Randy Alcorn's Blog, page 95

The Love You're Looking For: A Short Film about an Unexpected Love

I enjoyed this short film, titled “The Love You’re Looking For.”

I encourage you to share it so that women who have had abortions or are facing an unplanned pregnancy can find hope and healing.

Also check out theloveyourelookingfor.com for more stories and resources. And if you or someone you know is struggling with a past abortion, see my article Finding Forgiveness and Freedom after Abortion.

Browse more prolife articles and resources, as well as see Randy’s books Why ProLife? and ProLife Answers to ProChoice Arguments.

Godly Optimism

Do you consider yourself an optimist or a pessimist? We have no guarantees about how our circumstances will turn out in this life. But when it comes to eternity, Christians have every reason for optimism—we know how the story will end!

The following is from Charles Spurgeon’s sermon “God Rejoicing in the New Creation,” given on July 5, 1891:

It is a present and a lasting joy: “Be glad and rejoice forever in that which I create” (Isaiah 65:18). Be now glad, and now rejoice: it is a present joy. Take a delightful interest in that which God is now creating in the spiritual realm. Be glad in anything that the Lord has created in you. Has He created in you so much of the new life as to have produced conviction, repentance, faith in Christ, hope in the promise, longing for holiness? Be glad in this even if you have other circumstances pressing upon you, and causing you to be heavy of heart.

Though you might be mourning because you are so sickly, yet be glad that you are born again. If somewhat distressed because you are so poor, yet be glad that you are a child of God and have a place in the new family of love. Let the old things go and grasp the new, the heavenly. The old creation—bear with it a little longer, for the time of your redemption from its bondage draws near. Find your joy where God would have you find it, namely, in that part of your nature which is new. Rejoice in the new principles, the new promises, the new covenant, and the blood of the new covenant which are yours—all of them. The Kingdom of God is within you; rejoice in it.

Find your joy in the new creation of God as you see it in others. The angels rejoice over one sinner who repents (Luke 15:10); surely you and I ought to do so! Try and do good, and bring others to Christ. And when a soul shows signs of turning to its God, let that be your joy.

“Be glad and rejoice forever.” As long as you live, there will be something in the new creation that shall be to you a fresh joy and delight. Heaven will only enlarge this same joy. Be glad forever, because God will ever be creating something fresh in which you may be glad.

It may be said of the joy we ought to feel that it is a joy God intended for us: “Behold, I create Jerusalem to be a joy, and her people to be a gladness” (Isaiah 65:18). He has made the new city, the new people, the new world to be a source of joy.

We ought to be glad and rejoice forever in that which God creates. Ours is a heritage of joy and peace. My dear brothers and sisters, if anybody in the world ought to be happy, we are the people.

How large our obligations! How boundless our privileges! How brilliant our hopes!

What should make us miserable? Sin? That is forgiven. Affliction? That is working our good. Inward corruptions? They are doomed to die. Satanic temptations? We wear an armor which they cannot penetrate. We have every reason for delight, and we have moreover this command for it: “Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart” (Psalm 37:4). May God bring us into that blessed condition and keep us there!

God intends not only that we should have joy but also that we should spread it among others. He intends that wherever we go we should be light bearers and set other lamps shining.

Help the widow, comfort the fatherless, assist the poor, cheer up the disheartened, tell the glad news to the weary heart. In the Father’s hands, in Christ’s hands, in the Spirit’s hands, seek to break the prisoner’s fetters and to bring him out into the light of liberty. You, too, are anointed to proclaim liberty to the captives (Luke 4:18). May the God of infinite mercy help you and me so to do!

When you and I see sin subdued, do we not feel happy? Whenever the news comes to me that a man has been reclaimed from drunkenness or a woman has been saved from the streets, or when I hear of a hard-hearted sinner repenting, I rejoice in the Lord. Conversion days are our high holidays. But eventually there will be a still greater joy. We shall enter into Heaven, and there will be joy among the angels and joy in our hearts over God’s new creation work, which will proceed at a glorious rate. The day shall come when Christ shall reign from pole to pole. And what a joy that will be!

We shall indeed be glad in that which God creates, as the islands of the sea shall ring out His praise! Then Christ the Lord will come, and what joy and rejoicing there will be in that day when He has fully fashioned the New Earth and the new heavens.

Nothing prophesied should be dreaded by us. There is nothing foretold by a prophet or beheld in a vision that can alarm the Christian. He can stand serenely on the brink of the great eternity and say, “Come on! Let every event foretold become a fact! Pour out your vials, you angels! Fall, you star called Wormwood! Come, Gog and Magog, to the last great battle of Armageddon!” Nothing is to be feared by those who are one with Jesus. To us remains nothing but joy and rejoicing. For God has made His people a joy, and He has made them for rejoicing.

Charles Spurgeon wrote this sermon near the end of his life, at a time when he was seldom able to preach. In the printed version of the sermon, distributed around the world later that same week, this statement was added, helping readers appreciate the context in which Spurgeon spoke his powerful words about joy and rejoicing:

Mr. Spurgeon has been very seriously ill, but the prayers of the Lord’s people, at the Tabernacle and elsewhere, have been graciously answered on his behalf. Hearty thanksgiving should be rendered to the Lord for his partial recovery, joined with earnest supplication for his complete restoration to health and strength. Both Mr. and Mrs. Spurgeon are deeply grateful for the widespread sympathy that has been manifested during this season of severe trial.

Spurgeon’s partial recovery was brief. That he died only six months later makes all the more potent his words about the grounds for rejoicing.

Secular optimists are merely wishful thinkers. Discovering the present payoffs of optimism, they conduct seminars and write books on thinking positively. Sometimes they capitalize on optimism by becoming rich and famous. But then what happens? They eventually get old or sick, and when they die, if they haven’t trusted Christ, they go to Hell forever. Their optimism is an illusion, for it fails to take eternity into account.

The only proper foundation for optimism is the redemptive work of Jesus Christ. Any other foundation is sand, not rock. It will not bear the weight of eternity.

If we build our lives on the redemptive work of Christ, we should all be optimists. Why? Because even our most painful experience in life is but a temporary setback. Our pain and suffering may or may not be relieved in this life, but they will certainly be relieved in the next. That is Christ’s promise—no more death or pain. He will wipe away all our tears (Revelation 21:4). He took our sufferings on Himself so that one day He might remove all suffering from us, which is the biblical foundation for our optimism. No Christian should be a pessimist. We should be realists, focused on the reality that we serve a sovereign and gracious God. Because of the certainty of Christ’s atoning sacrifice and His promises, biblical realism is optimism.

We see the optimism in Spurgeon’s teaching on the biblical text about God having made us for joy and rejoicing. Knowing that it will be relieved doesn’t make suffering easy, but it does make suffering bearable. Hope allows us to have joy even in the midst of suffering. Paul says, “I rejoice in my sufferings” (Colossians 1:24), and James says, “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds” (James 1:2). The apostles didn’t enjoy their suffering, but they rejoiced in the midst of it because they trusted God’s sovereign plan.

Our optimism is not that of the “health and wealth gospel,” which claims that God will spare us from suffering here and now. Peter says, “Rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed” (1 Peter 4:13). Christ’s future glory, in which we will participate, is the reason for our present rejoicing in the midst of suffering.

Anticipating Heaven doesn’t eliminate pain, but it does lessen it and put it in perspective. Meditating on Heaven is a great pain reliever. Suffering and death are temporary conditions—they are but a gateway to eternal life of unending joy. The biblical doctrine of Heaven is about the future, but it has tremendous benefits here and now. If we grasp this truth, it will shift our center of gravity and radically change our perspective on life. This is what the Bible calls hope, a word used six times in Romans 8:20-25. In this passage, Paul says that all creation longs for our resurrection and the world’s coming redemption.

Don’t place your hope in favorable circumstances, which cannot and will not last. Place your hope in Christ and His promises. He will return. We will be resurrected to life on the New Earth. We will behold God’s face and joyfully serve Him forever and ever. We will, in fact, live happily ever after. That is not a fairy tale; it is the blood-bought promise of almighty God.

This article is excerpted from We Shall See God, in which Randy Alcorn has compiled profound spiritual insights on Heaven from the sermons of Charles Spurgeon, one of the greatest theologians of all time. 

Right now We Shall See God is available from EPM for $7 (53% off retail $14.99), plus S&H. Sale ends Thursday, October 24 at 12 pm PT (noon).

“This is my favorite devotional book. You can't go wrong with Charles Spurgeon and Randy Alcorn when reading about Heaven. Each chapter starts with a selection by Spurgeon regarding Heaven, and then Alcorn writes a few paragraphs reflecting on what Spurgeon has written. This makes a marvelous gift. Spread the joy!” —Reviewer

Photo by Warren Wong on Unsplash

Let’s Be Clear What We Do and Do Not Mean When It Comes to Terms Like Gender Equality

The fact that a term or phrase can be used by one person one way, and mean something completely different to another person, is nothing new. But as people who believe that words matter—because God communicated to us using precise words, right down to the smallest jot and title—we as Christians should be especially thoughtful in how we use terms, and educate ourselves about what others mean when they use them. We’d be wise to carefully articulate what we do and do not mean (and support or oppose) when we use certain words.

Take, for example, two terms commonly heard today: “gender equality” and “the empowerment of women.”

One site defines “gender equality” this way:

Gender equality is achieved when women and men enjoy the same rights and opportunities across all sectors of society, including economic participation and decision-making, and when the different behaviours, aspirations and needs of women and men are equally valued and favoured.

Christians should be the first to fully elevate and respect women and their God-given equality with men! My wife Nanci and I raised two daughters whom I respect deeply. I’ve never had a moment’s regret that God gave me girls instead of boys. As the father of daughters I routinely stood against some of the chauvinistic assumptions I saw and still see, in the world at large, and even among some evangelicals.

When it comes to gender equality and the empowerment of women, there’s much that Christians can affirm and agree with the world about. Girls and women should be given equal opportunities for education (see John Piper’s post “Why We Educate Our Girls”) and employment, and legal rights, like the right to vote and run for office. Women should be able to live full lives of opportunity free of enslavement and abuse.

In fact, I argue that as believers, we should show girls and women that the church offers them more respect, not less, than the world. In many parts of the world where, unfortunately, women are treated as inferior, the church is indeed “radical” in its treatment of women by elevating them as equals in Christ: “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28 ). Where God’s Word is available or translated into people’s heart languages, it brings transformation.

John 1:9 says that Jesus came as “the true light, which enlightens everyone.” I think this reflects the fact that all people in history have benefited from the coming of Christ, even those who reject Him. The model of Christ, His grace and truth, His elevation of women, and conciliatory words created a reference point for bringing freedom and civil rights to many societies. As far as we still have to go, the progress in affirming the rights of women and racial minorities in our own culture is due not to the current beliefs of moral relativism, but to the teaching and model of Christ which sowed the seeds for later reversal of the injustice (including slavery, women unable to vote, etc.) that hung over this country when it was founded.

The Wikipedia page for the term “gender equality” says this:

On a global scale, achieving gender equality also requires eliminating harmful practices against women and girls, including sex trafficking, femicide, wartime sexual violence, and other oppression tactics.

Of course we can agree that Christians, and indeed all people, should oppose and actively work to eliminate such evil practices! God calls us to seek justice in the world He’s placed us in: “Learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause” (Isaiah 1:17). “Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute” (Proverbs 31:8, NIV).

But unfortunately, when the secular culture refers to gender equality, sometimes they’re including an entirely different set of issues that prolife Christians must be aware of. The Wikipedia page also says this: “Gender equality is more than equal representation, it is strongly tied to women’s rights, and often requires policy changes” (emphasis added). Women’s rights, sadly, have been hijacked to not just include access to abortion but often exclusively focus on it. For example, see the Wikipedia page on women’s rights, which quotes the Human Rights Watch as saying, “The denial of a pregnant woman’s right to make an independent decision regarding abortion violates or poses a threat to a wide range of human rights.”

This is tragic, as abortion not only kills children, but also deeply hurts women. My books ProLife Answers to ProChoice Arguments and Why ProLife? were born out of a heart both for the unborn and their mothers. In fact, my deep concern about abortion didn’t start with a burden for children, but a burden for women who struggled due to their past abortions.

Life Site News reports that often U.N. documents also use the terms “gender equality” and “the empowerment of women” to mean the promotion of abortion. This is both sad and extremely ironic, because Jesus is clearly in favor of gender equality and the empowerment of women, in the sense of their equal worth and value! I hate it when good expressions become code words for what’s evil.

So one of the ironies of that particular use of “gender equality” is that by its advocacy of abortion, it endorses the single greatest means of rob­bing the youngest women of their most basic right—the right to life. A little more than half of aborted children are female, and in some cultures prenatal testing is done to identify females and kill them before they are born. This is anti-woman on the most basic level. (See my article Is Abortion Really a Women’s Rights Issue?)

I also am saddened when believers end up automatically pushing back against terms and phrases without carefully explaining what they’re really opposing, and what they’re totally in favor for. It’s like arguing against “every child a wanted child” without explaining that we actually do agree every child should be wanted—but the solution isn’t killing unborn children, but  placing children in homes where they are wanted, and learning to want children more.  Another example is when Christians say, “I oppose the ACLU” without qualifying that we should thank God for the ACLU’s historic efforts in racial equality and justice (not always done the right way, but resulting in just laws for which we can be profoundly thankful). Even though I oppose most of what they do today, I thank God for what liberal groups like the ACLU accomplished in the racial arena.

The bottom line? When we talk about a term like “gender equality,” let’s be sure we are clear what we are and are not opposing. In no way should we ever be anti-women; but we’re emphatically against the inclusion of abortion as part of what defines women as having value and worth.

Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash

How “Former Christian” Bart Ehrman’s Testimony Should Encourage Us to Grapple Biblically with the Problem of Evil and Suffering

In my last blog post, I shared a video about Vaneetha, a woman with a faith-filled response to the incredible suffering she’s experienced in life. Today, in contrast, I’m sharing some excerpts from a chapter of my book If God Is Good that focused on Bart Ehrman and his best-selling book God’s Problem, which documents how a “former Christian” denied his faith because he couldn’t reconcile evil and suffering with God’s goodness.

That Bart Ehrman was a “devout and com­mitted Christian” is his claim, not mine. What isn’t debatable is that he once was part of the evangelical subculture. Unfortunately, Ehrman’s Christian-to-non-theist testimony gives apparent credibility to his claims, so he functions as a winsome evangelist for atheism.

Ehrman offers a gripping self-introduction to his book:

The problem of suffering has haunted me for a very long time. …Ultimately, it was the reason I lost my faith.

For most of my life I was a devout and committed Christian.... Early in my high school days I started attending a Youth for Christ club and had a “born-again” experience.... When I became born again it was like ratch­eting my religion up a notch. I became very serious about my faith and chose to go off to a fundamentalist Bible college—Moody Bible Institute in Chicago—where I began training for ministry.

…I went off to finish my college work at Wheaton. There I learned Greek.... At Princeton I did both a master of divinity degree— training to be a minister—and, eventually, a Ph.D. in New Testament studies.

I had solid Christian credentials and knew about the Christian faith from the inside out… But then... I started to lose my faith. I now have lost it altogether. I no longer go to church, no longer believe, no longer consider myself a Christian. The subject of this book is the reason why.

Ehrman lost faith in Scripture before losing faith in God.

Ehrman refers to his earlier book, Misquoting Jesus, to say his belief in the Bible’s truthfulness diminished the more he studied it. He decided it was not God’s inerrant revelation but “a very human book with all the marks of having come from human hands: Discrepancies, contradictions, errors, and different perspectives.” Nonetheless, he writes,

I continued to be a Christian—a completely committed Christian—for many years after I left the evangelical fold. Eventually, though, I felt compelled to leave Christianity altogether. ....I could no longer explain how there can be a good and all-powerful God actively involved with this world, given the state of things. For many people who inhabit this planet, life is a cesspool of misery and suffering. I came to a point where I simply could not believe that there is a good and kindly disposed Ruler who is in charge of it.

Ehrman emphasizes that even after coming to believe that parts of the Bible were untrue, he kept his faith. He seems to want the reader to suppose that disbelieving Scripture did not contribute to his loss of faith. But how could it do otherwise? Once we call some parts of the Bible false, on what basis do we judge other parts true? If we vacillate on the reliability of the Scriptures, we will first reinterpret the Bible, then outright reject it.

Ehrman argues that the answers given in the Bible are not only unsatisfying, but contradictory.

Most of God’s Problem consists of Ehrman’s critical examination of Scripture. He writes, “Given... that God had chosen the people of Israel to be in a special relationship with him—what were ancient Israelite thinkers to suppose when things did not go as planned or expected?... How were they to explain the fact that the people of God suffered from famine, drought, and pestilence?”

Ehrman surveys answers to these questions, including human free will; God’s anger at disobedient people; suffering as being redemptive; evil and suffering existing so God can make good out of them; suffering as encouraging humility and undermining pride; suffering as testing faith; evil and suffering as the work of Satan, which Christ will overcome in his return; and suffering and evil as a mystery.

Oddly, he thinks that because the Bible’s answers vary, this makes them contradictory. The idea that they supplement one another doesn’t seem to occur to him.

While Ehrman finds it troubling that the Bible approaches the issue in different ways, I find it reassuring. No single reason gives a sufficient explanation, but different threads of biblical insight, woven together, form a durable fabric.

I find the book’s subtitle ironic: How the Bible Fails to Answer Our Most Important Question—Why We Suffer. The problem is not that the Bible fails to answer it; Ehrman himself documents that it offers multiple answers. He simply doesn’t believe them.

Ehrman summarizes, often accurately, the biblical teaching. Then he disagrees with it, usually citing no authority beyond his personal opinion. His faith in his own subjective understanding at times seems breathtaking.

Bart Ehrman’s case appears persuasive because of what he leaves out.

Bart Ehrman has become an atheist poster boy, presenting himself as a reverse C. S. Lewis, compelled by intellectual honesty to abandon his faith.

Just as Christians elevate the testimonies of former atheists who have come to Christ, so atheists elevate Ehrman. He writes, “I did not go easily. On the contrary, I left kicking and screaming, wanting desperately to hold on to the faith I had known since childhood.” He borrows from Lewis, who said, “I came into Christianity kicking and screaming.”

Lewis wrote in Surprised by Joy,

You must picture me alone in that room in Magdalen, night after night, feeling, whenever my mind lifted even for a second from my work, the steady, unrelenting approach of Him whom I so earnestly desired not to meet. That which I greatly feared had at last come upon me. In the Trinity Term of 1929 I gave in, and admitted that God was God, and knelt and prayed: perhaps, that night, the most dejected and reluctant convert in all England.

There’s a significant difference between Lewis and Ehrman. Ehrman speaks of his former faith largely in terms of a young person attending churches, schools, and events, and adopting certain religious practices. That his Christianity could withstand neither academic questioning of Scripture nor the realization that this world teems with terrible evil and suffering suggests that he had never embraced a deeply rooted biblical worldview in the first place.

Lewis, by contrast, had come to his atheism as an adult, having seen the horrors of the trenches in World War I, and rejected the trappings of Christianity he’d seen as a child and adolescent. Years later, in his conversion to Christ, he turned away from atheism, even though doing so was particularly difficult in the academic culture of Oxford, where Bible-believing professors could be subjected to condescension and ridicule.

I’m convinced that many Christians, younger and older, have faiths very similar to that which Ehrman abandoned—on the verge of being persuaded to jettison their weak faiths by college professors utilizing Ehrman’s kinds of arguments.

In light of the great number of young people who reject their faith as college students or young adults, we need to ask ourselves two questions: What are we doing to help nominally Christian young people come to a true faith in Christ? And what are we doing to help youthful genuine Christians go deeper in exploring Scripture, learning sound theology, and developing a truly Christian world-view, not a superficial one that’s likely to collapse in the face of suffering?

The book’s presumptuous title is off-center; the problem of evil is man’s problem with God, not God’s problem.

While God suffers with his children, he does not struggle with his attributes and decisions. He knows what will be worth it in the end. He knows how His goodness, omnipotence, and wisdom fit with evil and suffering. It would be more accurate if Bart Ehrman titled his book My Problem.

The problem of evil and suffering is not God’s problem. It is Bart Ehrman’s problem... and yours, and mine.

God asks Job, “Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct him? Let him who accuses God answer him!... Who has a claim against me that I must pay?” (Job 40:2; 41:11). God has not asked us to give Him a performance review so that He may do a better job the next time He creates a universe or devises a redemptive plan. Rather, He promises that at the judgment he will give us a review.

When we stand before God, we will either thank Him for the justifying work of Christ, or we will face the problem of trying to justify ourselves on some other basis.

That will be the real problem.

Photo by Kelli McClintock on Unsplash

The Problem of Evil and Suffering, as Faced by Vaneetha Rendall Risner, Whose Perspective May Surprise You

Please take nine minutes to watch this video, beautifully produced by Desiring God, featuring a woman crippled because of a doctor’s mistake, who lost her child’s life because of another doctor’s mistake, whose husband left her for another woman, and who has surely faced far more than her share of grief. If that sounds depressing, watch it anyway, and see your heart encouraged:

Please don’t skip the video, or if you read first what I’ve written below, end by watching it. If you wish to think further about the problem of evil and suffering and how it affects believers and unbelievers alike, you might be interested in the excerpt below from my book If God Is Good. (In my next post, I’ll share about Bart Ehrman, a well-known “Christian” who lost his faith in Christ due to the problem of evil and suffering, in contrast to Vaneetha.)

While people living in relative comfort reject faith in God due to the problem of evil, those subjected to the worst evil and suffering often turn to God. Isn’t it remarkable that from Sudan to China to Cambodia to El Salvador, faith in God grows deepest in places where evil and suffering have been greatest?

While Western atheists turn from belief in God because a tsunami in another part of the world caused great suffering, many brokenhearted survivors of that same tsunami found faith in God. This is one of the great paradoxes of suffering. Those who don’t suffer much think suffering should keep people from God, while many who suffer a great deal turn to God, not from Him.

Imagine eavesdropping on a conversation between an atheist and the very peo­ple whose suffering He uses as an argument for disbelieving in God. After hearing the atheist’s case, someone says, “You’ve lost your faith because of my suffering? But my faith in God has grown deeper than ever. Why would I turn away from the only one who can comfort me, the only one who has planned eternal life for me, the only one who suffered immeasurably, beyond any of us, so that one day I need suffer no longer?”

You won’t find the strongest Christian churches in the world in affluent America or Europe, where the problem of evil has the most traction. In Sudan, Christians are severely persecuted, raped, tortured, and sold into slavery. Yet many have a vibrant faith in Christ. People living in Garbage Village in Cairo make up one of the largest churches in Egypt. I have interviewed numbers of people who take comfort in knowing that this life is the closest they will ever come to Hell.

As an army of brutal invaders demolished his nation, a man who wrestled with the problem of evil and suffering said this:

Though the fig tree does not bud

and there are no grapes on the vines,

though the olive crop fails

and the fields produce no food,

though there are no sheep in the pen

and no cattle in the stalls,

yet I will rejoice in the LORD,

I will be joyful in God my Savior.

The Sovereign LORD is my strength. (Habakkuk 3:17–19)

Many Christians who have faced evil and suffering embrace their faith with greater conviction. While researching If God Is Good, I interviewed Scott and Janet Willis. An unskilled truck driver who obtained his license through bribery allowed a large object to drop onto a Milwaukee freeway in front of their van. Their gas tank exploded, killing six of their children.

Scott Willis said,

The depth of our pain is indescribable. However, the Bible expresses our feelings that we sorrow, but not as those without hope. What gives us our firm foundation for hope are the words of God found in Scripture.... Ben, Joe, Sam, Hank, Elizabeth and Peter are all with Jesus Christ. We know where they are. Our strength rests in God’s Word.

The Willis family’s story is exactly the kind that atheists feature as overwhelming evidence for God’s nonexistence. Yet, when I interviewed this couple fourteen years after the tragic event, Janet said, “Today I have a far greater understanding of the goodness of God than I did before the accident.” This might have taken my breath away, had I not already heard it from others who’ve also endured unspeakable suffering.

At the end of our two-hour conversation, Scott Willis said, “I have a stronger view of God’s sovereignty than ever before.”

Scott and Janet did not say that the accident itself strengthened their view of God’s sovereignty. Indeed, Scott’s overwhelming sense of loss initially prompted suicidal thoughts. Rather, their faith grew as they threw themselves upon God for grace to live each day. “I turned to God for strength,” Janet said, “because I had no strength.” She went to the Bible with a hunger for God’s presence, and he met her. “I learned about Him. He made sense when nothing else made sense. If it weren’t for the Lord, I would have lost my sanity.”

I asked Scott and Janet, “What would you say to those who reject the Christian faith because they say no plan of God—nothing at all—could possibly be worth the suffering of your children, and your suffering over all these years?”

“Eternity is a long time,” Janet replied. “It will be worth it. Our children’s suffering was brief, and they have the eternal joy of being with God. We and their grandparents have suffered since. But our suffering has been small compared to our children’s joy. Fourteen years is a short time compared to eternity. We’ll be with them there, forever.”

French philosopher La Rochefoucauld may have best captured the difference between lost faith and the deepened faith of those like Scott and Janet Willis and Vaneetha Rendall Risner: “A great storm puts out a little fire, but it feeds a strong one.”

By the way, I appreciated this video update on the Willis family produced in 2014, 20 years after the accident, and featuring some of their surviving 3 children and their 34 grandchildren.

Photo by Jason Blackeye on Unsplash

Is the New Jerusalem a Literal, Massive City?

In describing the New Jerusalem, the apostle John writes, “The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl. The great street of the city was of pure gold, like transparent glass” (Revelation 21:21). The pearls John describes are gates set in walls that are two hundred feet thick.

Commentators routinely suggest, “Of course, these are not actual streets of gold.” But why do they say that? In part, at least, because of their christoplatonic assumptions. Disembodied spirits don’t need streets to walk on. Incorporeal realms don’t have real cities with real streets, real gates, and real citizens. But isn’t John’s description of gates and streets further evidence that Heaven is a physical realm designed for human citizens? Why wouldn’t a resurrected world inhabited by resurrected people have actual streets and gates?

Likewise, most books on Heaven argue that the city cannot really be the size it’s depicted as being in Revelation 21:15-17: “The angel who talked with me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city, its gates and its walls. . . . He measured the city with the rod and found it to be 12,000 stadia in length, and as wide and high as it is long. He measured its wall and it was 144 cubits thick, by man’s measurement, which the angel was using.”

Twelve thousand stadia equates to fourteen hundred miles in each direction. According to one writer on Heaven, “It would dishonor the heavenly Architect to contend that its dimensions were meant to be taken literally.” He doesn’t say why it would dishonor God, and I have no idea why it would. But, as usual, taking Scripture allegorically or figuratively is considered the high ground, whereas literal interpretation is considered naive or crass.

If these dimensions are not literal, why does Scripture specifically give the dimensions and then say “by man’s measurement, which the angel was using” (Revelation21:17)? The emphasis on “man’s measurement” almost seems to be an appeal: “Please believe it—the city is really this big!”

Suppose God wanted to convey that the city really is fourteen hundred miles wide and deep and high. What else would we expect Him to say besides what this passage says? Is it possible for God to make such a city? Obviously—He’s the creator of the universe. Is it possible for people in glorified bodies to dwell in such a city? Yes.

I have no problem believing that the numbers have symbolic value, with the multiples of twelve suggesting the perfection of God’s bride. However, most commentators act as if we must choose between literal dimensions and ones with symbolic significance. But we don’t. My wedding ring is a great symbol—but it’s also a real object.

Some argue, “But this city rises above the earth’s oxygen level.” Can’t God put oxygen fourteen hundred miles high on the New Earth if he wishes? Or can’t He make it so we don’t have to breathe oxygen? Such things are no problem for God.

Some argue that nothing could be that big. It would cover two-thirds of the continental United States. If the great pyramids of Egypt or the Great Wall of China amaze you, imagine a city that extends five miles into the sky—let alone fourteen hundred miles! Envision the city disappearing into the clouds.

Some claim anything that big would weigh so much it would disrupt the earth’s orbit. Of course, the New Earth could be much bigger than the present one. In any case, issues of mass and gravity are child’s play to the Creator.

That the dimensions are equal on all sides is reminiscent of the Holy of Holies in Israel’s Temple (1 Kings 6:20). This likely symbolizes God’s presence, because the city is called His new dwelling place (Revelation 21:2-3). By suggesting there’s symbolism, am I contradicting my suggestion that the measurements are literal? Not at all. Many physical objects, including the Ark of the Covenant and the high priest’s breastplate and its stones, had symbolic significance.

Is it possible that the city’s dimensions aren’t literal? Of course. The doctrine of the New Earth certainly doesn’t stand or fall with the size of the New Jerusalem. However, my concern is this: If we assume the city’s dimensions can’t be real, people will likely believe the city isn’t real. If it doesn’t have its stated dimensions, then it’s a short step to believing it doesn’t have any dimensions at all. Then we think of the New Earth as not being a resurrected realm suited for resurrected people.

Christoplatonism produces certain interpretive assumptions, which in turn reinforce the Christoplatonism that Scripture argues against.

Browse more resources on the topic of Heaven, and see Randy’s related books, including Heaven, Picturing Heaven, and We Shall See God.

Photo by Chor Tsang on Unsplash

Where Is Real Peace Found?

Many thanks to those who have prayed for and left comments for Nanci and me after I shared about her then upcoming CT scan, which was done last Monday. At the follow up appointments, we received some challenging news about the results. Two different surgeons believe Nanci's cancer, which they saw no more sign of until recently, has spread to her lungs. (The suspicious spots can't be easily biopsied because they are too deep, and will need to be removed with surgery, and Nanci will probably need to go through more chemotherapy as well. You can read the full update on her CaringBridge page.)

While Nanci and I are disappointed, of course, we had talked beforehand and were prepared to accept this from the hand of a sovereign and loving God. God is in control, and we really are at peace. We’re fully trusting the One who said, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world, you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33, NIV).

Nanci and I have both found that great peace comes in meditating on the attributes of our God and His care for us. Puritan Thomas Watson noted, “God the Father is called the ‘God of peace’ (Hebrews 13:20). God the Son, the ‘Prince of peace’ (Isaiah 9:6). God the Holy Ghost, the ‘Spirit…of peace’ (Ephesians 4:3).” It’s really true that “The Lord gives strength to his people; the Lord blesses his people with peace” (Psalm 29:11, NIV).

A dear friend recently shared with us this excerpt from Paul David Tripp’s New Morning Mercies. Paul’s words about how we can find peace really resonated with both Nanci and me. These thoughts have been great for us right now, and are great for everyone facing challenging and uncertain circumstances:

Biblical literacy does not dispel all confusion and mystery from your life because while God reveals his will for you in the Bible, he does not reveal all the things he will do in your life for your good and his glory. God surprises you.

So you ask, “Where is peace to be found?” This question is answered clearly and powerfully in Isaiah 26:

You keep him in perfect peace
whose mind is stayed on you,
because he trusts in you.
Trust in the LORD forever,
for the LORD GOD is an everlasting rock. (vv. 3-4)

This passage tells us where peace is found. It is never found in trying to figure out the secret will of God. It’s not to be found in personal planning or attempts to control the circumstances and people in your life. Peace is found in trusting the person who controls all the things that you don’t understand and who knows no mystery because he has planned it all. How do you experience this remarkable peace—the kind of peace that doesn’t fade away when disappointments come, when people are difficult, or when circumstances are hard? You experience it by keeping your mind stayed on the Lord. The more you meditate on his glory, his power, his wisdom, his grace, his faithfulness, his righteousness, his patience, his zeal to redeem, and his commitment to his eternal promises to you, the more you can deal with mystery in your life. Why? Because you know the One behind the mystery is gloriously good, worthy not only of your trust but also the worship of your heart. It really is true that peace in times of trouble is not found in figuring out your life, but in worship of the One who has everything figured out already.

Here are some more reflections from other Jesus followers about the peace Christ offers us:

“I know, perhaps as well as anyone, what depression means, and what it is to feel myself sinking lower and lower. Yet at the worst, when I reach the lowest depths, I have an inward peace which no pain or depression can in the least disturb. Trusting in Jesus Christ my Savior, there is still a blessed quietness in the deep caverns of my soul.” —Charles Spurgeon  

“Just think: Every promise God has ever made finds its fulfillment in Jesus. God doesn’t just give us grace; he gives us Jesus, the Lord of grace. If it’s peace, it’s only found in Jesus, the Prince of Peace. Even life itself is found in the Resurrection and the Life. Christianity isn’t all that complicated…it’s Jesus.” —Joni Eareckson Tada

“There is no true or solid peace to be enjoyed in the world except in the way of reposing upon the promises of God.” —John Calvin

“All your security, freedom, rest, peace, and happiness consist in the goodness and love of your Maker towards you.” —Wilhelmus à Brakel

 “Peace is not the absence of trouble but the presence of Christ.” —Sheila Walsh

“Our Lord says to you, ‘Peace, child, peace. Relax. Let go. I will catch you. Do you trust me so little?’” —C. S. Lewis

“Jesus was napping in a boat when a storm came. Jesus’ friends, the disciples, woke him because they were terrified… Then Jesus looked out at the storm and said, ‘Peace, be still.’ And it was. …He didn’t say, ‘If you follow me, you’ll never have problems,’ because even Jesus faced big problems. …Jesus was always getting himself into trouble. Eventually he got killed. Peace doesn’t come from finding a lake with no storms. It comes from having Jesus in the boat.” —John Ortberg

Photo: Christianpics.co

Russell Moore on American Prosperity Theology vs. the Gospel of Crucifixion and Resurrection

Martyn Lloyd-Jones said, “It is not a true gospel that gives us the impression the Christian life is easy, and that there are no problems to be faced.” The true gospel is about Jesus, and therefore a gospel that’s about health and wealth is a false gospel. Part of Jesus’ gospel is the promise of eternal life, guaranteed by Christ’s resurrection. That life includes everlasting health and wealth. That is Good News!

I recently read the following in Russell Moore’s book Onward: Engaging the Culture without Losing the Gospel, where he points out how the prosperity theology that can show up in more subtle and “culturally appropriate” forms in America is opposed to the real gospel of Jesus:

Years ago, I happened upon a television program of a “prosperity gospel” preacher, with perfectly coiffed mauve hair, perched on a rhinestone-spackled golden throne, talking about how wonderful it is to be a Christian. Even if Christianity proved to be untrue, she said, she would still want to be a Christian, because it’s the best way to live. It occurred to me that that is an easy perspective to have, on television, from a golden throne. It’s a much more difficult perspective to have if one is being crucified by one’s neighbors in Sudan for refusing to repudiate the name of Christ. Then, if it turns out not to be true, it seems to be a crazy way to live. In reality, this woman’s gospel—and those like it—are more akin to a Canaanite fertility religion than to the gospel of Jesus Christ. And the kingdom she announces is more like that of Pharaoh than like that of Christ. David’s throne needs no rhinestone.

But the prosperity gospel proclaimed in full gaudiness in the example above is on full display in more tasteful and culturally appropriate forms. The idea of the respectability of Christian witness in a Christian America that is defined by morality and success, not by the gospel of crucifixion and resurrection, is just another example of importing Jesus to maintain one’s best life now. Jesus could have remained beloved in Nazareth, by healing some people and levitating some chairs, and keeping quiet about how different his kingdom is. But Jesus persistently has to wreck everything, and the illusions of Christian America are no more immune than the illusions of Israelite Galilee. If we see the universe as the Bible sees it, we will not try to “reclaim” some lost golden age. We will see an invisible conflict of the kingdoms, a satanic horror show being invaded by the reign of Christ. This will drive us to see who our real enemies are, and they are not the cultural and sexual prisoners-of-war all around us. If we seek the kingdom, we will see the devil. And this makes us much less sophisticated, much less at home in modern America.

For more on the health and wealth gospel vs. the true gospel, see Randy’s books Money, Possessions and Eternity, If God Is Good, and Happiness. Also see these articles on prosperity theology.

Photo: Christianpics.co

Suicide, Heaven, and Jesus—the Final Answer to Our Sorrow

Since it made national headlines, many of those both inside and outside the church are familiar with the story of Jarrid Wilson, the vibrant, passionate, Jesus-loving, 30-year-old associate pastor at Harvest Christian Fellowship in Riverside, California who took his life. That happened on September 9, the day before Suicide Awareness Day (September 10). He left behind his wife, Juli, and two young sons.

Over the years I’ve spoken at Harvest four times with my good friend Greg Laurie, at both the Riverside and Orange campuses, and consider it to be on my short list of churches I dearly love. In his ministry, Jarrid had been vocal and vulnerable about his own depression and mental health struggles. Together he and Juli founded “Anthem of Hope,” an organization to help those dealing with depression and suicidal thoughts.

In the wake of Jarrid’s death, much has already been said about suicide and mental health and the need to address them within the church. But I want to highlight some things Greg Laurie, the senior pastor at Harvest, has said, and also share some more thoughts related to suicide. This is an issue that will not go away until Jesus returns. Countless Christian families have been profoundly affected by suicide and the constant threat of and vulnerability to suicide.

This issue is very personal for me, too. Three years ago a close friend—a godly brother who loved Jesus and loved to share his faith—took his life, and it rocked my world. A month earlier Nanci and I had talked with him and his precious wife about depression, stress, and sleep deprivation, and had encouraged him to get medical treatment and qualified counseling, and he had taken steps to that end. He had a great family, church, and support system. He drove me to the airport just three days before taking his life, and I talked with him directly about his struggles.  He told me the depression was still there, but that he was feeling better about his life and state of mind, and he assured me all would be well. We hugged and said goodbye on a Sunday evening, and that Wednesday afternoon I got the call telling me he had died. That weekend I spoke at his memorial service.

Does Suicide Keep Someone from Heaven?

Because I’ve written a lot about Heaven, over the years I’ve been asked by readers whether those who have professed Christ but take their own lives would be turned away from Heaven.

Greg Laurie shared in a blog post after Jarrid’s death, “One dark moment in a Christian’s life cannot undo what Christ did for us on the cross.” Based on what Scripture says, I agree.

Suicide is the unjustified killing of a human being, and is therefore included in and forbidden by the commandments not to murder. Scripture says very little directly about suicide. However, it says much about God’s character and we can certainly trust in His love, fairness, and judgment. “Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” Abraham asked in Genesis 18:25, and it is a rhetorical question that assumes and demands a “yes” answer. 

At Jarrid’s memorial service Greg said, “I believe Jarrid Wilson is in Heaven. He put his faith in Christ, and Romans 8:38 reminds us that nothing will ever separate us from the Love of God. ….When you stand before God, you won’t be judged by the last thing you did before you died but by the last thing Jesus did when He died.”

If someone truly knows Christ, then regardless of what they do, they cannot be snatched out of the Father’s hand (John 10:28). Ephesians 1:13 and 2 Corinthians 1:22 speak of believers being sealed in Him. Only God knows a person’s heart and if they were truly were a believer.

In the same passage that says we can’t be snatched out of the Father’s hand, Jesus made it even more emphatic: “I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand” (John 10:27). Eternal life could not be called “eternal” if it doesn’t last forever. The promise that Christ’s sheep “shall never perish” would not be true if by choosing suicide they would perish in hell. If people could snatch themselves out of Christ’s hands or the Father’s hands, or be snatched out by others, then that too would make Jesus’ words false. His words are true and the three-fold assurance of John 10:27 should inform our thinking about suicide.

Ruth Graham, wife of Billy Graham, was asked by the family of a woman who took her own life, “What does God say to a Christian who’s committed suicide?” She tenderly replied, “I once heard someone say, ‘God did not call her home, but He welcomed her.’”

God has already forgiven our sins, past, present and future when we trust in Him as our Savior and Lord. But He wants us to confess our sins to restore fellowship with Him, as 1 John 1:9 says. A person who commits suicide, if it is instantaneous, wouldn’t have opportunity to confess that sin before dying. Presumably that would mean having to confess and repent upon meeting God after death. Christ died for sins of suicide, so suicide is forgivable—but it is also tragic, unnecessary, and cruel and debilitating for loved ones left behind. (These loved ones need help and support. See David Powlison’s booklet Grieving a Suicide: Help for the Aftershock.)

Love Gets the Last Word

Greg Laurie and I first connected eleven years ago when he called me after his son Christopher, then 33, died in a tragic car accident. Greg and I talked a lot about Heaven then, and have continued that conversation over the years, and we’ve also talked about the problem of evil and suffering, and the fact that Jesus is the only answer bigger than the questions. (See our first and second conversations at Harvest.)

Greg said at Jarrid’s service, “We shouldn’t be spending too much time wondering ‘Why.’ Better than asking ‘Why?’ We should be asking, ‘Who do we turn to at an hour like this?’ The answer is Jesus Christ.”

In situations like these, we should remind ourselves Jesus has not broken any promises. He never promised that everything in this life would go well. He specifically promised that it wouldn’t. He said, “In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world” (John 16:33, NKJV). He also said in Hebrews 13:5, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” Those are God’s promises.

In his last tweet, Jarrid wrote,

Loving Jesus Doesn’t Always Cure Suicidal Thoughts.

Loving Jesus Doesn’t Always Cure Depression.

Loving Jesus Doesn’t Always Cure PTSD.

Loving Jesus Doesn’t Always Cure Anxiety.

But That Doesn’t Mean Jesus Doesn’t Offer Us Companionship And Comfort.

He ALWAYS Does That.

Not only in Heaven but also while we are still here on Earth, our God is “the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort” (2 Corinthians 1:3). Any sorrows that plague us now will disappear on the New Earth as surely as darkness disappears when the light is turned on. “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain” (Revelation 21:4).

Jarrid’s wife Juli wrote on Instagram, “Suicide doesn’t get the last word. I won’t let it. You always said ‘Hope Gets the last word. Jesus does.’”

She’s right. Our sorrow will not have the final say. In the eternity that awaits us, God will replace it with everlasting good and happiness: “And the ransomed of the LORD shall return and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away” (Isaiah 51:11). Consider these great words from Jason Gray’s song “Love Will Have the Final Word”:

Sorrow may close the chapter
But the story will end with laughter
Cause the worst thing is never the last thing
No, the last thing will be the best thing

Of all the things I've ever heard
Let me remember when it hurts
That love will have the final word
As long as God is on His throne
I am carried by the hope
That love will have the final word

A Word to the Depressed

I can’t leave out something I felt was vital to say in my book Heaven. If you are facing depression and especially if you have ever contemplated suicide, please read this:

The fact that Heaven will be wonderful shouldn’t tempt us to take shortcuts to get there. If you’re depressed, you may imagine your life has no purpose—but you couldn’t be more wrong.

As long as God keeps you here on Earth, it’s exactly where He wants you. He’s preparing you for another world. He knows precisely what He’s doing. Through your suffering, difficulty, and depression, He’s expanding your capacity for eternal joy. Our lives on Earth are a training camp to ready us for Heaven.

I have faced depression and I know it can be debilitating. Many godly people have experienced it. But if you are considering taking your own life, recognize this as the devil’s temptation. Jesus said that Satan is a liar and a murderer (John 8:44). He tells lies because he wants to destroy you (1 Peter 5:8). Don’t listen to the liar. Listen to Jesus, the truth teller (John 8:32; 14:6). Don’t make a terrible ending to your life’s story—finish your God-given course on Earth. When He’s done—not before—He’ll take you home in His own time and way. Meanwhile, God has a purpose for you here on Earth. Don’t desert your post. (And by all means, go to a Christ-centered, Bible-believing church, get help to find a wise Christian counselor, and also explore medical treatment as an option.)

If you don’t know Jesus, confess your sins and embrace His death and resurrection on your behalf. If you do know Him, make your daily decisions in light of your destiny. Ask yourself what you can do today, next week, next year, or decades from now to write the best ending to this volume of your life’s story—a story that will continue gloriously in the new universe.

By God’s grace, use the time you have left on the present Earth to store up for yourself treasures on the New Earth, to be laid at Christ’s feet for His glory (Revelation 4:10). Then look forward to meeting in Heaven Jesus Himself, as well as all those touched by your Christ-exalting choices.

Additonal note:

I’ve been reading comments and getting private messages regarding my post about Jarrid Wilson and suicide, claiming I am not recognizing suicide is a sin, and that I am promoting and minimizing it. This is false. Here’s what I actually say in the blog:

“Suicide is the unjustified killing of a human being, and is therefore included in and forbidden by the commandments not to murder. [In other words, suicide is a sin.] 

...The fact that Heaven will be wonderful shouldn’t tempt us to take shortcuts to get there. If you’re depressed, you may imagine your life has no purpose—but you couldn’t be more wrong....

Don’t make a terrible ending to your life’s story—finish your God-given course on Earth. When He’s done—not before—He’ll take you home in His own time and way. Meanwhile, God has a purpose for you here on Earth. Don’t desert your post.”

Randy

For more on Heaven, see Randy’s books Heaven and 50 Days of Heaven. For more on suffering, see his books If God Is Good and 90 Days of God’s Goodness.

Photo by Ahmed Hasan on Unsplash

What It Means to Look upon God’s Goodness (an Update on Nanci)

Many people have asked me how Nanci is doing since our last update in early September on her CaringBridge page. There has been nothing new to report since the outcome of her last test, but she'll have another test soon. I rarely repost the latest updates and prayer requests from CaringBridge on my blog, but since this test is significant, I’m posting this one since we would love your prayers. This is also a reminder that further updates after the test will be posted on that page not on the blog. It’s the best way for us to keep everyone current with what’s happening. (I wish CaringBridge didn’t require a signup, but you can also log in with Facebook or with your Google account. CaringBridge is a great service, and we’re grateful for it.)

It’s been four weeks since the great news that there was no indication of cancer in Nanci’s colon. Nanci has a CT scan scheduled this coming Monday, October 7 at 10:30 AM, after which we have an 11:30 appointment with the thoracic (lung) surgeon, who will give us his interpretation of the results.

As mentioned previously, the concern is a nodule in one of her lungs. If that nodule has grown, or new ones have developed, it is presumed that the cancer has metastasized in her lungs.  The location prevents a needle biopsy and would require extensive surgery to remove. The likely treatment would be more chemotherapy.  If, however, the nodule has not grown or has shrunk, the indication would be no cancer at this time.

Our prayer of course is that the nodule would be gone or at least not growing and not malignant. As always, we trust God to do what He knows is best and we want Him to be glorified, but our prayer remains the same—that He would keep cancer away and that Nanci would be restored to full health.

In any case, “The Lord is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to him” (Psalm 28:7).

Nanci wrote what follows and we’d like to share it with you to keep in mind not only as you pray for her but also as you walk with Jesus and bring yourselves and your own loved ones before Him:

“I believe that I shall lookupon the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living! Wait for the Lord; be strong and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!” (Psalm 27:13-14, ESV).

To “look upon the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living” does not mean all of us will live as long as we want or that all will go according to our wishes and desired diagnoses in this life. The LORD’s goodness toward us is what He knows to be the best good, for now and forever, not what we think to be the best good for us.

His good may not always feel pleasant, or even fair in my limited perspective, but the truth is: His good is always perfectly designed for me. The LORD’s good carries His plans for my life; and His plans are better than I can imagine.

God often blesses us by revealing some of the purposes which propel His goodness in our lives. These are times when it is easier to continue walking the path He has chosen for us. He sometimes withholds the reasons for His choice of goodness in our lives until we see Him face to face. This too is part of His goodness toward us.

He desires that we trust in His character rather than our circumstances. For me to believe with all my heart in the goodness of God—under all circumstances—blesses my Father, my Savior, and my Comforter. That is to say: it causes God to rejoice in me. What could possibly be better?!

We both thank you SO much for your prayers!

Randy and Nanci

Photo by adrian on Unsplash