Randy Alcorn's Blog, page 61

Charles Spurgeon Loved Christmas and the Doctrine of the Incarnation

Note from Randy: I really enjoyed these thoughts from Charles Spurgeon on Christmas, drawn from his writings and sermons. This was put together by Phillip Ort, the Director of The Spurgeon Library, which is the premier center of Spurgeon scholarship, housing nearly 6,000 volumes from Charles Spurgeon’s personal library.

I wrote an introduction and conclusion about Charles Haddon Spurgeon in my book We Shall See God, and quoted from his sermons extensively, as well as commented on various aspects of his life. One day I’ll meet him and say, “Don’t know if you realized we were co-authors. There really wasn’t any way I could ask your permission!”

I thank God for Spurgeon and his impact on my life and countless others. Hope you enjoy these Christmas reflections.

Merry Christmas from Charles H. Spurgeon

by Phillip Ort

Charles Spurgeon loved Christmas. In fact, he once said, “I like Christmas; I wish it came six times a year.” He liked the generosity of “those who give to the poor,” and as for the cheer of the season exclaimed “I would not stop a smile. God forbid me!”

Indeed, Spurgeon really loved Christmas, so much so that he wished “there were ten or a dozen Christmas-days in the year.” After all, “there is work enough in the world” and he thought “a little more rest would not hurt labouring people.”

Indeed, again, Spurgeon really, really loved Christmas so much that he wished “there were twenty Christmas days in the year.” For, it was seldom that “young men can meet with their friends” and distant relatives could be “united as happy families.” Indeed, Christmas was “one of England’s brightest days,” the “great Sabbath of the year,” and a sacred “family institution.”

However, Spurgeon also said “I have no respect to the religious observance of the day.”

When Spurgeon spoke of the “religious observance of the day” he had in mind the institutionalization of the 25th of December as an “ecclesiastical custom” of “purely popish origin.” Spurgeon was no scrooge, but he demurred about the canonization of Christmas which made it a cultural ornament.

In Spurgeon’s view, the true significance of Christmas was that it “compelled” people to “think of the birth of Christ.” Indeed, Spurgeon argued that “you may keep his birthday all year round” if one remembered that “in a spiritual sense he is born every day of every year in some men’s hearts.” For Spurgeon, the Incarnation was the foundation of mankind’s salvation, and that made it all the more beautiful.

For Spurgeon, the Incarnation was “a mystery, a wondrous mystery” more easily believed than defined. While he believed it was impossible to find words which were “exactly accurate” to describe the “wonderful incarnation” he nonetheless had much to say.

In the Incarnation “God has become flesh.” Simply, “the Infinite has assumed the form of an infant.” When Christ came down he was “as really man as he is God” just as he was “God and man in one person.”

Jesus Christ, in his human nature, was “born,” “begotten of the Holy Ghost,” and “born of the Virgin Mary.” But, in his nature as God he was “not born; but given,” “begotten of his Father from before all worlds,” “begotten – not made, being of the same substance with the Father.”

Jesus Christ was “man, yet God.” He was “allied to us in ties of blood” and in his atoning death the “groans of pain,” and the “moans of despair” were put to death themselves. In taking on the “weakness of man” he died as the Christian’s substitute, and “had he not died we must have died for ever.” For Spurgeon, the Incarnation was “a means to atonement.”

In light of this, Spurgeon insisted that “the doctrine of the incarnation of Christ is meat to your soul,” while the “great truth” of his “substitutionary sacrifice” was “the most nourishing cordial to your heart.” Indeed, Spurgeon could not help but to exclaim, “Oh, that glorious doctrine…there is healing in it!”

For Spurgeon the response was simple, all were commanded to “Come and worship God manifest in the flesh.” Christians, like the wise men, were to “bring your offerings,” including the “gold of love,” the “frankincense of praise,” and the “myrrh of penitence.” Indeed, he said “When you have realized all that Christ’s incarnation and death have meant for you…your heart must surely have danced at the sound of his name.”

However, the salvation wrought by this miracle which “outmiracles miracles” came with implications. First, if anyone had “any doubt” about whether Jesus Christ was “willing” or “able” to save they had no cause for fear. For, Christ had proven his purpose when he “left the thrones and royalties of heaven to be born into this world as a babe.”

Second, the “great reality” of the Incarnation demanded that believers “turn away from all the frothy novelties of modern thought and the vain inventions of man.” Rather, the Christian was to “behold the crown of your adorable Lord,” and “dwell on the literal, historical incarnation of the Son of God.”

Finally, Spurgeon said that “when heaven entrusts a man with a merciful revelation, he is bound to deliver the good tidings.” Just as the angels were tasked spreading the message abroad, so too then Christians “must keep this Christmas by telling to your fellow-men” the great news of “Jesus Christ and Him Crucified.”

This Christmas Spurgeon would have us contemplate Christ and His Incarnation and:

“Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee, and hath had compassion on thee.” – Mark 5:19

This article originally appeared on For the Church , and is used with permission of the author.

Photo by Tessa Rampersad on Unsplash

How Are We to Live in What Feel Like Unprecedented Times?

For many years I’ve observed Christians saying, “This is an utterly unique time in history” (always true, but sometimes, so what?), and “There have never been more signs of the Antichrist coming.” But Nero was seen as the Antichrist, and the same is true of hundreds of dictators around the world throughout the centuries. Who would be a more likely Antichrist than Hitler, the slaughterer of the Jews, and his partner Mussolini, the false prophet coming out of Rome? Yet all these likely end-of-the-world scenarios have come and gone.

G. K. Chesterton wrote, “With every step of our lives we enter into the middle of some story which we are certain to misunderstand.” Our perspective is limited. We’re not God, we don’t hold the universe in the palm of our hands, and we just don’t know what lies ahead of us. When the end comes, it comes. Christ will return but so far, He hasn’t. We and our children may well live out our lives before the world ends in judgment. We should live faithfully, and peacefully as we trust Him. That is universal biblical advice for each and every age.

Rather than speculate on what will happen, we should focus on what the Bible has told us all along—fear God, trust God, be wise, be prepared, be faithful, be generous, care for your family, look after the body of Christ, reach out to those who don’t know Him. We don't know the day or the hour of His return, and need to focus on faithfully serving our King until we die or He returns, either of which could happen any day. Billy Graham put it this way: “The forward-looking Christian remains sincerely optimistic and joyful, knowing that Christ will win in the end.”

C.S. Lewis wrote this advice in 1948, when people were concerned about atomic bombs. His words are just as applicable today as they were then:

In one way we think a great deal too much of the atomic bomb. “How are we to live in an atomic age?” I am tempted to reply: “Why, as you would have lived in the sixteenth century when the plague visited London almost every year, or as you would have lived in a Viking age when raiders from Scandinavia might land and cut your throat any night; or indeed, as you are already living in an age of cancer, an age of syphilis, an age of paralysis, an age of air raids, an age of railway accidents, an age of motor accidents.”

In other words, do not let us begin by exaggerating the novelty of our situation. Believe me, dear sir or madam, you and all whom you love were already sentenced to death before the atomic bomb was invented: and quite a high percentage of us were going to die in unpleasant ways. We had, indeed, one very great advantage over our ancestors—anesthetics; but we have that still. It is perfectly ridiculous to go about whimpering and drawing long faces because the scientists have added one more chance of painful and premature death to a world which already bristled with such chances and in which death itself was not a chance at all, but a certainty.

This is the first point to be made: and the first action to be taken is to pull ourselves together. If we are all going to be destroyed by an atomic bomb, let that bomb when it comes find us doing sensible and human things—praying, working, teaching, reading, listening to music, bathing the children, playing tennis, chatting to our friends over a pint and a game of darts—not huddled together like frightened sheep and thinking about bombs. They may break our bodies (a microbe can do that) but they need not dominate our minds.

Photo by Sixteen Miles Out on Unsplash

A Grieving Daughter Offers the Gospel of Grace to Her Father's Killer

Last week I watched a video of a young woman, Shelby Houston, speaking at her father’s memorial service. Her dad, Officer Richard Houston, was shot and killed on December 3 in Mesquite, Texas while responding to a domestic disturbance.

This clip from her message is so wonderful, so beautiful, it took my breath away. This is the grace of God. What a legacy her father left and what a reminder of the incredible impact that godly cops can and do make in our culture. Watch and listen—this dear young woman is a living, breathing embodiment of the grace of Jesus:

Shelbys father, Officer Richard Houston, was murdered last week in Texas. I don’t know if I’ve ever witnessed such a powerful display of God’s mercy & grace.
The next time our lost neighbor, co-worker, or family member aggravates us...remember the words of this grieving daughter. pic.twitter.com/TX2RJbA86v

— Thomas Delp (@ThomasDelp) December 10, 2021

“There was still a lot of life I was looking forward to spending with him. Eighteen years with you daddy was just not enough time,” Shelby said. “You were faithful, steadfast, kind, loving, selfless, and hard-working. On December 3 you were silenced but you will forever live on in my heart today and all the days to come.”

Shelby finished by saying, “You’re my hero, Daddy. And I’m so proud to call you my father. I love you most. And I’ll see you someday soon.” (See this article and video from a local Texas news station.)

How could a grieving daughter forgive her father’s killer? Only by understanding the grace of God that has been extended to all of us. In 1993, I wrote an article about Wesley Allen Dodd, a child molester and murderer, and referenced my daughters who, with the same heart as this dear girl, wanted to pray for Dodd before he was hung. And this was my response more recently to someone who rejects the idea of forgiving a killer.  

The point is this: loving and forgiving people who’ve done terrible things is exactly what God does for each of us. No, most of us haven’t murdered someone, but we’ve had hate in our hearts, and “Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him” (1 John 3:15). But the good news is that eternal life is offered by Jesus to all haters and all murderers!

One of our privileges here at EPM is sending my books to prisoners across the U.S., those incarcerated for a wide variety of crimes. While books bought by people who aren’t in prison often go unread, and may not be passed on to others that much, it is radically different for prisoners. They not only read books they have requested (and the great majority of my books are sent when prisoners themselves have requested them), but they also eagerly pass them on. It’s common to hear reports of books that have literally fallen apart, pages coming out, because they have been read and reread so many times, sometimes by dozens of prisoners. 

There is untold potential to minister to these men and women who are worthless in the eyes of the world, but who are so valuable to God that He shed His divine blood for them. If you’d like to partner with us in reaching them for Christ, we’d be honored if you’d prayerfully consider supporting Eternal Perspective Ministries with a year-end gift. Financial gifts to our General Fund support our operating expenses and staff, and allow us to continue giving away the royalties from my books. (You can also give to our Books for Prisoners Fund, if you’d like to directly support that part of our ministry.)

A Grieving Daughter’s Words of Mercy and Forgiveness

Last week I watched a video of a young woman, Shelby Houston, speaking at her father’s memorial service. Her dad, Officer Richard Houston, was shot and killed on December 3 in Mesquite, Texas while responding to a domestic disturbance.

This clip from her message is so wonderful, so beautiful, it took my breath away. This is the grace of God. What a legacy her father left and what a reminder of the incredible impact that godly cops can and do make in our culture. Watch and listen—this dear young woman is a living, breathing embodiment of the grace and forgiveness of Jesus:

Shelbys father, Officer Richard Houston, was murdered last week in Texas. I don’t know if I’ve ever witnessed such a powerful display of God’s mercy & grace.
The next time our lost neighbor, co-worker, or family member aggravates us...remember the words of this grieving daughter. pic.twitter.com/TX2RJbA86v

— Thomas Delp (@ThomasDelp) December 10, 2021

“There was still a lot of life I was looking forward to spending with him. Eighteen years with you daddy was just not enough time,” Shelby said. “You were faithful, steadfast, kind, loving, selfless, and hard-working. On December 3 you were silenced but you will forever live on in my heart today and all the days to come.”

Shelby finished by saying, “You’re my hero, Daddy. And I’m so proud to call you my father. I love you most. And I’ll see you someday soon.” (See this article and video from a local Texas news station.)

How could a grieving daughter forgive her father’s killer? Only by understanding the grace of God that has been extended to all of us. In 1993, I wrote an article about Wesley Allen Dodd, a child molester and murderer, and referenced my daughters who, with the same heart as this dear girl, wanted to pray for Dodd before he was hung. And this was my response more recently to someone who rejects the idea of forgiving a killer.  

The point is this: loving and forgiving people who’ve done terrible things is exactly what God does for each of us. No, most of us haven’t murdered someone, but we’ve had hate in our hearts, and “Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him” (1 John 3:15). But the good news is that eternal life is offered by Jesus to all haters and all murderers!

One of our privileges here at EPM is sending my books to prisoners across the U.S., those incarcerated for a wide variety of crimes. While books bought by people who aren’t in prison often go unread, and may not be passed on to others that much, it is radically different for prisoners. They not only read books they have requested (and the great majority of my books are sent when prisoners themselves have requested them), but they also eagerly pass them on. It’s common to hear reports of books that have literally fallen apart, pages coming out, because they have been read and reread so many times, sometimes by dozens of prisoners. 

There is untold potential to minister to these men and women who are worthless in the eyes of the world, but who are so valuable to God that He shed His divine blood for them. If you’d like to partner with us in reaching them for Christ, we’d be honored if you’d prayerfully consider supporting Eternal Perspective Ministries with a year-end gift. Financial gifts to our General Fund support our operating expenses and staff, and allow us to continue giving away the royalties from my books. (You can also give to our Books for Prisoners Fund, if you’d like to directly support that part of our ministry.)

The Tree We Don’t Often Focus on at Christmastime

The death of Jesus may not be frequently talked about at Christmastime, but may we never forget that the miracle of the cross was made possible by the miracle of the incarnation. The baby born in that Bethlehem barn was God, and He was born to die. The death of Jesus delivers us from our fear of death. His suffering on the cross atoned for our sins.

Paul David Tripp recently wrote on Twitter, “That baby in the manger had a tree in his future, not beautifully decorated, no, this tree would be stained with his blood.”

My friend Stephanie Anderson shared with me what Gretchen Saffles says about that tree in her book The Well-Watered Woman:

Perhaps around the same time the seed of Christ began growing in Mary’s womb, another seed grew in the soil of the earth. Over time, this seed broke free from its casing, shot roots downward, and sprung up toward the sun. It grew and grew, receiving the light and nourishment it needed to become tall and strong. The seed grew into a tree—a tree that would become an instrument of death. This tree would be cut down by human hands and crafted into a cross where Jesus would be killed, playing its unique part in the story of redemption.

Meanwhile, the seed of the Savior of the world continued to grow. Here’s how Scripture describes Jesus as a boy: “Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man” (Luke 2:52). Jesus grew until the time came for him to die a criminal’s death on the cross to rescue us from our sins. The innocent for the guilty. The blameless for the broken.

These seeds, both planted by God, grew until their appointed time of death arrived. “When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners” (Romans 5:6, NLT). One seed became an instrument of death so the seed of redemption could flourish. The tree died forever when it was cut down to become a cross, but when Jesus died on that cross, he defeated death once and for all (see 1 Corinthians 15:55-57; Galatians 3:13). He conquered the power of sin and death and uprooted the doubt that Satan sowed in the garden.

Here are some quotes from my book It’s All About Jesus, focusing on Jesus’ death on the tree that became a cross:

No other God have I but Thee; born in a manger, died on a tree. Martin Luther

Though the Son of God was incorporeal, he formed for himself a body like ours. He appeared as one of the sheep, yet he remained the Shepherd. He was esteemed a servant, yet he did not renounce being a Son. He was carried about in the womb of Mary, yet he was clothed in the nature of his Father. He walked on the earth, yet he filled heaven… He was standing before Pilate, and at the same time he was sitting with his Father. He was nailed on a tree, yet he was the Lord of all things. —Melito of Sardis

Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us—for it is written, “cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”—in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we would receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. —Galatians 3:13-14 NASB

Between the trees of the first and of the second Paradise there stands, silent and sublime, that other tree, the tree of shame, the accursed tree of the cross, upon which Christ once hung. From this cross God stretches out His hand to the lost wanderer in the wilderness, longing to bring him back for ever from his own ways to the heavenly homeland. —Erich Sauer

The only way back to the tree of life is to trust in the one who hung upon the tree of death.  —Trevor Laurence

The Bible is the story of two gardens: Eden and Gethsemane. In the first, Adam took a fall. In the second, Jesus took a stand. In the first, God sought Adam. In the second, Jesus sought God. In Eden, Adam hid from God. In Gethsemane, Jesus emerged from the tomb. In Eden, Satan led Adam to a tree that led to his death. From Gethsemane, Jesus went to a tree that led to our life. —Max Lucado

Do not refuse the Lord Jesus who knocks at your door; for He knocks with a hand which was nailed to the tree for such as you are. —Charles Spurgeon

Photo by Gavin Tyte on Unsplash

The Discipleship Crisis in Africa, and How the Africa Study Bible Can Help

Our ministry loves the work of Oasis International, which seeks to "empower the voices of the vibrant church in Africa as they disciple believers in Africa and speak to the global church."

One of their major projects is the Africa Study Bible:

Africa’s Discipleship Crisis

Many pastors in Africa are leading churches with little or no training. They have few resources to help them understand and correctly apply God's Word.

At the current rate, 42% of the world’s Christians will live in Africa by 2060. A discipleship crisis is growing, and there is a desperate need for affordable, biblical resources written by Africans.

How can there be a discipleship crisis in such a vibrant Church?

Good discipleship is a challenge in any context, but when well-trained leaders are few, and biblical resources are hard to find, too expensive, or not designed for local contexts, that challenge becomes a crisis. Consider the dispaerate differences between:

The Church in North America

Many churches have multiple pastors
87% of Americans own a Bible
80% of pastors have formal training

The Church in Africa

Many pastors serve multiple churches
Over 208 million believers don’t own a Bible
80% of pastors have no formal training

A Christian in North America can have the exact resource they want delivered to their house the next day. A Christian in Africa can spend their entire life without ever having access to a Bible. Oasis International has boldly stepped into this crisis to equip the fastest growing Church in the world with discipleship tools.

How is Oasis responding to the crisis?

Oasis has created three categories of tools to equip the Church in Africa to face this crisis:

Contextual relevant Bibles like the Africa Study Bible
Oasis original books
Apps and online resources

The Africa Study Bible

The Africa Study Bible looks at God’s Word through African eyes. Finally, African pastors and leaders have access to a study Bible that addresses tribalism, polygamy, ancestor worship, elder care, and much more, enabling them to prepare sermons and lessons that speak in understandable ways to the needs around them.

Our ministry was honored to help fund the giving of this Bible to 100 pastors in Nairobi. We received this wonderful note in reply:

If you’d like to support their efforts to get the Africa Study Bible into the hands of African pastors and church leaders, you can donate online.

Finding a Church That Suits Our Every Need and Desire Is Not the Ultimate Purpose of Church

Note from Randy: I love this thoughtful and Christ-centered post that Benjamin Watson wrote last summer. In the last five years Nanci and I have come to know and love Ben and his wonderful wife Kirsten. For fifteen years Ben was one of the most highly respected players in the National Football League, and now he continues to have a ministry to many inside and outside the NFL.

I’m grateful for Ben and Kirsten’s life and family and example. (Check out their podcast.) And Ben’s words below about church…wow. God spoke to me as I read them.

This morning, as we prepared to attend church, I felt discontentment in my heart. As a family, we have attended numerous churches as we have moved from city to city over the last 16 years. But throughout the journey, even in the warmest of congregations, there has always been a lingering remembrance of the temporary state we were operating in. We knew the moving day would arrive, a new church search would ensue, and the cycle would repeat in some other geographical region until we settled down and put down roots. At that point, I assumed the perfect church would magically appear. It would be close to our new home, Bible believing, verse by verse preaching, righteousness and justice exercising, Spirit directed, with a choir of heavenly proportions, and a large population of brown members who would not try to touch my children’s hair.

Now, the root planting process is in full swing and we have begun visiting churches. Today as I sat in service surrounded by God’s people I felt convicted. What I’m about to say is not an indictment on any individual church or believer. There are churches that perfectly fit each and every desire one may have, and this is wonderful. For some, lifelong attendance has married them to a specific congregation for decades. Others have landed in the pews after a year-long search. Church attendance should always be prioritized as it is an essential part of our instruction, fellowship, accountability, and corporate worship, and many of you love everything about your church. I am convinced that it is permissible to both seek churches that adhere to the inerrancy of Scripture and provide opportunities for growth, while also satisfying some of our cultural and stylistic proclivities. BUT I have realized that even the search for the perfect church can become an idol.

Finding a church that suits my every need and desire is NOT the ultimate purpose of attending church. The primary purpose of church is gathering together in song, prayer, proclamation, and admonition to worship the Lord. Church is about Him, not me. If I wake up Sunday morning and consider not attending the local assembly simply because I don’t feel that it is all I desire it to be, or because I am fatigued by the search, I lose sight of the purpose for me being there in the first place. Lord, forgive me.

Lastly, church once a week will never be a substitute for Christ every day. Daily time in God’s Word and prayer is where growth truly happens. In times when church attendance is a challenge, I implore you not to forsake individual time with Him and collective time with family and friends centered around God’s presence in our daily lives.

Even today, church attendance is not a legal option for millions of believers around the world. I am not one to compare settings to elicit guilt, but as they cling to one page of Scripture in underground churches, I am convinced that it is not the perfect church that sustains them. It is power of the Holy Spirit. It is the hunger to see God’s glory and to know Him intimately.

In this search for a church to call home, may my strongest desire be to know God. The conditions do not have to be perfect for the preached word to pierce my heart. The songs do not have to be to my liking to be full of praise. The congregation does not have to look like my family for true brotherhood to flourish.

Lord, lead us to where you want us to be.

Photo by John-Mark Smith from Pexels

Heaven, Work, and “Planned Neglect”: My Interview on The Call to Mastery Podcast

Earlier this year I did a podcast with Jordan Raynor to talk about the difference between Heaven and the New Earth, and what it means for our work. Also, how the certain hope of the Gospel is empowering my wife Nanci in her struggles with cancer.

Here are the audio clips from the podcast:

Do You Narrate Your Own Audiobooks?

What Motivated You to Write Your Book Heaven?

Debunking Common Misconceptions about Heaven

How Does a Theology of Heaven Shape How We Think About Work?

Will There Be Work on the New Earth?

If God Is Going to Finish the Work of Restoring Creation, Why Does Our Work Matter Now?

Is Doing Our Jobs Well Part of the Good Works God Calls Us to Do?

What Does Ephesians 2:8-10 Have to Say About Good Works?

What Do You Mean by “Planned Neglect,” and How Has This Impacted Your Life and Career?

What Books Do You Most Often Give or Recommend to Others?

Who Would You Like to Hear Share about Their Faith on a Podcast?

What’s One Thing You’d Most Like to Share with Christ Followers?

Listen to the whole interview here.

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

Photo by Tima Miroshnichenko from Pexels

Jesus, the God Who Comes Near

These reflections on the coming of Jesus are from my book Face to Face with Jesus. As you read them this Christmas season, contemplate what amazing grace God showed to us by inhabiting space and time as a human being.

Jesus said to him, “Have I been among you all this time and you do not know me, Philip? The one who
has seen me has seen the Father.” (John 14:9 CSB)

The baby of Bethlehem was Creator of the universe, pitching His tent on the humble camping ground of our little planet. God’s glory now dwelt in Christ. He was the Holy of Holies. People had only to look at Jesus to see God, His permanent manifestation.

In Hidden Christmas, Timothy Keller writes, “When you read the Gospels, you are seeing God’s perfections…in all their breath-taking, real-life forms. You can know the glories of God from the Old Testament, but in Jesus Christ they come near.”

Jesus makes the Father known: “No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known” (John 1:18 ESV).

John Bunyan wrote, “Christ is the delight of the Father. What solace must that soul be filled with, that has the possession of him to all eternity!”

But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us. (Titus 3:4-5)

The miracle of the cross was made possible by the miracle of the incarnation. The angels must have been stunned to see the second member of the triune God become a human being.

The baby born in that Bethlehem barn was God, and He was born to die. His death delivers us from our fear of death. His suffering on the cross atoned for our sins, allowing Him to understand and help us.

And incredibly, the incarnation is permanent. Christ rose in a glorified human body that He’ll have forever. It’s not that Jesus suddenly stopped being a man after the ascension. No, the second member of the triune God will be a human being who reigns eternally on the New Earth.

Augustine wrote, “He was created by a mother whom he created. He cried in the manger in wordless infancy, he the Word, without whom all human eloquence is mute.”

The shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” (Luke 2:15)

In Jesus’ day, shepherds were officially labeled “sinners”—a technical term for a class of despised people. Yet, it was the sinners, not the self-righteous, He came to save (Mark 2:17).

Into this social context of religious snobbery and class prejudice, God’s Son stepped forth. How surprising and significant that God handpicked unpretentious shepherds to first hear the joyous news: “It’s a boy, the Messiah!”

The image of the shepherd was immortalized by Jesus when He said, “I am the good shepherd” (John 10:11). No other illustration so vividly portrays His tender care and guiding hand.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote, “God is not ashamed of the lowliness of human beings…He chooses people as his instruments and performs his wonders where one would least expect them. God is near to lowliness; he loves the lost, the neglected, the unseemly, the excluded, the weak and broken.”

Sale from Eternal Perspective Ministries

Right now Randy Alcorn’s book Face to Face with Jesus is on sale for $6.99 (46% off retail $12.99) plus get FREE shipping when you select media mail shipping and use the code FREESHIP21 at checkout. This devotional makes a great gift!

Sale and free shipping coupon code expire Monday, December 6 at 11:59 p.m. PT. U.S. continental orders only. *Please note that due to supply issues and shipping delays, your order may take longer than normal to arrive this holiday season. Thank you for your support and patience.

Photo by Burkay Canatar from Pexels

Words That Take You Back in Time

Have you ever come across something, or been given something, whether a photo or recording or something written, that has taken you back in time, and stirred up something in you that was either forgotten or dormant, just waiting to be remembered? That happened to me recently when my long-time friend Alan Hlavka, who was one of my fellow pastors in the early years of Good Shepherd Community Church in Boring (yes, that’s the real name of the town), Oregon, came across this while rereading a journal entry he’d written nearly 34 years ago:

Wednesday, January 13, 1988 Journal Entry

This last Monday night, Randy, [my wife] Theda, and I visited Garland Gabbert [one of the original elders of our church] at Kaiser Sunnyside Hospital. For several days Garland had been having a rough time, and he was scheduled to begin kidney dialysis the next morning. As it turned out, Garland began feeling better the next day, so they felt he didn’t need to begin dialysis yet.

It was obvious when we were there that Garland had weakened a great deal. Some thinning had taken place, a cough that seemed to sap his strength, and a general weakness with periodic disorientation.

However, the visit was a clear and obvious encouragement to Garland and a deep and powerful time for us. His view of life is so different from ours. He seems to have a different “set of lenses” than the rest of us. He’s looking at the same things we are, but he’s seeing it in a completely different way than I am.

He commented, “I can’t get out of my mind the morning the children stood on the platform during the Christmas season. Hundreds of kids, and each one has a soul, and Jesus Christ died for each of them. They are our responsibility, and we can’t let any of them slip away. In years past we’ve let some of them slip through our fingers, but we can’t let them slip away.”

As we left, I commented to Randy and Theda, “So much for ‘maintenance ministries.’” I.e. properly viewed, there is no such thing as a “maintenance ministry” if souls are considered, valued, nurtured.

Garland also said, “Randy, I’ve been thinking about you a lot lately. I’ve been praying about your upcoming trip. The trip is going to be so valuable for your children.”

Garland has a silent moment of eye contact with Theda. There was a twinkle in both their eyes, and a strong smile of “I love you” sent both ways.

Randy read Psalm 139, and Psalm 34. We prayed and sang “Great Is Thy Faithfulness.”

What memories Alan’s words bring back! That visit was just two months before our family missionary trip, hence Garland’s reference to our children. His words were prophetic, I have always believed that those two months visiting our missionaries in five countries were life-changing for our girls and us. Garland’s heart for children was so strong. May we as Christ followers have that heart here and now.

I searched for what I’d written about Garland in my books. In one of them I said this:

The light of Christ, shining through others, can bring us great joy and gladness.

Jesus said that John the Baptist was “a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light” (John 5:35). The New Century Version says, “You were happy to enjoy his light for a while.”

My high school friend Greg Coffey, who came to Christ at seventeen, shone with a great light and then died two years later. The five young missionary martyrs who were murdered in Ecuador in 1956 were bright lights for Christ, along with their wives, who survived them. God used these Christ-followers to draw thousands of young people into missions.

I also think of Garland Gabbert, Cal Hess, Jim Spinks, and Tom Lyman—older men in our church who drew me and many others closer to Christ through their light. Rather than having hearts that shriveled as they grew older, they became more loving and ministry minded. May we all draw our light and joy from Jesus so that it’s never extinguished, any more than he can be.

And then, dear Leona Bryant, another shining light in our church. I will never forget my final time with her before speaking at her memorial service. Her joy in anticipating being with Christ was so palpable and so real. It wasn’t because she thought that was what she should believe. It was a supernatural certainty about the blood-bought promises of Jesus. She knew where she was going, and despite having to leave her family, including her young son Joe, she couldn’t wait to get there.

Here’s what I wrote that same year, 1988, in my book Money, Possessions and Eternity:

When my friend Leona Bryant discovered she had ­only a short time to live, she told me of radical changes in her perspective. “The most striking thing that’s happened,” she said, “is that I find myself totally uninterested in all the conversations about material things. Things used to matter to me, but now I find my thoughts are never on possessions, but always on Christ and people. I consider it a privilege that I can live each day, knowing I will die soon. What a difference it makes!”

Recently another dying friend told me with a smile, “I ­don’t buy jumbo shampoo like I used to. I ­don’t even buy green bananas.” She knew where she was going. And she knew she ­wouldn’t be here much longer. Neither will we.

David prayed, “Show me, O Lord, my life’s end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting is my life. You have made my days a mere handbreadth; the span of my years is as nothing before you. Each man’s life is but a breath. Man is a mere phantom as he goes to and fro: He bustles about, but ­only in vain; he heaps up wealth, not knowing who will get it. But now, Lord, what do I look for? My hope is in you.” (Psalm 39:4-7)

Photo by Eugene Chystiakov on Unsplash