Randy Alcorn's Blog, page 146

Our Best Life Yet to Come: The New Earth, Our Eternal Home

Imagine you’re part of a NASA team preparing for a five-year mission to Mars. After a period of extensive training, the launch date finally arrives. As the rocket lifts off, one of your fellow astronauts asks, “What do you know about Mars?”

Envision shrugging your shoulders and saying, “Nothing. We never talked about it. I guess we’ll find out when we get there.” It’s unthinkable, isn’t it? It’s inconceivable that your training wouldn’t have included extensive study of and preparation for your ultimate destination. Yet in seminaries, Bible schools, and churches around the world, there's very little teaching about our ultimate destination: the New Heavens and New Earth. We’re told how to get to Heaven, and that it’s a better destination than Hell, but we’re taught remarkably little about Heaven itself.

Are the Present Heaven and the Eternal Heaven Different?

The apostle Paul considered it vital for us to know what happens when we die: “Dear brothers and sisters, we want you to know what will happen to the believers who have died” (1 Thessalonians 4:13, NLT).

People usually think of “Heaven” as the place Christians go when they die. But this keeps us from understanding important biblical distinctions. A better definition explains that Heaven is God’s central dwelling place, the location of his throne from where he rules the universe.

The exact location of the present Heaven is unknown, but we’re told the future Heaven will be located on the New Earth, where God will come down to live with his people (Revelation 21:3). The present Heaven is a place of transition between believers’ past lives on Earth and future resurrection lives on the New Earth.

Life in the Heaven we go to when we die is “far better” than living here on Earth under the Curse, away from the direct presence of God (Philippians 1:23). But although it will be a wonderful place, the present Heaven is not the place we’re made for, the place God promises to refashion for us to live in forever. God’s children are destined for life as resurrected beings on a resurrected Earth.

Revelation 21:1 says, “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared.” Once we abandon our assumption that Heaven cannot change, it all makes sense. God doesn’t change; he’s immutable. But God clearly says that Heaven will change. It will eventually be relocated to the New Earth.

What Will the New Earth and Life There Be Like?

Ephesians 1:10 says that God’s plan is “to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.” Just as God and man will be forever united in Jesus, so Heaven and Earth will forever be united in the new physical universe, where we’ll live as resurrected people.

God will live with us on the New Earth. That will bring all things in Heaven and on Earth together. “And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God’” (Revelation 21:3). We’ll live and rule and serve with our Lord Jesus, the source of all joy and happiness.

To be in resurrected bodies on a resurrected Earth in resurrected friendships, enjoying a resurrected culture with the resurrected Jesus—now that will be the ultimate party! Everybody will be who God made them to be—and none of us will ever suffer or die again.

Mankind was designed to live on the Earth to God’s glory. That’s exactly what Christ’s incarnation, death and resurrection secured—a renewed humanity upon a renewed Earth.

A common misunderstanding about the eternal Heaven is that it will be unfamiliar. But that couldn’t be further from the truth. When we hear that in Heaven we’ll have new bodies and live on a New Earth, this is how we should understand the word new—a restored and perfected version of our familiar bodies and our familiar Earth and our familiar relationships.

How Does Longing for Our Eternal Home Affect Us Now?

After saying “we are looking forward to a New Heaven and a New Earth, the home of righteousness,” Peter immediately adds, “So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him” (2 Pet. 3:13-14).

Knowing we’ll live forever as resurrected people on a New Earth helps us realize that the choices we make today, including choices of personal holiness—and how we act toward others—will make an indelible mark on eternity. God is watching. He’s keeping track. Jesus said that in Heaven He’ll reward us for acts of faithfulness to Him, right down to every cup of cold water we’ve given to the needy in His name (see Mark 9:41).

Life on Earth matters, not because it’s the only life we have, but precisely because it isn’t—it’s the beginning of a life that will continue without end on a renewed Earth. What God says about our future enables us to interpret our past and serve Him in our present.

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 you’re doing it through Christ’s power you’re bringing a foretaste of the coming New Earth to this current, hurting Earth.

We shouldn’t forget the compelling reality that we’re citizens of two realms, which will one day be consolidated into one—a New Heaven and a New Earth, indivisible and under the eternal rule of Christ. On that Earth, we’ll look back with satisfaction and gratitude at the difference, by God’s grace, we were able to make on this Earth.

Our perspective today is informed by the reality that resurrection awaits God’s children. This means we’ll never pass our peaks. The best is yet to come! No need for bucket lists, because the adventures awaiting us in the New Heavens and on the New Earth will far exceed the greatest thrills of this life. Right when we think “it can’t get any better than this”…it will.

Photo by NASA via Unsplash

Seeking More Joy in Your Giving

Several years ago I attended a gathering of givers. We went around the room and told our stories. The words fun, joy, exciting, and wonderful kept surfacing. There were lots of smiles and laughter, along with tears of joy. One older couple eagerly shared how they are always traveling around the world, getting involved in the ministries they’re giving to. Meanwhile, their home in the States is getting rundown. They said, “Our children keep telling us, ‘Fix up your house or buy a new one. You can afford it.’ We tell them, ‘Why would we do that? That’s not what excites us!’”

The more we give, the more we delight in our giving—and the more God delights in us. Our giving pleases us. But more importantly, it pleases God.

“God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Corinthians 9:7). This doesn’t mean we should give only when we’re feeling cheerful. The cheerfulness often comes during and after the act of obedience, not before it. So don’t wait until you feel like giving—it could be a long wait! Just give and watch the joy follow.

God delights in our cheerfulness in giving. He wants us to find joy. He even commands us to rejoice (Philippians 4:4). What command could be a greater pleasure to obey than that one? But if we don’t give, we’re robbed of the source of joy and happiness God instructs us to seek!

In this video clip from the Hearts, Habits & Happiness conference on giving, I share more on how to find joy in giving.

Photo by Evan Kirby, via Unsplash

Ray Ortlund on Why God Made Toads

As a grandfather of five boys, mothered by my wonderful daughters, I very much enjoyed this short meditation on little boys and toads. :) Thanks, Ray Ortlund, for what was to me a profound little meditation.

Why Did God Make Toads?

This is my grandson. He is lost in thought, contemplating a toad. All else has faded away, for a toad is at hand. And, surely, this is why God made toads. For little boys to meditate upon. At this moment in my grandson’s existence, he has no thought but concentration, no feeling but fascination. This is one of the ways God cares for little boys, drawing them into the experience of curiosity and even wonder. Like training wheels on the bicycle that one day will become the Maserati.

What is a toad? I think of it as a frog—already an absurd creature—but with more camo and warts. And it prefers to walk on land. So that little boys can see one in the back yard. And grow up to be men in Christ with hearts alerted to the out-there-ness reality of things infinitely greater than toads, worthy of endless wonder. So thank you, Father, for the toads of this world. For this toad. For this boy. For this moment. For all that it means for the future, including the future of the whole world.

Is there, built into the total creation, an intrinsic necessity for toads? If they were all to disappear, would the universe be diminished? My hunch is, no. But is there, built into the total creation, an intrinsic necessity for little boys? If they were all to disappear, would the universe be diminished? Yes. Little boys can grow up to be mighty men of Christ, to rule majestically over all things under their King and Brother (Psalm 8).

It all starts so humbly, so delightfully, with a toad in the back yard. 

Don’t Neglect Dating Your Spouse and Investing in Your Marriage

Marriage is the heart of the home. A good marriage precedes good parenting, and no amount of good parenting compensates for a poor marriage. And one of the best ways to have a good, strong marriage is by spending quality time together.

I get that life is busy and money can be tight. But make it a priority to date your spouse. Put it in your schedule and your budget!

Even when our girls were small, Nanci and I would have a date night and go out together. The two of us would sometimes go on vacations alone. We called on a lot of babysitters who were people from the church, or our kids would stay at our friends’ homes, or with grandparents. We really believed that the best thing we could do for our children was to have a strong marriage and to enjoy our time together.

A couple of years ago Nanci and I did a question and answer time with the young mom’s group at our church. In this video, she and I answer the questions “What are some fun things you do as a couple, on a budget?” and “What advice do you have for keeping marriage fun after the 10-year mark?”

Photo via Unsplash

Robertson McQuilkin, an Example of Faithful Love, Now with Jesus

Thursday, June 2, Robertson McQuilkin went to be with Jesus at 88 years old. I wrote about Robertson in my book If God Is Good, sharing how at the peak of his career, he resigned as president of Columbia Bible College in 1990 to become the full-time caregiver for his wife, Muriel, who had Alzheimer’s. Robertson did this, he said, because Muriel was much happier when he was with her.

Writing for Christianity Today in his article “Living by Vows,” he shared about the time before his resignation:

The board arranged for a companion to stay in our home so I could go daily to the office. During those two years it became increasingly difficult to keep Muriel home. As soon as I left, she would take out after me. With me, she was content; without me, she was distressed, sometimes terror stricken. The walk to school is a mile round trip. She would make that trip as many as ten times a day. Sometimes at night, when I helped her undress, I found bloody feet. When I told our family doctor, he choked up. “Such love,” he said simply. Then, after a moment, “I have a theory that the characteristics developed across the years come out at times like these.” I wish I loved God like that—desperate to be near him at all times. Thus she teaches me, day by day.

I remember listening years ago to McQuilkin’s announcement of his retirement from being president of Columbia Bible College to care for Muriel. Here’s the audio with some pictures. I find it very touching and Christ-honoring.

Years later in a radio interview, Dennis Rainey asked if he had any regrets about the transition from college president to caregiver. McQuilkin said,

I never think about “what if.” I don’t think “what if” is in God’s vocabulary. So I don’t even think about what I might be doing instead of changing her diaper or what I might be doing instead of spending two hours feeding her. It’s the grace of God, I’m sure.

Rainey asked a follow-up question: “But do you ever think about what you may have given up to care for her?” McQuilkin responded,

I don’t feel like I’ve given anything up. Our life is not the way we plot it or plan it.... All along I’ve just accepted whatever assignment the Lord gave me. This was his assignment. I know I’m not supposed to have that kind of reaction, but you asked me, and I have to be honest. I never went to a support group. I had enough of my own burdens without taking on everybody else’s. Sometimes I have accepted an invitation to speak at one of these. A lot of angry people. They’re angry at God for letting this happen—“Why me?” They’re angry at the one they care for, and then they feel guilty about it because they can’t explain why they’re angry at them.... I say, in acceptance there’s peace.[i]

(You can listen to Robertson’s 4-part interview on FamilyLife Today.)

He wrote about his care for Muriel:

People who do not know me well have said, “Well, you always said, ‘God first, family second, ministry third.’” But I never said that. To put God first means that all other responsibilities he gives are first, too. Sorting out responsibilities that seem to conflict, however, is tricky business.

…It is not like meeting a $10 million budget or designing a program to grasp some emerging global opportunity, to be sure. And it is not as public or exhilarating. But it demands greater resources than I could have imagined, and thus highlights more clearly than ever my own inadequacies, as well as provides constant opportunity to draw on our Lord's vast reservoir of resources.

…When the time came, the decision was firm. It took no great calculation. It was a matter of integrity. Had I not promised, 42 years before, “in sickness and in health . . . till death do us part”? This was no grim duty to which I stoically resigned, however. It was only fair. She had, after all, cared for me for almost four decades with marvelous devotion; now it was my turn. And such a partner she was! If I took care of her for 40 years, I would never be out of her debt.[ii]

Reflecting on the attention given to his resignation, Robertson said:

I have been startled by the response to the announcement of my resignation. Husbands and wives renew marriage vows, pastors tell the story to their congregations. It was a mystery to me, until a distinguished oncologist, who lives constantly with dying people, told me, “Almost all women stand by their men; very few men stand by their women.” Perhaps people sensed this contemporary tragedy and somehow were helped by a simple choice I considered the only option.[iii]

Thank you, Robertson, for your example of faithful love to your wife and above all to our Savior. And thank you, Jesus, for raising up your people who leave footsteps for us to follow.

[i] “A Promise Kept,” interview with Robertson McQuilkin, Family Life Today, August 14, 2008.

[ii] Robertson McQuilkin , “Living by Vows,” Christiantiy Today, February 1, 2004.

[iii] Ibid.

11 Ways to Become a “Global Christian” and Develop Your Heart for the Lost

Karen Coleman is a dear sister I worked with many years ago at my home church, Good Shepherd. She and her family spent 23 years in Cameroon, West Africa involved in Bible translation and missionary care, and now we have the privilege of having her on our EPM staff. I can’t think of anyone better qualified to write about developing a heart for missions.

David Bryant asks, “Who wouldn’t like to end each day, putting our heads on our pillows, confidently saying, ‘I know this day my life has counted strategically for Christ’s global cause, especially for those currently beyond the reach of the gospel’?”

May that be true of all of us.  —Randy Alcorn

It might come as a surprise to some, but if you do a Bible search for the words “mission” or “missionary”, you aren’t going to find much. To understand the role of believers in reaching the world, we have to dig a little deeper.

The heart of missions, when we get down to it, is God’s heart for lost people. It’s the Gospel, the Good News of Christ’s completed work for us through His death on the cross and His resurrection. And it’s not just for people who look like us, speak like us, or live near us. It’s for everyone.

So how can you become a more “Global Christian,” that is, someone who thinks and loves like God, who has God’s heart for the world and the lost? (Obviously, by that definition, every Christian should strive to be a Global Christian!)

1. As you read the Bible, mark any passage that relates to world ministry. I have “WM” marked all through my Bible. For example, The Great Commission in Matthew 28:18-20 and the “Be my witnesses” passage in Acts 1:7-8 come to mind quickly. But world ministry goes all the way back to Genesis 3:15, the prophesy of crushing the serpent’s heal, and Genesis 12 in the Abrahamic Covenant, where God promises to bless all the families of the earth through Abraham’s line. With hindsight, we now know both of those passages are references to Christ Himself—the seeds of the Gospel in Genesis!

Proverbs 24:11-12 speaks of rescuing those who are being taken away to death. Isaiah 9 tells us of the Child who comes to bring light and joy, as well as justice and righteousness. With an eye for this, you will start to see the ministry of God to the world everywhere in His Word.

2. Meditate on and memorize passages that have to do with God’s heart for the world. Here are some of my favorites to get you started:

Jesus was arguably the first missionary. Read His own words in John 4:31-38 (“The fields are white for harvest…”) and Matthew 9:37-38 (“The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field”).
Paul—another pretty famous missionary— said in 1 Corinthians 9:16-23 that he became all things to all people, that by all means he might save some.
Revelation 5:9-10 tells us there will be people in Heaven from “every tribe and language and people and nation…”

3. Pray for God’s wisdom and guidance. It’s worth noting that after Jesus told His disciples to ask the Lord of the Harvest to send out workers, He sent them. He intends for us to have a heart that cares for the world around us, and instructed His followers to pray to that end.

4. Sign up with the Joshua Project to discover who that “world” is. To learn more about Unreached People groups, the Joshua Project will send you (daily or less often if you choose) a little information about one group with progress to date, obstacles to the Gospel, prayer requests, and one photo of a person in that group that helps you realize these are real people headed for a Christless eternity.

They also have a section on hot spots. I’ve heard it said that most of the “easy” groups have been reached with the Gospel. There are many obstacles to reaching those that remain: their languages may be more difficult to learn; they may live in some of the most inhospitable places on the planet; they are mostly in closed countries where missionaries aren’t welcome (that’s putting it nicely). Therefore, extreme commitment is required, as well as extraordinary sensitivity and innovative strategies. But no obstacle decreases the need for those people to hear the Gospel!

5. Read good missionary biographies. They can be just as exciting as any fiction! Here are a few suggestions to get you started:

Anything about or by the band of men who launched Operation Auca in 1956 in Ecuador—Jim Elliot, Nate Saint, Ed McCully, Roger Youderian, and Pete Fleming. I recommend Through Gates of Splendor , Shadow of the Almighty , Jungle Pilot, and The Journals of Jim Elliot, as well as the movie End of the Spear . The dedication of these men and their families to Christ’s cause has had a profound effect on thousands of people.
Hudson Taylor’s Spiritual Secret by Dr. Howard Taylor (a classic)
Peace Child by Don Richardson (about an incredible analogy to the Gospel that existed among an isolated people group)
From Jerusalem to Irian Jaya by Ruth Tucker (an encyclopedia of missionaries, but it reads more like a novel)
Eternity in Their Hearts by Don Richardson (how God prepares entire people groups for the Gospel—fascinating)
Bruchko by Bruce Olson (a 19-year-old captured and tortured by Columbian guerillas—better than what Hollywood could dream up)

6. Meet with your pastor, or the missions person at your church, to let them know of your interest. Ask them for ideas on how to learn more, and ask them to pray for you.

7. Take a course such as “Perspectives on the World Christian Movement.” This life-changing 15-week class is being offered in Portland, Oregon starting this August. It can also be taken online, but the regular classes are recommended.

8. Attend a conference like Mission Connexion or Urbana. There are excellent speakers and workshops, and representatives from various organizations you could interact with. You can go online and listen to past messages at Urbana.  Multnomah University in Portland, Oregon has a similar conference for their students, and you can listen to messages from past conferences. (A connection I made there is how I ended up in Africa for 23 years!)

9. Find out about the missionaries your church supports. Sign up to receive their regular updates and pray for them. Write them an email and tell them you’re praying for them. See if there are any currently on home assignment and living in the area. Have them over for a meal and ask lots of questions.

10. Browse through this inspiring list of missionary quotes.

11. Look around you close to home for opportunities to interact with and learn about people of other cultures. It could be something easy like having dinner at an authentic Ethiopian restaurant, or something more stretching like finding international students or refugees in your area to connect with and serve in some way. God is literally bringing the world to our doorstep—what a great chance to be Global Christians in our own communities.

A warning: If you pursue these goals, you’ll start to think differently! A Christian who thinks globally will begin to change his or her views on many things like possessions, relationships, compassion, success, what is Biblical versus what is merely cultural, choosing a major in college, wealth, security, vocation, refugees, use of time, retirement, ethnocentricity, and so much more. It becomes a grid through which you view our very big God and the entire world He loves. I believe it’s a very God-honoring grid.

If you sense God’s call to consider serving overseas, here are some long-range goals for becoming a Global Christian:

1. Continue to involve the leadership at your church in your discoveries and plans. Everyone serving God in a global capacity needs the strong backing and prayer support of the local church. (If your church doesn’t have someone focusing on missions, God just might want you to be that person!)

2. Join a team to go on a short-term missions trip. The needs, opportunities and possibilities are endless, and this will stretch you out of your comfort zone for sure. For example, one opportunity with Operation Mobilization is to serve on the Logos Hope ship. You can sign up for two weeks, two months, or one to two years. My son Zac is currently serving on the ship and by the time he finishes, he’ll have visited about 18 countries and had amazing opportunities to be a Global Christian. My other son Noah is studying agriculture in college and is currently in Uganda to disciple young men while teaching farming methods.

3. Consider possibilities for additional Bible training with a cross-cultural emphasis. There are many Bible schools and Christian universities that have certificate or degree programs with a concentration in missions. It’s good to understand worldview, apologetics, and church planting, and to know something of the history and theology of missions. Learning specific strategies of how to be a Global Christian from those who have already done that work makes a lot of sense. Just make sure the doctrinal statement of any school you consider is solidly biblical.

4. Research and make connections with a sending organization. Sending agencies are groups that facilitate missionaries getting to the field through training and handling logistics, and they often have a particular focus like church planting, Bible translation, relief and development work, etc.

By the way, the word “missions” is used less these days. It can have a negative connotation in some places. Some people and organizations have switched to phrases like Global Outreach or Global Ministries. For security reasons, missionaries may be called “workers” now. In some closed countries, there are laws against becoming a Christian and a visa would never be granted to someone asking to enter as “missionary.” So people go in as teachers or businessmen or other professionals. This is often referred to as “tent-making,” a reference to the Apostle Paul’s trade which he used to support himself while he traveled to share the Gospel.

5. Pray for God’s wisdom and guidance. (Are you noticing a pattern?) As you seek God’s will, here’s a word about danger: if a Christian is in the center of God’s will, it’s the safest place on earth to be. It may not seem that way to others, but I believe that’s how God sees it. Corrie Ten Boom put it this way: “There are no 'if's' in God's world. And no places that are safer than other places. The center of His will is our only safety—let us pray that we may always know it!”

Many things in God’s economy appear upside down to the world’s eye. He has His own definitions for things like safety and danger and risk. In Psalm 4:8, David reminds us that it is God alone who makes us dwell in safety.

Lastly, here is a quote by Nate Saint which had a profound effect on my life. It was written in December 1955, about a month before he was martyred by the people he was trying to reach with the Gospel:

As we have a high old time this Christmas, may we who know Christ hear the cry of the damned as they hurtle headlong into the Christless night without ever a chance. May we be moved with compassion as our Lord was. May we shed tears of repentance for these we have failed to bring out of darkness. Beyond the smiling scenes of Bethlehem may we see the crushing agony of Golgotha…If God would grant us the vision, the word sacrifice would disappear from our lips and thoughts; we would hate the things that seem now so dear to us; our lives would suddenly be too short, we would despise time-robbing distractions and charge the enemy with all our energies in the name of Christ. May God help us to judge ourselves by the eternities that separate the Aucas from a Comprehension of Christmas and Him, who, though He was rich, yet for our sakes became poor so that we might, through His poverty, be made rich.

If you take the time to let those truths sink in, I’m not sure how you can carry on with “normal” life and not become more of a Global Christian. If something breaks God’s heart, it should certainly break ours.

May God give you His heart for His world!

Photo by João Silas via Unsplash

Some Thoughts About Racial Profiling

A reader recently asked me a thoughtful question about something I posted on Facebook that used the term “racial profiling.” As a police officer, he was wondering what I meant by that, and whether I was referring specifically to profiling by law enforcement.

This is an important question, so I will give it a thorough answer.

I Googled “racial profiling” and this is what came up first: “the use of race or ethnicity as grounds for suspecting someone of having committed an offense.” That's what I meant. I wasn’t thinking specifically of law enforcement.

It happens all over the world, not just in the U.S., and in fact is far worse in some places. Hitler was a racial profiler in the most deadly sense. He regarded Jews and Gypsies, for instance, as dangerous, criminal, and unfit to live. 

On the other hand, books and movies in which Germans were always “the bad guys” were in one sense understandable given two World Wars, but that didn’t make it right. Racial profiling was done when loyal Japanese American citizens were suspected or assumed to be complicit with the enemy, and were placed into internment camps.

Today there are certain races that are more frequently detained in security. While some argue that it’s reasonable since statistically Arabs are more likely to be terrorists than say, Swedes, it’s easy to infringe on the rights of law-abiding citizens because of racial profiling and stereotyping.

When writing my novel Dominion, I interviewed many African-American men who lived all across the country and had never met each other. Yet they told me the same stories, of being followed by store security, people pulling back from them on the street and in elevators, being pulled over without cause while driving, etc. Of course, in some cases they might have been guilty of a traffic violation, but in many cases honest Christian men told me they are frequently pulled over even though they aren’t guilty, and it’s traumatic because they fear what could happen to them.

In the U.S. profiling is sometimes done in stores where security routinely follows people of a certain color, or in neighborhoods or apartment complexes where it's assumed people of certain ethnicities won't be good neighbors and in fact are probably criminals, in churches where people are considered suspect because they don't look like the rest of the church, and in academics where certain races are profiled as being smarter and others as being dumber, and are sometimes given erroneous placement accordingly.

While this is far broader than law enforcement, it does include it.  But despite the fact that I wasn't referring specifically to law enforcement, I can see why a police officer could think I was targeting law enforcement, so perhaps I should have used a different and more generic term, or at least clarified by using a broad range of examples, as I’ve just done.

I have the highest respect for what police officers do. I have many good friends who are cops, and I know it's extremely difficult. They will be falsely accused of racism many times, though sometimes, unfortunately, it’s true of some cops. Like everyone else, including pastors and writers and athletes and farmers and business people, cops are human, and humans are sinners. So a minority of cops will be guilty of racism, and I believe a majority is not, but those innocent of it will feel the sting of the assumption. In other words, cops can be profiled as racists, so that would be “vocational profiling.” Another example of that would be “priests are pedophiles” or even “bosses are jerks.”

Of course, there are many false accusations of profiling and racism, just as there are false accusations of police brutality, parental child abuse, student plagiarism, and everything else. Unfortunately, when it happens to a cop (or a parent, in the case of child abuse) the consequences are far greater than most instances in other professions, and sometimes tragic. As true racism by a cop can result in disaster, false assumptions about the majority of cops can also be devastating, giving people a warped lens through which they view the police. Sadly, the true cases of police brutality and racism feed the unfair prejudice against cops in general, as the true cases of criminals being of a particular race feed the labeling that “this guy is probably a criminal.”

Related to this topic, I highly recommend Benjamin Watson's thoughtful and well-written book Under Our Skin. (Much of what Benjamin writes about reminded me of what I learned in researching for Dominion.) In one of the chapters Ben tells a story of coming to a police roadblock and everything in him panicking and wanting to find a back street to turn down and escape. Though he hadn't done anything wrong, his life experience, or his interpretation thereof, convinced him that as a big black man he would be suspected, disrespected, and likely arrested. He knew if he fled he would appear to be guilty, but the “if you're innocent you have nothing to fear” rationale was counteracted by various life experiences so he couldn't push it out of his mind.

Now, to some that's irrational; to others it’s built into the very fabric of their being, and they will read into every cop the bad experiences they (and their parents and grandparents and siblings) had with others. (Like a woman who was abused by her father and boyfriend will naturally profile men as abusers.) Watson does an excellent job of encouraging people to not act according to those fears and to never run from a cop, for everybody's sake, but he also encourages cops of all colors to understand why sometimes a truly innocent person wants to run. Under Our Skin is unusually penetrating and insightful.

I’m grateful for everything that police officers do for their communities. We are all in debt to those who serve in law enforcement.

Here are some further articles that may be of interest:

Stereotypes, Generalizations, and Racism, by John Piper

On Race and Love and Trying to Understand, by Kevin DeYoung

Why Statistics Don’t Justify Our Prejudice or Our Profiling, by Thabiti Anyabwile

Shopping While Black: The Problem of Racial Profiling, by Jemar Tisby

Brotherhood and the Color of Our Skin, a post on my blog that includes a dialogue excerpted from Dominion

Photo by Malik Earnest, via Unsplash

Who Will Our Friends Be in Heaven?

Augustine and Aquinas—two of history’s most influential theologians—imagined that in Heaven people would focus exclusively on God and that relationships between human beings would be minimal or insignificant.[i]

These great theologians were swayed by Christoplatonism. For the most part, they didn’t seem to grasp that the eternal Heaven will be on Earth, where people will live and work in a relational society, glorifying God not merely as individuals but as a family in rich relationship with each other.

Near the end of his life, however, Augustine significantly changed his view of Heaven. He said, “We have not lost our dear ones who have departed from this life, but have merely sent them ahead of us, so we also shall depart and shall come to that life where they will be more than ever dear as they will be better known to us, and where we shall love them without fear of parting.”[ii] He also said, “All of us who enjoy God are also enjoying each other in Him.”[iii]

Do you have a close friend who’s had a profound influence on you? Do you think it is a coincidence that she was in your dorm wing or became your roommate? Was it accidental that your desk was near his or that his family lived next door or that your father was transferred when you were in third grade so that you ended up in his neighborhood? God orchestrates our lives. “From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live” (Acts 17:26).

Since God determined the time and exact places you would live, it’s no accident which neighborhood you grew up in, who lived next door, who went to school with you, who was part of your church youth group, who was there to help you and pray for you. Our relationships were appointed by God, and there’s every reason to believe they’ll continue in Heaven.

God’s plan doesn’t stop on the New Earth; it continues. God doesn’t abandon His purposes; He extends and fulfills them. Friendships begun on Earth will continue in Heaven, getting richer than ever.

Will some friendships be closer than others? Augustine claimed, “In the city of Godthere will be no special friendships. . . . All special attachments will be absorbed into one comprehensive and undifferentiated community of love. . . . The universalized love of heaven permits no exclusive, restricted circles of friends.”[iv]

But how does this position stand up to Scripture?

Just because we’ll be sinless doesn’t mean we won’t be drawn to certain people more than others. We’ll like everyone, but we’ll be closer to some than others. Jesus was closer to John than to any of the other disciples. Jesus was closer to Peter, James, and John than to the rest of the Twelve, and closer to the Twelve than to the seventy, and closer to the seventy than to His other followers. He was close to Lazarus and Martha, and closer still to their sister Mary. He was so close to His mother that while He was dying on the cross, He instructed John to care for her after His death. Since Christ was closer to some people than to others, clearly there can’t be anything wrong with it.

In Heaven there won’t be cliques, exclusiveness, arrogance, posturing, belittling, or jealousy. But when friends particularly enjoy each other’s company, they are reflecting God’s design. If, as you walk about the New Jerusalem, you see Adam and Eve holding hands as they look at the tree of life, would you begrudge them their special friendship?

Perhaps you’re disappointed that you’ve never had the friendships you long for. In Heaven you’ll have much closer relationships with some people you now know, but it’s also true that you may never have met the closest friends you’ll ever have. Just as someone may be fifty years old before meeting her best friend, you may live on the New Earth enjoying many friendships before meeting someone who will become your dearest friend. Maybe your best friend will be someone sitting next to you at the first great feast. After all, the sovereign God who orchestrates friendships will be in charge of the seating arrangements.

On the New Earth we’ll experience the joy of familiarity in old relationships and the joy of discovery in new ones. As we get to know each other better, we’ll get to know God better. As we find joy in each other, we’ll find joy in Him. No human relationships will overshadow our relationship with God. All will serve to enhance it.

[i] Augustine, quoted in Colleen McDannell and Bernhard Lang, Heaven: A History (New York: Vintage Books, 1988), 58.

[ii] Ibid., 60.

[iii] Augustine, On the Christian Doctrine, 1:32–33.

[iv] Augustine, quoted in McDannell and Lang, Heaven: A History, 64–65.

Photo by Gerrit Vermeulen, via Unsplash

Phenomenal Growth, Great Persecution: The Church in Iran

My thanks to Kathy Norquist, EPM staff member, for sharing this report on the persecuted church in Iran. Our Iranian brothers and sisters in Christ are carrying on a long tradition of God’s people: “Others were tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain a better resurrection. Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison… destitute, persecuted and mistreated—the world was not worthy of them” (Hebrews 11:35–38).

May we do what Scripture commands us to do: “Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body” (Hebrews 13:3). —Randy Alcorn

Iran has the fastest growing church in the world. However, the moment an Iranian says “yes” to Jesus, persecution begins.

Eternal Perspective Ministries recently had the privilege of a visit from an Iranian pastor, Matthew, and his wife Anahita, representing Elam Ministries. Matthew spent 14 months in prison (45 days in solitary confinement), and Anahita spent 34 days in solitary confinement in a 5 x 9 foot empty cell.

When I asked Matthew about the hardest part of his persecution in prison, he said two things: the isolation from people and concern for the people of his church. “It wasn’t easy,” he said, “but I had a really good time with God.” When they were being interrogated, it would last from morning to night with loud voices and cursing. They were told many lies, including that all their friends had returned to the Muslim faith. The interrogators pressured them to do the same and to give up names of fellow believers. Then there would be days and days of no contact with the outside world. Matthew saw the sky once in 45 days.

The Iranian government is now saying they can’t stop the church in Iran, so their goal is to slow it down. They’re doing this with visits from the security police, the worst form of government intrusion, which often leads to arrests and imprisonment. When Anahita was approached by the security police, she told us, “I was not afraid of them. I had complete peace.”

When asked, “Why are people drawn to Jesus from the Muslim faith?”, Matthew and Anahita responded, “Because Jesus’s love is a different kind of love. Jesus offers forgiveness. Jesus loves you as you are.”

Matthew’s complete testimony will be appearing in the upcoming Elam magazine. Contact elam.com if you’d like to receive a copy.

Also, because there is such a thirst for God’s Word in Iran, Elam is raising money to print 200,000 more Bibles this year. Many Iranians testify to the importance of reading the Bible in their journey to faith. Bibles are also vital for discipling the ever-growing number of new believers. If you’d like to support this ministry and participate in their matching grant, you can donate online.

Elam Ministries has put together helpful information on “Praying For Christian Prisoners in Iran” as you intercede for our brothers and sisters in Christ.

What We Lose When We Yawn at God

In The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, one of the children asks Mr. and Mrs. Beaver about Aslan the Lion, who is a figure of Christ:

“Is Aslan quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion.”

“That you will dearie, and no mistake,” said Mrs. Beaver. “If there’s anyone who can appear before Aslan without their knees knocking, they’re either braver than most or just plain silly.”

“Then he isn’t safe?” said Lucy.

“Safe?” said Mr. Beaver; “don’t you hear what Mrs. Beaver tells you? Who said anything about safe? Of course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.”

God is good. But until we understand the truth that He is not safe, that He is not under our control, until we come to grips with His holy majesty, transcendence, and utter independence, we will never begin to appreciate His fascinating and awe-inspiring character. Indeed, we will find Him boring—as all man-made gods are, and as the one and only true God is anything but.

In his article “Stop Apologizing for God,” Tony Reinke hits on this vitally important subject as presented in a book by Drew Dyck. Tony is a content strategist and staff writer for Desiring God and the author of Lit! A Christian Guide to Reading Books and Newton on the Christian Life: To Live Is Christ. (He also hosts the Ask Pastor John and Authors on the Line podcasts.) I love the way Tony thinks as he analyzes Dyck’s book:

Stop Apologizing for God

When I got my hands on the new ESV Reader’s Bible, I opened first to Ezekiel. I’m not sure why, except I’d long neglected this book, and it seemed like a good one simply to read straight through, unhampered by headings and chapter and verse numbers.

When I came to the end of the Ezekiel, I started over. And then I read it a third time.

Each time I was more struck by the rawness of the book. The prophetic books (like the prophets themselves) are jagged. Ezekiel is abrasive. The images of God are forceful, even when they are sometimes too incredible for the human imagination to picture. Some scenes seem like something out of a sci-fi movie. Other scenes are unvarnished street theater. At all times the book startles with symbolism and heartbroken laments, weighing the reader down under the weight of God’s holy transcendence, almost to the point where we will shatter. And, then, in the turn of a moment, God’s steadfast love draws close, promises to dwell with his people, even to dwell inside his people.

I finish Ezekiel a third time, my mind still swirling, look over at my stack of new books fresh off the printing press from Christian publishers, page through a few of them, but nowhere find a glimpse of the God of Ezekiel I had only a moment beheld.

Except for one. There’s one new title that reads differently. Yawning at Tigers: You Can’t Tame God So Stop Trying, is a new book written by Drew Dyck, the managing editor of Leadership Journal. It’s a book that reclaims the awesome God of Ezekiel.

Read the rest.

Photo by Rafael H, via Unsplash