Randy Alcorn's Blog, page 197

Our Call to Care for Orphans

This coming May 2-3, the Christian Alliance for Orphans is hosting their annual Summit in Nashville, Tennessee. Summit 9’s goal is to inspire, equip, and connect for adoption, foster care, and global orphan ministry. This year’s conference speakers include David Platt, Dennis Rainey, and many more. (Learn more and register at www.summit9.org.)

Due to continued problems with TMJ and recovering from oral surgery, I regrettably had to cancel my speaking engagement at Summit 9. But I still want to encourage you to attend if you have the opportunity, and to pray for all who are attending and those involved in making the conference happen.

I love the heart behind Summit, and it’s exciting to see so many Christians who are passionate about caring for orphans. Every time you see people who are pro-adoption and proactive about caring for the fatherless, it conveys the value of human life and the importance of meeting the needs of the truly needy. Scripture emphasizes helping widows and orphans, and adoption is all about opening your home to the neediest of those. James 1:27 says, “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress…” For an orphan to be physically without a father and ultimately without a mother is an unthinkable place for a child to be.

True, not every family is called to adopt or to provide foster care. But should the people of God as a whole be challenged to get involved and support other people in the body of Christ who are? I would say they absolutely should support not only those in their own church who wish to adopt or foster, but also those in other churches and other places.

We must learn to see orphans as God does—“He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the alien, giving him food and clothing” (Deut. 10:18). Furthermore, we must act toward them as God commands us to act:

Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed. Rescue the weak and needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked. (Ps. 82:3–4)

As we intervene on behalf of His children, let’s realize it is Christ Himself for whom we intervene (Matt. 25:40).

      

If you’d like to be involved in helping an orphan care ministry financially, a wonderful one that works with local churches is Hope for Orphans (a ministry of Family Life Today). Beginning May 1 there is opportunity to see your gift matched dollar for dollar. 

Related Resources

Book: Why ProLife?
Resource: Adoption: An Interview with Randy Alcorn
Blog: Orphanages Can Be Used Greatly by God

“The Least of These”: Caring for The Environment of God’s Earth

We’re continuing our blog series called The Least of These, based on George Verwer’s excellent article “Seven People Lying on the Side of the Road: Will you be a good Samaritan?”. George may have surprised some by including the environment in his list as an area that we as Christians need to be concerned about and take initiative in caring for. But I’m very glad he did. I agree with what Geroge says:

It is a shame that so many evangelical Christians not only have little concern for the environment, but are sometimes known as anti-environmental. How can this be when our Creator God has asked us to care for his creation? Not only is our pollution of the earth totally unacceptable, but this is an issue that our young people care about; and if we don’t connect with them on valid issues such as preservation of the environment, how can we expect them to listen to us at all?

Why have so many Christians historically shied away from creation care? I think the answer is that  concern for the environment is generally regarded as part of the liberal agenda. What sounds socially liberal sounds theologically liberal. And, understandably, biblical conservatives don’t want to sound liberal.

We need to think this through carefully. I’m morally/politically conservative on issues such as abortion, in which lives are at stake. But I am also concerned about the welfare of the environment God has entrusted to our care. We need to understand that human lives are at stake in the issue of creation care! Consider, for instance, how many people die from contaminated water. Taking care of water is taking care of people!

There is absolutely no conflict whatsoever between standing up for human lives and caring for the environment. In fact, they are a perfect fit. How can you be prolife and not care about environmental conditions that can either foster and sustain life or harm and destroy life?

Keep in mind God’s Word: “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it” (Psalm 24:1). This is not our place to trash. It’s God’s place to treasure. To care for the world is to care for its people. To take care of people is to fulfill the second greatest commandment, to love our neighbors as ourselves. In doing so we also obey the greatest commandment, to love God with all our hearts.

You don’t have to like or agree with Al Gore in order to care about God’s creation. Christians have no business dismissing everyone who cares about this planet as “environmental wackos” “eco-Nazis,” cranks, and chicken littles. Yes, of course there are extremists. (Hey, I live in Oregon. I know those extremists, but I still want Oregon to remain clean and beautiful!) Remember, there are “Christian wackos” too, but most of us do not appreciate being dismissed by that label. Don’t throw out the baby of responsible earth-care with the bathwater of anti-enterprise gloom.

The Evangelical Environmental Network gives us these four reasons for caring for the environment:

Christ died to reconcile all of creation to God (Col. 1:20).
All of creation belongs to Jesus (Col. 1:16; Ps. 24:1).
It fulfills the Great Commandments to love God and love what God loves. (It's hard to love a child with asthma when you're filling her lungs with pollution.)
Pollution hurts the poor the most, and Christians are called to care for the poor and the less powerful (Mt. 25:37-40).

These are four very biblical reasons for Christians to be actively involved in preserving our ecosystem and environment without straying into any sort of pantheism or nature worship. Nature powerfully displays the beauty of the Creator, and God uses the wonder of nature to draw people to himself. The profoundly influential revivalist, theologian, philosopher and preacher Jonathan Edwards records this encounter with nature:

I walked abroad alone, in a solitary place in my father's pasture, for contemplation. And as I was walking there, and looked up on the sky and clouds, there came into my mind, so sweet a sense of the glorious majesty and grace of God, that I know not how to express. … God's excellency, his wisdom, his purity and love, seemed to appear in everything; in the sun, moon, and stars; in the clouds, and blue sky; in the grass, flowers, trees; in the water, and all nature. [1]

Romans 1:20 says, “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made.” I too love the beauty even of this fallen creation (I always think, “What is it going to look like when it is a redeemed creation, on the New Earth?”).

If you’d like to explore more on the topic of creation care, and how you can get involved, my friend Mike Abbatte has written a book titled Gardening Eden that is well researched and readable, engaging and valuable. I wrote the foreword, which you can read in its entirety as a 3-part series on my blog.

Recommended Organizations

Evangelical Environmental Network
creationcare.org

Care of Creation
www.careofcreation.net

May we, as the body and bride of Christ, respect and steward creation as a gift to us from God, and spend this Earth Day not arguing about the extent of global warming or the age of the earth but rejoicing in its splendor and worshiping the Magnificent One who created it.

My thanks to EPM staffers Julia Stager and Stephanie Anderson for assembling resources for this blog.

      

[1] Edwards, Jonathan A.M. A Treatise Concerning Religious Affections, In Three Parts. James Crissy. Philadelphia. 1821

Related Resources

Book: The Promise of Heaven
Video: Is it wrong to love this earth?
Blog: Caring for the Environment: should Evangelical Christians be concerned?

Photo credits

hands: Izabelha vis sxc.hu  |  butterfly: waynebrown via sxc.hu  |  landscape: hdkam1 via sxc.hu

Why EPM Supports the International Justice Mission: an African Family’s Story

I watched this video and was deeply touched by the happy outcome, and you will be too. It captures why we support the International Justice Mission. First, a brief background from IJM:

Joseph was accidentally shot when a riot broke out in his neighborhood in Kenya. But later, at the hospital, a police officer pinned the violence on Joseph. There was no proof — he was innocent — but there was nothing Joseph could do.

Before he knew it, Joseph was arrested, charged and facing life in prison. Surrounded by dangerous criminals, he feared for his life. But worst of all, he feared for his pregnant wife and five children at home.

Joseph desperately needed help. An advocate could change everything. Watch his story now and see how this innocent father was finally set free.

      

Related Resources

Book: Money, Possessions, and Eternity
Resource: Rescuing the Oppressed: The International Justice Mission
Blog: Caring for the Needy: What God Says

Why the Revelations of Dr. Gosnell’s Trial Don’t Shock Me, and the Holocaust in Our Midst

A few years ago I wrote a blog about the murder charges against Dr. Kermit Gosnell, the Philadelphia abortionist. He’s back in the news (well, some of the news) because of his trial.

Last Friday the EPM staff reposted on my Facebook some of my original comments. That post has had an incredible reach, with over 1,300 shares, more than 1,100 likes and nearly 200 comments. Facebook also tells me that over 170,000 people have seen the post.

(You might want to check out Trevin Wax’s article on 8 Reasons for the Media Blackout on Kermit Gosnell where he speaks of “the strange silence of the mainstream media regarding one of the most gruesome murder trials in American history.”)

I’m grateful for the way God is really touching lives through the work our staff does—in this case raising consciousness for the plight of the unborn. I’m including my Facebook post below for those of you who may not have seen it, and am adding a few additional comments.

I must say that while I agree with all the Christian bloggers and tweeters that the revelations in the Dr. Gosnell case are all horrific, in fact I am not shocked about them. Why? Because I already knew what was going on in abortion clinics. I already knew that innocent people are killed there by the hundreds every week. Twenty-four years ago I looked in the dumpster of an abortion clinic and saw pieces of human flesh. This is not news to me. I knew that the lives of women are ruined there, and I knew that the “doctors” who spend their lives killing babies in most cases know exactly what they are doing. (Yes, I have talked with them.)

I’m a little taken aback that so many Christians are utterly shocked only because of the fact that this man killed some babies after they were born instead of a minute, week, month or three months earlier. As if that makes the slightest difference to the babies or to God. (I’m not talking about the legal differences, I’m talking about moral and human rights differences.)

The “shocking discovery” that an abortionist who made millions of dollars from child-killing had such a low regard and such a profound disrespect for the lives of babies and women is properly responded to with a “Huh?” As in, didn’t we know that already? And, if we didn’t, what is wrong with us? (And by the way, while Gosnell is on trial for the murder of seven babies, the fact is that he killed thousands and thousands of children. Anyone who only counts them as babies once they get big enough is an accomplice to this man’s evil deeds.)

Could we please stop pretending? Abortion is in fact the ruthless killing of an innocent human being. That’s what it always has been, and that’s what it always will be. When Planned Parenthood and NOW and politicians deny this, they are simply lying. There is nothing new about this. If you are surprised to discover, as in the case of this Pennsylvanian abortion clinic, that those who kill babies for a living are really not very good people, my question is…where have you been, and what have you been thinking goes on in these clinics? And if some abortionists are better at sanitizing the walls and disposing of baby body parts, do you really think that makes them any better in the sight of God Almighty, Creator of these children, and Judge of us all?

Unborn children in America are our equivalent of Jews in Germany seventy years ago. The church’s indifference to them, and failure to stand up in their defense, is a shame of huge proportions. Self-righteously we decry the German church’s failure to stand up for the Jews. Meanwhile we fail to stand up for the unborn. We shake our heads in disgust at the German church’s tolerance of one holocaust while ignoring our own tolerance of another. It is always far easier to see the bloodshed of another country of another time and wonder why the Christians didn’t stand up, than it is to see the atrocities of one’s own place and time, where we are failing to stand up.

If you’d like to do more reading about how to engage people in conversation about the issue of abortion, check out my books Why ProLife? and ProLife Answers to ProChoice Arguments. (See the end of this blog for a special offer from EPM.)

Finally, someone asked me on Facebook, and others of you might be wondering: what should our attitude and response be toward Dr. Gosnell and all those involved in his clinic? I personally know and have spoken at length with three people who used to be in the abortion business who came under the Holy Spirit’s conviction, turned to Christ, and walked away forever from their abortion-funded paychecks. One was an abortion clinic owner, another a physician who did abortions, and the other was a full-time counselor and intake person at an abortion clinic. Each of them is a wonderful person. God can and does sometimes lift the veil of blindness as He must do for each of us related to our own sins. So prayer is the right response—prayer of God’s just judgment upon the unrepentant, yes, but prayer first for their repentance.

When we stand before God, will any of us be able to plead ignorance? Will we have an excuse for what we have done to unborn children, and what we have not done to save their lives?

Rescue those who are being taken away to death;

hold back those who are stumbling to the slaughter.

If you say, “Behold, we did not know this,”

does not he who weighs the heart perceive it?

Does not he who keeps watch over your soul know it,

and will he not repay man according to his work? (Proverbs 24:11-12)

There is plenty of judgment to go around. May God be merciful to us all, for we all have much to account for when it comes to the slaughter of innocent children.

As for changing the way we think, for starters, could we stop being shocked only when babies are “aborted” an hour after they are born? Could we start being shocked when the same children—with the same beating hearts, measurable brainwaves and preprogrammed DNA—are aborted an hour, month or seven months before they’re born? What, in the eyes of God Almighty, is the difference?

      

From Eternal Perspective Ministries

For a limited time, get Why ProLife? for just $1.00 a copy, plus S & H. (retail $6.95, everyday low EPM price for single copies $3.00). No code and no minimum or maximum order amount needed to get the discount.

This updated and revised edition of Randy’s book offers factual answers to the central issues of the abortion debate in a concise, non-abrasive way. Infused with grace and compassion, and grounded in medical science and psychological studies, this book is an encouragement to be intelligently and graciously informed.

Sale price good through April 24.

Meet 100-Year-Old Walter Jespersen, a Man of God

I will never forget spending an afternoon in September 2001 with Walter Jespersen, at the home of Doug and Margaret Nichols. Walter, Margaret’s father, was 88 then, and now is 100 years old. His graciousness, cheerfulness and humble spirit made a deep impression on me. We spoke about China and his days serving there, first as a single man in the 1930’s. I remember thinking, “This is a man I want to grow up to be.”

Here are two ways you can get to know a man truly worth knowing, and in the process get to know his God:

1) Read a blog about Walter.

2) Watch an interview from five years ago when then 95-year-old Walt talks about many things, including going to China as a 23-year-old missionary in the 1936.  This is a wonderful ten minutes, and in it you see Walt’s smile and hear his laughter. After watching it, you’ll know why my friend Doug Nichols, founder of the great missions group Action International, always speaks so highly of his father-in-law, who he calls “Dad Jespersen.” After watching this video I decided I still want to grow up to be Walter Jespersen.

      

EPM's Related Resources

Book: Courageous 
Resource: Leaving a Legacy of Faithfulness: the Father as Model and Mentor
Blog: Some of my Spiritual Heroes—who are yours?

The Gift of God-Honoring Laughter

“For everything there is a season, and a time to for every matter under heaven…a time to weep and a time to laugh; a time to mourn and a time to dance” (Ecclesiastes 3:1, 4).

Nanci and I laugh together every day, often hilariously. Sometimes we can’t stop. When our now-grown girls were young, there was always a lot of giggling and laughing and carrying on at the dinner table, and Nanci and I were in the thick of it. When we’re with our grandsons, we’re always looking for the next laugh. Not laughter at another’s expense, though there’s lots of good natured kidding, but the kind of laughter that draws people together. The friendships we enjoy most, like with our friends Steve and Sue Keels, are the ones where we really laugh together. Those kinds of friendships are worth seeking out and preserving.

Norman Cousins gives an amazing account of laughter’s therapeutic value in his book Anatomy of an Illness. Diagnosed with an untreatable terminal disease, Cousins determined to cultivate a positive frame of mind. Part of that came from watching old Marx Brothers movies and reruns of Candid Camera. Eventually his disease subsided, his health returned, and Cousins is convinced it was his laughter and sustained focus on the bright side that brought about his healing.

Martin Luther said, “You have as much laughter as you have faith.” We’ve found that the ability to be lighthearted helps us work through many heavy and difficult situations without burning out or losing our perspective. Humor is our release, our safety valve. Laughter relieves tension and breaks down barriers. Laughter is therapeutic. It is medicinal. It heals. It gives hope.

“A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones” (Proverbs 17:22).

“A glad heart makes a cheerful face, but by sorrow of heart the spirit is crushed” (Proverbs 15:13).

When it comes to laughter, we love listening to Brian Regan, our favorite comedian. Several years ago on Nanci's birthday we went to Portland to hear him live. Nanci heard him live another time with one of our daughters. We love Brian’s humor, and he keeps it clean, which is refreshing. (The reason we don't watch most other-wise funny comedians is that to laugh at what dishonors God is to dishonor God).

Nanci and I have three Brian Regan DVDs we have watched and rewatched with family and friends: Standing Up, The Epitome of Hyperbole and I Walked on the Moon.

If you want a sample, here’s one of many clips of Brian Regan we enjoy:

      

EPM's Related Resources

Product: Help for Women Under Stress gift package
Audio: Does Satan lie to us about Heaven?
Blog: Laughter in Heaven (plus Brian Regan video)

Photo credit: brianregan.com

Is Sincerity Enough?

I received this question: “A lot of people have sincere beliefs that contradict God’s Word. Does sincerity count for anything?” In the video and the following transcript, I share some thoughts in response:

I think sincerity certainly does count for something. But I also believe it counts for less than we think it does. In a hospital, there are situations where a doctor or nurse injects a medication sincerely believing it will bring healing that ends up being fatal. Certainly we would all feel worse if we found out that they were not sincere and were actually trying to kill their patient. But the fact they were sincere is not a great consolation when you realize the consequences.

The same is true when it comes to Scripture. There are sincere people, for instance, who don’t believe that Jesus is the only way to Heaven. I know there’s people who sincerely believe that. But what did Jesus say? “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father but by me” (John 14:6). We’re told in Acts 4:12 that neither is there any other name under Heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. We must come into a relationship with Christ to spend eternity with Him.

So a person can be very sincere and not believe in that objective truth. But will their sincerity keep them from experiencing the consequences of not believing in and trusting in Christ? This is where I think we need to realize that by all means we should be encouraging and tolerant (in the right sense) of people’s different viewpoints—but in the end, let’s not apologize for what Jesus actually said. We shouldn’t minimize it by saying, “Well, the important thing is that people are sincere.” Well, it is important whether or not people are sincere. But in the end, it’s also extremely important whether they are right and believe what is true.

      

Related Resources

Book: The Grace and Truth Paradox
Resource: A Tenuous Hope Versus a Certain Truth
Blog: Speaking the Truth in Love

Watch the first full session from my Eternity 101 DVD set

I really enjoyed teaching a 12-hour course on Heaven and the New Earth at Corban University last spring. We had it filmed with the goal of providing an affordable DVD set people can use for personal study, or in their churches, classes or small groups.

If you’re interested in the whole 55-minute Eternity 101 session one, skip to the third and last video below and jump right in (the first two videos are from that same session).

If you’re interested in a 4.5 minute sample from the class, here’s a clip where I share from Revelation 1 about the apostle John seeing the glorified Jesus in Heaven:

In this 2.5 minute clip, I share about Heaven from 2 Corinthians 5 and Colossians 3, and talk about not living in the dot, but living for the line:

Here’s the entire video of session 1 of 12. If you enjoy it, and want to go through it yourself, or with a class or small group, you can order the whole 6-DVD set from EPM at www.epm.org/eternity101.  (We also offer free class resources, including a study guide with leader’s guide and an inductive study.)

      

Related Resources

DVD Set: Eternity 101
Resource: Eternity 101 DVD Class Resources
Blog: Heavenly Minded and of Earthly Good

From Eternal Perspective Ministries

Eternity 101 DVD Class - $12

Bring eternity to light... in a way that will change how you live today!

For many people—including many Christians—“Heaven” is a mysterious word describing a place that we can’t understand and therefore don’t look forward to. But Scripture tells us differently. What we otherwise could not have known about Heaven, God says he has revealed to us through his Spirit.

God tells us about our eternal home in his Word, not so we can shrug our shoulders and remain ignorant, but because he wants us to understand and anticipate what awaits us and those we love.

List price - $19.99 

Sale price good through Thursday, April 11

A Terrific New Bible Study Series for Churches and Groups

One of my favorite bloggers is Justin Taylor, a brother who I know and deeply appreciate. Justin is constantly introducing me to great people, material and developments. If you want to keep up daily with a variety of interesting developments and books and resources in theology and the church, I can’t recommend more highly his blog.

Recently, Justin talked about a new Bible study series from Crossway Publishers. First, listen to this excellent 2.5 minute video in which Dane Ortlund describes this exciting project:

Then, read what Justin has to say about these Bible studies below:

Not Your Mother’s Bible Study Guides

I’m excited about Crossway’s new 12-week Bible study guides—for groups, classes, or individuals—called Knowing the Bible. It tries to bring together gospel-centered biblical theological, sound doctrine, and legitimate application in a faithful and accessible way, under the editorship of J. I. Packer.

Read more

      

Related Resources

DVD Set: Eternity 101
Blog: ESV Study Bible
Audio: Handling the Word

Remembering Edith Schaeffer

Edith Schaeffer was a Christ-loving, creative, caring, and classy woman. She entered the presence of Jesus this past weekend, at age 98. (See also this post from Tim Challies, with thoughts from his mom about the time she spent with Edith.)  

I had a wonderful time talking with Edith on an airplane 25 years ago. I told her how her husband Francis Schaeffer had a profound impact on me as a young Christian. I also shared how I had written him a long letter as a college student, and was very touched that he’d taken the time to respond to me.  (I wrote about this in a 2009 blog, Francis Schaeffer: Intellectual and Christ-Lover.)

I read and enjoyed every book written by Francis Schaeffer and I read Edith’s books as well, notably The Hidden Art of Homemaking, What is a Family? and L’Abri.  

Edith, I will never forget you, and our delightful conversation. I am delighted that you are with our Lord and Savior, and that you have been reunited with your beloved husband Francis. God used both of you in my life, and I look forward to seeing you again in the presence of our King.   

      

Related Resources

Book: Tell Me About Heaven
Blog: Francis Schaeffer: Intellectual and Christ-Lover
Video: Who are some of the Christians that have most influenced your life?