Randy Alcorn's Blog, page 194

Sharing the Message of Eternity

As I shared in a blog last week, I have a missional perspective on my graphic novel Eternity. God has laid on my heart a vision for seeding the book far and wide because it includes a clear gospel presentation, embodied in a parable of Jesus into which I’ve woven depictions of Heaven and Hell. The art is exceptional. I’ve looked at a number of graphic novels, and have seen nothing like it.

I would appreciate your prayers as this book is distributed. Our ministry is giving away thousands of copies from the first printing to prisoners, Christian camps, youth ministries, and various missions organizations, including Operation Mobilization’s Logos Hope ship which will bring it into ports in many countries. (The short word count and visual images are appealing to the huge number of young people in the world who know English as a second language.) It will also be translated, we hope, into many languages.

By God’s grace our ministry already sends over 1,000 books each month to prisoners. This one will be read by thousands of prisoners, many who find it hard to read conventional books. (By the way, when people are drawn to the gospel, and come to Christ through unconventional reading material THEN there is reason to hope they will become readers of conventional books, starting with God’s Word!) The book ends with encouraging them to get connected with a Bible-teaching Christ-centered church, which our staff will help them locate in their area. We have done this many times, and the results have been very encouraging.

If God lays it on your heart to help partner with our ministry in sending Eternity and my other books to prisoners, you may donate online (choose the option "Books for Prisoners Fund" under Special Funds) or send a check to EPM designated “books for prisoners” on the memo line. 100% of the donations to this fund will be used to finance the cost of the books and materials, as well as the shipping charges. 

Above all, we would value your prayers. EPM’s staff is asking the Lord to bless our efforts and use this book for His glory and kingdom purposes by transforming many lives.

         

“In the not too distant future, every one of us will move from time into eternity. May God use Randy Alcorn’s graphic novel Eternity to reach a lost and dying generation while there’s still time.”

— Ray Comfort, host of “The Way of the Master,” author of The Beatles, God and the Bible

“Eternity is a stunning achievement—dramatic, addictive, and an exciting way to make Scripture come alive. I’m predicting a huge, growing ministry that will get the Bible into the hands of people who just like a riveting story. I’ll be buying a lot of these to give away.”

— Jerry B. Jenkins, Novelist & Biographer; Owner, Christian Writers Guild

Partner with EPM in Sharing the Book (Plus a Special Offer)

We want to encourage you to read Eternity yourself (if you've never read a graphic novel, we predict you'll like it!) and to catch the vision of how you can share it with others. Here's four ways you can partner with us in sharing the book:

1. A "Buy-two-get-one-free" special

Purchase three paperback Eternity books from www.epm.org/eternity (retail $16.99, EPM price $13.59 per book), and during checkout, use the discount code eternityblog to deduct the full price of one book. Offer ends July 31, 2013. Limit one free book per order.

2. Send us your stories

We'd love to hear your stories of how God has used the book to impact readers. Send them to us online.

3. Support our “Books for Prisoners” fund

Help us send the book to prisoners nationwide. Donate online at www.epm.org/donate (under "Special Funds" select "Books for Prisoners”).

4. Join our Facebook party on Thursday, July 25

When: Thursday, July 25 from 5:30 to 7 p.m. PT (8:30 to 10 p.m. ET)

Where: Randy's Facebook page (www.facebook.com/randyalcorn)

What: Join us on Randy’s Facebook page to celebrate Eternity, the graphic novel. Ask questions and interact with Randy, plus get a behind-the-scenes look at the creation of the novel and receive a special offer from EPM. Did we mention we’re giving away prizes to those who participate? You won’t want to miss it!

You May Choose to Look the Other Way, But…

In this video interview with Julia Stager, EPM staff, she quotes William Wilberforce who said, “You may choose to look the other way, but you can never say again that you did not know”, and asks what that quote means to me.

In the following video and transcript, I share some thoughts:

Historically, William Wilberforce was an abolitionist in England. He was a committed Christian who wanted to free all the slaves and abolish the slave trade. He was ultimately successful. His story is told in many places, including in the popular movie Amazing Grace. He had a relationship with John Newton (who wrote the song Amazing Grace) and Newton had a great influence on him.

But I think Wilberforce was saying here that when you see the realities of the slave trade, you can never go back. He used to stand up in Parliament, and would keep slave chains under his seat and pull them out and drape them around himself as he was speaking. He was so unpopular. Everybody was against him. Hardly anyone was in favor of abolishing the slave trade when he first spoke against it. But then, over time, he was successful. Literally just a few days before he died, slavery was abolished in England.

So how can we apply that quote today? How do you see that as still relevant?

When you see something evil, you see the reality of it. There’s no going back or denying it. That’s the way it should be anyway. I would apply that to something like sex trafficking. You read about it and watch a film of some of the things that are happening. You see it devastating the lives of children who are being used in such horrific ways. There should be no turning back.

The same is true when you see children who are dying of hunger and diseases that are treatable, or kids that need clean water. Once you see that, there should be no denying it.

And, of course, the big overlooked area today is abortion. I encourage everyone to look online at pictures of aborted children. It’s horrific. (A wonderful ministry called Abort 73.com has produced a simple two minute video showing the objective truth about abortion.) 

But from that point forward when you see the truth, you should never go back. We should always speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves.

         

Related Resources

Blogs: The Least of These
Article: Amazing Grace in the Life of William Wilberforce 
Book: Why ProLife? 

My Eternity Graphic Novel and the Unreached People Group in Our Midst

Before I get to today’s blog, I wanted to share an update on EPM’s finances for those who are interested. We are not panicking and we do not ever beg for money, but we are asking God to provide and I felt I should share our current situation with His people. If and only if you’d like to read more, you can do so here.

In last week’s blog, I introduced Eternity, my first graphic novel. Here’s a two-minute book trailer created by the publisher, Kingstone. Love the voice, don’t you?

I really have a missional perspective on this book. In a way, though it’s in English, because of its visual nature it’s like a translation into another language, a language that some people speak and some don’t. I’ve been realizing more and more that there are not only young people but many adults, especially men—and increasing numbers of YOUNG men—who just aren’t good readers. So, in silence, often in our churches as well as outside them, they go right on not reading even though they are technically literate.

These people are never going to read my books or 99% of Christian books, unless they find something that conveys a biblical message, moves their hearts to Christ, and motivates them to want to learn more. Many young people are becoming like an unreached people group that needs to hear the gospel in a form that is familiar and compelling enough to reach them.

While I believe that Eternity can reach some people who won’t read other books, I also believe it can be used of God to create a thirst for more and more reading. And I’m convinced it works the other way too. People who would never envision themselves reading a graphic novel are stunned to find there is not only a biblical message but profound theology that stirs them.

A note from the lead pastor of my church, Alan Hlavka, contained these encouraging words:

Last evening I read Eternity. I felt I was experiencing the vivid reality of my first months as a new believer, back in college—when the literalness of Christ’s life, death, power and presence overwhelmed my life. It really fed and challenged my heart. “First love” stuff was going on. I'm looking forward to reading this book again and again, and seeing the broad impact it's going to have in countless lives.

Bodie and Brock Thoene, authors of The Jerusalem Chronicles, said this:

Randy Alcorn’s Eternity has enormous power and potential as a ministry tool! Speaking to a generation steeped in video games and social media, Eternity’s design as an engaging, compelling graphic novel will grab young readers who would not willingly nor easily encounter the Gospel in any other written form...and then Eternity will urge them to find out more, and dig deeper!

I’d encourage you to consider using this book as a tool, as the Thoenes mentioned, and giving it to your kids, grandkids, kids at church, the youth pastor, the guy at work in his twenties, the kid across the street you think is on drugs, anyone who needs to hear the message. (See below; EPM is offering a “buy-2-get-1 free” special to help you share the book.)

I invite you to please pray with me about this book, asking God to use Eternity in a powerful way, to touch and change lives with the gospel of Jesus. By God's grace, our ministry will hear stories of people turning to Christ.

         

Partner with EPM in Sharing the Book (Plus a Special Offer)

We want to encourage you to read Eternity yourself (if you've never read a graphic novel, we predict you'll like it!) and to catch the vision of how you can share it with others. Here's four ways you can partner with us in sharing the book:

1. A "Buy-two-get-one-free" special

Purchase three paperback Eternity books from www.epm.org/eternity (retail $16.99, EPM price $13.59 per book), and during checkout, use the discount code eternityblog to deduct the full price of one book. Offer ends July 31, 2013. Limit one free book per order.

2. Send us your stories

We'd love to hear your stories of how God has used the book to impact readers. Send them to us online.

3. Support our “Books for Prisoners” fund

Help us send the book to prisoners nationwide. Donate online at www.epm.org/donate (under "Special Funds" select "Books for Prisoners”).

4. Join our Facebook party on Thursday, July 25

When: Thursday, July 25 from 5:30 to 7 p.m. PT (8:30 to 10 p.m. ET)

Where: Randy's Facebook page (www.facebook.com/randyalcorn)

What: Join us on Randy’s Facebook page to celebrate Eternity, the graphic novel. Ask questions and interact with Randy, plus get a behind-the-scenes look at the creation of the novel and receive a special offer from EPM. Did we mention we’re giving away prizes to those who participate? You won’t want to miss it!

Should we seek approval?

In this video and the following transcript, I share some thoughts on whether we should seek approval:

The answer is yes and no, and it depends on whose approval we’re seeking. In Galatians 1:10 Paul says “if I were still trying to please men [which is to seek their approval] I would not be a servant of Christ.” If we go around trying to make everybody happy all the time and seeking people’s approval, then we’re not going to live happy and contented lives. We’re not going to live lives that are on target for Christ.

Should we seek God’s approval? The answer is yes. It’s kind of strange to say that. We can say, “Wait a minute. We can’t seek God’s approval. It is not by works of righteousness that we have done, but it’s according to His mercy He has saved us.” Yes, but at the same time, Scripture talks about pleasing God. In John 12:43, Jesus actually condemned the Pharisees because they were seeking the approval of men but not seeking the approval of the only God who is the true judge. We need to realize that we can live our lives in ways that please God or displease God.

So by all means, let’s be motivated by seeking approval—but not the approval of men or the approval of our culture—but the approval of God. After all, He’s the righteous judge. We will stand before His judgment seat, not before anyone else’s judgment seat, not before our own judgment seat.

In the end, other people’s opinions of us won’t matter. Our opinion of ourselves won’t matter. God’s opinion is not just an opinion. God’s opinion is truth. And He is the One we should seek to please.

         

Related Resources

Blog: Mel Gibson, Image, and Character
Article: Living a Life of Grace and Truth for the Audience of One
Book: Deadline

Stock image credit: Krappweis via sxc.hu

What can a high school student do to be more like Christ?

In this video and the following transcript, EPM Staff Member Julia Stager and I discuss the question, What can high schoolers do to be more like Christ?

Randy:

I think the answer to that would be the same thing that anyone can do to be more like Christ. Certainly they can meditate on His Word; 2 Corinthians 3 talks about being conformed to the image of Christ, and that comes through meditating on Him. Certainly you want to (and this is very important for high schoolers) choose the right friends. Some friends are going to lead you the wrong way. The book of Proverbs is really about that, and has example after example of getting in with the wrong crowd. (I share more in this article.)

First Corinthians 15:33 says that bad company corrupts good morals. If you choose the wrong friends, you are going to become more like them. If you choose friends who love Christ, you’re going to grow in Christ.

Julia:

Yes. One of the things I thought of was how involved Jesus was in His community and in people’s lives. We need to really encourage high schoolers to be part of a church where they can both be receiving the Word of truth from someone they respect, but then also teaching it to those who are younger than they are.

         

Related Resources

Blog: God's Word as Our Primary Influence
Article: What advice would you give to young people related to their friendships?
Book:  The Ishbane Conspiracy

Stock photo credit: tome213 via sc.hu

Introducing Eternity, My First Graphic Novel

I’m very excited about my first graphic novel, called Eternity, which is based on Christ’s story of the rich man and Lazarus found in Luke 16. If you’re not familiar with the term, a graphic novel is an extended comic book form (128 pages, over 600 panels of full-color art).The book has just been released and is now available from our ministry in print and as an ebook.

While it is fiction, I have labored to make the book Christ-centered, Bible-saturated and theologically sound. The liberties I took largely involved expanding a 13 verse parable of Jesus by interjecting additional characters and a larger storyline of the gospel of grace, drawn from the whole counsel of God.

In this video, I share more about the book:

One day two years ago I spent an hour in the huge graphic novel section of a Portland Barnes and Noble. I watched the young people come and read, sitting on the floor, captivated by the art, dialogue and narrative captions. As I watched them, God touched my heart and I prayed for them as they came and went.  

I realized that very few if any of these young people ever attend church (hey, I live in Oregon), or would be open to reading the books I write, or 98% of other Christian books. I longed to reach into their world and introduce them to the true gospel of Jesus in a form they would actually read.

God laid it on my heart then and there to write a graphic novel that tells a story highlighting Christ’s person and redemptive work, a story full of grace and truth, one that speaks of the eternal destinations of Heaven and Hell. The graphics took two artists (who’ve worked with Marvel Comics) fifteen months to complete. I think they did an amazing job.

I was raised in an unbelieving home. I grew up reading comic books. I read them passionately and “graduated” to science fiction. Then, when I first heard the gospel as a teenager, I read every Christian book I could find, including the Bible. I came to faith in Christ through reading God’s Word, and my love for reading transferred over to Lewis, Tozer, Schaeffer, Packer, Spurgeon and countless others who I read voraciously.

Looking back, I’m grateful for the comics that developed my thirst for reading, because they were a “gateway” to reading Scripture and the great books of substance that have been a vital part of my life ever since. This much I know—had someone given me this graphic novel 45 years ago, when I was a young teen, I would have read it cover to cover, and would have heard the gospel for the first time in my life.

I'm convinced that through Eternity and its compelling art, God will not only allow me to reach a new audience, but also—and this is my prayer—to draw others who have read my books before into this new venue of graphic novels. If you like my other fiction, I think you’ll like this as much, maybe more. And for sure, you’ll know a young person to share it with!  Terri Blackstock, New York Times Best-Selling Author of Intervention and Predator, wrote after reading the book, “This is the first graphic novel I've ever read, and I found myself captivated at the fabulous art and the depth of story. Suitable for children and adults alike, I think this is going to be a big hit!”

So if you feel, “I’m too old/studious/theological to read a big comic book,” I’d encourage you simply to read a few pages and SEE. If you give it a try, I think you may be surprised at how engaging a graphic novel with beautiful art and biblical themes can be. It may have more depth and substance and be more edifying than you imagine.  

I’ll end with a note from author Max Lucado that contained these encouraging words: “Randy Alcorn’s graphic novel Eternity will touch hearts, grant hope and change lives. As a master storyteller, Randy takes us through the story of The Rich Man and Lazarus. I have read this biblical account many times, but I will never read it the same way again. Randy has brought it to life. I pray that God uses Randy’s work to bring an eternal perspective to every person who reads this work.”

         

Partner with EPM in Sharing the Book (Plus a Special Offer)

We want to encourage you to read Eternity yourself (if you've never read a graphic novel, we predict you'll like it!) and to catch the vision of how you can share it with others. Here's four ways you can partner with us in sharing the book:

1. A "Buy-two-get-one-free" special

Purchase three paperback Eternity books from www.epm.org/eternity (retail $16.99, EPM price $13.59 per book), and during checkout, use the discount code eternityblog to deduct the full price of one book. Offer ends July 31, 2013. Limit one free book per order.

2. Send us your stories

We'd love to hear your stories of how God has used the book to impact readers. Send them to us online.

3. Support our “Books for Prisoners” fund

Help us send the book to prisoners nationwide. Donate online at www.epm.org/donate (under "Special Funds" select "Books for Prisoners”).

4. Join our Facebook party on Thursday, July 25

When: Thursday, July 25 from 5:30 to 7 p.m. PT (8:30 to 10 p.m. ET)

Where: Randy's Facebook page (www.facebook.com/randyalcorn)

What: Join us on Randy’s Facebook page to celebrate Eternity, the graphic novel. Ask questions and interact with Randy, plus get a behind-the-scenes look at the creation of the novel and receive a special offer from EPM. Did we mention we’re giving away prizes to those who participate? You won’t want to miss it!

Appreciating the Protection of God’s Laws

In this video and the following transcript, I share some thoughts.

When it comes to God’s laws in Scripture, a lot of people wonder about legalism. How can you hold to the truth and still have a spirit of grace? How can you hold to truth and not be a law-keeping Pharisee?

One of the things we have to remember is why God gave us His law in the first place. I’ve used the analogy in my book The Purity Principle about driving along a mountain pass when it’s dark and foggy, and your car runs off the road and you hit the guardrail. You slam on the breaks and get out of the car with a flashlight. What do you do? Do you look at the fender of your car and say, “Oh no. That rotten guardrail! Why did somebody put that guardrail there? Now I’ve got a dented fender!”?

No, you thank God for that guardrail. It’s there for your benefit. That guardrail saved your life!

One of the things we have to remember is that God gives us His truth not just to impose His arbitrary standards on us. They are not arbitrary; they’re based on His character and given to us out of His love for us.

When we are living according to God’s truth, it is not so that we can say, “I’ve been obedient. Look at me, I’ve been a good boy or a good girl.” Yes, we can and should live to please God, but we can also honor the fact that He has given us His truths and commandments out of love for us.

I think we need to look at God’s truth and His requirements and commandments in a different way—not as heavy, burdensome things, but rather as things He created us to do to bring honor to Him. Ultimately they’re not only for His glory, they’re also for our good.

         

Related Resources

Blog: Are spiritual disciplines legalism?
Article: Protecting Purity in a Technological Corinth
Book: The Purity Principle

Road barrier photo credit: libyphoto via sxc.hu

Does being like Jesus mean not talking about Hell?

These days you’ll often hear people say something like, “Instead of condemning people and threatening them with Hell, we should be like Jesus and love them.”

In the following video and transcript, I share some thoughts.

When I was filming my video answer to this question, I had to smile. Now that’s not the sort of thing I suppose you should smile about, because it is an extremely serious subject. But I just kind of have to smile at how strange it is that people would make that statement. Here’s the reason: no one in the entire Bible says more about Hell and its horrors than Jesus Christ. So if we’re going to be like Jesus, it doesn’t mean we should not talk about Hell. If we’re going to be like Jesus, it means we should talk about Hell.

As far as threatening people with Hell, I’ve never threatened anyone with Hell. The very fact that I recognize that Jesus said there is a Hell and that it’s a terrible place, is simply acknowledging “I believe what Jesus said.”

I don’t have the power to send someone to Hell, nor did I think up the idea of it. It’s there in the Bible. God talks about it as a place of eternal punishment for evildoers, for those who have not experienced the redemptive work of Christ in their lives.

I don’t think I’m supposed to be God’s spokesperson in the sense of giving Him a facelift or airbrushing Him and making Him look kinder and getting Him off the hook. He’s the one who says there is a Hell. Jesus says there’s a Hell. And, by the way, He went to the cross to deliver you and me from it!

         

Related Resources

Blog: Albert Mohler on the Air Conditioning of Hell
Video: What is the purpose of Hell?
Book:  If God Is Good

A Sea Turtle Video

I love sea turtles. Some of my greatest memories are hanging out with turtles while snorkeling or diving. Here’s an entertaining 44-second video of a turtle with an apparent taste for the camera. Love these wonderful creatures God makes, and can’t wait for the world where “The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them” (Isaiah 11:6).

         

Related Resources

Blog: God's Artistry in Giant Sea Turtles
Resource: How can you say there will be oceans on the New Earth when Rev. 21:1 says something different?
Book: The Promise of Heaven

The Problem with Christoplatonism

In the following video and transcript, I share some thoughts:

Christoplatonism—there’s a word that you don’t hear every day. It’s actually a word that I made up (probably the only word I’ve ever made up!) and used in my comprehensive Heaven book to speak of the Christianized philosophy of Plato.

There is the secular philosophy of Plato that the material world is bad—it’s evil—and only the invisible, spiritual world is good. But then there were Christian church fathers who took up the ideas of Platonism and tried to read them into the Bible. They made the Bible appear to be condemning the physical material world. This is a real trick because you can’t really do that authentically with Scripture. God looked at the world that He had made after the sixth day of Creation, and “behold, it was very good.” He approved of His whole creation. All of it—the food that we eat, the plants, the water, the animals, marital sex—is good and made by God for good purposes.

Then sin came into the world. It’s not that sin made these things bad; it’s that we fell as human beings and started to misuse and idolize some of these things. The teaching of Scripture is not that we’ll be delivered from a material world and material bodies, but that ultimately we will live as resurrected beings in a resurrected universe for all eternity. We’ll enjoy the goodness of God in the material realm, just as we do in the spiritual realm. In fact, those two realms will be brought together forever in the eternal incarnate Christ, on the New Earth. He will be in human form forever, reigning on the throne of the New Jerusalem with Him as King of Kings and us as kings (with a lower case “k”), reigning under Him. So in God’s renewed, resurrected, redeemed creation, we will worship Him forever.

         

Related Resources

Blog: The Spiritual Body: A Real Body
Video: Heaven and Christoplatonism 
Book: Heaven

Wheat field image credit: zomb_kille via sxc.hu