Randy Alcorn's Blog, page 183

The Situation in South Sudan, and Ways to Give and Pray

If you follow world news, perhaps you’re aware of the deplorable conditions in South Sudan over the past couple of months, when conflict between the president and the former deputy president unraveled into a senseless blood bath of ethnic violence. It’s estimated that several thousand people died, and hundreds of thousands more were displaced from their homes and villages. Peace talks are now underway, but organizations working in the area expect that it will take many months for the traumatized Sudanese people to slowly trickle back home.

This audio clip was from a couple of weeks ago, posted by my friend Barry Arnold, pastor of Cornerstone Church in Gresham, Oregon. The conditions in South Sudan go from worse to better and back again, and even at their best are heart-breaking. The boy’s story at the end is brief but unforgettable:

I don't think most Christians in America understand that hundreds of thousands of the IDPs (Internally Displaced Persons) and DPs (mostly in Uganda) are brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ. Regardless of how and why the fighting started we cannot simply turn away from them (Galatians 6:10). —Barry Arnold

May we pray and give from our wealth to bring Christ’s love to these dear people. Here are some ministries worth supporting:

Samaritan's Purse has determined that the threat of violence has decreased enough to send around two dozen international staff back to their outposts in Juba, Yida, and Maban. They will focus on meeting critical needs and implementing life-saving programming. (Learn more and donate)

Partners in Compassionate Care has the only functioning hospital in the Bor area, providing quality health care in the name of Christ. Incredibly, PCC's hospital was not pillaged or damaged in the fighting. (Learn more and donate)

Make Way Partners works primarily in South Sudan through their orphanages. While their orphans remain their focus, MWP’s indigenous leaders are providing local families with “life packs of survival” which include a can to collect water, a tarp for shelter, soap for sanitation, and a couple of weeks’ worth of food. (Learn more and donate)

For current news and ways to pray, Barry shared that the best source he’s found for current prayer needs in South Sudan (and other trouble spots in the world) is Elizabeth Kendal's Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin. Her January 7th post summarized South Sudan's complex politics and included the following points for prayer.

Pray that God will:

Give wisdom and authority to those who mediate this crisis: politicians and community leaders, religious leaders and regional leaders, especially the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD). 

Turn the hearts of South Sudan's leaders, changing their direction from self-interest to national interest; from personal power to peace; from revenge to healing; from personal glory at any cost to life and hope for the long-suffering citizens of South Sudan (Proverbs 21:1).

Redeem this crisis for his glory; may it lead to an awakening in the nation for the need of transformational renewal and spiritual revival that leads to genuine reconciliation and long-lasting peace (Isaiah 2:3-4).

Samaritan's Purse has also posted ways to pray for South Sudan and its people.

Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth. (1 John 3:18)

          

Photo credit: Samaritan's Purse

Combating the Spirit of Entitlement with Gratitude

In Exodus 13-15 God brings a startling multi-stage miraculous deliverance of Israel from Egypt. It’s truly breathtaking, culminating in the miraculous dividing and crossing of the Red Sea, and the destruction of the powerful Egyptian army pursuing them. If ever an intervention of God would be unforgettable, this surely was it.

But before Exodus 15 is completed, Israel had already forgotten! A few days of travel and they are thirsty. This is understandable. God is not insensitive to their needs or ours. So do they fall on their knees thanking God for their deliverance, and humbly asking Him to provide them water? No, they grumble and complain and whine, and accuse Moses, and by proxy, God. (This passage proves that the spirit of entitlement did not begin in America, but we are perfecting it as an art form.)

The people find water, but it’s bitter. They complain further. Moses throws the branch in the water, and it’s purified. Grateful for the moment, they swear they’ll never doubt God or Moses again. (Showing that we need more than periodic moments of gratitude, we need an ongoing spirit of gratitude to God that becomes the lens through which we view life.)

The Israelites in the wilderness are unbearably similar to us. When their circumstances are good, they see God. But as soon as their circumstances turn bad, they forget Him and all they have to be thankful for. It’s as if present trials blot out and negate God’s past track record of faithfulness.

Luke 17:11-19 tells the story of ten lepers who were all healed of their leprosy but only one of them returned to say “Thank you.” He ran back to Jesus, praising God for His incredible goodness to him. Jesus asked him, “What happened to the other nine that were also healed?”

God preserve us from such attitudes!

Ingratitude is not just wrong thinking—it’s the source of endless wrong thinking. An ungrateful person not only offends God, but is also the source of his own misery, and a cancer to others, spreading his misery. Ungrateful people are not only ungrateful to God but to their families and friends and co-workers and neighbors. They’re ungrateful to their church leaders, and quick to judge and condemn everyone for falling short of their standards.

Others must be blamed for the injustices they have to put up with. Everyone is at fault, including those who drive too slow or too fast, who steal that parking space they had their eye on, who grab up that sweater on sale they were looking at.

We live in a culture where there is a spirit of entitlement—where we think we deserve all of these great things. If something doesn’t go our way, we feel like we’ve been robbed and deprived. And even when a person gets what they think they’re already entitled to, they’re not grateful for it. After all, “I deserved it!”

In contrast, Puritan pastor Richard Baxter wrote, “Resolve to spend most of your time in thanksgiving and praising God. If you cannot do it with the joy that you should, yet do it as you can.... Doing it as you can is the way to be able to do it better. Thanksgiving stirreth up thankfulness in the heart.”

Baxter is right—expressing gratitude makes a grateful heart. Children who learn to say thanks become more thankful. Gratitude is a wonderful perspective-shaping habit.

Psalm 107 begins, “Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever. Let the redeemed of the LORD say this.” The psalmist details the sufferings of God’s people, wandering in desert wastelands, without homes, hungry, and thirsty. “Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress” (verse 6). For their deliverance he says, “Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for men, for he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things” (verses 8–9).

It is God’s will that you give thanks in all circumstances (1 Thessalonians 5:18). This is something that is built into what it means to be a follower of Christ. Thankfulness should draw a clear line between us and a Christless world.

If the same spirit of entitlement and ingratitude that characterizes our culture characterizes us, what do we have to offer?

          

Related Resources

Blog: The Poison of Ingratitude
Book: 90 Days of God's Goodness

Photo credit: finerain via sxc.hu

John Newton on the Necessity of God’s Word and His Spirit

I am a great admirer of John Newton, and there are few people who I think have better understood God’s grace. (To learn more about his life, I highly recommend Jonathan Aitken’s biography John Newton: Disgrace to Amazing Grace.) How appropriate that the writer of the hymn “Amazing Grace”, the single most popular hymn in human history, said near the end of his life: “My memory is almost gone. But I remember two things: I am a great sinner, and Jesus is a great Savior.” If each of us would remember every moment these two things, it wouldn’t much matter what else we forget.

In one of his letters John Newton spoke with great insight of the Scriptures and their role in the life of believers. He addressed the illuminating work of the Holy Spirit. Listen to his words, written September 6, 1708:

….When we begin to know ourselves, and to feel the uncertainty and darkness which are inseparable from our fallen nature, how comfortable and encouraging is it to reflect, that God has given us his infallible Word, and promised us his infallible Spirit, to guide us into all necessary truth; and that in the study of the one, and in dependence upon the other, none can miss the way of peace and salvation, who are sincerely desirous to find it. But we are cautioned to keep our eye upon both; and the caution is necessary, for we are too prone to separate what God has joined together, Isaiah 8:20, 1 Cor. 2:10-11.

What strange mistakes have been made by some who have thought themselves able to interpret Scripture by their own abilities as scholars and critics, though they have studied with much diligence! Unless our dependence upon divine teaching bears some proportion to our diligence, we may take much pains to little purpose. On the other hand, we are directed to expect the teaching and assistance of the Holy Spirit only within the limits, and by the medium of the written Word. For he has not promised to reveal new truths—but to enable us to understand what we read in the Bible—and if we venture beyond the pale of Scripture, we are upon enchanted ground, and exposed to all the illusions of our imagination. But an attention to the Word of God, joined to humble supplications for his Spirit, will lead us to new advances in true knowledge.

The exercises of our minds, and the observations we shall make upon the conduct of others, and the dispensations of God's providence, will all concur to throw light upon the Scripture, and to confirm to us what we there read concerning ourselves, the world, and the true happiness revealed to sinners in and through Jesus Christ. The more sensible we are of the disease, the more we shall admire the great Physician; the more we are convinced that the creature is vanity, the more we shall be stirred up to seek our rest in God. And this will endear the gospel to us; as in Christ, and in him only, we can hope to find that righteousness and strength, of which we are utterly destitute ourselves.

I observe in many newspapers, the attestations of people who have been relieved in diseases by the medicines which they have tried, and therefore recommend to others from their experience. Innumerable cases might be published to the honor of the great Physician; none more memorable perhaps than my own. I was laboring under a complication of disorders; fired with raging madness, possessed with many devils, (I doubt it not,) bent upon my own destruction; but he interposed, unsought, undesired. He opened my eyes, and pardoned my sins; broke my fetters, and taught my once blasphemous lips—to praise his name. Oh, I can, I do, I must commend it as a faithful saying, That Christ Jesus is come into the world to save sinners; there is forgiveness with him; he does all things well; he makes both the dumb to speak, and the deaf to hear.

          

Related Resources

Blog: A Look at the Song "Amazing Grace"
Book: The Grace and Truth Paradox

Image credit for sheet music

Do I think the team with the most Christians will win the Super Bowl?

If every player on one team were an atheist and everyone on the other loved Jesus, I would never assume that the team with the believers would win! :)

It’s funny, because that should be a given, but I think many people actually feel the opposite. And others assume that I think that way. For instance, last week I posted a video on Facebook of some of the Seahawks players talking about Jesus, one that I highly recommend. Several comments came back like this: “Well, I guess the Broncos may as well stay home.”

At first I didn’t understand, then I realized they assumed I was thinking the Seahawks would win because they have the favor of God! The truth is that just as every team has predominantly unbelievers (some well-behaved, some poorly), virtually every team also has believers, some stronger than others. I have no idea how many believers currently play for the Broncos. I have met and I like the guys in the video and in the photo who play for the Seahawks: Wilson, Okung, Maragos and Gresham. But I’ve never thought that a Christian will win a game or the Olympics or the presidency or anything else just because he knows God! That’s prosperity theology, and it’s not true to Scripture. (Left to right in the photo: Seahawks players Russell Okung, Chris Maragos, Clint Gresham, Assistant Coach Rocky Seto, and Russell Wilson, interviewed by Mark Driscoll.)

God values humility, not self-exaltation (which is why I didn’t appreciate one of the Seahawks interviews after the last game). The main reason I was grateful the Seahawks won the NFC championship was simple: we’ve been Seahawks fans since their first year, 1976. (Go Zorn and Largent!) Also, this fall I met the brothers in the photo, and I like them. Another reason was that going to the Super Bowl meant two weeks of focus on the team that would result in many people seeing that excellent evangelistic video. I applaud Clint Gresham (in the photo with our grandsons Jake and Ty after a game, on Century Link Field) and the other guys for putting that together. (See the story behind the video.)

But while I am definitely cheering for the Seahawks, and hoping for a win, the truth is I don’t think eternity will be much different regardless of who wins! But eternity will be affected by how God’s people—fans, coaches and players—represent Him, and the work of grace He does in their hearts, win or lose. I don’t mean that the sovereign God has no influence on outcomes, but simply that when it comes to many things, sports included, we have no way of knowing what He intends to accomplish regardless of which team wins.  “’For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,’ declares the Lord. ‘For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts’” (Isaiah 55:8-9).

Truthfully, often the most Christ-like and impactful responses are not in the winning but the losing. Tim Tebow is out of the NFL, but how he responds and the life he lives now is just as important, even if it’s less visible. In any sports competition I always pray that believers on both teams will live faithfully and make Jesus known. The gospel is far more than words, yet it is in fact “good news,” and news involves words.

Jesus said, "Whoever acknowledges me before others, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven” (Matthew 10:32). That’s why I like the players who are upfront about their faith and are not afraid to say “I love Jesus,” not just “I thank God.” (Some professional athletes have told me no one cares if you mention God, but your stand becomes clear when you mention Jesus, which some don’t like; which is the way it’s always been.)

So, best wishes to Broncos and Seahawks alike, believers and unbelievers, and to Broncos and Seahawks fans alike, and to the large number of people who don’t care in the slightest. :)

I would expect no Broncos fans (I really like Manning, by the way) to apologize for wanting their team to win. So in that spirit, knowing there are a gazillion more important things in the universe—and also that the comments give everyone a chance for rebuttal—I wholeheartedly proclaim, “GO HAWKS!”

          

P.S. Maggie dreaming about the Super Bowl:

Sharing Christ’s Love at Comic Con

I had nine hours of exhausting but fun interaction Saturday at the Portland Wizard Comic Con, where EPM had a booth. We sold some Eternity graphic novels but gave away a lot more, and handed out Heaven and If God Is Good booklets.  

Wonderful EPM staffer Julia Stager was there Friday and Sunday, and we had some great volunteers—Amy, Erin and Dave. Thanks to all of them. (Be sure to read Julia’s great comments that follow mine; they’re better.)

In superheroes we see a secondary and dim reflection of Jesus, who is the Primary, the Light of the world. When superheroes “save the world from evil,” it’s that dim reflection of Jesus the Rescuer intervening to redeem His people.  (I can’t find who to credit for this cartoon with Jesus, the Hulk, Spider Man and Captain America, but I like the point it makes.)

Throughout the weekend we met a lot of people and had some great conversations with unbelievers and believers. I wanted to get the Heaven booklet to the tall entity in the photo, but Sauron a.k.a. the Necromancer a.k.a. Lord of the Rings, did NOT seem spiritually open. I sensed a spirit of darkness. (My Seahawks shirt didn’t help, as he appears to be a Raiders fan.) I don’t want to be judgmental, and we all need the gospel, but the folks from Mordor have some pretty deep issues. Hoping for a changed heart, but I also suggested to Sauron that he give the orcs a lunch room, coffee breaks and at least pay them minimum wage. He stared at me but said nothing. If you have a fantasy prayer list, you might want to add him.

The weirdness of the Comic Con environment seems to actually work in favor of the gospel. I’ve found people to be more open to new ideas, including the gospel. It’s a place where Christ-followers are not singled out as weird, as we sometimes are in Portland. :) This is largely because so many OTHER weird people are there. So we fit right in. :)

Volunteer Dave McAllister took lots of photos, which you can see in this 2.5 minute slide show:

EPM Staffer Julia Stager shared some thoughtful reflections after being at our booth:

Being at Comic Con was a great experience. The people I interacted with were kind, welcoming, considerate and genuinely interested in having a good time and wanting others to enjoy the convention too. (Here are some darling girls who got a copy of Eternity!)

Although there was a lot of fun at comic con, it seemed like many of the people there were living without hope. It almost felt they were desperate to be a part of something bigger, part of a real adventure. It’s like there was a craving for something beyond this world to knock us out of our mundane routine of eating, sleeping and working. We’re wired to enjoy excitement, to participate in cosmic struggles between good and evil, and to long for our own life to make a difference.

The truth, of course, is that these are all supremely found in Christianity. What many of the participants were looking for in these stories can only truly be found in Christ. Every comic book series, TV show and movie comes to an end, but we’re invited to be a part of the eternal adventure story.

Jesus is the real-life God-man who defeated the powers of darkness and death and through whom the whole universe will be renewed. We’re each given the opportunity to play an integral role in this story of struggle, love and redemption, or to cut ourselves off from the story and become eternally inconsequential and less than a shadow.

After the show, I was left with a deep sense of thankfulness that I know the gospel and have a role of eternal significance in the struggle against evil. And that this story isn’t just for me; it’s for everyone who wants to join it.

Julia is right—people long for stories that give their lives meaning. You couldn’t make up a better story than the true story of God’s unfolding drama of redemption. I was an avid reader of comics as a kid, long before I first heard the gospel as a teenager. When I read the gospels they had the ring of truth. I knew Jesus was the real deal, the One I had longed for. He did for me what no other hero could ever do.

Of course He’s far more than a “superhero,” but you can’t find a greater hero than Jesus. The climax will be the return of the King and the establishing of His kingdom. With the Lord we love and with the friends we cherish, the King’s followers will embark together on the ultimate adventure, in a spectacular new universe awaiting our exploration and dominion. What a privilege to share this exciting and life-changing message with others!

Thanks so much to those who joined us in this unusual ministry through your prayers. Please continue to pray with us that the seeds that were planted would bear much fruit and that many would come to know and trust in Christ.

By the way, if you’re interested in a great children’s Bible that’s a big graphic novel, see The Action Bible, which I gave to my grandkids and have often read to them.

And for quality comics with a biblical message see Kingstone Comics, the publisher of Eternity and my upcoming graphic novel on the Apostle Paul. Kingstone is a high quality company and its leaders have great integrity and vision. Check them out!

          

Related Resources

Blog: Christ-honoring Graphic Novels
Book: Eternity 

Will We Recognize Each Other in Heaven?

When asked if we would recognize friends in Heaven, George MacDonald responded, “Shall we be greater fools in Paradise than we are here?”

Yet many people wonder whether we’ll know each other in Heaven. What lies behind that question is Christoplatonism and the false assumption that in Heaven we’ll be disembodied spirits who lose our identities and memories. How does someone recognize a spirit?

However, these assumptions are unbiblical. Christ’s disciples recognized him countless times after his resurrection. They recognized him on the shore as he cooked breakfast for them (John 21:1-14). They recognized him when he appeared to a skeptical Thomas (John 20:24-29). They recognized him when he appeared to five hundred people at once (1 Corinthians 15:6).

But what about Mary at the garden tomb or the two men on the road to Emmaus? They didn’t recognize Jesus. Some people have argued from this that Jesus was unrecognizable. But a closer look shows otherwise.

Jesus said to Mary in the garden, “‘Woman . . . why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?’ Thinking he was the gardener, she said, ‘Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him’ ” (John 20:15).

Distressed, teary-eyed Mary, knowing Jesus was dead, and not making eye contact with a stranger, naturally assumed he was the gardener. But as soon as Jesus said her name, she recognized him: “She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, ‘Rabboni!’ (which means Teacher)” (John 20:16).

Some commentators emphasize that the disciples on the Emmaus road didn’t recognize Jesus. But notice what the text says: “As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; but they were kept from recognizing him” (Luke 24:15-16, emphasis added). God miraculously intervened to keep them from recognizing him. The implication is that apart from supernatural intervention, the men would have recognized Jesus, as they did later: “Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight” (Luke 24:31).

Another indication that we’ll recognize people in Heaven is Christ’s transfiguration. Christ’s disciples recognized the bodies of Moses and Elijah, even though the disciples couldn’t have known what the two men looked like (Luke 9:29-33). This may suggest that personality will emanate through a person’s body, so we’ll instantly recognize people we know of but haven’t previously met. If we can recognize those we’ve never seen, how much more will we recognize our family and friends?

Scripture gives no indication of a memory wipe causing us not to recognize family and friends. Paul anticipated being with the Thessalonians in Heaven, and it never occurred to him he wouldn’t know them. In fact, if we wouldn’t know our loved ones, the “comfort” of an afterlife reunion, taught in 1 Thessalonians 4:14-18, would be no comfort at all. J. C. Ryle said of this passage, “There would be no point in these words of consolation if they did not imply the mutual recognition of saints. The hope with which he cheers wearied Christians is the hope of meeting their beloved friends again. . . . But in the moment that we who are saved shall meet our several friends in heaven, we shall at once know them, and they will at once know us.”

The continuity of our resurrection minds and bodies argues that we’ll have no trouble recognizing each other—in fact, we’ll have much less trouble. In Heaven we probably won’t fail to recognize an acquaintance in a crowd, or forget people’s names.

Missionary Amy Carmichael had strong convictions on this question:

Shall we know one another in Heaven? Shall we love and remember?
I do not think anyone need wonder about this or doubt for a single moment. We are never told we shall, because, I expect, it was not necessary to say anything about this which our own hearts tell us. We do not need words. For if we think for a minute, we know. Would you be yourself if you did not love and remember? . . . We are told that we shall be like our Lord Jesus. Surely this does not mean in holiness only, but in everything; and does not He know and love and remember? He would not be Himself if He did not, and we should not be ourselves if we did not.

          

Related Resources

Blog: Will we become angels in Heaven?
Book:  Heaven

Photo credit: pfiesta via sxc.hu

Regular Accountability in the Battle for Purity

Nothing is talked about more and acted on less than being “accountable.” Some fear accountability—others imagine they’re being accountable, when all they’re really doing is eating breakfast and socializing, with an occasional spiritual discussion.

Many years ago, in 1986, when I was still a pastor, our church had seven full-time and several part-time ministers. Realizing that we were too busy going over agendas and not staying in touch with our spiritual lives, we started committing the first two hours of our weekly all-day staff meeting to sharing personal struggles and joys. In the process we often told each other where our spiritual lives were at and the struggles for which we needed prayer and help. We made sure no one was left out. We asked, “How are you doing?” and if the answers were vague or something seemed wrong, we probed deeper.

This is risky—it involves entrusting our reputation to others and opening ourselves to examination and even criticism (though, in fact, what comes out is usually positive encouragement). But the risks are small compared to the rewards. After working at it deliberately, eventually we no longer felt alone in pastoral ministry. We learned each other’s imperfections, and gradually had less to prove to each other. These hours of weekly accountability became weekly therapy, and no matter how full the agenda, we committed ourselves to keeping in touch with each other’s inner lives.

After several years of doing this, though, I determined that for me it just wasn’t enough. Our staff meetings were large enough that we could fake it, slip through the cracks, or otherwise escape real accountability. Consequently, I started two accountability groups—one with three other pastors on a Tuesday afternoon and another with four laymen on a Saturday morning. We began each week with a passage of Scripture we’d memorized. Then each of us in turn answered several key questions:

How are you doing with God?
With your mate or the person you’re dating?
With your children?
What temptations are you facing, and how are you dealing with them?
How has your thought life been this week?
Are you consistently living for Christ in your workplace? Have you been spending regular time in the Word and prayer?
Who have you been sharing the gospel with?
How can we pray for you and help you?

After just a few of these meetings, men in both groups expressed that this was the most meaningful 90 minutes of their week. For some it was the first time a brother in Christ had ever asked them these questions. One said, “Why, for so many years, have we talked about sports and hunting and business and everything else under the sun, and not talked about the most important part of our lives?” Another said, “I’ve gotten to know you men in one month in a way I don’t know people I’ve been with for ten years.” Our key verse was Proverbs 27:17: “As iron sharpens irons, so one man sharpens another”—and we have seen its reality over and over again.

Every accountability group has its own personality and will sometimes make changes to avoid stagnancy. But the key is always to get back to the basic questions. You or your group may wish to come up with some of your own. Often the best questions to ask in an accountability group are the very questions we least want to answer! Write those questions down and put them on the top of the agenda each time you meet. Howard Hendricks suggested that the last question on the list be this: “In your answers to any of the previous questions, have you lied?”

Even simple and spontaneous attempts at accountability can produce amazing results. Once I was undergoing hours of sexual temptation, and finally I called a brother I was to have breakfast with the next morning. I said, “Please pray for me, and promise to ask me tomorrow morning what I did.” He agreed. The moment I put down the phone, the temptation was gone. Why? I’d like to say it was because I was so spiritual, but the truth is there was no way I was going to face my friend the next morning and have to tell him I’d sinned! If this is a crutch, fine. When it comes to battling temptation, I’ll take all the help I can get!

          

Related Resources

Blog: How do we stay pure in today's world?
Booklet: Sexual Temptation: Establishing Guardrails and Winning the Battle
Article: Guidelines for Sexual Purity

Image credit: tolgakosta via sxc.hu

Three Things We Can Do to Deal with Worry

The Greek word for worry means literally “to divide the mind.” The worried mind is a torn, and therefore worn, mind. It is a peaceless mind that doesn’t allow itself to rest.

Ironically, much of our worry is unrealistic. We “catastrophize” by making the worst of situations and anticipating the worst possible outcome. Montaigne, the French philosopher, put it this way: “My life has been full of terrible misfortunes—most of which have never happened.”

Much worry comes from carrying today the burdens of yesterday and the dreads of tomorrow. This is unnecessary and unhealthy. Lessons from the past can be learned without living in it. We can plan for the future without dwelling on it. Now is all we have. Let’s invest it, enjoy it, profit from it. Let’s not lose it to worry.

The most striking characteristic of worry is its absolute impotence. No tornado has been stopped, no drought averted, no plane crash prevented. No child was kept from falling off his bike, no teenager kept from skipping classes or trying drugs. No heart attacks have ever been avoided through worry (though a great number have no doubt been caused by it).

My brother was missing for seven years. I loved him and was deeply concerned for him and his well-being. I had to face the possibility of many unpleasant outcomes, including his death. When my concern degenerated into worry, I had to remind myself that my worry would not do him one shred of good, and it would do me and my family considerable harm. That realization relieved me of the sense of obligation to worry, and freed me to move on. I was overjoyed when, in an act of providence, God reunited me with my brother. But no matter what had happened, my worry would have accomplished nothing. Prayer matters, love matters, but worry matters only in a negative sense.

Of course, many things do merit our attention. Concern for our family can help us take action to enhance their safety. But concern is not worry. While concern spurs us to take productive, positive steps, worry is a counter-productive and unhealthy reaction that inhibits constructive action.

So how can we deal with worry?

1. Rehearse God’s past acts of faithfulness to you.

Recount how He provided for you in difficult times. Will He let you down now? Of course not!

Praise the LORD, O my soul;
all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
Praise the LORD, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits.
(Psalm 103: 1–2)

2. Count your blessings, not your burdens.

You’ll find you have much to be thankful for. Worry rarely takes root in a thankful heart.

3. Bring your worries to God in prayer.

“Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you” (Psalm 55:22). “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7)

There are several directions we can cast our worries. We can cast them on ourselves, creating guilt, fear, depression, fatigue, ulcers, and illnesses. We can cast our worries on others in a negative way, in anger and resentment. This will alienate them from us, and likely contribute to their worries while not alleviating ours.

We can also share our burdens with others in a positive way. “Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2).

Best of all, we can do what Psalm 55:22 and 1 Peter 5:7 tell us to do—cast our cares on the Lord. His heart is infinitely big and His shoulders are infinitely broad. Philippians 4:4–7 says it all:

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

Long ago there was a stress expert who never charged for his lectures and whose convention centers were the dusty roads and green fields of the countryside. This is what He said about worry. Though many have tried, no one has ever improved on it:

Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?

And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, “What shall we eat?” or “What shall we drink?” or “What shall we wear?” For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. (Matthew 6:25–34)

          

Related Resources

Blog: Financial Challenges, Worry, and Giving
Book: Help for Women Under Stress

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Sharing the Truth about the Unborn with Your Friends and Neighbors

This Sunday (January 19) is Sanctity of Human Life Sunday, marking the 41st anniversary of the United States Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade on January 22, 1973. As we go through this weekend, I would ask believers to remember and pray for prolife ministries and victimized mothers and babies.

The article in today’s blog is a simple, straightforward and powerful model for what we as supporters of the right to life can also say to friends and neighbors and fellow employees who are immersed in a prochoice worldview. I follow with some supporting facts from the revised and 50% larger version of my book Why ProLife?.

An Open Letter to My Pro-Choice Neighbor

By Keith Mathison 

Dear Neighbor,

We have been neighbors for many years, and on several occasions you have both expressed some consternation about my position on abortion. You have told me that when you have discussed this with our other neighbors, none of them can comprehend how I can take a position that “sets women’s rights back fifty years.” As you know, a few of our neighbors have even gotten angry, especially during those months leading up to elections, arguing that I want to let politicians control private medical decisions.

You asked me if I could give you one good reason why you should change your view. I can and will. The reason why I oppose abortion, and the reason why you should oppose abortion is actually quite simple, and it is this: The fetus is a human being.

Notice that I did not say, “I believe that the fetus is a human being.” Such a statement would imply that this is a matter of opinion or faith. No, it is an objective fact that the fetus is a genetically distinct individual human being from the moment the sperm cell fertilizes the ovum. It is a human being in the earliest stages of its growth and development, but it is a human being nonetheless. Read any standard textbook on embryology used in any college or university, and you will find the same fact stated in all of them.

Once this very simple and basic fact is grasped, once we understand that conception results in a living human being, it changes everything. We can no longer look at abortion as simply a debate over a woman’s right to choose because the choice involves the life or death of another human being. We can no longer look at abortion as a private medical decision involving only a woman and her doctor because there is always a third distinct human being involved as well. We can no longer look at abortion as merely the ending of a pregnancy. That is a euphemism. Abortion is, quite simply, the killing of a living human being.

The fetus is a genetically distinct individual human being from the earliest stages of embryonic development. It is not a “potential” human being or a “potential” human life. Arguments comparing the embryo to a sperm cell (which does contain the “potential” to initiate human life) are red herrings and irrelevant. A sperm cell and a human embryo are qualitatively different things. One is a genetically distinct human being in the early stages of development. The other is not.

There is no rational excuse for supporting abortion today. Every competent scientist knows what a human embryo is. Every competent scientist knows that conception is the time at which a new genetically distinct individual human being begins to live. They knew this in 1973, and they know this now. And if it is a living human being, no one has the right to kill it any more than they have the right to kill any other human being.

People continue to support abortion, however, because they have concluded that other “rights” are more basic and more fundamental than the right of a human being not to be killed. I am hardly exaggerating when I say that in our modern culture, the most fundamental and cherished of all “rights” is the right to engage in any kind of sexual intercourse imaginable without fear of consequences. And if the preservation of this “right” involves the killing of another human being, so be it.

You can easily find numerous quotations by prominent advocates of abortion, acknowledging that it is the killing of a human being. Most who support abortion, however, redefine the fetus and deny that it is fully human. History has not been kind to those generations who deprived certain people of their basic rights to life and who did so by defining them as less than fully human. When the history of our generation is written, will you be among those who shut their eyes to injustice on a massive scale, who looked the other way as human beings were systematically killed? Or will you be among those who spoke up for those who could not speak for themselves?

The fetus is a living individual human being. The unjust killing of a human being is murder. If these two statements are true, and both are true, then the only conclusion we can reach is that abortion is murder. You asked me why you should change your view of abortion. This is why.

Famous intrauterine photographer pioneer Lennart Nilsson is best known for his classic photo essays in Life magazine and his book A Child Is Born. In his “Drama of Life before Birth,” he says this of the unborn at forty-five days after conception (before many women know they’re pregnant): “Though the embryo now weighs only 1/30 of an ounce, it has all the internal organs of the adult in various stages of development. It already has a little mouth with lips, an early tongue and buds for 20 milk teeth. Its sex and reproductive organs have begun to sprout.”

By eight weeks hands and feet are almost perfectly formed. By nine weeks a child will bend fingers around an object placed in the palm. Fingernails are forming, and the child is sucking his thumb. The nine-week baby has “already perfected a somersault, backflip and scissor kick.”

The unborn responds to stimulus and may already be capable of feeling pain.  Yet abortions on children at this stage are called “early abortions.”

By ten weeks the child squints, swallows, and frowns. By eleven weeks he urinates, makes a wide variety of facial expressions, and even smiles.  By twelve weeks the child is kicking, turning his feet, curling and fanning his toes, making a fist, moving thumbs, bending wrists, and opening his mouth.

All this happens in the first trimester, the first three months of life. In the remaining six months in the womb, nothing new develops or begins functioning. The fully intact child only grows and matures—unless her life is lost by spontaneous miscarriage or taken through abortion.

It’s an indisputable scientific fact that each and every surgical abortion stops a beating heart and stops already measurable brain waves.

What do we call it when a person no longer has a heartbeat or brain waves? Death.

What should we call it when there is a heartbeat and there are brain waves? Life.

Every abortion ends a human life. That is a simple and scientifically certain fact.

When it comes to sharing these truths, one thing I encourage prolifers to realize are the vested interests, denial, and rationalization surrounding this issue. Many of the people you speak with have had abortions, recommended them, paid for them, or driven their girlfriend, wife, or daughter to get one. They have personal reasons for not wanting to believe abortion kills children.

It’s vitally important that we approach subjects such as abortion in a Christlike manner. Jesus came full of grace and truth (John 1:14). If people are to see Jesus in us, we must offer the truth with grace.

May we all continue speaking out about the humanity of the unborn in a spirit of grace and truth.

          

Article reprinted from Ligonier Ministries and R.C. Sproul. © Tabletalk magazine. Website: www.ligonier.org/tabletalk . Email: tabletalk@ligonier.org . Toll free: 1-800-435-4343.

A Passion to Know the King of Kings

We tend to be passionate about things that don’t matter, fanatics and fans about what won’t last. But we are afraid to look like fanatics for Jesus. We seem determined to portion Jesus out in acceptable portions, unwilling to appear fools for Christ. John Wesley was asked about the key to his ministry. He supposedly said (we can find only secondhand sources supporting this), “I ask God to set me on fire and let people watch me burn.”

I thank God that today I don’t just love Jesus as much as I used to, I love Him more. That is to His credit, and I’m deeply grateful. He’s what makes it so exciting and so worthwhile, and He’s the one who empowers me to walk “a long obedience in the same direction.” More than ever, I want to know Christ. How about you?

Give Jesus first place in your life. Don’t just let your life happen to you—choose what to do with it or in the end you’ll wonder where it went. If you’re going to persevere as Christ’s follower, you must consciously choose not to squander your life or let it idle away, but to invest it in what matters. “Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time” (Ephesians 5:15).

Perspectives from God’s Word

“I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings” (Philippians 3:10, NIV).

“In your presence there is fullness of joy” (Psalm 16:11).

Perspectives from God’s People

“The Fort Knox of faith is Christ. Fellowshipping with him. Walking with him. Pondering him. Exploring him. The heart-stopping realization that in him you are part of something ancient, endless, unstoppable, and unfathomable.” —Max Lucado

“The longer you know Christ, and the nearer you come to him, still the more do you see of his glory. Every farther prospect of Christ entertains the mind with a fresh delight. He is as it were a new Christ every day—and yet the same Christ still.” —John Flavel

          

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