Randy Alcorn's Blog, page 171

hand in Hand: An Interview for the Religious News Service

These questions are from a recent interview with Jonathan Merritt about my book hand in Hand:

1.  Christians have been debating God's sovereignty and humans' free will for centuries. What are you adding to the debate that is new?

I labored to be fair to each position, carefully avoiding misrepresenting them and turning them into easy-to-refute straw men. I avoided tilting the scales by selecting certain biblical passages while ignoring others that support or challenge either Calvinism or Arminianism. I included many sovereignty and many freewill passages.

This compels us to recognize there are two parallel lines that cross in God’s infinite mind, even if they don’t make sense to our finite minds. Accepting that God calls upon us to believe paradoxical (meaning apparently contradictory, not truly contradictory) ideas is key. That way we can place our faith in God rather than lose our faith or give up the discussion because we can’t figure out how to reconcile them.

I disagree with various ideas, but respectfully, suggesting they are based not on complete untruth but partial truths (which lead to partial falsehoods).  I also include original charts and diagrams that I think will help readers understand the issues.

2.  You've said the traditional approach to the debate isn't working. How so?

My approach is very respectful of opposing viewpoints which I believe fall within the bounds of Christian orthodoxy. I quote directly from Arminian and Calvinist scholars.  I cite significant misrepresentations of Calvinism by Arminians and Arminians by Calvinists.

I tried hard, with critiques from both Arminian and Calvinist theologians, to state their positions as their proponents would. I show how each positon can be supported by some Scripture. But I tried to show the need to bring all Scripture to the table, and to embrace paradox rather than rejecting one position in favor of another.  

I quote from Arminius who glowingly complemented John Calvin’s commentaries. I cite Calvinist Charles Spurgeon who expressed deep respect for Arminian John Wesley. I tell the moving story of evangelists Wesley and George Whitefield, whose beliefs once separated them, but who came to love and respect each other.

We wrote what I think are very helpful group discussion questions, designed so people with different perspectives could look at Scripture together and discuss these issues freely and respectfully.

3.  Why is the first "hand" in the title not capitalized while the second one is?  

The lower case hand represents humanity while the uppercase Hand is the hand of God. God’s Hand controls far more than ours, and He can at any time tighten or loosen his grip. Our choices are important, but His choices are much bigger than ours simply because He is infinitely bigger than we are!

Calvinists may think hand in Hand sounds too much like the cooperative work of two equals, which glorifies man and insults God. Arminians may think it implies that human beings are like children, with the child’s “choices” basically controlled entirely by the parent. (However, the child holding her parent’s hand is still free to do things with her other hand!)

4.  Why do you prefer "meaningful human choice" as opposed to "free will?"

I think “free will” can mislead, because there are any number of choices we can’t follow through on. For instance, I can freely choose to fly but if I step off the roof to try it I soon discover I simply don’t have the capacity to fly.

But what limits us much further is that we are not only finite, but fallen. In Scripture we see that our wills are in bondage because we have inherited sin natures going back to Adam. I am not free, for instance, to make choices that earn my way to heaven! I much prefer the term “meaningful human choice,” because even when our natures prompt us to make particular choices that may not be entirely “free,” they are nonetheless meaningful and consequential choices. 

The book’s subtitle is “The beauty of God’s Sovereignty and Meaningful Human Choice.” I believe there’s great intrigue and wonder in these issues, which should lead us not to frustration but worship.

5.  Some Christian leaders have suggested that some natural disasters were ordained by a sovereign God. How do you respond?

God didn’t create a world with natural disasters but both Calvinists and Arminians agree He allows them as part of the Curse. Scripture shows repeatedly that God is sovereign over all nature. Jesus said of his Father, “He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous” (Matthew 5:45). Psalm 147:18 says of God, “He makes his wind blow.” Blowing winds would include hurricanes and tornadoes.

Job 37:13 says, God “brings the clouds to punish men, or to water his earth and show his love.” Numbers 11:1 says when Israel grumbled against God, “Then fire from the LORD burned among them and consumed some of the outskirts of the camp.”

So Scripture shows that some natural disasters are indeed from God’s hand. However, it’s wrong to view every natural disaster as a direct judgment of God on sin, since when Jesus spoke of the man born blind in John 9:3, He said the disciples shouldn’t conclude his blindness was God’s judgment on some specific sin by him or his parents.

6. Make this debate practical for me. If I am already a Christian, why do I even care?

If I don’t have the freedom to make meaningful choices, it changes the way I live. It makes me a hyper-Calvinist or a fatalist. It makes me irresponsible and indifferent to the need to make wise and righteous choices, because it’s all in God’s hands, and what I think and do won’t matter in the end.

Believing in God’s sovereignty is immensely practical because if I view my life as random and in the hands of evil people or demons, then they can ruin my life. But if I accept that God is sovereign and that He promises to work all things together for good for those who love Him, then I have confidence that though my own choices are very real and important, at the same time my life is in infinitely bigger Hands than my own.  

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Hearts, Habits & Happiness

From Kathy Norquist, Randy Alcorn’s assistant:

Last weekend I attended the three sessions of Randy’s Q & A on the joy of giving at Good Shepherd Community Church. The theme of the conference was aptly named “Hearts, Habits & Happiness.” I’ve never heard messages on giving so infused with joy! I especially loved seeing Randy’s passion for this subject and hearing how generous giving leads to much happiness.

The Q & A interview format is very engaging with Randy’s pastor asking questions and Randy frequently reading from and commenting on the many Scriptures that speak about money and possessions. This resource would be useful for individuals or in a group setting, church service or Sunday school class. I hope you enjoy these sessions and share them with others. May the Lord do a mighty work throughout the body of Christ.

Hearts, Habits & Happiness: Session 1 of 3

Hearts, Habits & Happiness: Session 2 of 3 

Hearts, Habits & Happiness: Session 3 of 3 

Purity and Homosexuality

Two weeks ago our EPM staff member Julia Stager posted her first video on my blog: “Superheroes, Heresies and the God-man.” We got a terrific response from this video, and those still coming will be every bit as good! Our plan is to highlight another of Julia’s videos every other week.

Julia’s featured video today is on the critical topic of purity and homosexuality.

If you’re interested in watching Julia’s other videos, you can subscribe to her YouTube channel: Crossover.

Each blog regularly appears on my Facebook page. If you’d like to comment or see others’ comments, we invite you to join us there.

A Lesson Hard Learned: Being Content with Saying No to Truly Good Opportunities

I used to say no to 95% of speaking and “let’s meet for coffee” and “please read my book” requests. Now it’s over 99%. The standard reply my assistant gives is one I came up with fifteen years ago:  “Randy has to say no to the great majority of good opportunities so that he can say yes to the very few God wants him to do.”

I believe this with all my heart, though it took me many years to learn it the hard way. Back then I would say yes to speaking engagements two years away, since the calendar was open, then the time would come, and I’d be buried in a book project and asking myself why I ever said yes to the speaking.

I once felt guilty about declining most requests, so I was reading a dozen books a year for endorsements, saying yes to friends who wanted me to speak, meeting people who were coming through Portland, etc. But then I was always behind writing my own books, and writing is my primary calling. Now I decline nearly all speaking requests (I travel and speak maybe five times per year, and often there’s a second angle to what I say yes to—staying extra days to see my kids and grandkids, getting vacation time with Nanci, etc.).

My advice is to care about people but use discernment, and don’t live to please them. We are to live out our lives before the Audience of One. In the end, His approval is the one that matters. If our goal is to hear others say, “Well done,” we won’t have time, energy and perspective to do what we need to do to hear Him say it. Paul said, “If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ” (Galatians 1:10).

The key to a productive and content life is “planned neglect”—knowing what NOT to do, and being content with saying no to truly good, sometimes fantastic, opportunities. This happens only when you realize how truly limited you are, and that you must steward your little life, and that of the best things to do on the planet, God wants you to do only a miniscule number (He’s infinite, you’re finite, remember?). I used to feel very bad about turning down great opportunities, but when I would say yes I would have to do all that extra preparation and travel, and then there’s recovery and catch-up time, so that speaking somewhere for 2-3 days can essentially take away two weeks of my life—two weeks away from book-writing.

I have horror stories of being talked into quick-turnaround writing projects and especially speaking events. For example, I once agreed to go to Seattle, as I live in the Portland area and was told “You can fly up at 3:00 PM, have dinner with us, speak and then be back at your house at 10 PM.” I finally said yes, and walked out of the meeting that night to thick fog. With cancelled flights then and the next day, and six hours on a Greyhound bus stopping every twenty minutes, I made it home exhausted, 36 hours after leaving. I learned a lesson that has proven true repeatedly: everything you say yes to takes far more time than they think, or you think!

Now, in the limited times I do speak, to minimize or eliminate preparation time, I make my coming contingent on doing Q&A’s, which I do with my Bible open in front of me. I turn to Scripture repeatedly, since it’s God’s Words not mine He says He will use to accomplish His purpose (Isaiah 55: 11). By having less prepared to say, I give God more opportunity to speak. I tell them, “I’m a writer, not a speaker, and to find the time to prepare, travel, speak and recover would take too much time from my writing.”

By saying no to speaking and appointments and any writing that’s off-center the great majority of the time, I tell the Lord, “I want to be available for you to surprise me with those occasional wonderful things you want me to say yes to but which I couldn’t anticipate and couldn’t ever have done if I’d said yes to many of those good things people wanted me to do.” That has happened often in the last number of years, in both writing and speaking, but had I not been ruthlessly saying no to all those good things, I wouldn’t have had any room to say yes to those few great things, often unforeseen ones, God wanted me to do.

On occasion I’ve received an email back after saying no that tells me, “We’ve been praying and God has made it clear you are the one who should speak to us/meet with us/read my book/write my book.” My response is always the same: “If God has spoken to you, He can speak to me too. Ask God to tell me what you think He told you, and if He does, I’ll do it. But unless He makes it clear, the answer remains no.” So far God has never changed my mind, turning a no to a yes.

Jesus says to his Father, "Here I am, I have come to do your will” (Hebrews 10:9). HIS will…no one else’s. May that be true of us too.

Learn to say, "No," and it will be of more use to you than to be able to read Latin. —Charles Spurgeon

Each blog regularly appears on my Facebook page. If you’d like to comment or see others’ comments, we invite you to join us there.

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Our Perspective and God’s Perspective

Before I get to today’s blog, I wanted to say a word about the discussion questions for my book hand in Hand that several of us worked hard to put together. They’re in the back of the book, but we’ve also posted them online, and even have a downloadable pdf with space to insert answers to questions.

I believe hand in Hand has potential for engaging group discussions more than nearly all the books I’ve written. I think it’s one of the few books that people with very different beliefs about sovereignty and free will might be comfortable with. People who are completely Arminian or Calvinist on every point will take issue with some things in the book. But many people will be able to handle my difference in perspective on some issues when they see agreement on others, and above all when they sense respect and accuracy in the conveying of positions that aren’t my own.

Prayerful examination of the deep questions of God’s sovereignty and our choices ought to humble us, especially when it seems mysterious and we can’t see how everything fits together.

Edwin Abbott’s novel Flatland concerns a world in which there are only two dimensions, length and breadth. There’s no depth. Eventually the narrator, a square, is visited by a three-dimensional sphere. Square cannot comprehend the third dimension until he’s taken to Spaceland to see it.

Astronomer Hugh Ross used a similar analogy concerning our difficulty understanding certain aspects of God’s Word. [i] While we live in four dimensions (length, breadth, depth, and time), God exists outside of both time and space, so He has reference points we can’t even imagine. Consequently, the coexistence of such doctrines as election and predestination, or sovereignty and free will—which to us can seem impossible (or at least logically absurd) because of our restricted frames of reference—is fully obvious to Him. (What isn’t obvious to God?)

Theories dealing with God’s choices and ours have apparently insurmountable problems—not because we’re so logical, but because we’re finite and therefore our logic is finite. Consider the argument that if God knows you’re going to buy a mocha at 3:09 p.m. tomorrow, then when the time comes you have no real choice. But suppose God exists not in one dimension of time but three. Hugh Ross states, “A three-dimensional time domain or its equivalent would enable God to predetermine every action of every human being while sustaining the operation of human choice." [ii]

You don’t have to agree with that conclusion to get the point that we’re extremely limited in our thinking.

I’ve attempted to illustrate our dilemma using two straight lines indicating God’s sovereignty and human choice. They don’t appear to touch each other, so they’re depicted as parallel lines that don’t intersect—or if they do, it’s outside of our vision.

We can’t imagine how these two things are compatible. Sure, God could have choices and we could have choices, but how could God’s choices be sovereign if we can oppose and violate them? This can frustrate us—or it can impart awe and wonder as we ponder a God who has the ability to see things with absolute understanding and to accomplish them with infinite power.

God sees multi-dimensionally. When He looks at what puzzles our brains with our flatland perspective, He may see something more like this:

As suggested in the six sides of this cube, God and His view of complete reality is much bigger than ours. (Of course, in reality, His view is infinitely bigger, and three dimensions aren’t nearly enough; I’m not trying to put God in a box but to take Him out of the one we often put Him in.) God sees forces constantly at work that we’re unaware of. He simultaneously sees and deals with all human choices and all demon choices, including Satan’s. He sees and deals with the choices of righteous angels. He makes choices Himself, decrees creatures’ choices, permits creatures’ choices, and overrules their choices if He so wishes.

This may make our heads spin, but it’s no challenge for God. He sees and works in other dimensions we don’t even comprehend. While we stare at those two lines wondering how they might intersect, He deals with countless billions of intersections of that which He decrees and permits related to the choices of His creatures, while He governs every detail of the physical universe in which we live, which is something like a hundred billion light years in expanse.

God sees and works in other dimensions we don’t even comprehend.

God reveals seemingly inscrutable or irreconcilable truths, which may confuse us but make perfect sense to Him. We should trust what He says, and let the greatness and beauty of His truth—too big for us to comprehend—prompt us to praise and worship Him.

Each blog regularly appears on my Facebook page. If you’d like to comment or see others’ comments, we invite you to join us there.

Sources: 

[i] Hugh Ross, Beyond the Cosmos: What Recent Discoveries in Astrophysics Reveal About the Glory and Love of God (Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress, 1996), 52–53.

[ii] Ross, Beyond the Cosmos, 162.

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The Life-Changing Power of God’s Word in the Life of a Suicidal 10 Year Old

This is a raw and powerful testimony from Dr. Ron Archer. By age ten he was living in such pain he contemplated suicide. He has an amazing story. I encourage you to take eight minutes to hear his heart about God’s love for the downtrodden. No matter what we’ve been through, God is able to redeem us and His living and active Word will not fail to change us.

Also, and completely unrelated, I want to invite anyone near Portland, Oregon area to a free three-session conference (no registration required, just show up) at Good Shepherd Community Church this weekend, November 8 and 9. Good Shepherd is our home church, where I was one of the two original pastors when we started the church on May 1, 1977.

In each session I’ll be interviewed by lead pastor Alan Hlavka, answering questions about giving and how it affects our hearts, habits and happiness. The emphasis isn’t on the duty of giving, but the joy of giving.

I’ll open God’s Word in response to the questions. The sessions are at 5:00 p.m. on Saturday, and 9:00 & 10:45 on Sunday. (These are the normal weekend service times, but each session will be different, building on the previous, like a conference, so they won’t be the normal duplicate services.)

For more information see www.goodshepherdcc.org.

Here’s a short video I recorded with my friend Alan Hlavka, about the conference and the joy of giving:

I hope to see some of you there! Six of my books (including two new ones) will be sold, at $5 each, with all the proceeds going to the church. I’ll be signing books in the foyer after each service, so feel free to drop by and say hi!

Each blog regularly appears on my Facebook page. If you’d like to comment or see others’ comments, we invite you to join us there.

Brittany Maynard, age 29, has taken her life here in Portland, Oregon

It was announced late Sunday afternoon that on Saturday, 29-year-old terminally ill Brittany Maynard chose to end her life under Oregon’s physician assisted suicide law. It’s heavy on my heart that this happened only minutes from where Nanci and I live. I am very sad for Brittany and her family. I’m also sad for the way her case has been used to promote the legitimacy of doctors facilitating people’s suicides, and how this changes the nature of the medical profession.

Many of you know that Brittany had made videos talking about why she moved to Oregon to have the legal right to die on her own terms. Several days ago she made another new video with an update. As I watched her video, my heart truly went out to her. I have no desire to judge or criticize.

Many people are angry at those who don’t believe in physician assisted suicide. At the same time, Brittany did not make this a private decision, but a very public one, so it forced the issue into public debate. She chose to go public as an example to others of how they might choose to end their lives.

Two decades ago I joined others, including many physicians, in expending a lot of time and effort to oppose Oregon’s move to become the first place in human history (yes, even before the Netherlands) to legalize physician assisted suicide. We failed, obviously.

Here is what I wrote exactly twenty years ago today, on November 3, 1994, a week before the ballot measure was voted on—some of the points are still relevant to legislation being proposed in other states.

A week later, November 10, 1994, almost exactly twenty years ago, was the day Oregon became the first jurisdiction on the planet to legalize physician assisted suicide. I wrote an article and gave a public presentation called “Who do we think we are?” (You can tell how old it is from the fact that I several times indicate “OH transparency,” OH as in OverHead projector, when that was still cutting edge technology. :)

Please listen carefully to the words of Joni Eareckson Tada, who Nanci and I deeply love and respect. As a quadriplegic for forty-seven years, and a cancer survivor, Joni has known more than her share of suffering. Here’s what she had to say about the Brittany Maynard situation and physician assisted suicide.

That many people responded angrily to Joni’s thoughtful viewpoint demonstrates a remarkable disregard for the fact that she speaks out of a life not only of great suffering but also great compassion. It’s a short step from affirming people have the right to take their lives with the aid of physicians to affirming society has the right to end lives of those that we don’t believe have sufficient “quality of life.”

Finally, while we’re talking about old articles, I wrote one on euthanasia in 1986, citing relevant Scripture. If you’re interested, here it is. I talk about the difference between taking a life and permitting a death, and that we need to be careful not to play God. Most of it, I think, remains as relevant now as it was then.

Some final thoughts to consider—God is the giver and taker of life. “The days of humans are determined; you have decreed the number of their months and have set limits they cannot exceed” (Job 14:5). David prayed, “Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them” (Psalm 139:16). In Acts 17:35 Paul says of God, “he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.”

Each blog regularly appears on my Facebook page. If you’d like to comment or see others’ comments, we invite you to join us there.

 

You Can Be Part of Changing Lives by Giving a Simple Shoebox Gift

Our family loves Operation Christmas Child (OCC). We’ve been packing shoeboxes for years. It was importan­t for my husband and me to teach our children the value of giving and helping others.

The shoeboxes are distributed to children in war-torn and famine-stricken countries. Each shoebox is an expression of God’s amazing love for hurting boys and girls in desperate need of hope and knowing that someone cares. The children are also told about the greatest gift of all—the Good News of Jesus Christ. Many hearts are transformed after hearing a clear presentation of the Gospel. These children are invited back to their local church to participate in The Greatest Journey, a discipleship and evangelism program.

Franklin Graham’s book Operation Christmas Child – A Story of Simple Gifts tells how a simple shoebox gift has changed the lives of those who receive them.

Here are a few stories from the book:

Children of the Tepihuan Indians in Mexico had never seen a gift, much less received one. The team stared in wonder as the children stood in silence, not knowing what to do. They had to show them what to do and how to use the toys. When they heard music boxes humming and harmonicas playing they were mesmerized.

Most enduring though was to watch their faces as the Christmas story was presented. This was the first time they had heard the name of Jesus. God’s Word and love turned this little town inside out.

***

Vladimir grew up emotionally broken, with no hope, in Russia. His parents were alcoholics, so at three he and his sisters were put in an orphanage. He and his roommates shared many things: one bath a week in dirty water, one towel never clean or dry, a dreadful existence accompanied by empty stomachs and lonely hearts. They knew they weren’t loved.

When OCC delivered shoeboxes he thought, "Wow, somebody really packed this just for me? That someone, outside my life, would care was unimaginable." The box was filled with things he thought he would never possess. What meant the most was the toothpaste. It smelled so good—like bubble gum—so he ate the entire tube at once. It filled the hole in his stomach. Then he found a brand new towel (washcloth to Americans). To think he could own his own personal towel was more than he could have ever hoped for and he cherished and guarded it. He and his sisters were adopted by a couple in the US and now they have a family who loves them.

***

Bismarck was from Nicaragua and at 10 years old he received a shoebox. He was ecstatic and never imagined the effect it would have on the rest of his life. His most prized gift was a soccer ball. He began attending Sunday school and asked Jesus into his heart. At 13 he felt that God wanted him to study the Bible and attend Bible college. He began holding meetings and reading Bible stories, and used the same soccer ball to reach out to the gangs in the area and many came to Christ. The Bible study group became the Siloe Church where Bismarck serves as youth pastor.

***

In Kosovo the bitter conflict had driven thousands to become refugees. The team visited a warehouse where families had found shelter. One little boy was very happy—inside his shoebox was a pair of shoes that fit perfectly. When he showed his mother she cried, as that morning she had cut cardboard soles to fit his worn-out shoes. When she read the “Greatest Gift of All” booklet, she gave her heart to Christ.

***

If you would like further information on how to become involved with OCC go to the Samaritan's Purse site. The collection week for the shoeboxes is November 17-24 and you can find collection centers for your area at this website.

Consider being a part of changing lives through the power of a simple shoebox gift.

Sharon Misenhimer
EPM Staff

Photos courtesy of Samaritan's Purse

Superheroes, Heresies and the God-man

One of our Eternal Perspective Ministries staff members is Julia Stager. Julia holds a Master of Arts in Biblical and Theological Studies from Western Seminary and makes a great contribution to EPM. Julia graduated with highest honors last spring and received the Senior Achievement Award. This fall she is continuing her studies at Western Seminary as a Masters of Theology student, and we’re honored to work with her.

Because of my respect for her as a person and as a biblical thinker, I asked Julia to begin what will be a regular video blog to express her personal, biblical and theological perspectives. She has a great deal to offer, and I’m really excited about her doing this.

Julia’s first video is “Superheroes, Heresies and the God-man,” and in this video she talks about some common misconceptions when it comes to understanding Jesus as both God and man. We’ll be posting a new video from Julia every other week.

I hope you’ll look for Julia’s regular blogs and pass them on through your social media and other outlets. I respect Julia and love to hear what she has to say—I think you will too.

If you’re interested in watching the rest of Julia’s videos, I encourage you to subscribe to her YouTube channel: Crossover.

Each blog regularly appears on my Facebook page. If you’d like to comment or see others’ comments, we invite you to join us there.

The Beautiful Intertwining of God’s Sovereignty and Human Free Will

The biblical writers share some, but not all, of our theological dilemmas. Job, David, Habakkuk, and others raise the problem of evil and suffering. But they seem to struggle less with the notion that God’s sovereign control would jeopardize human choice. To them, God has unlimited freedom.

It’s biblically accurate to say that God’s choices vastly outweigh human choices, since he is all-powerful and we are very limited in power. If this view represented only God’s intrinsic power in contrast to that of his creatures (who have no intrinsic power, only what God has granted them), it would be perfect. But this view could also lead us logically to negate what the Bible says about meaningful human choice. It’s absolutely true to say the Creator’s choices are far weightier than his creatures’ choices. But you cannot read the Bible without concluding that human choices really do matter.

In this 11-minute video, I speak from Acts 4, Philippians 2 and Colossians 1, about God's sovereignty and meaningful human choice, related to my book hand in Hand:

Each blog regularly appears on my Facebook page. If you’d like to comment or see others’ comments, we invite you to join us there.

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