Randy Alcorn's Blog, page 157

A Tribute to My Friend, John Kohlenberger

I’m writing an unusually long blog in honor of an old and precious friend.

On September 29, 2015 John R Kohlenberger III went home to be with Jesus, after a thirteen-year battle with cancer.

John, a gifted scholar, wrote many biblical language reference works. (To get a sense of his academic accomplishments, see this page).

When he was first diagnosed, John wasn’t expected to live more than a few years. But God gave him thirteen. They weren’t easy on him or his family, but God used them for great good.

John and I met when we were both very young Christians. He told me he was afraid that because he’d done drugs before his conversion, his mind might be permanently damaged. Since he became one of the greatest intellects I’ve known, and a world-class expert in Hebrew and Greek, I used to kid him that if his mind was damaged I’d hate to have seen it undamaged!

One time when John shared his powerful testimony of being reached by the grace of Jesus, a young man said to him, “I wish I had your testimony.” John told him, “No you don’t.” He wanted people to trust Jesus without making the choices Jesus delivered him from. Since we’d both grown up in homes without Christ, we used to tell our friends to be grateful they grew up in Christian families.

Because he was an accomplished guitar player, I asked John to lead music in a Junior High Group I was leading in 1973. It was fun working together, and soon I was asking John to teach the group. John and I went through Bible college and seminary together, talking and praying and reading and discussing God’s Word. It was my privilege to be best man at his wedding, and he was one of my groomsmen. That was forty years ago. While in seminary, we’d have marathon ping pong games as we talked about Scripture and life. John and I enjoyed each other’s humor, and we kidded each other as the best of friends do.

Nanci's and my wedding. The second guy from me is John Kohlenberger, the second gal from Nanci is John’s wife Carolyn.

My groomsmen, with John at the lower right. May 31, 1975 On my other side is Jerry Hardin, who I’ve written of elsewhere.

If you’re older, you know how it goes—life changes, you get busy with your kids and work and you end up in different churches, and then you don’t spend as much time with some of your old friends as you used to. Over a period of years where John and I didn’t see much of each other, we would connect most summers at the Christian Booksellers Convention (now ICRS), where we would walk the floor together. We’d make smart-aleck comments and inside jokes at some of the odd things displayed at the convention, introduce each other to friends, catch up and tell stories and reminisce. We would laugh and laugh.

At one convention, John asked me to go with him to a private luncheon honoring John Stott. John was invited, and at his request, I crashed the party. John and I were the only guys there not in coat and tie, neither of us was even close, especially me. But John Stott, a British pastor-scholar full of grace, shook our hands and spoke with us nonetheless, something we both treasured.

Years later, when John K. couldn’t make it to ICRS, I sent him this photo from the floor. We had a good laugh. I told John it was much cheaper for his publisher to make a cardboard image of him and ship it to the convention than to send him. It was a treat to pose with cardboard JRKIII.

Another year when John couldn’t be there because of health, I called him and we talked for an hour and a half as I described what was going on there and who said to say hi to him. It didn’t seem right to be at the convention without him present.

Even when our contact was once a year, my heart was always strong for John, I rejoiced to see and hear his name and learn of his accomplishments. Thinking of him always brought a smile to my face.

While John was fighting cancer, we joined him and Carolyn in their home, and had a wonderful time with them and his friends from church who served with him on the worship team. Seeing their love for him and his for them was really moving.

About ten years ago Nanci and I went to a Passover dinner beautifully conducted by John at Powell Valley Covenant Church, the church we’d attended many years earlier, where Nanci and I grew up, where Carolyn and I came to Christ, and John helped me work with Junior High kids. What a wonderful evening.

I walked miles with John at some cancer Relays for Life, one of which he personally walked over 26 miles. I saw repeatedly his warm interactions with many people he’d come to know through his disease. I saw how his daughter Sarah and son Josh loved and supported their dad. Carolyn told Nanci last week how close John was to his granddaughters, and that four-year-old Ella was really going to miss him.

Relay for Life

I’ll never forget a lunch in Gresham in John’s honor, perhaps eight years ago, where we were joined by three of our old friends, Larry Gadbaugh, Jim Swanson and Mike Petersen. Larry, also one of my groomsmen and in the photo above, met John before he came to Christ, and couldn’t get over the transformation.  Jim worked with John on various original language projects with Ed Goodrick, our old Greek teacher from Multnomah Bible College. Mike saw John daily for years when JRKIII worked in an office on the Petersen property. The five of us enjoyed a wonderful meal, full of grace and truth and laughter. John gave us various books he’d produced over the years. It was so rich.

Every time I exchanged emails with John asking him about Hebrew and Greek issues, the benefit wasn’t just the excellent info, but touching base with my friend. Seeing the presence of Jesus in his life really inspired me.

John and his family lived an amazing journey these last thirteen years. Carolyn stood by him and supported him, as did Sarah and Josh, in beautiful ways. John told me that while he’d kept himself away from people in the past, suddenly with his diagnosis he found himself constantly in doctors’ offices, hospitals, experimental treatment programs, and support groups, and gathering with people at his church.

John and I shared the lessons of life we’d each learned from our adversity, mine the lesser ones of insulin-dependent diabetes, abortion clinic lawsuits and job loss; his the greater one, of facing the prostate cancer that finally took his life.

We discussed that we’re going to live forever. So why wouldn’t we live each day in light of the world to come? Both of us wanted to spend a good deal of the rest of our lives here passing on to others what we learned.

We’d both become more acutely aware than ever that every day is a gift and an opportunity, that our days are numbered. And God has a purpose in them. We discussed how we don’t have to feel desperate about the fact that we’re going to die someday—we are going to live forever! We encouraged each other to use our remaining time here to do what will make a difference for eternity. We talked about Heaven and the New Earth, and more recently talked about finding happiness in Christ.

By dealing with his cancer, John told me he learned to be authentic and honest. “It’s much easier for me now to touch someone I don’t know and pray for them,” he said. John reached out to others in need and found it rewarding. And though years earlier he could never have imagined such a thing, this lifelong scholar, once with reclusive inclinations, said to me, “You know what I’d really enjoy doing? Becoming a chaplain and helping people deal with cancer.”

John is in the acknowledgments of my new book Happiness—he, along with his friend and mine Jim Swanson, was a big help with the original languages. Little did I know that the book would come out two days before his death.

John and Carolyn Kohlenberger were among those to whom I dedicated my book If God Is Good. In that book, with his permission, I told his story of what he had learned in his suffering. That doesn’t minimize or glorify my friend’s pain, or his family’s, but it does show some of God’s purpose in it (see 2 Corinthians 1:3–7).

John shared with me some wonderful words he wrote about suffering, which I saved. I was deeply touched, and still am, as I read them:

Not just putting on a brave face.

I wish I went through the last six years again. I see the good that has happened.

The growth in relationship I wouldn’t have known.

The perspective and how hard life was—not the luxury of being able to be contemplative.

We either party or we whine.

Had to deal with evil and suffering with people of privilege who have.

I would sound more authentic than before.

Perfectionistic father, not measure up, worthless well, why me? No, who cares?

John’s perspective no longer brutal.

I don’t believe God is any less good than I did before.

It’s much easier for me now to touch someone I don’t know and pray for them.

Chaplain-esque. Wanting to help people now.

Do I do long-term planning? Or not?

Narcissism fighting, it’s not all about me.

Health and wealth gospel is a pyramid scheme that feeds the prosperity of those at the top.

God will turn the pyramid on its head.

John was and is a unique soul, different than any person I’ve ever known. There was in him, at times, a pain and sadness, and a self-doubt that some people didn’t understand. But I knew him as far more than a scholar or brilliant intellect. He was a brother with an immense capacity for humor and enjoyment. He had a relational warmth we enjoyed together, as he did with those who knew him best. As our mutual friend Mike Petersen said, “I’m really going to miss that brother.” Me too.

While I mourn for his dear family, including his grandchildren, I am thrilled for him that he is now experiencing unbridled delight—he has entered into his Master’s happiness.

I love you, John, my brother and friend. I look forward to joining you in the presence of our Savior, and walking the New Earth together!

Randy Alcorn

Here’s a touching seven-minute video of the Kohlenberger family as they battled cancer and grew close to one another.

Here’s a tribute to John by Stan Gundry, who knew John and his remarkable gifts, and worked with him in publishing.

 

As a Single Person, Will I Be Second Class in Heaven?

Today’s blog contains a wonderful answer by EPM staffer, Karen Coleman, a veteran missionary to Cameroon who now works with us in Oregon. 

The question came from a reader. Whether you’re single or married, her helpful response is well worth reading through.

Someone wrote EPM:

As a middle aged, never-married, Christian single with no kids, life is lonely. No matter how many people I try to befriend, my social circle necessarily shrinks over time. People marry. I move. Relationships change.

How will I fare in Heaven when surrounded by mostly large families where people have their kids, grandkids, many friends, a spouse, etc., and I'm alone? 

There is a de facto caste system in the church today of: marrieds with children, remarried with children or blended, divorced with kids, divorced with no kids, and on the lowest “caste,” the dreaded single. It seems as though we’re always second class in the church.

How will singles not be treated as second rate and ostracized when surrounded by large families in eternity? 

Here’s Karen’s reply:

Thanks for your thoughtful questions.

The de facto caste system that you mention cannot exist in Heaven. The sadness of loneliness cannot exist in Heaven. Randy believes what the Bible clearly teaches: that there will be ONE family and ONE marriage—with Christ as the Groom and all believers, His Church, as the Bride.

God has very happy plans for you on the New Earth, as Randy explains in his video, “Will our relationships we have now continue in Heaven?”:

“We’ll meet many new friends, people that we haven’t known in this life…you may not yet have met the closest friend you will have ever have, the closest brother or sister as part of the family of God may be somebody that you won’t meet until you’re sitting at a dinner table, with Christ who’s in charge of the seating arrangements in the New Heavens and the New Earth, and there’s this great banquet where people come from the East and West…”

Just imagine that! Christ knows you inside and out. He knows the loneliness you’ve experienced. He knows you don’t have family here. He will be your loving Father and you will be His beloved child. And He is planning happiness and laughter and friends for you that will amaze and delight you for all eternity! Trust Him for that, because it’s the truth.

Please take the time to watch this video, by Randy’s former research assistant Julia Stager. She starts talking about marriage, but at the end Julia addresses singleness and the very issues you raise.

As Julia states, “Singleness can be extremely painful. But it’s not eternal and it’s not wasted. Single people aren’t single because there’s something wrong with them, or because God has forgotten about them. This life…will never be ultimately satisfying, and that’s the way it should be. Whether married or single, what we all truly long for is the perfect marriage between Christ and His people.”

Here is another video by Julia about singleness that could be very pertinent.

I have now been single for about 2/3 of my 60 years. I’ve spent a lot of time meditating on 1 Corinthians 7:32-35:

“I want you to be free from anxieties. The unmarried man is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to please the Lord. But the married man is anxious about worldly things, how to please his wife, and his interests are divided. And the unmarried or betrothed woman is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to be holy in body and spirit. But the married woman is anxious about worldly things, how to please her husband. I say this for your own benefit, not to lay any restraint upon you, but to promote good order and to secure your undivided devotion to the Lord.”

If anyone is second rate here (and I don’t believe that’s what Paul is saying), it is married people! I would encourage you to memorize those verses and spend time mulling them over and over in your mind. What does it really mean to “be anxious about the things of the Lord, how to please the Lord” and to have “undivided devotion to the Lord”? How could you use your singleness now to further God’s Kingdom?

I would also encourage you to find a good church with a home Bible study or Sunday school class that’s a mixture of marrieds and singles that accept both equally, encouraging growth and fellowship together.

You may already be doing this, so I don’t want to assume anything. But one help with loneliness is to volunteer places or look for ways to help others. There are so many lonely people, especially in care centers, for example, who would love to have someone to talk to. Perhaps God has given you extra time to reach out to others since you know what loneliness is like.

I don’t know if you like music, but here’s a song that has encouraged me when I’ve felt extreme loneliness, “He Knows” by Jeremy Camp.

How will you fare in Heaven? You will be eternally happy with more deep, true friends than you could ever count, part of God’s forever family, one of His well-loved children. I’m praying for you to really grasp the truth of the goodness that God has in store for you!

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Reviewers Respond to My New Book Happiness, Plus EPM Giving Away 10 Copies

Reviews of my new book Happiness are coming in. After three years of researching and writing this book, it’s fun and encouraging to see readers’ responses. Very grateful! Below are a few excerpts from some of those reviews. Also, Eternal Perspective Ministries is giving away 10 signed copies of the book. —Randy Alcorn

I’ve started working my way through Randy Alcorn’s massive new tome Happiness. It’s a thoroughly biblical treatment of an important subject.

…The book does a great job of dispelling some common myths about happiness. Alcorn argues there is no real biblical difference between happiness and joy. He writes, “Only in recent times have happiness and joy been set in contrast with each other. I believe this is biblically and historically ungrounded and has significant downsides.” Which leads to another common misunderstanding: the notion God is concerned about our holiness, not our happiness, or that the two are somehow opposed to each other. Simply not true, says Alcorn. And he backs it up with plenty of biblical evidence.

…Reading Happiness has been, so far, a happy experience itself. I think every Christian could benefit from its lessons.

— Matt Erickson, Lifeway 

A landmark book on happiness in the Christian’s life, language, and theology from @randyalcorn. pic.twitter.com/MgXUcemzw7

— Tony Reinke (@TonyReinke) September 14, 2015

(Listed on Tony’s 50 Best Books of 2015.)

Tony Reinke said it perfectly—Randy Alcorn’s new book, Happiness, is a “200,000-word encyclopedia on joy.” Its 450-plus pages present the most comprehensive Christian treatment of happiness I know, resulting in one of the most enjoyable, exciting, and exuberant books of theology I’ve read in a long time. It’s one of those rare, potentially life-changing books that has the ability to positively transform our view of God, the Bible, the world, and the Christian life.

…for its positive effect on my own soul, for its capacity to radically transform Christians’ lives, and for its potential to improve the church’s evangelistic message, Happiness is my 2015 book of the year, and I pray God will make it the most-read and happiest “encyclopedia” ever published.

— David Murray, The Gospel Coalition

Pastor Alcorn isn't content just to tell us to be happy. He insists on searching Scripture and showing us the Gospel-centered reasons for a happy life. And if you trust him for a few hundred pages, he'll convince you that there's a lot of happiness to be found, first in God Himself, then in the gifts He gives us, and in our response to God and His world.

I really enjoyed reading this book. (Frankly, if a book called "Happiness" wasn't a pleasure to read, wouldn't that be a major problem right there?) …Also, as you're sitting there holding a thick book with "Happiness" emblazoned on the cover, you may have somebody come up and ask you what you're reading. Won't it knock their socks off when you tell them? Now that's a way to start a Christ-conversation, with happiness.

— TheophilusFarrell4, Amazon reviewer

Enter to win 1 of 10 signed copies of Happiness from EPM

What My New Book Happiness Is and Isn’t About

I invite you to join me today, Wednesday, September 30, for a webcast and live Twitter chat at 2:30 p.m. EST/11:30 a.m. PST. I'll be sharing about my study of Happiness. After the webcast, you can join the Twitter chat using the hashtag ‪#‎happinessbook‬. (You can watch the chat even if you don't have a Twitter account.) View the webcast and chat during the event at www.happinessandheaven.com.

I spent the last three years researching and writing on a biblical view of happiness. It was a lot of work, but also an eye-opening and happy-making experience as I examined the often-neglected truth that though the present world involves much evil and suffering, nonetheless God calls us to find pleasure and delight in him.

I’m happy to tell you that Happiness has now been released. My prayer is that God would use this book to draw readers to Jesus and help them gain a deeper understanding of the “good news of happiness” (Isaiah 52:7).

In the book’s introduction, I share how I first heard about Christ as a teenager, visiting a church youth group. Initially, Bible stories seemed to me like the Greek mythology and comics I loved. Then I read the Gospels, and I came to believe that Jesus was real, and superheroes are his shadows. I felt a profound happiness I’d never known.

My heartfelt gladness was the result of being born again, forgiven, and indwelt by God’s Spirit. This “joy of your salvation” (Psalm 51:12) stood in stark contrast to the emptiness I’d felt before hearing the gospel’s “good news of great joy” (Luke 2:10). My parents immediately noticed the change. (Mom liked it; Dad didn’t.)

I never considered the things I gave up to follow Christ as sacrifices—mainly because they hadn’t brought me real happiness. My worst days as a believer seemed better than my best days before knowing Christ. Jesus meant everything to me. I wasn’t attempting to be happy; I simply was happy.

Having known Jesus for more than four decades now, I realize that my story isn’t universal. Not everyone who comes to Christ experiences the dramatic increase in happiness that I did. Many do, but some see that happiness gradually fade.

Nothing is more annoying than reading a book by a naturally gleeful person who’s a cheerleader for happiness. I’ve known a few people with perpetually sunny dispositions, but my own nature is reflective and, at times, melancholic. I’ve experienced seasons of depression, both before and since coming to faith in Christ—some due to my personality type and emotional makeup (and perhaps genetics), some triggered by my long-term physical illness (insulin-dependent diabetes), and some the result of adverse circumstances.

I’m no stranger to unhappiness—in this world under the curse of evil and suffering, something would be wrong if I were. I’ve researched the Holocaust, walked through the Killing Fields of Cambodia, written at length on persecution and the problem of evil and suffering, and have walked alongside people who have experienced profound tragedy and grief. In short, I’d be the last person to write a breezy book on happiness that ignores life’s difficulties and denies the struggles of living in a fallen world. But by God’s grace, as the years have passed, I’ve experienced a more consistent heartfelt gladness and delight in Christ. That—not perpetual and unsustainable ecstasy—is what my book is about.

Rest assured, Happiness is not about pasting on a false smile in the midst of heartache. It’s about discovering a reasonable, attainable, and delightful happiness in Christ that transcends difficult circumstances. This vision is realistic because it’s built on God’s all-encompassing sovereignty, love, goodness, grace, gladness, and redemptive purposes in our lives.

Until Christ completely cures us and this world, our happiness will be punctuated by times of great sorrow. But that doesn’t mean we can’t be predominantly happy in Christ. Being happy as the norm rather than the exception is not wishful thinking. It’s based on solid facts: God secured our eternal happiness through a cross and an empty tomb. He is with us and in us right this moment. And he tells us to be happy in him.

“Positive thinking” says we can always be happy if we look on the bright side and don’t deal with negative things (such as sin, suffering, judgment, and Hell). I don’t believe that. Nor do I embrace the God-as-genie prosperity gospel preached by name-it-and-claim-it folks, which promises happiness through perpetual health, wealth, and success—if only we muster enough faith.

This health-and-wealth philosophy isn’t unique to Christians. In The Secret, Rhonda Byrne tells about Colin, a ten-year-old boy who was dismayed by long waits for rides at Disney World. He’d seen The Secret movie, so he focused on the thought that tomorrow he wouldn’t have to wait in line. What happened? Colin’s family was chosen to be Epcot’s “First Family” for the day, putting them first in every line.[i]

Of course, we should be grateful when God sends us fun surprises. But it’s one thing to be happy when such things occur and another to expect, demand, or lay claim to them. Our models should be people such as Amy Carmichael (1867–1951), who brought the gospel to countless children she rescued from temple prostitution in India. She experienced a great deal of physical suffering and never had a furlough in her fifty-five years as a missionary. Yet she wrote, “There is nothing dreary and doubtful about [life]. It is meant to be continually joyful. . . . We are called to a settled happiness in the Lord whose joy is our strength.”[ii] 

This book is about the surprising “settled happiness” that God makes possible despite life’s difficulties. Rich and durable, this happiness is ours today because Christ is here; it’s ours tomorrow because Christ will be there; and it’s ours forever because he will never leave us. What I’m writing of is not a superficial “don’t worry, be happy” philosophy that ignores human suffering. The day hasn’t yet come when God will “wipe away every tear from [his children’s] eyes” (Revelation 21:4). But it will come. And this reality has breathtaking implications for our present happiness.

Continue reading the introduction to the book.

[i] Rhonda Byrne, The Secret (New York: Atria Books, 2006), 88.

[ii] Frank Houghton, Amy Carmichael of Dohnavur (Fort Washington, PA: CLC Publications, 1953), chapter 25.

Abortion Isn’t About Women’s Health

It’s common to talk to women physically or psychologically damaged by abortions, who say, “I had no idea this could happen; no one told me about the risks.” Unfortunately, the large body of evidence indicating significant abortion risks has been suppressed and ignored. This suppression is made possible by prochoice advocates who zealously oppose any requirements for abortion clinics to provide information. The “immunity to stating the facts” enjoyed by abortion clinics increases their profits, but only at the expense of women who are not allowed to make an informed choice.

My thanks to Linda L. Kruschke for writing this powerful article and sharing a personal perspective on this subject:

It’s Not about Women’s Health

I’ve been avoiding writing this blog post for about two weeks now, but I can’t avoid it any more. The thing that finally pushed me to write was this article I read on the Eternal Perspective Ministries (EPM) website while I was eating my lunch. It is about the Planned Parenthood (PP) protest in Portland, Oregon on August 22. There were 300 such peaceful protests across the nation, but this one happened to be where I live and less than an hour away from the headquarters of EPM.

I loved one of the pictures in this article because in addition to people holding a sign that says “Planned Parenthood Kills Babies” there were others holding a sign that says “Planned Parenthood Deceives Women.” Although I am saddened by the culture of death and the many murdered children at the hands of PP, my heart is with the many women who have had abortions and lived to regret that decision. Many of those women, like me, were deceived by PP and are also victims.

The pro-choice voice claims that the right of a woman to have an abortion is a women’s health issue and that PP is about women’s health. These claims couldn’t be further from the truth. Pregnancy is not a disease that needs to be treated or cured. It is not healthy for a woman to have an abortion. In fact, having an abortion dramatically increases a woman’s risk of major depression and suicidal tendencies, and it also increases the risk of breast cancer and future miscarriage. (EPM note: see the information following Linda’s article for more on these increased risks.)

But it was my experience that PP didn’t disclose any of those risks. I didn’t find out about them until after I’d suffered with seven years of major clinical depression (following many years of low-grade depression), been suicidal, and had a miscarriage. So far I haven’t also gotten breast cancer, but with my family history of this disease, I certainly did not need to increase my risk.

The “health care providers” at PP were not concerned with my health; they were concerned only with getting my money. They weren’t concerned with who the father was or the fact that he had been an older man who raped a teenage girl; they didn’t even ask. They didn’t provide any pre- or post-abortion counseling, they didn’t advise me of the health risks of having an abortion, and they didn’t even schedule a follow-up visit. What doctor doesn’t schedule a follow-up visit after an invasive medical procedure?

I left the PP clinic that day, headed off to a Future Business Leaders of America camp, and bled so much that I thought I was going to die. (In fact, when I bled that much after my miscarriage years later, the emergency room rushed me back to an exam room without even checking in first—that’s how serious that kind of bleeding can be.) But PP didn’t warn me about this possibility or tell me what to do if it did happen. I was a scared 17-year-old with no one looking out for my health—PP certainly wasn’t.

Tell me you think a woman has a right to choose to kill her own baby—if you think that’s a defensible position—but don’t tell me that right is a women’s health issue. It quite simply is not.

If you want to champion women’s health, then help women find the spiritual and emotional health to deal honestly with a pregnancy they don’t want. Help them understand that whatever the circumstances that led to their pregnancy, God loves them and their child. There are options, including adoption, which are far healthier for them—and definitely healthier for their baby. What finally got me healthy after the trauma of being raped and having an abortion was the love of Jesus. I only wish someone had helped me find that love before it was too late for my child.

Here’s more information from my book Why ProLife? about some of the health risks for women following abortions:

Increased Mental Health Complications

Dr. Patricia Coleman, professor of Human Development and Family Studies at Bowling Green State University, analyzed outcomes of twenty-two scholarly research papers on women, mental health, and abortion. The research involved well over 877,000 women. She states, “81 percent of females who had an abortion were found to be at an increased risk for mental health problems, including depression, alcohol abuse, and suicidal behaviors.”[i]

Very similar conclusions to Coleman’s were reached independently in an Australian analysis of abortion and mental health data.[ii]

Increased Risk of Cancer

Women with one abortion double their risk of cervical cancer, compared to non-abortive women, while women with two or more abortions multiply their risk by nearly five times. Similar elevated risks of ovarian and liver cancer have also been linked to single and multiple abortions.[iii]

After extensive investigation, Dr. Joel Brind, a cancer researcher and professor of endocrinology, concluded, “The single most avoidable risk factor for breast cancer is induced abortion.”[iv] A woman who has an abortion increases her risk of breast cancer by a minimum of 50 percent and as much as 300 percent.[v]

Increased Risk of Future Miscarriage

Many studies have demonstrated a statistically significant increase in miscarriage, premature births or low birth weight risk in women with prior induced abortions.[vi] “Low birth weight and premature birth are the most important risk factors for infant mortality or later disabilities as well as for lower cognitive abilities and greater behavioral problems.”[vii]

Sources

[i] Priscilla Coleman, “Abortion and Mental Health: Quantitative Synthesis and Analysis of Research Published 1995–2009,” British Journal of Psychiatry 199 (September 2011): 180–86, http://bjp.rcpsych.org/content/199/3/....

[ii] Joseph A. D’Agostino, “Abortion Causes Massive Mental Health Problems for Women,” Human Events, January 30, 2006, http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=11966&keywords=abortion+ectopic+pregnancy.

[iii] F. Parazzini et al., “Reproductive Factors and the Risk of Invasive and Intraepithelial Cervical Neoplasia,” British Journal of Cancer 59 (1989):805–9; H. L. Stewart et al., “Epidemiology of Cancers of the Uterine Cervix and Corpus, Breast and Ovary in Israel and New York City,” Journal of the National Cancer Institute 37, no. 1:1–96; I. Fujimoto et al., “Epidemiologic Study of Carcinoma in Situ of the Cervix,” Journal of Reproductive Medicine 30, no. 7 ( July 1985): 535; C. LaVecchia et al., “Reproductive Factors and the Risk of Hepatocellular Carcinoma in Women,” International Journal of Cancer 52 (1992): 351.

[iv] Joel Brind, “Comprehensive Review and Meta-Analysis of the Abortion/Breast Cancer Link,” http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1060338/?tool=pmcentrez.

[v] L. A. Brinton et al., “Reproductive Factors in the Aetiology of Breast Cancer,” British Journal of Cancer 47 (1983): 757–62. 

[vi] Laura Blue, “Study Links Abortion and Premies,” Time, December 18, 2007, citing the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1695927,00.html

[vii] Brent Rooney and Byron C. Calhoun, MD, “Induced Abortion and Risk of Later Premature Births,” Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons 8, no. 2 (Summer 2003), http://www.jpands.org/vol8no2/rooney.pdf.

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What Does God Think about Animals and Taking Care of Them?

If you’ve been a reader of my blog, you probably know that Nanci and I love animals, dogs in particular. We especially enjoy our Golden Retriever, Maggie Grace, who joined us after the loss of our beloved Dalmatian Moses.

God is so gracious to give us animals. In Genesis 1 and 2, one of the first responsibilities given to the first man and woman was to care for the animals. It’s true that some people go overboard with their pets, spending too much money on them compared to human needs in the world. But I also believe God has used pets to minister to and bring great comfort and companionship to many people.

Perhaps because many environmental and animal-rights activists scorn the Bible and Christian beliefs, I believe Christians have often overreacted and ignored our stewardship job description when it comes to animals, as if it were somehow incompatible with the gospel. But it was God, not an animal rights activist, who entrusted them to us. Just as John 3:16 is inspired by God, so is Proverbs 12:10: “A righteous man cares for the needs of his animal.”

In this video interview with Dan Darling with ERLC (Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention), I discuss what Scripture says about animals and our responsibility to care for them.

David O’Brien, Free at Last in Jesus’ Presence

My treasured and brilliant friend David O’Brien, founder of Tryad Ministries, a discipleship ministry to the disabled community, went home to be with Jesus several months ago at the age of 81. David lived with a severe form of cerebral palsy since birth, yet he demonstrated joy that transcended his body’s bondage.

I first got to know David in the seventies when I was teaching at Ecola Hall Bible School at Cannon Beach Conference Center. David told me that God used his cerebral palsy to draw him to depend on Christ. Was he better off with his disability? He was convinced he was. His eighty one years of difficulty and sometimes considerable suffering were no cosmic accident or satanic victory, but a severe mercy from the good hand of God.

I haven’t met many people more convinced of God’s goodness than David O’Brien. He experienced a lifetime of serious afflictions that many consider senseless evil, but he saw them as tools in the hands of a good God.

I share in my book If God Is Good (and also hand in Hand) that David asked me to speak at a conference for the disabled at Cannon Beach, and then requested that I be his interpreter/reader after he laboriously spoke each line he’d written. After speaking, he would pause so I could read aloud every line to be sure he was understood.

Before continuing this story, I ask you to watch this 55 second video of David speaking to give you an idea of the man and his disability and his wonderful heart and presence:

That day at the handicapped conference, David’s message began (I have the complete transcript), “Is it possible that God has his hand in shaping the events that could lead to a handicap or suffering?” Following David’s notes, I read from Genesis 32:24–28, the story of Jacob wrestling with a man identified as God in human flesh. David observed, “We see Jacob’s thigh touched by the Hand of God. Thereafter, his hip was out of joint. This handicap was caused directly by God’s Hand.” He continued, “I believe that the result of God’s blessings [David called Jacob’s handicap a blessing] were preservation of Jacob’s life and a lifelong dependency upon God’s ability to carry out his plan.”

David spoke of God’s affirmation in Exodus 4:11 that he creates people deaf, mute, and blind, and doesn’t merely permit those conditions. Then he said, “God knows the spirit and will in each person, and he shapes the body to mold that will to his purpose. A gardener uses gradual tension to shape a tree into a beautiful arch. A special body is the gradual tension that shapes spirit and will to glorify God.”

David then turned to John 9:1–3. The disciples wanted to attribute a man’s blindness to human sin. Jesus corrected them: “Neither this man nor his parents sinned.” Then Jesus stated the disability’s purpose: “This happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life.” While God would receive great glory in the man’s healing, surely he had a deliberate, divine purpose within the man’s life, long before his healing. I think David O’Brien would agree that Satan, genetics, and many other things can serve as immediate or secondary causes, but God is still the ultimate and primary cause.

David commented, “If Christ had to suffer to be made complete, how can we expect not to have some form of suffering?” Then he said something unforgettable: “God tailors a package of suffering best suited for each of his own.”

David spoke the following, in words difficult to understand, yet prophetically clear: “Dare I question God’s wisdom in making me the way I am?”

My dear brother lived his earthly life trapped in a body that groaned for redemption. I’m delighted to say that his cerebral palsy disappeared the moment he left this world for the present Heaven. But the biggest treat will be at his resurrection, when he will have a new body, forever free of disease. I picture David in that new world, never having others think he was stupid and never having to repeat himself because others don’t understand him. I see him running through fields on the New Earth. I look forward to running beside David . . . and, I think,  behind him.

Farewell, David, my friend, I will see you soon. Thanks for the amazing life you lived here in the old world, by the grace and power of Jesus. I look forward to exploring the New World with you, to the glory of our King!

Your brother always,

Randy

Why Churches Should Study Systematic Theology

I was one of the two original pastors of a church started by forty people meeting in a basement in 1977. I served in that role for just over thirteen years before I had to resign due to abortion clinic lawsuits related to my peaceful nonviolent disobedience on behalf of unborn children. Nanci and I are still part of that same fellowship, Good Shepherd Community Church, nearly forty years later.

Our church has been through some very hard times over the years, but with all its (our) imperfections, we love the body and bride of Christ. And if you’re disillusioned with church, as many people are, we encourage you to either get more deeply involved in your church (e.g. in small group Bible studies) or if you need to leave, do so, but don’t give up until you find a Christ-centered, Bible-teaching, and grace-filled church—which will still be very imperfect, of course, especially once you arrive. :)

Probably ten years ago I was asked what I would do differently if I were a pastor today. The answer was easy, because I’ve thought about it often based on what I’ve seen in the 25 years since I was a pastor. What I said was this:

If I had it to do over again I would teach the church not only the Bible, but also systematic theology. I would use some of the great resources we have today (e.g. Wayne Grudem’s Bible Doctrine), have an ongoing weekly class teaching it chapter by chapter, and encourage every person in the church to plug into that class until they complete the study. This could also be done in small groups. Once people complete the study, whether it takes one, two or three years, I would encourage them to go through it again, because the second and third time great truths would sink in and be reinforced.

The reason I said this is because over nearly four decades in my church (a church that has always taught and emphasized God’s Word), I’ve seen a noticeable, even startling, reduction in the average person’s grasp of biblical truth. It’s possible for someone to hear Bible-based sermons while at the same time they’re adopting a worldview that is less and less biblical. This happens because most church people spend very little time studying God’s truth during the week. Compare the time spent reading Scripture and great books that teach biblical truth versus the amount of time spent watching television and reading social media that exemplify not only a non-Christian worldview but often an anti-Christian worldview. What chance does one 30 to 40 minute sermon a week have, no matter how biblical, when it must fight off and correct 30 to 40 hours of worldview that’s contrary to Scripture and the Gospel of God’s grace?

My biggest hope with the teaching of systematic theology is that it will give people a truly Christian worldview and then inspire and motivate them to read books which further develop and cultivate that biblical worldview. If people in our churches gave up ten hours of television, talk radio, sports radio, political programming or shopping or you-name-it per week and spent those ten extra hours reading or listening to audio of God’s Word and great Christ-exalting books and videos, it would make a phenomenal difference.

If our young people were taught systematic theology (age-appropriate of course, which can be done from childhood), which is the same as a Christian worldview, before going off to college, they would be equipped to answer the questions and challenges to their faith they’ll see and hear every day. They would at least have a chance. The way it is now they go off to college with little more than a few isolated stories they heard in Sunday school and youth group and in their home. And this meagre knowledge can’t begin to stand up against the onslaught of anti-God, anti-Bible, and anti-church doctrine that will overwhelm them (sometimes, tragically, even at so-called Christian colleges).

When someone asked me in an email, “What’s the value of systematic theology?” here was my answer.

Pastor Kevin DeYoung recently wrote a wonderful answer to the question “Why should we study systematic theology?” I would encourage every Christ-follower to read this, and to take to heart the vital points Kevin makes.

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John Piper on the Best of Times, the Worst of Times

John Piper recently spoke about how we as Christians should respond to the times in which we find ourselves. I especially appreciated his four take aways about how to live in a day like ours. Rather than despairing about the difficulties, or remaining blissfully ignorant of them, we’re to trust that God is sovereignly at work in both the good and bad, and to seek to be salt and light in the places He’s put us.

As God raised up Esther for just such a time as hers (Esther 4:14), I’m convinced He’s raised us up for this time, to be a witness for Christ and to bring the Good News of great joy to those around the world.

This Is the Best of Times, And the Worst of Times

Perhaps this is true at every point in the history of a God-ruled, sin-pervaded world. It was true in 1859, and it is true today.

Charles Dickens wrote The Tale of Two Cities in 1859. It begins,

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way — in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.

He was referring to 1775, the time of the French Revolution. But his point was that period was like the present period in 1859. In the mid-nineteenth century, “it was the best of times and the worst of times.”

In 1859 Charles Spurgeon was 25 years old, George Müller was 54, Hudson Taylor was 27. And Charles Darwin was 50 years old, John Stuart Mill was 53, and Friedrich Nietzsche was 15.

Read the rest.

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An Appeal to Men to Stand up for Women and Care for and Defend Their Children

The tenth video exposé about Planned Parenthood from The Center for Bioethical Reform was released yesterday. You can view it, and more related articles, on the ERLC site.

The history of abortion in America should bring more shame to men than to anyone. No pregnancy happens without a man. Men should take the responsibility for their own purity and to protect that of women. When they fail to do this, they should be the first to accept full responsibility for the consequences of their actions, including the conception of a child.

As George Gilder argues in Men and Marriage, [i] when men exercise deep loyalties to women and children, when we take responsibility to protect and defend them, we are at our best; when we violate those loyalties, we are at our worst. We become abusers on the one hand, or passive cowards on the other. We place ourselves under the rightful scorn of women and under the judgment of God.

When I spoke on this subject at my church, a man in his sixties told me of a girl he got pregnant thirty-nine years ago. She gave him the choice of what to do, and he chose an abortion. He said it has haunted him since. He thinks about the woman he failed and the son or daughter he lost and wonders about the grandchildren he’d now be holding. He said to me, “Tell people about the consequences. Warn our young men—tell them God will hold them accountable for what they do with their children.” Then he broke down in tears and said, “I don’t want our young men to do what I did thirty-nine years ago.”

One of our home Bible study leaders came to me, tears in his eyes. He told me of an abortion he paid for years ago and the devastating impact it had on his life. A quarter of a million babies are aborted each year by women who describe themselves as “evangelical” or “born again." [ii] Most of these women no doubt have some church affiliation. In many cases the father of the child attends the same church. It is not only a moral crisis, but a matter of great shame that Christian men have been so weak that they not only commit sexual immorality, but allow a child to be killed to cover up their sin and make their lives easier (until their conscience takes revenge).

For the sake of women and children—and for our own sakes—it is time for men to stand up and make whatever sacrifices are necessary to care for children they have fathered. If this means begging the forgiveness of women, or standing in front of church leaders or a congregation and confessing their sin, so be it. If this were done more often, more young men in the church would be encouraged to pursue purity and discouraged from ever letting a child die for their sins.

Abortion isn’t a women’s issue. It’s a human issue, and its effects are devastating to women and men alike. But it’s high time for men to take personal responsibility, stand up for women and children, and exercise the kind of leadership God expects of us.

Free book offer from Eternal Perspective Ministries

With the issue of abortion once again at the forefront of our culture, EPM wants to equip prolifers to be able to provide a solid, compassionate case for defending both unborn children and their mothers. We are offering readers one FREE copy of Randy Alcorn’s book Why ProLife? (retail value $6.95) and complimentary shipping* when you use the code PROLIFE. 

*Complimentary shipping offer applies only to free book. Other products added to the order will still have applicable shipping charges. Book offer only available for continental U.S. orders. Offer expires Thursday, September 17 at 11:59 p.m. PT.

Sources
[i] George Gilder, Men and Marriage (Gretna, La.: Pelican, 1992).
[ii] Family Planning Perspectives, July–August 1996, 12.

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