Randy Alcorn's Blog, page 47

The Doctrinal Crisis in American Evangelical Churches: What Can We Do?

Most readers have likely heard about individuals having a crisis of faith. We’ve learned terms such as “exvangelical” and “deconstruction.” We are sometimes familiar with entire churches, even denominations, who have lost their faith. But while it is not the first to do so, a poll released last week should serve as a dramatic wake up call to evangelical churches and their pastors.

One of several examples: 73 percent of evangelicals who took the poll agreed with the statement that “Jesus is the first and greatest being created by God.” That is the Arianism condemned by church councils which recognized that Scripture teaches the full deity of Christ. While Mormons believe Jesus is the first and greatest being created by God, evangelical Christians historically have believed Jesus is the infinite Creator, not a finite creature. In 325 A.D., based on multiple Scriptures, the Nicene Creed declared, as a refutation of Arianism, that Jesus Christ was “not made” but “eternally begotten” and is “one in being with the Father.”

Eleven years ago, I wrote an article titled, “Does the Word ‘Evangelical’ Mean Anything Anymore?” I said then:

…there are more and more every year who think “There’s no way to know the truth, so let’s not be dogmatic” in areas that God has actually revealed in His Word, which people have given their lives to get into our language so we could know what God has said to us. I feel like right now among evangelicals—including authors, musicians, speakers, and pastors—there’s a runaway train of unbiblical and unclear thinking.

We are improvising theology on the fly with little regard for the Scriptures or the historic orthodox Christian faith. We act as if the Christian faith began with us, and we are perfectly free to modify it in light of the latest cultural winds. To put it bluntly, there is not only more and more false doctrine in churches, there is also more and more of it coming from evangelical pastors and authors and publishers and colleges. (Of course, more and more people aren’t even part of churches these days, but that’s a different story, though related.)

In conclusion, I asked:

Is it reasonable to suggest that there is a point where if you no longer believe that the whole Bible is true, and you deny core truths evangelical Christians historically believed, it is misleading and even nonsensical to continue to call yourself an “evangelical Christian”?

It’s been over a decade, but sadly, the trends I saw in 2011, including the decline of biblical knowledge and the erosion of sound doctrine in churches, have only become more obvious. Every two years, Ligonier Ministries and Lifeway Research partner together to “take the theological temperature” of U.S. evangelicals. The 2022 survey reflected very disturbing trends in the American church. (Christianity Today explains: “Respondents were considered evangelical by belief if they strongly agreed in the Bible as the highest authority; the importance of encouraging non-Christians to trust Jesus as their savior; that his death removed the penalty of sin; and that trust in him alone brings salvation.” You must keep this in mind as you contemplate the poll results—these are not merely self-proclaimed evangelicals, but to have their opinions count, they had to clearly affirm those clear evangelical beliefs. Therefore, while results would vary from church to church, the respondents are generally a fair cross-section of evangelicals.)

Alarming Trends

Other remarkable findings of the survey: when presented with the statement “Jesus was a great teacher, but he was not God,” 43% of evangelicals surveyed agreed (compared to 30% in 2020). This means that more than four out of ten people who claim to be evangelicals don’t believe in the deity of Jesus Christ! (Of course, it would be seven out of ten based on the responses to that question about Jesus being created.) And 56% of evangelicals agree with the statement “God accepts the worship of all religions, including Christianity, Judaism, and Islam.”

26% of evangelicals (up from 15% in 2020)—affirmed the statement, “The Bible, like all sacred writings, contains helpful accounts of ancient myths but is not literally true.” And 38% agree with “Religious belief is a matter of personal opinion; it is not about objective truth.” The percentages demonstrate that these are no mere fringe ideas; they are already prevalent in U.S. churches and are gaining traction at an alarming rate.

37% think that “Gender identity is a matter of choice,” and given the strong trajectory of our culture, and schools in particular, we should expect this number to increase.  One encouraging finding was that 94% of evangelicals agree that “Sex outside of traditional marriage is a sin.” I’m also glad to see 91% of respondents agreed with the statement “Abortion is a sin.” (In my opinion, however, many evangelicals do not live consistently with these beliefs, since premarital sex and abortion are more widespread than those figures would suggest. The last study I was aware of found that 25% of women getting abortions indicated they were evangelical Christians.)

The surveyors conclude:

The 2022 State of Theology survey reveals that Americans increasingly reject the divine origin and complete accuracy of the Bible. With no enduring plumb line of absolute truth to conform to, U.S. adults are also increasingly holding to unbiblical worldviews related to human sexuality. In the evangelical sphere, doctrines including the deity and exclusivity of Jesus Christ, as well as the inspiration and authority of the Bible, are increasingly being rejected. While positive trends are present, including evangelicals’ views on abortion and sex outside of marriage, an inconsistent biblical ethic is also evident, with more evangelicals embracing a secular worldview in the areas of homosexuality and gender identity.

Evidence of a False Worldview

This is a revealing survey pointing to a reality that has been heavy on my mind and heart (and that of countless believers) for decades. The number of people in evangelical churches who do not believe basic Christian doctrines is disturbing. In my experience, this comes out frequently in conversations and social media posts, and is far more evident in pastors and church leaders than it was even ten or five years ago. 

So what can we do? I believe this doctrinal crisis in evangelical churches needs to be countered not just with biblically based messages, but with a deliberate commitment to the teaching of sound systematic theology. General “Bible teaching” for 30-40 minutes a week, while important, is woefully insufficient to solely address these issues. Why? When people are immersed in the culture’s wrong worldview, church attenders can hear the Bible taught and still see and hear the particular passage through the eyes and ears of that wrong worldview. It’s all too easy to twist or take out of context verses, rather than having their worldview corrected by sound biblical doctrine. (For instance, unless they are explicitly taught otherwise and often reminded, every time those 73% who think Jesus is a created being hear their pastor say “Jesus” they are not thinking of the true Jesus but a false Jesus who is not God.) If we don't somehow reverse the doctrinal decay in our evangelical churches, this dominant trend will continue until the church is indistinguishable from the culture.

Russell Moore explains,

New Testament scholar David Nienhuis makes the point that we have a generation of “Bible quoters, not Bible readers.” Sometimes even the most theologically inclined people know how to use the Bible in debate both inside and outside the church over controversies on gender, predestination, and so forth. But they don’t know the difference between Melchizedek and Mordecai, between Josiah and Jehoshaphat. They see the actual storyline of Scripture as a “minor” detail.

The Bible does far more than answer questions posed to it by current controversies, and far more than just undergird doctrine. The Bible shapes and forms its hearers. …we might have our “values” right-side up and our theology upside down.

Among many things, people need to be taught what the whole of Scripture says about the deity of Jesus, the nature of the trinity, the inspiration and inerrancy of Scripture, and the exclusive nature of salvation in Christ. Those doctrines will be contradicted constantly by the world and mainline denominations. (For more of a commentary on the Lifeway/Ligonier survey results about the beliefs of evangelicals, see this excellent article by Joe Carter.)

A Call for Teaching Systematic Theology

Several years ago, I was asked what I would do differently if I were a pastor today, as I was for fourteen years at two different churches. The answer was easy: if I had it to do over again, I would focus heavily on teaching systematic theology. Our calling is to “teach what accords with sound doctrine” (Titus 2:1).

I would use some of the great resources we have today (including Wayne Grudem’s Bible Doctrine, the condensation of his large systematic theology, which I first led a group of men in studying twenty years ago.). I would start an ongoing weekly class teaching through it chapter by chapter, and encourage every person in the church to join and complete the study. This could also be done in small groups. Once people finish the study, whether it takes one, two, or three years, I would encourage them to go through it again, because the second and third time, great truths would sink in and be reinforced.

Over nearly four decades in my church (a church that has always taught and emphasized God’s Word), I’ve seen a noticeable—even startling—reduction in the average person’s grasp of biblical truth. It’s possible for someone to hear Bible-based sermons, as we regularly do at my church, while at the same time adopting a worldview that is less and less biblical. This happens because most church people spend little time studying God’s truth during the week. Compare the time spent reading Scripture and great books that teach biblical truth with the amount of time spent watching television and reading social media, both of which often exemplify an anti-Christian worldview. What chance does one 40-minute sermon a week have, no matter how biblical, when it must try to correct 40 to 70 hours of input that’s contrary to Scripture? It’s impossible, unless that 40 minutes of Bible teaching is a vehicle to get people into studying and discussing God’s Word and reading quality books in their own discretionary time.

In addition to giving people a truly Christian worldview, my biggest hope with the teaching of systematic theology is that it will inspire and motivate them to read books which further cultivate that biblical perspective. If people in our churches gave up ten hours of television, talk radio, sports radio, political programming, shopping, or you-name-it per week and spent that time reading or listening to God’s Word and great Christ-exalting books and  videos, it would make a phenomenal difference.

Our young people must be taught systematic theology (age-appropriate of course, which can be done from childhood) to establish a Christian worldview, before going off to college. That’s the only way they will be equipped to answer the challenges to their faith they’ll encounter. They would at least have a chance. As it is now, many go off to college with little more than a few isolated stories they heard in Sunday school, youth group, and in their homes. This meagre knowledge can’t begin to stand up against the onslaught of anti-God, anti-Bible, and anti-church doctrine that will overwhelm them (tragically, even at many so-called Christian colleges).

Encouraging a Culture of Reading Good Books

The other thing I would attempt, were I in a position to do so today, is to regularly promote and make available onsite a wide variety of great Christian books. Forty year ago I worked alongside one of our book-loving elders to start a church bookstore that provided great resources to “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18).

When we spoke on a passage at church, we provided recommended books so people could go deeper. When I taught a year-long Bible panorama course on Sunday nights, I sought and got a great deal from a publisher on a five-volume Bible encyclopedia that was purchased by hundreds of our church families, so that they and their children could get substantial help in their personal Bible study. Not only our elders and small group leaders but many more of our church family were committed to regularly reading quality Christian literature. Some would spend their evenings doing that and discover it is SO much better than watching TV.

I’ll come back in a future blog to books I would recommend, but while writing this article, I found a great list of 25 books recommended by a pastor. I loved the list and by the time I was halfway through, I was certain I wanted to share it, barring the remote possibility that a Joel Osteen book was yet to pop up! I’m happy to say it didn’t. (I was surprised to see the last book listed was my book Heaven. I can honestly say it had nothing to do with me wanting to share the link, but clearly it didn’t hurt.) I loved that the list also includes “25 Other Books That Could’ve Made This List,” many of which I’ve read and also recommend. He ends with a list of other resources, including systematic theologies, most of which I agree are high quality. Besides this there are many great biographies such as one I’m  reading right now, thanks to the recommendation of two brothers in my small group: Arnold Dallimore’s biography of George Whitefield.

You might imagine that the internet provides people resources that make books unnecessary. That’s not true. Often the internet undermines thoughtful study because it offers “quick answers” that frequently don’t reflect careful biblical study. However, if you know where to look, you can get very helpful biblical information. One of the best sources is Got Questions. At our ministry we often answer questions people ask, and along with a wide variety of sources, we frequently link to their website.

Logos Bible Software offers an amazing array of biblical and theological video courses. I’ve taken at least a half dozen of these, and they are terrific. You can go through these in a small group or as a class at church. I highly recommend checking these out.  The Gospel Coalition also offers a variety of free courses. Right Now Media, which is subscribed to by many churches, provides biblical courses for individuals and groups.

I’ve told pastors that if their staff, church elders, and other lay leaders did no more than regularly read the articles posted on Desiring God and The Gospel Coalition, and listen to the Ask Pastor John podcast and watch the Look at the Book videos, many of them would have a deeper biblical knowledge and be more proficient in their Bible study and teaching than ever before. This investment of perhaps five hours a week would pay off a hundred times in their ability to shepherd their churches.

Let’s Reverse the Trend, with God’s Help

As the surveys demonstrate, we are currently not winning the battle of renewing our minds by God’s revealed truth. Most evangelical Christians are not gaining ground when it comes to having a biblical worldview; they are losing ground. Reversing this trend simply will never happen without radical and decisive changes in people’s personal habits, involving supplementing the personal study of God’s Word with reading truly good books of spiritual depth and substance, and getting solid training in their churches and Bible studies.

We simply must make great strides to enhance biblical and theological knowledge in our churches, so that instead of conforming to the world, we can become transformed by the renewing of our minds, just as Romans 12:1-2 instructs us. This requires our partnership with the work of God’s Spirit. Let’s follow the example of the Apostle Paul, who prayed fervently that the love of the Philippians would “abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ” (1:9-10).

Let’s be warned by these statistics but not demoralized by them. Let’s be energized to action, remembering that Christ promised “I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18). At the same time, let’s not presume that any church, or the families in that church, are somehow invulnerable to doctrinal and moral erosion and their devastating consequences. Jesus said to the church at Ephesus, “I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place” (Revelation 2:4-5).

May pastors, leaders, teachers, and laypeople alike sit at the feet of the indwelling Holy Spirit of whom Jesus said, “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” And may we all one day stand before Jesus Christ and say with the Apostle Paul, “for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God” (Acts 20:27). (Note that one can only declare the whole counsel of God by investing the long hours necessary to learn the whole counsel of God!)

Photo by Elijah Pilchard on Unsplash

What Happens to Us When We Die?

Dead people don’t come back and tell us what they’ve experienced. But we can know some things based on the Bible’s explanations. We don’t just disappear after we die. We live on in another location. Followers of Jesus go to live with Him in Heaven. On the cross, Jesus told the thief crucified next to Him, “Today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43).

In Christ’s story about the rich man and Lazarus, at the moment of death, Lazarus was ushered into Heaven by angels (Luke 16:22). It seems likely that will be true of all of God’s children when we die. Different angels are assigned to different people (Matthew 18:10), so perhaps our escorts into Heaven will be angels who have served us while we were on Earth (Hebrews 1:14).

Most importantly, Jesus Himself will be with us during our deaths. He has promised to never leave or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). Nothing, not even death, can separate us from His love (Romans 8:38-39). God promises that all who know Him will experience acceptance into His holy, loving, and gracious arms. This assurance is why the apostle Paul could say, “We are confident, we would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:8, CSB).

As painful as death is, and as right as it is to grieve it (Jesus did), we on this dying earth can also rejoice for our loved ones who are already in the presence of Christ. When they die, those covered by Christ’s blood are experiencing the joy of His presence. (Scripture clearly teaches that there is no such thing as “soul sleep,” or a long period of unconsciousness between life on Earth and life in Heaven. The phrase “fallen asleep” in 1 Thessalonians 4:13 and similar passages describes the body’s outward appearance at death.)

As Paul tells us, though we naturally grieve at losing loved ones, we are not to “grieve like people who have no hope” (1 Thessalonians 4:13). Our parting is not the end of our relationship, only an interruption. We have not “lost” them, because we know where they are. And one day, we’re told, in a magnificent reunion, they and we “will be with the Lord forever. So encourage each other with these words” (1 Thessalonians 4:17-18).

Peter tells us, “You will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 1:11, NIV). God is the main welcomer, no doubt. All eyes are on Jesus, the Cosmic Center, the Source of all Happiness. But wouldn’t it make sense for the secondary welcomers to be God’s people, those who touched our lives, and whose lives we touched? Wouldn’t that be a great greeting party? I envision glorious reunions and amazing introductions, conversations and storytelling at banquets and on walks, jaws dropping and laughter long and hard, the laughter of Jesus being the most contagious.

Our loved ones now in Heaven live in a place where joy is the air they breathe. But they are also looking forward to Christ’s return, their bodily resurrection, the final judgment, and the fashioning of the New Earth from the ruins of the old.

Excerpted from The Promise of the New Earth , now available exclusively from Eternal Perspective Ministries. 

Photo by Paul Streltsov on Unsplash

Are You Looking Forward to the Earth’s Redemption?

In my dialogues with lifelong evangelicals, I’ve found that a surprisingly large number apparently believe they will spend eternity as disembodied spirits. I sometimes ask, “You do believe in the resurrection, right?” They will say yes, knowing they should, but they go right on to question whether in the eternal Heaven on the New Earth there could be eating and drinking, swimming, running, biking, hugging, reading, painting, and any other activities embodied human beings do.

God’s revelation concerning the resurrection and the New Earth—our forever home—eludes them. A Christian university professor wrote, “I was floored and dismayed to discover the vast majority of my students don’t believe in the bodily resurrection.” Some evangelicals even believe we become angels when we die!

In contrast, Job says of his Messiah, “But as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, and he will stand upon the earth at last. And after my body has decayed, yet in my body I will see God! I will see him for myself. Yes, I will see him with my own eyes. I am overwhelmed at the thought!” (Job 19:25-27, NLT). Read those words carefully. What else besides a literal physical resurrection can this mean?

When I shared these thoughts on Facebook, a reader commented: “My faith was almost shipwrecked until I figured this out.”

Someone said, “I’m asking in complete sincerity, how did believing that we will inhabit the earth save your faith?”

She wrote in response,

About two years ago, I had been in a dark place for a lot of reasons. Things were starting to get a little better, but I was still pretty ambivalent towards God. When I realized that the Kingdom was about “restoring Eden” and not about “escaping to Heaven” I couldn’t stop marveling that this was a God that never had a Plan B.

My whole life I’d understood the gospel as God saying, “I gave you humans a home and you screwed it up. I guess I’ll let you live with me now.” Which pretty effectively dimmed my view of His glory.

Two years after that revelation, I still get a little giddy thinking about Eden as the unconquerable Plan A. And I have a little one-year-old girl named Eden who reminds me how good that Plan A is.

What a magnificent answer, in keeping with the wonderful words contained in Romans 8:19-23:

The sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that will be revealed in us. The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration [curse]... in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God....We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.

The “redemption of our bodies” refers to the resurrection of the dead. Paul says that not only we, but “the whole creation” longs for and cries out for the earth-wide deliverance that will come with our bodily resurrection.

Think about it: As the entire creation, including animals and plants and nature itself, fell on humanity’s coat-tails, so the entire creation shall rise on our coat-tails, the beneficiary of Christ’s redemptive work and resurrection. As creation wasn’t only about us, so redemption is not only about us.

Do you find yourself sighing and groaning? Have you seen the look in the eyes of a suffering animal, and thought, creation cries out for deliverance? The text obviously includes the only beings besides humans that walk the earth that are capable of true suffering: the animals. Isaiah 11, 60, and 65 all depict animals on the New Earth, as does Ezekiel 47. Human beings and Earth are inseparably linked. Together we fell, together we shall rise.

We know instinctively there’s something better than life as we now know it. We catch glimmers of greatness; we have foretastes of joy, but they are elusive.

Sin and curse are not intrinsic to humanity—they are foreign to it. They are invaders, to be defeated. And one day God will transform the fallen human race into a renewed human race and the present earth into the New Earth. It’s a place that won’t be ruined by tsunami and floods and earthquakes and typhoons.

We will have new bodies, not non-bodies. We will live on a new earth, not a non-earth. A new car is first and foremost a car. It is not a non-car. A new earth will be first and foremost an earth, not a non-earth. That means we have a reference point by which to understand the New Earth. The current earth is bursting with clues suggesting what we will find on the New Earth.

Consider these re-words:

Redemption: buying back what was formerly owned
Reconciliation: regaining a friend
Renewal: making new again, restoring to an original state
Resurrection: becoming physically alive again, after death
Regeneration: being born again, having a new beginning
Restoration: bringing back the lost

A phrase from the hymn “Hallelujah, What a Savior!” says His job is “ruined sinners to reclaim.”

Reclaim is another re-word. It recognizes that God had a prior claim on humanity that was temporarily lost but is fully restored and taken to a new level in Christ. God is the ultimate salvage artist. He loves to restore things to their original condition—and make them even better. Just as someone strips old paint off an antique to restore it, so our Savior removes our sin and restores us to His original design.

“At the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel” (Matthew 19:27-28). He could have said at the destruction of all things. But instead He said at the renewal of all things. “All things” means that this earth is bursting with suggestions of what the New Earth will be like. What will be eliminated are sin and suffering and death and curse!

This isn’t speculation, it’s exactly what Scripture tells us about the New Earth: “He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever” (Revelation 21:4, NLT). And lest we fail to understand how that relates to Eden we’re told, “No longer will there be any curse” (Revelation 22:3, NIV).

This isn’t restricted to the last book of the Bible. It’s something that is to inform and guide our dreams right now: “In keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness” (2 Peter 3:13). A New Earth is a renewed earth, a reclaimed earth, a redeemed earth, a resurrected earth. That’s what awaits us!

In “Joy to the World,” Isaac Watts wrote:

No more let sins and sorrows grow
Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make His blessings flow
Far as the curse is found.

How far does Christ’s redemptive work extend? Far as the curse is found. If redemption failed to reach the farthest boundaries of the curse, it would be incomplete. Our spirits, our bodies, Earth itself, the animal kingdom—all are under the curse, and will be delivered from the curse. God will not abandon His creation. He will redeem it.

And we will glorify Him by ruling over the physical universe, showing respect and benevolence for all we rule. The righteous potential of humanity will at last be revealed at our resurrection. We’ll be righteous people with incorruptible bodies. We will not be inhuman in eternity; we will be more fully human than we’ve ever been!

That takes me back to the comment, “Two years after that revelation [about God’s plan for a New Earth], I still get a little giddy thinking about Eden as the unconquerable Plan A.” Well, I also find myself excited and energized every day about God’s promise of the coming global Eden, a redeemed planet, the New Earth. And when I think about living there forever with Jesus, my Savior and King and closest friend, my heart sings. And more now than ever I also think of being with Nanci and all the family and friends who have gone before me and will follow after me.

Wow! My heart soars to consider it. I hope you will read The Promise of the New Earth and experience that tug toward that new world Jesus is preparing for us. And maybe you’ll want to share it as a gift to others, whether believers or unbelievers.

Now available exclusively from EPM: The Promise of the New Earth

The Promise of the New Earth combines solid biblical teaching gleaned from Randy Alcorn’s bestselling book, Heaven, with beautiful photography to create a gift book to be treasured.

Many Christians think about the present Heaven, where Christians go now when they die, but have never considered the future Heaven, after the resurrection, which will be a physical place occupied by physical people who will live forever with Jesus and all those who love Him.

One day, those who know Jesus really will experience Heaven on Earth.

This refreshed version of Randy’s book The Promise of Heaven features all new photographs and some brand-new content. It makes a wonderful gift, especially to those who are grieving or need to learn about our eternal hope in Jesus. Hardcover, 96 pages.

The Promise of the New Earth is available exclusively from Eternal Perspective Ministries for $11.99 (retail $19.99). Purchase 10 or more for $9.99 each.

Read an excerpt and shop now

Photo by Sam Goodgame on Unsplash

How Can Reading God’s Word Promote Lasting Happiness?

“How sweet Your word is to my taste—sweeter than honey in my mouth.” (Psalm 119:103, HCSB)

“The Bible is not an end in itself, but a means to bring men to an intimate and satisfying knowledge of God, that they may enter into Him, that they may delight in His Presence, may taste and know the inner sweetness of the very God Himself in the core and center of their hearts.” —A. W. Tozer

George Müller (1805–1898), an Englishman who spent his life caring for thousands of orphans in the 1800s, suffered from bad health and the weight of stressful responsibilities. One day he wrote in his journal, “This morning I greatly dishonored the Lord by irritability manifested toward my dear wife.” He said he fell “on my knees before God, praising him for having given me such a wife.”

Müller didn’t excuse his irritability. He knew his unhappiness and bad mood had displeased God and hurt his wife. He owned up to it. But he couldn’t eliminate stress or periodic bad health. So what was his solution? He wrote,

I saw more clearly than ever that the first great and primary business to which I ought to attend every day was, to have my soul happy in the Lord. The first thing to be concerned about was, not how much I might serve the Lord, but how I might get my soul into a happy state, and how my inner man might be nourished. . . . I saw that the most important thing I had to do was to give myself to the reading of the Word of God, and to meditation on it.

On another occasion Müller said, “In what way shall we attain to this settled happiness of soul? How shall we learn to enjoy God? . . . This happiness is to be obtained through the study of the holy Scriptures.”

Our happiness is proportionate to our investment in studying God’s Word. My conversion to Christ didn’t just make me a better person; it made me a happier person. As I’ve grown closer to Jesus, He has produced in me a deeper and greater happiness. Not because I’ve seen less evil and suffering—indeed, I’ve seen far more than I did when I was less happy.

My intellectual life and spiritual life aren’t on different tracks. They’re inseparable—Jesus said we’re to love the Lord our God with our hearts and our minds (see Matthew 22:37). Had I not taken time to go deep and ponder God and His truth and His ways, all the spiritual inclinations in the world wouldn’t have left me with a settled happiness. “As your words came to me I drank them in, and they filled my heart with joy and happiness because I belong to you, O Lord, the God who rules over all” (Jeremiah 15:16, NET).

There’s nothing wrong with things such as sports and politics and today’s news. But being an expert in those areas doesn’t prepare us to live wisely, make Christ-centered decisions, lead our families through hard times, or prepare us to die well. Time in God’s Word does.

People are unhappy because they listen to the thousands of unhappy voices clamoring for attention. Joy comes from listening to and believing words of joy from the source of joy. Jesus said, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me” (John 10:27). When we follow Him, we’re happy. When we don’t, we’re not.

Many Christian men would agree that they’re experts in business, hunting, fishing, football, or cars. What if they took even half their time devoted to political talk shows and hobbies and invested it in learning solid Bible doctrine through listening to the Bible and reading great Christian books? As many others do, they could converse theologically with as much knowledge and pleasure as they can about sports, hunting, fishing, cars, or politics.

We all talk about what we know best—what’s most important to us. That means we need to change what’s important to us by investing more time in it.

How many men have frequent God-centered conversations today—with each other, their wives, and their children? How much pleasure and happiness are we depriving ourselves of by talking about everything except what matters most?

Calvin Miller (1936–2012) lamented, “Never have there been so many disciples who did so little studying. . . . Our day is plagued by hordes of miserable Christians whose pitiful study habits give them few victories and much frustration. Serious students will develop dynamic minds and a confident use of the gifts God has given to them.”

Scripture is joy-giving and liberating, not hostile and condemning. On the one hand, the law points out our unrighteousness, leading to our condemnation (see Romans 7:7). On the other hand, the life-giving aspect of the law caused David to happily celebrate it:

I delight in your commands because I love them (Psalm 119:47, NIV).
I deeply love your Law! I think about it all day (Psalm 119:97, CEV).

Charles Spurgeon said, “There is nothing in the Law of God that will rob you of happiness—it only denies you that which would cost you sorrow!”

Only by learning what Scripture says about God can we know what’s true about Him—and experience the truth-based happiness that flows from Him.

Holy and awesome God, you alone are worthy of our time and attention. Thank you for the life-giving, happiness-saturated gift of your Word! Help us realize what a treasure it is. May we not settle for anything less than daily seeking you through your Word and enjoying the happiness you’ve provided for us.

Browse more resourceson the topic of happiness, and see Randy’s related books, including Happiness and  Does God Want Us to Be Happy?

Photo by Meredith Spencer on Unsplash

A Grace-Starved, Truth-Starved World Needs Jesus

Late one rainy night years ago, my wife and I were leaving a movie the­ater when Nanci noticed an older man in the parking lot leaning on a walker, struggling. I helped him get into his car. Since he was so exhausted, I asked if I could drive him home.

He declined, but I said we’d follow him home in case he needed help. As he pulled out, driving erratically, we prayed he wouldn’t find the street. Our prayers were answered when he got trapped in a fast-food drive-through line. I opened his door and asked him to move to the passenger seat so I could drive him home, while Nanci followed.

As I pulled out, two men jumped in front of the car, waving their arms and a cell phone. One shouted, “My wife’s having our baby, and I have to get home. Can you drive us?”

“Well,” I said, “this isn’t my car, and I don’t know this man sitting next to me.”

Sounded pretty lame, don’t you think?

I asked Nanci to drive the older man’s car and follow me while I took those guys home (wherever that was). After dropping them off, I hopped back in with George—by now I knew his name—to take him home (wherever that was). When we reached his place, I helped him to his room.

I found out George had been a political science professor at San Francisco State University for twenty-eight years. I realized that most people of George’s background would not count Bible-believing Christians among their favorite people! George asked me why we had helped him. I told him we were followers of Christ. I left him my book In Light of Eternity. I prayed God would touch his life and hoped we’d hear the rest of the story in eternity.

As it turns out, we didn’t have to wait that long.

Two months later my assistant Kathy woke up in the middle of the night experiencing a strange medical problem she’d never had before and hasn’t had since. The next day she went to her doctor, bringing with her a copy of In Light of Eternity. When the doctor saw it, he said, “One of my patients was carrying that book the other day—and he told me he wished he could talk to the author.”

Kathy returned to our office with George’s phone number. I called him and asked if he wanted me to drop by. He did. George was full of questions. He wanted to know the truth about Jesus Christ. He couldn’t get over the idea of grace, that God could really forgive rotten people. He said it sounded “too easy.”

Two hours of discussion followed. I saw God’s Spirit at work in George. Finally he prayed, confessed his sin, and accepted Christ’s gift of eternal life.

Now, what are the chances of all these events coinciding?

No chance at all—they were a series of divine appointments.

A small act of grace by my wife and me (two small acts, counting the trip to the woman ready to deliver a baby) somehow made an impression on George—and also got into his hands a book that offered him the truth.

What George saw, what he wrestled with, and what ultimately brought him to Christ was grace and truth.

What Gives Us Away?

A friend sat down in a small London restaurant and picked up a menu.

“What will it be?” the waiter asked.

Studying the puzzling selections, my friend said, “Uhh...”

The waiter smiled. “Oh, a Yank. What part of the States are you from?”

He hadn’t said a word. But he’d already given himself away.

In the first century, Christ’s followers were also recognized immediately. What gave them away?

It wasn’t their buildings. They had none.

It wasn’t their programs. They had none.

It wasn’t their political power. They had none.

It wasn’t their slick publications, TV networks, bumper stickers, or celebrities. They had none.

What was it?

“With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and much grace was upon them all.” (Acts 4:33)

They testified to the truth about Christ and lived by His grace. Truth was the food they ate and the message they spoke. Grace was the air they breathed and the life they lived.

The world around them had never seen anything like it. It still hasn’t.

The Two Essentials

The only “church growth formula” the early church pos­sessed was the body of truth flowing with the blood of grace. They drew thousands to Jesus by being like Jesus.

But what does it mean to “be like Jesus”? We could come up with long lists of His character qualities. But the longer the list, the less we can wrap our minds around it. (I can’t even juggle three balls. How could I juggle dozens?)

But what if the character of Christ was reducible to two ingredients?

In fact, it is:

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.... The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:1, 14, emphasis added)

Jesus is full of two things: grace and truth.

Not “full of patience, wisdom, beauty, compassion, and creativity.” In the list there are no commas and only one conjunction—grace and truth. Scripture distills Christ’s attributes into a two-point checklist of Christlikeness.

The baby born in a Bethlehem barn was Creator of the universe. He pitched His tent on the humble camping ground of our little planet. God’s glory no longer dwelt in a temple of wood and stone, but in Christ. He was the Holy of Holies.

But when He ascended back into the wide blue heavens, He left God’s shekinah glory—that visible manifestation of God’s presence—on earth. We Christians became His living temples, the new Holy of Holies (1 Corinthians 3:16–17; 6:19).

People had only to look at Jesus to see what God is like. People today should only have to look at us to see what Jesus is like. For better or worse, they’ll draw conclusions about Christ from what they see in us. If we fail the grace test, we fail to be Christlike. If we fail the truth test, we fail to be Christlike. If we pass both tests, we’re like Jesus.

A grace-starved, truth-starved world needs Jesus, full of grace and truth.

Excerpted from Randy's book The Grace and Truth Paradox .

Photo by Hossein Soltanloo on Unsplash

God’s Unseen Intervention

“Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me.” — Isaiah 49:15–16

Though I can’t prove it, I’m convinced God prevents far more evil than He allows. When His people are discouraged, God says that He can no more forget us and fail to have compassion than a mother could fail her own child. In fact, though some mothers have failed their children, God will never fail us. “See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands.” What a powerful statement—by His own doing, we are permanently fixed on the very hands of God! And knowing us and loving us as He does, He often intervenes in ways we don’t always recognize.

On January 15, 2009, what should have brought certain death to passengers aboard US Airways Flight 1549, and catastrophe to Manhattan, turned into what secular reporters labeled a “miracle.” The pilot, Chesley Sullenberger, safely landed a crippled plane in New York’s Hudson River, with no serious injuries.

While chunks of ice and busy ferries filled most of the river, the place where the plane came down remained clear of both ice and boats. It landed without breaking apart. Ferryboat captains rescued all 155 people from the frigid river within minutes.

Though the miracle of Flight 1549 appears to be the exception, not the rule, isn’t it likely that a kind, all-powerful, and very compassionate God routinely prevents terrible tragedies in ways that we do not see and therefore do not credit as miracles? Perhaps one day we’ll hear those stories and marvel at how often God intervened when we imagined Him uninvolved in our world.

Focusing on God’s big miracles—like curing cancer and making brain tumors disappear—causes us to overlook His “small” daily miracles of providence in which He holds the universe together, provides us with air to breathe and lungs to breathe it, food to eat and stomachs to digest it. Our birthright does not include pain-free living. Only those who understand that this world languishes under the Curse will marvel at the beauties He provides us despite that Curse.

While the nature of faith is to trust God for what we do not see, we may base our trust in Him on many things we have seen—His Word, His creation, and how He has shown Himself in others, in our lives, and throughout history. We are called to trust God even when right now we can’t see His purposes. God is good even when we can’t see it.

God already has proven His eternal love for us in Christ Jesus. May He give us eyes to see how He demonstrates that love every day in hundreds of ways, most of which we take for granted. Faith means believing that God is good and that even if we can’t see it today, one day we will look back and see clearly His goodness and kindness.

Lord, there’s so much to be grateful for. Thanks for watching over us. We have no basis for believing that we as fallen creatures deserve a better world, and every basis to believe we deserve a worse one. Yet in your grace, you have guaranteed in Christ that we will live in such a world forever. Our thanks don’t seem adequate, but thank you nonetheless.

Excerpted from Randy's book 90 Days of God's Goodness. 

Photo by Jakob Owens on Unsplash

The Opening Weekend of NFL Football, and Christ’s Companionship in Unanticipated Grief

This week Nanci’s sister Donna initiated a conversation between my daughters Karina and Angela and me about the first weekend of NFL football. She rightly discerned how big last weekend would’ve been in Nanci’s life and how challenging it would be for our family.

It was a tough weekend, tougher than I anticipated. The first game of the season was Thursday night. I was at our friends’ house where we always had Thursday night dinner and watched football together. People were talking and not paying close attention to the game (and that’s perfectly fine), but I thought if Nanci were there, she would’ve whistled loudly and said, “I want to watch this game!” Everyone would’ve laughed. Monday night I was watching with Angela and her husband Dan at their place (our grandsons had work or sports). It was a fun game, but without Nanci football season isn’t what it was. (It was WAY too quiet!)

I did a podcast this week with a man whose wife died three months before Nanci, and who has been studying the Heaven book. He broke down several times, and I was deeply moved also, and shared how difficult the opening NFL weekend was for me. He wanted to know what his wife was experiencing in Heaven now in contrast to what she would experience on the New Earth, and while I certainly don’t know all the answers, I do know that in the resurrection, things like sports will surely exist because the resurrection will be a redemption and return to all the goodness of the previous life under the Curse, without any of the bad. Of course, that would include not only music and art and work and hobbies but also sports and all other aspects of culture—cleansed, redeemed, and devoid of sin.

I wouldn’t be at all surprised if Nanci was able to see the guys she knows and loves (along with their wives) from NFL conferences we have attended the past six years. She always cheered for and prayed for them as they played. It’s all up to God, but there are several passages that suggest people in the present Heaven can see things on earth. We might think surely those would only be the things that profoundly matter. Well, since we don’t cease to be human when we die, it might also include things we have a fondness for. I don’t assume that Nanci can no longer see our dog Gracie and some of her other favorite dogs (she had a lot of them). Maybe she doesn’t, but I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if she does. When we go to be with Jesus do we lose our interests in our loved ones still on earth? Do we cease to care about our churches and the things that were fun for us, and our hobbies, sports, animals, and the wonders of the earth? I don’t believe Heaven is a place where we lose the old joys as much as see them redeemed and magnified.

In retrospect, I don’t know why I didn’t expect last weekend to be so difficult. Had it been Nanci’s birthday or Thanksgiving or Christmas, it would’ve made sense, and I would’ve known it was coming. And yet it makes perfect sense because she so loved pro football, and it was something we enjoyed together every weekend in the fall. This is where grief is unpredictable—it sneaks up on you and slaps you in the face. I’m reminded of what C.S. Lewis wrote in his book A Grief Observed: “I thought I could describe a state; make a map of sorrow. Sorrow, however, turns out to be not a state but a process. It needs not a map but a history.”

As I’ve told others over the years, there’s no right or wrong time frame for experiencing grief, and no neat and tidy “going through the five stages of grief.” And yet there was still such a warm feeling in my heart as I imagined Nanci with Jesus and wondered whether He let her watch some of her favorite players pull off some huge and unexpected wins. ️Or in other cases, be made more like Jesus as they experienced the disappointments of losses.

Our grief at the death of those we love is real and deep, yet knowing Christ transforms it. The Bible everywhere assumes that people will grieve. Job grieved unbearably at the loss of his ten children (Job 1:20; 2:13); so did the widow of Nain, who lost her son and received Jesus’ compassion (see Luke 7:11–13).

Men stoned Stephen to death. Before dying, he beheld Jesus at the Father’s right hand. Remarkably, Luke tells us, “Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him” (Acts 8:2). They mourned a brother who had died righteously and who in dying had seen his beloved Jesus! Don’t miss this remarkable point—knowing that Stephen was far bet­ter off being with the Lord didn’t keep his friends from deeply mourning their loss.

Clarissa Moll writes in Beyond the Darkness: A Gentle Guide for Living with Grief & Thriving after Loss:

The sorrow you feel after losing a loved one is so powerful and so life-shaping it can be personified. Grief is your companion.

…You may never have thought or heard of grief as a companion before, but I’m convinced we need this new paradigm of companionship for two reasons. First, we need words to describe how grief really operates in our lives. The longer we live with it, the more we discover that grief is persistent, all encompassing, and long lasting. It isn’t static but grows and changes over time. Envisioning grief as a companion allows us to release the striving and resistance that characterizes so much of contemporary bereavement. We can turn to our grief with compassion, listen to her sorrows, and learn from her wisdom. If you’re looking for progress, this is what it actually looks like.

Second, as we acknowledge, accept, and yes, even embrace grief, this unwelcome companion can offer us hope for the future. …Befriending our grief can be the key to finding flourishing again. Isaiah 53 tells us that Jesus would be “acquainted” with grief, a word that in Hebrew can be translated “familiar friend.” While we are busy trying outrun or heal or recover from our sorrows, Jesus invites us to a better way—not to avoid sadness but to befriend it. By gently companioning our grief, we can follow in Jesus’ footsteps.

…The idea of grief as a companion invites you to release expectations and platitudes that reflect a narrow gospel—a 2D flannelgraph version of death and resurrection that doesn’t take into account the complexities of living in a world that remains under the curse of sin. And with an experienced friend like Jesus beside you, can you step into a fuller story, one in which you can learn to trust God in new, intimate ways in the midst of your darkness, as you wait with hope for what is “not yet.” 

God gave us grief as a way to express what is lost. For the bereaved believer, then, the task is not to dismiss this emotion… Instead, we can turn to grief, assured that God can offer grace through it. Knowing that God gave us the capacity for deep sorrow, we can use even this difficult gift as an opportunity to know him more.

As Clarissa explains, grief is a companion; but our greater companion and closest friend is Jesus. In Psalm 16:8 David says, “I have set the LORD always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.” To set the Lord before me is to recognize His presence and His constant help.

I’ve told many who ask how I’m doing that I’m enjoying the presence of Jesus, who said to His disciples, “Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me” (John 15:15, NLT). And I’m still learning to navigate life here without Nanci. It’s hard on some days, easier on others. I’m so grateful not only for Jesus’s Lordship, but also His friendship in this season. He has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5). His presence helps me put one foot in front of the other, not with sense of drudgery, but with a sense of gratitude and comfort, knowing God is with me and is giving me strength.

Nanci is in the care of Jesus in a world without sin and suffering; I am in the care of Jesus in a world still under the Curse and afflicted with sin and suffering. I’m profoundly thankful that she does not have to come back to this world, and that I too will ultimately leave this world for one “better by far.” After the resurrection and final judgment (Revelation 20:4-6; 11-14), the present Heaven, which includes the New Jerusalem, will be relocated to the New Earth, to which God will come down and dwell forever with His people (Revelation 21:1-3).  Nanci and I and all who love Jesus will have the privilege and thrill of colonizing that redeemed earth together.

I’ll sign off this blog with the concluding words from Lewis’s The Last Battle, the final book of The Chronicles of Narnia, that have filled my heart since the first time I read them fifty years ago as a very young Christian:

And as He [King Aslan] spoke He no longer looked to them like a lion; but the things that began to happen after that were so great and beautiful that I cannot write them. And for us this is the end of all the stories, and we can most truly say that they all lived happily ever after. But for them it was only the beginning of the real story. All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and the title page: now at least they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story which no one on earth has read: which goes on for ever: in which every chapter is better than the one before.

We Grow Up in Christ by Growing Down in Lowliness

Recently I shared this great quote from J.I. Packer on my Facebook page:

“It is impossible at the same time to give the impression both that I am a great Christian and that Jesus Christ is a great Master. So the Christian will practice curling up small, as it were, so that in and through him or her the Savior may show himself great.” —J.I. Packer

A commenter took issue with Packer's point:

I have looked at this statement from every possible angle and cannot figure out where you are coming from with this statement. The Creator of the universe, Almighty God, Redeemer, Sustainer, our rock and our salvation has no need for any of His creation to try and look small in order for Him to look great. HE IS GREAT with or without us “helping” Him.

Personally, I agree with what Packer said. After all, Scripture says Christ must become greater, and we must become less. Does our becoming less make Him greater? Of course not. Can our becoming less show Him to be greater? Yes.

One of our staff members responded to the comment by sharing the context of Packer’s quote, which came from Rediscovering Holiness: Know the Fullness of Life with God. Hope you enjoy these profound thoughts from J.I. Packer, one of my favorite writers and people. (Here’s a tribute I wrote after he went to be with Jesus in 2020.)

Growing Up and Growing Downward

From time to time during our son’s teen years he would stand with his back to the dining room doorpost, and we would record his height in pencil on the white wood. He was growing up physically, getting taller as each month went by, and he was excited about it. So were we. Watching your children grow up is, after all, an exciting business. Had we not been interested in the way he was gaining height there would have been something wrong with us. But this chapter is not about growing up; it is about growing down; something that every Christian must learn to do.

Growing down, or downward, is doubtless an odd-sounding phrase in a culture like ours. We celebrate the fact of growing up physically and urge those who have slipped into childish petulance to grow up emotionally. It is also our habit to speak of growing up spiritually, and our English Bible does the same. The New International Version (NIV) follows the King James Version (KJV)  and all revisions of it in rendering a Greek verb that has nothing of “up” about it as “grow up” in Ephesians 4:15 (“We will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is Christ”), and in 1 Peter 2:2 it does the same (“Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation”).

Yes, to speak of growing downward against this background does sound odd, I grant you. But my phrase is there to strike a spark and make a point. What we have to realize is that we grow up into Christ by growing down in lowliness (humility, from the Latin word humilis, meaning low). Christians, we might say, grow greater by getting smaller.

Of his own ministry, in relation to that of the Lord Jesus, John the Baptist declared: “He must become greater; I must become less” (John 3:30). Of our lives as believers, something similar has to be said. Pride blows us up like balloons, but grace punctures our conceit and lets the hot, proud air out of the system. The result (a very salutary result) is that we shrink, and end up seeing ourselves as less—less nice, less able, less wise, less good, less strong, less steady, less committed, less of a piece—than ever we thought we were. We stop kidding ourselves that we are persons of great importance to the world and to God. We settle for being insignificant and dispensable.

Off-loading our fantasies of omnicompetence, we start trying to be trustful, obedient, dependent, and willing in our relationship to God. We give up our dreams of being greatly admired for doing wonderfully well. We begin teaching ourselves unemotionally and matter-of-factly to recognize that we are not likely ever to appear, or actually to be, much of a success by the world’s standards. We bow to events that rub our noses in the reality of our own weaknesses, and we look to God for strength quietly to cope. This is part, at least, of what it means to answer our Lord’s call to childlikeness.

The Scottish scholar James Denny once said that it is impossible at the same time to leave the impression both that I am a great preacher and that Jesus Christ is a great Savior. In the same way it is impossible at the same time to give the impression both that I am a great Christian and Jesus Christ is a great Master. So the Christian will practice curling up small, as it were, so that in and through him or her the Savior may show Himself great. That is what I mean by growing downward.

Photo by Stephen Leonardi on Unsplash

Joni Eareckson Tada Shares Her New Resolve After 55 Years in a Wheelchair

Note from Randy: There are few people who I admire more than Joni Eareckson Tada. This recent article by her is so beautifully written, and just so Joni.

EPM loves the heart and mission of Joni and Friends, the ministry she founded, and they’re one of the main organizations we support with our Disability Special Fund. (100% of all contributions to our special funds go to carefully chosen ministries; give online here. You can also donate directly to JAF.)

Dear Joni writes, “What else could be more important than practicing Christianity, with sleeves rolled up, among the needy?” She’s so right, and over the last 55 years, she’s demonstrated this beautifully, to the glory of King Jesus.

I sometimes wonder, Who am I, God, that you have brought me this far? Lately, I’ve been whispering that question from 1 Chronicles 17:16: “Then King David [said], “Who am I, O LORD God, and what is my house, that you have brought me thus far?” Who am I to enjoy a platform on national radio for 40 years? Who am I that I should be so blessed in marriage to Ken for 40 years? And how did I ever have the strength to survive 55 years as a quadriplegic in a wheelchair?

The truth is, I don’t have the strength. I still wake up every morning needing God desperately. Like David, I often confess, “I am poor and needy” (Psalm 40:17). Perhaps that’s how God brought me this far. I cannot say, but I do know that “the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him” (2 Chronicles 16:9, NIV). God is searching high and low for weak people who love him so that he can pour into them his strength. Maybe that’s my story, but how I arrived here is not for me to say. I just keep praising my sovereign God with every milestone I pass.

It’s the noble cause of Christ to which I’ve dedicated myself for decades, and I can’t think of anything that gives me more joy. Yet as I reach the milestone of 55 years of quadriplegia—not to mention two bouts of cancer, severe breathing issues, COVID-19, and chronic pain—I hold tightly to Acts 20:24 (NIV): “I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.”

And with this anniversary marking 55 years in my wheelchair, I’m reflecting on more than a few milestones through which God has done amazing things.

Anniversary of the Disabilities Act

When a broken neck upended my life 55 years ago, leaving me depressed and devastated, the last people I wanted to be around were wheelchair users like me. They made me feel awkward, so I basically ignored anyone with a disabling condition. Imagine my amazement when a little over a decade later, God used my own affliction to birth an international disability ministry. Somewhere within that decade, I rose above my fears of the future and my disdain for others with disabilities. God transformed my heart, changed my attitude, and showed me there are more important things in life than walking.

I landed in a wheelchair at a time when there was very little access for people using mobility equipment. Back in the 1970s I would arrive at a restaurant, only to be told to wheel down an alley, past smelly dumpsters, into a side door that led through a crowded, noisy kitchen in order to reach my dining table.

I remember getting stuck in a boutique dressing room while trying on clothes. My wheelchair had become wedged tightly between the swinging door and the wall; the store manager had to come and jerk me free. My wheelchair left scuff marks all over the dressing room. I was terribly embarrassed. That was the way things were in the early 70s, before the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

With each passing year, I racked up more embarrassing incidents of being stranded, getting stuck, and navigating long, winding detours to get into movie theaters, restaurants, churches, and stores. I finally had my fill of embarrassing episodes, so I began to actively advocate for myself and for others with disabilities.

In the late 1980s, I somehow landed a position on the National Council on Disability under President Reagan. One of the first initiatives the Council tackled was the lack of access in public places. Working with other disability groups, we were able to send to Congress a landmark bill to improve access for Americans with disabilities. Finally, in 1990, I sat on the White House lawn with other Council members and watched President Bush sign into law the ADA.

I don’t often think about those days I served on the Council. During a recent vacation in Yosemite National Park, however, Ken and I noticed that everywhere we went, the paths were paved and marked with access symbols. I was pleasantly surprised to discover miles of trails I could wander. And for places I couldn’t wheel, there were accessible trams.

At one point while wheeling along the Yosemite Valley floor, I stopped to reflect tearfully on the days I would make my way through dark alleys and backdoors. That was then. And now? Virtually the whole national parks system is open to me. This month marks 32 years since the ADA was signed into law.

Beyond Advocacy: A Vision for Belonging

Of course, people living with disabilities need more than just smooth sidewalks, lowered drinking fountains, and exit ramps. Here in the U.S., laws enforcing accessibility standards are helpful, but they cannot deliver the sense of belonging that disabled people so often lack. Though 32 years have passed since the ADA, people with disabilities are often still isolated and marginalized. That’s why I started Joni and Friends in 1979. I knew there were countless thousands struggling with the same resentments and fears about their disabilities. So I pulled together a team of like-hearted friends who wanted to do everything we could to make Christ real to disabled people around the world.

A higher law than the ADA is needed. In Luke 14:13–14, Jesus tells us to “invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed.” At Joni and Friends, we envision a world where every person with a disability finds hope, dignity, and their place in the body of Christ.

For example, here in the U.S., we hold Family Retreats where parents of those with special needs receive much-needed respite and whole families discover they belong—not just within a community that understands them but in the body of Christ. Thousands of veterans have returned from war struggling with physical wounds, moral injuries, and PTSD, so we hold Warrior Getaways for these brave service men and women and their families. There are also desperate needs in communities like East St. Louis, Nashville, and Downtown Los Angeles. So we’re seeking to grow our programs and resource churches to bring people with disabilities into the fold—into God’s house through faith in Christ.

Global Reach for a Global Need

My heart breaks when I think of the 1 billion disabled people around the world, most of whom live in poverty with little hope of change. They feel forgotten by their communities. But Jesus hasn’t forgotten them.

In developing nations around the world, we’re distributing wheelchairs and Bibles through our Wheels for the World outreach. Joni’s House consists of disability centers offering occupational therapy, medical supplies, Bible studies and discipleship programs, job-skills training, wheelchair maintenance, and more. We also partner with local hospitals to provide wound care, surgical support, and physical therapy. In short, we labor to “prove” the power of the salvation message with evidence of Christ-centered compassion.

We were about to break ground on a new Joni’s House in Ukraine when the war erupted in February. As Russian bombs dropped, disabled people became stranded in harm’s way. So we started serving Ukrainians with disabilities—just not in the way we’d planned. Our in-country coordinator, Galyna, began organizing evacuation efforts, even as Russia stepped up its rocket strikes. Supported by her network of churches and our partners in Poland, Galyna worked tirelessly and courageously to track down people with disabilities and evacuate the most vulnerable among them—hundreds to date.

Now, even as Ukraine gets fewer headlines, Galyna and members of our network continue to provide housing and food supplies for Ukrainians with disabilities. We’re currently planning a Family Retreat for relocated Ukrainians with disabilities and their caregivers.

Heaven-Bent

From the dark basements in Ukraine to the foothills of the Himalayas to the streets of Downtown Los Angeles, people with disabilities are suffering unspeakably. Their needs are urgent, and so I’m “wheeling” the race that the Lord Jesus has set before me. There are too many people struggling as I did 55 years ago when I crushed my spinal cord and became a quadriplegic.

Aging with quadriplegia may be filled with extra challenges, but it doesn’t demoralize me. With God’s help, I hold everything lightly. I try not to grasp at my fragile life, nor coddle it or minimize my activities at Joni and Friends just because I’m getting older, growing weaker, and dealing with more pain. Rather, I find great comfort and joy in dying to self and living every day to serve the Lord Jesus and others around the world whose disabilities are far more profound than mine.

What else could be more important than practicing Christianity, with sleeves rolled up, among the needy? When I do become tired, I’m inspired by the life of Jesus who, even as he was nailed on his cross and in great pain, nevertheless kept serving others (like the thief, his mother, and the soldiers who needed forgiveness). Ephesians 5:1 tells me to imitate him. So I’m heaven-bent on honoring my Jesus, serving others, finishing the race, and completing the task of testifying to gospel grace.

This article originally appeared on The Gospel Coalition, and is used with the author’s permission.

Sharing the Gospel, Living a Generous Life: My Interview with Scott Linebrink

I enjoyed talking with Scott Linebrink on his podcast, Get in the Game, about sharing the Gospel and being generous with our money and spiritual gifts. Scott was a Major League baseball pitcher for twelve years and now serves as Partnerships Director for Water Mission, a great ministry and one I encourage people to support.

Here’s a short clip from our conversation:

You can listen to the full interview here.