Randy Alcorn's Blog, page 176

The Things Dogs Teach Us About Life

Those of you who follow my blog or Facebook know that Nanci and I love dogs. She and I like to talk about our resurrection (post-bucket) lists, consisting of all the things we look forward to doing after we die, and in particular, after the resurrection. Nanci’s post-bucket list includes her dream to spend a lot of time with dogs. (Yes, I believe there is every reason to believe that as God put humans and animals on this earth, He will put not only humans but animals on the New Earth.)

Check out this cute video about things dogs teach us, as part of God’s creation:

The Wonderful Things Dogs Teach Us About Life.

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

photo credit: santanartist via photopin cc (rounded corners added)

Whom Are You Serving?

I appreciate these thoughts from our friend Joni Eareckson Tada on Christ being the motivation for our earthly service. As Paul wrote in Ephesians 6:7-8, we are to “Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men, because you know that the Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does, whether he is slave or free.”

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward.  It is the Lord Christ you are serving.” —Colossians 3:23-24

Sometimes I hear people say that a single man has “given his elderly parent the best years of his life.” Or I hear about a mother who has sacrificed all to “devote her years to care for her handicapped child.” Occasionally it is a missionary who has “given up her life for the mission field.”

And sometimes I hear that this single man, mother, or missionary has nearly worn out himself or herself, collapsing in bone-weary exhaustion. No wonder these people sound tired. Whom do they think they’re serving? Jesus must not only energize our service, He must be the focus of our service. As Colossians chapter 3 advises, “Whatever you do work at it with all you heart, as working for the Lord, not for men.”

Yes service to God means sacrifice and devotion. But we don’t give up our lives to serve others—we give up our lives to serve the Lord. It is almost incidental that we are serving a husband or wife, an elderly parent, a handicapped child, or a tribe on a mission field.

When our focus in Christian service is squarely on the Lord Jesus, our work may be tiring, but it doesn’t have to be tiresome. We may get weary, but our work does not have to be wearisome if our energy comes directly from the Lord Jesus.  How can service to the Lord be a tedious, boring effort?

Lord Jesus, it is You whom I love to serve. Help me to keep my focus on You today so that I will have all the energy I need to help others around me.

Taken from Diamonds in the Dust. Copyright © 1993 by Joni Eareckson Tada. Used by permission. Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49530

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

photo credit: RLHyde via photopin cc

Cultivating Your Marriage and Guarding It from Impurity

Communication is crucial. Every affair begins with deception, and most deception begins with seemingly innocent secrets such as, “she doesn’t need to know this.” If you’re married, regularly evaluate your relationship with your spouse. Watch for the red flags of discontentment, poor communication, and a poor sexual relationship.

We live in a fallen world. Even Christian marriages can become filled with resentment, boredom, or hurt. This makes us more vulnerable to the intrigue and excitement of a new person. The answer, however, is not a new person, but a fresh appreciation of the “old” person. Boredom can be overcome, and attraction can be rekindled.

A man in our church shared with a group of men that he found his eyes wandering from his wife, who no longer seemed attractive to him. Realizing this was not God’s desire, he committed himself to praying daily that God would make his wife the most attractive woman in the world to him. Within a month that prayer was decisively answered. After hearing his story, another man did the same thing and also saw dramatic results. Both of their marriages are better now than they’ve been in years. (Perhaps their wives were praying the same thing, but I am convinced God answered the heartfelt prayers of these men.)

Sometimes our marriage problems need assistance from the outside. Yet many Christians are too proud to ask for help. They stubbornly refuse to admit their struggles and get counseling—until after they fall into immorality. If your marriage or personal life is faltering, get help now before greater damage is done. The long-term cost of not swallowing our pride far exceeds any short-term gain.

Avail yourself of books, CDs, videos, and seminars geared to improving your marriage. Go to a Family Life Ministries’ Weekend to Remember. When we were newlyweds, my wife and I went on a Marriage Enrichment weekend, and were surprised to uncover feelings and discover differences in perspective that, though they weren’t major, could have caused serious problems down the road if left unheeded. More recently, decades later, we attended a marriage conference at our church and found that while our marriage had deepened and was stronger than it had ever been, there were still things we needed to discuss. We thank God for the prompting to communicate offered by that conference.

After I addressed some of these issues at a conference, a woman shared her story. A year earlier her husband had come to her in tears, confessing his attraction to a Christian woman he worked with. He was under constant temptation and felt himself slipping. He committed himself to backing off from the relationship and asked his wife to please understand and pray for him. She was initially hurt but realized she needed to help him rather than feel sorry for herself.

The result? Not only did he get out of the relationship, but through his wife’s support they drew closer than ever before. In tears she told me, “Two months ago my husband died without warning. I know that if he hadn’t been honest with me that night, he would have ended up in an affair with the woman, and perhaps would have left me. He would have died in sin, unready to meet God, and I would have lived the rest of my life grieving his affair. But that isn’t how it happened. His last words to me were, ‘I love you,’ and I know it was true—he had proven it by his actions. I thank the Lord every day that I think of him with complete respect and admiration for loving God and me enough to be honest about his struggles.”

Lust thrives on secrecy. There is nothing that defuses lust as effectively as exposure. Honest communication between husband and wife makes them allies, not adversaries. When discussing sexual temptation, there is both initial pain, and some immediate relief. And while sharing specific names is not always necessary, spouses can better understand their mates, pray more effectively, and be more sensitive to each other’s needs—all of which will draw the couple together.

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

In the Face of Evil, We Must Live Our Faith Out Loud

Today’s guest blog is from Tami Yeager, EPM’s financial administrator. She shared these thoughts on last Wednesday after the news of American journalist James Foley being beheaded by Islamic militants.

Today my heart is heavy after being assaulted by the evil depicted across the internet of the American journalist being beheaded. I woke with the following thoughts:

As followers of Jesus Christ we must not be deterred by evil. Our mission remains the same as the day it was given to us—Go, and make disciples. 

Now is not a time to halt, and count the costs. We counted the cost when we joined. We do not serve a God who revokes His call when the news is horribly grim. He is greater than the terror-filled words being screamed at the world by evil and demonic men. The Bible is filled with examples of God’s response to terrorists who taunt His people.

To many of us, the brutality we are seeing depicted on every media outlet may seem like a “new” kind of evil. While it is indeed brutal, it is not new. Christians have faced this enemy throughout the ages, and all over the world. I believe today is a time for the church of Christ to step up its game. We are in, or we are out. We are hot, or we are cold. We are willing to give our life for our cause, or we are not. 

We must guard against walls of false protection being built up around our hearts, a deceptive fortress deceiving us into thinking we can hide behind it. When confronted by those whose culture and religion are unfamiliar to us, we need to reach across the self-imposed boundaries and love.

In light of the flames of persecution spreading across the globe I feel an urgency to stand up and do my part. Now is a time to run, and not walk—to be sober and alert. It’s a time to step up our efforts and give, pray, go, speak, and do whatever God calls each of us to do. We must live our faith out loud. We have no time to waste. 

Perhaps the façade we have cloaked ourselves with—the one that said to us “persecution only happens to ‘them’”—is being removed for our own good?

I pray we will redeem the times, and finish well.

Stand steady, and don't be afraid of suffering for the Lord. Bring others to Christ. Leave nothing undone that you ought to do. (2 Timothy 4:5)

Therefore go and make disciples in all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and then teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you; and be sure of this—that I am with you always, even to the end of the world. (Matthew 28:19-20)

Tami

photo credit: evoo73 via photopin cc (rounded corners added)

Loss: Finding Hope that Lasts when Life Falls Apart

I believe in CCEF, the Christian Counseling & Educational Foundation, and encourage you to explore their website and take advantage of its tremendous resources.

I have benefited from the writings of David Powlison and Ed Welch. Take 90 seconds to watch this video. Though it speaks about a conference concerning Loss, a conference God might want you to attend, it spoke to my heart, and I hope it does to you. The fact that most of us won’t be at this conference doesn’t mean our hearts can’t be touched by this 90 seconds:

CCEF - 2014 National Conference from CCEF on Vimeo.

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

Sermons by Our Sons-in-Law

I love to see young men preaching God’s truth in their local churches. One day recently Nanci and I viewed video messages by both our sons-in-law, Dan Franklin and Dan Stump. As always, we really enjoyed their Bible teaching and love the way they serve their churches and seek to live out the gospel in their families.

Dan Stump, married to our daughter Angela, is an elder at Gresham Bible Church, in Gresham, Oregon. Dan Franklin, married to our daughter Karina, is the teaching pastor at Life Bible Fellowship Church in Upland, California.

Check out Dan Stump’s recent message on Philippians 1: http://greshambible.org/media.php?pageID=23

And here’s Dan Franklin’s recent message on John 13: http://vimeo.com/102656114 . Many more of Dan Franklin’s sermons can be accessed here: https://vimeo.com/lbfchurch/videos

Nanci and I thank God for our wonderful daughters and the Christ-centered men they married. We’re deeply grateful our grandchildren are among the many beneficiaries of their lives.

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

Of an Unnamed Nigerian Woman

Today's guest blog is from Tami Yeager, EPM's financial administrator. Because of her passion for the persecuted church, she also serves as a volunteer community voice coordinator for The Voice of the Martyrs. 

Displayed on the Martyrs Monument (at The Voice of The Martyrs USA ministry office in Bartlesville, Oklahoma) are the names of many martyrs—each one representing a real person with a real story. I love to stand near this memorial and slowly read the names and brief descriptions. During a recent visit I found myself once again drawn to the monument. On this particular day there was one memorial stone that stood out to me. It simply read A Nigerian Woman.

Unlike the others, her name had not been inscribed in the beautiful stone slab. She had been beaten to death by an angry mob before the authorities could learn her name. I wondered what she looked like, and how old she was. She was someone's daughter. Did she have sisters and brothers? Was she married, and did she have children? These are questions I will not know the answers to on this side of eternity.

I imagined what her village may have looked like and wondered what must have taken place in her life leading up to that day in 2006. I wondered how she had been prepared for that moment. Did she wake up on that fateful morning with a sense that this day would be different? Was it customary for her to share her faith with others? Surely she knew that sharing Christ with her Muslim neighbors could cost her. I believe she had counted the cost, and was well acquainted with the price one could pay. I imagine love was her motivator, and its weight far outweighed her fear.

Did people silently slip into their homes as voices began to rise in the streets that day? Were children warned to hide in the dark, and be still? As an evil hatred raged hot amongst the mob that surrounded her, did those who believed as she did stay silent? Was her body left in the dust of the street for days as a warning to others who might have otherwise been swayed to believe as she did? Like Stephen in the book of Acts, was she looking into heaven while they beat her? Were the painful blows from many fists and feet brought to an abrupt halt as she surrendered her spirit, exhaling her last earthly breath, and simultaneously taking in her first heavenly breath?

What was it like for her to open her eyes and find that she was now in the arms of the One whom she had exchanged her life for? Standing to receive her white robe, did she recognize some of those who surrounded her? Did she then hear the cheers from a great cloud of witnesses that had been ever so faint before, and now could be heard with vivid clarity? Was she overcome with indescribable joy, peace, and happiness at the sound of the King's words, “Well done my good and faithful servant, now take your place and wait a little longer"? Did she then instinctively move into the place that had been saved for her, alongside the others of whom the world is not worthy?

I wonder who among the angry mob walked away that day unable to shake what they witnessed in her. She had been faithful unto death. Were there some who closed their eyes that night unable to escape the images now playing in their minds? Were the words she spoke to them being repeated in their thoughts? Were any of those who took part in her murder later visited in dreams and visions by the One she told them about? Would some of those who hit her, kicked her, spit upon her, and cursed her later fall on their knees and cry out for forgiveness? The day her blood was spilled on Nigerian soil, was there another Saul to Paul conversion?

The truth is I do not know any more about the Nigerian woman's story then what is written in stone. I am, however, keenly aware that in many places of the world today suffering for the sake of the gospel is “normal” Christianity. The little I do know of my Nigerian sister fuels a passion in me to give her, and others like her, a voice. I look forward to the day I meet my sister. It is then that I will learn all of her story.

Then a white robe was given to each of them. And they were told to rest a little longer until the full number of their brothers and sisters—their fellow servants of Jesus who were to be martyred—had joined them (Revelation 6:11).

To learn more about Christian persecution visit www.persecution.com.

Tami

A Letter to Those Struggling with Eating Disorders

When I was twenty years old and in Bible college, and had known Jesus for just five years, I worked with junior highers and high schoolers at my church. A young girl came to me who was starving herself to death, because she thought she was fat. She wasn’t. She was thin. It didn’t make sense. I tried to talk her out of it. Of course, I failed.

I did research and asked around because I'd never heard of anything like this. Information was hard to find, in that pre-internet era, but I found a few articles on anorexia nervosa and eating disorders and in a matter of weeks I was awakened to a world that I'd never known. Since that time, forty years ago, people know a lot more, and tragically, countless girls and women have continued to suffer. 

I was deeply touched by this wonderful article from Emily T. Wierenga:

An Open Letter to My Friends Struggling with Eating Disorders

Dear friend,

I want to take you back 20 years, to when I am thirteen years old.

I am a pastor’s kid standing in a hospital room with clumps of hair in my hand.

My nails are splintered, and you can see the outline of my braces through my cheeks.

I weigh sixty pounds.

The room smells like Lysol. Nurses say I’m dying.

I was brushing my hair when it started to fall, and I tried to catch all the falling pieces and put them back on my head.

Today I ate for the first time in four years — truly ate, everything on my plate, everything they put before me — because even though I still don’t think I have anorexia, I know this isn’t normal.

To be purple from hypothermia and unable to run or lift objects, and to have your friends cry when they see you. This is not normal.

It will be another twenty years before I can admit to having a mental illness, but today is a start. Because I saw her on the way to the hospital. A woman, jogging, and she was muscular and the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen. She seemed fully alive.

And I realized, then, in that moment, that I was hungry for more than food.

I had been starving long before I ever refused my first meal.

Read the rest on DesiringGod.org

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

photo credit: plousia via photopin cc (rounded corners added)

Children Learn from Our Example… For Better or For Worse

This 60 second video is very powerful, though I’m well aware parts of it could be offensive to some. I hate to see a child making an obscene gesture (or smoking for that matter), but in the context of the vital message it’s conveying, I think it’s worth posting, shock value and all. (Please don’t watch it if my description of the contents makes it unacceptable.)  While I wish the video conveyed a few more positive examples at the end, it does enough to show there’s a completely different way to influence children.

This reminds me of what Albert Schweitzer said: “There are only three ways to teach a child. The first is by example, the second is by example, the third is by example.”

Whether consciously or not, we continuously train our children, engraving our values in them as if drawing with a stick in wet cement. Children learn most effectively not just from what we say, but from what we do. Our actions speak louder than our words. (Sometimes so loudly our children can’t hear a word we’re saying!)

The lesson is this: sometimes our children will fail to listen to us; rarely will they fail to imitate us.

As parents and mentors of children and young adults, may we seek to follow the example of the Apostle Paul, who lived in such a way that he could say: “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:1).

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

photo credit: Thomas Hawk via photopin cc (rounded corners added)

Entrusting Ourselves to Him Who Judges Justly

Suffering is bad. Unjust suffering seems, at times, intolerable. It is not just painful; it is wrong.

Twenty years ago, I was named in an unwarranted lawsuit. In court, some of the plaintiffs—the owner and staff of an abortion clinic—falsely accused me and others of yelling and swearing at women, calling them names, and putting our hands on them as they attempted to enter the abortion clinic. When a Portlandpastor testified that he had watched as we quietly and peacefully stood in front of the door, blocking access to the place where innocent children were being killed, the judge’s anger erupted. Finally the judge issued a directed verdict. He told the jury they must find us guilty and choose a punitive amount sufficient to deter us from ever coming to the clinic again. The judgment against us was $8.2 million, the largest in history against a group of peaceful protesters.

My single greatest encouragement during that time was 1 Peter 2, which says of Jesus, “When he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly” (verse 23).

Here's the larger context of that verse:

Slaves, submit yourselves to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and considerate, but also to those who are harsh. For it is commendable if a man bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because he is conscious of God. But how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God. To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth. When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly” (1 Pet 2:18-23)

Repeatedly I reminded myself that there is only one Judge, only one Supreme Court of the universe. Ultimately it was not the unrighteous judge sitting before us but God himself whom I would answer to. And in the end, not in this life but in the life to come, that one Righteous Judge would make all things right.

In fact, the injustice against Jesus spoken of in 1 Peter 2 culminated in His crucifixion, a hideous injustice that makes all others pale in comparison. And it was the undeserved suffering of Christ on the cross that brought about my redemption. Had He not suffered unjustly on my behalf, and done so with His eyes on His Father, I would be spending eternity in Hell, along with you and everyone else.

During difficult and unjust times, may we follow Christ’s example and entrust ourselves to God, the just Judge.

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

photo credit: worldoflard via photopin cc (rounded corners added)