Randy Alcorn's Blog, page 38

Should Christians Desire to Be Happy?

C. S. Lewis wrote in The Weight of Glory,

If there lurks in most modern minds the notion that to desire our own good and earnestly to hope for the enjoyment of it is a bad thing, I submit that this notion . . . is no part of the Christian faith. Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires, not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.

When I first read these words, having known Christ for only a few years, it was paradigm shifting. In my brief church experience, I’d come to believe that God was opposed to our pursuit of happiness. When I delighted in something “secular,” such as music or science fiction, I felt vaguely guilty, as if my pleasure displeased God.

But Lewis had a different perspective. He wasn’t saying that alcohol, sex, and ambition were wrong, only that God—who created these things—deserves the highest place in our hearts. While we can enjoy the gifts God has given us in the appropriate time and place, they will never provide the deep happiness and satisfaction we find in Him.

Finding our greatest pleasure in God elevates our enjoyment—transforming mud pies into mouthwatering desserts to be fully enjoyed at the proper time and place—God’s celebratory table of goodness.

Being happy in God and living righteously tastes far better for far longer than sin does. When my hunger and thirst for joy is satisfied by Christ, sin becomes unattractive. I say no to immorality not because I hate pleasure but because I want the enduring pleasure found in Christ.

Thomas Aquinas, arguably the most influential theologian of the Middle Ages, said, “No one can live without delight, and that is why a man deprived of spiritual joy goes over to carnal pleasures.”

We crave joy, delight, pleasure—in a word: happiness.

The great theologians have always been happiness advocates.

I don’t agree with all the beliefs of various historical figures I cite. But given their stature as serious thinkers of great influence on church and culture, they serve as proof that preoccupation with happiness is not just a modern development.

Ignatius of Antioch, believed to be a student of the apostle John, wrote a letter beginning with these words: “To the Church which is at Ephesus . . . deservedly most happy. . . . Abundant happiness through Jesus Christ, and His undefiled joy.”

Ignatius wishes the same “abundance of happiness” when he writes to the early church bishop and eventual martyr Polycarp.He closes that letter saying, “I pray for your happiness for ever in our God, Jesus Christ.”

What would we think of a modern Christian who begins and ends his letters fixated on happiness?

The pre-Christian Augustine was an intellectual who chose an immoral life for the same reason others did and still do—happiness. Yet happiness eluded him. Augustine said, “Certainly by sinning we lost both piety and happiness; but when we lost happiness, we did not lose the love of it.” Augustine insisted that this longing is as true for Christ-followers as it is for anyone else: “If I should ask you why you believe in Christ, and why you have become Christians, every man will answer truthfully by saying: for the sake of a happy life. The pursuit of a happy life is common to philosophers and to Christians.”

If Augustine was right, then whether people go to church, a coffee shop, a ball game, a crack house, or a strip club, they go in search of happiness. Augustine didn’t mean that their search is always successful. He said, “Indeed, man wishes to be happy even when he so lives as to make happiness impossible.”

This description is true for every culture after the Fall. We wish to be happy above all, even while making choices that rob us of exactly what we seek.

The historical consensus? Our quest for happiness can only be fulfilled in Christ.

The belief that Christ is the answer to our deep longing for happiness can be credited to scholars, preachers, and teachers from every generation and from all denominational backgrounds.

German Reformer Martin Luther said, “It is pleasing to the dear God whenever thou rejoicest or laughest from the bottom of thy heart.”

French Reformer John Calvin wrote, “Human happiness . . . is to be united with God. . . . The chief activity of the soul is to aspire thither.”

Jonathan Edwards expounded on this point: “What could the most merciful being have done more for our encouragement? All that he desires of us is…that we would not follow those courses which of themselves would end in misery, and that we would be happy.”

These are not the words of a suntanned, jewelry-laden inspirational speaker. This is a Puritan pastor, steeped in Scripture, speaking nearly three hundred years ago!

I can relate to John Wesley when he spoke of his state as an unbeliever:

Having plenty of all things, in the midst of sensible and amiable friends . . . still I was not happy…and could not imagine what the reason was. The reason certainly was, I did not know God, the Source of present as well as eternal happiness.

Notice Wesley’s emphasis. Happiness doesn’t merely await God’s children in the future. Christ-followers don’t preach the flimsy kind of happiness that’s built on wishful thinking. Instead, we have rock-solid reasons to be happy—reasons that remain true, and sometimes become clearer, in suffering.

Charles Spurgeon wrote,

They who love God with all their hearts, find that his ways are ways of pleasantness, and all his paths are peace. . . . We are not dragged to holiness, nor driven to duty. No, our piety is our pleasure, our hope is our happiness, our duty is our delight.

Though Wesley and Spurgeon represented different theological persuasions, they agreed with these ideas:

All people desire happiness.

The gospel of Jesus Christ offers people both eternal happiness and present happiness.

God’s glory and our happiness are inextricably linked—both are parts of His design and plan. God is glorified when we are happy in Him, so our happiness shouldn’t be compared to or weighed against His glory but seen as part of it.

God desires our happiness—He’s the source of it and went to inconceivable lengths to bring His happiness to us.

This is what makes our happiness in God immensely important. Not first and foremost because we want to be happy (though of course we do), but because God made us to want to be happy and because He truly wants us to be happy in Him.

Excerpted from Randy's book Happiness. Browse more resources on the topic of happiness, and see his other related books, including  Does God Want Us to Be Happy?

Photo by Matheus Bertelli

How Can We Discern between Hearing God and Hearing What We Want to Hear?

We are not always great at often talking to God (at least I’m not!), but I think we are even worse at listening to God. Of course, if we think we can’t hear God’s voice, at least in the figurative sense, why would we listen?

Some Christians “hear God” when He is not speaking, and many of us fail to hear Him when He is—and sometimes we manage to do both at the same time.

A Case of Selective Hearing

I know people who “hear God’s voice,” leading them to withdraw from fellowship and accountability of the local church when God’s Word clearly teaches the need for assembly with the church (Hebrews 10:24-25). Since their action violates Scripture, no matter how confident they are that God has led them to dissociate from all local churches, I believe they are wrong. (As I often say, we have all been hurt by churches—I have—but I have also hurt people. All of us are sinners, and therefore, all do harm to others.)

The voice many people hear above God’s is the voice of their own hurt, pain, disappointment, upbringing, bad experiences with churches, impatience with others’ faults, independence, a desire to do everything their way, etc. But because they feel it so strongly, they interpret it as “God’s voice.” This is different in degree but not in kind from people who sincerely believe God was leading them to murder someone. Sincerity and intensity and specificity of feeling do not equal God’s voice.

As a lesser example, consider the people who say, “God gave me this song” or “God gave me this poem” or “God gave me this book” or “God gave me the words of this message.” Well, I think God actually does all these things sometimes, but not always and certainly not just because we think so or want others to think so! As a result, the Holy Spirit has gotten credit—or more appropriately, blame—for many things He would not want credit for, including countless lousy songs, bad poems, poorly written books, and misguided messages.

In fact, the assumption that these things come from God perpetuates their poor quality and our undiscerning nature. Why? Because the belief is propagated that God speaks to us easily and automatically, without study, meditation, counsel, long periods of contemplation and godly interactions. The person who believes God “gave me a message” on a Saturday night or as he preaches Sunday has no motivation to study Scripture and prepare his message next time. In fact, study and preparation and dialogue with others about a text and a message can then be seen as working against the Holy Spirit rather than cooperating with Him. This scenario is real, and the results are scary. Lack of discipline, poor planning, and poor stewardship of time suddenly become virtues as we “trust the Lord to give us the words.”

A Case of Faulty Hearing

Certainly, God does many things by Himself, without the need for our cooperation (think about how the sun rises without our help). But in many cases, He does His work while requiring that we do ours (for example, He makes flowers grow, but we plant, weed, water, and fertilize them, and plant them where God’s sun shines on them). So when we think we are hearing a word from the Lord, for instance, He may well be speaking to us or leading us, but then He expects us to test it by Scripture, and wise counsel, and plumb the depths of it and understand it better and more accurately, before proclaiming from the housetops, “God told me an earthquake is going to destroy Portland on this date.”

Some years ago, a brother in Portland actually prophesied that, and a number of Christians vacated the city that day. The Oregonian newspaper, of course, was quick to mock this when there was no earthquake. The man, who I think was sincere, apologized and said, “I really believed God had spoken to me.”

Fortunately, we aren’t under the Old Covenant, or he would have been put to death (Deuteronomy 13:5). That’s how seriously God takes speaking our words as if they were His. Usually, however, we have no objective confirmation that this was not a word from the Lord, and as a result we fail to learn our lessons (for example, some people have unwisely gone into debt, believing God told them to, and ended up in bondage and bankruptcy). Some learn their lessons, and still others say, “Well, it’s what God wanted so I just have to accept what happened.” They may be just as prone to make similar mistakes in the future, again attributing it to God’s leading rather than their misguided impulses.

Sometimes we think God has spoken when He has not. And other times we don’t think God has spoken when He has (through Scripture, counsel, providential circumstances—including divine appointments—and His still small voice in which He lays people and actions and words on our hearts). I think those who make a habit of saying, “God told me to...” and finishing the sentences with “buy this car” or “post this” or “ask you to marry me” (not mentioning this is the third woman in the past year God has told them to ask) need to face the fact that just because they feel or want something, even very intensely, does not mean that’s what God feels or wants for them.

The danger of believing God has given you a prophetic gift or word of wisdom is that you start thinking everything that comes into your mind comes directly from God. Hence, you begin to run your own life under the guise of God’s direction, doing what you want and saying He was behind it. While you say, “Jesus is Lord,” your life is governed by your own thinking, some of which is likely fatally wrong.

A Case of Spiritual Deafness

On the other hand, many of us have exactly the opposite problem. We fail to hear God’s voice (in Scripture and through others and through the direct impressions put upon us by His Holy Spirit) and fail to see His hand of providence in dozens of things that come our way throughout the day, and thousands throughout our lives (including, often, things such as diseases and death). We need to become more alert to seeking and hearing God’s voice.

If we think that nearly everything that enters our minds is God’s voice, then we don’t really believe in God’s voice, since it is not special and distinct from our own. But if we believe God doesn’t speak and lead and guide except directly through Scripture, we fail to see the ministry of the Holy Spirit and the vital life-changing, life-directing role He is to have in our lives which begins with Scripture, but does not stop there.

Consider 1 John 2:27, “As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit—just as it has taught you, remain in him.” Now, this is stated in the context of people being led astray by false teachers. I believe the anointing from God is the Holy Spirit. However, the ministry of the Holy Spirit is also connected to the authority of Scripture as His instrument. He teaches us, and the foundation of that teaching is Scripture, which must be rightly interpreted. And in rightly interpreting it, we ward off the heresy and false teaching He’s warning against in the context. But the anointing is more than Scripture; it’s the Holy Spirit who uses Scripture and other people and circumstances.

However, if we take “you do not need anyone to teach you” out of context as some do, then we would conclude, as many have, we need not submit ourselves to study and teaching and meditation guided by church leaders, since the Holy Spirit Himself teaches us directly. The result of this misunderstanding is that every heresy becomes defensible by “I heard God’s voice...” and people can take the spiritual high ground in embracing what is unspiritual.

Hebrews 10:24 speaks of the church spurring one another on to love and good deeds, as they meet together and encourage each other. One could say, “It is the Holy Spirit who spurs us to love and good deeds and encourages us.” Yes, it is, but one critical means or instrument of the Holy Spirit’s ministry is God’s Word, and another is God’s people, in the context of a local church where there is authority and spiritual leadership, guidance, modeling, and mentoring. (It may be hard to find such a church, and it is our calling from God to do what we can to help make our church that kind.)

John, the same apostle who said the Holy Spirit was their teacher, also said the Holy Spirit was to bring all things to their remembrance (14:26) and to bear witness concerning Christ (15:26; 16:12-15). Yet they needed to be taught and reminded of the truth, by human teachers who are hopefully filled by the Spirit—though those words are not infallible and must be tested by Scripture (Acts 17:11). In fact, John was doing such teaching through his writings. (His were inspired writings, of course, but any good teaching ministry done by non-apostles and non-writers-of-Scripture is one of trying to be true to the inspired writings.)

Saddle-up and Listen up

As the old saying goes, the enemy doesn’t care which side of the horse we fall off as long as we don’t stay in the saddle. The saddle is the Spirit-directed life in which God is always providentially present (orchestrating details). He often lays on our hearts certain things from His heart, as seen in Psalm 37:4, “Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” And sometimes He gives very direct and immediate promptings that could be accurately called His voice, even though it is not audible.

Of course, God can speak audibly. He has never done so to me, though as a young Christian I often begged Him to; on the other hand, at times it couldn’t have been more clear if His voice had been audible. The rest of the time, I figure out His will based on wisdom and Scripture and godly counsel. And if the only “will” we followed was what God specifically teaches in His written Word, we’d have plenty to do, and excellent guidance for how to do it throughout our lives. Nonetheless I can accurately say “God speaks to me daily,” through Scripture, creation, people, and His still, small, voice which usually gives me not specific words, but strong impressions of His leading. I am often virtually certain (though more rarely absolutely certain) that God is leading me to do or not do certain things, and to go or not go to certain places.

The one side of the saddle is essentially to be Christian anti-supernaturalists (an inherently self-contradictory term) who theoretically believe in the Holy Spirit. But, practically speaking, these believers do not see Him as actively working throughout the day when in fact both the fruit of the Spirit and the promptings of the Spirit are manifestations of His work that should be “normal” in our lives.

The other side of the saddle is being Christian pan-supernaturalists who believe that everything we think and feel is charged with special significance and is a revelation from God. This sort of thinking mistakes a teacher’s unbiblical statements, and a young woman’s flirtations and the offering of a job from a man you sat next to on a bus, as the automatic and definite promptings of the Holy Spirit. By lack of biblically-based wisdom, considered in light of the wise counsel of others, we can end up nullifying the true ministry of the Holy Spirit. We see everything as the ministry of the Spirit, thus failing to discern between the Holy Spirit, on the one hand, and the world, the flesh, and the devil on the other. With complete sincerity, we can “sense God’s leading” directly into sin. And be dead wrong.

Both sides of the saddle are dangerous and deadly to our spiritual lives. God calls us to see the Holy Spirit as personal and real and present and guiding, as prompting and giving us insights and ideas. Yet He also calls upon us to act with biblically-based wisdom and discernment to be sure we are not attributing to the Holy Spirit what is nothing more than our desires or circumstances.

Photo by Tobi

George Verwer—Global Statesman, Evangelist, and Hero of the Faith—Now with Jesus

My dear friend George Verwer, founder of Operation Mobilization (OM) and advocate for worldwide missions, is with Jesus. I have never known anyone like George; he is—I speak in the present tense because he is fully alive—one of a kind. His love for lost souls, his devotion to Jesus, and his passion for the Gospel marked me and countless others. Today over 3,300 workers in OM's family of ministries, representing over 100 nationalities, are bringing God’s unchanging truth to millions of people every year.

Here’s a wonderful 4-minute tribute to George, produced by OM, also including his co-founder Dale Rhoton, another brother greatly used of God:

I was touched by this final video update from George, days before he died, sharing what he hopes his legacy will be:

George was to me the embodiment of the verse he shared at the end: “…steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord” (1 Corinthians 15:58).

In his life story on the OM website, they say, “Rarely seen without his world map jacket or inflatable globe, George always prayed for the nations and current issues. He was energized by encouraging others and keeping in contact with thousands of friends and ministry partners through letters, emails and phone calls.”

I’m wearing his jacket in this picture—yes, George literally gave me the coat off his back. Also in the photo is our dear friend Karen Stout Coleman, who I worked with in the early years of Good Shepherd Community church, who eventually became a missionary and beloved EPM staff member. Karen is now with the Lord, and along with my wife Nanci is no doubt among those warmly greeting George. There are literally thousands who will want to thank George for bringing them the Gospel—everyone reached by Operation Mobilisation, including their ship ministry. (To clarify, Mobilisation is the British spelling of what is in America Mobilization, and either spelling is correct.)

Almost exactly ten years ago, George and I did an event together in Portland, related to missions, giving, and my book The Treasure Principle. (You can watch the full interview: part 1, part 2, and part 3.) Here’s a clip from that evening, of George speaking passionately about the needs around the world, and how God’s people need a vision for giving:

And below is a video of George speaking at the convocation at Liberty University. This is classic George with his holding up the globe and praying over the top 10 persecuted and spiritually needy countries on the planet. I had already decided to include the video in this blog before I saw him lift up several books he was giving away to students, and then I realized the first of them was my book Why Pro-Life?

Some years ago, George contacted me, saying God had laid on his heart the plight of unborn children. I was grateful to hear this but wasn’t sure whether this vision would last given the fact that many people, Christians included, object to hearing about it. Well, George is a man who listens to God rather than voices that don’t tolerate speakers who address abortion. He gave away tens of thousands of copies of my book Why Pro-Life? in English and spearheaded its translations into other languages all over the world. 

He is an example of a man whose life was focused on one central kingdom cause—world missions—but who was touched by God to frequently speak in defense of unborn children. In the context of missions, the unborn are seldom spoken of, and prolife efforts are sometimes considered a distraction from the main thing. I know George became unpopular in some circles for including the unborn on his otherwise fully acceptable list of people in need. And to speak about the unborn at missions conferences? It was utterly unheard of. (I believe missions should be spoken of at more prolife conferences too.) But George, arguably the greatest missions proponent on the planet, who spoke at hundreds of missions conferences all over the world, saw no dichotomy between them.

Over the years, EPM has been honored to partner with OM by giving away my books to their ministry (our records indicate that was over 206,000 books). George would take them with him all over the world and give them away. He would often call me from various countries where he was speaking, usually dozens of times in a single week. I always smiled and wondered where he was calling from. India? A church parking lot in Scotland? It was always a joy to speak with George. He would end our conversations by saying, “God bless you, brother...now don’t do anything stupid!” It’s a great line, true to Scripture (Proverbs in particular). I have missed those phone calls as his health declined, and I already can’t wait to see him again.

Last year, George Verwer and his son Ben visited Pat and Rakel Thurman, dear friends of Nanci’s and mine, who worked for decades with Operation Mobilization. Our family visited the Thurmans when they served in both Egypt and Cypress. 

Nothing was closer to George’s heart than OM’s ship ministry, his brainchild, which God gave him a vision for in the 1960’s. In 2017 George was thrilled when I told him about the wonderful time Nanci and I enjoyed with the OM family when I spoke at a donor conference in Jamaica, and particularly about the five days we stayed aboard the Logos Hope. The first ship, the Logos, was purchased in 1970, then was joined by the Doulos in 1977. Then there was the Logos II, the Logos Hope and soon to set sail (more funding and crew members are needed) the Doulos Hope.

Over 50 million people, most of them unbelievers, have come aboard the OM ships, where they have been given or purchased gospel literature and Bibles, watched dramas and heard speakers with Christ-centered messages, and often engaged in Gospel conversations with the crew (which also goes out and does vital work projects in the countries visited). As I talk about in the article, Nanci and I witnessed on the Logos Hope 400 young people, most of them ages 18 to 25, along with some retired folks, from sixty different countries serving Jesus together, most of them for two-year terms. We came home wanting to tell any young person with a heart to serve God and a desire to see the world to consider becoming a crew member!

Of our many travels around the world, witnessing great works of God, those five days on the Logos Hope were among the most unforgettable. That’s why when we set up Nanci’s memorial fund, one of the three main recipients was the Logos Hope, and we have expanded it now to include the Doulos Hope.

There’s nothing better I can say of anyone than “He drew me closer to Jesus.” George touched my heart deeply, and I believe he has now received a “rich welcome” (NIV) and a “grand entrance” (NLT) “into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 1:11). I imagine people are lined up for miles just to thank him for bringing them the Gospel. (There’s no way to know exactly, but I believe it is safe to say that at least tens of millions of people—likely over a hundred million—have come to faith in Jesus through the many ministries of Operation Mobilization.)

When I see my brother George Verwer again, I’ll say thank you, too. Well done, good and faithful friend! As is said of Abel, so it can be said of George: “By faith he was approved as a righteous man, because God approved his gifts, and even though he is dead, he still speaks through his faith” (Hebrews 11:4, CSB).

If you’d like to give to Operation Mobilization in honor of George, you can donate to EPM’s Missions Fund and through the end of May, 100% of contributions will be given directly to their ministry, including to the Logos Hope ship and the Doulos Hope, which is scheduled to launch in May.

How Can We Avoid Becoming Cynics of the Cynicism and Negativity on Social Media and in the Body of Christ?

In a discussion with some friends about social media, one of them recently wrote, “It’s so difficult to wade through social media attacks and gang wars. That’s why I can’t bear to be on social media.”

I totally understand. Nothing makes me more cynical than listening to cynical people, and even though my cynicism is directed at them, it is still unhealthy. 

I don’t read much social media, as I tend to be very selective, but as soon as I see people ganging up, whether or not I am sympathetic to some of their concerns, I stop reading. My feeling is that their comments are not about reality, but about them. Their cynicism, their weariness with life, and their judgmental spirit is poison, and I don’t think it’s helpful to drink poison, even if you think you’re immune to it. 

Charles Spurgeon said, “Warm-hearted saints keep each other warm, but cold is also contagious.” How true that is, especially on social media.

I am generally pleased with my Facebook page, and the kinds of responses we get. (The fact that our EPM staff give an explanation or a link in the comments from time to time helps foster a more positive spirit.) Sure, there are always the people who didn’t actually read the article or maybe glanced at it and assume we’re saying something that we’re really not.

For example, someone posted in response to my blog article that they were surprised (and obviously disappointed) that I clearly didn’t know the whole story about some of the people in the Jesus Revolution film. Of course, that meant they hadn’t read the article. Sure enough, another commenter said something like “you obviously haven’t read the article, since Randy addresses that.” But then the person who made the criticism came back and admitted they hadn’t read the article and said that they now would. And I thought, sometimes critical readers actually are open to correction. It is always a beautiful thing to see people offer correction that turns around somebody’s thinking.

That encouraged me, but it also struck me once again how utterly ridiculous it is (and how embarrassed anyone should be!) to draw conclusions and make comments without even reading an article. I wonder sometimes if they assume that I don’t know about the bad stuff that also happened related to a given subject. It’s as if everything is black and white, and anything that happens must be all good or all bad. The blindness that goes with that approach to life is itself poison. To use a recent example, the Asbury revival must be all of God or all of the devil, and the moment I see anything that I think is of the devil (or God, for that matter), therefore it must all be. 

This is why I find Romans 14–15 so comforting and encouraging. We can have different convictions, even in relatively significant areas, and still be united in Christ. But so much social media turns people into petty little arrogant presumptuous critics. It reminds me of what J.I. Packer said in Knowing God about the difference between travelers and “balconeers.” There are those people actually traveling the road of the Christian life, and there are those who don’t really walk the road; rather, they just sit up in the balcony and look down on those walking the road, and think their view allows them to understand what it means to walk the road.

I’m reminded of a story about a man who years ago was ready to make some terrible decisions. Several friends confronted and warned him. By God’s grace, he got counseling, and today he is closer to Jesus than ever. This had appeared to be an impossible situation, too late to turn around. Yet by God’s grace, it happened. God used voices of truth and grace in this person’s life, and he has now influenced many others for God’s kingdom. 

This story helps me to have hope for struggling people tempted to reconstruct their faith, and hope for the body of Christ to be what Jesus intends it to be—full of genuine grace and truth. When I spend time with my small group and with Christ-centered friends, I come home refreshed instead of depleted. So if I find social media that refreshes me, as I sometimes do, I go for it. If it just drains and discourages or irritates me, I need to stay away. 

A dear friend shared this memory:

Romans 15 is one of my favorite chapters of the Bible. Back in the ’90’s I was having a discouraging time and I called a dear friend to pray for me. She read Romans 15 to me on the phone, and the Holy Spirit just bathed me in the comfort of those words. I’ll never forget where I was sitting and what I was wearing and what I was thinking that night. Jesus took me from darkness into perfect light through His Word.

What a great memory to have. And what a great illustration, with all the people who hate the church, and always criticize it. We’ve all been touched by church people who were instruments of Jesus in our life. Let’s thank God for them! And humbly seek to be Christ-centered instruments of grace, truth, and encouragement in others’ lives, both online and in person.

Photo by Magnus Mueller

Trusting His Loving Purposes: My Message on Nanci, Suffering, and Heaven at California Baptist University

On March 21, I gave a 30-minute chapel message at California Baptist University. They asked me to talk about suffering and Heaven, in light of Nanci’s homegoing, so I shared about Nanci and quoted from her journal. That date I spoke was actually the one-year anniversary of the day our family of 11 gathered around her bed, and Nanci spoke powerfully into our lives. A week later, she went to be with Jesus.

After the chapel, I got to visit with the students who attended Sam Barlow High School, where I went to school in Gresham (as did our daughters and as do two of our grandsons). Ten Barlow graduates now attend there, and they all came up to say hi (that’s five of them in the photo). I knew most of them, and it was great to meet a few others.

My daughter Karina and grandson David and I had lunch with five of the CBU profs, and it was the most delightful and encouraging time I’ve had on a Christian university campus in memory. There is an unapologetic affirmation of biblical truth and the critical importance of the local church and its pastors, something I have rarely seen at the many Christian liberal arts universities I’ve spoken at. Three of the five profs in the photo are current pastors. I found it refreshing and very encouraging. CBU is a rare example of a college that decades ago had lost its way (that’s not the rare part) but by God’s grace, and determination and hard work, returned to its biblical values. Our conversations were full of grace and truth. They say 1/3 of their students are solid growing believers, 1/3 are professing believers struggling with their faith to different degrees, and 1/3 are unbelievers. Hence, because they uplift Christ, the Bible, and the church, it’s a great place for young people in each of those categories.

Here's my chapel message:

Heaven Celebrates Every Repentant Sinner

Philip Yancey tells a modern-day version of the prodigal son, about a girl with a nose ring and an attitude. She rebels against her parents, runs away, and becomes a drug-addicted prostitute in Detroit.

The months go by. She sees her face on a milk carton but never bothers to tell her family she’s alive. Then, two years later, she gets sick and desperate. Her pimp throws her out on the street.

All other alternatives exhausted, she calls home. She leaves a message, gets on a Greyhound, and shows up at the bus station, figuring she’ll scrounge a ride to her old house.

As she steps off the bus she finds herself greeted by forty people—brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts, cousins, grandparents, and her parents—all wearing party hats, with a huge banner stretched out saying, “Welcome home.”

Before she can finish saying “I’m sorry” her father murmurs, “Hush, sweetheart, we’ll talk later. We’ve got to get you home to the party; there’s a banquet waiting for you!”

Such abundant grace almost makes the parent look foolish, doesn’t it? Looking foolish is a risk God willingly takes in extending us grace. We expect Him to extract His pound of flesh, to make us grovel and beg. But He doesn’t.

In Jesus’s parable, when the prodigal’s father runs across the field to greet his repentant son, commentators point out that it was undignified for men in the ancient Middle East to run. But in his overflowing happiness, the father, who represents God, disregards his dignity to shower grace upon his repentant son.

Just before He told of the prodigal son, Jesus said, “there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.” Again, He said, “there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” By putting on his own joyful party, this earthly father is mirroring the heavenly Father’s joyful party in Heaven over a beloved image bearer entering His family. Those in Heaven see and celebrate conversions on earth. Heaven throws a party for every sinner who repents. When God celebrates in Heaven, surely His people should celebrate on Earth!

Unfortunately, while living in the Father’s house (perhaps in Christian families and churches), we can dutifully go through the motions of exterior righteousness while resenting God’s extravagant grace in others’ lives and refusing to enter into His happiness over them. Instead, like the joy-filled, forgiving father who throws the party for his repentant son, we should celebrate God’s grace in the lives of our fellow prodigals.

Sinners embracing God’s grace means it’s party time in Heaven. And it should mean party time on earth.

See Randy's books Happiness , Heaven , and The Grace and Truth Paradox. 

Photo by Erwan Hesry on Unsplash

Christ’s Resurrection Means Our Old Bodies Will Be Made New

In 1 Corinthians 15:17-19, Paul says that if Christ hadn’t risen from the dead, we’d still be in our sins—meaning we’d be bound for Hell, not Heaven: “If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.”

He doesn’t just say that if there’s no Heaven, the Christian life is futile. He says that if there’s no resurrection of the dead, then Christianity’s hope is an illusion and we’re to be pitied for placing our faith in Christ. Paul has no interest in a Heaven that’s merely for human spirits.

Wishful thinking is not the reason why, deep in our hearts, we desire a resurrected life on a resurrected Earth instead of a disembodied existence in a spiritual realm. Rather, we desire it precisely because God intends for us to be raised to new life on the New Earth. It is God who created us to desire what we are made for. It is God who “set eternity in the hearts of men” (Ecclesiastes 3:11). It is God who designed us to live on Earth and to desire the earthly life. And it is our bodily resurrection that will allow us to return to an earthly life—this time freed from sin and the Curse.

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” (2 Corinthians 5:17). Becoming a new creation sounds as if it involves a radical change, and indeed it does. But though we become new people when we come to Christ, we still remain the same people.

Conversion is a blend of change and continuity. When I became a Christian as a high school student, I became a new person, yet I was still the same person I’d always been. My mother saw a lot of changes, but she still recognized me. She said, “Good morning, Randy,” not “Who are you?” I was still Randy Alcorn, though a substantially transformed Randy Alcorn. My dog never growled at me—he knew who I was.

Likewise, this same Randy (who is now very different) will undergo another change at death. And I will undergo yet another change at the resurrection. But through all the changes I will still be who I was and who I am. There will be continuity from this life to the next. I will be able to say with Job, “In my flesh I will see God; I myself will see him with my own eyes—I, and not another” (Job 19:26-27).

Conversion involves transforming the old, not eliminating it. Despite the radical changes that occur through salvation, death, and resurrection, we remain the unique beings that God created. We have the same history, appearance, memory, interests, and skills. This is the principle of redemptive continuity. God is not going to scrap his original creation and start over. Instead, He will take His fallen, corrupted children and restore, refresh, and renew us to our original design.

If we don’t grasp the principle of redemptive continuity, we cannot understand the nature of resurrection. “There must be continuity,” writes Anthony Hoekema, “for otherwise there would be little point in speaking about a resurrection at all. The calling into existence of a completely new set of people totally different from the present inhabitants of the earth would not be a resurrection.”

First Corinthians 15:53 says, “The perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality.” This (the perishable and mortal) puts on that (the imperishable and immortal). Likewise, it is we, the very same people who walk this Earth, who will walk the New Earth. “We will be with the Lord forever” (1 Thessalonians 4:17, emphasis added).

The empty tomb is the ultimate proof that Christ’s resurrection body was the same body that died on the cross. If resurrection meant the creation of a previously nonexistent body, Christ’s original body would have remained in the tomb. When Jesus said to His disciples after His resurrection, “It is I myself,” He was emphasizing to them that He was the same person—in spirit and body—who had gone to the cross (Luke 24:39). His disciples saw the marks of His crucifixion, unmistakable evidence that this was the same body.

Jesus said, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days” (John 2:19). John clarifies that “the temple he had spoken of was his body” (v. 21). The body that rose is the body that was destroyed.

In its historic crystallization of orthodox doctrine, the Westminster Larger Catechism (1647) states, “The self-same bodies of the dead which were laid in the grave, being then again united to their souls forever, shall be raised up by the power of Christ.” The Westminster Confession, one of the great creeds of the Christian faith, says, “All the dead shall be raised up, with the self-same bodies, and none other.” “Self-same bodies” affirms the doctrine of continuity through resurrection.

This, then, is the most basic truth about our resurrected bodies: They are the same bodies God created for us, but they will be raised to greater perfection than we’ve ever known. We don’t know everything about them, of course, but we do know a great deal. Scripture does not leave us in the dark about our resurrected bodies.

Because we each have a physical body, we already have the single best reference point for envisioning a new body. Likewise, the New Earth will still be Earth, but a changed Earth. It will be converted and resurrected, but it will still be Earth and recognizable as such. Just as those reborn through salvation maintain continuity with the people they were, so too the world will be reborn in continuity with the old world (Matthew 19:28).

Excerpted from Randy's devotional 50 Days of Heaven .

Photo by Edu Grande on Unsplash

Jesus Accomplished the Healing from Sin We Need, Even More Than Healing from Cancer

I miss Nanci every day, but I am profoundly thankful for the tremendous example she left me, and the way she mentored me and discipled me as she actively pursued God. She received from Him dying grace so powerful that at times it was startling. What a privilege to have seen it and her close up. 

In the journal she kept throughout her cancer years, Nanci wrote these reflections about the healing Jesus accomplished on the cross:

“But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed. All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet Yahweh laid on him the sins of us all” (Isaiah 53:5-6 NLT, emphasis added).

This is the healing that really matters. I needed, and have received in full measure, a healing from my guilt and sins. No physical healing compares to complete spiritual healing.

We were all born with stage-four guilt and sin. Nothing we could do ourselves could cure it. No “treatments” performed by mankind are effective for its eradication.

God has provided a cure only He can administer. “Yahweh laid on Christ the guilt and sin of us all.” Our guilt and sin are not incurable! We can be healed because Christ provided the only treatment; and He took the treatment for us. He was our substitute in the infusion room, in the radiation room, and in the operating room. The treatment was radical, and the cure was permanent.

Praise God for my healing from guilt and sin! Any CT or MRI of my soul would reveal “no evidence of sin.” I have been given eternal life. Nothing can cause guilt to metastasize in my soul. I am cleared permanently to enter into God’s presence. This is the promise that brings me pure joy and complete hope every day.

Later she wrote:

I have been so focused on God annihilating my cancer that my focus has not been on the blessed truth that He has annihilated my sin! My body (pre–Resurrection) is a gift from God—but most surely a temporary gift. So far, it has served me for close to 67 years. My soul, my very existence, is also a gift from God—and most surely an eternal gift. (And one day He will resurrect and heal my body, permanently.) I want my focus to be on God’s saving grace! God has accomplished the work of redemption for my soul. He has thoroughly and eternally saved me! I don’t need to worry that someday a “scan” or some other test will reveal anything that threatens my soul. Jesus has cured me eternally of my sin and given me eternal life. And no one can snatch me out of His redemptive hands!

I pray for a day when my fight against cancer is won. Praise God that the battle for my soul is already won!

And:

The physical wounds on Christ’s body brought healing to our wounded souls. I have been praying for physical healing from cancer for over three years. However, my greater—my ultimate—need is healing from sin. Jesus has accomplished that! My physical needs pale in comparison with my spiritual needs. My eternal soul is reconciled to God forever because Christ paid the penalty for my sins.

May Nanci’s closing prayer be true of us all: Lord, please give me an even deeper sense of gratitude and awe for my position in Christ with God.

For more on Christ's sacrifice for us, see Randy's books It's All About Jesus and Face to Face with Jesus. 

Photo by Christi Marcheschi on Unsplash

 

Kids, Questions about Heaven, and Humor over Hamburgers

Martin Luther said, “It is pleasing to the dear God whenever thou rejoicest or laughest from the bottom of thy heart.” And who does that more frequently and sincerely than children? Talking to kids about Heaven was the focus of an interview I did with Greg Laurie, senior pastor of Harvest Christian Fellowship, for his radio program about my book Heaven for Kids.

Greg and his wife Cathe certainly get how tough life can be. Years ago, Greg called me after his son Christopher died to talk about Heaven, and we have talked about Christopher and Heaven many times since. I always enjoy our conversations, in part because we talk about deep and meaningful subjects, including grief and suffering, but we also have a lot of fun together.  

At the end of the interview, Greg and I spent some time ribbing each other. I asked his permission while we were recording to use some of the humorous outtakes, which wouldn’t be included in the official Harvest broadcast, and put them on our website. I thought people might enjoy hearing the kinds of things that are done in interviews that never make it to the public, but are just harmless fun.

As the years have passed, God has enabled me to experience more frequent times of happiness even in the midst of difficulties. His gift of laughter is a huge part of that; in fact, sometimes it’s like a ladder that helps me climb out of deep holes. A close friend once told me, “I always know when you’re hurting. You joke and laugh more.”

I will grant that I am an unusual person; however, Greg is one of the most unusual people I have ever known! Several years ago when I was visiting Harvest Church, at each of the three services, he introduced me and announced I had written a “new” book. These are the three titles:

Years later, we’re still joking about burgers. In fact, Greg asked me about hamburgers in Heaven at the end of our interview, and he recently shared that clip from our EPM website on Twitter. Unfortunately, a few commenters didn’t seem to understand that we were having fun. One said, “Seriously?” Another said, “I only care about seeing Jesus in Heaven. Anything else is superfluous and irrelevant.”

I do, in fact, believe there are a lot more important questions about Heaven to cover than whether we’ll eat hamburgers! But as Charles Spurgeon said, “Those who are ‘beloved of the Lord’ must be the most happy and joyful people to be found anywhere upon the face of the earth.” And I believe it pleases Jesus when, in childlike faith, we delight in and look forward to the wonderful home He’s prepared for us.

You can listen to my full interview with Greg, or listen to the parts that interest you below:

1. How are things going personally for you as grieve? Do you see Heaven differently because of your experience of grief? Why should we think deeply about Heaven?

2. Is Heaven going to be a boring place?

3. What is the biggest misunderstanding kids have about Heaven? Won't life on the New Earth be even better than our present life?

4. How do we train young minds to see Heaven as real? Will this book help kids understand Heaven is real?

5. What is Heaven? Where is Heaven? Most importantly, how do we get to Heaven?

6. Why do you invite kids to have their parents take them on an excursion to the junk yard? Why does investing in eternity matter? Why should Christians be generous in this life?

7. Will we be different than angels in Heaven? Do we become angels?

8. When a child experiences death and loss, is that a good time to begin a conversation about Heaven?

9. What happens to pets when they die? Might there be talking animals in Heaven?

10. Should children's understanding of Heaven be based on a progressive explanation?

11. What is the most challenging question to answer about Heaven? What about sports in Heaven?

12. How can investing in others' success during playing sports be a preview of Heaven?

13. When you order a burger, what do you order on it? Will there be hamburgers in Heaven?

Photo by Polina Tankilevitch

How Can We Remain Humble While Pursuing Humility?

Note from Randy: C. S. Lewis said of the humble person, “He will not be thinking about humility: he will not be thinking about himself at all.”

Tim Keller, echoing Lewis, says, “Gospel-humility is not needing to think about myself. . . . I stop connecting every experience, every conversation, with myself. In fact, I stop thinking about myself. The freedom of self-forgetfulness. The blessed rest that only self-forgetfulness brings.”

As commendable as such humility is, we can never achieve it simply by willing it to appear. Otherwise, we’ll be thinking about ourselves and our valiant attempts to be humble. What we need is to be so gripped by Jesus and His grace that we truly forget about ourselves. Why would we want to think about ourselves, the lesser, when we can think about Him, the infinitely greater? This happens directly, when we worship and serve Him, and also indirectly, when we love and serve others for His glory.

Below are some helpful reflections on humility from Gavin Ortlund, related to his new book Humility: The Joy of Self-Forgetfulness.

The Deceptively Easy Path to Prideful Humility

The Danger of Self-Preoccupation

There is a danger, in thinking about humility, that we can become so self-preoccupied in the process, and it kind of defeats the point. It's actually kind of funny if you think about it. There's a passage in The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis when Demon is counseling another demon, and he's saying, See if you can get your patient [the human being] to be proud about his own efforts at humility.

And that is a real danger. We can start thinking, Wow, I'm being really humble right now. Tim Keller has said humility is so shy that when you start talking about it, it goes away. And so that's one danger in one direction.

Think on and Pursue Humility

On the other hand, I don't think it's right to say we should just never think about humility in any way. There are verses in the Bible that call us to be humble. Philippians 2 says, “in humility, consider others better than yourself." That word humility is there. We need to know what that means in order to obey that verse and so many others, so that means we need to think a little bit about what this calling is.

Throughout church history, there's been so much reflection about the nature of humility. You think about Thomas Aquinas and Saint Augustine and some of these great Christians who wrote at great length about the nature of humility. They reflected on it. What is the nature of this virtue? Basil of Caesarea wrote a famous homily on humility. Jonathan Edwards preached many sermons on humility. So I don't think it's right that we shouldn't think about it at all.

What helps me steer between the two dangers here is that we should pursue humility. Think about humility, but just be aware that there's the temptation to become self-focused in the process, to take ourselves too seriously in the process, to start becoming self-preoccupied or to just be thinking about how we're doing in the process too much. And a good acid test is to ask, Is humility leading me to joy?

Joy cannot be faked. Joy is an authentic experience that comes from true humility. And counterfeit forms of humility don't lead to joy. So, as we're trying to navigate between a self-preoccupied, artificial kind of humility on the one hand and avoidance of humility on the other, a good acid test will be to ask, Is what I'm pursuing leading me to joy? Is it leading me to a greater love for Christ, a greater concern for my neighbor, or even just a greater awareness of the world around me?

That’s a good test for whether this is real and authentic humility.

This article originally appeared on Crossway and is used with the author’s permission.

Photo by Aravind Kumar on Unsplash