Randy Alcorn's Blog, page 17

Ask, Admire, Admit: Divine Appointments and Starting Spiritual Conversations

Acts 17:26 says, “From one human being he created all races of people and made them live throughout the whole earth. He himself fixed beforehand the exact times and the limits of the places where they would live” (GNT). Since God fixes the exact times and limits of where people live, doesn’t this suggest He also fixes the times and places we will be on any particular day? Sure, people have free will, but that doesn’t mean God can’t take into account your free will and mine (and everyone else’s), so He can schedule us for divine appointments with people at certain times and places.

The next verse tells us the beautiful purpose God has for fixing our exact times and places: “He did this so that they would look for him, and perhaps find him as they felt around for him. Yet God is actually not far from any one of us” (Acts 17:27, GNT, emphasis added). Part of our role in divine appointments is helping people look for and find the grace of Jesus. Perhaps having His followers everywhere is part of the way God is not far even from unbelievers. He touches others through us.

Too many of us are bored with our Christian lives, and the reason for that is largely because we don’t see life in terms of the daily opportunities for adventure granted us by our sovereign God. My best friend and I had a divine appointment not long ago—through a series of unusual circumstances. I told the person we met, “This is no accident that we are here talking with you. God had this planned. He does things like that. This is what we call a divine appointment.”

I’m a firm believer that many of life’s inconveniences or unusual circumstances involve divine appointments with people the Lord brings into our lives—if only we open our eyes to see them.

Evangelist Greg Stier, Founder/Visionary of Dare2Share, shared some great thoughts about a divine appointment he had, and explained how asking questions can lead to spiritual conversations. I love Greg, and this is how he really lives:

Yesterday as I was renewing my daughter’s gym membership, I asked Steve, the guy who was helping me at the front desk, about his tattoos, and it led to a spiritual conversation. He told me that growing up both his parents were agnostic and so was he. But he had just recently started reading the Bible and was interested in knowing more about spiritual things, but he didn’t know where to go to church.

As I rattled off a few ideas (he lived far from our church) and began to share the Gospel with him, a pastor friend of mine who has a church that is closer to where he lives walked up to check into the gym and said hello to me. I introduced Pastor Joel to my new friend, and they made a connection. As I was leaving, I told Steve, “This was no accident. God sent Pastor Joel at just the right time to connect with you.” He smiled and nodded, knowing that God was up to something. Pray for Steve to fully understand the Gospel and put his faith in Jesus. Pray for Steve to get connected to a solid church. He’s heard the Gospel and now knows a pastor who works out at his gym.

Fellow believers, I find most people willing to engage in spiritual conversations if we ASK-ADMIRE-ADMIT:

ASK questions about them, their lives, jobs, (tattoos 😊), and spiritual journeys.

ADMIRE what you can about their beliefs, like Paul did with the philosophers at the Areopagus in Acts 17.

ADMIT the reason you need Jesus and then share your testimony and then the GOSPEL. That’s what I did in 10 minutes at the front desk of a fitness center yesterday. That’s what you can do today, any day and every day.

God gave a big exclamation point to His divine intervention when He sent Pastor Joel to the front desk of the gym at just the right time. And stop saying to yourself, “Well, this kind of stuff happens all the time to Greg because he’s an evangelist.” That’s Satan’s lie whispering in your ear, trying to convince you that you can’t do the same thing.

You have the same Holy Spirit I do (Ephesians 1:13,14.).

You have the same anointing I do (1 John 2:20).

You have the same Gospel I do (Romans 1:16).

You have the same mission I do (Matthew 28:18-20).

So go for it!

Check out some of the great resources from Dare2Share, including an evangelism app and free ebooks.

Photo: Unsplash

5 Reasons to Obey What God Commands

There are many reasons to obey what God commands us in Scripture. Here are five of them I’ve reminded myself of over the years:

1) God said it.

2) God knows better than I do.

3) God is in charge, and I am not.

4) Whenever I have obeyed God, I and my family have ultimately benefited.

5) Whenever I have done it my way instead of God’s, with all my rationalizations and excuses that I’ve considered sound reasoning, it hasn’t been for His glory, for my good, or the good of others. To obey God is always in our ultimate self-interest. In a universe where God sets up the rules, what is right is also smart.

The living God says, “I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live” (Deuteronomy 30:19). He offers us true life and, with it, blessing. But He warns us against sin and the curse that always comes with it. Just as He did in the Garden, God offers us the quality of life that comes from obeying Him. God says, “Let your heart hold fast my words; keep my commandments, and live” (Proverbs 4:4).

Finally, we would do well to remember that God gives us the power and strength to obey Him. Scripture says that the grace of God “teaches us to say ‘No’ to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age” (Titus 2:12). God’s grace is not only for forgiveness of sin, but empowerment to live in holiness.

Photo: Pexels

Atheist or Christian, We All Choose Our Miracle

My book It’s All About Jesus includes this great quote from Glen Scrivener, a British minister and evangelist: “Christians believe in the virgin birth of Jesus. Materialists believe in the virgin birth of the cosmos. Choose your miracle.”

Glen directs the evangelistic ministry Speak Life. He responded to an interview with atheist Richard Dawkins, and mentioned some similar things to the quote above:

Christians believe that Jesus emerged, alive again, from the tomb. But Richard Dawkins believes that *all* life emerged from non-life—and without a God of resurrection to work the wonder.

Choose your miracle.

Watch the full video: https://t.co/oer8Iq2uPc pic.twitter.com/GKygHJuTFk

— Speak Life (@SpeakLifeUK) April 2, 2024

Here’s the full video of Glen responding to Richard’s interview and declaration that he is a “cultural Christian”:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZzxBoMDNFng?si=U4VI1UcakVIyfzkf

Dawkins makes some moral judgments about Islam and its treatment of certain people groups. He, like all atheists in the Western world, lives in a culture influenced by a historic belief in God and the morality revealed in Scripture. This provides a residual basis for believing that moral categories are important, while the atheist worldview doesn’t.

Dawkins, Hitchens, and other atheists have emphasized the evils done in religion’s name. But they say virtually nothing about how modern education, science, and health care all emerged out of Christianity.

Atheists who have thought through the implications of their worldview occasionally admit its utter moral emptiness. Unbeliever William Provine put it this way in a debate: “Let me summarize my views on what modern evolutionary biology tells us loud and clear.... There are no gods, no purposes.... There is no life after death.... There is no ultimate foundation for ethics, no ultimate meaning in life, and no free will for humans.”

Notice his admission that there is no ultimate foundation for ethics. The naturalistic worldview has no basis for declaring some things good and others evil.

But surely something within Dr. Provine can look at good and rejoice, then look at evil and cry out, “This is wrong!” What is it that cries out? The Bible calls it the conscience, God’s law written on our hearts (see Romans 2:15). We have a moral code, a natural law built into us. That’s what allows us to step outside of what we see around us and call it good or evil.

William Lane Craig says, “If God does not exist, then life is objectively meaningless; but man cannot live consistently and happily knowing that life is meaningless; so in order to be happy he pretends that life has meaning.... In a universe without God, good and evil do not exist—there is only the bare valueless fact of existence, and there is no one to say that you are right and I am wrong.”

Even those who reject the claims of the Christian worldview should acknowledge that it does in fact offer a moral foundation upon which to discern good and evil. And they should ask themselves whether, without realizing it, they sometimes borrow from the Christian worldview because their own worldview cannot provide a foundation on which to judge good and evil.

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How Can I Approach a Political Election in the Right Way, and Have Christ-Honoring Conversations with Others?

Note from Randy: This is a great answer from Doreen Button, part of our EPM staff, in response to some questions about politics. Like many of you, I do not enjoy the political turmoil, including in the church, that will only get worse as the presidential election gets closer. On the one hand, there is much at stake and some issues are extremely important, not the least of them the right to life of unborn children. However, we should be trusting God no matter what happens. As Psalm 25:15 says, “My eyes are continually toward Yahweh.” May this be true of God’s people!

Question from a reader:

What advice does your ministry and Randy have at this time of political chaos with a major election coming up? I am trying to stay on point with issues as I talk with family and friends, but I can’t even have a conversation with them because they disagree with candidates I am choosing to vote for. I am looking for advice for me to stay calm and look at this upcoming election in the right way. How can I have the right approach?

Answer from Doreen Button, EPM staff:

The ways people handle election cycles is a great reminder of how fallen we are and how deeply we need God’s grace. I applaud your desire to converse calmly about things you seem to care deeply about. It can be discouraging when people you love don’t want to listen. And, as with any relationship, you are only responsible for your actions and reactions and cannot control outcomes involving other people and their choices.

My short answer to your question is to keep an eternal perspective and keep Jesus’ words about what’s most important always foremost in your thoughts. This is an important habit to build no matter what the circumstances and will serve to keep God first, and to promote servant-hearted love toward others as an outflow of God’s love working in and through you.

By eternal perspective I mean focusing on what lasts. You’re probably familiar with Randy’s example of our present lives as a tiny dot on eternity’s endless timeline. This election will certainly encompass important issues, but since God always has been and always will be sovereign over all He’s created, we neither need to worry about the outcome (in fact that would go directly against His stated will) nor risk disrupting the unity Jesus prayed so earnestly to the Father for us.

His Kingdom has and will come and His will is being done, because of and in spite of us and our stand on any given issue or candidate. (Meditate on 1 Timothy 2:1-6 and Titus chapters 2 and 3.) “It is better to take refuge in Yahweh than to trust in princes” (Psalm 118:9).

Randy has written several blogs which I believe can be applied to your situation. Here are links to two of my favorites: Are We Careful to Speak Words of Mercy and Grace, Especially When We Disagree? and Outrage Is Not a Fruit of the Spirit. Randy seeks to consistently blend both biblical truth and Christ-honoring grace. It’s one of many traits our EPM staff appreciate about him.

One last thought you might want to ponder. People are made in God’s image (even when we reflect that image poorly) and our relationships with each other are far more important—and among believers, far longer lasting—than being “right” (or even being heard). Jesus tells us to “Seek God’s Kingdom first, and His righteousness…” That’s our job. His job? “At the right time he will bring everything together under the authority of Christ—everything in heaven and on earth” (Ephesians 1:10).

We have to be far more passionate about Jesus, and our unbelieving loved ones knowing Him, than we are about any political candidate. Before initiating or engaging in political conversations, particularly with those who don’t see things your way, pray! Then, ask yourself if you are fighting for your own ideals or are you genuinely interested in loving the other person well.

If and when a conversation happens, it may also help to diffuse strong feelings if you acknowledge their concerns over the candidate you are choosing to support and try to be understanding about them.  Your choice to share in a spirit of kindness and love will stand out in a culture of accusations and name calling.

In his article “Mercy Would Make America Great,” Vince Miller writes:

In conversations about candidates, policies, and platforms, we should follow Jesus’s example, and ask good questions to try and understand the reasons for our neighbors’ deeply held beliefs. Make an effort to understand how they came to their conclusions and convictions, and then reason with a respectful attitude.

…This political season is not about us. We kneel before the throne and submit our preferences, opinions, and purposes to Almighty God. It is all about him. Keep your focus on Christ because there is ultimately only one King and one kingdom.

God bless you as you make your way through this quagmire called politics. May you come out the other side looking more like Jesus!

Photo: Unsplash

There Is a God-Given Happiness That Honors Him

The Puritans, Charles Spurgeon, John Wesley and a host of others constantly spoke of a God-made happiness. As I have traveled the world, I’ve met more suffering people who are happy in Jesus than I have ever found in America!

This is exactly what I talk about in my book Happiness, as I go through over twenty Hebrew words and fifteen Greek words used in Scripture that are part of the same semantic domain. They are happiness synonyms and can be readily translated not only joyful, but also glad, merry, happy, delighted, etc. For example, take any Hebrew dictionary and look up asher, or a Greek dictionary and look up makarios (both are translated as “blessed” in our Bible versions), and you will find that they mean happy.

Of course there is a false and godless happiness, just as there is a false and godless holiness! There is also godless “love” and “hope” and “holiness” (in religions that try to work their way to God). But the solution is not abandoning those words; rather, we can show how the biblical versions differ from the culture’s view of them. Since God has wired all people to want the happiness of Eden and the New Earth, and since He intended humans to be happy and secured His children’s eternal happiness on the cross, telling the world (and our children) to stop wanting happiness and that it is sinful to want to be happy is both futile and counterproductive! What we need to tell them is that they can find happiness/joy/gladness in Jesus.

Will they still suffer in this life? Of course! But the gladness and joy of God’s people has always been a happiness in Him that infuses them with hope and perspective in the midst of suffering. Trust me—countless Jesus-followers in prisons and hospitals all over the world experience this happiness in God in ways that we should learn from. May we follow their example and do the same!  

Sadly, the church's false and unbiblical distinctions between happiness and holiness, and between happiness and joy, contradict the “good news of happiness” we’re promised in the Messiah (see Isaiah 52:7, ESV and NASB, two of the most literal translations)!

Here’s my answer when I was asked, “Is it wrong to want to be happy?”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PcS4cQxOAkA?si=dUPsDLJcdw0hMBxe

Browse more resources on the topic of happiness, and see Randy's books, including Happiness and Does God Want Us to Be Happy?

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Abortion Isn’t Just a Political Issue—It’s About the Dignity and Sanctity of Human Life

Many today claim that abortion is just a political issue. But the abortion issue, at its core, is apolitical. It has everything to do with the worth of a human child. If I were to jump today in front of a car to rescue a child, it would not be to lodge a political protest against reckless driving. It would be to save the life of an innocent child. Abortion became “political” when the law was changed to justify the killing of children.

Long before it was ever a divisive political issue in our country, abortion was a moral issue, and one which God has a clear and emphatic position on. I encourage you to consider what God’s Word says about unborn children, and what the people of God throughout history have said about abortion.

Personhood in the Bible

Some maintain that “nowhere does the Bible prohibit abortion.” [1] Yet the Bible clearly prohibits the killing of innocent people (Exodus 20:13). All that is necessary to prove a biblical prohibition of abortion is to demonstrate that the Bible considers the unborn to be human beings.

A number of ancient societies opposed abortion, [2] but ancient Hebrew society had the clearest reasons for doing so because of its scriptural foundation. The Bible gives theological certainty to the biological evidence. It teaches that men and women are made in God’s image (Genesis 1:27). Throughout Scripture, personhood is never measured by age, stage of development, or mental, physical, or social skills. Personhood is endowed by God at the moment of creation. That moment of creation can be nothing other than the moment of conception.

The Hebrew word used in the Old Testament to refer to the unborn (Exodus 21:22–25) is yeled, a word that “generally indicates young children, but may refer to teens or even young adults.” [3] The Hebrews did not have or need a separate word for unborn children. They were just like any other children, only younger. In the Bible there are references to born children and unborn children, but there is no such thing as “potential,” “incipient,” or “almost” children.

Job graphically described the way God created him before he was born (Job 10:8–12). The person in the womb was not something that might become Job, but someone who was Job, just younger and smaller. God identifies Himself to Isaiah as, “he who made you, who formed you in the womb” (Isaiah 44:2). What each person is, not merely what he might become, was present in his mother’s womb.

Psalm 139:13–16 paints an intimate picture of God’s involvement with a preborn person. David says to his Creator, “You knit me together in my mother’s womb.” Each person has been personally knitted together by God. “All the days of his life have been planned out by God before any have come to be” (v. 16).

As a member of the human race that has rejected God, each person sinned “in Adam,” and is therefore a sinner from his very beginning (Romans 5:12–19). David says, “Surely I was sinful at birth.” Then he goes back even before birth to the actual beginning of his life, saying he was “sinful from the time my mother conceived me” (Psalm 51:5). Each person has a sin nature from the point of conception. Who but an actual person can have a moral nature? Rocks and trees and animals and human organs do not have moral natures, good or bad.

When Rebekah was pregnant with Jacob and Esau, Scripture says, “The babies jostled each other within her” (Genesis 25:22). The unborn are regarded as “babies” in the full sense of the term. God tells Jeremiah, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you” (Jeremiah 1:5). He could not know Jeremiah in his mother’s womb unless Jeremiah, the person, was present there.

In Luke 1:41 and 44 there are references to the unborn John the Baptist. The Greek word translated as “baby” in these verses is the word brephos. It is the same word used for the already born baby Jesus (Luke 2:12, 16) and for the babies brought to Jesus to receive His blessing (Luke 18:15–17). It is also the same word used in Acts 7:19 for the newborn babies killed by Pharaoh. To the writers of the New Testament, like the Old, a baby is simply a baby, whether born or unborn.

The angel Gabriel told Mary that she would be “with child and give birth to a son” (Luke 1:31). In the first century, and in every century, to be pregnant is to be with child, not with that which might become a child.

Child Sacrifice

Child sacrifice is condemned throughout Scripture. Only the most degraded societies tolerated such evil. Ancient dumping grounds have been found filled with the bones of hundreds of dismembered infants. This is strikingly similar to discoveries of thousands of dead babies discarded by modern abortion clinics. One scholar of the ancient Near East refers to infant sacrifice as “the Canaanite counterpart to abortion.” [4]

Scripture condemns the shedding of innocent blood (Deuteronomy 19:10; Proverbs 6:17; Isaiah 1:15; Jeremiah 22:17). While the killing of all innocent human beings is detestable, the Bible regards the killing of children as particularly heinous (Leviticus 18:21; 20:1–5; Deuteronomy 12:31).

Abortion and Church History

Christians throughout church history have affirmed with a united voice the humanity of the preborn child. [5] The second-century Epistle of Barnabas speaks of “killers of the child, who abort the mold of God.” It treats the unborn child as any other human “neighbor” by saying, “You shall love your neighbor more than your own life. You shall not slay a child by abortion. You shall not kill that which has already been generated” (19.5).

The Didache, a second-century catechism for young converts, states, “Do not murder a child by abortion or kill a newborn infant” (2.2). Clement of Alexandria maintained that “those who use abortifacient medicines to hide their fornication cause not only the outright murder of the fetus, but of the whole human race as well” (Paedagogus 2.10.96.1).

Defending Christians before Marcus Aurelius in A.D. 177, Athenagoras argued, “What reason would we have to commit murder when we say that women who induce abortions are murderers, and will have to give account of it to God? . . . The fetus in the womb is a living being and therefore the object of God’s care” (A Plea for the Christians 35.137–138).

Tertullian said, “It does not matter whether you take away a life that is born, or destroy one that is coming to the birth. In both instances, destruction is murder” (Apology 9.4). Basil the Great affirmed, “Those who give abortifacients for the destruction of a child conceived in the womb are murderers themselves, along with those receiving the poisons” (Canons 188.2). Jerome called abortion “the murder of an unborn child” (Letter to Eustochium 22.13).

Augustine warned against the terrible crime of “the murder of an unborn child” (On Marriage 1.17.15). Origen, Cyprian, and Chrysostom were among the many other prominent theologians and church leaders who condemned abortion as the killing of children. New Testament scholar Bruce Metzger comments, “It is really remarkable how uniform and how pronounced was the early Christian opposition to abortion.” [6]

Throughout the centuries, Roman Catholic leaders have consistently upheld the sanctity of human life. Likewise, Protestant reformer John Calvin followed both the Scriptures and the historical position of the church when he affirmed:

The fetus, though enclosed in the womb of its mother, is already a human being and it is a most monstrous crime to rob it of the life which it has not yet begun to enjoy. If it seems more horrible to kill a man in his own house than in a field, because a man’s house is his place of most secure refuge, it ought surely to be deemed more atrocious to destroy a fetus in the womb before it has come to light. [7]

Modern theologians with a strong biblical orientation have normally agreed that abortion causes the death of a child. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who lost his life standing against Hitler’s murder of the innocent in Germany, argued that abortion is “nothing but murder.” [8]

Theologian Karl Barth stated, “The unborn child is from the very first a child . . . it is a man and not a thing, not a mere part of the mother’s body. . . . Those who live by mercy will always be disposed to practice mercy, especially to a human being which is so dependent on the mercy of others as the unborn child.” [9]

The Bible and Children

The Bible is clear that every child in the womb is created by God. Furthermore, Christ loves that child and proved it by becoming like him—He spent nine months in His mother’s womb. Finally, Christ died for that child, showing how precious He considers him to be.

The biblical view of children is that they are a gift from the Lord (Psalm 127:3–5). Yet society treats children more and more as liabilities. We must learn to see them as God does, and to act toward them as God commands us to act: “Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed. Rescue the weak and needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked” (Psalm 82:3–4).

Abortion and end-of-life issues aren’t “merely” about politics. They’re about the dignity and sanctity of human life.

I share more on the question of “Is abortion just a political issue?” in this video filmed many years ago, yet every bit as true now as it was then:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SyA8zmT0CKs?si=FRkSWNFvZnpiZAyJ

[1] Virginia Ramey Mollenkott, “Reproductive Choice: Basic to Justice for Women,” Christian Scholar’s Review, March 1988, 291.

[2] James Hoffmeier, Abortion: A Christian Understanding and Response (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1987), 46, 50; Eugene Quay, “Abortion: Medical and Legal Foundations,” Georgetown Law Review, 1967, 395, 420; Meredith G. Kline, “Lex Talionis and the Human Fetus,” Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, September 1977, 200–201.

[3] Lawrence O. Richards, Expository Dictionary of Bible Words (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1985), 156–57.

[4] James Hoffmeier, Abortion, A Christian Understanding and Response (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1987), 53.

[5] See George Grant, Grand Illusions: The Legacy of Planned Parenthood (Brentwood, TN: Wolgemuth & Hyatt, 1988), 190–91.

[6] Quoted in Michael Gorman, Abortion and the Early Church (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 1982), 9.

[7] John Calvin, Commentary on Pentateuch, cited in Crisis Pregnancy Center Volunteer Training Manual (Washington, DC: Christian Action Council, 1984), 7.

[8] Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Ethics (New York: Macmillan, 1955), 131.

[9] Karl Barth, Church Dogmatics, ed. Geoffrey Bromiley (Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1961), 3:415, 3:418.

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God’s Promises about Heaven

Scripture commands us to set our hearts on Heaven: “Set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God” (Colossians 3:1). And to make sure we don’t miss the importance of a Heaven-centered life, the next verse says, “Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things [alone].”

We cannot anticipate, or set our minds on, what we cannot imagine. That’s why, I believe, God has given us glimpses of Heaven in the Bible—to fire up our imagination and kindle a desire for Heaven in our hearts. 

When you’re wondering if there really is a Heaven . . .

God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end. (Ecclesiastes 3:11)

I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.” (Revelation 21:3-4)

When you’re wondering what Heaven will be like . . .

We know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down (that is, when we die and leave this earthly body), we will have a house in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God himself and not by human hands. (2 Corinthians 5:1)

The sovereignty, power, and greatness of all the kingdoms under heaven will be given to the holy people of the Most High. (Daniel 7:27)

I saw no temple in the city, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. And the city has no need of sun or moon, for the glory of God illuminates the city, and the Lamb is its light. The nations will walk in its light, and the kings of the world will enter the city in all their glory. Its gates will never be closed at the end of day because there is no night there. And all the nations will bring their glory and honor into the city. (Revelation 21:22-26)

When you’re wondering if there’s a place for you in Heaven . . .

There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? (John 14:2)

We have a priceless inheritance—an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay. And through your faith, God is protecting you by his power until you receive this salvation, which is ready to be revealed on the last day for all to see. (1 Peter 1:4-5)

When you’re wondering if you will go to Heaven and how to get there . . .

If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. (Romans 10:9)

[Jesus said,] “I tell you the truth, anyone who believes has eternal life.” (John 6:47)

Jesus [said], “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)

Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit. (Galatians 6:8)

Because God’s children are human beings—made of flesh and blood—the Son also became flesh and blood. For only as a human being could he die, and only by dying could he break the power of the devil, who had the power of death. Only in this way could he set free all who have lived their lives as slaves to the fear of dying. (Hebrews 2:14-15)

When you’re afraid of dying . . .

I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying. Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never ever die. (John 11:25-26)

The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23)

Our bodies are buried in brokenness, but they will be raised in glory. They are buried in weakness, but they will be raised in strength. They are buried as natural human bodies, but they will be raised as spiritual bodies. (1 Corinthians 15:43-44)

When you doubt there is life after death . . .

Those who die in the Lord will live; their bodies will rise again! Those who sleep in the earth will rise up and sing for joy! For your life-giving light will fall like dew on your people in the place of the dead! (Isaiah 26:19)

God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)

Jesus [said], “I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise.” (Luke 23:43)

When you’re searching for happiness that lasts . . .

You will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of your presence and the pleasures of living with you forever. (Psalm 16:11)

When the Great Shepherd appears, you will receive a crown of never-ending glory and honor. (1 Peter 5:4)

When you long for something more than this world . . .

They were looking for a better place, a heavenly homeland. That is why God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them. (Hebrews 11:16)

This world is not our permanent home; we are looking forward to a home yet to come. (Hebrews 13:14)

Browse more resources on the topic of Heaven, and see Randy’s related books, including Heaven and The Promise of the New Earth.

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John Piper on Brokenhearted Boldness: A Christian Alternative to Outrage Culture

Note from Randy Alcorn: This article addresses some of what I’ve been struggling with over the last several years: a new wave of evangelical outspokenness that considers itself courageous and bold, but is often just self-obsessed, proud, entitled, boastful, whiny, and quick to take offense and cast blame (e.g. everyone who doesn’t agree with me is an insensitive fool, a coward, or a liberal).

My concern really goes back to the onset of COVID in 2020, where evangelical bickering became so toxic and antithetical to the Gospel. There seems to be an ongoing certainty that we are always right, and others are always wrong. There appears to be an increasing lack of graduated and balanced thinking and reason, where people who disagree can have productive interaction. It’s mostly just dialogues of the deaf.

You see it in social media, where tribalism prevails, and Christian humility is increasingly rare. True humility can be quickly dismissed by proud bold evangelicals as weakness, fear, or indecision. Some Christian Facebook and X accounts are just arrogant and mean, and bring out the worst in people, making meanness seem the Christian norm, which undermines the very gospel of grace and truth we profess to believe. (See Outrage Is Not a Fruit of the Spirit.)

This article from John Piper speaks to me, and I hope its message speaks to you, too.

Brokenhearted Boldness: A Christian Alternative to Outrage Culture

By John Piper

Seventeen years ago, I wrote an article titled “Taking the Swagger Out of Christian Cultural Influence.” I used the word swagger to describe a distortion of Christian boldness I was noticing at the time — the kind that struts into the public square, demanding to have our America back from secular hijacking.

Today, the need I see for Christian boldness is a little different. It’s not so much that evangelicals are grasping for so-called “Christian America.” Rather, it’s our being drawn into the callout culture, the outrage culture, the cancel culture, the coddled culture. However you name it, it is very angry. And behind the relative safety of social media, it is very bold.

This boldness is seldom beautiful. But some Christian culture warriors are drawn into it and shaped by it, with the result that their boldness is distorted toward the brash, angry, contentious, coarse, snide, and obnoxious. What is needed is not less boldness. No. The world is not suffering from too much boldness in the cause of truth. Rather, what’s missing is the beauty of brokenhearted boldness.

Here at Desiring God, we believe that this brokenhearted boldness is not a personality trait, but a miracle of God’s Spirit. Christian boldness is a gift of God (Ephesians 6:19–20). Christian brokenheartedness is a gift of God (Psalm 51:10–17). And the counterintuitive combination of the two is one of God’s most beautiful works.

This is one of our aims and prayers, because we are Bible people. What the Bible presents as good and beautiful we pursue. But we have found over many years that our sinful hearts tend to distort the very beauties we pursue unless they are mingled with other beauties — especially the ones that lean against our most subtle distortions.

Beauty of Boldness

Boldness is a highly prized biblical beauty. Consider a few of the Bible’s presentations.

Bold in approaching God.

Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace. (Hebrews 4:16; see also Ephesians 3:12)

Bold before mere man.

We can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?” (Hebrews 13:6)

Bold in righteousness.

The righteous are bold as a lion. (Proverbs 28:1)

Bold in new conquests.

Be strong and courageous, for you shall go with this people into the land that the Lord has sworn to their fathers to give them. (Deuteronomy 31:7–8; see also Joshua 1:9)

Bold before enemy kings.

Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or dismayed before the king of Assyria and all the horde that is with him. (2 Chronicles 32:7)

Bold before a new task.

David said to Solomon his son, “Be strong and courageous and do it. Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed . . . until all the work for . . . the house of the Lord is finished.” (1 Chronicles 28:20)

Bold for the sake of ministry.

I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish . . . the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus. (Acts 20:24)

Bold in speaking the truth.

Now, Lord, . . . grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness. (Acts 4:29; see also Ephesians 6:20)

Bold for the gospel.

Let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, . . . not frightened in anything by your opponents. (Philippians 1:27–28)

Bold to risk your life for the good.

I will go to the king, though it is against the law, and if I perish, I perish. (Esther 4:16)

Bold at the second coming.

Abide in [Christ], so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming. (1 John 2:28)

Reasons for Boldness

Not only does the Bible present boldness as beautiful, but it gives even more beautiful reasons for being bold. Biblical boldness is not a genetic disposition. It is the work of God enabling unworthy sinners to be transformed by reasons the Bible gives us to be bold. The reasons are breathtaking. And it is no wonder that boldness is a fitting and beautiful response. Consider some of the reasons the Bible gives for us to be bold.

Our condemnation for sin was endured by Christ.

By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, [God] condemned sin in the flesh. (Romans 8:3; see also Isaiah 53:5)

Our sins are forgiven.

In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses. (Ephesians 1:7; see also 1 Peter 2:24)

We are righteous in the righteousness of faith.

. . . not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith. (Philippians 3:9)

In Christ, we are the children of God.

See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. (1 John 3:1)

We have eternal life.

Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life. (John 3:36)

As God’s heirs, we possess everything.

All things are yours, whether . . . the world or life or death or the present or the future — all are yours, and you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s. (1 Corinthians 3:21–23; see also Romans 8:32)

Everything will work for our good.

We know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28)

We will never be put to shame.

It stands in Scripture: “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.” (1 Peter 2:6)

God will never leave us nor forsake us.

Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. (Isaiah 41:10; see also Hebrews 13:5)

God will keep us from falling into unbelief.

[He] will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. (1 Corinthians 1:8–9)

God governs the fall of sparrows, and we are more precious than they.

Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. (Matthew 10:29–31)

When hated and killed, we are not defeated.

Some of you they will put to death. You will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But not a hair of your head will perish. (Luke 21:16–18)

We are more than conquerors at the moment the worst happens to us.

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. (Romans 8:35–37)

If the devil kills us, God gives us a crown of life.

Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison. . . . Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life. (Revelation 2:10)

How can we not be bold if these are true! And they are true. If Christ is real, these glorious reasons to be bold are real. And nothing is more real than Christ. So, we find in ourselves a stirring of boldness. The more clearly we see these biblical beauties, and the more heartily we embrace them, the more boldness grows in our souls.

Beauty of Brokenheartedness

But one of the great sorrows of the Christian life is that our remaining sinfulness threatens to distort the beauty of every holy pursuit. What Paul calls “sin that dwells within me” (Romans 7:17) takes hold of a biblical beauty and distorts it — sometimes blatantly so that the distortion is obvious, and sometimes subtly so that the distortion is oh so defensible.

Boldness can become brash, harsh, severe, cruel, angry, impatient, contentious, belligerent, coarse, crude, snarky, snide, loud, garish, obnoxious — all in the name of Christian courage. Or more subtly, boldness in the cause of truth can become, even if less brash and severe, more all-consuming. It can become such a fixation that all other beautiful affections and dispositions are eaten away from within. The soul loses its ability of see and savor and celebrate the good in others and in the world.

We have found that God’s remedy for such distortions of biblical beauties is to provide other moral beauties which are meant to mingle with boldness and prevent it from being ruined by sin. One of the beauties of the Bible that leans against our blatant and subtle distortions of boldness is brokenheartedness. We have discovered that biblical brokenheartedness is beautifully designed by God to preserve biblical boldness in all its power but none of its distortions. Consider the basis and beauty of brokenheartedness in a few biblical presentations.

The Lord is near the brokenhearted.

The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit. (Psalm 34:18)

A broken and contrite heart is a pleasing sacrifice to God.

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. (Psalm 51:17)

God dwells with and revives the lowly and contrite.

Thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite.” (Isaiah 57:15)

God attends to those who tremble at his word.

This is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word. (Isaiah 66:2)

The humble, mourning, and meek are blessed.

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. (Matthew 5:3–5)

Those who despair of self are justified.

The tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!” I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. (Luke 18:13–14)

The godly obedient confess unworthiness.

When you have done all that you were commanded, say, “We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.” (Luke 17:10)

The reverent rejoice with trembling.

Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. (Psalm 2:11)

We work out our salvation with trembling.

Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. (Philippians 2:12–13)

God’s might and care make us glad and lowly.

Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. (1 Peter 5:6–7)

Even what we know truly, we know partly.

Now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known. (1 Corinthians 13:12)

We resist revenge, self-pity, and ultimatums.

When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; when slandered, we entreat. (1 Corinthians 4:12–13)

We share the burden of the entire groaning creation.

Not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. (Romans 8:23)

We live with the anguish of unsaved loved ones.

I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart . . . for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh. (Romans 9:2–3)

We never get beyond the burden of sinning and the need of confession in this life.

Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? (Romans 7:24)

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)

Such brokenheartedness — contrition, lowliness, humility, trembling, meekness, anguish — is fitting in a fallen, and only partially saved, world. Yes, even fitting for saints — who are not yet perfect (Philippians 3:12) but “are being saved” (2 Corinthians 2:15). The very fitness of it is its beauty.

More Beautiful Than Boldness

If it were our purpose here to speak of bold brokenheartedness (which it isn’t), we could linger over God’s wisdom in the way that the beauty of boldness is designed conversely to protect the beauty of brokenheartedness from being distorted into fear, self-pity, passivity, joylessness, hopelessness, cowardice, self-absorption, and fruitlessness.

But the point here is that God intends for the beauty of brokenheartedness to mingle with the beauty of boldness so that a new reality emerges even more beautiful than the sum of both — a new reality called brokenhearted boldness. It is one of God’s most beautiful works. And it is one of the most needed in our day.

We hope that at Desiring God we will not fail in the call to be bold for the truth. Please pray for us. We aspire by the Spirit to joyfully endure the cost of speaking biblical truth boldly. Should we ever suffer in some small way, we would like it to be said of us what was said of the apostles: “They left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name” (Acts 5:41).

But we know something of our own sinfulness and how quickly we can strike back in the name of boldness. Our prayer is that God would spare us from the distortion of the courage he made to be beautiful, by creating something even more beautiful: brokenhearted boldness.

By John Piper. © Desiring God Foundation. Source:  desiringGod.org

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Will Our Relationships with Others in Heaven Be Part of Our Eternal Rewards?

Jesus said, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:21). So what is our treasure? A. W. Tozer suggested we may discover the answer by responding to four basic questions:

What do we value most?

What would we most hate to lose?

What do our thoughts turn to most frequently when we are free to think of what we will?

What affords us the greatest pleasure?

Based on your answers to these four questions, what’s your treasure?

Many would list people and relationships as their treasures. Other than Jesus, the greatest treasure I’ve ever had on Earth is Nanci. Because Jesus is in Heaven, and He is my greatest treasure, my heart has long been there. But with Nanci also there, my heart and mind are often in that other place. I’m encouraged by the command, “Set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things” (Colossians 3:1-2).

I often think of all the people from all over the world Nanci has been meeting and getting to know and love—those we had the privilege of helping through our giving, and who thereby received the gospel, food, clothes, clean water, medicines, Bibles, and good books. Sometimes I feel like part of me went to Heaven with Nanci. That’s not only because of our deep love for each other, but because she and I partnered together to invest in people for eternity. I so look forward not only to seeing old friends but to having Nanci introduce me to these new friends we invested in before we ever met them!

In this clip from my interview on the Finish Line Podcast, I discuss how relationships with others that result from our giving are part of our reward, both now and in Heaven:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2z4EyaEMQUQ?si=P6pPxhY0kKNO_DKh

Here are some thoughts related to Luke 16 and what I shared in the audio clip:

Christ’s parable of the shrewd manager, often called the “unrighteous steward,” is a powerful revelation about the eternal consequences of what we do with our money while on Earth. The parable concerns a wealthy owner who fires his business manager for wasting his assets (see Luke 16:1-13). During the brief period before his termination is effective, the steward goes to his master’s debtors and reduces their debt, thereby engendering their friendship and qualifying for their hospitality.

Despite the ethical issues, Jesus says, “The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light.” Jesus then adds this profound command to his disciples: “I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings” (Luke 16:8-9).

Jesus does not endorse the man’s ethics. Rather, he encourages us to follow the manager’s example of using available resources to plan wisely for our futures.

We will be terminated from this life just as the shrewd steward was terminated from his job, and likely just as unexpectedly. As his master appointed a day for his service to end, so ours has chosen a day for our lives to end, when we will give an account of our stewardship. Worldly wealth will soon be gone. Before then, we should do exactly what this manager did—use wisely what little remaining time, influence, and financial resources we have before our term of stewardship is done.

Jesus doesn’t tell us to stay away from the mammon of unrighteousness or “worldly wealth.” He says to use it “to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings” (Luke 16:9). Money can be a tool of Christ, but it must be used that way now. There’s no second chance to use the money for Christ later. After his termination was effective, the steward would have no more leverage. He used his final days of service to win friends who could take him into their dwellings when his work was done.

After we die, Jesus is telling us, when our present assets of money, possessions, time, and life are gone, we may be welcomed by friends into eternal dwellings.

Who are these friends? Apparently, people in Heaven whom we touched in a significant way through the use of material assets on Earth. Consequently, they will open to us their own “eternal dwelling places.” The reference is plural, not singular—places, not place.

We don’t get to Heaven because we use money wisely. But we do gain access to other people’s individual residences in Heaven. Unlike the shrewd servant, Christians will have a wonderful place to live in Heaven even without visiting others’ dwellings. But like the shrewd steward, we will be welcomed into others’ homes because we have used money and other resources to reach and serve them.

This raises important questions. What kind of building materials are we sending ahead to Heaven for our own dwelling place? Who have we influenced spiritually to the point that they would welcome us into their eternal dwelling places? To what needy people have we sacrificially given our resources?

In eternity we’ll worship God with people of ­every­ tribe, nation, and language. We’ll say thanks to them, and they’ll say thanks to us for acts of faithfulness done for Christ while we lived on Earth. We’ll tell our stories and listen to theirs, enjoying the warmth, sharing the joy, with our Lord the center of attention. Those whom we have influenced for Christ, directly or indirectly, will know and appreciate us and desire our fellowship in Heaven. What a thought!

Do you have trouble getting out of bed in the morning? If picturing those scenes in Heaven doesn’t give you a purpose for living, I don’t know what will!

See Randy's book  The Law of Rewards  for more on eternal rewards.

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No Lone Ranger Christians

We often think of the Apostle Paul as the Lone Ranger, gallivanting solo about the empire, leading everyone to Christ, never afraid, never struggling, often alone, but never lonely.

Scripture corrects this impression as Paul recounts for the Corinthians one of his recent stresses:

Now when I went to Troas to preach the gospel of Christ and found that the Lord had opened a door for me, I still had no peace of mind, because I did not find my brother Titus there. So I said good-bye to them and went on to Macedonia. (2 Corinthians 2:12-13)

Did you catch that? This is Paul—the courageous apostle. He says God opened a door of ministry for him. So what did he do? He went through the door, right? No. He moved on! Paul actually turned his back on a God-given opportunity to minister. Why? Because, he says, “I did not find my brother Titus there.”

Paul needed the encouraging presence of a friend. He felt he could go no further without a comrade—someone to listen to him. The principle is clear; when we are isolated from God’s family, it’s hard to accomplish the tasks of life.

Paul David Tripp writes this in his book New Morning Mercies:

One of the themes that courses through the New Testament…is that your walk with God is designed by God to be a community project. Anonymous, consumerist, isolated, independent, self-sufficient, “Jesus and me” Christianity is a distant and distorted facsimile of the faith of the New Testament. You and I simply were not created (“It is not good that the man should be alone”; Gen. 2:18) or re-created in Jesus Christ (“For the body does not consist of one member but of many”; 1 Cor. 12:14) to live all by ourselves. The biblical word pictures of temple (stones joined together to be a place where God dwells) and body (each member dependent on the function of the other) decimate any idea that healthy Christianity can live outside of essential community.

…the Bible is clear. When each part is working properly, the body of Christ grows to maturity in Christ (see Ephesians 4). We each need to live in intentionally intrusive, Christ-centered, grace-driven redemptive community. This community is meant to enlighten and protect. It is meant to motivate and encourage. It is meant to rescue and restore. It is meant to instill hope and courage. It is meant to confront and rebuke. It is meant to guide and protect. It is meant to give vision and sound warning. It is meant to incarnate the love and grace of Jesus when you feel discouraged and alone. It is meant to be a visible representation of the grace of Jesus that is your hope. It is not a luxury. It is a spiritual necessity.

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