Randy Alcorn's Blog, page 48

What about Lending Money, Charging Interest, and Cosigning a Loan?

There are many possible motives for lending money. One is to meet another person’s need; another is to profit from the loan by charging interest. Nothing is inherently wrong with lending. It's a mark of God's blessing to be in the position to make a loan (Deuteronomy 28:12). The righteous is one who gives and lends (Psalm 37:21, 26). God approves of the generous person who lends freely (Psalm 112:5).

In certain cases, lenders graciously forgave debt (Matthew 18:32-33). In Israel, every fifty years was the year of Jubilee, in which all debts were forgiven (Deuteronomy 15:1-3; Nehemiah 10:31).

Jesus stated that when we lend we're not to expect repayment (Luke 6:34-35). The borrower is morally obligated to make the payment (Psalm 37:21). But we, in the spirit of giving, are to lend as we might give, expecting nothing in return. If we would force repayment, we shouldn't loan in the first place.

Built into the disciples’ prayer is the well-known but seldom practiced phrase, “Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors” (Matthew 6:12).

The lender must evaluate the character of the borrower. To distribute money into the hands of a drug addict, compulsive gambler, or cultist is irresponsible. Furthermore, we should weigh whether a loan is what this person really needs. Given the many dangers of debt, are we really helping him by indebting him to us? Loaning money to bail out someone lacking financial discipline is like trying to put out a fire with gasoline.

Calculate the effects of the loan on relationships. While we may imagine lending money will endear people to us, experience often proves the opposite. One of the best definitions of a distant friend is “a close friend who owes you money.” If someone irritates you and you wish never to see him again, give him a loan!

Charging Interest

In the Old Testament, stipulations governed borrowing and lending. While collateral could be held, it was forbidden to hold an essential security, such as a garment needed for warmth on cold nights (Exodus 22:26-27; Deuteronomy 24:10-17).

Charging interest is the means by which a lender profits from a borrower. Charging interest was common practice in Babylon, Rome, and many ancient cultures. In Israel, interest could be charged to foreigners, but not as a means of exploitation (Deuteronomy 23:19-20). Loans to brothers, fellow Jews, were always to be interest free (Exodus 22:25; Leviticus 25:35-37; Deuteronomy 23:20).

Whether interest is charged or not, there should be a spirit of graciousness in lending (Deuteronomy 15:8, 10). No one should take advantage of a person's misfortune. We must loan primarily to help him, not to help ourselves. We're not even to take our brother to court to recoup our losses, since it's better to experience loss than to bring conflict with a brother before unbelievers (1 Corinthians 6:1-7).

Israel had a largely noninflationary economy. A lender's money was worth the same to him when it was returned as when he loaned it. Perhaps in an inflationary economy interest might be charged to match the inflation rate. But even if this isn't done, the gracious heart won't quibble about minor losses when his purpose in lending is to extend grace, not demand repayment.

Throughout church history, Christian teachers have taken a strong position against exacting usury on a loan in order to make personal profit. Whereas usury is thought of today as charging excess interest, the word actually meant charging any interest. Ambrose said, “If anyone commits usury, he commits robbery and no longer has life.” Calvin declared that the professional money lender should be banned from the church. Luther commented, “After the devil there is no greater human enemy on earth than a miser and usurer, for he desires to be above everyone.”

Still, Jesus spoke without condemnation of gaining interest by deposit to a moneylender (Luke 19:23). While this was a reference in a parable and doesn't necessarily imply approval, it seems unlikely he'd use as a positive illustration what he believed was wrong.

It appears charging interest isn’t wrong per se. It might be appropriate for lending institutions, but not for individuals if they’re loaning to fellow believers to help meet their needs. If interest is charged, perhaps it should no more than the current inflation rate.

There’s a time to lend, a time to give, and a time to do neither. If the need isn't legitimate, I shouldn't give or lend. If the need’s legitimate, not the result of an unwise choice in which there’s a lesson to be learned, I might give. If, on the other hand, the need is real but a gift would contribute to someone's irresponsibility or loss of dignity, lending may be best.

I must be careful not to encourage my brother’s indebtedness unless it's absolutely necessary. The last thing the person in debt needs is to incur still another debt. When the needs are legitimate, a Christian policy ought to be to give freely. When the situation merits it, I may make a loan, but only in the same helpful spirit as the gift.

Signing for Another Person’s Loans

Cosigning is assuming responsibility for the debts of another in order to assure a creditor that the borrower won't default on payment. If the person for whom I sign doesn't come through, I'm legally assuming his entire liability.

Scripture is very clear on this—we are told not to do it (Proverbs 11:15). “Do not be a man who strikes hands in pledge or puts up security for debts; if you lack the means to pay, your very bed will be snatched from under you” (Proverbs 22:26-27). In fact, we’re told if we have already put up security for our neighbor, we should go and humble ourselves and plead and allow ourselves no sleep until, like a gazelle, we are freed from the snare we have put ourselves in (Proverbs 6:1-5). To assume responsibility for the debt of another is to demonstrate poor judgment (Proverbs 17:18). If you doubt this teaching of Scripture, consider that no less than 50 percent of all cosigners end up paying back part or all of the other person's debt!

When I sign for someone else, I am saying, “I will answer for all of this person’s financial decisions, wise or unwise. I'm now legally and financially accountable for whatever he chooses to do.”

If your desire is to help someone, give him or loan him the money outright, or offer him sound advice. More often than not, he shouldn’t be going into debt in the first place. The best favor you can do when he asks you to sign for him is to just say no.

See more resources on money and giving, as well as Randy's related books, including Money, Possessions, and Eternity.

Photo by Monstera

 

Will We Use Our Creativity in Heaven?

Several years ago I spoke at the Canvas Conference, which was a great two-day conference on human creativity and beauty with biblical, gospel-centered theology. In this video clip, I answer a question about whether we will have creativity and use it in eternity:

Here are some related thoughts:

God gave people creativity in their unfallen state, which remained but was twisted when we fell. He will surely not give us less creativity in Heaven but more, unmarred by sin, unlimited by mortality. We will compose, write, paint, carve, build, plant, and grow.

The first person Scripture describes as “filled with the Spirit” wasn’t a prophet or priest; he was a craftsman, “with skill, ability and knowledge in all kinds of crafts—to make artistic designs . . . and to engage in all kinds of craftsmanship” (Exodus 31:1-3).

God gifted and called Bezalel to be a skilled laborer, a master craftsman, a God-glorifying artist. Bezalel and Oholiab were not only to create works of art but also to train apprentices to do so. The gifting and calling were from God: “He has filled them with skill to do all kinds of work as craftsmen, designers, embroiderers in blue, purple and scarlet yarn and fine linen, and weavers—all of them master craftsmen and designers” (Exodus 35:35).

If you don’t believe craftsmanship will be an important part of the New Earth, read Exodus 25–40. God tells His people in exquisite detail how to sew clothing, what colors to use, how to construct the furniture for the Ark of the Covenant and Tabernacle, what stones to put on the high priest’s breastplate, and so on.

The Master Designer goes into great detail in His instructions for building the Tabernacle: the veil and curtain, the Ark of the Covenant, the table, the lampstand, the altar of burnt offerings, the courtyard, the incense altar, the washbasin, the priests’ clothing. The design, precision, and beauty of these things tell us about God, ourselves, and the culture of the New Earth. Those who imagine that spirituality is something ethereal and invisible—unrelated to our physical skills, creativity, and cultural development—fail to understand Scripture. God’s instructions and his delight in the gifts He imparts to people to accomplish these tasks make clear what we should expect in Heaven: greater works of craftsmanship and construction, unhindered by sin and death.

It wasn’t an accident that Jesus was born into a carpenter’s family. Carpenters are makers. God is a maker. He’ll never cease being a maker. God made us, His image-bearers, to be makers. We’ll never cease to be makers. When we die, we won’t leave behind our creativity, but only what hinders our ability to honor God through what we create.

For more on the New Earth, see Randy’s book  Heaven . You can also browse our resources on Heaven and additional books.

Photo by Fatih Erkan Akay on Unsplash

How Do I Live When I’m Dying?

[image error]

Note from Randy: As I’ve mentioned before, I greatly appreciate our Eternal Perspective Ministries staff, who often reply to messages and comments on my behalf, and do a wonderful job. This answer is from Christy Amadio, who among many things, provides customer service to those who order books from our ministry. If you’ve received a package from EPM, then it was Christy who prepared and shipped it to you! She’s a terrific sister in Christ, who like all our staff members, serves faithfully, mostly behind the scenes. That’s why I’m particularly glad to put her forward in this blog.

This was a wonderful response Christy wrote to a reader with terminal cancer. (Remember that we are all mortal, which means we too are terminal.) I was particularly moved when she quoted Tim Challies who spoke of the older woman “reading her Bible to better get to know the God she would soon meet face-to-face.” That’s what I saw every day in Nanci the last few years of her life. I will never forget her precious example to me. Listen to Christy’s wise advice.

Question from a reader:

What advice do you have for how to live when you know you are dying? I have cancer with no cure.

Answer from Christy Amadio, EPM staff:

Cancer is a hard road. I’m sorry you are having to walk it. I’m sure you are aware that Randy’s wife Nanci died recently after battling cancer for 4+ years. Here are some thoughts from her journal that might be encouraging. You can find more from Nanci here.

When he had prostate cancer, John Piper wrote Don’t Waste Your Cancer.

I have been reading a wonderful book called Aging with Grace which is about flourishing in whatever stage of life you are in. In it the author shares from an article by Tim Challies. He writes about spending time with an older believer who was reading her Bible:

“See, I often read my Bible as a means to an end. I want to live a better life, I want to live a life that is pleasing to God, and I read the Bible to teach and equip myself to do this. This is a very good reason to read the Bible. But it made me think: As I get toward the end of life, will I still want to read it? When I have little life left to live, will I still have reason to take up and read my Bible? If the purpose in reading is to live better, what will I do after I’ve already lived most of my life? As I sat with this woman, I realized that she was reading her Bible for a different reason—she was reading her Bible to better get to know the God she would soon meet face-to-face.”

Here is one more article that may be helpful. J.C. Ryle writes, “What shall support us in that trying hour? What shall enable us to feel, ‘I fear no evil’ (Psalm 23:4)? Nothing, nothing can do it but close communion with Christ…Let us cleave to Christ more closely, love Him more heartily, live to Him more thoroughly, copy Him more exactly, confess Him more boldly, follow Him more fully. “

I don’t presume to know what you are experiencing, but I pray that you will know the love and comfort of the Creator and Sustainer who loves you.

Photo by Sixteen Miles Out on Unsplash

Lily Yamasaki Sato’s Story, and How the U.S. Detention of Japanese Americans Was Not “Fake News”

Alex Harris is a wonderful brother, and a true servant leader. When he attended Nanci’s memorial service on May 15, I wasn’t the only one who noticed he stayed until the very end doing the clean-up and didn’t stop until the job was completely done. The fact that Alex is a young man, and was wearing a suit, stuck out.

I’ve shared about him and his twin brother Brett on my blog over the years. Together they wrote Do Hard Things when they were just eighteen. I said then, and I still say, that Alex and Brett are the real deal, Christ-centered young men of character and vision, committed to serving Jesus with humility and excellence. Alex, now an attorney, has worked as a law clerk for then-Judge Neil Gorsuch and Justice Anthony Kennedy and was named to Forbes 30 Under 30 for law and policy. 

Recently I saw one of his tweet threads, talking about his grandmother Lily, mother to his wonderful mom, Sono Harris. (See what I’ve written about Sono.) The life God empowered Sono to live—with class, insight, and joy—is truly unforgettable. The heritage she left her family, and the rest of us, is stunning in its breadth and depth. It’s not surprising that her mother Lily also lived a remarkable life.

Alex was responding to some tweets from Raymond Chang, who had visited Manzanar, one of ten concentration camps where Japanese Americans were incarcerated during World War II. Raymond explains that “The US unconstitutionally incarcerated 127,000 Japanese Americans in camps like this. Over 10,000 Japanese people were forced here.” He describes a conversation he overheard: “When we arrived into the visitor center at Manzanar, a white couple walking out with their very young child said, ‘This can’t be true. The US would never do anything like this. This must be fake news.’”

I think what Alex shares in response is a terrific story, one we need a reminder of especially when someone was calling this part of history “fake news.” He wrote:

Not fake news.

My grandma, Lily Yamasaki—an American citizen—was handed her high school diploma through a barbed wire fence. She was held at the Tule Lake camp.

During her incarceration, a neighbor wrote to oppose work release, stating that, while my grandma “was a good neighbor,” she was “still a Japanese,” “we do not know for sure whether they are loyal,” and “our boys over there” (i.e. soldiers) would “not get that kind of treatment.”

Here’s a photo of grandma from around that time. Her only “crime” was being of Japanese ancestry on the west coast. The U.S. Supreme Court—where her grandson would one day serve as a law clerk—upheld the camps as constitutional.

Alex writes, “Here’s a thread with more of my grandma’s story.”

My grandma, Lily Sato, passed away at 94. As a second-generation Japanese-American who endured the Great Depression, segregated schools, and U.S. internment camps, her life has been and will always be an inspiration. She didn’t want a service, so this thread is my memorial.

Lily was born on April 11, 1925 in Sacramento to Manhichi and Chiyono Yamasaki. During the Great Depression, her family relocated to Florin, where she was forced to attend a segregated elementary school. “Talk about feeling second-rate,” she later said. “That will do it.”

When she was 16 and a senior in HS, Lily and her family were uprooted and placed into internment camps by the U.S. government after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Her PE teacher brought her diploma to her, handing it over the barbed wire fence. That was her graduation.

After the war Lily met and married my grandpa, Frank Sato, an aspiring artist and decorated veteran of the most decorated unit in U.S. military history: the 442nd Infantry Regiment, made up almost entirely of Japanese-American soldiers.

Frank’s left hip was shattered by a mortar burst in France. He spent 3 years in Army hospitals, underwent 24 operations, and spent 14 months in an all-body cast before his left leg was finally amputated. But while he was in the hospital he met Lily.

The young Sato family eventually settled in Dayton, Ohio, where my mom, Sono, was born, and where Lily worked as a secretary in the Overseas Department of National Cash Register. In 1960, she started her own business—a Japanese gift shop—with her sister, Kim.

Faith did not come until late adulthood. When my mom became a Christian in high school, she brought almost all of her family along with her. But Grandma was reluctant. “I grew up relying on myself, standing on my own two feet,” she said. “I just couldn't turn it all over to Jesus.”

Mom persisted and Grandma soon realized that “God was there all the time, giving me the strength, building up my character, molding me and working out the air bubbles.” She could finally say: “God is good and through all the trials and testing He held us and strengthened us.”

When she died, Grandma had 4 children, 16 grandchildren, and more great-grandchildren than I can reliably keep track of. And she managed to love and shape all of us in big and small ways. She was the first person to ask my wife and I, “So when are you two getting married?”

She was a tireless worker and amazing cook. She made traditional Japanese dishes and the best eggs on toast. Her Danish pastries, which she made in bulk, froze, and mailed to all of her kids/grandkids each December, were the highlight of breakfast every Christmas morning.

She was competitive. She beat us at everything: card games (especially the gambling game Hanafuda, though she rarely let us gamble), ping pong, Janken (Japanese version of Rock, Paper, Scissors), arm wrestling, even basketball (she was an all-star in the internment camps).

Just as she passed, Grandma lifted her arms, like she saw someone and was reaching out to embrace them. My mom? Her husband Frank? Jesus? I’m so glad she is with them. I love you, Grandma. See you soon.

Lily Yamasaki Soto’s Story, and How the U.S. Detention of Japanese Americans Was Not “Fake News”

Alex Harris is a wonderful brother, and a true servant leader. When he attended Nanci’s memorial service on May 15, I wasn’t the only one who noticed he stayed until the very end doing the clean-up and didn’t stop until the job was completely done. The fact that Alex is a young man, and was wearing a suit, stuck out.

I’ve shared about him and his twin brother Brett on my blog over the years. Together they wrote Do Hard Things when they were just eighteen. I said then, and I still say, that Alex and Brett are the real deal, Christ-centered young men of character and vision, committed to serving Jesus with humility and excellence. Alex, now an attorney, has worked as a law clerk for then-Judge Neil Gorsuch and Justice Anthony Kennedy and was named to Forbes 30 Under 30 for law and policy. 

Recently I saw one of his tweet threads, talking about his grandmother Lily, mother to his wonderful mom, Sono Harris. (See what I’ve written about Sono.) The life God empowered Sono to live—with class, insight, and joy—is truly unforgettable. The heritage she left her family, and the rest of us, is stunning in its breadth and depth. It’s not surprising that her mother Lily also lived a remarkable life.

Alex was responding to some tweets from Raymond Chang, who had visited Manzanar, one of ten concentration camps where Japanese Americans were incarcerated during World War II. Raymond explains that “The US unconstitutionally incarcerated 127,000 Japanese Americans in camps like this. Over 10,000 Japanese people were forced here.” He describes a conversation he overheard: “When we arrived into the visitor center at Manzanar, a white couple walking out with their very young child said, ‘This can’t be true. The US would never do anything like this. This must be fake news.’”

I think what Alex shares in response is a terrific story, one we need a reminder of especially when someone was calling this part of history “fake news.” He wrote:

Not fake news.

My grandma, Lily Yamasaki—an American citizen—was handed her high school diploma through a barbed wire fence. She was held at the Tule Lake camp.

During her incarceration, a neighbor wrote to oppose work release, stating that, while my grandma “was a good neighbor,” she was “still a Japanese,” “we do not know for sure whether they are loyal,” and “our boys over there” (i.e. soldiers) would “not get that kind of treatment.”

Here’s a photo of grandma from around that time. Her only “crime” was being of Japanese ancestry on the west coast. The U.S. Supreme Court—where her grandson would one day serve as a law clerk—upheld the camps as constitutional.

Alex writes, “Here’s a thread with more of my grandma’s story.”

My grandma, Lily Sato, passed away at 94. As a second-generation Japanese-American who endured the Great Depression, segregated schools, and U.S. internment camps, her life has been and will always be an inspiration. She didn’t want a service, so this thread is my memorial.

Lily was born on April 11, 1925 in Sacramento to Manhichi and Chiyono Yamasaki. During the Great Depression, her family relocated to Florin, where she was forced to attend a segregated elementary school. “Talk about feeling second-rate,” she later said. “That will do it.”

When she was 16 and a senior in HS, Lily and her family were uprooted and placed into internment camps by the U.S. government after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Her PE teacher brought her diploma to her, handing it over the barbed wire fence. That was her graduation.

After the war Lily met and married my grandpa, Frank Sato, an aspiring artist and decorated veteran of the most decorated unit in U.S. military history: the 442nd Infantry Regiment, made up almost entirely of Japanese-American soldiers.

Frank’s left hip was shattered by a mortar burst in France. He spent 3 years in Army hospitals, underwent 24 operations, and spent 14 months in an all-body cast before his left leg was finally amputated. But while he was in the hospital he met Lily.

The young Sato family eventually settled in Dayton, Ohio, where my mom, Sono, was born, and where Lily worked as a secretary in the Overseas Department of National Cash Register. In 1960, she started her own business—a Japanese gift shop—with her sister, Kim.

Faith did not come until late adulthood. When my mom became a Christian in high school, she brought almost all of her family along with her. But Grandma was reluctant. “I grew up relying on myself, standing on my own two feet,” she said. “I just couldn't turn it all over to Jesus.”

Mom persisted and Grandma soon realized that “God was there all the time, giving me the strength, building up my character, molding me and working out the air bubbles.” She could finally say: “God is good and through all the trials and testing He held us and strengthened us.”

When she died, Grandma had 4 children, 16 grandchildren, and more great-grandchildren than I can reliably keep track of. And she managed to love and shape all of us in big and small ways. She was the first person to ask my wife and I, “So when are you two getting married?”

She was a tireless worker and amazing cook. She made traditional Japanese dishes and the best eggs on toast. Her Danish pastries, which she made in bulk, froze, and mailed to all of her kids/grandkids each December, were the highlight of breakfast every Christmas morning.

She was competitive. She beat us at everything: card games (especially the gambling game Hanafuda, though she rarely let us gamble), ping pong, Janken (Japanese version of Rock, Paper, Scissors), arm wrestling, even basketball (she was an all-star in the internment camps).

Just as she passed, Grandma lifted her arms, like she saw someone and was reaching out to embrace them. My mom? Her husband Frank? Jesus? I’m so glad she is with them. I love you, Grandma. See you soon.

What Is Eternity-Minded Stewardship?

Concerning money and possessions, the Bible is sometimes extreme, sometimes shocking. When we come to Scripture, it’s for comfort, not for assaults against our worldview, right? Let God talk about love and grace, thank you. Let us talk about money and possessions—then do with them whatever we please.

Were we honest, that’s what many of us would say.

Some believers ask each other tough questions: “Have you been spending time in the Word? Sharing your faith? Guarding your sexual purity?” Yet how often do we ask, "Are you winning the battle against materialism?” Or, "Have you been peeking at those tempting magazines and websites? You know, the ones that entice you to greed?”

People are more open even about their sexual struggles than about battling materialism, which may be the final frontier. Some churches do talk about getting out of debt. I applaud that. But you can be debt free and still be stingy and greedy. We don’t need to become smarter materialists; we need to repent of materialism and become smart stewards.

Jesus sees our hearts and knows us well. He doesn’t call all disciples to give away everything. He does call us to take radical action that breaks our bondage to money and possessions, freeing us to live under His lordship. He calls all of us to dethrone all secondary treasures in order to elevate Him as our primary treasure. If we value anything or anyone more than we value Jesus, we are not His disciples.

What we do with our money doesn’t simply indicate where our heart is. According to Jesus, it determines where our heart goes. If our heart is where our treasure is (Matthew 6:19-21), then when we move our treasure somewhere else, our heart follows. This is a remarkable truth. If I want my heart somewhere, I need to put my money there.

When people asked John the Baptist what they should do to bear the fruit of repentance, he told them to share their clothes and food with the poor. Then he instructed tax collectors not to collect and pocket extra money. Finally, he told soldiers not to extort money and accuse falsely, and to be content with their wages (Luke 3:7-14).

No one had asked John about money and possessions. Yet his answers showed that John couldn’t talk about spiritual change without addressing how people handle material things.

If John the Baptist were to visit us today, what conclusions would he draw about our attitudes and actions toward money and possessions? Would the evidence convince him we are true followers of Jesus? Or would he see us as baptized versions of the world’s self-preoccupied materialists?

Microsoft executive Tricia Mayer wrote me, “Stewardship is the Christian life. It is about what we do with every resource given to us, every day we walk the earth, and every relationship we have. The difficult task of stewardship is mustering the discipline and will to manage the problem child called money.”

A steward is entrusted with wealth or property that does not belong to him. It’s his responsibility to manage that wealth in the best interests of, and according to the stated wishes of, the owner. God has given us life, time, talents, money, possessions, family, and His grace. In each case He evaluates what we do with what He’s entrusted to us.

The steward is granted by the owner sufficient resources and the authority to carry out his designated responsibilities. When it comes to financial stewardship, God hasn’t handed us a standardized checklist to mark off. Rather, He has provided us His Word with principles for effective financial stewardship—principles we have to wrestle with. A responsible steward consults the Owner, seeking His direction. This requires insight and wisdom far beyond our own. Scripture says, “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault” (James 1:5).

Do you truly desire God’s wisdom and empowerment in making difficult stewardship decisions (and evaluating your own heart)? Then ask. He won’t leave you in the dark. He has given you His Word and His Spirit to guide you.

And you shall remember the LORD your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth (Deuteronomy 8:18).
The LORD makes poor and makes rich; He brings low and lifts up (1 Samuel 2:7).
Both riches and honor come from You, and You reign over all (I Chronicles 29:12).

Stewardship is living in the light of these truths. It’s living with the awareness that we are managers, not owners, of what God has entrusted to us for this brief season. How we handle money and possessions demonstrates who we really believe is their true owner—God or us.

John Wesley offered four questions to help decide how to spend money. Notice how the last three flow directly out of the first one:

In spending this money, am I acting as if I owned it, or am I acting as the Lord’s trustee?
What Scripture requires me to spend this money in this way?
Can I offer up this purchase as a sacrifice to the Lord?
Will God reward me for this expenditure at the resurrection of the just?

If we really believe God is the owner of everything, shouldn’t we regularly be asking Him, “What do you want me to do with your money and your possessions?” And shouldn’t we be open to the possibility that He may want us to share large portions of His assets with those whose needs are greater than ours?

I spoke with a man who’d read The Treasure Principle, my book on giving. He owns a profitable business and believes for the first time that he knows why God has blessed him financially. It’s not so he can drive nicer cars and live in a nicer house. It’s to give it to build God’s kingdom. I told him about several different missions groups and prolife projects, and ways to help persecuted Christians. I wish you could have heard the excitement in his voice as he walked away determined to liquidate more earthly assets and dramatically expand his eternal investment portfolio!

This man followed through, and has given more and more over the years. He isn’t reluctant and guilt-ridden. He’s been liberated from material bondage, and is thrilled to have gotten onboard with what matters! He’s like the man who finds priceless treasure hidden in the field, “Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field” (Matthew 13:44). Do we pity the man for his sacrifices? No! We envy him both for his treasure and his joy.

If God is speaking to you, listen. Nothing’s more fleeting than the moment of conviction. Never procrastinate obedience. Once we stand before His throne, it will be too late to go back and reclaim a lifetime of squandered opportunities. Gazing into the eyes of the Christ we treasure, we’ll know exactly how we should have lived. God has given us His Word so we don’t have to wait to die to find out. And He’s given us His Spirit to empower us to live that way now.

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

Here

Despite Claims Otherwise, Treatment for an Ectopic Pregnancy Is Not an Abortion

Ectopic pregnancies, when gestation takes place outside the uterus, account for an estimated 2 percent of all pregnancies. Most commonly, implantation begins in a fallopian tube but occasionally on an ovary or against the abdominal wall. Usually the pregnancy miscarries without a woman knowing she was pregnant.

Because of the nature of an ectopic pregnancy, the child would normally have no hope of survival. And surgery may be necessary to save his mother’s life. These are tragic situations, but they are not the intentional killing of an innocent person who could otherwise survive.

Unfortunately, since the overturning of Roe and Casey, there has been much misinformation on the internet and in the media about ectopic pregnancies, and claims that women will not be able to receive medically necessary treatment in states that have restricted elective abortion. This is a straw man and/or a red herring argument.

What do doctors have to say? The American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians “recognizes the unavoidable loss of human life that occurs in an ectopic pregnancy, but does not consider treatment of ectopic pregnancy by standard surgical or medical procedures to be the moral equivalent of elective abortion, or to be the wrongful taking of human life.” (See their position statement on ectopic pregnancies.)

They also say, “Although treatment for ectopic pregnancy results in the unfortunate death of the embryo, this is not the intent of the treatment. The intent is to save the life of the mother. The sole intent of an abortion is to end the life of the developing human being. Therefore, legislation restricting induced abortion should not be seen to limit a physician’s ability to treat ectopic pregnancy.” (Emphasis mine.)

They state, “To clarify, elective abortion is defined as those drugs or procedures used with the primary intent to end the life of the human being in the womb. Elective abortion is not treatment of a miscarriage or an ectopic pregnancy nor is it separating the mother and the baby at any gestational age to save a mother’s life. There are no laws in any state in the United States which criminalize treatment of any of these conditions.”

This is a great video from Live Action, done by neonatologist Dr. Kendra Kolb, explaining the pro-life reply to “abortion can be medically necessary.” Her comments on ectopic pregnancies start at the 3:23 mark:

(The whole “Pro-Life Replies” series is excellent. You can see all the videos here, including How to Reply to: “Women Will Die From Illegal Abortions” and How to Reply to: “A Fetus Is Not A Person.”)

Finally, here’s an excerpt from an episode of The World and Everything in It, specifically addressing the new pro-life laws and ectopic pregnancies:

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Let’s get right to it. Is it now illegal in some states to treat miscarriages and ectopic pregnancies?

LEAH SAVAS, REPORTER: The short answer is no, but we can approach this no from two angles. The first one is legal, and the second one is medical. So I'll start by looking at the legal side of this.

If you actually look at the laws in the 21 states that already have protections for unborn babies, they all make exceptions to allow for abortions when the life of the mother is at risk. So that's the key part. So women can still get abortions if the pregnancy is threatening their lives. That would include removing ectopic pregnancies, because if the baby who in an ectopic pregnancy implants in the fallopian tube, or somewhere else outside of the uterus, if the baby's allowed to grow, the fallopian tube could rupture, the mother could bleed to death. That is obviously a life threatening situation. Another life-threatening situation would be when a baby miscarries but does not fully evacuate the mother’s body. If the baby’s allowed to remain there, that could lead to an infection and that could threaten the woman’s life as well. So in those two cases, obviously, there are good medical reasons to remove the baby.

REICHARD: But that wouldn’t count as an abortion, would it, if the baby has already died? Abortion ends a life, and there’s no life in that case.

SAVAS: That’s correct. But this is where things can get a little confusing for some people because one medical term for miscarriage is a “spontaneous abortion.” That’s sometimes what it’s called medically. But many laws get really specific about what counts and what doesn’t count as an abortion. And it clarifies in definitions that miscarriage and ectopic pregnancy removal is not an abortion.

One of those states that makes that clarification is Arkansas. They have a conditional law that went into effect the day that the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. It prohibits abortion except to save the mother’s life. And in the definition section, the legislation defines abortion and clarifies that the act is not an abortion if performed with the purpose to remove a dead unborn child caused by spontaneous abortion or removing ectopic pregnancy. That’s a direct quote from the law.

REICHARD: What about states with laws that don’t make that clarification?

SAVAS: So, my state of Michigan is one of those states that has a law protecting babies from abortion in all cases. There’s a debate right now as to whether or not it’s actually in effect. But that’s a totally different story. It does make exceptions for the life of the mother, but doesn't make these clarifications about ectopic pregnancies and miscarriages. So I talked to the legislative director of Right to Life of Michigan about this and she referred me to a part of the public health code that does define elective abortion and clearly states that it does not include treating a woman who has had a miscarriage or who has an ectopic pregnancy. But again, even if a state doesn’t make this clarification in another part of the law, doctors always have that life of the mother exception to fall back on.

REICHARD: So there is a legal difference between, say, removing an ectopic pregnancy and an elective abortion. But is there any difference medically?

SAVAS: Yes, there is a medical difference and even Planned Parenthood says so. If you go to their website, they have a page that talks about ectopic pregnancy. And on one of the questions that it’s answering on the page, it says that treating an ectopic pregnancy—and this is a quote from the page—"isn't the same thing as getting an abortion.” It then goes on to clarify that abortion involves ending a pregnancy that’s in the uterus, while removing an ectopic pregnancy is removing a pregnancy that has implanted outside of the uterus, usually in the fallopian tubes. And you have to remove that through laparoscopic surgical procedures or a drug called methotrexate. And that's exactly what the page says on Planned Parenthood.

Listen to the whole episode here.

I encourage you to download (without cost) my short book Pro-Choice or Pro-Life: Examining 15 Pro-Choice Claims—What Do Facts & Common Sense Tell Us?  It will equip you in your conversations and also is a great book to share with those who are pro-choice or are on the fence.

Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya

How Should We Understand Humanity’s Deepest Desires? Are They God-Given?

Note from Randy: Our Eternal Perspective Ministries staff members sometimes answer questions on my behalf, often quoting from things I’ve written. I am often struck by the fact that what they write back is better than what I would have. I appreciated this answer that Stephanie Anderson wrote to a pastor who emailed us to ask some questions about desire.

A reader wrote us to ask:

Could you help me understand desire theologically and biblically? Could a believer have good and bad desires? I’m wrestling with the already-but-not-yet state believers are in and the fallenness of man. I believe that our desires are tainted, corrupted, and the only desire that can ever be "good" is due to Christ’s sanctifying work. Or is our innate desire good only because of creation? 

I'm Stephanie with Eternal Perspective Ministries, and am responding on Randy’s behalf. Years ago Randy taught a course called the Theology of Desire. Unfortunately, we don’t have the recording of the class, but we do have several things he has written related to desire that may be helpful for you.

Randy does believe that God created all people with a right desire to know and love Him, but the Fall has twisted that desire. Due to sin, “Man is left with a ‘hole’ in his heart that only God can fill; but he attempts to fill it with power, pleasure, possessions, religious activity, etc.—all are dead-end streets that can’t bring fulfillment.” Randy writes, “Christianity teaches that Jesus takes our sins away while redeeming our desires. Desire is an essential part of humanity, a part that God built into people before sin cast its dark shadow on earth.”

He quotes Blaise Pascal, who wrote,

What else does this craving, and this helplessness, proclaim but that there once was in man a true happiness of which now remain to him only the mark and empty trace, which he in vain tries to fill from all his surroundings, seeking from things absent the help he does not obtain in things present. But these are all inadequate, because the infinite abyss can only be filled by an infinite and immutable object, that is to say, only by God Himself.

Randy writes this about desire:

We were made for a person and a place. Jesus is the person. Heaven is the place. They are what we desire. We’ll never be satisfied with less. No other person, no other place will fulfill us. At best lesser objects of desire can give us hints and foretastes of—and draw us closer to—who and what we ultimately desire. At worst, they can become idols, God-substitutes and Heaven-substitutes.

All people seek the same things (God and Heaven), but the world, flesh, and devil lead us down dead-end streets, promising fulfillment. Satan’s central strategy is to lie to us about 1) what we really want and 2) how to get it. People spend their lives chasing mirages, leading to disillusionment, addiction, shame, and destruction.

…The Fall twisted our desire, but eternity is still in our hearts (Ecclesiastes 3:11). Our Lord can restore godly desire; we can cultivate it and point it toward its true objects. We don’t need less desire, but more, pointed the right direction. We need to not simply deny our worst desires, but cultivate our best ones, by identifying and losing ourselves in what we really desire.

You can read more here, but I believe the main answer to your questions is in what Randy says there: “Our Lord can restore godly desire.” As Christians, it is our responsibility to cultivate the right desires, as we partner with His Holy Spirit (we see an example of such partnership in Colossians 1:29 where Paul wrote, “I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me”). And of course, one day in Heaven, our desires will all be perfectly righteous and completely fulfilled.

Three books Randy would recommend for further study of this subject are:

1) The Dangerous Duty of Delight by John Piper

2) Desire: The Journey We Must Take to Find the Life God Offers by John Eldredge

3) Addictions - A Banquet in the Grave: Finding Hope in the Power of the Gospel by Edward T. Welch

And here are some resources from Randy you may like to read:

Longings of the Heart

Hunger, Thirst and Craving God

Longing for Joy

Longing for God and Joy, from Augustine

Longing for Joy, in C. S. Lewis, Part 1 and Part 2

Deepest Longings of Human Hearts

Will We Have Desires in Heaven?

Photo by Arif Mills on Unsplash

“I Am Now So Excited about Heaven”: Some Encouraging Letters from Readers

In the last six months, perhaps partly because of Nanci’s cancer battle and homegoing, our ministry has heard more from people about the Heaven book than ever before, as well as about several of my other Heaven-related books. Hope you enjoy these letters from readers. They certainly encouraged me!

You opened my eyes and heart to the true Heaven after I read your book Heaven. One evening I sat on my patio after reading a few chapters of your book and decided to get my Bible out and read Revelation. I actually cried because it’s there—Scripture tells us what Heaven is, and I feel so blessed.

It was truly a blessing when I was directed to read Randy’s book on Heaven. When my wife passed in April, I found myself immediately praying to the Lord, how do I talk to her—I know she's in Heaven but do I just turn my face skyward and talk? And I asked, what’s the biblical way to keep in touch with her?

The very next day, as if directed by that small quiet voice that talks to me many times, I found myself digging through her bookstack near her easy chair. There was Heaven, Randy Alcorn's book. I wasn't surprised she was reading it. She had stage 4 cancer, metastatic breast cancer, for the last 6 years. I immediately started reading it and became enthralled by the book. I was very grateful for the book. I took great comfort in it, and it helped me grieve for her before I had any other grief resources. At this point in time she had passed maybe a week earlier; maybe 10 days earlier. Anyway, throughout the reading of the book (read it in two and a half months) I felt the Lord had answered my prayer and was giving me direction on how to view Heaven and how to view her place there and how to communicate with her in Heaven through the Lord Jesus Christ.

As a side note, I’ve been a committed Christian since 2008, attend [a Bible-believing church], and am a member of a small group Bible study that meets regularly. Despite all that, before reading Heaven, I had very little clear information about what Heaven is or what to expect in Heaven.

I am reading Heaven right now. This book is going into my permanent library. It’s making me think about Heaven in new ways. Thank you.

Randy Alcorn’s Heaven book meant so much to both me and my dad. I read it when it first came out after I delivered stillborn twins. I then loaned it to my dad who read it and recommended it to all his aging friends. It made both of us long for our eternal home, and played a huge role in comforting us when other loved ones passed. God truly has His hand on your ministry as it is blessed millions that you don’t even know about.

My dad was a major league baseball pitcher for many years and used baseball as a platform to share his faith with others. I made a little video with him several years ago for his 80th birthday party. I thought you might enjoy seeing it. 

Because Randy, through God's Word, had painted such a beautiful picture of Heaven for us, my dad and I had several incredible conversations about his next step before he left this earth. Those conversations will always be some of my fondest memories. Please thank Randy for the way he allows God to use him to touch so many lives. Thanks for all you do as well. In a world that is increasingly dark, you’re having a profound impact.

I am almost up to page 100 of Deadline, and I have to tell you that, despite reading your theological book on Heaven, I was not particularly moved, but the conversation Finney has with Zyor and Zyor’s telling of what Finney will be experiencing now that he is in Heaven has fired me up. I have realized I need to learn and discover, otherwise I am bored. I am now so excited. Thank you.

My mind and heart go to Heaven often. Twelve years ago, when my mom was dying of cancer, she gave us girls your small little book on Heaven. Then I gave the same book to my dad prior to his passing. Two weeks before he died, our pastor led him to Jesus. Your book on Heaven is a great tool to draw people to Jesus.

Being in God’s word more the last 15 years have definitely changed my life and thoughts about Heaven. A friend introduced me to your book Heaven, and I recommend it to others (I reread many parts I have marked). I love the chapters about animals. We grew up in the city, but God gave us a small farm six years ago. It’s amazing how much Scripture comes alive from working, living, and teaching about Gods creation. Thank you for being faithful and sharing what you’ve learned and what God has revealed to you. It spurs me on have a closer relationship with God and to keep reading.

Your book We Shall See God is what God used to minister to me when God took my son and a year later my husband. God used it to open up my eyes of the joys of Heaven, and that dying for the believer is but going home to the One we were made for and to the place we are made to be.

It has been a comfort to me and my children to listen to Heaven for Kids after my dad, their beloved papa, departed this earth a few months ago. All the questions they were asking me were addressed and supported by Scripture. It’s so hard to continue on here without him. We miss him so much. But there is peace in knowing that he believed in Jesus and in learning more about what the Bible says about Heaven.

Growing up, my vision of Heaven was not a reality my heart accepted enthusiastically. When I read Deadline decades ago, I literally sobbed. It was as if my heart embraced the picture set out before me. I could envision my eternal Home with awe and excitement. I will always be grateful. Randy. I have used your book as a tool to reach out to others.

How a Friend’s Stand for Christ Made an Eternal Difference

[image error]

I’ve not met Garrett Kell in person, but we’ve interacted some online, including him reaching out last year to say he was praying for my precious Nanci. That meant so much to us. Garrett is an author and the pastor of Del Ray Baptist in Alexandria, Virginia, and also posts great things on Twitter, including video clips (sometimes quite funny ones), which he pairs with spiritual insights. I’m grateful for his life and ministry and encouragement. (This is a positive example of being on Twitter!)

I hadn’t read Garrett’s testimony before, but one of our staff shared it with me. It’s powerful. I think you’ll be touched just like I was. —Randy

The Stand That Saved My Soul

By Garrett Kell

On Halloween night 1998 I threw a party in my apartment at Virginia Tech. I was 20 years old and was in the wildest season of my life. I had three girl roommates, a live-in girlfriend, and I spent most of my spare time smoking weed, doing lines of cocaine, and drinking.

On that Halloween night, I was geared up for what I expected to be a good time. Because the party was going be so “unforgettable,” I invited an old friend from high school down for the weekend. Dave and I had played hoops and partied together over the years, so I was excited to see him.

When Dave arrived, I greeted him and escorted him back to my room where I proudly unveiled the welcome gifts I’d prepared for him. On my desk was a fat bag of weed, a 6’er of his favorite beer, and I told him I had a girl he could get to know for the weekend.

But Dave didn’t respond like I expected he would. Instead, he gently closed the door and sat on the bed. He looked me in the eyes and told me he didn’t do those things anymore. He said he’d become a Christian and that he loved Jesus now and the reason he came to the party was to tell me that Jesus loved me too.

I laughed him off.

For the rest of the night Dave stayed at the party with people going crazy all around him. Other friends came up and asked me what was up with my buddy and when I told them he was a Christian we’d all sneer and say “Oh, poor guy” like he’d caught a disease or something.

But as the night went on, my heart was uneasy.

In that room, with the music bump’n and laughter roll’n, I was haunted. As I looked at Dave, I saw he had a peace that no drink or high or lover could give. The party eventually ended, but the story was just beginning.

Over the next several days, Dave and I spoke about Jesus and about the Gospel. He gave me Scriptures to read and tried to answer my questions and endured my mocking. We spoke on the phone several times and exchanged emails. What follows is the family friendly version of an email I sent him about a week after his visit.

Dave, dude, we have to talk. Its great and all that you’re Mr. Religious now, but I want you to know I’m worried about you. I want you to be careful that you don’t go overboard and start getting all weird on me. I mean I know that going to church is a good thing and that God is real and all that, but if you don’t watch it you’re going to miss out on what life is really all about.

I know you are just trying to be a good boy and all, but when you came down here and wouldn’t drink, you looked like an idiot. I mean you were just sitting there with a cork in your mouth. What is wrong with you?

I’m not trying to be a jerk, but I’m really worried about you. I know you are just preaching at me because you are my boy and all that, but I know that I’m OK, God and I have our own little understanding. I know I get crazy now and again, but I don’t think God is going to send me to hell for having a good time. I mean he understands I’m just having a little fun. I’m not a bad person and he knows my heart and all that. I agree I get a little crazy now and again, but it’s good for the soul, right? Well, enough of that, I’m sure you’ll be back to normal soon and we can smoke a fatty to celebrate. Be a good boy and tell Jesus I said hi.

Garrett

During another party a week or so later I felt myself becoming uncomfortable. I was feeling haunted, though I couldn’t explain it to myself. I felt dirty and confused, so I retreated to my bedroom and closed the door and said, “OK, God, if you’re real, show me something.” As I looked down in exhaustion, I saw the corner of a Bible that my parents had given me when I went off to college. Until that night it had been hidden under my bed. But for some reason, that night, it was peeking out.

I sat at my desk and played Bible roulette. The Bible opened to Ezekiel 18. I began reading and came to this,

“The person who sins is the one who will die…But if wicked people turn away from all their sins and begin to obey my decrees and do what is just and right, they will surely live and not die. All their past sins will be forgotten, and they will live…Do you think that I like to see wicked people die? says the Sovereign Lord. Of course not! I want them to turn from their wicked ways and live…Put all your rebellion behind you, and find yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. For why should you die…I don’t want you to die, says the Sovereign Lord. Turn back and live!” (NLT).

That freaked me out.

So I closed the Bible and said, “God, let’s try this again.” I opened again and this time it fell open to Romans 2 which says, “Don’t you see how wonderfully kind, tolerant, and patient God is with you? Does this mean nothing to you? Can’t you see that his kindness is intended to turn you from your sin?”

That really freaked me out.

A few weeks later I was at home on Christmas break, and I was doing a drug called Ecstasy. Sometime after midnight I became strangely sober and felt an overwhelming burden to call Dave. So at 2 a.m. Dave came up to my house, carrying his Bible, with tears rolling down his cheeks.

We sat down, and I told him I needed to know more about God. He asked me if I knew what he was doing when I called him. He went on to tell me that when I called him, he was doing the same thing he’d been doing every night since he left Virginia Tech—he was on his knees praying for me.

Over the next few days and weeks, I continued to read the Bible and have conversations with Dave. He told me that God made me to love and worship Him. He explained that the guilt I was feeling was God showing me that I was in rebellion against Him and was on my way to hell. He explained that Jesus died for sinners like me and then rose from the dead to extend mercy to me if I would turn from my sins and believe in Jesus. He told me that Jesus would forgive all of my sins, change my life, and make me His forever.

I’m not sure if it was that night or in the weeks that followed, but God saved my soul. I began reading the Bible, and it was no longer a book of old stories, but now it was like a spotlight that searched my soul and showed me the depths of my sin and the even greater depths of God’s love for me in Jesus.

Dave made a stand for Christ that night at Virginia Tech. God used him to get a message to me that eternally altered my life. Now, every Halloween night I call Dave and thank him for the stand. God used Dave’s stand to save my soul and my life from utter destruction.

I’m a very unlikely person to be a Christian. I loved my sin. I loved my life. I had a very hard heart. Dave was the 17th person to have some sort of Gospel conversation with me. I didn’t want Jesus. But for some reason, He wanted me.

As you read this, I want to encourage you to remember that God’s grace is stronger than the hardest heart. Romans 1:16-17 says “the Gospel…is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, as it is written, ‘But the righteous man shall live by faith.’”

Who is the most unlikely person you know to become a follower of Jesus?

Take a moment to think.

You have a name?

Jesus can save them.

And you just might be the person He uses to get the Gospel to them.

The Gospel is the power of God for salvation, for rebels like me and rebels like you.

Make a stand for Christ and trust Him to use it for His glory.

That stand may just save a soul.

Photo by Aaron Owens on Unsplash