Randy Alcorn's Blog, page 210

Biola University: a Place for Students to Nurture Their Faith

Earlier this year, I spent a wonderful and exhausting four days at Biola University. I was certainly familiar with Biola by reputation, but my experience there exceeded expectations.  What a pleasure it was to be in a place where God’s Word is actually believed and the cutting edge thing to do is not to depart from Scripture, but to be about Jesus and to start with the authority of His Word.

I loved the students I met and taught in chapels and a number of different classes, on subjects ranging from financial stewardship (they'd read my book Managing God's Money) to a Heaven Q & A with Torrey Honors Institute, and a three hour discussion of my novel Safely Home with 16 Torrey students who had actually read it! (Biola has posted the full video of part 1 and part 2 of the chapel messages on financial stewardship.)

I loved the student leaders I had lunch with (along with my student friends Matt Fier and Erin Jeffries), and Wes Wilmer, Rick Bee, Todd Pickett, Lisa Ishihara, Stetson Butler (and wonderful wife Katy) and other staff and faculty I hung out with (including philosophy teacher Chris Franklin).  

I loved my time with Biola President Barry Corey, who explained to me how they seek to protect the university from biblical compromise and theological drift. I have been disappointed with many Christian liberal arts colleges I have encountered, where some or many professors no longer hold to biblical inerrancy, and many students' faith in Scripture and walk with Christ sadly erodes. I was impressed not only by Biola's doctrinal orthodoxy, but also by the spiritual vitality I saw in the president, faculty, staff and students I met. Sound academics, yes, but more importantly I sensed the presence of God's Spirit. It was a delightful breath of fresh air. For students and parents of students looking into a Bible-believing, Christ-exalting Christian liberal arts college, I highly recommend you consider Biola.

In an article for Biola Magazine titled “The Soil of the Soul of our Students,” President Corey wrote the following:

Colleges, Christ-centered or not, provide no guarantee students will graduate with faith intact. If colleges were neutral on matters of faith, students may be able to navigate their way through, “working out their salvation.” Few colleges are in fact faith-neutral. Those colleges that take no position on faith often have an undeclared and ideological bent toward dismantling faith. We know the stories. As one commentator recently wrote in a national publication, the leftward leanings of Western universities is clear, though they “still claim they have neither a secularist nor a political agenda.”

I stumbled on an article in The Atlantic Monthly admitting as much. Philip E. Wentworth wrote:

To say that college does something to the average student’s religion is to state a truth which will be conceded by anyone who has given the matter a moment’s thought. Nine young men and women out of ten who will receive their degrees this June would probably admit, if they were called to testify, that education has acted as a poison to their faith. In many instances the virus generated by the reasoning processes induces only mild distemper of skepticism, but in others it works like an acid, eating its way into the bump of credulity until in the end this estimable organ is completely corroded. Devout parents and clergymen have frequently observed this phenomenon and deplored it.

What Mr. Wentworth meant when he talked about those who “receive their degrees this June” was not June of 2011. His comments were penned 80 years ago. He wrote the article in the 1930s. This faith-dismantling in higher education is nothing new to our generation. Many universities have faculty dead set on doing all they can to upend the faith of a student, a faith they see as narrow and baseless. 

A Biola University education is not an ironclad guarantee that a student’s faith won’t be shaken or even upended. But this I do know: Our community of faculty and staff cares as much for the life of a student’s soul as they do the life of the mind. We want to come alongside parents in continuing the values nurtured in the home and in the church. We do so by being intentional about providing students the opportunities and relationships to nurture their faith. 

Society will be swayed most by its most educated people. Today’s young people are tomorrow’s leaders in the church and the culture, and in the global arena. While in college their worldview will be shaped at the core of their being, for better or for worse. Jesus commanded us to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, strength and mind, and to love our neighbors. The mind and heart are profoundly affected by a university campus with a Christ-centered rather than a self-centered world view. Character growth and the fruit of the Spirit are most likely to be cultivated when evident in the lives of most of the faculty, staff and students.

The moral failures we see in politicians and business leaders are often the shriveled toxic fruit of minds and hearts that were not shaped for God’s kingdom. On the other hand, many of the captivating Christ-serving and others-serving lives we see are directly attributable to what happened in the hearts and minds of young people not only in their homes, but while in college.  

There is something to be said for investing in Christian leadership development. We need to make long-term investments in people who will bring long-term solutions to recurring problems around the world. For instance, we need not only to send food and clothing and medicine to get people through a crisis, we also need to send God’s servants who understand culture, economics, business and agriculture, and who can train people how to break out of the cycle of poverty.

The results of investing in a Christ-centered world-impacting education may not always be seen immediately. But decades down the road, when a graduate leads a business, serves in government or science or medicine or the arts, teaches at school or church, and raises their family to the glory of God, the results will be a fruitful harvest from those seeds planted decades earlier.

      

Do you plan to write more fiction?

Someone left a comment on my blog saying, I enjoyed reading your fiction books from Dominion to Safely Home. Is there any plan to write another novel?

I wrote a book before Dominion, called Deadline, and I’ve written a couple of novels since Safely Home, one of which was Deception. I used the same setting and characters as Deadline and Dominion, although there were many years in between writing them. Deception is the story of Detective Ollie Chandler, who is the viewpoint character. In 2011 I wrote the novel Courageous, which was based on the screenplay for the movie by the same name.

I just finished a short fiction project, a graphic novel (if you’re not familiar with the term, that’s an extended comic book form) that is going to be titled Eternity. It’s a story about the rich man and Lazarus from Luke 16. I’ve been going back and forth with the artist and editor, and it’s been a very fun project. I can’t wait to show off the beautiful artwork, which is being illustrated by a terrific artist who has worked with Marvel Comics.

One of the things I love about this project is that there’s a whole demographic—meaning people of a certain type—who read graphic novels. Many of them are males, though many females read the books as well. What’s interesting is that although fewer young men in our culture are reading traditional books (which saddens me), they are reading these graphic novels. I’m excited to be able to reach that audience. These people may have facial jewelry and tattoos and may be aged anywhere from 12 to 15 years old on up to their twenties or early thirties. They aren’t people you would expect to pick up most of the books I’ve written.

I just love the idea of junior high, high school, and college-aged young people, and older people too, being drawn to a beautifully illustrated graphic novel that contains the gospel, and is based on a powerful story that Jesus told. Elaborating on that story has been very fun for me, though it’s a very short form story, since there’s not that many words in a graphic novel.

For the long haul, this graphic novel is going to be the basis for my next big fiction project with Tyndale Publishers. (It might be called The Rich Man and Lazarus, or possibly something more creative.) It will in essence be me developing the “story behind the story”, which of course will be extended far more than in the graphic novel, with a word count that will be much bigger.

In Luke 16:28 the rich man says he has five brothers still on Earth, and I’m going to tell the story of those five brothers as well as the story of Lazarus, who was brought to the gate every day to beg, and was grateful for any crumbs of food that fell. In the novel, I’ll include a servant in the house named Tobias who comes out and cares for Lazarus. Perhaps one of the brothers will come to faith in Christ while the other brothers totally reject Him. I’m also going to include Jesus himself as a character walking through the streets of Jerusalem, teaching and performing miracles.

So the graphic novel is a very fun project I’ve already written, and will be released October 2012. This has given me a huge head start on writing the full-length novel in the future. Basically, that’s my plan. (If you want to know all about my other novels, several of which I didn’t mention, go to our website and check them out!)

      

Be Not Mere Shadows and Echoes

Doug Gabbert, my friend and an elder at our church, shared the following, by John Piper. It is biblical, God-honoring and powerfully written. Read it prayerfully and thoughtfully. 

We are not God. So by comparison to ultimate, absolute Reality, we are not much. Our existence is secondary and dependent on the absolute Reality of God. He is the only Given in the universe. We are derivative. ...We were. He simply is. But we become, "I Am Who I Am" in His name (Exodus 3:14). 

Nevertheless, because He made us with the highest creaturely purpose in mind—to enjoy and display the Creator's glory—we may have a very substantial life that lasts forever. This is why we were made ("All things were created through Him and for Him", Colossians 1:16). ...This is why we eat and drink ("So whatever you do, do all to the glory of God", 1 Cor. 10:31). ...This is why we do good deeds, ("Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven", Matthew 5:16).

That is why we exist—to display the glory of God. Human life is all about God. That is the meaning of being human. It is our created nature to make much of God. When we fulfill this reason for being, we have substance. There is weight and significance in our existence. Knowing, enjoying, and thus displaying the glory of God is a sharing in the glory of God. Not that we become God. But something of His greatness and beauty is on us as we realize this purpose for our being—to image-forth His excellence. This is our substance. 

Not to fulfill this purpose for human existence is to be a mere shadow of the substance we were created to have. Not to display God's worth by enjoying Him above all things is to be a mere echo of the music we were created to make.

This is a great tragedy. Humans are not meant to be mere shadows and echoes. We were to have God-like substance and make God-like music and have God-like impact. That is what it means to be created in the image of God (Genesis 1:27). But when humans forsake their Maker and love other things more, they become like the things they love—small, insignificant, weightless, inconsequential, and God-diminishing.

Listen to the way the Psalmist put it: "The idols of the nations are silver and gold, the work of human hands. They have mouths, but they do not speak; they have eyes but they do not see; they have ears but they do not hear, nor is there any breath in their mouths. Those who make them become like them, so do all who trust in them" (Ps. 135:15-18: see also 115:4-8).

Think and tremble. You become like the man-made things that you trust: mute, blind, deaf. This is a shadow existence. It is an echo of what you were meant to be. It is an empty mime on the stage of history with much movement and no meaning.

Dear reader, be not shadows and echoes. Break free from the epidemic of the manward spirit of our age. Set your face like flint to see and know and enjoy and live in light of the Lord. "O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord" (Isaiah 2:5). In His light you will see Him and all things as they truly are. You will wake up from the slumbers of shadowland existence. You will crave and find substance. You will make God-like music with your life. Death will dispatch you to paradise. And what you leave behind will not be a mere shadow or echo, but a tribute on earth, written in heaven, to the triumphant grace of God.

—John Piper, Pierced by the Word 

      

Congratulations to Tyndale House Publishers on their 50th Anniversary

Congratulations to Tyndale House Publishers on the celebration of their 50th anniversary this year. They’re a great company and have been a pleasure to work with over the years.

I’m grateful to all my friends at Tyndale for agreeing to publish books I believe God has put on my heart, starting with the first edition of my book Money, Possessions and Eternity back in 1989. It was followed by many other books, including my novel Safely Home, Heaven, and all the other Heaven-related books.

Ron Beers, senior vice president and group publisher, has been a great friend. If not for him, the books Safely Home and Heaven probably wouldn’t have been written, at least not in the forms they’re in now. It was Ron who first asked me, “Would you write a big book on Heaven?”

I am so grateful for and have wonderful memories of Dr. Ken Taylor, the founder of Tyndale House who is now with the Lord. (Dr. Taylor named his company Tyndale House Publishers, after William Tyndale, the 16th century reformer who was burned at the stake for translating the Bible into English.) I remember sitting with Ken and his wife Margaret, along with my wife Nanci, at a Tyndale dinner, talking about things that moved our hearts. The humility and grace of these people was obvious.

One of the funniest memories I have is Dr. Taylor writing me a letter in the mid-nineties saying that he had just re-read Money, Possessions and Eternity and considered it to be one of the best “poor selling” books Tyndale had ever published! He said the book had made a real impact on him, and expressed regret that the sales hadn’t lived up to what he considered the value of the book. Of course, he had nothing to apologize for, but it seemed to truly bother him. The sweetness and humility of his letter touched my heart, and made me realize I was truly part of a publishing family, of which he was the father. The fact that he had taken time to write this personal heartfelt letter was a real encouragement. (And he would be happy to know that now Money, Possessions and Eternity has sold over 100,000 copies.)

In a time when many Christian publishers are publishing books that are spreading misleading and harmful doctrine, I appreciate Tyndale’s commitment to produce literature consistent with biblical principles and to spread the Good News of Christ around the world. (During the past 40 years, they have distributed over 100 million Bibles, New Testaments, and Bible portions worldwide.)

Through the Tyndale House Foundation, their non-profit arm, they have made thousands of grants to support Christian work, including new translations of the Bible in languages around the world. From 1963 to 2008, the Foundation’s grants totaled $59 million (the equivalent of $139 million in today’s dollars).

Tyndale House—thanks for investing in eternity, and congratulations on your 50th anniversary!

      

Some Facts about Tyndale House and Their Giving to God’s Kingdom

1. Tyndale House gives 10% of pretax income to charitable work. 

2. Tyndale House gives all its remaining profit after taxes and expenses to the Tyndale Foundation, which provides hundreds of grants to Kingdom work worldwide, primarily Bible translation in numerous languages, but so much more. This amounts to an average of 5 to 6 million dollars each year. 

3. Tyndale House gives away all damaged product. Instead of shredding slightly damaged product, we give it away to various ministries who are thrilled to have it. This amounts to about 1 million dollars each year. 

4. All NLT Bible royalties go to the Foundation. Rather than keeping these for himself, Ken Taylor decided at the founding of the company that Bible royalties would go to the Foundation. This amounts to well over a million dollars each year. 

 

God-Honoring Rap: Beautiful Life, Persecuted Church and Man Up

I’ve mentioned before my respect for Lecrae, a Christian rapper. Recently he told his Twitter followers and Facebook fans that he was reading If God Is Good, and posted a photo of the book, calling me a “bad man.” Makes me smile. He’s a good [bad] brother, with an incredible outreach.

Here’s one of his videos, titled “Just Like You.” And here’s his classic “Don’t Waste Your Life.”

Watch this great five minute video with his testimony:

Pray for Lecrae, would you? He has an amazing platform, and is surely hated by the enemy of our souls.

Here are three more videos, featuring Trip Lee, Lecrae and others. Whether or not you like hip hop or rap, I hope you can appreciate young men who are using rap for God’s glory, and calling a generation to the cross of Jesus.

Check out this Trip Lee song, not a live video, but pay attention to the prolife lyrics on the screen. (Andy Abelein, Barlow High School class of 2012, recently recommended this to me. Speaking of which, I graduated from Barlow in the first class that attended there four years. It was a mere...drum roll....40 years ago, in 1972.)

Here’s Trip Lee again, this time in full video with Lecrae, singing out about the persecution of Christians around the world:

Finally, a video with a group of male rappers, including Lecrae and Trip Lee, this time calling upon young men to “Man Up!”

To these musicians and others: Brothers, may you stay strong, stay pure, stay outspoken, and stay close to Jesus.

So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. —1 Corinthians 10:31

      

Voting as a Way to Help the Unborn

As people repeatedly state, abortion is NOT the only issue. However, I believe that because God hates the shedding of innocent blood, and has a special love for the most vulnerable and defenseless children, abortion is the single most important issue facing this country. I cannot see how any Christian cannot agree a least that it is ONE of the most important issues.

If your state has a prolife measure up for vote this year or is trying to get one off the ground, I encourage you first of all to vote, and then also to prayerfully consider how you can be involved in supporting these prolife efforts.

For those of you in Oregon: Citizen Initiative #25 is seeking to end public funding of abortion in Oregon. The proposed constitutional amendment reads, “No public funds shall be used to pay for any abortion, except to save the life of the mother or as may be required by federal law.” This initiative is an opportunity for all pro-life individuals, churches and organizations to unite and work together to gather the needed 150,000 signatures by May 18th to get it on the ballot.

The amendment does not restrict abortion, but it will ensure that taxpayers who are morally or fiscally opposed to paying for abortions will no longer have to. (For example, in 2009 there were 10,801 abortions in Oregon, and of those, 3,375 were paid for by taxpayers via the Oregon Health Plan. That’s 65 babies per week.)

Timing could be on the side of the amendment, due to the current economy and a nationwide desire to cut government spending (including seeking to defund Planned Parenthood, the largest abortion provider in America).

For more information, and to learn how you can help support the initiative, go to www.Oregon2012.org.  

For more information on abortion, check out www.Abort73.com or my book Why Prolife? For ideas on how to get involved in prolife efforts, including through political action, see 50 Ways to Help Unborn Babies and their Mothers.

      

Chuck Colson, Faithful Brother and Servant of Christ

Last Saturday afternoon, Chuck Colson went home to be with the Lord. After founding Prison Fellowship in 1976, Chuck ministered in more than 800 prisons, in 40 countries around the world, over the next 35 years. EPM has had the privilege of supporting their ministry for many years.

I’ve shared before my high regard for Chuck. I had lunch this week with my friend Tony Cimmarrusti, who served on the board of Prison Fellowship. I told Tony that I rarely use the word, but I told him that to me Chuck was a giant. Tony concurred. He had nothing but respect for him.

In every face-to-face and written contact I had with Chuck, I was touched by his heartfelt sincerity and his love for our Savior. He sent me many short personal notes over the years, and each time I sensed genuine warmth.

Back in the late 1980’s, many Christian leaders distanced themselves from those of us who stepped out to rescue the unborn through peaceful nonviolent civil disobedience. Chuck Colson spoke out in our defense, warning that the day would come when many other believers would be forced with the same choice in other arenas. The Manhattan Declaration, in which Chuck was a prime mover, recognizes that reality.

When asked in an interview if he had ever gotten over the night in 1974 when Christ gripped his life, Chuck replied, “No, and I never want to get over it. When I think about who I was that night and who I had been, and then think about what Jesus has meant to me since and knowing that I can live my life without suffocating in my own sin—which I would have otherwise—I am so filled with gratitude that I am compelled to do what Jesus commands. That is why I keep doing what I am doing. I am so grateful for what He has done for me.”

Watch this great six-minute video about his life:

I am confident that upon seeing Him face to face Chuck heard Jesus say, “Well done, my good and faithful servant. Enter into your Master’s joy.”

I will miss this faithful brother. Reunion coming soon…

      

“Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. . . . God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. . . . We who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them. . . . And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage each other with these words" (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18).

What do you think about "Christianese"?

Several weeks ago we asked blog readers to submit questions for me to answer. I’ll be posting the video answers to the questions as blogs over the course of the next few weeks.

One of the questions asked was:

What do you think about "Christianese"? You know, Christian phrases, some of which are from the Bible, some of which are not really, that unbelievers don't use or understand. On one hand people say it is great, and it makes us different from the world, which we're supposed to be, and that there's nothing wrong with it. On the other hand, it annoys some people that some Christians are so caught up in the culture of Christianity that unbelievers, and even some believers, don't know what they're talking about when they're always discussing regular mundane information using Christianese. Plus, it is sometimes seen as an attempt to sound more holy.

Sometimes using “Christianese” (that is, words that only Christians know the meaning of) can be an attempt to sound more holy, and obviously phoniness is never a good thing.

Certainly as Christians we should be sensitive to our audience. Whom are we talking to? We need to be careful about using unfamiliar words when we’re talking with unbelievers without explaining what those terms mean. And if we’re explaining them, why are we using the terms in the first place? Just give the explanation. In that respect, I relate to the questioner’s concern.

However, I do think that we need to recognize there is a place for specialized language. For instance, if you overhear two physicians talking with each other, they’re using highly technical terms which help them to communicate precisely. (Also, we probably all know doctors who talk to us as patients and use those same terms as if we should understand what they are, making us have to say, “Whoa…please explain.”) Similarly, attorneys use terms with specific meanings to communicate effectively.

The same thing is true in theology. There is a time when it’s appropriate to use precise technical terminology, which can serve as shorthand communication.  So the terms eschatology, soteriology, propitiation, and atonement are good words that can effectively communicate with those who have been taught the meaning of those words. No one is going to say to doctors, “Stop using medical jargon when you talk with each other”, nor would anyone tell lawyers, “Don’t use the language of the law.” No, they are using their established language.

If avoiding “Christianese” means not using the terms redeemed, sovereign, holy, and grace, that’s not a good thing. Let’s teach people the meaning of those terms, because they are good ones. We don’t have to come up with a long-winded explanation of what we mean by the word sovereign every time we use it; we just need to explain it to our audience so that the next time we say sovereign, they’ll understand what we mean.

I’ve seen people go overboard with this, priding themselves in never using theological terminology. The result is not precision, but vagueness. I think it’s perfectly appropriate to use the words as long as the person we are talking with understands them. When we’re talking to unbelievers or young Christians, let’s be sure we’re explaining what we mean before we go on to use technical terms they’re unfamiliar with.

      

Anticipating What God Has Promised: “Life Promises for Eternity”

The promises are the Christian’s Magna Carta of liberty; they are the title deeds of his heavenly estate. Happy is he who knows how to read them well and call them all his own. —Charles Spurgeon, “Obtaining Promises,” Sermon 435

In this video, I share more about my new book Life Promises for Eternity, which contains more than 100 brief readings on the topic of Heaven and the New Earth:

Here’s an excerpt from the Life Promises for Eternity audio book:

“Set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God” (Colossians 3:1). This is a direct command to set our hearts on Heaven and to contemplate what God has promised us. And to make sure we don’t miss the importance of a heaven-centered life, the next verse says, “Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.” God commands us to set our hearts and minds on Heaven.

To long for Christ is to long for Heaven, for that is where we will be with him. God’s people are “longing for a better country” (Hebrews11:16). We cannot set our eyes on Christ without setting our eyes on Heaven, and we cannot set our eyes on Heaven without setting our eyes on Christ. Still, it is not only Christ but “things above” we are to set our minds on.

Anticipating Heaven doesn’t eliminate life’s pain, but it lessens it and puts it in perspective. Meditating on God’s eternal promises is a great pain reliever. It reminds us that suffering and death are temporary conditions. Our existence will not end in suffering and death—they are but a gateway to our eternal life of unending joy. The biblical doctrine of Heaven is about the future, but it has tremendous benefits here and now. If we grasp it, it will shift our center of gravity and radically change our perspective on life. This is what the Bible calls “hope,” a word used six times in Romans 8:20-25, the passage in which Paul says that all creation longs for our resurrection and the world’s coming redemption.

Don’t place your hope in favorable circumstances, which cannot and will not last. Place your hope in Christ and his promises. He will return, and we will be resurrected to life on the New Earth, where we will behold God’s face and joyfully serve him forever.

      

From Eternal Perspective Ministries

Inspired by the best-selling book Heaven, Life Promises for Eternity provides readers with more than 100 brief, inspirational readings on the topic of Heaven and the New Earth. Each reading is coupled with a trio of complementary Bible verses designed to further illuminate what the Bible has to say about the extraordinary place we will someday call home. A beautifully designed two-color, padded gift book with a ribbon bookmark, Life Promises for Eternity is an ideal gift for anyone who has ever wondered, What will Heaven really be like? EPM price $7.99 (retail $9.99)

A Wholehearted Passion for Your Local Church

I love and wholeheartedly agree with this blog post from pastor and author Ray Ortlund. (Check out his blog.) Sure, we’ve all had our bad church experiences. Me too. But I tire of the unending criticisms of local churches, and the cynicism about the body of Christ. (I shared some more thoughts in a past blog post.)

Here's Ray:

My church or the Kingdom?

by Ray Ortlund

“My passion isn’t to build up my church.  My passion is for God’s Kingdom.”

Ever heard someone say that?  I have.  It sounds noble, but it’s unbiblical and wrong.  It can even be destructive.

Suppose I said, “My passion isn’t to build up my marriage.  My passion is for Marriage.  I want the institution of Marriage to be revered again.  I’ll work for that.  I’ll pray for that.  I’ll sacrifice for that.  But don’t expect me to hunker down in the humble daily realities of building a great marriage with my wife Jani.  I’m aiming at something grander.”

If I said that, would you think, “Wow, Ray is so committed”?  Or would you wonder if I had lost my mind?

If you care about the Kingdom, good.  Now be the kind of person who can be counted on in your own church.  Join your church, pray for your church, tithe to your church, throw yourself into the life of your church with wholehearted passion.

We build great churches the same way we build great marriages — real commitment that makes a positive difference in practical ways.  And thus we build the Kingdom.