Randy Alcorn's Blog, page 65

Do You Live as If the Next World Is Your Home?

You can also listen to an audio version of this blog.

A wealthy plantation owner invited John Wesley to his home. The two rode their horses all day, seeing just a fraction of all the man owned. At the end of the day the plantation owner proudly asked, “Well, Mr. Wesley, what do you think?” After a moment’s silence, Wesley replied, “I think you’re going to have a hard time leaving all this.”

All of us form attachments. All of us have a place we call home. The question is, do we think and live as if this world, or the next world, is our home? Are our minds on Earth or Heaven (which one day will be on the New Earth)? The plantation owner was attached to the world he was in. Wesley was attached to the world he was going to.

Perhaps you’ve heard it said, “He’s so heavenly minded he’s of no earthly good.” Yet Scripture commands us to set our minds on Heaven. It says, “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things” (Colossians 3:1-2).

When we’re properly heavenly minded, we’ll be of maximum heavenly and earthly good. But when we are too earthly minded, we will ultimately bring no good to Heaven or this present earth.

Excerpted from Randy’s book Money, Possessions, and Eternity . For more on the eternal home that awaits us, browse additional books and resources on Heaven available from EPM.

Photo by Andrew Ly on Unsplash

A First-Hand Account of Persecuted Believers in Nigeria: “Everybody Lives in Fear All the Time, Day or Night”

About forty years ago, my Nigerian friend Samuel Kunhiyop and I were talking in my living room. We discovered we were the same age. After he shared what a privilege it was to be attending seminary in our country, I said, “I love my country, but it really surprises me that you have such a great appreciation for it. So many countries, even those we’ve helped, are anti-American. But a number of Nigerians were bought or stolen and shipped to America and sold as slaves, weren’t they? With all the countries that resent us without good reason, I’d think you of all people would despise us. Can you tell me why you don’t?”

I’ll never forget the chills I felt hearing Samuel’s measured response, spoken slowly with his rich accent: “No matter what else you did, you brought us the gospel…and that is all that matters.” Two generations earlier, a wave of missionaries sent by American churches had gone to Africa and won his village, including his parents, to Christ. As a result, while I was growing up in a non-Christian home in America, my friend Sam was being raised in a Christian home in Nigeria.

Yes, I believe that other things matter besides preaching the gospel—among them character, integrity, and biblical social justice. But Samuel was saying the same thing the apostle Paul said—that the gospel is more important than anything else.

Sadly, today, many of our Nigerian brothers and sisters in Christ are being severely persecuted and oppressed. Samuel, a brother I dearly love and trust, recently sent a letter, sharing how he visited two camps for displaced persons in Southern Kaduna in Nigeria, where he was born and raised. He wrote, “What I saw really shocked me beyond what words can describe.”

Southern Kaduna is predominantly Christian, and believers have been persecuted there for years. Samuel explained:

Now that we have a Muslim President, the Muslims, especially the Fulanis who belong to the same ethnic group, use this time that their own man is in office to attack, assault, kidnap, rape women, and destroy property. They are often well armed with sophisticated weapons such as AK47s and pickup trucks. There are similar attacks in other parts of the country.

One of the camps Samuel visited was a children’s primary school in Zonkwa:

I saw women, children, and few men—about 3,000. The reason for the few men is that the men usually go back to take care of their farms during the day as they all come from farming communities. When the attacks started about a month ago, the gunmen in pickups with AK47s usually will arrive the villages between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. and shoot and kill at sight. They will also burn and destroy houses and farms. This is the farming season in Northern Nigeria. 

According to the records, five villages were completely destroyed, leaving behind displaced families. In this camp alone, three pregnant women have given birth to their babies and sleep with other family members that are also displaced. They sleep on mattresses on the floor in classrooms. I would say that about 50 adults and children stay and sleep in one classroom. They have one central cooking area in the open and few makeshift places to bath and dress. They often meet in the church to have their worship to the Lord.  

Samuel answered a series of questions:

What is the government doing to prevent these attacks?

Basically, the government is unable to provide security for the citizens not only in Southern Kaduna but all over the country. The few soldiers and police are ill-equipped and simply overwhelmed by the well-armed gun men. There is insecurity everywhere as bandits, kidnappers, armed bandits, militia, Fulani herdsmen, cattle rustlers, etc. are loose and freely ambush, kill, kidnap, and abduct innocent citizens at will. 

Often people are kidnapped in their houses, highways, churches, schools, etc. and taken to a hideout and thousands of dollars as ransom demanded. A few weeks ago a high school owned by the Baptist Church was attacked at 2.00 a.m. and over one hundred students were abducted and ransom is being demanded. As I write this update, a few of them have been freed, a handful escaped, and about 87 are still held captive. Failure to pay often means death to the victims. In some instances, ransom is paid and still the victim is killed.

…Even the few military check points that are posted in some of these areas are not safe.  A man was murdered by these heartless gunmen in the presence of the military post. …The night before I wrote this update, there was an attack on some villages about 15 minutes from my home and yet the security agencies (police and soldiers) could not do anything to prevent. One wonders if the government is not complicit. 

Do we feel safe? 

Not at all.  Everybody lives in fear all the time, day or night, 24/7. 

Is there hope? 

Our only hope is God who is our shield and protector. 

What can the world do? 

In my mind, what is happening in Nigeria needs to be given urgent global attention. It is genocide and if the Nigerian government is not prosecuted, then something very wrong is happening. It is simply unacceptable in a civilized world like ours. The world cannot ignore or suspend immediate action on atrocities happening in the Nigeria. It is now or never.

What about the church worldwide? 

Pray, pray, and act as God will lead.

Samuel described the need for foodstuff, mattresses/blankets, medicine, and roofing sheets for those that lost their houses.

If you would like to give to this cause you can  donate to EPM’s persecuted church special fund. 100% of donations will be given to worthy organizations helping persecuted believers, including those in Nigeria. You can also give directly to a ministry our brother Samuel recommends, helping believers in Southern Kaduna, by mailing a check to BILD International, 2400 Oakwood Road Ames, IA 50014-8417. Please indicate that the money is meant for Southern Kaduna Support c/o of Dr. Samuel Waje Kunhiyop.

“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. ” ( Matthew 5:10-12, ESV)

Here's some ways to also be praying for our persecuted brothers and sisters in Afghanistan. Pray too for the people of Haiti, suffering after the 7.2 magnitude earthquake. 

Photo by Tope A. Asokere from Pexels

We Don’t Define What Love Is in Scripture—God Does

If we asked people to vote on a divine character quality they most appreciate, God’s love would surely receive far more votes than His holiness. Christians tend to reflect our culture, and because our culture values love and devalues holiness, we do the same. We have taken one precious divine attribute, love, defined it as we please, then used our redefinition to neutralize other attributes of God’s that don’t appeal to us.

Consider, for example, this comic:

The artist explains,

Jesus says to a group of people holding their bibles, “The difference between me and you is you use scripture to determine what loves means and I use love to determine what scripture means.” This upsets some because to them Jesus IS the Bible, conflated and equated. And the Bible is love, conflated and equated. They commit the unavoidable hermeneutical method of reading into the text their understanding of what it means. We all do it. In fact, it can’t be helped! They may presume they’re doing letting the Bible speak for itself, but that’s impossible. We all have our own hermeneutic.

…We all bring to the text our own minds (open or closed) and our own hearts (hard or soft) and will read into the text our own predispositions. This is why we see the perplexing reality of terrorists and peace-activists inspired by the same Bible. So, it comes down to the personal internal work of self-awareness, humility, and a willingness to learn and grow. This almost always happens during deconstruction.

I agree that everyone brings assumptions and an interpretive grid to the text of Scripture. We all have a systematic theology—it’s just that often it’s full of holes and not biblically based. That’s why we must engage in smart study of God’s Word, seeking to understand what He is communicating throughout the entirety of the Bible rather than trusting our own “personal internal work.” (This artist mentioned deconstruction. For an excellent treatment of progressive Christianity, see Another Gospel: A Lifelong Christian Seeks Truth in Response to Progressive Christianity by Alisa Childers.)

It concerns me when those who profess to be Christians simply redefine what Scripture says in order to accommodate whatever the culture currently believes, supposing they are more loving, kind, and relevant Christians. Once we deny parts of God’s truth, we’re no longer under the authority of Scripture. We become our own authority. The Jesus we speak of will not be the Scripture-believing Jesus of the Bible who was full of both grace and truth. He will just be the “loving Jesus” remade in our culture’s image—and in our image—in which we redefine love as absolute tolerance and moral indifference.  

Is it possible for Christians to act in harsh ways that are profoundly unloving, and to use Scripture in ways that dishonor Christ? Yes, sadly, it is. Let’s not forget that Jesus rebuked the religious leaders because they imagined they could love God without loving people (Luke 10:25-37). If we don’t genuinely love people, who are created in God’s image, we can’t love God (1 John 4:8).

There are two temptations when it comes to love: to imagine we are speaking the truth, but neglect to show grace; and to err on the side of grace, and never speak the truth. When we do the later, we might think, “Love means that you approve of people, and you never say or do anything to make them uncomfortable.”

God’s Word shows us that if you truly love someone, you’re looking out for their best interests. Scripture says we are to speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15). Love is not always comfortable. Jesus is our ultimate example of this authentic love—a love that acted, intervened, and was willing to take the greatest risks and most severe consequences to rescue mankind from destruction and to satisfy the demands of His holiness.

Jesus shows us exactly what God looks like. Problems arise when we trust our own subjective picture of Jesus over what the Bible says and shows. The same Jesus who spoke words of tender love and forgiveness also spoke some of the harshest words of condemnation in Scripture.

God did not cease to be uncompromisingly holy when Jesus came into the world. God’s eternal character does not change (see Malachi 3:6; James 1:17). That means the following Old Testament declarations remain just as true now as when they first appeared in Scripture:

Who is like you—

majestic in holiness,

awesome in glory,

working wonders? (Exodus 15:11)

Who can stand in the presence of the LORD, this holy God? (1 Samuel 6:20)

Your ways, O God, are holy. (Psalm 77:13)

Exalt the LORD our God

and worship at his footstool;

he is holy....

You were to Israel a forgiving God,

though you punished their misdeeds.

Exalt the LORD our God

and worship at his holy mountain,

for the LORD our God is holy. (Psalm 99:5, 8–9)

God’s attributes of holiness, purity, and righteousness prompt Him to hate evil, including some human attitudes and actions; and yes, even some people (see Deuteronomy 12:31; Proverbs 6:16–19; Jeremiah 44:4; Malachi 1:2–3). David writes, “He [God] is angry with the wicked every day” (Psalm 7:11, NLT). David also says, “You are not a God who takes pleasure in evil; with you the wicked cannot dwell. The arrogant cannot stand in your presence; you hate all who do wrong. You destroy those who tell lies; bloodthirsty and deceitful men the LORD abhors” (Psalm 5:4–6).

These statements make clear that our loving God won’t allow the wicked to dwell in His presence. Certainly, He hates sin; but passages such as this go further by saying, “You hate all who do wrong.” If we place God’s love above His holiness, such statements will seem appalling. And they will seem especially jarring when we hear John, the “apostle of love,” say something like, “Whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains [present tense] on him” (John 3:36).

The God of love is also a God of wrath (see Romans 1:18). Evil angers God. He hates evil, despises it, and will punish it. Yet the God who punishes is the same loving God who chose to bear our punishment in Christ and offer us pardon. If we don’t accept His atoning work, however, we remain subject to eternal punishment. Any affirmation of God’s love that fails to acknowledge the demands of His holiness distorts God’s character and truth, and undermines the gospel.

For more on God’s holiness and love, see Randy’s book If God Is Good . For more on knowing the Jesus revealed in Scripture, see his books Face to Face with Jesus and It’s All About Jesus.

Photo by Alexandra Fuller on Unsplash

Compassion’s Fill the Stadium Campaign, and Your Opportunity to Help Needy Children Around the World

Over the last year through their Fill the Stadium campaign, Compassion International has been working to provide urgent support for children in crisis around the world. They say, “COVID-19 has left nearly 70,000 children without a sponsor. That’s the capacity of the average NFL stadium! As the world is in the grips of COVID-19, it has led to more than sickness. Parents can’t work. Food is scarce. Our frontline church partners around the world are courageously delivering essential items to desperate children and families—often door to door.”

Compassion recently shared this great update about their work in Indonesia. Seeing these children they’ve helped was my highlight:

And in this video, Compassion CEO and Former Olympian Santiago Mellado gives an update on the effort to raise $35 million for children during COVID-19:

The needs around the world are great. Independent reports:

Global hunger shot up by an estimated 118 million people worldwide in 2020, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation, jumping to 768 million people – the highest figure going at least as far back as 2006. The number of people living with food insecurity – those forced to compromise on food quantity or quality – surged by 318 million, to 2.38 billion.

I encourage you to consider giving generously to Fill the Stadium. You can also give to EPM’s relief and develop fund, 100% of which we send to ministries that include Compassion.

“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’” (Matthew 25:34-36)

Videos copyright © 2021 by Compassion International, Inc. All rights reserved. Photo by Yannis H on Unsplash.

Christ’s Resurrected Life Is the Model for Ours

Strangely, though Jesus in His resurrected body proclaimed, “I am not a ghost” (Luke 24:39, NLT), countless Christians think they will be ghosts in the eternal Heaven. I know this because I’ve talked with many of them. They think they’ll be disembodied spirits, or wraiths. The magnificent, cosmos-shaking victory of Christ’s resurrection—by definition a physical triumph over physical death in a physical world—escapes them. If Jesus had been a ghost, if we would be ghosts, then redemption wouldn’t have been accomplished. “Beloved, we are God’s children now; it does not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2, REV).

Jesus walked the earth in His resurrection body for forty days, showing us how we would live as resurrected human beings. In effect, He also demonstrated where we would live as resurrected human beings—on Earth. Christ’s resurrection body was suited for life on Earth, not primarily life in the present Heaven. As Jesus was raised to come back to live on Earth, so we will be raised to come back to live on Earth (1 Thessalonians 4:14; Revelation 21:1-3).

The risen Jesus walked and talked with two disciples on the Emmaus road (Luke 24:13-35). They asked Him questions; He taught them and guided them in their understanding of Scripture. They saw nothing different enough about Him to tip them off to His identity until “their eyes were opened” (v. 31). This suggests that God had prevented them from recognizing Jesus earlier, which they otherwise would have. The point is that they didn’t see anything amiss. They saw the resurrected Jesus as a normal, everyday human being. The soles of His feet didn’t hover above the road—they walked on it. No one saw bread going down a transparent esophagus when He swallowed.

We know the resurrected Christ looked like a man because Mary called Him “sir” when she assumed He was the gardener (John 20:15). Though at first she didn’t recognize His voice, when He called her by name, she recognized Him (v. 16). It was then that she “turned toward Him.” Because modest women didn’t look male strangers in the eye, this phrase suggests that she hadn’t gotten a good look at Him before.

The times Jesus spent with His disciples after His resurrection were remarkably normal. Early one morning, He “stood on the shore” at a distance (John 21:4). He didn’t hover or float—or even walk on water, though He could have. He stood, then called to the disciples (v. 5). Obviously His voice sounded human, because it traveled across the water and the disciples didn’t suspect it was anyone but a human. It apparently didn’t sound like the deep, otherworldly voices that movies assign to God or angels.

Jesus had started a fire, and He was already cooking fish that He’d presumably caught Himself. He cooked them, which means He didn’t just snap his fingers and materialize a finished meal. He invited them to add their fish to his and said, “Come and have breakfast” (John 21:12).

In another appearance to the disciples, Christ’s resurrection body seamlessly interacted with the disciples’ mortal bodies (John 20:19-23). Nothing indicates that His clothes were strange or that there was a halo over His head. He drew close enough to breathe on them (v. 22).

On the other hand, though the doors were locked, Christ suddenly appeared in the room where the disciples were gathered (v. 19). Christ’s body could be touched and clung to and could consume food, yet it could apparently “materialize” as well. How is this possible? Could it be that a resurrection body is structured in such a way as to allow its molecules to pass through solid materials or to suddenly become visible or invisible? Though we know that Christ could do these things, we’re not explicitly told we’ll be able to. It may be that some aspects of His resurrection body are unique because of his divine nature. (Even if Christ’s resurrection body has capabilities that ours won’t, we know we’ll still be able to stretch the capacities of our perfected human bodies to their fullest, which will probably seem supernatural to us compared to what we’ve known.)

By observing the resurrected Christ, we learn not only about resurrected bodies but also about resurrected relationships. Christ communicates with His disciples and shows His love to them as a group and as individuals. He instructs them and entrusts a task to them (Acts 1:4-8). If you study his interactions with Mary Magdalene (John 20:10-18), Thomas (20:24-29), and Peter (21:15-22), you will see how similar they are to his interactions with these same people before He died. The fact that Jesus picked up His relationships where they’d left off is a foretaste of our own lives after we are resurrected. We will experience continuity between our current lives and our resurrected lives, with the same memories and relational histories.

Once we understand that Christ’s resurrection is the prototype for the resurrection of mankind and the earth, we realize that Scripture has given us an interpretive precedent for approaching passages concerning human resurrection and life on the New Earth. Shouldn’t we interpret passages alluding to resurrected people living on the New Earth as literally as those concerning Christ’s resurrected life during the forty days He walked on the old Earth?

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 Jordan Whitt on Unsplash

5 Apologetics Questions Every Christian Should Learn How to Answer

Alisa Childers is the author of Another Gospel: A Lifelong Christian Seeks Truth in Response to Progressive Christianity. Deconstructed faith stories are the new normal. We all know people who once seemed to be solid Christians but have walked away. Alisa’s story of her own reconstructed faith is a breath of fresh air. She shares her doubts and struggles and the journey God led her on to rediscover the solid Rock on which she stands. This excellent book is full of hope and sound reasons for faith in Jesus and God’s Word.

In this great video, Alisa gives a brief overview of five apologetics questions every believer should learn how to answer:

Here are the resources she mentions in the video:

Dr. Daniel Wallace Textual Criticism Class

Dr. Gary Habermas and the Evidence for the Resurrection

Dr. Peter Williams on Slavery in the Bible

Real Historian Responds to "Jesus Was a Myth" Claims

Undeniable Historical Evidence for the Existence of Jesus

Books mentioned:

Myths and Mistakes in New Testament Textual Criticism

The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus

The Resurrection of the Son of God

God’s Undertaker: Has Science Buried God?

Is God a Moral Monster?

I Don’t Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist

Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash

Can Rich People Go to Heaven?

In the story of the rich young man, we’re told that he “ran up to [Jesus] and fell on his knees before him” (Mark 10:17, NIV). The man’s eagerness and sincerity are evident.

“Good teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” So far, so good. This man wants to live with God in Heaven forever.

After the rich young man spoke to Jesus, we read something remarkable that’s often overlooked: “Jesus looked at him and loved him” (Mark 10:21, NIV).

When you love people, you act in their best interests. What Jesus said next should be seen in light of the immediately preceding statement that Jesus loved him: “One thing you lack. . . . Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me” (Mark 10:21, NIV).

Unlike many of us, Jesus clearly grasps eternal realities, and that knowledge informs His love for rich people. He knew what stood between this young man and the good life God offers: his wealth. He wouldn’t have been seeking something more from Jesus if he already had the abundant life. His question suggests unease, dissatisfaction, and discontentment with the life he’d been living.

Because of His loving grace, God desires to remove any obstacle between us and eternal, abundant life. Sure, Jesus showed love for the poor by commanding the rich man to donate his wealth to them. But He simultaneously showed love for the man by offering him liberation from the false god of wealth.

Tragically, we’re told, “At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth” (Mark 10:22, NIV). What the rich man thought he owned actually owned him. Money was his god. “No one can serve two masters. . . . You cannot serve both God and money” (Matthew 6:24, NIV).

The man thought he was acting in his own best interests by clinging to his wealth. He couldn’t have been more wrong. He didn’t understand that Jesus, by telling him to give it away, was actually offering him freedom, joy, and the life that’s truly life.

Seeing the rich man’s unwillingness to be freed from the bondage of wealth, Jesus turned to His disciples and said with sadness, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! . . . It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God” (Mark 10:23, 25, NIV).

Many books and sermons, and even some commentaries, claim that there was a narrow passage or gate in Jerusalem called “the eye of a needle.” Supposedly camels had to be unloaded of everything they were carrying before they could fit through it. Some say the camels could enter on their knees. Therefore, rich people can enter God’s Kingdom, but only if they dump all their baggage and enter Heaven in humility.

This all sounds very spiritual, and indeed endless articles online suggest that such a gate existed. Commentator William Barclay is sometimes cited as a source for this idea, but Barclay doesn’t document this claim; he simply indicates, “It is said that . . .” which of course is no help. In fact, despite my extensive search for a credible historical reference to back this up, I have never seen any evidence there was actually a gate called by ancients the “eye of the needle.”

Jesus used the normal word for a sewing needle, and what’s translated “eye” means “hole.” We don’t have to come up with a creative way to negate the possibility of a camel going through a needle’s eye. Obviously a camel can’t go through a needle’s eye—and that’s the whole point, humorously pictured by Jesus. Apart from a miracle, rich people can’t stop trusting in their riches and instead turn to Christ. That’s what the disciples understood Jesus to be saying, which explains their shocked response: “They who heard it said, ‘Then who can be saved?’” (Luke 18:26, NASB).

Why their astonishment? Because in Jesus’ day, wealth was seen as a sign of God’s approval. The logic went like this: if the wealthy, whom God obviously approves of, have a hard time going to Heaven, how could the poor, whom God apparently disdains, ever make it?

But Jesus qualified His shocking statement by saying, “The things that are impossible with people are possible with God” (Luke 18:27, amp). Just as it’s impossible for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, it’s impossible with people—but not with God—for a rich man to enter Heaven. Jesus can and ultimately did provide a way for rich people—and all who believe in Him—to enter God’s Kingdom.

Peter seemed stunned by Jesus’ statement that it’s humanly impossible for the rich to inherit God’s Kingdom. He said, “We have left everything to follow you!” (Mark 10:28, NIV).

Instead of rebuking him, Jesus said to Peter, “Truly I tell you, . . . no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—along with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life” (Mark 10:29-30, NIV).

Jesus indicated here that not just some but all of His followers must turn away from various forms of wealth that get in the way of following Him, whether that wealth comes in the form of money, property, security, family, prestige, or popularity. Short-term rewards and eternal ones await anyone who follows Christ. The life we obtain far surpasses anything we leave behind.

After saying we should take up our crosses to follow Him, Jesus taught, “If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it” (Matthew 16:25, NLT).

At first glance, we might imagine Jesus calls us to utter disregard for our self-interests. In fact, His call is the opposite. Jesus supplies the reason we should give up our lives: to save them. We give up empty lives and grab hold of the good life. We give up an impoverished spiritual life to enjoy the abundant life in Christ. This is like being offered ownership of Coca-Cola in exchange for a sack of pop bottles. Only a fool would pass up the offer.

See more resources on money and giving, as well as Randy's related books, including Giving Is the Good Life .

Photo by Gleb Makarov on Unsplash

Don’t Feel Sorry for or Fear for Your Kids; Raise Them up to Walk in Faith

Note from Randy: Acts 17:24-27 says, “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth....From one man He made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him...”

God has a perfect time and place for all of us. He knows and has planned our circumstances, and while human choice is taken into account, God is not bound by the decisions of people. He makes His own calls, and He truly does work all things together for good for His people (Romans 8:28).

When it comes to His children, God has determined the “times set for them” and “the exact [not just general, but exact] places they should live.” So the One in control of the universe has His time and place for all of us. Knowing the God of providence is sovereign, and is not taken by surprise by anything, should help us walk by faith.

As God raised up Esther for just such a time as hers (Esther 4:14), I’m convinced He’s raised us and our children and grandchildren up for this time, to be a witness for Christ and to bring the Good News of great joy to those around the world.

I hope these words from Alex Cravens, a dad and youth pastor from Russellville, Arkansas, encourage you as a parent or grandparent. May we be faithful to rise to the challenge of these times and point the next generation to Jesus. 

Don’t Feel Sorry for or Fear for Your Kids; Raise Them up to Walk in Faith

Don’t feel sorry for or fear for your kids because the world they are going to grow up in is not what it used to be.

God created them and called them for the exact moment in time that they’re in. Their life wasn’t a coincidence or an accident.

Raise them up to know the power they walk in as children of God.

Train them up in the authority of His Word.

Teach them to walk in faith knowing that God is in control.

Empower them to know they can change the world.

Don’t teach them to be fearful and disheartened by the state of the world but hopeful that they can do something about it.

Every person in all of history has been placed in the time that they were in because of God’s sovereign plan.

He knew Daniel could handle the lions’ den.
He knew David could handle Goliath.
He knew Esther could handle Haman.
He knew Peter could handle persecution.
He knows that your child can handle whatever challenge they face in their life. He created them specifically for it!

Don’t be scared for your children, but be honored that God chose you to parent the generation that is facing the biggest challenges of our lifetime. Rise up to the challenge.

Raise Daniels, Davids, Esthers, and Peters!

God isn’t scratching His head wondering what He’s going to do with this mess of a world.

He has an army He’s raising up to drive back the darkness and make Him known all over the earth.

Don’t let your fear steal the greatness God placed in them. I know it’s hard to imagine them as anything besides our sweet little babies, and we just want to protect them from anything that could ever be hard on them, but they were born for such a time as this.

Alex is a husband and the dad of two little boys, and has been a youth pastor for six years. This article is used with his permission.

Comments on Ephesians 4-5 about Sexual Immorality, Transgender Confusion, and LGBTQ Issues

I shared the following notes with a pastor friend who was preparing a message addressing sexual immorality and gender confusion. It’s a different approach, a verse by verse brief commentary on a passage. (I started with the last part of Ephesians 4 because it’s the foundation for Ephesians 5.)

These are tough issues, and they’re not going away. Now more than ever, Christians must consider how we can communicate with those with whom we disagree. The more we speak to these issues with grace and truth, not just one or the other, the better we represent Jesus and the gospel.  

By the way, my friend preached a great message that truly was full of both grace and truth. His pastor’s heart was expressed clearly and many hurting people came to him in tears afterwards. Confused, disoriented, and deceived people are not our enemy—Satan and demons are our enemies. 

I hope these reflections are helpful:

Ephesians 4

17 Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds.

God warns us against not just wrong behavior, but also against the wrong thinking that’s behind it—including the notion that sexual identity is disconnected from the body, as created by God and demonstrated by our sex organs, chromosomes, and DNA. It is a modern futility of the mind that sexual identity is a matter of personal preference as influenced by our life experiences.

18 They are darkened in their understanding,

All cultures historically recognized that boys are boys and girls are girls, but our culture is flying in the face of science by determining that sexual identity isn’t about the body with its parts and chromosomes and DNA, but is about our thinking and feeling, which are easily influenced by the Fall, and by personal experience, the stories of others, and propaganda, including teaching in school classrooms.

alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them

While we pride ourselves on our degree of knowledge, making ourselves feel superior to cultures of the past, much of what we now “know” about gender is steeped in ignorance of scientific and historically affirmed realities. (C. S. Lewis called this “chronological snobbery”—the belief that modern opinions are always automatically better than ancient ones.)

due to their hardness of heart. 

Our problem isn’t just mental or cultural but spiritual. The world, the flesh/sin nature, and the devil are all working against us so that we keep getting it wrong about important matters of human nature and sexual identity, resulting in the corruption of our culture, parallel to the moral downward spiral of the once great Roman empire.

19 They have become callous

We have violated our consciences so long by entertaining wrong notions about human sexuality that our hearts are hardened, and we are now believing falsehoods that are lies of the evil one, designed to harm people who Satan hates because we are God’s image-bearers. (This is another example of how the evil one has a special hatred of children, and in this case, targets them with gender confusion. He wants to kill them, and he lies to facilitate and cover his attempts to destroy them.)

and have given themselves up to sensuality

Giving up means surrender. It’s putting ourselves under the lordship of a false god rather than the one true God, who tells us the truth about gender and sex. It’s letting the world, the flesh, and the devil take over our minds and our lives, rather than letting God transform us through the renewing of our minds (Romans 12:1-2) by meditating on Scripture, which is the source of truth and contradicts the lies about gender and sex.

greedy to practice every kind of impurity

When we unselectively feed our minds with whatever’s on Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, or network television, it will twist and undermine a Christian worldview and will inevitably lead to immoral thinking and living. (This is one reason I recommend VidAngel to screen out sex acts, profanity, and blasphemy.)

20 But that is not the way you learned Christ!— 21 assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus

The truth is not in what the world serves up to us about sex and gender. Rather, the truth is in Jesus, as revealed in God’s Word.

22 to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, 

We do not naturally believe what is true—our opinions are deeply skewed and our natural desires are deceitful because of the Fall. We are inclined to follow them even though they are lying to us. They are Satan’s manipulative efforts to derail us and our children from following Jesus and enjoying a healthy sexual identity and lifestyle.

23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 

The battle is won or lost in the mind; that’s why the current efforts in public schools and society to negate Christian morality and to undermine God’s teaching about avoiding sexual immorality and our identity are so dangerous.  

24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

Just as we put on one set of clothes instead of another, we must take off the wrong clothes of our sinful identity and choose to put on the right ones, those true to who we are in Jesus. “Putting on” requires effort and discipline. We must affirm not the fallen creation that tempts us, but the new creation in Christ that grants us righteousness and holy standing before God—this is the power source for thinking righteously about sex and gender, and living righteously. Actions flow from thoughts. Satan seeks to poison our minds so our actions will displease God, and therefore destroy ourselves and our families.

25 Therefore, having put away falsehood

We must first discern what is false (for example, what our culture is saying about gender and sex and abortion, etc.), and then we must affirm what is true, what God’s Word tells us. Finally, we must live by what is true, which is not only good but also smart and always in our best interests.

let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor

We owe each other the truth, and we must boldly speak it—all the more because lies are undermining the worldviews of unbelievers and many believers. There are churches, families, and individual believers being undercut in their walk with Jesus because we are not studying and loving the truth and sharing it with each other.

for we are members one of another. 26Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, 27 and give no opportunity to the devil.

The devil is an opportunist. He is eagerly waiting for you to give him a chance to take control of your life, destroy you, and ruin your relationship with Jesus. “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8). If he’s looking for you, you’d better look out for him! He goes after Christians who settle for the world instead of Jesus, and who isolate themselves from the flock where there is some safety in numbers.

The people you choose to hang with and the places you choose to go (including over TV and internet) will determine your spiritual future. Sexual identity and sexual behavior are two of Satan’s favorite targets. Every time your eyes and mind go toward what displeases God and pleases the devil, you are casting your vote for Satan. Be quick to stop, repent, and step away from sin—give no opportunity to the devil (Ephesians 4:27)!

28 Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. 29 Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths

This includes sexual jokes and innuendo, and also telling children that gender is a choice instead of a gift from their Creator, and that their body should be denied or changed to conform to what they are presently feeling. This is corrupting talk, and God detests it.

but only such as is good for building up,

We affirm God’s plan and His directives not to tear people down but to build them up. Satan pretends to build people up while sabotaging their lives.

as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. 

What builds people up is not always what they want to hear, but what they need to hear. We are not just here to make ourselves and each other feel good but to help each other be good. Grace is always vital, as is truth—Jesus came full of grace and truth (John 1:14), and so should we. We should never heap guilt on someone experiencing gender confusion; instead we should listen and care lovingly and genuinely for them, and recognize we too are confused about aspects of our life and identity. All of us need to look to the God, who created us as He did for a glorious reason.

30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God

He is the one we should desire to please, and when we sin we hurt Him.

by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. 

If we address our culture’s gender confusion and sexual values from a posture of animosity, we will confirm their perception that we are haters, and we will lose the opportunity to have meaningful relationships from which we can speak into their lives. As we approach our brothers and sisters in Christ who are genuinely struggling with who they are and what their culture is telling them is normal, we need to be sure our hearts and words to them are wrath-free, anger-free, clamor-free, slander-free, and malice-free. We are to put away such things, and only Jesus has the power to do that life-changing work in us. But we do need to desire to change and to repeatedly ask His empowerment to do so.

32 Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

We are not to encourage sin in each other, but we are to be sympathetic to each other’s struggles, including struggles of sexual identity, which can be terribly difficult. But the answer is never to give in to the struggle, but INSTEAD to call upon God for His grace and empowerment. Even if our desires don’t change, we can say “no” to them, just as we are called upon to say no to other temptations. If this means never engaging in sex and remaining single all our lives, that is not the worst-case scenario. It is, in fact, exactly what the most fulfilled person who ever lived did—Jesus. And He had dear friends and family just as we can.

Ephesians 5

Therefore be imitators of God,

We’re not to be imitators of our culture or its idols.

as beloved children. 2 And walk in love

When you take a stand for God’s created gender design and for sexual morality, be sure you speak with genuine love, not as a self-righteous moralist Pharisee who loves to condemn others.

as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

Christ is the model of how we are to address gender and sex issues, so that when people call us haters, others can see and say, “No, they disagree, but I think they love me and want the best for me.”

3 But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. 4 Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving. 

The answer to filthiness, foolish talk, and crude joking isn’t just cleaning up your act, but giving thanks to God. When we give Him thanks in all things, it pulls us toward Him, and it pushes away what dishonors Him.

5 For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.

Let’s not ignore or quickly explain away this verse, as in, “Of course, this doesn’t mean sexually immoral and greedy people aren’t saved.” Clearly God is saying something vital here, that should shake us to our core if we are leading lives of immorality and materialism. Notice how God links sexual immorality with greed and materialism—some Christians are quick to condemn immorality when in reality, the immorality of greed permeates their lives. Everyone knows church leaders shouldn’t be sexually immoral. Why do we fail to realize they also shouldn’t be greedy and materialistic?

6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. 

We should repent of sexual immorality not only because it is wrong but also because it is stupid. Unless we forsake it, it will destroy us.

7 Therefore do not become partners with them;

To tolerate or laugh at sexually immoral jokes is to mock God, and to remain silent is to endorse them.

8 for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light

Our job is to recognize who God has made us to be in Christ, and live according to that reality, not according to sin, the world, the flesh, and the devil. We need our Lord and each other to do this.

9 (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true),10 and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord.

We need to stop trying to please people and echoing back what our culture is telling us. God is the Audience of One—Paul says, “If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Jesus” (Galatians 1:10). We’re to live according to what God has told us in His Word.

11  Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.

It’s critical to refuse to do the works of darkness, and quickly confess and repent when we do. But it’s not enough to abstain from them. We should also expose them, which means having the courage and the love for others to call them out for what they are. Do not compromise, even if speaking out about our culture’s denial of truth and goodness costs you friendships or your job.

12 For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret. 

We shouldn’t be unnecessarily graphic so as to tempt, though it is sometimes necessary to clearly show the evil of something God commands us to expose.

13 But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, 14 for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says, “Awake, O sleeper,  and arise from the dead…

The death we are to arise from is rebellion against our Creator and Savior. Colossians 3:1 says, “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.”

The rising in Christ is what He has both accomplished (already) and promised us (“not yet”).

…and Christ will shine on you.”

It all comes back to Jesus. We need to wake up to what’s happening, and speak the truth in love to a lost and increasingly confused, disoriented, and deceived generation. To shine with His light, we must first allow Him daily to shine His light upon us. We are to live the loving life of people risen in Jesus and covered with His righteousness. It’s all about Jesus. He must increase, we must decrease (John 3:30). And when we do this, we will be the happiest of all people, because He made us not for sexual confusion and immorality, but for His glory and our good.

He is the Audience of One. We must stop trying to “fit in” to our culture, and instead “be blameless and pure, children of God who are faultless in a crooked and perverted generation, among whom you shine like stars in the world” (Philippians 2:15).

Browse more resources on the topic of purity, and see Randy's book  The Purity Principle  and his booklet Sexual Temptation.

Photo: Unsplash

Christ’s Defense of You Silences All Accusations

Note from Randy: Here’s another wonderful excerpt from Dane Ortlund’s book Gentle and Lowly: The Heart of Christ for Sinners and Sufferers, this one focusing on Jesus as our advocate. “We have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous” (1 John 2:1). How does it make you feel to know that Jesus is your advocate, your defense attorney? Can you imagine Jesus standing between you and your accuser, Satan (see Revelation 12:10)? Furthermore, your all-knowing and absolutely just advocate, who has seen you at your worst and still loved you enough to die for you, argues your case before a Judge who is His loving Father…and yours! The thought makes me smile, rejoice, and praise God.

May these words encourage your heart.

We are indeed called to forsake our sins, and no healthy Christian would suggest otherwise. When we choose to sin, we forsake our true identity as a child of God, we invite misery into our lives, and we displease our heavenly Father. We are called to mature into deeper levels of personal holiness as we walk with the Lord, truer consecration, new vistas of obedience. But when we don’t—when we choose to sin—though we forsake our true identity, our Savior does not forsake us. These are the very moments when his heart erupts on our behalf in renewed advocacy in heaven with a resounding defense that silences all accusations, astonishes the angels, and celebrates the Father’s embrace of us in spite of all our messiness.

What kind of Christians does this doctrine create?

Fallen humans are natural self-advocates. It flows out of us. Self-exonerating, self-defending. We do not need to teach young children to make excuses when they are caught misbehaving. There is a natural built-in mechanism that immediately kicks into gear to explain why it wasn’t really their fault. Our fallen hearts intuitively manufacture reasons that our case is not really that bad. The fall manifested not only in our sinning but in our response to our sinning. We minimize, we excuse, we explain away. In short, we speak, even if only in our hearts, in our defense. We advocate for ourselves.

What if we never needed to advocate for ourselves because another had undertaken to do so? What if that advocate knew exhaustively just how fallen we are, and yet at the same time was able to make a better defense for us than we ever could? No blame shifting or excuses, the way our self-advocacies tend to operate, but perfectly just, pointing to his all-sufficient sacrifice and suffering on the cross in our place? We would be free. Free of the need to defend ourselves, to bolster our sense of worth through self-contribution, to quietly parade before others our virtues in painful subconscious awareness of our inferiorities and weaknesses. We can leave our case to be made by Christ, the only righteous one.

Bunyan puts it best:

Christ gave for us the price of blood; but that is not all; Christ as a Captain has conquered death and the grave for us, but that is not all; Christ as a Priest intercedes for us in heave; but that is not all. Sin is still in us, and with us, and mixes itself with whatever we do, whether what we do be religious or civil; for not only our prayers and our sermons, our hearings and preaching; but our houses, our shops, our trades, and our beds, are all polluted with sin.

Nor does the devil, our night and day adversary, forbear to tell our bad deeds to our Father, urging that we might be forever be disinherited for this.

But what should we now do, if we had not an Advocate; yes, if we had not one who would plead; yes, if we had not one that could prevail, and that would faithfully execute that office for us? Why, we must die.

But since we are rescued by him, let us, as to ourselves, lay out hand upon our mouth, and be silent.

Do not minimize your sin or excuse it away. Raise no defense. Simply take it to the one who is already at the right hand of the Father, advocating for you on the basis of his own wounds. Let your own unrighteousness, in all your darkness and despair, drive you to Jesus Christ, the righteous, in all his brightness and sufficiency.

Photo by Anthony Tori on Unsplash