Randy Alcorn's Blog, page 74

Walking Through Fire: Vaneetha Rendall Risner’s Powerful New Memoir

I’ve never met Vaneetha Rendall Risner in person, but for years I’ve known and loved her through her writings. In her new memoir Walking Through Fire, you will see her heart, her honesty, her pain, her eternal perspective, and her love for Jesus. As I read, my heart ached for Veneetha’s losses, identified with her hopes, laughed with her about her dates, rejoiced in our King’s redemption, and longed for that blood-bought home where our dreams will forever come true. 

I have read and endorsed many books over the years but don’t ever recall reading one start to finish the day it arrived. It held me all the way. Beautifully done. (Learn more and read the first chapter here.)

Vaneetha has gone through a great deal, and I mean Job-like suffering, and is not only an excellent writer but a wonderful person. She interviewed me recently for almost an hour and a half, and we had a delightful and deep time. Part of our conversation was featured in an event called “An Evening with Vaneetha & Friends,” which included interviews with Joni Eareckson Tada, Paul David Tripp, and Katherine Wolf. Each of them had powerful insights to share about suffering and faith:

How Does a Man Become a Godly Husband?

Recently a man in a struggling marriage asked me how to become a godly husband. My first thought was, “You’ve just taken the first step—knowing you need to be a godly husband and asking for help.”

Before I share part of my answer to his question, let me share some relevant thoughts. Too many men hear the biblical command to lead their wives and try to move from being a lousy husband to “taking over” their marriage. In many marriages the husband has an established history of ungodliness, sometimes through sexual immorality via adultery or pornography or the “milder”—but potentially still toxic—forms of it often found in movies and television shows and video games.

An ungodly husband has violated his wife’s trust, and he cannot effectively lead without rebuilding that trust. “Taking charge” when he has forfeited his wife’s trust isn’t the answer. In such cases the only sort of leadership called for, and it certainly is called for, is servant leadership. This is effective because of the “servant” part of it. When you love someone enough to set aside your old habits and preferences, only then can you serve them.

Scripture makes clear our first responsibility, which is not to merely “take charge” but to love and serve: “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to  make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word” (Ephesians 5:25-26).

Once a man learns to love and serve his wife, he will eventually build a track record of godliness. Then he doesn’t have to stand back passively and wish his wife were more godly. Rather, he can assume responsibility to step forward and lead his wife by lovingly sharing God’s Word with her as part of respecting her as a fellow heir of God’s grace (1 Peter 3:7).

No one bemoans that a houseplant has shriveled leaves; instead we take it upon ourselves to water the plant and expose it to the right light to help it thrive.

An unholy husband cannot lead his wife into holiness, which is exactly what God calls upon us to do in Ephesians 5:27-28. We are to follow the example of Jesus and do as He does, “to present her [his bride] to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies.”

When I became a husband, I didn’t stand at an altar and vow to my teachers or church leaders or employer, “Till death do us part.” Husbands, you didn’t make your vows to your boss or your buddies, but to your wife. The best thing you can do for your wife is to become more like Jesus.

That’s why I so welcomed the request about how to become a godly husband. Here’s part of what I sent to my friend who asked me, with some recommended resources:

1. Biblical guidelines: What does it mean to be a godly husband?

2. Six Tips for Being a Godly Husband

3. The Five Priorities of a Godly Husband

4. Seven Marks of a Godly Husband

5. Bible Truths about a husband’s role and calling (more Scripture, more depth)

6. From Gil Stieglitz, a short helpful outline of being a godly husband; includes mention of an online video course you could do, which would be good for you and would honor your wife’s wishes

7. A book I recommend you get and read is Becoming a Godly Husband; it looks good and is written by the same person above, Gil Stieglitz

Photo by Ben White on Unsplash

Jesus Turns Our Crosses into Crowns: An Update from Joni Eareckson Tada after Fighting COVID

My wife Nanci and I love Joni Eareckson Tada. With her warm-hearted exaltation of God’s sovereign love, she has profoundly impacted our own lives and ministry, along with countless others. We were deeply touched by this recent update from Joni, who not long ago was in serious jeopardy with COVID due to her quadriplegia and its effects on her lungs:

Joni quotes G.D. Watson: “…when the suffering soul reaches a calm, sweet carelessness, when it can inwardly smile at its own suffering, and does not even ask God to deliver it from the suffering, then it has wrought its blessed ministry; then patience has its perfect work; then the crucifixion begins to weave itself into a crown.”

She is a living example of this. A great crown/eternal reward awaits her for sure.

Several years ago Joni wrote this, which I shared in my book If God Is Good:

“O God,” I often pray in the morning, “God, I cannot do this. I cannot do this thing called quadriplegia. I have no resources for this. I have no strength for this—but you do. You’ve got resources. You’ve got strength. I can’t do quadriplegia, but I can do all things through you as you strengthen me [Phil. 4:13]. I have no smile for this woman who’s going to walk into my bedroom in a moment. She could be having coffee with another friend, but she’s chosen to come here to help me get up. O God, please may I borrow your smile?”

Joni then speaks of the humble and afflicted:

They are people who are humiliated by their weaknesses. Catheterized people whose leg bags spring leaks on somebody else’s brand-new carpet. Immobilized people who must be fed, cleansed, dressed, and taken care of like infants. Once-active people crippled by chronic aches and pains. God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble, so then submit yourselves to God.

It is when your soul has been blasted bare, when you feel raw and undone, that you can be better bonded to the Savior. And then you not only meet suffering on God’s terms, but you meet joy on God’s terms. And then God—as he does every morning at 7:30 when I cry out to him out of my affliction—happily shares his gladness, his joy flooding over heaven’s walls filling my heart in a waterfall of delight, which then in turn always streams out to others in a flood of encouragement, and then erupts back to God in an ecstatic fountain of praise. He gets your heart pumping for heaven. He injects his peace, power, and perspective into your spiritual being. He imparts a new way of looking at your hardships. He puts a song in your heart.

“You hear, O LORD, the desire of the afflicted; you encourage them, and you listen to their cry” (Psalm 10:17).

“He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many will see and fear, and put their trust in the LORD” (Psalm 40:3).

“Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in every way. The Lord be with you all” (2 Thessalonians 3:16).

For more related to the subject of suffering, see Randy’s book If God Is Good, as well as the devotional 90 Days of God’s Goodness and book The Goodness of God. Also, the booklet If God Is Good, Why Do We Hurt? deals with the question and shares the gospel so that both unbelievers and believers can benefit.

Photo by Biegun Wschodni on Unsplash

Is Sin Inevitable in the Christian Life?

One common Christian misunderstanding today is that grace and salvation in Jesus means God has lowered His standards, as compared to the Old Testament law. That’s simply not true. God has raised His standards for the Christian life—but He has empowered us to live that Christian life through our relationship with Him and His indwelling Holy Spirit. His grace teaches us to say “no” to ungodliness (Titus 2:12).

First John 1:8-10 makes it clear that as believers we still commit sin: “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.”

John goes right on to say—ignore the chapter division which was not part of the inspired text—“My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.” (1 John 2:1-2)

Scripture says we will sin and that we shouldn’t deny but should confess our sin, and celebrate the daily cleansing work of Jesus our Advocate. It also says the Bible is given to us not to make us sinless yet, but to help us sin less, to be sanctified now, anticipating the day we will be glorified and forever sinless.

Can a believer sin? Yes. Should a believer sin? No. God has given us in Christ the resources so that we can turn from sin and live a life that is righteous and holy before Him! We are new creations in Christ. First Corinthians 10:13 says we face no temptation or trial that does not offer an escape for the fully yielded Christian.

We should recognize and live in accordance with our redeemed identity in Christ. Yes, we are cleansed. Yes, we are new in Him. Yes, we are covered by the righteousness of Christ. We are His saints, His holy ones. But there are three tenses of salvation: we have been saved, we are being sanctified, and we will be glorified. Glorification still awaits us, when we enter the presence of God. When glorification happens, there will be complete sinlessness. But until that time, we are still sinners. Sanctification is very real, but it is not the same as glorification. Sanctification means having great progress and victory in our battles with sin. But as I explain in a video, it does not mean sinless perfectionism. That is reserved for glorification, which awaits us in Christ’s presence, but is not the state we are in now.  

There is a danger, however, in repeatedly affirming that we still sin. Some people rationalize sin and end up saying, “It’s inevitable that I’m going to sin, so why bother trying not to?” They forget that God has given us the power of Christ so that we do not have to sin. We are empowered to live righteous lives. Sin is not inevitable. “His divine power has given us everything required for life and godliness through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness” (2 Peter 1:3).

We should never be content with our sin or excuse ourselves from it. Rather, we should be quick to recognize our sin, so that we can confess it to our merciful Savior and keep it from entangling us.  There is no more certain way to be entangled by sin than to keep telling yourself what you’re doing really isn’t sin at all.

The caution is worth repeating: if you are a believer, don’t fall into the mistake of thinking sin is inevitable, or that you are not fully responsible for your sins. Don’t say to yourself, “I’m just a sinner—it’s no big deal. We all sin all the time anyway. That’s normal, so I may as well sin this time too.” Don’t dare to commit sin reassuring yourself it doesn’t matter since Christ will forgive your sins anyway. Sin against God always matters. No sin is small that crucified Jesus.

As Christians, we should be living a righteous life, one characterized by walking in the light, not in darkness. Remind yourself you have died with Christ, you are raised with Christ, and you are a new person in Him. Remember His love for you and that He is more than able to help you with whatever struggle you are facing today. Then live a righteous life, calling upon His infinite power, grace, and help.

For more on grace and the Christian life, see Randy’s book Beautiful and Scandalous: How God's Grace Changes Everything.

Photo by Hian Oliveira on Unsplash

Recognizing and Wisely Handling Our Emotions, and Submitting to God’s Truth

Every person is an emotional being, yet some Christians have been taught that strong emotions are categorically sinful and therefore unacceptable. In and of themselves emotions are neither good nor bad, they simply are. Questions of right and wrong relate to how we handle our emotions.

Feelings aren’t part of the Curse; they’re part of how God made human beings from the beginning. Our present emotions are bent by sin, but they will forever be straightened again when God removes the Curse. (Some Christians have also been taught that God has no emotions; more thoughts on that here.)

Denying that your emotions exist compounds stress. Feeling guilty about your emotions magnifies stress. God created us as rational and emotional beings. We feel because He made us to feel. So give yourself permission to feel as He made you to feel.

Accept Responsibility for Your Feelings

“I can’t help how I feel.” Not directly, perhaps—you can’t make worry and anger and fear disappear just by wishing they would. But you can focus on the right thoughts and block out the wrong ones. You can do the right things and refrain from doing the wrong ones. And if you do, your feelings will eventually change, or at least come into control.

If you disclaim responsibility for your feelings and let them dominate your thoughts and actions, you will be out of control. And no one feels stress like the person who has surrendered control.

Jerry Bridges wisely counseled, “We must not allow our emotions to hold sway over our minds. Rather, we must seek to let the truth of God rule our minds. Our emotions must become subservient to the truth.”

Express Your Feelings

Have you ever noticed the safety valve on top of your hot water heater? It’s there to release excess pressure. If it wasn’t there, the heater could explode.

Expression is our safety valve. The inability to express emotions leaves us bottled up, ready to explode and, in the process, ready to damage not only ourselves but those around us.

Everyone needs a few close friends to talk to openly. When sharing emotions, it’s appropriate to share fears, hurts, and even anger, as long as you are careful not to blame or incriminate others. Journaling your thoughts and feelings can also be helpful.

Studies confirm that crying can be a helpful release of pent-up emotions. There is often truth in the old saying, “I’ll feel better after a good cry.” Some women—and most men—have an unfortunate stigma about tears. But remember, God—not Satan—created those tear ducts. Crying is a natural stress reliever. Use it.

Do What Is Right, and Embrace God’s Truth, in Spite of Your Feelings

We don’t have to feel a certain way to do what is right, and to love God and others.

Maybe you struggle with resentment toward a friend. Send her an encouraging note. Your feelings will eventually follow the path blazed by your will. Have a hard time with a particular person? I did, with someone I felt had wronged me. But when I prayed for them regularly, eventually my attitude toward them changed. I came to truly seek their happiness and desire their success.

John Piper writes in Finally Alive: What Happens When We Are Born Again?:

My feelings are not God. God is God. My feelings do not define truth. God’s word defines truth. My feelings are echoes and responses to what my mind perceives. And sometimes—many times—my feelings are out of sync with the truth. When that happens—and it happens every day in some measure—I try not to bend the truth to justify my imperfect feelings, but rather, I plead with God: Purify my perceptions of your truth and transform my feelings so that they are in sync with the truth.

We should let our feelings—real as they are—point to our need for the truth of God’s words to guide our thinking. The paths to our hearts travel through our minds. Truth matters. Believe Christ and meditate on Scripture, not on how you feel, and eventually God will change how you feel.

Some recommended resources for further reading: You Can Change: God’s Transforming Power for Our Sinful Behavior and Negative Emotions by Tim Chester, and Untangling Emotions by Alasdair Groves and Winston Smith.

Photo by Chad Madden on Unsplash

COVID Vaccines and Fetal Cells: What’s Ethical and What Isn’t?

In this blog, our goal is to provide biblically relevant information and resources to examine related to the COVID-19 vaccines.

Because of the long history of fetal tissue research that I believe is entirely unethical, I approach this subject with great seriousness. Earlier in the fall some prolife groups warned that the then upcoming COVID vaccines, at least some of them, would use tissue derived from at least one aborted child. However, some of these reports also claimed that the first vaccines to be approved, which would likely be used by the most people, would be among those utilizing aborted fetal tissue. Believing outdated and/or false information, some are embracing or spreading confusion.

I and others at EPM have spent many hours reading many articles and studies and listening to podcasts and videos on this issue. Some aren’t based on solid information, while others involve qualified scientists and credible sources quoting them. Some of these scientists, believers and unbelievers alike who are on the forefront of vaccine production, say that two vaccines, now available and being taken by a limited number of people, are not derived from aborted children. (As I’ll note later, there is one source that has doubts about one of those vaccines, but not the other.)

More on that below but let me make clear that even if—as I’m convinced—some COVID vaccines are ethically acceptable to prolifers, that does not mean everyone should take them. People should make their decisions based upon their own consciences and beliefs about these vaccines. Paul says in a vitally important passage that applies to far more to one’s chosen day of worship, “One person considers one day more sacred than another; another considers every day alike. Each of them should be fully convinced in their own mind” (Romans 14:5, NIV).

Some could believe a vaccine may be a wise choice for at risk adults, but not children. That’s for their parents to decide, not the rest of us. There are also adults with certain conditions or personal reservations who may legitimately choose not to take the vaccine. Again, my focus in this blog is on the ethics of the vaccines, not to suggest everyone should take them.

Pastors and ministries like ours naturally condemn the use of fetal tissue research. But we are not medically qualified to advise people in the more subjective questions about the safety of vaccines. I appreciate the position of Jeff Schultz, pastor of preaching and community at Faith Church in Indianapolis:

Our church has been praying for vaccine research and development, but taking a vaccine is not something we would direct people on.

Our congregation has a number of doctors, nurses, medical researchers, and people in pharmaceutical development. We believe that God works through miraculous intervention, but more commonly through our work, gifts, and wisdom applied in service to others. We’ve encouraged people to wear masks and practice social distancing. We have members who won’t return to in-person worship until a vaccine is available. But I don’t think we would say anything formally about taking a vaccine (except to give thanks for their existence).

At an individual level, I will encourage people to consult with their physician on making that decision. I see masks and social distancing as extremely low-risk interventions that help us love our neighbors. A COVID-19 vaccine is another important way to stop the spread of a deadly disease, but I don’t believe that as a pastor I have the medical qualifications to direct people on medical treatments that may have side effects or long-term health impact. I want to help people see the good of a vaccine while asking us all to respect others’ decisions.

Godly people may come to different conclusions related to the vaccines. As I share in my blog (and the accompanying message) When Christians Disagree about Beliefs and Actions, true love and unity are never achieved at the expense of primary biblical truths. But they are achieved at the expense of personal pride and preferences on second and third level issues. We need to recognize legitimate Christian freedom.

Though there are believers and Christian leaders who believe treatment of the COVID pandemic justifies the use of aborted fetal cells, I do not. Years ago when I first heard of promising research that could help insulin-dependent diabetics, then discovered they were utilizing tissue from aborted babies, it was a no-brainer. I could not in good conscience benefit from the violent deaths of children. Similarly, Nanci told me that as vulnerable as she is, having had 30% of her lungs removed due to the cancer that spread there from her colon, she certainly would not take any vaccine that contained fetal cells from the unborn. That’s a complete deal breaker for us. In my mind, that’s not what’s morally debatable. We’ll deal with that in a soon upcoming blog.  

We want to point readers to some of the resources we’ve read and watched, and let them decide before God what’s right for them. I will focus on what to me is the central issue—what vaccines do and do not utilize cells from aborted babies.

Some Helpful Videos

Here’s a three-minute television news report which asks, “Are Fetal Cell Lines Used in the COVID-19 Vaccine?” The expert who answers is Dr. Meredith Wadman, the author of The Vaccine Race and a reporter with Science Magazine. It’s definitely worth watching, but the bottom line is, some vaccinations being developed do use fetal cell lines, and others do not. Those that do not include Pfizer and Moderna, the two that were the first to be approved and are now being administered.  

This six-minute video interviews two knowledgeable Catholic physicians related to the vaccines, and states their view of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines. It also encourages our concern related to fetal tissue research.

Infectious disease specialist Dr. Daniel Hinthorn and pediatric disease specialist Dr. Scott James were featured on a thirty-minute interview with Focus on the Family. They helpfully address a number of issues related to vaccinations. It’s all worth listening to, but I will focus on the issue of fetal tissue.

Around the 16:40 mark, Dr. Hinthorn states,

I think people should be aware of the fact that the messenger RNA vaccines, neither one of them, are made in cells from aborted fetuses. They are not even made in cells. They are made in vats, these are chemicals that are brought together…they are not created from fetal cell lines.

He clarifies, “However, often these kinds of cells are checked in fetal cell lines, that’s just to see if they work, but that’s not making them that way.”

Dr. Hinthorn goes on to say, “So if you ever get the either the Pfizer vaccine or the Moderna vaccine, neither one of these is made in fetal cell line so we don’t have to worry about that.” He goes on to clarify that there are other vaccines, a half dozen or so, that are indeed being made from fetal cell lines, and many prolife people would naturally want to avoid them.

Dr. James follows by affirming the same, that neither the Pfizer nor Moderna vaccinations contain fetal cells. He also says there is a high degree of transparency about the origins of all the different vaccines, so there really shouldn’t be any confusion.

Francis Collins is the director of the National Institutes of Health, and winner of the National Medal of Science, and is best known for his groundbreaking role in the Human Genome Project. Though I have disagreements with Collins in certain theological areas, he is a believer who converted from atheism to Christianity in his twenties after seeing the faith of his Christian patients in the face of suffering, and after reading C.S. Lewis. Certainly his scientific credentials are impeccable. In this video Dr. Collins is interviewed by Russell Moore about the COVID vaccines. As do others, he states that the two initial vaccines, from Pfizer and Moderna, are not derived from fetal cells.

(The Collins interview is also worth listening to, but many won’t appreciate his view of the extreme effectiveness of masks and advice that churches only meet online. However, I suggest that with this and other issues we practice selective criticism with those we disagree with. Above all, let’s not throw out what they have to say in their areas of expertise.)

Some Helpful Articles

The Catholic prolife Charlotte Lozier Institute has great info on the vaccines, which was updated January 4. Note that on the table on that page comparing the vaccines, under the production column some say human cells; some use cells from monkeys, hamsters, or insects;  and others say either PER.C6 cells or HEK293 cells, both of which originated from an aborted child. Notice that both Pfizer and Moderna specifically say “No cells” used.

Their excellent article “What you need to know about the COVID-19 vaccines,” features an easy-to-read color-coded chart:  

Note the color-coded markings for these four different categories: “DOES USE abortion-derived cell line” “Does not use abortion-derived cell line,” “Some tests DO NOT use abortion-derived cells, SOME DO,” and “Currently undetermined.”  

I appreciate the tone of this article from Michigan Right to Life. They say:

For decades, prolife people have opposed developing new cell lines or using the tissue of aborted babies. Many people will try to justify abortion and the further trafficking of fetal tissue with the “promise” of saved lives. However, whether it is with stem cells or vaccines, there is always an ethical alternative or the ability to create one. There is no need to take the life of one person to save the life of another.

However, the fact remains that some vaccines exist that use fetal cell lines and have no current ethical alternatives. Is it ethical to use those vaccines? Prolife people disagree. The cell lines were derived decades ago, and though their source is unethical, we can’t unkill those children. On the other hand, taking advantage of unethical methods promotes further abuses, in this case with the development of new cell lines. There’s a meaningful difference between a vaccine requiring use of fetal cells and one that only uses them for testing, but how meaningful is that difference? The risks are another ethical consideration, balancing the risk of the disease vs. the vaccine, and ways you fit into that balance.

…If informed consent is supposed to be a cornerstone of the practice of medicine, then it is past time for the entire healthcare industry to only use tissue donated with the informed consent of every person involved.

As they point out, it is impossible to unkill aborted babies. And then the question becomes if it was from cloning of tissue from a baby aborted 50 years ago, where does that leave us? What is being used is not fetal tissue harvested from aborted babies but something derived from a tragically aborted child five decades ago. A huge question is does it or does it not serve as a basis of argumentation for further uses of aborted babies, and end up justifying abortions in people’s minds, since they are appearing to do good in the form of a vaccine?

The National Review is historically Catholic and pro-life. Here is their evaluation of the existing and in-process COVID vaccinations in relation to the use of aborted fetal tissue in their development. Here’s one pertinent quote from it:

There are no HEK 293 kidney cells [originating in a 1973 abortion] in either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines. Dr. Lee told National Review that HEK 293s were involved only in the “post-production” process of the “final vaccine product”: that is, they are not part of the vaccine but rather were test subjects used to help determine how effective it was. This is not the case for all the vaccine candidates. Some of the higher-profile products under development — by Janssen Research and Johnson & Johnson, as well as AstraZeneca and Oxford University, for example — are using fetal cells in the production process. In these vaccines, there is a “direct line” between the vaccine and abortion; that line does not exist in the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.

The Christian Medical and Dental Association offers their similar assessment here. They say:

It is important to note that fetal cell lines can be used in three different stages of vaccine development: design, confirmation and ongoing production. Many ethicists, including those at the Charlotte Lozier Institute, believe that using a fetal cell line for ongoing vaccine production is more ethically problematic than using a fetal cell line for design or confirmation. The design and confirmation steps use a limited number of fetal cells while the production stage is continuous.

What the scientists say in these interviews and what the Lozier Institute and a number of other I’ve read says appears to be disputed by Dr. Stacy Trasancos’s article Measuring Moderna’s COVID-19 Vaccine: Now’s the Time to Press Hard for Ethical Options:  

The claim that Moderna’s vaccine is “ethically uncontroversial” because it has no connection to unethically derived materials does not seem to be supported as both the development of the spike protein sequence, the mRNA expression in testing, and the lipid nanoparticle delivery system are described as using the HEK293 cell line derived from an aborted fetus.

Dr. Trasancos is part of the Roman Catholic prolife group Children of God for Life. They have put together a chart comparing the different vaccines, noting which ones used fetal cells for production and testing. In keeping with Dr. Trasanco’s statement above they list the Moderna vaccine under “Was Originally Produced with or Contains Aborted Fetal Cells.” This is confusing to me, in that it contradicts numerous credible sources which explicitly state that Moderna, like Pfizer, is not made from fetal cells, nor any cells at all. (I did consult the sources she cited, but the dense medical language didn’t clear up my confusion—but perhaps it will for medical professionals who may read this.)

If you wish to get a vaccine, and this source is enough to make you doubt the Moderna one, you might want to choose to get the Pfizer vaccine instead. (If you type into a search engine your city, or the nearest, along with key words such as COVID vaccine Pfizer, you will likely find out what’s available, where and when.)

I asked two prolife advocates, a married couple, to view the documents and videos recommended and this was their response:

My husband and I read through and discussed these documents. At first we were very reticent to come even close to a vaccination that was remotely associated with abortion. But after thinking it through from the sources of information we read, we do feel like we could in good conscience support the vaccine for those who wish to take it. We may be vaccinated ourselves, though haven’t made that final decision yet. The reason we believe we can is because of the following:

No new aborted fetal tissue is needed or used to continue to reproduce the vaccine, so this doesn’t add to the abortion industry’s incentives.
Neither Pfizer nor Moderna use any aborted fetal tissue in the manufacturing or sustaining of the vaccine. [Again, though many sources state no fetal cells are used to produce Moderna, at least one researcher cited above believes otherwise.]
The culture used only for testing of the vaccine (not producing it) has none of the original material obtained from the fetus (just like yeast, it grows and develops on its own and over time is a completely different culture from the original).

Whatever our conclusions, we should give people the freedom to follow their conscience and respect that there may be many other matters of conscience in play, so we are not to judge others.

Vaccines with No Connection to Fetal Cells

There are some COVID vaccines in development that not only don’t come from fetal cells but also have not been tested by them. See these excellent resources:

Some groups are working to avoid fetal cells not only in vaccine development but in testing.
The use of umbilical cords and stem cells sounds promising. Hopefully many people who have babies would be willing to donate the umbilical cords if it could be used to save lives!
Live Action reports, “Maryland-based drugmaker Novavax is ‘using an ethically-derived invertebrate cell line Sf9’ in testing its vaccine, which is currently in Phase 3 clinical trials. Companies like Novavax and Sanofi are clearly demonstrating that safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines can be developed without reliance on abortion-derived cell lines. Novavax is among a handful of vaccines that may be available in the United States as soon as spring 2021.”

[If it does come this soon, and is also safe and effective, some will want to consider waiting.]


“The John Paul II Medical Research Institute (JP2MRI) seeks to find cures and therapies exclusively using a variety of adult stem cells and induced pluripotent stem cells. The Institute does not engage in embryonic stem cell research of any kind. JP2MRI develops preclinical research technologies that will broadly advance drug discovery and regenerative medicine for many diseases. In addition, the Institute will engage in educational outreach to increase the number of scientists and future medical practitioners who will work with adult stem cells, always with an emphasis on medical bioethics that is consistent with the dignity of human life.”

Dr. Trasancos writes, “The good news is that there are ethical COVID-19 vaccines in production, lots of them. We must support those and keep our eyes on the long-term goal. We have a chance in this moment in history to demand ethical vaccines as the norm not the alternative if we stay vigilant.”

A Difference Between Production and Testing?

Is there a significant difference between using a vaccine produced with aborted fetal cells, and using an ethically produced vaccine (with no fetal cells) that at one point was tested by aborted fetal cells? I think there is. I certainly wish that kind of testing would never be done. But as this article points out, it’s true that “In total only two fetuses, both obtained from abortions, have given rise to all the human cell strains used in vaccine development. Neither abortion was performed for the purpose of vaccine development.”  

From a statement by the Catholic church: “The cell lines under consideration [regarding their use in vaccines] were begun using cells taken from one or more fetuses aborted almost 40 years ago. Since that time the cell lines have grown independently. It is important to note that descendant cells are not the cells of the aborted child. They never, themselves, formed a part of the victim's body.”

Neither of those two abortions that has resulted in the ongoing production of millions of fetal cells was motivated by wanting to use cells produced from them to test the effectiveness of vaccines. Presumably the same vaccines would still have been produced and administered without the use of fetal cells in the testing. Had the Pfizer vaccine, for instance, never been tested by fetal cells, it would have been exactly what it is, devoid of fetal cells with an existence totally independent of abortion.

The tests were not part of the production. That doesn’t make the testing right, of course. Neither does the fact that the lines of testing came from two aborted babies five decades ago, and are self-sustaining or “immortal,” so no more aborted babies have been involved.

Other Resources to Consider

If you are a researcher and want to know what’s out there before you make your decision about the COVID vaccines, here are some final links to help you thoughtfully and prayerfully evaluate the ethical issues:

A Washington Post interview: “What NIH chief Francis Collins wants religious leaders to know about the coronavirus vaccines”
Why should Christians be concerned about vaccine ethics? See this statement from the Personhood Alliance
“Anti-abortion faith leaders support use of COVID-19 Vaccines”
There are things I don’t agree with—in particular the bottom line conclusions—in this article by a prolifer who believes it can be morally acceptable to use fetal cells in a vaccination. However, her arguments are at times insightful and she says many things that make sense. They may help some of us who disagree with her understand a different perspective. With the caveat that I don’t fully agree with her conclusion, I do think she makes some points worth considering.
COVID-19 Vaccines & Fetal Cell Lines
Debunking the myths about the COVID-19 vaccine

Photo by Hakan Nural on Unsplash

See God’s Sovereignty in the Interruptions to Your Day

Note from Randy Alcorn: Scripture tells us that God is intimately involved in His children’s days: “The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps” (Proverbs 16:9). “The steps of a man are established by the LORD, when he delights in his way” (Psalm 37:23). “Many plans are in a man's heart, But the counsel of the LORD will stand” (Proverbs 19:21).

It’s not always easy to see the interruptions in our days as God’s sovereign plan for us, but if we don’t view them that way, we’ll end up frustrated and annoyed instead of useful and grateful. We’ll resent people for interrupting us, rather than looking for divine appointments. Yet we neither created “our” time nor earned it. We cannot keep it, store it up, or take it with us when we exit Earth. The time God gives us on Earth is a gift to be used in service to Him and to others. “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves” (Philippians 2:3).

Dietrich Bonhoeffer wisely wrote, “We must be ready to allow ourselves to be interrupted by God. God will be constantly crossing our paths and canceling our plans by sending us people with claims and petitions. We may pass them by preoccupied with our more important tasks, as the priest passed by the man who had fallen among thieves, perhaps—reading the Bible.”

In the following article, Scott Hubbard, editor for Desiring God, writes, “We want to move through our tasks without interruption; God wants us to trust him in every interruption.” May Scott’s words help you trust that the unexpected interruption, encounter, or conversation, sometimes appearing to be very inconvenient, is exactly where our sovereign God has called you.

Plan to Be Interrupted: Slow Love in a Busy World

By Scott Hubbard

At one time, I thought the best test for our faith in the sovereignty of God was our fidelity to the five points of Calvinism. But lately I’ve wondered if a different test might be more appropriate: how we respond to the interruptions, inefficiencies, and unforeseen delays strewn throughout our days.

Many of us cheer at the high sovereignty celebrated by Charles Spurgeon:

I believe that every particle of dust that dances in the sunbeam does not move an atom more or less than God wishes — that every particle of spray that dashes against the steamboat has its orbit, as well as the sun in the heavens — that the chaff from the hand of the winnower is steered as the stars in their courses. (“God’s Providence”)

Yet where do our cheers go (or my cheers, at any rate) when God, in his providence, arranges the particles in his universe against our plans for the day? When our computer mutinies, or our toddler summons the attention of the entire grocery store, or our coworker knocks in the midst of our brilliant productivity? Too often, my internal response amounts to the following: “The dust motes may be subject to God’s rule, but this must have slipped past his sovereignty.”

But the God who is sovereign over our salvation is sovereign also over our schedules, including all the interruptions.

Faith, Not Efficiency

We cannot say that God has left us unprepared for such interruptions. Scripture’s story of redemption does not give the impression that efficiency is one of God’s chief values. If it were, the Bible’s plotline would be much straighter (and much less interesting). Over and again, God hands his people some important piece of work to do — work we might imagine is simply too important to be delayed — and then he bids his people to trust him through interruption.

He tells Nehemiah to build the wall around Jerusalem, and then he allows a host of enemies to halt the work for a time (Nehemiah 4:7–14). He calls Jeremiah to prophesy in Judah, and then ordains that he should be tossed into a cistern (Jeremiah 38:1–6). He commissions Paul to preach the gospel to the Gentiles, and then lands him in a prison cell (Philippians 1:12–13). Time would fail to tell of Joseph’s wait in Egypt, of David’s flights from Saul, and of the multitudes who intercepted Jesus as he was heading somewhere else.

What do we make of such sovereign delays? Apparently, as Jon Bloom writes, “God is not nearly as interested in our efficiency as he is in our faith.” Regularly, even if subconsciously, we walk into our days with efficiency as our agenda: fold the laundry and write the paper and cook the meal and prepare the Bible study and get to bed with no task unchecked. Yet often, God’s agenda for us is not efficiency, but faith — for “without faith it is impossible to please him” (Hebrews 11:6).

We want to move through our tasks without interruption; he wants us to trust him in every interruption. And so, he will regularly, even daily, disrupt our plans.

Counterfeit Interruptions

So faith, not efficiency, is God’s main agenda for us each day. As we consider how we might prepare for the daily interruptions he sends our way, we would do well to keep one clarification in mind: we should not receive every interruption as a holy interruption — as a God-sent, sanctifying inefficiency. Not every interruption is created equal.

For many of us today, interruption is the air we breathe. We can scarcely go fifteen minutes without our phone buzzing, our email binging, our calendar reminding, our news app updating, our social media flagging. We have grown accustomed to a mind fragmented by technology. Indeed, many of us have grown more than accustomed — we enjoy the quarter-hour (or more) dopamine hit that our smartphones provide. If separated from our screens for an afternoon, we might fidget like someone in withdrawal.

Interruptions such as these rarely sanctify. In fact, they regularly do the opposite. Instead of propelling us into the lives of the neighbors around us at that moment (Matthew 22:39), they lure us to give our best attention elsewhere. Instead of slowing us down to listen (James 1:19), they train us in the sorry arts of swiping, skimming, and “multitasking.” Instead of inviting us to cast our burdens on God (1 Peter 5:6–7), they regularly feed low-level anxiety. Yet too often, I resent the interruption from my neighbor next door, yet relish the one from my news feed.

By all means, bolt the door against such interruptions. Turn off notifications for stretches of the day. Decide how often you’ll check your email. When you go to sleep (or better, well before you do), put your phone to sleep as well. Whatever it takes, cultivate the kind of calm and focused mind that is ready to receive real interruptions.

Enough Margin for Love

Beyond ridding ourselves of counterfeit interruptions, we might consider another practical step toward welcoming the interruptions God sends: leave enough margin in your schedule for love. Margin is the blank space on our calendars and our to-do lists — the empty, unplanned parts of the day that are available for the unexpected.

Perhaps interruptions frustrate some of us because we simply have no margin. I sometimes pack one appointment or task on top of another, leaving me to run between responsibilities with little room to breathe in between — and no room for interruptions. Such planning (at least for most of us, most of the time) reflects an almost laughable amount of hubris, as if I expect the minutes to march on according to my good pleasure.

Consider how Jesus lived. For as full as his schedule was, he was never so booked that he could not linger for a few minutes on the way. Have you ever noticed just how often he is interrupted? How regularly a disciple or stranger interjects (Luke 12:13)? How commonly someone on the roadside cries for help (Mark 10:46–48)? How frequently even his meals were invaded by the needs of a neighbor (Luke 7:36–38)? And have you ever noticed how Jesus was never flustered or rushed?

When the Son of God walked among us, he was perfect in patience. And not only because he was the Son of God, but also because he had the healthy, sane realism to expect interruptions and to leave enough room in his life to love his neighbor. How many times have we become irritated at interruptions because, unlike Jesus, we had no space in our schedule for them? In that case, repentance means more than pleading with God for patience; it also means planning more space in our schedules.

Those who trust deeply in the sovereignty of God learn to leave enough margin in their days for sovereign interruptions. Because faith not only relies on God when the interruptions come; it also plans for interruptions before they come. It leaves pockets of the day and week blank, and over the rest it writes, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that” (James 4:15).

Far Better Plans

Even still, a focused mind and a schedule with margin will not prepare us for every interruption. Many interruptions will come our way that feel inconvenient and unwelcome. And in such moments, we do well to step back, catch our breath, pray, and remember all the good that God sends through interruptions.

Think big for a moment. Where would we be if God hadn’t interrupted Abraham in Haran, Moses in Midian, David among the sheepfolds, Mary in her betrothed innocence, Peter in his fishing boat, Paul on the road to Damascus? And where would you be if he hadn’t interrupted your life — if Jesus hadn’t invaded your comfortable rebellion and beckoned you to repent and believe?

Once God turns our lives upside down, he doesn’t stop using interruptions (large or small) for our good. Through them, he chastens our pride, slows our pace, opens our eyes, bends us toward dependence, and teaches us to trust. He reminds us that he is not after our maximum efficiency, but instead our maximum conformity to Christ, who was never too busy, too preoccupied, or too impatient to be interrupted.

If we know all that God does through interruptions, we may do more than avoid them: after we’ve planned the best we can, we may even pray that he would be pleased to interrupt us with his better, perfect plans.

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

Photo by Charles Deluvio on Unsplash

What Does It Look Like to Be a Cross Bearer?

A friend asked me, "What would be some of the characteristics of the life of a person who is bearing their cross? (Matthew 16) What does this cross-bearer look like?"

It got me thinking. If you follow me on Facebook, I’d love to hear some of your thoughts in the comments. Here are some of mine:

Single-minded devotion to the Lord, focus on the calling to follow Him above all else.

Jesus first, others second, self last.

Lack of self-indulgence and self-pity; he does what he does gladly, following his Master by choice, not just as demanded by circumstance.

Because the church is to be a community of cross-bearers, there is interdependence, casting your burdens not only on the Lord, but on each other, supporting each other, helping each other carry the load which at times will be too heavy.

The cross-carrier is a servant. He doesn’t look for others to serve him or baby him; he goes out of his way to serve them.

When he sees the poor and the needy, he releases his grip on money and things, realizing they belong to his Master, and the way of the cross is cheerful giving of money and time and skills.

A parallel passage to Matthew 16 is Luke 9:23, which reads:

Then Jesus said to them all: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.

The “take up his cross daily” brings a new and very significant dimension.

It means carrying your cross is not just one big sacrifice that you make, then you’re done with, like giving one of your kidneys, or selling your house and giving to the poor, or that time you ran out in traffic and pulled the kid back from the bus.

This is something you do every day. So it’s a thousand or ten thousand daily sacrifices, a lifetime of little loving acts, which cumulatively become huge. It’s a man who loves his paralyzed wife for forty years by saying no to his sexual desires every day, and dumps her bag of urine three times a day, to the glory of Jesus.

It’s a mother who cares for a son who never gets out of bed, day after day, and does it without complaining. Not just the person who dies in the coliseum in one triumphant hour, torn apart by lions because he refused to deny Christ.

It’s saying no to sleep to get up and pray and read the Word day after day, saying no to living in a mansion and owning a nicer car even though that might be fun but not as fun as giving to keep a child alive, of living more simply so that you have more to give, day after day. It’s doing the humble job that nobody applauds, but needs to be done, and which is seen sometimes by no one but the Audience of One.

Really, carrying your cross daily is being humble, a servant, and God-centered and others-centered, not self-centered. Yet, ironically, to be a servant is ultimately in your eternal self-interests.

In my novel Safely Home Li Quan dies daily. This brilliant scholar, Harvard summa cum laude, serves as a locksmith’s assistant because in China an outspoken Christian can’t be a university professor and great writer, which was his dream. To Ben Fielding, Li Quan’s rich American businessman friend, he quotes Martin Luther King, who said, “If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, here lives a great street sweeper who did his job well.”

In my book Heaven I tell of an old black bell man who died daily, but with good cheer. So what does it look like? Here, I’ll finish by sharing what I wrote:

“Should we be excited that God will reward us by making us rulers in his kingdom? Absolutely. Jesus said, “Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven” (Matthew 5:12).

God will choose who reigns as kings, and I’m confident some great surprises are in store for us. Christ gives us clues in Scripture as to the type of person he will choose: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.…Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.…Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3, 5, 10). Also, “‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.’ Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time” (1 Peter 5:5-6).

Look around you to see the meek and the humble. They may include street sweepers, locksmith’s assistants, bus drivers, and stay-at-home moms who spend their days changing diapers, doing laundry, packing lunches, drying tears, and driving carpools.

I once gave one of my books to a delightful hotel bellman in Atlanta. This man spends his days carrying people’s luggage and serving them in countless ways. I discovered he was a committed Christian. He said he’d been praying for our writers group, which was holding a conference at the hotel.

The next day I gave him a little gift. He seemed stunned, overwhelmed. With tears in his eyes he said, “You didn’t need to do that. I’m only a bellman.” The moment he said those words, it struck me that this brother had spent his life serving other people. It will likely be someone like him that I’ll have the privilege of serving under in God’s kingdom. He was “only a bellman” who spoke with warmth and love, who served, who quietly prayed in the background for the success of a Christian writers’ conference in his hotel, his appointed place of service. I saw Jesus in that bellman, and there was no “only” about him.

Who will be the kings of the New Earth? I think that bellman will be one of them. And I will consider it an honor to carry his bags.

Photo by Ivan Garcia on Unsplash

Isn’t It Cruel to Force a Woman to Keep a Child She Can’t Afford to Raise, or to Give up a Baby for Adoption?

Despite their emphasis on choice, the pro-choice movement leaves many women feeling that they have no choice but abortion. Abortion is constantly portrayed as the preferred choice. After all, a woman facing an unplanned pregnancy wonders, what’s the alternative? Raise a child she seemingly can’t afford, and who will disrupt her life choices like going to school and pursuing a career? Or experience the heartbreak of giving up a child for adoption?

But “abortion or misery” is a binary trap that keeps women from pursuing—and society from providing—positive alternatives. It’s a terrible thing to present pregnant women with inadequate choices, leaving them in an apparent no-win situation. We must reject this trap of presenting the choice between abortion and misery, as if there were no misery in abortion, and as if there were no alternatives.

Why does Planned Parenthood, with its over one billion dollars from tax reve­nues and foundations, not devote itself to a third alternative, such as adoption? Since it makes millions of dollars from abortions every year, giving it huge vested interests in abortion, how can Planned Parenthood be expected to offer real and objective choices to pregnant women in need?

Do they share the stories of women who kept their children, and are grateful they did? How about the stories of women who chose adoption, and though it was difficult, have been left with a sense of peace, knowing they have given someone the gift of life? Or how about the wonderful stories of women who have been reunited with their birth children years later?

Does Motherhood Mean Poverty and No Opportunities?

Many women attest that being a mother doesn’t ruin their lives, as is sometimes claimed, but expands and enriches them in beautiful ways, even when it’s challenging emotionally, physically, and financially. Unfortunately, that possibility is likely the farthest thing from the mind of a woman who finds herself pregnant and wishes she weren’t.

Maria Baer, a volunteer counselor at her local pregnancy resource center, writes:

Women facing an unplanned pregnancy often have reasonable, here-and-now fears. They may fear the loss of financial stability—or the loss of the ability to ever reach it. They may fear the loss of an already teetering status quo in which every available ounce of food is already consumed at home—perhaps by other children they’re already parenting. Pregnant women may lose a job, or they may not get the job they were hoping for. They may fear a violent boyfriend or father.

They may even fear pregnancy itself, which is often full of terrifying sickness, physical pain, loss of emotional control, and embarrassing bodily problems. …That means one of our first steps in ministering to a woman facing a crisis pregnancy is to acknowledge her fear. Don’t judge it, don’t shrug it off, but take her seriously. It is scary. Don’t offhandedly offer adoption as a quick solution. Don’t immediately start in on the logical fallacies of pro-abortion apologetics. Let her be afraid, and tell her she’s not alone. (Better yet: Mean it.)

Once we acknowledge her fear—and, if she’ll allow it, pray for her—we can start to talk through potential solutions to her various worries.

These fears are all understandable. But because the life of another human being is involved, financial distress does not justify abortion. It does mean that women who choose to keep and raise their children instead of choosing adoption need support and help. There are pro-life organizations in the U.S., including pregnancy resource centers (which outnumber abortion clinics), Young Lives (a branch of Young Life), Students for Life, and Feminists for Life, that offer support for pregnant and parenting students. LifeNews reports, “College pro-life groups also have been working to make campuses more friendly, welcoming environments for student-parents by advocating for diaper changing tables in restrooms, offering free babysitting, and encouraging the school to adopt policies to accommodate pregnant/parenting students.”

Feminists for Life addresses the situation of a pregnant woman who is poor and lacks support:

A woman who is pregnant needs to know that there are perfect strangers who will care for her even if the people she counts on the most have let her down. She needs information about child support laws that prohibit coercion by the father either by physical force or by threats to withhold child support.

…We do not eliminate poverty by eliminating poor women’s children. It is degrading to poor women to expect or imply that their children aren’t welcome. We believe that poor women deserve the same support and life-affirming alternatives as wealthy women.

…Abortion is not an enriching experience. An abortion won’t get a woman a better job or get her out of a bad (for example, abusive) situation.

Completing school and working are desirable things in many cases, and perhaps even necessary financially. Pregnancy can make them difficult. But a woman normally can continue school and work during pregnancy. If she places her child for adoption, she need not give up school or work. If she chooses to raise the child herself, there are childcare options available if she must work outside the home. Help is available in many forms.

I am not suggesting this is ideal, nor do I say it callously. I have worked with and helped single mothers and know their difficulties. I am simply pointing out there are alternatives, any one of which is preferable to an innocent child’s death and the undesirable consequences to her mother. Regardless of the challenges, one person’s right to a preferred lifestyle is not greater than another person’s right to a life.

Furthermore, when the only choice presented is abortion, a woman is frequently kept in a negative cycle which can result in multiple abortions. Having and raising a child or choosing adoption can be an enriching and growing experience in taking responsibility, thereby possibly resulting in better choices in the future.

Is Adoption: a “Regrettable Punishment”?

I am amazed at the negative light in which adoption is often portrayed in abortion rights literature. Pro-choice advocates Carole Anderson and Lee Campbell say of adoption, “The unnecessary separation of mothers and children is a cruel, but regrettably usual, punishment that can last a lifetime.”

Adoption is hardly a punishment to a woman carrying a child. It is a heaven-sent alternative to raising a child she is unprepared to raise, or to killing that same child. Adoption is a fine alternative that saves a life and makes another family happy; it’s tragic that adoption is so infrequently chosen as an alternative to abortion. (There are two million families waiting to adopt, and newborns are especially desired by adoptive families.)

Maria Baer writes,

Women may fear…adoption. Though morally clear, the thought is often experientially vague: It seems, or feels, much less repugnant to have a hidden medical procedure in the first weeks of pregnancy than to consciously hand over a smiling, babbling baby to a woman whose body never knew him or her. It’s cognitive dissonance, sure, but it’s a real—and understandable—fear.

One way of addressing a woman’s fear is to demonstrate the beauty and courage of allowing another family to adopt. Because a woman has not yet bonded with her child, the abortion might seem like an easy solution, while parting with her child after birth might be emotionally difficult. But the child’s life is just as real before bonding as after.

I’ve talked with several women considering abortions who had identical reactions to the suggestion of adoption: “What kind of mother would I be to give up a child for adoption?” The better question, which we need to gently help her ask, is, “What kind of mother would I be to kill my baby by abortion?”

The reason the former question is asked more often than the latter is our capacity to deny reality. Pregnant women who think “I don’t want to be a mother” tell themselves, under the influence of pro-choice rhetoric, that they still have a choice about becoming a mother. There are certainly choices open to them, including whether or not to raise their child themselves or place their child for adoption. Both choices require sacrificial love, for sure. But the fact is, they have no choice about whether or not they are mothers.  That ship sailed the moment they became pregnant—the moment the baby was conceived.

Many years ago we took a pregnant teenage girl into our home. Though she’d had two abortions, she chose to carry this baby and, with our help and support, placed him for adoption. It was not easy, but this wonderful woman (one husband and three more children later) told me: “I look back at the three babies I no longer have, but with very different feelings. The two I aborted fill me with grief and regret. But when I think of the one I gave up for adoption, I’m filled with joy, because I know he’s being raised by a wonderful family that wanted him.” Several years ago she was able to meet her grown biological son, in a gathering arranged by his adopted mother. My wife, Nanci, and I were invited to attend this reunion. It was one of the most unforgettable and truly wonderful experiences of our lives. We witnessed the beautiful result of a painful but courageous decision made 33 years earlier. Everyone present at this reunion, without exception, had great reason to celebrate!

A woman facing an unplanned pregnancy has no easy options. She has three choices—have her child and raise him, have her child and allow another family to raise him, or kill her child through abortion. Two of these options are reasonable and constructive. One is not. I believe it’s a moral imperative that we clearly tell pregnant women, “You can choose life and goodness and a future for your child without raising him or her yourself.”

Tragically, too often “pro-choice” ends up meaning “no choice but abortion.” Let’s do all we can to show women the real choices besides abortion—which are far superior, with outcomes involving life, not death.

This article is excerpted from Randy’s book Pro-Choice or Pro-Life: Examining 15 Pro-Choice Claims—What Do Facts & Common Sense Tell Us? 

In this thoroughly researched and easy-to-read book, author Randy Alcorn examines fifteen major claims of the pro-choice position and shares fact-based, rational responses. If you have mixed feelings about abortion, as many people do, this book can be part of your quest for truth. If you’re pro-choice or pro-life, it can help you think through your position.

You can download the PDF for free, and print copies can be purchased from our ministry for just $1.00, plus shipping. Quantity discounts area available (90 cents per copy on orders of 72 or more; 80 cents per copy on orders of 1,000 or more, plus shipping) for churches that would like to make the book available to their members. At this price, one person could provide a copy to be distributed free to everyone in his church. 

Photo: Unsplash

God Is Preparing a Place for His Children—and Eagerly Awaits Their Arrival Home

Years ago, knowing our children were coming, Nanci and I prepared a place for them. We chose the room, picked out the right wallpaper, decorated and set up the crib just so, selected the perfect blankets. The quality of the place we prepared for our daughters was limited only by our skills and resources and imaginations.

Since our Lord isn’t limited in any of those categories, and since He loves us even more than we love our children, what kind of a place can we expect Him to have prepared for us? It will simply be the best place ever made by anyone and for anyone. 

God Himself prepared mankind’s first home on Earth. “Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. And the Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food” (Genesis 2:8-9). The phrase “planted a garden” shows God’s personal touch, His intimate interest in the creative details of mankind’s home.

In the same way that God paid attention to the details of the home He prepared for Adam and Eve in Eden, Christ is paying attention to the details as He prepares for us an eternal home in Heaven: “My Father’s house has many rooms . . . I am going there to prepare a place for you” (John 14:2, NIV). If He prepared Eden so carefully and lavishly for mankind in the six days of creation, what has He fashioned in the place He’s been preparing for us in the two thousand years since He left this world?

Our home is being built for us by the Carpenter from Nazareth. Building is His trade. A good carpenter envisions what he wants to build. He plans and designs. Then he does his work, carefully and skillfully fashioning it to exact specifications. He takes pride in the work he’s done and delights to show it to others. And when it’s his own children or his bride he’s made it for, he takes special delight!

A. W. Tozer wrote, “Did you ever stop to think that God is going to be as pleased to have you with Him in heaven as you are to be there?”

Incredible as it seems, Jesus desires our company. Your new home, liberated from sin, curse, and suffering, is nearly ready for you (and one day will be located on the New Earth, our ultimate and eternal home).

Moving day is coming.

God preparing a place for each of His children is the theme of a poem titled “Preparations,” sent to me by reader Kelsey Dillon. She says, “I read your book Heaven last year and was inspired by it to create a poem.”

Thank you, Kelsey:

I went into my nursery earlier and couldn’t help but smile
At the already constructed wooden crib wrapped in a fitted sage sheet
A horizontal frame for the yellow newborn gown spread smoothly atop
Complete with a tiny white stretchy cap nestled a few inches above
Unfilled at present, but ready for an impending resident
I’ve been waiting for you for a very long time, you see
Waiting for the day when I could get this room ready
It’s almost there, but not quite
So as much as I long for you to be here, to rock you in this chair,
To nuzzle your nose while you kick and squirm on the changing table
And coo and giggle, or maybe just hiccup all night long
You can’t come
Not yet
It’s not quite ready
Not fully prepared
Give me a month or two and I’ll be ready to get you
And bring you home to a place you’ve never known
But I hope will feel familiar
And you’ll open your eyes and see the joy in the faces
You won’t recognize, but by the clearer tones
Of mumbled speech you only heard in part from the inside
You’ll start to make sense
Of a world you could have never imagined
But that has been waiting in great anticipation of you
And of watching you become
And nothing you could have done
Would make us more thrilled to welcome you in
I can’t wait for you to be home

And this thought caused my thinking to shift from thoughts of you to thoughts of You
I started to wonder what Your nursery might look like
With no scarcity of resources and no fear of spoiling the loved one
What would you have done?
How over-the-top have you already gone?
Do you wander around the empty halls
Of heaven’s city imagining what it will be like to hear
The laughter of Your children echoing throughout the walls?
Do you smile at the decorations you’ve picked out or I suppose concocted brand new?
And grin at the thought of holding us close each night?
Do you stand back and think “That’s not quite right, perhaps just a little to the left…ah, now that’s perfect! Very good.”
Have you lined the shelves with toys and treats and adventures that will captivate our imaginations?
Does your heart skip a beat when you look into our rooms?
Do you crave the joy of seeing our wonder as we discover all the preparations you’ve made
That will not be exhausted for trillions of years?
‘Streets paved with gold’ I suspect is a bit modest
A vast understatement of the splendor
Put together
By a tickled Father with no limitations, waiting to at last bring His babies home
And when I come, will I blink slowly, overwhelmed by colors I’ve never seen before and whose brilliance will take such getting used to, I can’t even keep my eyes open for more than a second or two
Seeing your face for the first time, will my heart beat slower, finally at rest
Snuggled on your bosom? Will there be skin-to-skin in heaven?
Where I not only hear your heart beating, but am wrapped up by the tangible warmth of your very Presence that regulates my breathing?
At last able to see in full what I only felt in part
Beholding a home I’d never known, but that would undoubtedly be familiar to my heart
The vague murmurings of such I could recall from my time in darkness
A place I’ve known all along
And never known at all
And even then, after opening my eyes,
Could I imagine all the all-satiating delights
That await?
Has Your patient waiting made our impending meeting that much sweeter in anticipation?

I hear you saying, “Just hang on a little bit longer. I can’t wait to bring you home, but it’s not quite ready for you and you’re not quite ready for it. Stay there, my little love. I know it’s dark and the more you grow, the more stuck you feel, but you’re yet premature. Another month or two and I’ll come get you. When you’re ready and so am I, then the preparations will be complete. And I will stand eagerly at the bedside while you arrive through the agony of the darkest night.

I can’t wait for you to be home.”

“Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his faithful servants” (Psalm 116:15).

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