances,” not just some (1 Thessalonians 5:18).

The Greek word charis, often translated “grace,” means “that which is given freely and generously—‘gift, gracious gift.’”[ii] God’s grace is His giving to us, at great cost, what we don’t deserve (see 2 Corinthians 8:9). Second Corinthians 8–9 is the longest passage on financial giving in the New Testament; charis (“grace”) appears ten times. The passage ends with these words from Paul: “Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift.”

When we genuinely experience the good news of salvation in Christ, gratitude and happiness inevitably multiply.

May you have a happy, Christ-centered, full-of-gratitude Thanksgiving!

[i] S. Lyubomirsky, K. M. Sheldon, and D. Schkade, “Pursuing Happiness: The Architecture of Sustainable Change,” Review of General Psychology 9, no. 2 (2005): 111–31.

[ii] Johannes P. Louw and Eugene A. Nida, eds., Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains (New York: United Bible Societies, 1996).

Photo: Pixabay

Parents: It’s Time to Wake Up About Pornography, Sexting, and Your Children

While speaking about sexual purity at my church several years ago, I told parents that if they’re going to let their children have unrestricted Internet access in the privacy of their own rooms, through computers, tablets, phones, or any other device they might as well buy thousands of pornographic magazines and stack them in their children’s closets and say, “Don’t ever look at those.” It amounts to the same thing.

After my message, a sincere Christian mother came up to me. She was offended by my warning to parents not to allow their children to have unmonitored Internet access.

“I can’t believe you said that,” she began. “My son has Internet access in his room, and I trust him! He’s a good boy.”

I told her, “I was once a seventh grade boy. I’ll tell you right now, you think you’re honoring your son by trusting him, but you are setting him up for a fall. You could hand him a gun, and his life might turn out better than if you just hand him over to the Internet.”

If this strikes you as an overstatement, you simply do not understand the devastating effects of pornography. The great majority of children, especially boys but also girls, who are allowed access to pornography will view it, either inadvertently or purposefully, and many of those will become addicted to it, ruining their lives and in many cases ruining their future marriages.    

That pornography is “harmless” is a lie from the pit of Hell. Scripture says that Satan goes around like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour, and sadly, we are losing our daughters and our sons.

For years, such predictions and warnings sounded like the overreactions of religious zealots. But recently an outpouring of information on the negative impact of pornography is available from mainstream researchers and secular sources. (Even GQ Magazine for men shared a piece in 2013 titled, “10 Reasons Why You Should Quit Watching Porn.”) Many researchers recognize, even from their non-Christian worldview, that children’s early exposure to addictive pornography and behavior such as sexting (taking and sharing provocative selfies) is harming them deeply.

The cover title for Time Magazine’s April 2016 issue was “PORN: Why young men who grew up with Internet Porn are becoming advocates for turning it off.” This lengthy, non-faith based article highlighted the real-life sexual problems that men who grew up with Internet porn are facing in relationships (like not being physically able to become aroused by a real encounter with a woman because of the way porn use has altered their brain’s chemistry/functionality).

The New York Times tweeted this tag line to a recent article: “The longer you wait to give your children a smartphone, the better.” Brian X. Chen writes about how increasingly younger kids are being impacted by pornography and sexting:

Ms. Weinberger, who wrote the smartphone and Internet safety book “The Boogeyman Exists: And He’s in Your Child’s Back Pocket,” said she had surveyed 70,000 children in the last 18 months and found that, on average, sexting began in the fifth grade, pornography consumption began when children turned 8, and pornography addiction began around age 11.

In an article for The Atlantic, Hanna Rosin cites research about the wide-spread practice of sexting:

A recent study of seven public high schools in East Texas, for example, found that 28 percent of sophomores and juniors had sent a naked picture of themselves by text or e-mail, and 31 percent had asked someone to send one. …boys and girls were equally likely to have sent a sext, but girls were much more likely to have been asked to—68 percent had been. 

…This year, researchers in Los Angeles published a study of middle-schoolers showing that those who sent sexts were 3.2 times more likely to be sexually active than those who didn’t. 

A police officer friend told me that hardly a week goes by when he doesn’t get a call from a distraught parent who has discovered nude pictures of their daughter are being sent all over the school or across the country because she posed for a friend, or took the picture herself. Those images can never be fully recalled, nor the shame erased from memory. 

Officer John Rasmussen, a school resource officer in my area, explained he often shares with families how the devastating effects of sexting and pornography knows no bounds.  “I’ve frequently found the youth involved come from believing families who have raised ‘good kids.’”

Christian parents would never have believed it if you had told them 25 years ago that one day most kids would be carrying around a little device that would allow them access to pornography and on which they could receive naked images sent by their classmates while the young person is doing homework, in bed, or sitting in church.

Hanna Rosin explains how Major Donald Lowe and his fellow officers at the Louisa County Sheriff's Office have talked to kids about the consequences of sexting:

Lowe’s team explained to both the kids pictured on Instagram and the ones with photos on their phones the serious legal consequences of their actions. Possessing or sending a nude photo of a minor—even if it’s a photo of yourself—can be prosecuted as a felony under state child-porn laws. He explained that 10 years down the road they might be looking for a job or trying to join the military, or sitting with their families at church, and the pictures could wash back up; someone who had the pictures might even try to blackmail them.

“Locally we see a blackmail tactic used time and again.  It usually starts with ‘send me just one pic’,” says Officer Rasmussen. “And that first picture may not be considered too provocative by most, but the kid is manipulated with shame and fear that someone will find out. Coercive requests follow, like, ‘Send me more or I’ll send this one out to your friends and family.’ This can very quickly progress to, ‘Now meet me for “_______” (sex act) or I’ll share all the photos.’”

I’m a grandparent to five boys, the oldest of them 12. Like many of you, I find this information, and the related statistics, chilling. (And remember, it’s not just boys who are looking at pornography; young girls are too. Nor are girls the only ones participating in sending inappropriate pictures.) The reality is, if you have children in grade school and older, even if they themselves aren’t exposed to or involved in these practices, some of their classmates certainly are, and as the years go on, more will be.

So what can concerned parents do?

1. Realize your responsibility to protect your children. If your child has a smartphone or has access to a phone, a tablet, online gaming console, or a computer, they are vulnerable. As a parent you might wonder, “Do I have the right to interfere? Isn’t that being nosey?” Your job is to interfere, and to know what is going on in your children’s lives, as well as what happens when they’re at friends’ houses and at school. You need to protect them, just as if you were standing next to a freeway and would feel an obligation to put your arms around them and say, “Stay off that freeway.”

You and your spouse need to decide what age is appropriate for your children to have their own phone, as well as the capabilities their phone has when do they do get one. (Some parents concerned about being able to safely reach their children have provided a phone that can only make calls and text certain numbers.)

2. Start the conversations about the dangers of pornography now. Given the ever-younger ages of kids affected, there’s a great advantage in talking to your kids early—probably much earlier than you might think. Several parents I respect have used and recommended the book Good Pictures, Bad Pictures by Kristen A. Jenson to talk with their children about the dangers of pornography in an age-appropriate format. (The book also provides positive, practical steps for kids when they are inadvertently exposed to inappropriate images.) Older teens could benefit from the many purity-related resources available from ministries.  (For instance, see my article Guidelines for Sexual Purity and Dannah Gresh’s Seven Secrets to Purity for Every Teen Girl.)

Realize too that the conversations shouldn’t be just one time, but ongoing. One mom of boys writes, “What I am coming to see is that my boys and I just have to have conversation after conversation after conversation about the topic and about how most of their friends are going to struggle with this and most of society is struggling with this.”

3. Establish clear guidelines in your family. Install a pornography-filtering and accountability-reporting program on computers, tablets, and smartphones (realizing it can’t screen out everything). See this article for various options. Establish, and enforce, rules in your home about keeping electronic devices, including phones, out of private rooms. (Some families have a “drop basket” or a “station” where everyone, including parents, deposits their phones when they come through the door.) Require that computers and televisions stay in high-traffic areas.

4. Talk to your children about the great rewards and happiness of purity, and the destruction and unhappiness of impurity. Talk about how good sex can be inside marriage. Explain how sex is one of the best things God has made, but it becomes the very worst—the most devastating—when it is taken out of its God-given context. Scripture, especially in Proverbs 5-7, provides a great basis to talk to kids about the dangers of impurity and lust. (Some parents have gone through my book The Purity Principle with their teens.)

This is a battle for our children, with their lives and futures at stake. May Christian parents answer the Lord’s call to protect their children, and train them in the joys of purity.

Article Sources

Porn Addiction Is Now Threatening an Entire Generation – Relevant Magazine
What's the Right Age for a Child to Get a Smartphone? – The New York Times
Why Kids Sext – The Atlantic

More Resources

Teaching teens about sexual purity isn’t good enough. Here’s why.
Protecting Your Family from the Digital Invasion
Four Ways Parents Can Protect Their Kids from Sexting
Helping Your Child Avoid the Pornography Trap
Taking a Stand Against Pornography in Your Home
Becoming a Cyber-Savvy Parent
Cell Phone Rules

Does Jeremiah 29:11 Apply to New Testament Believers Today?

A few times I’ve shared Jeremiah 29:11 on my Facebook page. The verse says, “I know the plans I have in mind for you, declares the Lord; they are plans for peace, not disaster, to give you a future filled with hope” (CEB). I always get some pushback on this. Recently a thoughtful reader asked, “But for whom and when does this apply? Is the context meant to include me/us?”

The “you” in Jeremiah 29:11 is plural. It’s spoken not to an individual but to a nation—God’s people Israel, in exile in Babylon. Seven verses earlier it says: “This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon ...” (Jeremiah 29:4). And just a verse earlier it explains that exile will last seventy years. In the near context there is a false prophet, Hananiah, who is basically preaching health and wealth gospel, telling lies to the people that all would be well and that Babylon would be defeated. Jeremiah, the true prophet, who is speaking a message of God's judgment on Israel, is rejected. God is promising to bring Israel back from the seventy year exile, and that will fulfill His plans for peace and a future of hope.

But the promise of God for all His people is revealed in this passage: that regardless of what judgment and suffering might happen first, God's ultimate plans for His children (as much for us as for Old Testament Israel) are for good and not evil, for welfare and hope.

Yes, Jeremiah was writing to his fellow Israelites. But so were Moses, Samuel, and David, and nearly all the prophets. That’s true of virtually the entire Old Testament, which in hundreds of cases the New Testament freely applies to the church, followers of Christ, Jews and Gentiles alike. Israel was God’s people, and it’s no stretch to say that today’s believers, the church, are also God’s people. So verses that were written to Israel are also written for the church.

For instance, take 1 Corinthians 10:1-11. Paul is talking about Israel disobeying God, wandering in the wilderness and engaging in immorality, but he takes each of these experiences of Israel and uses them to warn believers in the church, e.g. “And do not complain, as some of them did, and were killed by the destroying angel. Now these things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come” (v. 10-11).

Of course, many promises in Scripture are narrow, to particular people such as David: “Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever” (2 Samuel 7:16). Certainly it would be a mistake to imagine that God is promising each of us will have eternal thrones. Yet there is truth in that verse for our benefit too, because we know Jesus our Lord and Savior is the descendant of David who will reign forever, His people with Him.

It’s really true that while not all of God’s Word is written to us, it is all written for us. God spoke all His words in Scripture to certain people in certain times, but in the larger sense, the principles—which are timeless truths—apply to all His children. In the case of Jeremiah 29:11, just because it was spoken to Israel about coming back from exile doesn’t mean it has no connection to our lives.

Other passages reveal that our future in God’s presence will never end. What could be a better future and a hope than our joyful expectation of resurrected eternal life with Christ who has gone to prepare a place for us and invited us to enter into His eternal happiness? Don’t many passages reinforce this idea that God our Father, who loves us, promise us ultimate peace, not disaster, and an incredibly bright future filled with hope, a place we will live happily ever after?

While we are not in exile in Babylon, it doesn’t mean God’s Words have no relationship to us. Jesus, King of Kings will deliver us all from our captivity in this world under the Curse, where we are called “foreigners and exiles” (1 Peter 2:11). He will rescue us, taking us to our true and eternal home, the New Earth, where He will reign forever, and we will reign with Him. Dozens of verses support each of these truths, which suggest clearly that we are part of God’s broader audience of Jeremiah 29:11.

God’s nature hasn’t changed, so everything Jeremiah 29:11 says about God’s plans remains true. As He rejoiced over Israel (Zephaniah 3:17) and sought their eternal good, He also rejoices over us and seeks our eternal good. Speaking of 2 Corinthians 1:20 (“For all the promises of God find their Yes in him”) John Piper says, “If you’re in Christ Jesus by trusting Him, all the promises are yours.”

So I think that while the specific promise to return Israel to the land after seventy years of exile is clearly not made to us, nonetheless the underlying principles of Jeremiah 29:11 pertain to all God’s children in every place and time as they face the hardships of life.

Of course, we should first understand the passage as God actually spoke it and Jeremiah understood it: not a promise of immediate prosperity. Indeed, times were tough for these Israelites and would remain tough for seventy years of exile, where most of the individuals would die. But this was a reminder that corporately their ultimate welfare as a nation was in the hands of a sovereign and loving God. And even if they died in Babylon, their God would take them through the valley of the shadow of death and they would live in His house forever (Psalm 23).

That’s how I understand the passage and that’s why I love it. I agree that some people take it out of context, not bothering to recognize the specific historical context and the seventy year exile. Unfortunately many passages are taken out of context. But when I am sharing a verse on Facebook or Twitter without commentary, I am not attempting to anticipate and correct all those who might misinterpret it. I sometimes quote commonly misused passages which, in context, are wonderfully true, and which furthermore, contain timeless truths applicable to our lives as well.

Writing in his commentary, Puritan Matthew Henry said this about Jeremiah 29:11:

We often do not know our own minds, but the Lord is never at an uncertainty. We are sometimes ready to fear that God's designs are all against us; but as to his own people, even that which seems evil, is for good. He will give them, not the expectations of their fears, or the expectations of their fancies, but the expectations of their faith; the end he has promised, which will be the best for them. 

Henry’s words about “that which seems evil, is for good” calls to mind Romans 8:28: “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose” (ESV). Romans 8:28 suggests that God does intend life’s ordeals for our good—but there’s a difference between immediate good and ultimate good. Seeing that difference requires faith.

We’re told in Proverbs 10:28 that “The hope of the righteous brings joy.” No matter what comes today or tomorrow, may these words from the Lord to His people Israel become our expectation of the life God ultimately intends for all His children: “I know the plans I have in mind for you, declares the Lord; they are plans for peace, not disaster, to give you a future filled with hope.”

This doesn’t mean life will be easy, it won’t, or that we won’t face hard times. We will. But it means that just as He did for Israel while in exile, God has a future in mind for us—in our own difficult challenges—that we can bank on. And we should trust the God who loves us to ultimately bring us peace and hope in a far greater and eternal form than anything the nation Israel ever experienced in their return from exile. 

A Post-Election Prayer from Pastor Kevin DeYoung

In Pastor Mark Dever’s Sunday sermon he said,

Some members of our congregation are happy with the results of this last week’s election, some don’t care, and some are scared. It’s our job as a congregation...to show that the Christ we share is more important to us than the politics we don’t.

I agree wholeheartedly.

The following prayer for our new president-elect and for our nation, from Pastor Kevin DeYoung, is my prayer as well. Please read it and see if you wish to make it yours too. Perhaps your family, pastor, or your church could use it as a starting point for your own prayers with the wording that most captures your heart and concerns and desires.

I’ve had people ask me before, with more than a hint of criticism, “Why do you post these prayers? Are you trying to parade your righteousness before others?” While I suppose there is always the danger that one puts out a prayer for the praise of men (a danger with any public post), that’s not why I include prayers like this on my blog (at least not what I think is going on in my heart). I post prayers from time to time because (1) we need examples (even imperfect ones) of how to pray, (2) it serves my congregation, and (3) sometimes when I don’t know the right analysis or the best way forward, I figure I can at least pray.

So here’s how I led my church in prayer this past Sunday.

*******

Our good and gracious heavenly Father, we praise for your almighty and ever present power, by which you uphold, as with your hand, all things.

When we don’t know what will happen with our health, we trust you. When we don’t know what we will happen with those we love, we rest in you. And when we don’t know what will happen with our nation, we turn to you.

In the midst of a world filled with triumphalism on the one hand and recriminations on the other, in a world where we tend to assume the worst of those who are not like us, help the church to show a more excellent way. May the world look in at our counter-culture communities and say with astonishment, “See how they love one another.” Give us the empathy to listen to one another and the wisdom to learn from what we hear.

May the church show forth the kind of diversity worth pursuing—the diversity of every nationality, and every race, and every class, and every color confessing sins together and together worshiping the risen Christ.

As we are commanded in 1 Timothy 2, we pray for Donald Trump, the next President of the United States.

Grant him wisdom, courage, and integrity as a man and as a leader. Keep him faithful, kind, and loving as a husband and father.

Give him a heart for the poor, concern for the powerless, and compassion for the weak. May he resist the temptation to settle scores and tear others down. Give him a heart, a disposition, and a commitment to honor women, protect the vulnerable, and reject all racial animus.

Put before him the best information and the most intelligent counselors so he can make good decisions about economic and foreign policy and choose capable men and women for a vast array of judicial, cabinet-level, and bureaucratic appointments.

May the President be guided by both courage and restraint as Commander-in-Chief of our armed forces. Make him a defender of the unborn and a champion for religious liberty.

Make him a man of prayer and a daily student of the Scriptures. Give him the humility to see his sins, the honesty to admit his faults, the grace to forgive his enemies, and the strength of character to change his mind.

Lead him to a firmer understanding of the truth of the gospel, a resolute commitment to obey the Word of God, and a passion to promote what accords with your truth.

By your grace, heavenly Father, may President Trump be a better man than many expect and a better man than we deserve.

And no matter the smiles or frowns of providence, keep your people faithful to the things we know we must do: to love our neighbors as ourselves and to love the Lord with all our heart, soul, strength, and mind.

Make us quick to serve and eager to speak the truth in love. Grant us the privilege to bear witness to the only King who keeps all his promises and the only One whose kingdom knows no end.

In the name of Christ—the only name given among men whereby we must be saved—we pray, Amen.

Photo: Pixabay

Cinderella with Amnesia

All of us need to lock arms with a group of comrades who will inspire and encourage us and challenge us to greater accomplishments for God’s kingdom causes. That’s why we all desperately need to be part of a local church where God’s Word is taught and God’s Son is worshiped (Hebrews 10:25). Hebrews shows how today’s churches can trace their heritage back to the ancient body of Christ and heroes of the faith throughout the ages.

Michael Griffiths wrote God’s Forgetful Pilgrims, in which he maintains that the church has largely forgotten her wondrous identity in Christ and has settled for the world’s substitute identities. I came across the original British edition of the book, which had a more striking title: Cinderella with Amnesia. As children of God, we are prized by the Prince, chosen by Him to reign at His side (1 Peter 2:9). Yet, beautiful and beloved as we are to the Prince, we go right on—like Cinderella with amnesia—living in drudgery as citizens of a second-class country, forfeiting heavenly treasures by clinging to earthly ones.

Back in Kansas, with her experience in the land of Oz behind her, Dorothy said, “There’s no place like home.” How true! But how easily we forget where our home really is. At death, the Christian doesn’t leave home. We go home: “We . . . prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:8). Consider the paradox—our true home is a place we’ve never been! (Had we been there we could hardly bear to live here.)

Home is where our Father is. Our true home is so far superior, the spiritual family there so vast and rich. The Great Reunion awaits us. We long for it.

When we understand what home really is, money and things lose their glitter. We finally see them as they have been all along: pale, insipid, cheap imitations of the true and vast wealth that is ours as children of God.

C. S. Lewis puts it well: “Our Father refreshes us on the journey with some pleasant inns, but will not encourage us to mistake them for home.”

For more on the subject of stewardship and eternity, see Randy's books The Treasure Principle, Managing God's Money, and Money, Possessions, and Eternity.

Photo: Unsplash

The New Kingstone Bible, the Most Complete Graphic Novel Bible

I’m excited to share about a new graphic novel version of the Bible that’s now available, called The Kingstone Bible. It’s released by my friends at Kingstone Media, a publisher dedicated to producing quality graphic novels that are biblically sound and Christ-centered.

The Kingstone Bible is the longest single graphic novel ever published, as well as the most complete graphic novel adaptation of the Bible. My book The Apostle is part it, telling the story of Paul’s life and ministry, mainly based on the book of Acts. The Action Bible, which my grandsons love, has sold over a million copies. It’s proven that the Bible in graphic novel form can be both engaging and Christ-honoring. The Kingstone Bible is every bit as compelling as the Action Bible, but it utilizes many more illustrators (over 45) and covers a lot more biblical content. Here’s more about it:

The Kingstone Bible illustrates all 66 books from Genesis to Revelation and brings the entire Bible together into one continuous story. The Kingstone Bible will release in three formats: three hardback volumes, 12 soft-back versions and digitally. Portions of The Kingstone Bible are currently available in print and digital in multiple languages with more planned. An animated version begins releasing January 2017 and a Virtual Reality experience of The Kingstone Bible is currently in development.

At 2,000-pages, The Kingstone Bible is the longest non-serialized graphic novel ever published. The book features more than 10,000 art panels. All images were done by hand with pen and ink by more than 45 industry-recognized artists including Kyle Hotz (Captain America, Dr. Strange, Spiderman), Christopher Ivy (Daredevil, Avengers and Hulk), Emily Kanalz (Spiderman and X-Men) and artists with a long list of Marvel and DC Comics credits.

The three volume hardcover set is monumental. Together, the books weigh over twelve pounds. When they were shipped, I immediately got them into the hands of my grandchildren.

I encourage you to check out The Kingstone Bible, and consider if there’s a young person in your life who might benefit from reading it. (And I recommend getting a copy for yourself—I  think you might be surprised how much you enjoy it as a fresh, visual supplement to your study of God’s Word.)

May God use The Kingstone Bible to multiply His kingdom!

Evaluation by Gerry Breshears, Chairman of the Department of Theology, Western Seminary:

The Kingstone Bible is a powerful new way to get the message of the Bible into the hands, heads, and hearts of people who simply do not read books, much less the Bible. I greatly appreciate the use of this format to engage the imaginations of all people. It presents the message of God’s Word simply and faithfully. While the format is at its best in narrative, gospel and apocalyptic, all genre of Scripture are presented well. Haggai and Jude come to life in graphic format while Romans is summarized clearly. It is not intended to be a substitute for the Bible itself. Rather this ingenious work introduces and invites people into God’s Word. Enjoy the work of this team of godly artists.

7 Reflections Now That the Election Is Over

I think we can all agree that we are glad this election is behind us, regardless of how we feel about the outcome. Many of us may be discouraged. Some may be angry, not only at the candidates and political parties, but at their fellow believers who voted for or didn’t vote for those we personally felt strongly for or against.

Before anything else, let me begin with a plea for unity in the body of Christ that comes from Jesus Himself:

“I am praying not only for these disciples but also for all who will ever believe in me through their message. I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one—as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me. I have given them the glory you gave me, so they may be one as we are one. I am in them and you are in me. May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me.”  (John 17:20-23)

I had a talk just the other day with a good brother who was voting for a candidate I could not in good conscience vote for. But he, in his conscience, felt he had to vote for him. We lamented that the outcome of this election would be discouraging for both of us. We talked about how we were committed to believe the best of each other, and not let this affect our friendship. I love this brother, and he loves me. Our friendship and our identity as partners in the gospel and part of the church will not be tarnished through this.

I encourage you to not assume the worst of your brothers and sisters in Christ. I found in this election more than any other I’ve seen, many people with pure motives passionately disagreed with each other’s choices. So don’t assume your fellow church members have sinned. But if you are convinced they have sinned, forgive them. “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you” (Ephesians 4:32).

Here are seven perspectives as we seek to think biblically and eternally about not only the upcoming four years, but for the rest of our lives:

1. God remains sovereign and in control.

The Lord “works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will” (Ephesians 1:11). There is great comfort in acknowledging and embracing Scripture’s teaching that God is sovereign over human events, including the outcome of elections. In Isaiah 46:10, God says, “I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say: My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.” Those who believe in a God who knows “the end from the beginning” can relax because even though they don’t know what lies ahead, their sovereign God does.

Our fates do not rest in the hands of fallen humankind: politicians, lawyers, military officers, employers, or even spouses and children. If we believe this, our reaction to many of the difficulties we face will be different. Problems will seem smaller, for although we can’t control them, we know God can—and everything will work out for His glory and our good.

“Dominion belongs to the Lord and he rules over the nations” (Psalm 22:28). Because God has absolute power, no one—including demons and humans who choose to violate His moral will—can thwart His ultimate purpose. “The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the LORD; he turns it wherever he will” (Proverbs 21:1).

Ultimately our hope is in Him, this Sovereign over the nations: “O LORD, the God of our fathers, are you not God in the heavens? And are you not ruler over all the kingdoms of the nations?” (2 Chronicles 20:6).

2. While circumstances can sometimes change and become worse, our Savior never changes.

I have been asked whether I think God will judge America. I believe He has for some time been judging us for many things, including the killing of the unborn, immorality, materialism, and arrogance. In fact, I believe the two major party candidates of our recent election were themselves part of God’s judgment upon us.

However, even when God judges a nation for its sins, He freely offers grace, empowerment, and hope for His people, and for all who will turn to Him in repentance and trust. He is faithful. In Malachi 3:6, God says, “I the Lord do not change.” He’s a God “who does not change like shifting shadows” (James 1:17). God doesn’t change in His essence, character, knowledge, plans, or purposes:  “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8).

Charles Spurgeon wrote, “A changeable God would be a terror to the righteous, they would have no sure anchorage, and amid a changing world they would be driven to and fro in perpetual fear of shipwreck… Our heart leaps for joy as we bow before One who has never broken His word or changed His purpose.”

3. Only by trusting in Christ and His promise of the world to come can we find peace.

Jesus told His followers, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid” (John 14:27). It is now, not at some vague point in the future, that “the Lord gives strength to his people; the Lord blesses his people with peace” (Psalm 29:11, NIV). The fruit of the Spirit is not something we wait until Heaven to enjoy; it’s available to us in this life (see Galatians 5:22-23). “So my heart rejoices and I am happy” (Psalm 16:9, NET). Did you catch that the psalmist is speaking in the present tense? He isn’t just anticipating rejoicing—he’s doing it now.

Today’s supernatural peace and happiness in Christ is drawn from an infinite deposit of happiness that God has already placed in our account. It isn’t something we have to wait to experience after death, though only then will we experience it completely. We can find comfort and joy knowing “The Lord is near to all who call upon Him” (Psalm 145:18).

May we thank God for His sovereign grace, and entrust ourselves, our children and grandchildren, our churches and our country, to His care and mercy. “Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God” (Psalm 20:7).

4. Remember that the Bible’s commands to submit to ruling authorities were given at a time when Christians were facing hardship and oppression.

Romans 13:1-3 says, “Everyone must submit himself to governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong.”

Paul was writing to a Roman church feeling the heat of persecution. In coming to Christ the Roman Christians confessed “Jesus is Lord.” Simultaneously, they boldly refused to recite the words of unconditional loyalty to the state: “Caesar is Lord.” That’s why they were facing suspicion and increasing oppression from the government. Within only a few yards of the writing of Romans, Nero would launch a campaign of persecution against them, which would recur in waves over the next two and a half centuries.

The Roman Christians could easily have become resentful of and even rebellious against the often corrupt government of Rome. Paul saw that Caesar could be regarded as the enemy in such a context. But for the most part, Roman law was just and worthy of obedience. It was only in rare cases that Christians should disobey. For example, the law that commanded sacrifice to Caesar or the law that forbade intervention for the abandoned infants left to die outside the city gates. Paul did not have to mention those exceptions. All his readers knew them, and churches didn’t obey those laws. (Examples today would include if the government forbade churches from speaking against homosexual practices or abortion, which would be commanding Christ-followers to act inconsistently with Scripture.)

If Paul called his readers to submit to the ruling authorities of Rome, we too should obey Scripture’s command to pray for and submit to our American leaders. Let’s thank God for the freedoms we continue to enjoy, and use every opportunity to glorify Christ and testify concerning Him.

When and if the time comes that we must disobey the government—for instance, if we’re told we can’t preach what the Bible says—let’s do so not with rancor but in the straightforward way that we see in Scripture: “Peter and the apostles answered, ‘We must obey God rather than men’” (Act 5:29).

We may increasingly experience persecution in the years to come, as our belief in Scripture will continue to separate us from the culture around us. As Romans 8:28 indicates, God brings good things out of bad. If American churches face more adversity in the future, which I think we will, may we experience greater zeal for Christ, more fruitfulness, and increased joy in our Lord.

5. Deceit isn’t confined to politicians—and as Christ’s followers, we should be defined by gracious truth-telling.

As this election cycle dramatically illustrated, telling the truth is no longer normal among our civic leaders. (Sadly, this is true of people from every segment of society, not just politicians. Note the number of times characters routinely lie to each other in television shows and movies.) The spiritual implications of choosing a path of deception are considerable when you look at Revelation 22:15, which says that among those who have no place in Heaven is “everyone who loves and practices falsehood.”

A society cannot function without trust. People should be able to trust their politicians, pastors, bankers, mechanics, shopkeepers, and police officers. Where there is no trust, families and churches and nations cannot operate properly. We’re naive to think that our own social system can withstand the barrage of dishonesty it has been undergoing for these last decades. Without honesty there is no integrity, and without integrity, we as a nation are nothing. None of our past virtues or successes can compensate for our present lack of integrity.

But as followers of Christ, we’re to live differently. We are to walk in the truth (3 John 3), love the truth, and believe the truth (2 Thessalonians 2:10, 12). We’re to speak the truth “in love” (Ephesians 4:15). We may not be able to fix the problem of deceit in our government, perhaps not even in our neighborhoods and workplaces, though we can be a positive influence there.

6. While we can’t control the world around us, we can positively impact the lives we do have control over.

We can’t control the new president’s choices. But by the Spirit’s empowerment, we can make daily decisions that are honoring to Christ: “His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness” (2 Peter 1:3).  

“This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the LORD is your life.” (Deuteronomy 30:19–20)

God has also given us opportunities to positively influence the other lives around us in our families, churches, and communities. If you’re a parent or grandparent, or a mentor of young people, you can impact future generations for Christ. You can choose to be a truth teller, and you can teach your children and grandchildren to be the same.  We can help raise the bar of truthfulness in our churches.

When we fail to tell the truth, we fail to represent Jesus, who is the Truth personified. When we speak the truth in love, we cast our votes for Jesus. We become the kinds of people we wish there were more of in political office.

7. Our primary God-given job is not to promote conservativism or liberalism, but to represent Jesus, our true King, and Heaven, our true country.

Conservativism is not the Gospel. Liberalism is not the Gospel. Patriotism is not the Gospel. Only the Gospel is the Gospel.

I love my earthly country, and I want to hold on to liberty, but America is not the answer. Christ is the answer. The church shouldn’t merely be raising young conservatives, but sold-out followers of Jesus who just want to be like Him, regardless of whether in a given instance that looks liberal or conservative. (See my article Conservative, Liberal, or Christian?) We should teach our children to oppose abortion not because they’re conservatives, and teach our children to oppose racism not because they’re liberals, but because they love Jesus and believe in biblical justice for all people.

We should teach our children to set their hopes NOT on the Republican or Democratic parties or any other party, but upon the only One who can save them—their true President, their true Chief Justice, and their true Lawmaker. “For the LORD is our judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our king; it is he who will save us” (Isaiah 33:22).

“But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ” (Philippians 3:20). No matter what direction our earthly country may be going, it’s our never-ending heavenly country that we should represent.  America may or may not unravel in coming decades, but God’s kingdom certainly won’t unravel. People of the world don't need America; they need Jesus. So, sure, do what you can for your earthly country, but realize it’s not the source of your true identity.

The key to influence and change in this world is not, and never has been, politics. It is faithfulness to Jesus. In the end, which will never end, acts of faithfulness—many of them quiet, some seen only by God—are the votes that will count, bringing the eternal results that will matter. “For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Ephesians 2:10).

Whether it’s coaching a team, mentoring young people, mowing a widow’s lawn, standing up for unborn children, working for racial reconciliation, going on short-term missions trips, or giving a large portion of your income to missions or inner-city work—If we’re doing it through Christ’s power we’re bringing a foretaste of the coming New Earth to this current, hurting Earth.

As Romans 8 tells us, this world under the curse groans as in the pains of childbirth, awaiting our Redeemer and our resurrection, on the coattails of which it too will rise. Meanwhile, nations will rise and fall, but through it all, “God is our refuge and strength, an ever present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea” (Psalm 46:1-2). “The LORD foils the plans of the nations....But the plans of the LORD stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations” (Psalm 33:10-11).

The knowledge that a New Earth is coming should reassure us and give us perspective. It means that though injustice, corruption, deception, and ungodliness may be widespread, they will not last. God will make all things right, rewarding His people for trusting Him. He’ll turn this upside-down world right side up, placing it in the care of His beloved children. “To him be honor and eternal dominion” (1 Timothy 6:16).

Everlasting justice, peace, and righteousness are certainly coming, personally delivered by the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6). Meanwhile, may we be on their side, and His side, before they arrive.

“…until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which he will display at the proper time—he who is the blessed [makarios, happy] and only Sovereign,  the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.” (1 Timothy 6:14-16)

Photo: Unsplash