Randy Alcorn's Blog, page 41

Is It God’s Will to Always Heal Us?

A writer friend was at an event many years ago when he witnessed the following: He was standing near a woman confined to a wheelchair. Suddenly a well-known woman, who had written and spoken extensively about her gift of healing, marched up to the lady in the wheelchair, dramatically laid hands on her head, and prayed loudly that God would heal her, claiming God’s promises to do so.

The healer’s entourage enthusiastically agreed with the prayer, some praying in tongues. After this went on for a while, finally they backed away, and the celebrity went on to the next interview, book signing, or healing.

God has shaped this woman in the wheelchair into the image of Christ and used her mightily through her disability. When the crowd dispersed someone asked her, “Did you feel anything happen?” My friend says he heard her answer: “Yes. My neck really hurts because she pushed down on my head so hard.”

The dear sister continues to love and serve Christ faithfully from her wheelchair.

I have seen God heal miraculously. I have also seen so-called healings which “didn’t last” the next hour or day or week, and therefore, in my opinion, were not true healings. And the “healer,” who loudly and without invitation to do so claimed her healing, either has or soon will succumb to the ultimate health problem: death.

What Does the Bible Say About Healing?

In John 9:2, Christ’s disciples revealed their false assumptions when they asked “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”

Jesus responded by saying their presupposition was entirely wrong: “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life” (John 9:3). In other words, God had a higher purpose for this man’s adversity that simply didn’t fit in the neat little boxes of “Do good (or have faith) and you’ll be well off” and “Do bad (or don’t have enough faith) and you won’t be.”

Jesus said of His Father in Heaven, “He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous” (Matthew 5:45). In other words, God extends His common grace to all. The air breathed by every man, sinner, or saint is God’s gift, regardless of the man’s morality. Likewise suffering may be equally distributed among the righteous and unrighteous—but God will use it for the good of the righteous, and likely the unrighteous too, drawing them to Him, should they respond in faith.

Adversity Theology

In verses you will never see embroidered, or framed or posted on refrigerators, the King promised persecution, betrayal, flogging, and the opportunity to being dragged before courts and tried for our faith (Matthew 10:16-20). He warned, “In this world you will have trouble” (John 16:33), and said, “Any of you who does not give up everything sometimes our health, sometimes our life) he has cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:33).

In Philippians, written from a prison—not a plush office or the Rome Hilton—Paul said, “It has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for him” (1:29). He then depicted Christ as the suffering Servant, whose ultimate prosperity came after His life on this earth, not during it (Philippians 2). Indeed, had Jesus laid claim to prosperity in this life, there would have been no crucifixion, no atonement, no gospel, and no hope for any of us.

Paul described his daily adversity, his persecution for Christ, and his nearness to death (2 Corinthians 4:7-12). Two chapters later he refers to his troubles, hardships, distresses, beatings, imprisonments, riots, sleepless nights, and hunger, as well as the experience of nearly dying, and being sorrowful and poor (2 Corinthians 6:3-10).

He seems to be making a strong case for “adversity theology,” or the “sickness and poverty gospel.” I wonder if in his dreams the apostle ever heard a faint chorus of voices from the far future saying, “Paul, you don’t have to live like this—why don’t you trust God, have faith, claim prosperity and healing, and live a king’s kid?”

Paul explained that God had given him some spiritual privileges, including special revelations. Then he said:

“To keep me from being conceited . . . there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:7-10).

First, Paul said he knew God had a definite purpose in his illness or disability. We don’t know what the disease was, but among other things it apparently involved his deteriorating eyesight. His affliction, Paul said, was “given” to him in order to keep him from being conceited.

Second, God had a specific purpose for not removing the disease—to teach Paul that His grace alone was sufficient. Paul was not to trust in his own strength but in God’s. His disease was a day-by-day reminder of his need to trust in Yahweh rather than his own gifts, accomplishments, or privileged position.

God Wants Your Heart More than Your Health

In our area, most of the health and prosperity broadcasts are on the Christian station, especially on Saturdays. A Christian doctor sponsors a frequently run ad on this station, always signing off with “Helping you get well is all that matters.” Well, actually, it isn’t—there’s a great deal that matters a great deal more. God will make us well in the resurrection, but between now and then He uses adversity, including not being well, to accomplish much in us.

Though I thank God that I can still play tennis and be in the ocean for hours and go on long bike rides, I have seen God accomplish greater things through my sickness than through my health. (I do believe in and try to practice eating right and exercising. That’s just good stewardship. What I’m opposing is the belief that it’s never God’s will for us to be sick or have a disease, and it’s always God’s will for us to be healed of it.)

Instead of assuming God wants us healthy, we need to realize that He may accomplish higher purposes through our sickness rather than our health. We may certainly pray for health and pray for healing when we are sick, which is exactly what Paul did. (And I’m all for and have been part of anointing with oil and praying as James said; I’ve seen God choose to heal and not heal when this is done.)

But notice Paul prayed only three times. When God chose not to heal him, he did not “name it and claim it” and demand that God heal him. Instead, Paul acknowledged God’s spiritual purpose in his adversity.

Health and wealth preachers bypass the rest of this passage and say, “Look, Paul called this disease a ‘messenger of Satan.’ It’s from the devil, not God. The devil wants us sick, but God wants us well.”

Paul DID call the ailment a messenger of Satan. But God is bigger than all beings and sovereign over all wills, and Satan is just one more agent He can use to accomplish His own purpose. After all, whose purpose and plan does the passage talk about? It wasn’t Satan, but God whom Paul saw as the ultimate giver of the disease, for Satan would never give anyone something to keep him from being conceited (the stated purpose of the disease).

And it was not Satan, but God, who refused to remove the disease despite Paul’s pleadings.

So if you have prayed for healing and not received it, take heart—you are in good company... with the apostle Paul!

Not only was Paul not healed, but he had to leave Trophimus in Miletus because of sickness (2 Timothy 4:20). His beloved friend Epaphroditus was gravely ill (Philippians 2:24-30). His son in the faith, Timothy, had frequent stomach disorders, concerning which Paul didn’t tell him to “claim healing” but to drink a little wine for medicinal purposes (1 Timothy 5:23).

Paul was surrounded by sick people. Those who claim “anyone with enough faith can be healed” either have more faith than the apostle Paul, or less understanding of God and His ways.

Paul, like many of God’s servants in the early church, was neither healthy nor wealthy, and it is clear that God did not intend for him to be healthy or wealthy. Of course, Paul is now enjoying perfect health and wealth for all eternity. But to prepare him for his eternal reward, when he was on this earth, it was God’s higher plan that for much of his life he not have either.

We are right to believe God promises blessing to His followers, and we are right to believe He will ultimately bring us prosperity and blessing. But the great majority of it will come after death, and in the resurrection, and on the New Earth. Expecting or demanding it here and now, in the form we want it (health and prosperity and relational bliss) is not grounded in Scripture.

I think about this when the faith healers quietly die of cancer after decades of telling everyone it is God’s will that they be healed.

Do You Know Any Ancient Faith Healers?

If it is always God’s will to heal, we should have people of faith walking this planet that are hundreds or thousands of years old. (Certainly we should have thousands of faith healers whose ministries are going on century after century.)

The basic problem with the health-and-wealth gospel is that it is man-centered rather than God-centered. When approached from the prosperity posture, prayer degenerates into coercion, where we “name it and claim it,” pulling God’s leash until He comes through. We attempt to arm-twist the Almighty into underwriting comfortable, suffering-free lifestyles.

“Faith” becomes a crowbar to break down the door of God’s reluctance, rather than a humble attempt to lay hold of his willingness. In health and wealth theology, God is seen as a great no-lose lottery in the sky, a cosmic slot machine in which you put in a coin and pull the lever, then stick out your hat and catch the winnings while your “casino buddies” (in this case, fellow Christians) whoop and holler (or say “Amen”) and wait their turn in line.

In this sort of system, God’s reason for existing is to give us what we want. If we had no needs, God would probably just disappear—after all, what purpose would He have anymore? To revise the Westminster Confession, “The chief end of God is to give humans whatever they want, and to serve them forever.”

Our Father (in Heaven) Knows Best

A well-dressed businessman once asked me, “You mentioned that you are an insulin-dependent diabetic. I’m curious—why haven’t you asked God to heal you?”

I told him, “I have. But after the first year, I stopped asking.”

He seemed stunned that I would say such a thing. “Why?” he asked.

I said, “Paul stopped praying for healing after three times. He said God clearly had a spiritual purpose in his disease. God also made that clear to me twenty years ago. And it’s just as clear to me now as it was then.”

In fact, the two greatest things God has done to cause spiritual growth in my life are 1) in 1985, getting a serious disease; and 2) in 1990, being sued for millions of dollars by an abortion clinic, forcing me to resign from a pastoral ministry I loved.

This disease set in exactly the same month my first book came out, in 1985. Coincidence? I think not. And it was the abortion clinic lawsuit that freed me to invest far more hours in writing than I ever could have when I was a pastor.

In both cases, many Christians have assured me that if I only had enough faith, God would remove both the disease and the lawsuits (and the judgments that came out of the lawsuits).

I asked God to make me more Christlike. In answer, He sent these two things (and others) to help me become more Christlike.

Should I insist that He remove the very things He sent (arguably in answer to my prayers) to make me more like Jesus, and use me for His glory, and prepare me for eternal fellowship with Him and His people?

I don’t think so.

Any time we insist God do a particular thing, including answering a certain question or defending His justice, we might want to look up “God” in the dictionary to remind ourselves who we’re attempting to hold accountable to us. Instead let’s be like Job and say, “So I am ashamed of all I have said and repent in dust and ashes” (Job 42:6, GNT). Or, better yet, like Jesus, say, “Father, if you are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine” (Luke 22:42, NLT).

For more information on this subject, see Randy Alcorn's book  If God Is Good…

Photo by National Cancer Institute on Unsplash

What Is the Good Life?

As we start a new year, it’s common to ponder where we’ve been and where we’re headed. It’s also a very good idea to take a long look at who we’ve become and line it up with who God says we should be. If you dream of living the “good life” I urge you to put checking your definition against Scripture at the top of your goals this year.

Socrates said, “Not life, but a good life, is to be chiefly valued.”

And Scripture says, “The good life is reserved for the person who fears God, who lives reverently in his presence” (Ecclesiastes 8:12, MSG).

Are you living the good life?

People define the good life in different ways, but everybody wants to live it. After all, what’s the alternative? Living a bad life? A pointless, guilt-ridden, or miserable life?

We’d all choose the good life any day, and yet we often don’t understand how to make it happen.

A quick online search reveals that most people’s idea of the good life includes happiness. That makes sense—nobody wants to be unhappy. Most of us also want to make other people happy and help them if we can. But when it comes down to it, even Christ-followers suspect that spending our lives serving God and others might cost us our happiness.

Wouldn’t it be great if we could do what pleases God and what’s best for others, while at the same time enjoying happiness and deep satisfaction?

But that’s not possible, you may think.

Or is it?

What if we really can live the good life without being selfish? What if God not only wants us to live life more abundantly, as Jesus put it (John 10:10), but also provides clear instructions for how to actually experience it? What if it’s possible to discover what to embrace and what to avoid so we can live a meaningful and fulfilling life—the good life—even in this broken world?

Does that sound too good to be true?

Actually, it’s both “too good” and true.

The Good Life Is Countercultural

We live in a world that screams, “Make lots of money and spend it on yourself, and you’ll be happy. That’s the good life!”

There’s just one problem. It’s a lie.

Throughout His ministry, Jesus repeatedly turned our definition of the good life on its head. For instance, He said, “There is more happiness in giving than in receiving” (Acts 20:35, GNT).

Jesus told us that parting with money to help others will bring us more joy than hanging on to that money. Counterintuitive as it may seem, our greatest good, and the happiness that accompanies it, is found in giving, not receiving.

In other words, generosity is the good life.

This idea that giving away money and possessions equals happiness is a paradox. Human reasoning says that spending money on ourselves is in our best interest—and to a degree, that’s true. We all need food to eat, a place to live, clothes to wear. But once our basic needs are met, money can easily stop helping us and start hurting us.

Debt is routinely incurred in pursuing the good life, yet psychologists attest that a debt-funded lifestyle leads to depression, anxiety, resentment, stress, denial, anger, frustration, regret, shame, embarrassment, and fear.

This is the very opposite of the good life. It’s the terrible life!

Here’s a truth that can set us free: “living large” actually makes us smaller. Living “the good life” (as our culture defines it) results in missing the best life.

Deep down, we all know it’s true: you can spend every last cent you own on yourself—and, through credit, far more—and still end up miserable. In fact, if you want to be miserable, greed and stinginess are the perfect recipe. Those who hoard their money, like those who spend it all on themselves, are the unhappiest people on the planet.

Jesus calls us to do something radical: love others by giving away our money and time. That sounds like loss, not gain. Yet in God’s economy, that’s exactly how we can expand and enhance our own lives.

Generosity Pays Off

You may wonder if I’m trying to make the generous Christian life sound easier and happier than it really is.

First, I’m not suggesting that giving always comes easily or without sacrifice. What I am saying is that in God’s providence, the payoff far outweighs the sacrifice. Generosity is God’s best, designed just for us. This is always true in the long run, and usually it’s true in the short run too.

Suppose I give up some vanilla lattes and two lunches out each month in order to support a child in Haiti. There’s nothing wrong with lattes or meals out, and I may miss them, but thoughts of how the money helps a needy child flood me with happiness greater and far more enduring than twenty minutes of pleasure from a drink or eating out. My life gains a purpose beyond myself, and as I say no to that small thing, my day is put in perspective. That gladness and perspective don’t disappear when I finish the meal or toss the coffee cup.

The truly good life is a joy-filled, openhanded adventure of following Jesus, which brings us lasting pleasure and reaches far beyond this life to the next. Once we believe in Christ, what can we do to experience the abundant life—a life overflowing with vibrancy, satisfaction, and contentment?

Though we’ve been granted eternal life, many Christians don’t fully experience what Jesus came to give us. The stresses and pressures of life weigh us down and leave us feeling like we’re missing something. We lose both joy and purpose. Life becomes drudgery, not an adventure. It’s a shrunken life, not a flourishing one.

If that’s where you find yourself, take heart. True, it’s not possible to eliminate difficulties and challenges until we’re living at last in the world we were made for (the New Earth, not this one). But we certainly don’t have to wait until we die to experience the abundant life Jesus promised.

The bad news and the very good news about money is described in 1 Timothy 6. The bad news is that loving and serving money will destroy us and rob us of life and happiness. The good news is that if we recognize God’s ownership of everything, we’ll steward our resources to help meet physical and spiritual needs. Our reward will be both future rewards and present contentment, purpose, and what Scripture calls “the life that is truly life” (1 Timothy 6:19, NIV).

To learn more, see Giving Is the Good Life .

Photo by Vince Fleming on Unsplash

What Can Death Do to Us?

“To die will be an awfully big adventure,” says Peter Pan. But it will be a wonderful, big adventure only for those who are covered by the blood of Christ. Those who die without Jesus will experience a horrifying tragedy.

Of course, dying is not the real adventure. Death is merely the doorway to eternal life. The adventure is what comes after death—being in the presence of Christ. Just before he was hanged by the Nazis, Dietrich Bonhoeffer prayed aloud, “Oh, God, this is the end; but for me it is just the beginning.” His trust in God’s promises served him well in the face of death.

We shouldn’t glorify or romanticize death—Jesus didn’t. He wept over it (John 11:35). For every beautiful story of people peacefully slipping into eternity, there are other stories of confused and shrunken people, wasting away mentally and physically, leaving behind exhausted, confused, and grief-stricken loved ones. I’ve often seen death close-up. Unless Christ returns in our lifetime, it’s certain that my own death—and that of everyone I love—awaits.

Death is painful, and it’s an enemy. But for those who know Jesus, death is the final pain and the last enemy. “For [Christ] must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death” (1 Corinthians 15:25-26).

Death’s destruction was foretold in ancient prophecy: “[God] will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples, the sheet that covers all nations; he will swallow up death forever. The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from all faces” (Isaiah 25:7-8).

The apostle Paul echoes Isaiah, saying, “When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: ‘Death has been swallowed up in victory.’ ‘Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?’ ” (1 Corinthians 15:54-55).

Do you crave God’s perspective on the death that awaits you? Reread the previous three paragraphs. Read them aloud. Memorize them. Ask yourself, “What’s the worst that death can do to me?” Consider Romans 8:35, 38-39: “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? . . . Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Not only will death not separate us from Christ—it will actually usher us into His presence. Then, at the final resurrection, Christ will demonstrate His omnipotence by turning death on its head, making forever alive what appeared forever buried.

If you believe this, you won’t cling desperately to this life. You’ll stretch out your arms in anticipation of the greater life to come.

If my descendants, perhaps my grandchildren or great-grandchildren, should read these words after I’ve died, know this: Nanci and I are looking forward to greeting you when you arrive in the intermediate Heaven (unless Christ returns in the meantime and we meet at the resurrection). We’ll have some favorite places picked out for you, and we’ll go there together. But we won’t stay there long. Ultimately we’ll travel together to our true home, the New Earth. We’ll settle and explore it side by side, as pioneers.

What a world it will be. I’m overwhelmed just thinking of it. What a great God we’ll enjoy and serve forever. What a great time we’ll have together there. I look forward to seeing every reader who knows Jesus, meeting most of you for the first time, and being reunited with those I’ve known here on the present Earth. I can’t wait for the great adventures we’ll have with Christ and each other.

Don’t let a day go by without anticipating the new world that Christ is preparing for us. God loves the Heaven bound, but He is proud of the Heaven minded: “They were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them” (Hebrews 11:16, emphasis added).

Excerpted from Heaven. You can also browse our resources on Heaven and additional books.

Photo by Taylor on Unsplash

50 Days of Heaven, and a Free Devotional Study Guide You Can Use

My life has been shaped by all kinds of writings that have pointed me to God’s Book. As an author, I love writing different books to reach more people in more ways, by God’s grace, with the life-changing truths of His Word.

I wrote 50 Days of Heaven by selecting the material most suitable from my book Heaven for a devotional, then rewriting it in a different style. Why write different sized books on one subject? Because they’re designed to reach different audiences with varying interests and preferences. The big books, like Heaven, are for pastors, teachers and serious Bible students who want to dig in and explore the depths of what Scripture and theologians say. They’re not meant for those who want a quick read and prefer small books or devotionals. (Though I have to say that the publisher and I have both been amazed that the great majority of readers of the big Heaven book are not pastors and teachers—they are laypeople eager to know the truth about Heaven and therefore willing to make an exception and read a very large book.)

Likewise, those who want a thorough treatment of a subject want more than what small books offer. As in The Three Bears, for some the small version is “just right.” But the right fit for Baby Bear or Goldilocks is the wrong fit for Papa or Mama Bear!

That’s exactly why I write books that are big, medium, and small, some more comprehensive, others more devotional, some for children, some for comic-lovers, some for those who enjoy murder mysteries. Not all people are alike, so not all books should be. It’s my joy and privilege to write different books on different subjects for different people, meeting different needs.

Speaking of 50 Days, our ministry now offers a free study guide to go along with the book. It was originally submitted to us by a kind reader, and then several of our staff further edited and further refined it. I appreciate all the work that was put into it, and I really believe that for many people, this might make a better study than the big Heaven book. A group could work through a few of the daily devotionals in a week, and then meet together to discuss the study questions.

Why study the subject of Heaven? Because it is the Christian’s certain hope, a hope that can and should sustain us through life’s darkest hours. But this doesn’t happen automatically. We must choose to think about Heaven and center our lives around it: “Set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits at God’s right hand. …Let heaven fill your thoughts” (Colossians 3:1-2).

May God give us the grace to live today with eternity in view!

Happiness: Good News Worth Sharing

G. K. Chesterton has been widely credited with saying, “Jesus promised His disciples three things—that they would be completely fearless, absurdly happy, and in constant trouble.” It might be argued that most Western Christians aren’t any of these three . . . but least of all “absurdly happy.”

We tend to perceive Christianity as being about tradition and morality, not happiness. I make no apology for believing in morality. But some Christians, in the name of moral obligation, wear frowns, dutifully living a paint-by-the-numbers religious existence, and proudly refraining from what “lesser” people do to be happy. They seem to wear their displeasure as a badge of honor.

Gloomy Christians don’t win friends or invite gospel curiosity.

Hannah Whitall Smith, author of long-time bestseller The Christian’s Secret of a Happy Life, was raised in a religious home. She recorded these thoughts about churchgoers in her journal, years before coming to Christ:

Some look almost as if they think it is a sin to smile or speak a pleasant word. It appears to me that religion is supposed to make one happy, not miserable and disagreeable. . . . Instead of a cheerful voice there is a long, drawing, melancholy whisper . . . instead of love and concern for those who have not yet found the path of life . . . there is a cool standoffishness, a feeling of “I’m better than you”— that effectually closes off the slightest opening… And so, instead of the noble, beautiful, humble, liberal-minded, and happy religion I have so often pictured to myself, I see it as cross, gloomy, proud, bigoted, and narrow minded.

Sadly, some people still misrepresent Christianity this way, and equally sadly, some attempt to solve the problem not by drawing near to Christ but by watering down biblical truth to make it more appealing. The gospel is attacked on both fronts—on the one hand, stripped of its intrinsic happiness and on the other, stripped of its holy uniqueness and ability to deliver happiness.

After her conversion, Smith wrote to her son, “The Gospel is good news, something to make people happy; not a law to bind them.”

Unbelievers have valid reasons to fear that becoming a Christian will result in their unhappiness.

They’ve known—as many of us churchgoers have also known—professing Christians who go out of their way to promote misery, not gladness.

I’ve seen Bible-believing, Christ-centered people post thoughts on a blog or on social media only to receive a string of hypercritical responses from people who wield Scripture verses like pickaxes, swiftly condemning the slightest hint of a viewpoint they consider suspicious. How is it that perpetual disdain, suspicion, unkindness, and hostility are seen as taking the spiritual high ground? If I were an unbeliever reading such responses, I certainly wouldn’t be drawn to the Christian faith.

In refreshing contrast, J. C. Ryle said, “I assert without hesitation, that the conversion described in Scripture is a happy thing and not a miserable one, and that if converted persons are not happy, the fault must be in themselves. . . . I am confident the converted man is the happiest man.”

Charles Spurgeon loved to connect the gospel and happiness: “There is nothing that more tends to strengthen the faith of the young believer than to hear the veteran Christian, covered with scars from the battle, testifying that the service of his Master is a happy service...”

Believers too often reinforce the Grumpy Christian Stereotype.

Some professing Christians feel morally superior to those who engage with culture, and as a result, they major on making world-condemning judgments. They refrain from laughing not just at immoral jokes but any jokes. They assume that barbecues and ball games are the spawn of sin. Grim-faced pharisaical “Christians” make Satan’s propaganda campaign far easier by undermining the Good News and promoting a negative view of happiness.

“Affirming that by transgression of God’s commandments [Adam and Eve] might attain to felicity and joy . . . [the devil] caused them to seek life where God had pronounced death to be,” wrote John Knox. God created the physical world and happiness. But the devil doesn’t have a single shred of happiness to give. He specializes in rearranging price tags, making the cheap look valuable and the miserable appear happy.

Consider satirist and journalist H. L. Mencken’s definition of Puritanism as “the haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy.” (On the contrary, Puritans, judging by their writings, were some of the happiest people who have ever lived! Considerably happier, judging by his writings, than H. L. Mencken.)

Paul, an apostle, wrote, “When we had come to Jerusalem, the brothers received us gladly” (Acts 21:17). A Bible translation lexicon (Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament) states, “The word asmenos here means ‘pertaining to experiencing happiness, implying ready and willing acceptance—happily, gladly.’”

Following this welcome are stories of the gospel’s impact on Gentiles and a celebration of how the Holy Spirit was strengthening Christ’s church. Such a happy gathering is a timeless model for believers in any era who face difficult issues.

The pervasive happiness of the New Testament church stands in stark contrast to what the English poet Algernon Swinburne said about Jesus: “Thou hast conquered, O pale Galilean: The world has grown grey from thy breath.”Swinburne believed Jesus sucked the life out of the supposed vibrancy paganism had infused into the world.

G. K. Chesterton commented on Swinburne’s words:

I rolled on my tongue with a terrible joy, as did all young men of that time, the taunts which Swinburne hurled at the dreariness of the creed. . . . But when I read the same poet’s accounts of paganism . . . I gathered that the world was, if possible, more gray before the Galilean breathed on it than afterwards. The poet maintained . . . that life itself was pitch dark. . . . The very man who denounced Christianity for pessimism was himself a pessimist . . . and it did for one wild moment cross my mind that, perhaps, those might not be the very best judges of the relation of religion to happiness who, by their own account, had neither one nor the other.

Happiness in Christ is one of our most powerful evangelistic tools.

Throughout history, the Christian worldview has accounted for such happiness-generating developments as hospitals and schools, science and industry, music, drama, and the arts. And on a more personal level, nearly every community includes people with quiet confidence in Christ who are extraordinarily loving, kind, helpful, and cheerful. They gladly give of their time and money to those in need. Such people are rarely in the public eye, but they certainly exist. Sadly, however, to many people, they seem to be the exception rather than the rule.

Christopher Parkening, considered by many to be the world’s greatest classical guitarist, achieved his musical dreams by the age of thirty. By then he was also a world-class fly-fishing champion.

However, his successes failed to bring him happiness. Weary of performances and recording sessions, Parkening bought a ranch and gave up on the guitar. He wrote, “If you arrive at a point in your life where you have everything that you’ve ever wanted and thought would make you happy and it still doesn’t, then you start questioning things… I thought, ‘Well, what’s left?’”

While visiting friends, he attended church and put his faith in Christ. Parkening developed a hunger for Scripture and was struck by 1 Corinthians 10:31: “Whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God” (NIV).

He explains, “I realized there were only two things I knew how to do: fly fish for trout and play the guitar. Well, I am playing the guitar today absolutely by the grace of God. . . . I have a joy, a peace, and a deep-down fulfillment in my life I never had before. My life has purpose. . . . I’ve learned first-hand the true secret of genuine happiness.”

John Piper says, “If you ask me, ‘Doesn’t the world need to see Christians as happy in order to know the truth of our faith and be drawn to the great Savior?’ my answer is ‘Yes, yes, yes!’ And they need to see that our happiness is the indomitable work of Christ in the midst of our sorrow.”

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 Sam Lion

How Mothers Shape Future Men

Note from Randy: I think this article by Abigail Dodds, the author of (A)Typical Woman: Free, Whole, and Called in Christ and a regular contributor to Desiring God, is wonderful. Having raised two daughters, I’m deeply grateful for our sons-in-law, and their families who raised them to be men of character and faith. And now Angela and Karina are the moms of our five grandsons, who they are raising to know and love Jesus. (Note: I say “our” instead of “my” not out of habit or nostalgia, but simply because my Nanci, though she has relocated to another place, is more alive than ever before.)

Whether you’re a mom to young boys or not, I think you’ll find what Abigail shares helpful and insightful. (You might also enjoy the book Devoted: Great Men and Their Godly Moms by Tim Challies, about how women shaped men who changed the world.)

For Mothers of Future Men

If you look at the beginning of Proverbs 31, you might find a surprise. The chapter includes not simply the famous portrait of an excellent wife but also the teaching and influence of a godly mother on her son. Proverbs 31 begins with the recitation of a king. And what is he reciting? He’s reciting “an oracle that his mother taught him” (Proverbs 31:1).

What are you doing, my son? What are you doing, son of my womb?
     What are you doing, son of my vows?
Do not give your strength to women,
     your ways to those who destroy kings.
It is not for kings, O Lemuel,
     it is not for kings to drink wine,
     or for rulers to take strong drink,
lest they drink and forget what has been decreed
     and pervert the rights of all the afflicted. (Proverbs 31:2–5)

Verse 10 begins the more famous portion of Proverbs 31, but it’s worth noting that King Lemuel is continuing to recite his mother’s teaching.

An excellent wife who can find?
     She is far more precious than jewels.
The heart of her husband trusts in her,
     and he will have no lack of gain. (Proverbs 31:10–11)

If our sons were asked about the most common teaching of their moms, what might their answers be? What sort of teaching characterizes our commands?

What Does Mom Say Most?

Our most common commands might be mainly safety-oriented: “Always wash your hands before you eat.” “Wear sunscreen with an SPF of 30 or higher.” “Don’t forget your bike helmet or seatbelt.” Those are not necessarily bad commands. But if they are the primary teaching of a mother to a son, they will not keep a son safe, but handicap him.

Perhaps your teaching is mainly practical: “Be sure to clean your room and make your bed every day.” “Finish all the food on your plate.” “Always be on time.” “Waste not, want not.” These are not bad commands; often they’re good and helpful. Yet, if those commands are left to themselves, without a foundation of weightier instruction, they will provide only earthly help without eternal benefit.

King Lemuel’s mother taught him two very important lessons: (1) how to avoid temptation so he could rule as king, and (2) how to find and value an excellent wife. In other words, his mother taught him how to be a man. And sons today still need mothers who can help teach them how to be wise, just, loving, good men, if not quite kings.

Our sons need to learn how to be heads of a household — perhaps also leaders of businesses, churches, or governments — and men who know what to look for in a wife. That means they need moms who can instruct them in how to judge between right and wrong, true and false, good and best. And between an excellent wife and an evil woman — because evil women actually exist, and our sons need to avoid them.

Mothers instruct their sons in the importance of being a son, a boy, a man. Mothers help sons know what clothes are fitting for a boy versus a girl. They help them know what manners and mannerisms are appropriate for a young man. While our sons are young, and especially during the teenage years, mothers should keep an eye out to help their sons become godly men — not mom’s protégé, not mimicking her femininity. Moms remind sons that their broad shoulders are not meant to slouch, but to carry heavier loads for the sake of others.

Guarding from Sexual Confusion

Mothers need to wisely, shrewdly translate the wisdom of King Lemuel’s mother to the world we live in today, where it’s not just a king-destroying woman or the dangers of drunkenness he needs to avoid — it’s all manner of perversity and addiction. We need to help our sons avoid the enticements of the LGBTQ+ madness, to learn self-control when it comes to phones and technology, to avoid the deceitful euphemisms that have found their way into some churches, like “pronoun hospitality” or “gender-affirming care” or “reproductive freedom.”

Our sons may not be solicited on the street by a prostitute, but they will likely meet with some sinister images or a person who tempts them online. Without the warnings and cautions and roadblocks, and the faith-filled prayers of their godly mothers restraining them, they will be tempted to respond to the sexual advances of perverse men and women who seek them out in the unseen places of the Internet. Or, at the very least, they will be tempted to make light of those who do indulge such perversity — they will be tempted to affirm what God calls an abomination (Romans 1:32).

Home as a Mirror of Mothers

We mothers also need to show our children, and perhaps especially our teenage sons, the respite and safe haven of a Christian home, where God’s ways are normal, and the gospel is for them, and repentance and forgiveness are quick and ongoing, and God’s friendship is for those who fear him. We need to be mothers like the excellent woman in Proverbs 31, the one King Lemuel’s mother told him about:

Strength and dignity are her clothing,
     and she laughs at the time to come.
She opens her mouth with wisdom,
     and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.
She looks well to the ways of her household
     and does not eat the bread of idleness. (Proverbs 31:25–27)

God calls us mothers to look well to the ways of our household. We make and keep the home, so home is often a reflection of us, of our own godliness, maturity, submission to our husband, and conformity to Christ — or the lack of all those things. The atmosphere inside the home can be stale and tense and smothering or full of clean air and light hearts. The rhythms of our home will either indulge or discourage idleness.

We can wear the strength and confidence and dignity of a mother who fears God and entrusts herself to Christ, or we can make anxious people-pleasing or selfish strife our default setting.

From Teenage Sons to Godly Men

Remember that our homes are testifying and speaking to our children. It’s likely that our sons will not verbally give us up-to-the-minute details of all that is in their hearts, but their hearts are either being softened to God and his ways or hardened to them. Our home life either authenticates the gospel and the goodness of God’s commands, or it misrepresents those things and becomes a stumbling block through our own hypocrisy. We can speak the words and warnings of life to our sons, or we can prefer safety-oriented rules and practical instruction over the weightier goal of godly manhood.

It’s easy to think that our growing teenage sons don’t really need their mothers. And certainly they don’t need us the same way they did when they were little. They don’t need our constant physical care; they need the wise and godly oracles of their mom telling them how to avoid worldly temptations, and what true justice is, and how to find a good wife. They need to know the respect and love and friendship and counsel and prayers of their godly mother.

They don’t need to be smothered or controlled or manipulated or used. They don’t need to be pitied or babied or coddled. But they do still need their godly mothers to offer wise and repeated instructions on how to be a man while showing them the contagious joy of a woman who fears the Lord.

The article originally appeared on Desiring God , and is used with permission of the author.

Photo by Taryn Elliott

16 Questions about Heaven and the New Earth

I always enjoy anytime I get to have a conversation with Sean McDowell, who teaches at Biola/Talbot and has a very engaging and helpful YouTube channel on apologetics. Sean and I did another Q&A on Heaven recently, with some different questions and answers.

How did your belief in Heaven frame your loss of your wife? (1:00)
How do you deal with doubt? (3:31)
What gives you hope? (6:02)
Is Heaven real? (8:26)
How will Heaven be exciting if there’s no risk? (13:25)
Are there animals in Heaven? (16:40)
How about our pets? (20:15)
How can we enjoy Heaven if some of our loved ones are not there? (22:53)
Can people sin in Heaven? (26:53)
Will there be external temptation? (29:50)
Are there sports in Heaven? (34:12)
Will we eat and drink in Heaven? (38:00)
Will we be able to fly? (41:02)
How will our bodies be similar/different in the eternal Heaven? (45:06)
How old will we be in Heaven? (48:30)
How do eternal rewards work?  (51:12)

Sean kindly mentioned my book The Promise of the New Earth, which combines teaching about Heaven, with beautiful photography. It’s available from our online store and from Amazon.

Photo by Cristian Manieri

Does the Bible Really Speak of Us Having “Glory” Someday?

I was recently asked this great question:

The word “glory” keeps coming up in my reading of Scripture. I read about the “weight of glory” in 2 Corinthians 4:17: “For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.” And, “For I consider [from the standpoint of faith] that the sufferings of the present life are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is about to be revealed to us and in us!” (Romans 8:18 AMP). It’s not a stretch to understand the “Glory of God.” The point I’m trying to grasp is about believers participating in glory. It seems that several verses point that out, but I haven’t heard glory used outside of talking about God/Jesus. Even my verse of the day today speaks of us having a form of glory: “Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory” (Romans 5:2, NLT).

The idea of us having the “glory” someday is hard to wrap my mind around. Can you help clarify?

The three tenses/stages of salvation are redemption in our past, sanctification in our present, and glorification in our future. Some Christians struggle with the idea of believers participating in glory because they think glory belongs to God alone. But future glory also belongs to those on whom God chooses to endow it—His children and especially His most faithful children in this life. He is the one who glorifies His people. Daniel 12:3 says, “Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above; and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever."

It brings to mind what C.S. Lewis wrote in his essay “The Weight of Glory”:

And this brings me to the other sense of glory—glory as brightness, splendour, luminosity.
We are to shine as the sun, we are to be given the Morning Star.

…There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations—these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub and exploit—immortal horrors or everlasting splendors.

Here is what Got Questions says:

…Paul makes a marvelous statement in 2 Corinthians 4:17: “For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison” (ESV). This “weight of glory” speaks of the relative insignificance of our present, earthly suffering in contrast with the magnitude of resurrection life and eternal salvation. Our corruptible bodies will experience the same resurrection power that raised Jesus Christ to life: “And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you” (Romans 8:11).

The Contemporary English Version expresses 2 Corinthians 4:17 as follows: “These little troubles are getting us ready for an eternal glory that will make all our troubles seem like nothing.” Our present sufferings are so light and fleeting, they weigh less than a feather and pass in the blink of an eye when compared to the hefty wonders that await us in our future glorified state.

Paul was confident, and we can be, too, that all believers will receive their eternal reward—the weight of glory—in the new heavens and new earth. We can take courage, knowing the difficulties we experience now are minor when compared to all that God has in store for us in heaven.

In 2 Corinthians 4:18, Paul urges believers to keep their eyes focused on the eternal prize of heaven: “So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever” (NLT).

At present, we only have a veiled glimpse of the weight of glory. We don’t fully know everything we will experience in heaven. (1 Corinthians 2:9; 13:12). But we do know it will be glorious and filled with the unparalleled riches of God’s grace: “And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:6–7).

One day, we won’t just enter into God’s presence and enter into His happiness; we will enter into His glory. In order to share Christ’s glory forever on the New Earth, we must share His sufferings temporarily on the fallen Earth.

When the New Testament discusses suffering, it repeatedly puts Heaven before the eyes of believers. Sadly, many churches fail to follow this example. When we say nothing about God’s eternal purposes in trials, or put our hope in a health and wealth gospel, or hope only in medical advances, we rob God’s people of an eternal perspective.

“Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory” (Romans 8:17). Paul says we will become Christ’s heirs and share in His glory if we share in His sufferings. No suffering, no glory.

F. F. Bruce writes, “It is not merely that the glory is a compensation for the suffering; it actually grows out of the suffering. There is an organic relation between the two for the believer as surely as there was for his Lord.”

As Romans 8:18 emphasizes, our present sufferings are not worth comparing to the future glory that God and we and others will see in us. Paul offers a one-word answer to the question, “Why suffering?” He replies, “Glory.” Glory is a state of high honor, involving a brilliant, radiant beauty. Our glory is secondary, not primary. We are not its source, God is. He is the sun who shines upon us, bestowing an eternal glory rooted in Himself, purchased for us by His suffering on the cross. God will be glorified by imparting His honor to us and sharing it with us.

Here was my answer when I was asked more about Romans 8:18.

God’s promise of glory doesn’t minimize our suffering, of course; Paul affirms we will experience great sufferings (see Romans 8). Only an immeasurably greater glory can eclipse our present suffering—and that is exactly what will happen. Romans 8:18 says God will not create that glory, but will reveal it. It’s already there—just not yet manifested.

The treasures we’ll enjoy won’t lie only outside us, but, Paul says, “in us.” God uses suffering to achieve the glorious transformation of our characters to prepare us for service and joy in the next life.

God will not simply wait for our deaths, then snap his fingers to make us what he wants us to be. He begins that process here and now, using our suffering to help us grow in Christlikeness. Phillips renders Romans 8:19, “The whole creation is on tiptoe to see the wonderful sight of the sons of God coming into their own.” As a master artist’s magnum opus awaits unveiling at an exhibit, so our Christlikeness, forged in suffering, awaits revealing at the Master’s perfect time.

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 . For more on eternity, see Randy's book Heaven . 

Photo by Ilja Tulit on Unsplash

The Truth About Truth

“If there is no absolute beyond man’s ideas, then there is no final appeal to judge between individuals and groups whose moral judgments conflict. We are merely left with conflicting opinions.” —Francis Schaeffer

Of all truths in the universe, the most important is the truth of who Jesus is. After all, Truth is not merely an impersonal moral standard. It is a living Person who loved us so much He bears on His hands eternal scars because He rescued us.

“Very truly I tell you, the one who believes has eternal life” (John 6:47, NIV). The phrase “truly I tell you” appears 79 times in Scripture, 78 times spoken by Jesus. He is the Truth, and He tells the truth. We can fully trust everything He says. His promises are written in blood.

Truth exists whether or not anyone believes it.

“’You are a king, then!’ said Pilate.

Jesus answered, ‘You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.’

‘What is truth?’ retorted Pilate” (John 18:37-38a, NIV).

What is truth? It is reality. When Pilate said of Jesus, “I find no basis for a charge against him” (John 18:38b, NIV), he affirmed what he believed and what was indeed true: Jesus was innocent.

Truth-claims are exclusive. Jesus didn’t say He was a truth, but “the truth” (John 14:6). If someone says Jesus isn’t the primary truth, then either he’s wrong or Jesus is.

If we grasp this truth, we’ll undergo the ultimate paradigm shift: without Christ, any sacrifice we make is worthless. We are miserable without Jesus. Nothing we have can satisfy us. And even if it did, we couldn’t hold on to it.

When we hear Jesus tell us to take up our crosses and follow Him and say we should lose our lives for His sake, we’re tempted to think, “Then I will never be happy.” But in fact, Jesus is saying our short-term sacrifices for Him are a means to an end, and that end is true and abundant life: “Whoever loses their life for my sake will find it” (Matthew 10:39, NIV).

Theologian John Brown wrote, “He who believes the truth enters on the enjoyment of a happiness which is of the same nature, and springs from the same sources, as the happiness of God.”

Have you had a heart transplant?

Scripture is full of disheartening diagnoses, including that “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure” (Jeremiah 17:9, NIV).

But the Great Physician must tell us this hard truth so we can say, “Create in me a clean heart, O God” (Psalm 51:10, ESV). The Physician also promises, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees” (Ezekiel 36:26-27, NIV).

Words that at first may sting us deeply don’t mean we’re without hope, only that we cannot cure ourselves. But God has provided the cure: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” (2 Corinthians 5:17, NIV).

Eternal life is not found by believing in just any god but by believing in the “only true God.” False gods, both religious and secular, litter the landscape. “Jesus prayed, ‘Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent’” (John 17:3, NIV). The only true God is the one who sent the only true Savior, Jesus Christ.

Jesus gives us more than eternal existence. He gives us eternal life: “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:4-6, ESV).

This great truth all hinges on the person and work of none other than Jesus.

God’s best and most perfect gift to us is Jesus Himself.

“All things were created through him and for him…and in him all things hold together” (Colossians 1:16-17, NIV).

If everything that comes into our lives is Father-filtered, how can we be anything less than optimistic? Our optimism is based squarely on realism: Jesus is real, atonement is real, resurrection is real, Heaven is real, and the Gospel really is “good news.”

William Temple wrote, “The only thing of our very own which we contribute to our salvation is the sin which makes it necessary.” And Scripture tells us that apart from Christ, we were “dead in [our] sins.” This sounds like bad news since a corpse can’t raise itself from the grave.

Salvation is a gift: we contribute absolutely nothing. When Jesus called Lazarus from the tomb, He did the work, not Lazarus. Salvation depends on God’s mercy and His faithfulness to His promises.

Faith saves us, and we stay saved because of the sustaining, persevering work of God in our lives. The “good news” includes the fact that we needn’t live in fear of losing our salvation: “I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand” (John 10:28, NIV).

Our source of comfort is the truth that not only will we be with the Lord in Heaven, but also that we’ll be with each other. In Heaven, God will delight in His children’s love for each other. As we walk and talk and laugh together, He’ll take as much pleasure in it as we do.

“If God is your co-pilot, swap seats!” (Max Lucado)

Psalm 86 tells us that we must learn the ways of God in order to walk in the ways of God. Jesus said, “Come to me…Take my yoke upon you and learn from me” (Matthew 11:28-29, NIV).

Walk in God’s truth, and then you’ll be in the position to receive His daily guidance. A.W. Tozer said, “Practice the truth and we may with propriety speak the truth.”

All human claims to greatness and sovereignty are pretensions. When Herod took credit for godlike powers, he breathed his last, while the God-breathed Word grew.

A crowd, seeing someone jump to escape a skyscraper fire, could vote unanimously to suspend the law of gravity. What difference would that make?

We can’t negotiate God’s truth any more than we can negotiate gravity.

Have the courage to ask Christ to show you what He really wants for your life—not what others want for you, but what He knows is right for you. Listen to His Word for the answers, and call upon Him to show you the truth and empower you to live it.

For more on this topic, see Randy’s book  The Grace and Truth Paradox .

Photo by RODNAE Productions

Isn’t Abortion a Private Issue Between a Woman and God?

In our culture, it’s common to hear some variation of, “Abortion is no one else’s business. That’s a decision between a woman and her doctor.” Others might say, “Abortion is an issue between a woman and God.” I give a response in this 2-minute audio clip. One of our EPM staff members also answered a similar question from a reader who wrote our ministry, expressing concerns about my prolife convictions.

I do hope you’ll avail yourself of my book Pro-Choice or Pro-Life: Examining 15 Pro-Choice Claims—What Do Facts & Common Sense Tell Us? It’s available to read for free online, and the print book is available for a low cost, making it great for ministries and churches to share.

Someone wrote EPM to say:

Randy, I know you and your wife are so pro-life, and I understand your feelings and beliefs, and I don’t like abortions either, but I don’t believe it’s your decision to make. I believe it’s between the pregnant woman and God. She knows how God feels about it. Everyone knows how God feels about it. 

Can you imagine your 10-year-old daughter being raped and then pregnant, and what a pregnancy will do to her mentally and physically? I believe the unborn child will go to Heaven and be with Jesus and will be loved so much.

I can’t even download your book Pro-Choice or Pro-Life? because I’m afraid it will make me not want to read any more of your books. I respect your feelings, but I don’t think you should preach to women, making them feel horrible. I’m also afraid to find out if you support certain political leaders based on your beliefs about abortion.

One of our staff responded:

I’m replying on Randy’s behalf. I appreciate your honesty in what you shared. One of the things that Randy has frequently said over the years is, “The greatest kindness we can offer is the truth.” Your email mentions the humanity of the unborn child, and that is where our focus has to be and why Randy believes truth needs to be shared, in a spirit of grace. Scripture tells us, “Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves” (Proverbs 31:8).

If a child were not involved, then this really would be a private decision between a woman and God. But because there is a baby involved, the greatest kindness we can offer others is the truth about abortion. Just imagine if we applied a similar line of thought to other injustices: “Child abuse is between a parent and God.” “Rape is a decision between a man and God.” “Slavery was a decision between a slave owner and God.” All of those statements leave out the person who is being abused and victimized by those decisions. Someone could say, “Everyone knows how God feels about child abuse, rape, and slavery.” But knowing what God feels/says about something is exactly why we should speak out against an injustice.

Randy writes, “It seems to me that the only good reason for personally opposing abortion is that it kills an inno­cent child. If it doesn’t, there’s no need to be against it. But if it does, then you should not just refrain from it yourself—you should oppose others doing it also. You should favor laws to restrict it, for exactly the same reason you favor laws to restrict rape, child molestation, and murder.”

The 10-year-old girl being raped and facing a pregnancy is horrific to imagine. As a mom of two daughters, my heart breaks to think of a precious girl going through such a terrible situation. But the truth is that an abortion cannot take away the pain and the trauma of a rape; it will only add to the trauma. Situations like these do not change what’s always true: an unborn child is precious, created in God’s image. Our anger should be focused on the perpetrator, who should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, and the girl should receive much-needed help, support, and counseling.

Life is a beautiful gift from God, even when we can’t see that beauty at times. There are so many amazing stories of people (like Ryan Bomberger) who found out later that their biological mom was raped and yet their mothers chose life for them. But their beginning does not change their worth. Randy once had a woman come up to him after he spoke on this subject. She wept as she said, “Thank you. I’ve never heard anyone say that a child conceived by rape deserved to live. My mother was raped when she was twelve years old. She gave birth to me and gave me up for adoption to a wonderful family. I’ll probably never meet her, but every day I thank God for her and her parents. If they hadn’t let me live, I wouldn’t be here to have my own husband and children, and my own life. I’m just so thankful to be alive.”

The other aspect to all of this is how abortion harms women mentally, emotionally, and physically, which Randy talks about in Pro-Choice and Pro-Life. He writes, “By talking about abortion—with grace and truth—we will prevent abortions and offer forgiveness and healing to women and men who are suffering in silence.” This isn’t about making women feel horrible; it’s about sharing the truth in love so abortions will be prevented and so that women who have experienced abortion can experience God’s forgiveness. “The truth will set you free” (John 8:32). There can’t be healing without truth shared.

I would like to encourage you to read Pro-Choice and Pro-Life (which you can do online for free). I believe it will help you think through some of your positions related to abortion. Yes, you may find some of your thoughts challenged, but I think knowing something of Randy’s heart on other topics will help you as you read. This isn’t a political book because abortion at its heart is not a political issue; it’s a human rights issue. Would you be willing to ask the Lord to impress upon your heart any areas where it might need changing? We can trust that He is good, and His Holy Spirit will lead and guide us to all truth (John 16:13). No matter what, you’ll only be more informed as the book will help you think through your positions and know the “other side” of the argument. That can help you as you talk about this subject with others.

We wish you all the best. God bless you.

Photo by MART PRODUCTION