Randy Alcorn's Blog, page 24

What to Do When Someone You Love Deconstructs, and Walks Away from Christ and His Church

Note from Randy: It seems that there’s not a month that goes by that we don’t hear about another prominent Christian adding their name to the long list of ex-evangelicals who have deconstructed their faith. In a sense, I get it when they are disillusioned by some churches, because let’s face it—many churches deserve criticism for infighting, politicization, pride, loss of perspective, materialism, indifference to the poor, and man-centeredness. But the baby keeps being thrown out with the bathwater. When the baby is the Church that Jesus says the gates of hell will not prevail against, that’s sad. When the baby is the One born in Bethlehem it is tragic beyond words. But there is a day coming: “Yahweh will be king over the whole earth. On that day there will be one Yahweh, and his name the only name” (Zechariah 14:9).

Ironically, there is a broad online church-like fellowship of ex-evangelicals, where their commonality is not in Christ but in their sense of hurt and betrayal and need to recover from wrongs done to them by churches. Sometimes those wrongs were very real; sometimes not. But even when they have been truly wronged, to reject the only worthy object of Faith, the One who did no wrong and took all our wrongs on Himself, is the ultimate heartbreak.

I recall many Christ-centered conversations with men and women I know personally who at one time professed to love Jesus, and now have walked away from Him and the church. Sometimes I wish I couldn’t remember our conversations, but I’m not giving up on them. God isn’t done with them yet. He remains sovereign, and as it says in Daniel, “Heaven rules” even when it’s not easy to see. To the arrogant King Nebuchadnezzar God said: “The command to leave the stump of the tree with its roots means that your kingdom will be restored to you when you acknowledge that Heaven rules” (Daniel 4:26).

If you have friends and family members who have walked away from Christ, this subject is likely deeply personal, and you may be wondering how to respond to them. The following article, from Alisa Childers and Tim Barnett, offers advice for those who have a loved one who is deconstructing. (They are also the authors of the new book The Deconstruction of Christianity: What It Is, Why It’s Destructive, and How to Respond.)

Help! My Loved One Is Deconstructing.

By Alisa Childers and Tim Barnett

“Our daughter is deconstructing her faith, and she has cut us off. She even wrote us a letter explaining that we’re unsafe because we have toxic theology. What do we do?”

Sadly, this is a common sentiment we hear as we travel to speak about deconstruction. We’ve heard countless stories from concerned parents, siblings, spouses, and pastors. They’re desperate to understand what’s happening to their loved ones, and they hope to find a way to engage and reconnect with them.

Understand Deconstructors

In today’s culture, “deconstruction” is defined in many ways. Regardless of the definition, it’s important to remember that without a deconstructor, there’s no deconstruction. Every faith deconstruction story is about a person who has unique experiences.

While the Bible doesn’t use the word, it does offer significant insights into faith deconstruction. Scripture gives an accurate description of who we are as people and how we relate to God. Therefore, if we want to better understand our deconstructing loved ones and how to relate to them, we should pay attention to five ways they’re described in the Bible.

1. Deconstructors as Image-Bearers

There are some things we know about everyone who has deconstructed his or her faith because they’re true of all human beings. Every deconstructor—regardless of age, race, gender, sexual attraction, or social status—is made in the image of God (Gen. 1:27). Therefore all are intrinsically valuable and worthy of love, dignity, and respect.

2. Deconstructors as Sinners

Sin affects everything about us—our relationships, our desires, our emotions, and even our beliefs. Our sin nature isn’t something we simply put on the shelf until we feel like sinning. It’s always with us. And so deconstruction isn’t a morally neutral process. Whether we like it or not, we all experience a pull away from God. That’s why the apostle Paul reminds us to “put to death the deeds of [our] sinful nature” (Rom. 8:13, NLT).

3. Deconstructors as Seekers

Writing to the Romans, Paul says, “[God] will render to each one according to his works: to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury” (Rom. 2:6–8, emphasis added). Notice Paul puts people in two groups: self-seekers and truth-seekers.

There’s a temptation to think that if we can provide enough evidence, our loved one will change his mind. But for many, it’s not an evidence issue; it’s a heart issue.

While ridiculing Jesus as he hung on the cross, the chief priests said, “Come down now from the cross that we may see and believe” (Mark 15:32). The implication is that they’d believe in Jesus if they could see the evidence. However, Jesus had already provided plenty of evidence to warrant belief. The problem wasn’t a failure to provide evidence. The problem was a failure to accept it.

4. Deconstructors as Captives

The Bible describes how some people are “captured by [the Devil] to do his will” (2 Tim. 2:26). One of the snares Satan uses is deception. That’s why Paul warns, “See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ” (Col. 2:8).

Sadly, many false ideas are propagated in the deconstruction online space. Just scroll through the hundreds of thousands of posts tagged with #deconstruction and #exvangelical.

For example, one deconstructionist posted, “#EvangelicalismIsUnreformable because any way you slice it, the primary belief is that child sacrifice saved the world.” Whether intentionally or not, this completely mischaracterizes Christianity. When our loved ones are held captive to false ideas, we respond with truth. We must “put on the whole armor of God,” which begins with “the belt of truth” (Eph. 6:11, 14).

5. Deconstructors as Rebels

While many deconstructors are captives of false ideas, some are simply rebels against God. Paul describes those “who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth” (Rom. 1:18). These people have the truth, but they actively suppress it. Later in the same letter, he says, “The mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law” (8:7).

For many, deconstruction is about self-rule. They refuse to bow their knees to the sovereign Lord. No one, including God, gets to tell them what to believe or how to live. In a candid post on Instagram, a deconstructor sums it up:

Part of my deconstruction has included no longer allowing the opinions or expectations of others to determine my self-worth, my choices, or my identity. I no longer look to anyone else to define me. Not God, not people. I am my own person.

Love the Deconstructor

When faced with the reality of a loved one in deconstruction, we recommend doing triage. That’s what hospitals do when there’s a major accident on the highway and people begin to flood the ER. Doctors assess each injury and treat them in order of urgency. A punctured lung will receive treatment before a broken wrist.

Similarly, when engaging a deconstructing loved one, we recommend responding to the most urgent situation first. In the deconstruction space, traditional Christian doctrines (like original sin, penal substitutionary atonement, and the doctrine of hell) are seen as toxic. That means your loved one likely sees you as an unsafe person, and you may have a fragile window of opportunity to stay in her life. The most urgent need might be maintaining the relationship.

Then, if there’s an open door for communication, seek to understand where the deconstructor is coming from. Remember the different ways deconstructors are described: image-bearer, sinner, seeker, captive, and rebel. Try to discern what heart posture is driving his deconstruction. It’s only after we understand a deconstructor’s perspective that we’re able to engage him.

And never underestimate the power of prayer. God can open any hard heart. We’re never powerless unless we’re prayerless. Seeking relationship, living out the beauty of the gospel, and devoting time to prayer is critical in loving those in deconstruction. And have hope! Acts 16:14 tells us that God opened Lydia’s heart to hear what Paul had to say. He did it for her, and he can do it for your loved one too.

This article originally appeared on The Gospel Coalition , and is used with permission of the authors.

Photo: Unsplash

What Would Happen If We Prayed Before We Spent Money?

When something’s a legitimate need, God will provide it. But how often do we take matters into our own hands and spend impulsively before asking God to furnish it for us? How often do we go buy something—whether we consider it a “want” or a “need”—a week or a month before God would have provided it for free or at minimal cost, if only we’d asked him?

Years ago, my friend wanted a good exercise bicycle. He even picked the exact model, a model I was familiar with. I hadn’t seen it sold at anything less than its retail price: $350. But instead of going out to buy it, he told me he was praying God would provide him that exact bike. By not spending the money, he would have more to give. A few days later I was in a thrift store and was stunned to see that model of exercise bicycle. It looked like it had never been used. I called my friend. He got the exact bicycle he asked for, costing him $25 instead of $350.

I did something similar when I finally gave up trying to purchase an original 1947 Time magazine with C. S. Lewis on the cover. I’d bidded for it on eBay a number of times, but it always moved out of a price range I was comfortable with. One evening, having lost another bid, I thought, “Lord, I'm wasting my time. I’ve asked you to help me win a bid, but I’ve never asked you to actually provide the magazine. It’s a small thing, and I probably shouldn’t want it this much. But I’m asking you for it. If you want me to have it, you’re going to have to provide it at no cost.”

I was virtually certain I’d never have it, but I felt good giving it to the Lord. Some time later someone who’d read a few of my books, seeing how often I quoted C.S. Lewis, sent me the magazine in the mail. I couldn't believe it—then I remembered how I’d prayed for it.

Often we either buy what we want or forego what we want, when there’s a third alternative: ask God to provide it for us. If He doesn’t, fine—He knows best. But why don’t we give Him a chance?

Waiting eliminates most impulsive buying. Many things that are attractive today hold no interest two months later. Look at garage sales or the dump, and you get the picture. Setting a waiting period gives God the opportunity to provide what we want, to provide something different or better, or to show us that we don’t need it and should use the money differently.

See more resources on money and giving, as well as Randy's related books, including  Managing God's Money  and  Giving Is the Good Life .

Photo: Unsplash

Obadiah Abernathy and Ollie Chandler Discuss the Old Negro Leagues

In this excerpt from my novel Dominion, the elderly character Obadiah shares his life memories, including about the Old Negro League. Researching these players was both fascinating and inspiring. (Here’s a video with a brief history of the Negro Leagues.)

“What’s up?” Clarence asked, surprised to see Ollie at his door Saturday afternoon. “Something happen?”

“No. I’m here to see your father. I brought him my Hank Aaron autograph.” Ollie lifted up an old Milwaukee Braves program, Aaron’s autograph dark and prominent.

“Daddy?” Clarence knocked on his door. “Detective Chandler’s here.”

“Ollie? Is he now?” Clarence could hear the same sparkle in his father’s voice that animated his eyes. “Send him in. Send him in!”

“Hello, Mr. Abernathy. How are you?”

“Fine as frog’s hair, sir, fine as frog’s hair. Just taking my blood pressure.” He unfolded the arm wrap and put it down, then shook Ollie’s hand. “Don’t want to get in trouble with my doctor or my daughter-in-law.”

“I came to take you up on your offer,” Ollie said, “to see some of your old baseball pictures. Manny said I shouldn’t miss them.” Obadiah’s eyes lit up. “And I thought you might like to see this.” Ollie proudly handed him the Braves program.

“Well, I declare, son. It’s Henry’s signature all right.” Obadiah sat down on the bed gingerly, studying the program and naming other players he knew.

Clarence made a few phone calls. Then, he sat in the corner of the living room closest to his father’s open door.

“See these pictures?” he heard Obadiah say to Ollie. “It was blacks who made the first street sweepers, corn harvesters, fountain pens, clothes dryers, sugar refiners, typewriters, shoe makers, lemon squeezers, pencil sharpeners. Look at this.” Clarence knew his father was showing Ollie his picture book on black patents Clarence had gotten him last Christmas.

“I never knew all this,” Ollie said.

“Well, I’ll tell you one that ain’t in this book. You know who invented the first shin guards? A black catcher. White players was always spiking him, so he taped pieces of wood to his legs to protect them. Pretty soon all the catchers was doin’ it.”

“I love that picture of Jackie Robinson,” Ollie said. “Once he broke the color line, it wasn’t long before lots of other blacks came in, was it?”

“No sir, it wasn’t. All the teams learned real quick that if others was gonna do it, they better. You know ol’ Bear Bryant, when he was coachin’, he got asked why the University of Alabama was finally letting blacks on the team. Know what his answer was?”

“No,” Ollie said.

“To catch the ones on the other teams.” Obadiah and Ollie both laughed hard.

Clarence inspected his aquarium controls, then leaned back again and heard his father speaking. “We was sharecroppers in a bitty Mississippi town, so far down they had to pump in the sunshine. We built our little house after the old one burnt down. It was three years ’fore I could afford to get doorknobs and locks. Didn’t mat­ter none. Nobody stole from you back then.

“But it seemed like them days some white folk would sooner strangle a colored man than talk to him—exceptin’ they’d have to touch him to do it. It was gettin’ worser and worser in some ways. Lots of folks still couldn’t get used to the idea we was somebody. Back when I was fightin’ that goosesteppin’ lunatic for my country, if you’d relied on them newspapers you’d have thought coloreds wasn’t born, ’cause the papers didn’t report it. You’d have thought we didn’t finish school, ’cause they never printed our honor rolls or graduations. You’d have thought we didn’t get married, ’cause papers didn’t print our wedding announcements or pictures of black brides and grooms cuttin’ cakes. You’d have thought coloreds didn’t die, ’cause they never announced our deaths or covered our funerals. Had to start black newspapers to do all that. After a while, a man gets tired of not bein’ treated like a person.”

“I can’t imagine what it must have been like,” Ollie said.

“Sharecroppin’ was a far cry better than slavery, but we still didn’t own the land and we didn’t get wages—just the promise of sharin’ profits. Well, promises get broken. One year Mr. Banks, the landowner, told me I wasn’t goin’ to get nothin’ ’cause he had to send his boy to college. I told him, I has to feed my chillens, so he give me just a little, and I believe he thought he was generous to do it. Decided then we had to leave.

“So in ’64 we moved on out for Chicago. Yessuh, Mr. Ollie, I could hear them train whistles blowin’ all the way from ol’ Miss. But too many of us heard the same whistles, I reckon. In twenty years after the big war, somethin’ like five million black folk moved from the South to the North. We thought the North was the promised land. We went up eager to work, many of us with cotton-balin’ hooks still in our pockets.

“Thing is, we was all farmers. Knew how to work the land hard, but not much else. Weren’t suited for the cities. My third-grade education wasn’t enough to get me a job at a bank! So work was in the plants and odd jobs and clean up. Well, the South broke its promises, and the North didn’t live up to its promise, and that’s just how it was.”

Clarence listened to the silence and wondered what would come next.

“Now, Ollie, maybe you notice some of our black folk just try to get by, to make do. You ask ’em what’s up and they say, ‘Jus’ tryin’ to survive, that’s all.’ Well, that comes from slavery and sharecroppin’. Lots of our folk didn’t have great dreams like white folk because most everybody told ’em the dreams wasn’t possible. Success was just makin’ it to the next day, just survivin’. See, your labor always went to somebody else. No matter how hard you worked or saved or planned, you could never be white, so lots of coloreds thought they could never succeed.”

“That must’ve been hard,” Ollie said. “But when you went up North, didn’t you find there was less prejudice?”

“Well, see, in the South, Negroes was always low, but white families was sometimes real fond of ’em. White chillens loved their colored mammies. Maids and gardeners could get close too. Even back in the old days some of them slaves lived in the big house, under the same roof as the massahs. But they always knowed their place, and if they forgot they got reminded real fast. Now when we moved up North, we saw blacks who’d worked their way up in businesses. They succeeded, got educated, had real nice homes. But blacks and whites never lived together; the neighborhoods was always separate. And they didn’t socialize. Kept their distance. In the South most whites knew some blacks, but in the North most didn’t. So you had more opportunity in the North, but not more relationships. Maybe less. The way I sees it, in the South, white folk didn’t care how close we got as long as we never got too high. But in the North, white folk didn’t care how high we got as long as we never got too close.”

Clarence tilted his head, straining to hear every word.

“I ain’t complainin’ now,” Obadiah said. “Never been one to whine and make excuses. But it’s hard for peoples to be motivated to self-improvement when all the benefit goes to someone else. It’s hard to pull yourself up by your bootstraps when you feel like somebody nailed your boots to the floor. That’s why the sharecroppin’ cabins of the South become the ghettos of the North. Well, nowadays the opportunity for black folks is here, opportunity I barely dreamed of. And lots of them has grabbed on and made somethin’ of their lives. But other folks is still in chains in their minds. My daddy used to say, ‘We’s a stolen people.’ When someone steals your property, that’s one thing. But when he steals you and turns you into property, it does something to a man that’s impossible for free folk to understand. It changes the way you look at yourself, and it gets passed on to your chillens and their chillens. See, when you’re a black man, you start thinking there’s nothin’ lower than you but the ground itself, and one day even that’s gonna be over you. So some folk just passes the time until they go to the ground or they start lookin’ to put other people under them. Well, Mr. Detective, what do you think of all this ol’ man’s ramblin’?”

“I think you’re a wise man, sir.”

“Well, that’s right kind of you, sir, ’cause the older I gets, the more days I has where not all my dogs is barkin’, if you follow me. I tell you what I learned when I went north, Ollie. I learned there’s no Promised Land in this world. I made the mistake of thinkin’ any place out of the South would be heaven. I was wrong. It wasn’t. Yessuh, the only train whistle that’s goin’ to take you to the Promised Land is the glory train. And when I hears that whistle, ol’ Obadiah Abernathy’s gonna get on board. I’m gonna make it to that Promised Land. But not till then.”

Obadiah laughed heartily and went straight into singing in his thin voice, “Git on board, little children, git on board. De gospel train’s acomin’, git on board.”

The phone rang. Clarence went to it, reluctantly breaking from his eavesdropping. When Clarence came back a few minutes later, the men were still in Obadiah’s room. He’d heard lots of laughing, but it was quiet now. He strained again to hear his father’s voice.

“So, that’s what Jesus said, Ollie. There’s just two places we can go. Heaven or hell. Every man’s gonna end up in one or t’other. It’s our choice. To accept Jesus is to accept heaven. To reject Jesus is to accept hell. All you has to do is confess your sins and bow your knees to Jesus and accept his dyin’ on the cross for you. Then you can knows when you dies you’ll go to heaven. How ’bout you, son? What choice you made?”

“I don’t think I’m ready to make a choice right now, Mr. Abernathy,” Ollie said. “But thanks for telling me this. I really do appreciate it.”

“Just one beggar tellin’ another beggar where to find bread,” Obadiah said. “That’s what my brother Moses always used to say. But don’t forget now, Mr. Ollie, you don’t never know how much longer you gots left to make that choice.”

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Photo: Wikimedia Commons

What Is God’s Simplicity?

Kevin DeYoung is a pastor and an excellent writer and thinker, and his resources can be found at the ministry Clearly Reformed. Kevin has started an explainer video series on God’s attributes. I’ve listened to the two he’s done so far and love them.

The first one on the doctrine of divine simplicity is pretty unique. I have probably only heard the term used of God a few times in all the books on God’s attributes that I’ve read. As Kevin says, simplicity doesn’t mean God is “simple” in the sense of being slow, dimwitted, or easy to understand. It does means that God isn’t like a LEGO lord, consisting of different pieces: a blue one called holiness, a yellow one called happiness, a green one for love, a white one for justice, etc. His attributes are fully interwoven in the unity of His triune person. He is always all that He is.

God’s simplicity is not commonly spoken of, but Kevin communicates it in a fresh way. Hope you enjoy this and learn something new:

Photo: Pexels

There Is Still Great Opportunity to Serve Jesus, After Age 70 and Beyond

Our society holds on to youthfulness with a white-knuckled grip. We worship youth and consider the elderly at best, useless; and at worst, disposable. God’s perspective is very different: “Gray hair is a glorious crown; it is found in the ways of righteousness” (Proverbs 16:31). Titus 2 encourages both older men and women to be examples to those who are younger, and to teach them God’s ways.

I love to be around older people—that is, older people who have sweetened with age, not those who have soured. Choose which you’d rather be. (And since I’m turning 70 this year, I guess I’m an “older person” too, though I feel no need or desire to retire. I’m as excited about ministry as I’ve ever been, so I’ll trust God to make it clear when I need to start cutting back.)

As you grow older, you can be one of those godly older saints people love to be around. The more you’ve walked with the Lord, the more you’ll have to offer your children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, friends, neighbors, and church family. Remember, if God didn’t have a purpose for you here, you wouldn’t be here. (As I’ve written previously, those who’ve retired from jobs still have great opportunity to serve God in the next season of life. Even if you’re unable to physically serve, your prayers, giving, and influence can have eternal impact.)

Last December, a reader named Sharon ordered copies of my book Seeing the Unseen to hand out to teens. She’s almost 70 and works with the youth at her church and its associated school. Sharon gave a talk to high school girls on her wedding anniversary (which has previously been a very difficult day, since her husband died five years ago). She wrote us:

I am so excited! I am having lunch with the 40 girls who received Seeing the Unseen. I am going to have pizza delivered to the school, and I want to hear from them. I should tell you the school is located at our church, so I see so many of the girls on Sunday. Tell Randy several of the girls have told me their family is using his devotional as a family devotional. Is that awesome or what!  

And because our Father has me with the teens every Thursday night, I already have a connection with them.  …To be able to pour into their lives more of Jesus AND TO GET EXCITED ABOUT HEAVEN AND ALL THAT IS TO COME helps this daughter of the King know why she is still here. …My talk on December 13th was such a gift to me.  

I am a big word picture person. So here’s my word picture! Our Father invited me to go to work with Him. He sat me in the front row, and I got to see Him touch the lives of those sweet teens. Just watching our Father be God, here and now, makes me soooooo excited for Heaven and the New Earth.  

She also wrote:

As far as ministry after 70: well, let me tell you! It gets bigger and better! I am 69 years old. I have been with teen ministry for 30 years. I pray every summer, “Father, please place me where You want me; if I am no longer effective, move me.” I think I might add this to my prayer this year: “Father please keep me from breaking anything while I am playing dodgeball and baseball with the teens!” 

We NEVER retire from God. We just let Him move us where He wants us.  

Whatever your age, how might God be calling you to make an eternal impact for His kingdom?

Photo: Pexels

Why We Can Feel at Home When Visiting Different Churches

Note from Randy:  We have all been hurt by churches, and we have all hurt others, whether or not we know it. At a time when it is common to disparage churches, it’s good to celebrate the oneness many of us have so often felt in the presence of other believers.

One analogy God uses to describe His church is a bride preparing for marriage. To love Christ is to love His bride. He sees all the flaws in the church, but He hasn’t given up on His bride. Neither should we. That’s whyI love this article from Tim Challies, sharing about how he has enjoyed visiting different churches on his travels, and has felt at home worshipping there.

I have often had the same kind of experiences Tim has. Several months ago, I worshiped in a church of a denomination that was brand new to me. The singing and almost every part of the service was significantly different than in my home church, and yet, I found it delightful and endearing. God‘s Word was honored, the worship was heartfelt, and I sensed the presence of Jesus.

May Tim’s article remind us of God’s work happening all around the world, spreading His message and building His Church.

I Feel at Home in Your Church

It is one of the realities of the Christian faith that skeptics love to criticize—the reality that there are a host of different denominations and a multitude of different expressions of Christian worship. But while believers have become accustomed to responding to this criticism with a sense of shame, I choose to see it in a different light. I choose to see each tradition as highlighting different aspects of God’s purpose for the local church. As a prism refracts the light and separates it into its component colors, the differing traditions refract the Bible’s varying commands and emphases. And this is why I feel at home in so many different churches.

I feel at home in a Brethren church. I feel at home because of its commitment to simplicity in worship and to the necessity of celebrating the Lord’s Supper on a weekly basis. Such churches are meek and humble and committed to honoring the Lord in ways that may be unflashy but are faithful to the Scriptures. They look with longing and pleading for the return of Jesus Christ. I always count it a joy to break bread with the Brethren.

I feel at home in an Anglican church. It feels familiar because its worship is so thoroughly steeped in Word and prayer. While there is always a sermon (though probably one shorter than I am accustomed to) and while there is always song (though often fewer than I am accustomed to) the service is structured around reading the Word and both corporate and private prayers. I love to participate in those readings and prayers knowing that as I do so, I am engaged in a tradition that wraps the world and spans the centuries.

I feel at home in a Presbyterian church because of its commitment to sound doctrine and expositional preaching. Few traditions have raised up as many powerful preachers as the Presbyterians or created as many resources to assist them. Few traditions have thought as deeply about what they believe and described it as thoroughly as Presbyterians have done through their catechisms and confessions. Few documents in the history of the Christian church surpass the Shorter Catechism and the Westminster Confession for depth and beauty.

I feel at home also in those Presbyterian churches that hold to a strict interpretation of the regulative principle. Such churches will only worship in ways the Bible explicitly commands. I admire them for their commitment to principle even as it extends all the way to singing only the Psalms and singing them without instrumentation. Where so many other traditions neglect the psalms, this tradition sings them exclusively and joyfully. I feel at home among them.

I feel at home in a Dutch Reformed church because it values simple, formal worship followed by warm and charitable hospitality. I admire the way they give such care to catechizing their children and often to building and supporting schools to educate them. Plus, almost no church sings louder or stronger than a Dutch Reformed church. (If you want to find men who still sing with confidence and gusto, this is where you will find them.)

I feel at home in many non-denominational churches as well, though most fit at least one of the descriptions above or below. Every church has its reasons to formally associate with other churches or to remain independent, and I respect those who choose to persist outside a denominational structure.

Of course, I feel at home in a Baptist church, for I myself am Baptist. As I search the Scriptures for its instructions on what a local church ought to be and how it ought to worship, I see it describing something very much like a church structured around the London Baptist Confession. I love the emphasis on evangelism. I love the emphasis on celebrating the baptism of one who has professed faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. And I love the balance of structure and freedom that permeates its worship services.

And while I am confidently and convictionally Baptist, I do love to experience other churches and consider it a blessing to worship among other traditions that teach the same Scriptures and preach the same gospel. I have worshipped in a host of churches spanning every continent and have found that I love to learn from them all, I love to observe what they do so well, and I love to see how God blesses their labors to build his kingdom and declare his glory.

This article originally appeared on Challies.com and is used with permission of the author.

Photo: Pexels

Because There Is a Creator, There Are No Cosmic Coincidences

A friend who lives in Calico Rock, Arkansas wrote me, “Calico Rock has been preparing for the TOTAL ECLIPSE on April 8, 2024—we are in the direct totality path. Since all of this ‘just happened,’ we are hoping it does not get stuck and freeze us all to death!”

I looked it up, and the Calico Rock tourist department must be going crazy. It seems like the Ozark Total Eclipse 2024 is everywhere online. 

This brings back memories of when Nanci and I took our two of our grandsons, Jake and Ty, down to Keizer, Oregon, near Salem, which was directly on the path of totality in August 2017. It was a great experience. We talked about how ancient people must’ve responded with no ability to predict or anticipate such an event. They would say, “This is the hand of God,” and they would be exactly right. 

I wrote this on August 21, 2017:

Nanci is driving as we head home to Portland from our visit to Salem, Oregon for the total eclipse, with two of our grandsons. The 13 year old said, “Pops, that was the most awesome thing I’ve ever seen.” Love that he said it of something that’s not a movie or video game or even a concert. :) A scientist on TV said of the fact that the sun is 400x larger and also 400x further away than moon, which makes a perfect total eclipse, “It’s a cosmic accident, an incredible coincidence.” So we discussed the Creator's perfect design, and His plan to show people His glory. Hearing the grandsons gasp and say wow at totality, seeing the sun’s corona burst forth, and seeing Jupiter shine brightly above us at 10:20 am., was priceless! We shared Scripture and prayed. Well worth this drive home taking three hours to go 60 miles. :) More bonding time. “The heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display his craftsmanship” (Psalm 19:1, NLT).

Just because we now have explanations and the ability to predict such phenomena, we somehow overlook many things, including that the only way eclipses work so perfectly is because of the same relative size due to the distance involved. Talk about intelligent design. As an online explanation puts it, it’s another one of those countless “cosmic coincidences” that gave you the impression there really is someone who designed it that way:

“Both the moon and Sun are about 100 times farther from Earth than the sizes of their respective diameters. This means that the moon will block out, or ‘eclipse,’ anything behind it that has the same 1-to-100 size/distance ratio. This is the ‘cosmic coincidence’ that makes solar eclipses possible.”

Like the Tower Bridge in London could give you the impression that someone actually designed and built it–if you can imagine that! 😂 Or how looking at a Rembrandt makes you think, “Wait, I wonder if somebody actually painted that?” (Nah, everybody in the modern world says it’s the random product of time plus chance plus nothing, so who am I to doubt that?)

Despite its current flaws, the world’s beauty and intricacy testify to a Creator who designed it with order and purpose. Aren’t you glad to know Him, the one who “holds all creation together” (Colossians 1:17)?  

“Ah Lord Yahweh! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and by Your outstretched arm! Nothing is too difficult for You, who shows lovingkindness to thousands... O great and mighty God. Yahweh of hosts is His name, great in counsel and abundant in deeds” (Jeremiah 32:17–19, LSB)

Photo: Unsplash

Will We Be Rewarded for Leaving Money to Christian Ministries in Our Wills?

One of our readers sent this question: “I got the impression from Money, Possessions and Eternity or The Treasure Principle that you don’t believe we will receive eternal rewards for money we leave to God's kingdom in our wills, after we die. I’m thinking of a very godly man who left his wealth in a foundation. What about all the good his foundation has done since he died? I personally benefited from it. Isn’t he being rewarded for that?”

I understand Scripture to teach that leaving instructions for what others are to do with our assets after we die does not equate with what we do with them while we’re alive. Hebrews 9:27 (NLT) says, “each person is destined to die once and after that comes judgment.”  

Our Rewards Result from What We Actually Do on Earth

Suppose I leave a note telling my friend to say “I forgive you” to an abusive family member, after I die. That’s a nice gesture, but doesn’t God want me to trust Him enough to actually offer that forgiveness to that person while I am alive? At the very least, I believe that if God rewards us for leaving the note (He’s certainly free to do that—and He doesn’t have to clear it with me), He would reward us more for actually forgiving.

To put it in a biblical context, would Jesus have pointed to the woman who gave away her last two coins the same if she had died that day and left those same two coins to the temple charity in her will? I don’t think so. Would He be pleased she left them in her will, as opposed to wasting them or leaving them to the ungodly? Sure. But I don’t think the reward would be comparable.

I agree that you and others have been greatly blessed by the man you mentioned, who put a lot of money into a foundation. But of course, if all that money had been given away while he was alive, to help people in another corner of the world hear the gospel, their testimony might have been, “We’re sure glad he gave it to reach us and feed us rather than putting it in a foundation for later distribution.”

In that sense, testimonies cancel each other out. Citing evidence that something is a good thing doesn't always prove it was actually the best thing. Since the alternative wasn’t done, there’s no one to speak up for having done it, so it’s hard to discern on that basis. 

I think it’s possible we’ll be rewarded for making a choice to leave money to a worthy cause when we die. I’m not sure. There’s no biblical proof either way, but I think there’s biblical implication against it. And if there is a reward, I think it’s likely to be less.

But I still think God rewards our faith and sacrifice in this present life. It takes no faith or sacrifice to leave stuff behind when you die, since hanging onto it isn’t an alternative. One way or the other it will stay here. In fact, if we die possessing great wealth, we’ve held onto these treasures until the last possible moment, which doesn’t seem open-handed but tight-fisted.

Leaving and Giving Are Not the Same Thing

Giving is choosing to part with something, while leaving is simply controlling the destination of what you couldn’t hold onto anyway. Scripture doesn’t say, “Test me in this by leaving your assets after you die and see if I won't open the floodgates of Heaven.” It calls upon us to give now. Jesus didn’t say, “Leave and it will be left to you in the measure you leave” but “Give and it will be given to you in the measure you give” (Luke 6:38).

Giving is voluntarily parting with money. The “voluntary” is as key as faith and sacrifice. Suppose someone stole a million dollars from a bank account and gave it to famine relief. Arguably, the million will do just as much good that way as if the account owner willingly given it. But would the reward be the same? No.

There’s something self-protective and counter to faith about hanging on to excessive wealth. Now, the man you mentioned (who I certainly respect from all I’ve heard about him)—I assume—held onto his as a kingdom-building strategy. And great outcomes have resulted. But if he had held onto it out of fear of letting go or out of unwillingness to surrender control to the Lord (and I don’t think or presume that was the case), the situation and outcome would be different.

Also, as Jesus had unique plans for Peter and John, He has unique roles for each of us. This man may have precisely followed Christ’s leading for him, while His leading for others—taking into account the same biblical principles—may look very different. Of course, God rewards us in keeping with what He wants us to do. So if God instructs us to leave our funds in a foundation rather than liquidate and give them while we are still alive, God will reward us accordingly.

It's Never Wrong to Give Now

When we stand before God, I don’t believe He will say to us, “I’d like to say well done, but you really blew it when you gave me all that money rather than hanging on to it a few years longer.”

The only antidote to materialism is giving. It’s what will free you from the gravitational hold of things. People sometimes ask, should I give now or later? Should I give when the market is high, or should I hang on to my assets longer in the hopes I’ll have more to give later? You have to ask God those questions.

Here’s my question: How soon do you want to be free?

God is capable of producing much greater returns on money invested today than the stock market or real estate can produce. God didn’t say to the poor widow, “You should have invested that money and not given it to me until you could first make a tidy profit.”

If we don’t give today, there are real risks:

1) The economy may change, and we’ll have less to give.

2) Our hearts may change. God works in our hearts and moves us toward His kingdom. When we leave our treasure outside the kingdom today, our hearts stay outside too. For the sake of your spiritual life and your eternal reward and your example to your family: don't miss the chance to solidly move your heart to God’s kingdom by moving your treasure there.

There’s a huge danger whenever we procrastinate obedience. When God speaks and tells you to pray, pray now. When He tells you to read His Word, read it now. When He tells you to share your faith, share it now. When He tells you to turn off the TV, turn it off now. When He tells you to give, give now.

Don’t just make plans to pray and read and share and give. Nothing is more fleeting than the moment of conviction. To procrastinate obedience is to disobey.

3) Our lives may end before we’ve given it. “No problem—I’m putting it in my will.” Can I say this gently? By all means do your estate planning and give heavily to missions. But giving is more than just designating where it goes after it’s not mine anymore. Giving is parting with it when I don’t have to, but choose to anyway, when it requires trusting God.

James wrote, “Don’t say tomorrow I’m going to go out and make this much money, because you don’t know what will happen today” (4:13-17).

John Wesley received a lot of book royalties—and his goal was to have nothing left when he died. And he did. Personally, I think that’s a great goal. “But what about our children?” Your children should work for a living, love God, and trust Him. They shouldn’t be waiting for a windfall when you die. It’s God’s job to take care of them, not yours.

If I were the devil, and I wanted to ruin Christians, I’d try to get their parents to leave them large amounts of money. Unearned wealth is a burden and a temptation. Most often It leads to moral corruption, waste, dependence on a higher standard of living, and the breakdown of family. (See studies of lottery winners and heirs.)

Talk to your kids. If they’re godly, they’ll commend you for giving to God’s kingdom. If they’re not godly, the last thing you should do is leave them money to subsidize a sinful lifestyle. God has a higher purpose for entrusting money to us than destroying our children’s character. (See Should We Leave Our Children Inheritances?)

Buy up Shares in Eternal Investments

God’s not going to look at you at the judgment seat and say, “I have one thing against you—you gave too much to missions, you invested too much in my kingdom.” It’s not going to happen. I guarantee you’ll never be sorry you made this kind of investment. Today the church is infected with prosperity theology, the gospel of health and wealth. God does promise to bless givers, but His primary purpose in providing is not to increase our standard of living, but our standard of giving.

Photo: Unsplash

How Much Thought Do You Give to Heaven?

Does thinking about Heaven fill you with joy and excitement? How much thought do you give to Heaven? How often do you and your church and your family talk about it? We’re told how to get to Heaven, and that it’s a better destination than Hell, but unfortunately, we’re taught remarkably little about Heaven itself. (If you lack a passion for Heaven, I can almost guarantee it’s because you have a weak, deficient, and distorted theology of it.) 

If you’d like to study more in the coming year about our eternal home, start with these articles:

Our Best Life Yet to Come: The New Earth, Our Eternal Home

Let Go of Lies About Heaven: Eight Myths Many Believe

Here are some videos and messages about Heaven:

No More Curse

Heaven: The View from Beyond

The New Earth: Our Hope of “God With Us”

16 Questions about Heaven and the New Earth

My Heaven-related books include:

The Promise of the New Earth (combines teaching on Heaven with beautiful photography, in a gift book format)

50 Days of Heaven (daily devotional on Heaven)

Heaven (comprehensive book on the topic)

We Shall See God (contains segments from Charles Spurgeon’s sermons on Heaven, and my own added devotional thoughts)

Heaven for Kids (intended for ages 8-12, though we’ve heard of church groups using it as a basis for an adult study!)

Here are my top five recommendations of books by others on Heaven.

Finally, these are some questions to stimulate thinking about Heaven:

Who will be in Heaven? Can we be sure we’re going there?
Where do you think your beliefs about Heaven originated (God’s Word, church, popular culture)? If your view of eternity has changed at all, where has your new understanding come from?
Why should we care about what Heaven will be like, as long as we know we’ll be with Jesus?
What do you think it will be like to see Jesus face to face? What will our relationship with God be like?
Have you ever worried that Heaven will be boring? Based on what you’ve read in this book, what will we do there? Work? Rest? Play?
What are the differences between the present Heaven Christians go to when we die, and the future Heaven (the New Earth), where we will live forever?
What excites you most about living on the New Earth?
Do you believe animals will be on the New Earth?
Do you feel like you’re missing out on something here and now? What missed opportunities are you looking forward to experiencing in Heaven?
Will you be recognized as the same person in Heaven, and be with those you know and love?
Who do you most look forward to meeting and talking with in Heaven?

Those of us who know Jesus will forever glorify God as live on the New Earth, beholding God’s wonders in the magnificence of His new creation. Seeing God’s face, we will spend the coming ages learning more and more of His grace and kindness.

I can hardly wait!

If Jesus Triumphed Over Sin and Death, Why Does Our World Still Contain So Much Evil and Suffering?

C. S. Lewis articulated the erroneous conclusion many people come to: “If God were good, He would wish to make His creatures perfectly happy, and if God were almighty He would be able to do what He wished. But the creatures are not happy. Therefore, God lacks either goodness, or power, or both.”

Put another way, if Jesus triumphed over sin and death, why does our world still contain so much evil and suffering? Why are we still sinners, why do many of us get sick, why are some of the godliest people in the world poor, and why do all of us die? If God is happy and wants us to be happy, why doesn’t He bring us complete happiness now?

There are varying responses to these excellent questions, and the good ones all require trust that a good, loving, holy, and just God knows what He’s doing. By delaying His final judgment on evil and waiting longer to wipe away all tears from His children’s eyes, He’s giving more people a chance to repent and trust Christ (see 2 Peter 3:9).

Meanwhile, God is giving His children more opportunities to grow in faith (see 1 Peter 1:6), He’s developing our character through trials (see Job 23:10; Isaiah 48:10), He’s increasing our perseverance and hope (see Romans 5:4), and He’s bringing more ultimate good to us and glory to Himself (see Romans 8:28-29).

God has redeemed us “so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:7). Throughout eternity, God will unfold more and more of His grace and kindness. As wonderful as Eden was, without sin and suffering, would Adam and Eve have reason to praise God for His grace? No. Certainly they could see God’s goodness, but grace is unmerited favor to those who deserve Hell. Therefore, they had less reason to praise Him than we do.

Experiencing God’s grace now will pay off in eternity, too. We may want to skip this growth process and be ushered directly into eternal happiness, but that wouldn’t accomplish God’s highest purpose. He plans to remake Earth into an eternal world where righteousness reigns because He has marvelously overcome evil, starting in the hearts of His beloved children.

Corrie ten Boom, who survived a Nazi death camp, said, “Every experience God gives us . . . is the perfect preparation for a future only He can see.”

Charles Spurgeon said, “In heaven we shall see that we had not one trial too many.” Reveling in God’s sovereign grace, Spurgeon exclaimed, “Cheer up, Christian! Things are not left to chance—no blind fate rules the world! God has purposes and those purposes are fulfilled; God has plans and those plans are wise, and never can be dislocated!”

We can be confident that one day, happiness, not sorrow, will have the last word—and it will have the last word forever.

For more related to the subject of suffering, see Randy’s book  If God Is Good , as well as the devotional  90 Days of God’s Goodness  and book  The Goodness of God . 

Photo: Pexels