Randy Alcorn's Blog, page 97

To Live a Life of Endurance, Choose Your Companions Wisely

Here’s a principle you can count on: you will become the kind of person you choose to spend time with, whether at work or school or church or the coffee shop. “Do not be misled: ‘Bad company corrupts good morals’” (1 Corinthians 15:33).

Talk to those who’ve endured in the Christian life, and you’ll find they’ve chosen good friends who raise the bar instead of lowering it. Make sure your friendships are centered on Christ. If your closest friends don’t follow Jesus, you’ll have all kinds of daily reasons not to follow Him. If they do follow Jesus, positive peer pressure will hold you accountable to the life of discipleship. “He who walks with the wise grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm” (Proverbs 13:20). Whom we choose to spend our leisure time with will dramatically shape our lives.

Television and reading both put us in someone’s company, and remove us from someone else’s company. You decide: will you be different because you put yourself in the company of Spurgeon rather than sitcoms? Over the long haul, will you grow closer to God and your family and your neighbor by watching television, or by turning it off and doing something that matters, something that’s an investment in eternity?

Bad books are poor companions; good books are great friends. When I spend the morning reading someone like C. S. Lewis, I find that his fingerprints are still on me in the afternoon. Don’t misunderstand: I enjoy good movies and a limited amount of television. But the fact is, if I spend the day watching television, I won’t progress in a life of discipleship.

A great way to endure in the Christian life is to study and pattern your life after followers of Jesus who have lived a long obedience in the same direction. To do this, you must read history and biographies. Take your cues from dead people who still live rather than the living who are dead. Compare reading a biography of William Wilberforce or Amy Carmichael to watching hours of shows, surfing the internet, or playing on your phone. Which will help you grow in Christlikeness? Take your eyes off celebrities and put them on followers of Jesus. Ask yourself, what did they do to become who they became, and how can I arrange my life to follow their example?

You needn’t read just about pastors or theologians. Stanley Tam is a businessman who declared God to be the owner of his company, U.S. Plastic. R.G. Letourneau, the inventor of earth-moving machines, gave 90% of his salary to God.

God has also placed in your church examples of a long obedience in the same direction. Find them and spend time with them. Sit at the feet of the wise, not fools.

Excepted from Randy’s message Today's Decisions Determine Who You'll Be Tomorrow.

Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash

10 Practices That Will Help You Grow in Christ and in Your Ministry

My friend Doug Nichols is the founder of Action International Ministries, a wonderful missions organization, and serves now with Commission to Every Nation, or CTEN. Doug sent me the following as advice to new missionaries. But as I read it, it struck me that 95% of it is good advice for all believers. So I’m changing the title and commend this for the reading of both missionaries and all the rest of us.

In Colossians 1:29 Paul wrote, “I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me.” Let’s take Doug’s advice to heart and put it into practice with “all our energy,” remembering that it is the Holy Spirit who works in us and empowers us to live a life that is pleasing to Him.—Randy Alcorn

As you begin your ministry keep in mind that first of all you are a child of God, to be a living testimony of grace, godly character, and Christlikeness to the glory of God. The following items to practice and keep in mind will greatly assist in your walk with God:

1. No Bible, no breakfast! Do regular daily devotions and be serious about this. “O how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day” (Psalm 119:97). Spend much time in the Word for personal and ministry growth in maturity!

2. Read! Read! Read! Read good books and read the Bible through at least once yearly! “Grow in grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18). Someone said, “If you do not read, you will not grow.” Another said, “Leaders are readers!”

3. Live by faith. “But my Righteous one shall live by faith; and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him” (Hebrews 10:38). Trust the Lord to use you, lead you, provide for you, and care for you! 

4. Build friendships with local believers, and fellow missionaries, and be a member of a local evangelical church. “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity” (Psalm 133:1). “…but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another…” (1 John 1:7).

5. Share the gospel with others. Make it a habit to talk much of our wonderful Savior! The Apostle Paul wrote, “Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:1-4).

6. Make discipleship a priority! No matter what your ministry is (education, working with the poor, digging wells, feeding ministry, children’s work, etc) remember mIssions first of all is to share the Gospel and make disciples! “Go into all the world and make disciples..!” (Mathew 28:19-20).

7. Practice hospitality whether you are single or married, and do this often. “Be hospitable to one another without complaint” (1 Peter 4:9).

8. Love the Savior, love saints, and love sinners. “You shall love the Lord your God with all you heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself’” (Matthew 22:38-39).

 9. Put on humility daily. “…clothe yourselves with humility toward one another…” (1 Peter 5:5b).

10. Be a servant of Christ by serving others. Remember manners are “the kindness of Christ in action.” “As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God...so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ…” (1 Peter 4:10-11).

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How to Become a Dangerous Person in Today’s Culture

The following video, featuring a personal story from author and journalist Nancy Rommelmann, is titled “How to Become a Dangerous Person,” and is indicative of what can happen to anyone who gets on the wrong side of our culture’s ever-changing but closely-held values. I was especially interested in her story, since it takes place in Portland, Oregon, not far from where I live.

Our culture lives by a double standard. Many people place tolerance above all things, including truth. But those who consider themselves unyieldingly tolerant often prove to be decidedly intolerant. In particular, they are intolerant toward every person and idea that they, confident in their own appraisal, judge to be intolerant, or as Nancy puts it, “dangerous.” Social media and the internet allow people to gang up like a mob of cowards, believing they’ve been courageous and have carried out justice by stomping out any viewpoint they disagree with. Often, that extends into silencing and boycotting them, and shaming anyone who has a possible connection with them. (In fact, there are now terms for this: outrage culture and internet mob justice.)

Is it possible to profoundly disagree with someone while still treating them with respect and responding with reason, rather than rage? I believe it is, and God’s people should lead the way in doing so.

To be clear, I’ve read some of what Nancy has written and said, and certainly wouldn’t align myself with all of her perspectives and actions. (I also read what she posted on her husband’s company website, which seems to negate the claim that she had nothing to do with the company.) I’m not putting her forth as a role model, just an example of what can happen. This is not a Christian rights issue but a civil rights issue. However, I think her side of the story is still very important for us to hear. We don’t have to agree with people to defend their right to affirm their beliefs.

Nancy Rommelmann says, “Intolerance in the name of tolerance is a frightening contradiction, and solves nothing.” Here’s her story:

While anyone—both believers and unbelievers—can be the target of our culture’s intolerance, our Christian beliefs certainly make us unpopular, and will increasingly do so. So the question for us as believers is, how can we speak out against such things while demonstrating the grace and truth of Jesus?

Ray Ortlund recently tweeted, “If I could choose just one verse to be the theme, the rallying cry, the banner held high over all of us American Christians here in the madness of our times, it would be this: ‘Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand’ (Philippians 4:5).”

That’s an excellent place for us to start. For the sake of the free proclamation of the Gospel and the continuance of the rights of belief and practice for churches and others, it’s good that people and organizations will continue to defend the right of free speech in courts and elsewhere. The rights we have today were won at great cost in previous generations, and it is irresponsible and unloving to passively look the other way to the detriment of future generations, including our children and grandchildren.

So, sure, let’s speak out both reasonably and clearly, but let’s not whine and complain like a disgruntled special interest group. Instead let’s focus on sharing Jesus and the Gospel, believing He is work in our culture and our world. We must do what we can to preserve freedom, and at the same time realize that this is not our ultimate home, and Jesus is the truth that sets people free not just for the moment, but for eternity.

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Joel Beeke on Seven Lessons from the Puritans

I love the Puritans, especially because of their emphasis on God’s greatness and grace, and their happiness in Jesus.

I have often expressed my appreciation for The Valley of Vision, a collection of Puritan prayers (see my past blogs on it). The Puritans are typically stereotyped as stodgy, grumpy, and uptight, but as a whole, this stereotype is unfair. I’ve read many of their writings, especially when I was researching my book Happiness, and found that they often experienced and spoke of profound happiness in seemingly unbearable circumstances. Like skilled blacksmiths, they forged happiness on Scripture’s anvil, under the severe hammer of life . . . all the while smiling at the bountiful beauties of God’s creation and providence.

One of my spiritual heroes, Charles Spurgeon, has been called the “last of the Puritans” because though he lived in the 19th century, rather than 17th or 18th, he was so in harmony with the spirit and passions and words of the Puritans. Spurgeon’s reputation and influence centered on his unapologetic declaration of Scripture, and he preached about God’s greatness and sovereign grace and spoke openly about Hell and the need for repentance. (One of my books on Heaven, We Shall See God, contains selected segments from his sermons on Heaven, so about 60% of the book is Spurgeon.)

I really appreciated this video and article from Joel Beeke about seven things we can learn from the Puritans. Like them, may we be people of depth and substance, shaped by Scripture, focused on eternity and both humble and happy in Jesus.  —Randy Alcorn

Loving the Truth, Hating Sin

The Puritans have many things to offer modern Christians. The first is that they shape your mind according to the Bible. They loved the Bible, they lived the Bible, they sang the Bible, they preached the Bible, they read the Bible, they memorized the Bible. They were thinking about the Bible every day. They are Bible-shaped theologians and Bible-shaped preachers.

What is said of Spurgeon could be said of all the Puritans. You could have pricked his vein anywhere and out would’ve flowed bibline blood. They just thought that way—that’s who they were. We need more of that focus on the Word of God.

Secondly, they just loved to preach Christ. In every sermon, it’s like they took a flashlight inside the text and tried to find Jesus, pulled him out, set him as a placard in front of you, and talked about his glory and his beauty until you longed for him. They’re very Christocentric.

Thirdly, we can learn from the Puritans how to convict people of sin. Today, we get preachers in the pulpit who say something very convicting and then they say, “Now congregation, I don’t mean to convict you or anything.” The Puritans wanted to convict people. Like God did when he came to Adam, found him behind the bush, and called him out. Puritans wanted to call sinners out from behind the bushes where they were hiding and have them stand naked before God. That’s what we want to do so that they need the Lord Jesus Christ. We learn a lot about conviction of sin and about preaching from the Puritans.

Humble and Willing

Fourthly, we also learn a lot from the Puritans about how to cope with affliction. The average Puritan family had nine children. The average family lost four or five of them before they reached adulthood. They were well-acquainted with affliction, and it was sanctified to them. They wrote about it, they preached about it. They knew what it was to handle life’s deep troubles.

We also learn from the Puritans how to rebuke our own pride. They hated their own pride. They walked with genuine humility. We need more of that, as well. We need to beat back our pride and serve the Lord humbly and simply, not looking for credit for ourselves, but serving him faithfully with big servant hearts.

Eternally Minded and of Earthly Good

We also learn from the Puritans how to love people. In times of the plague or the big fire through London, it was often non-Puritan ministers that left the city because they were afraid of catching the plague. The Puritans risked their lives. They went right into the bedrooms of their people, ministered to them, stayed until the end, and were faithful to them.

They loved their people. They loved preaching. They loved their God. They loved the things of God. What’s sorely needed in evangelicalism today is burning, passionate love for God and for man.

Finally, the Puritans really teach us how to live for eternity, keeping one eye on eternity all the time, as Richard Baxter said, and the other eye on time. The more we focus on eternity, the more sanctified we will really be in time.

The whole idea “he’s so heavenly, he’s for no earthly good” would have made the Puritans turn in their grave. The more heavenly you are, the more earthly good you’ll do because the more you’re like Jesus, the more you’ll love people, the more you’ll be an evangelist, the more you’ll spread the gospel, the more you’ll go out of your way to live wholly and solely for your precious Redeemer.

Joel R. Beeke (PhD, Westminster Theological Seminary) has written over one hundred books. He is president and professor of systematic theology and homiletics at Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary, a pastor of the Heritage Reformed Congregation in Grand Rapids, Michigan, as well as the editor of Banner of Sovereign Grace Truth, the editorial director of Reformation Heritage Books, the president of Inheritance Publishers, and vice president of the Dutch Reformed Translation Society.

Reformed Preaching by Joel R. Beeke

This robust treatment of Reformed experiential preaching by experienced pastor and professor Joel Beeke explores what experiential preaching is, examines sermons by key preachers in history, and shows how experiential preaching can best be done today.

 

This article originally appeared on Crossway.org and is used with permission.

Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash

Do Identical Twins Prove Individual Human Life Doesn’t Begin at Conception?

A prolife reader recently asked me, “How do we explain twins? It has been raised to me as an argument against conception being the beginning of life.”

I’m familiar with this argument that comes from twinning, the division of a conceptus, and recombination, the reuniting of two concepti. These can occur up to twelve days after conception, before or after implantation. Therefore, some believe individual human life does not begin until that time. Robert Wennberg addresses this argument:

Imagine that we lived in a world in which a certain small percentage of teenagers replicated themselves by some mysterious natural means, splitting in two upon reaching their sixteenth birthday. We would not in the least be inclined to conclude that no human being could therefore be considered a person prior to becoming sixteen years of age; nor would we conclude that life could be taken with greater impunity prior to replication than afterward. The real oddity—to press the parallel— would be two teenagers becoming one. However, in all of this we still would not judge the individual’s claim to life to be undermined in any way. We might puzzle over questions of personal identity... but we would not allow these strange replications and fusions to influence our thinking about an individual’s right to life. Nor therefore does it seem that such considerations are relevant in determining the point at which an individual might assume a right to life in utero. [1]

In the case of identical twins, the genetic code that each possesses is indis­tinguishable. If this meant that either were somehow less human because of that exceptional condition, it would also mean that they must be less human after birth. (And triplets less human still.)

Here’s a great answer from Abort73, a ministry I highly recommend:

Some argue that because one human zygote has the capacity to become two (or more) human zygotes, that is evidence that individual human life does not begin at conception.

Before considering such a claim, it should be pointed out that surgical and medical abortions are both performed well after the zygotic stage of pregnancy has ended. So if you’re going to argue that human zygotes should not be recognized as persons until after the capacity for twinning has ceased, be aware that this argument does nothing to justify abortion in the mainstream. Where it does come into play is in the joint arenas of birth control, embryonic stem cell research, and in vitro fertilization. All three interact with the human embryo during the zygotic stage. Specifically, certain birth control methods can destroy an already conceived human embryo by preventing implantation. Embryonic stem cell research relies on extracting embryonic stem cells that can only be obtained by destroying a human embryo, and it is commonplace for “extra” human embryos to be discarded during in vitro fertilization.

The question then is this. Does the existence of monozygotic twinning prove that the human embryos being destroyed during the zygotic stage are not actually persons? To help answer that question, there are a number of things to consider:

There is overwhelming biological consensus that individual, human life begins at conception. It is the only definitive starting point in human development—with the possible exception of the splitting that occurs during monozygotic twinning itself.
Parthenogenesis is not a process by which one organism becomes two. It is a process by which one organism produces another. If this is indeed the process by which monozygotic twinning takes place, there is a very real sense in which one twin is “parenting” the other.
If you understand monozygotic twinning to be a form of parthenogenesis, it is reasonable to conclude that the life of one twin began at conception while the other’s began at the point of division.
In the broader realm of cloning, the production of a second, genetically-identical clone does not mean the original being ceases to exist or never existed at all.
The process of twinning does not appear to alter the essential character of the zygote that existed before the twinning occurred. Where there had only been one “body,” cleavage yields two.

Read the rest of the article.

For more on abortion and the sanctity of life, see Randy’s books  Why ProLife? ,  ProLife Answers to ProChoice Arguments , and Does the Birth Control Pill Cause Abortions? 

[1] Robert Wennberg, Life in the Balance: Exploring the Abortion Controversy (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1985), 71, cited in Francis J. Beckwith, Politically Correct Death: Answering the Arguments for Abortion Rights (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1993), 97

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God, Greed, and the (Prosperity) Gospel: A New Book by Costi Hinn, Nephew of Benny Hinn

I just finished reading Costi Hinn’s new book God, Greed, and the (Prosperity) Gospel: How Truth Overwhelms a Life Built on Lies, over a period of three days, including two late nights. I couldn’t put it down! It’s the finest treatment of the health and wealth gospel I’ve ever read. I underlined heavily as I read and went back to it every time I could grab a spare ten minutes. It’s well written, and a very effective blend of personal story and biblical truth.

God, Greed, and the (Prosperity) Gospel: How Truth Overwhelms a Life Built on Lies.

Coming July 9th, 2019. https://t.co/gsMOjlYOsp pic.twitter.com/V0Kzw90GY0

— Costi W. Hinn (@costiwhinn) June 3, 2019

Though I have written about prosperity theology in my books on giving, and many others have spoken out against it, nearly all of us share in common that we are critics who come from the outside of the movement. So sometimes we end up preaching to the choir of those who are already skeptical or hostile toward it. We quickly lose credibility with those on the inside who most need help.

This is where, by God’s grace, Costi’s story and voice can and will change everything for some readers. It’s an inside story by one who grew up in the Benny Hinn family, lived the opulence, and saw the hypocrisy before being transformed by the one true Jesus and the true Gospel.

Costi’s book does more than tell stories; it also goes to God’s Word so you can see the conflict between the prosperity theology he was raised in, and what God tells us in His word. This book is gold, in the figurative and more valuable sense of the term. I was really touched by it. Read it!

Here’s an excerpt to give you a flavor of the stories and truth he shares:

Sunday after Sunday, we heard from the pulpit, “God has guaranteed healing! Just have faith and God will do whatever you ask him to do.” So many people had been brought up on stage and declared healed. So many people, but not Uncle George? Only one explanation could satisfy the confusing question that became the elephant in every room we occupied: How in the world did he not get healed?

Soon we were given an explanation for his death. We rationalized that Uncle George (and his family) must have done one or more of the “big four,” which caused him to lose whatever declared healing he was guaranteed. The big four, or a short list of reasons why God didn’t heal people, went something like this:

Making a negative confession: using negatives words about your physical condition would hinder your healing.
Hanging around negative people: allowing the negative words of others about your physical condition would hinder your healing.
Not having enough faith: not believing or giving enough money to prove your trust that God would heal you.
Touching the Lord’s anointed: speaking against or opposing a man of God who is anointed.

Turns out, as the story went, that Uncle George and the people around him did all four of these. Most of all, we were told that Uncle George had started to hang around with people who spoke negatively about my father and our church. There was a zero-tolerance policy in our belief system for this sort of thing.

The story I was eventually told is that Uncle George started playing softball on Sundays to try to stay active during his battle with cancer, which was a serious no-no in our legalistic church. When my father confronted him about this, Uncle George did not follow orders and perhaps had a few other opinions as well. Since Uncle George had begun to hang around with negative people who weren’t mesmerized by my father, they had corrupted his life and removed him from God’s favor. While playing softball one day and rounding third base, Uncle George had a stroke and collapsed, doctors could do nothing for him, and he eventually died because he let negative people into his hospital room and into his life. That was the simple explanation.

…Many people left the church over the following years, and if they died any time after leaving the church, they also joined the illustration file of those who had touched the Lord’s anointed. Many others, however, chose to stay, believing that God’s favor and protection were contingent on their staying under my father’s leadership. Throughout the nineties, the same storyline was revealed in my Uncle Benny’s ministry as well. Some of his ex-employees were dying, and others, like my aunt Karen, who had voiced her displeasure with his ministry antics and handling of money, were suddenly struck with illness. All of this served as proof that we were anointed by God. Mess with us, and you’ll be under a divine death sentence.

May God use God, Greed, and the (Prosperity) Gospel far and wide for His glory! (The book is available both on Amazon and Christianbook.com.)

A Heart for Prisoners, Lessons Learned in Trials, and 17 Years of Service to EPM: a Q&A with Sharon Misenhimer

Earlier this year, our dear friend Sharon Misenhimer retired from Eternal Perspective Ministries. Her impact on this ministry has been far reaching.

When I started EPM in 1990, I never anticipated God would use our organization to reach so many prisoners with the gospel or help disciple believers in prison. The key to this vital part of our ministry has been Sharon. With her great heart for prisoners, for many years she has handled their correspondence and sent requested books without charge.

Earlier this year, Sharon reported that in just one week we received 375 letters and 331 orders from prisoners, to whom we shipped 498 books. We’re a small ministry, and reaching prisoners isn’t our main focus. Yet more than 30,000 inmates have contacted us! We’ve sent them over 70,000 books, a great investment because each book is typically read by many prisoners.

Heartfelt letters from inmates tell us of conversions, profound life changes, and gratitude for our help. These letters reflect the deeply personal nature of Sharon’s ministry. God has forged precious relationships with many—very few of whom we will meet in this world.

Sharon has been both a giver and a gift, not only to us but to thousands of prisoners. Our ministry to prisoners wouldn’t have existed without her faithful and diligent follow-up with people in need, who are often forgotten. (I’m grateful for our staff member Amy Woodard, who has taken over for Sharon and now oversees this ministry, as well as for our other staff involved with packaging and shipping the books!)

I hope you enjoy the following Q&A with Sharon. It will give you a glimpse into this godly woman’s heart for prisoners and her great love for the Lord. I especially appreciate what she shares about prayer and how God has grown her through trials and difficulties over the years. —Randy Alcorn

Tell us a little about your history with EPM.

I had the privilege of working at EPM for 17 years. I started as a volunteer in 2002 and became part of the staff in 2007 as a Ministry Assistant. I also managed the prison outreach part of the ministry.

How has working for EPM and with Randy affected you personally?

Working at EPM has shaped and blessed my life more than I could have ever imagined and has been one of my greatest privileges.

Randy’s writings and his and Nanci’s influence (by the way they live) changed my thinking and life in many ways. One of the main themes in his writings that has deeply influenced me is living our lives in light of eternity by investing in things that will last forever. Randy reminds us that this life and the opportunity we have is temporary and very brief, and I love his “Live for the Line, Not the Dot” video that powerfully illustrates this message.

What would you like people to know about EPM’s book ministry to prisoners?

Even before I started working at EPM, prisoners were writing to Randy and requesting his books. I’m thankful God gave me a genuine love for the inmates that I’ve served and prayed for over the years; it became the part of my job that I loved the most.

How can others get involved in helping EPM reach inmates for Christ?

If you would like to be a part of this ministry, you might want to consider donating to EPM’s Books for Prisoners Project. These funds will help with the cost of sending out Randy’s books. Another way you can significantly impact their lives is to pray God will use these books to either introduce prisoners to the Savior or draw the believers into a closer walk with Him.

For several years, you prepared a weekly prayer sheet for our staff with requests from around the world. What does prayer mean to you, and how has God grown you in this area over the years?

Prayer is such a great and awesome privilege because we can talk to Almighty God! It’s a vital part of my having a personal relationship with Him. He is a personal God who cares for me and delights in me bringing my hardships, cares, requests, confessions, and joys to Him, as well as my gratitude and worship.

God began working significantly in my life in the area of prayer six weeks after Joe and I were married, when he was deployed to Vietnam. I had never prayed so much in my life. Years later we weren’t able to have children and that is when a long 10-year journey began of infertility, miscarriage, failed medical interventions, and adoption attempts, which brought about a lot of discouragement and persistent prayers. God answered and gave us our own child and a second one after seven more years of infertility. Later in life, the devastation of a prodigal child also had us on our knees, desperate and crying out to God.

Trials are very difficult and painful to go through. But looking back, Joe and I are so grateful for God’s wisdom in allowing trials in our lives to change us. They developed in us a stronger prayer life as well as a deeper trust and dependence on Him. I can honestly say my greatest trials have brought about some of the greatest blessings in my life, and I’m thankful for how God used them to change me. I would not want to be who I was prior to these trials. As we depended on Him in the deep valleys of hardships, we discovered the rich treasures of God’s love, comfort, grace, and intimacy, and experienced His transforming work in our lives.

A couple of meaningful verses during those years were 2 Corinthians 4:17-18: “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal” (NKJV). Through these verses and many others, God helped us to see that He was using our trials for our good and that they were not meaningless. God’s Word helped us to persevere and gave us the strength to keep our eyes on Jesus and on what mattered for eternity.

Now that you’re retired, what will you be doing with your time?

Joe and I are really looking forward to spending more time with our kids and grandkids. We also look forward to doing some camping and traveling. 

I remember reading John Piper’s book Rethinking Retirement years ago, about living out our retirement years for a greater purpose than what most people dream of. Even though I’m retiring from my work at EPM, God still has work He wants me to do. My prayer is that He would show me how He wants to use me to love and serve others.

The Gospel Flies with the Wings of Grace and Truth

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

The Pharisees, God’s self-appointed gatekeepers, never emphasized grace. Christ’s hearers had seen truth in the law of Moses, but it was Christ who gave them their first clear view of grace. The law could only reveal sin. Jesus could remove it.

Some churches today embrace truth but need a heavy dose of grace.

Other churches talk about grace but cry out for a heavy dose of truth.

Some time ago, I invited a lesbian activist to lunch. For the first hour, she hammered me, telling of all the Christians who’d mistreated her. She seemed as hard as nails. I listened, trying to show her God’s grace, praying she’d see the Jesus she desperately needed. She raised her voice and cursed freely. People stared. But that was okay. Jesus went to the cross for her—the least I could do was listen.

Suddenly she was crying, sobbing, broken. I reached across the table and took her hand. For the next two hours I heard her story, her heartsickness, her doubts about the causes she championed. I told her about Christ’s grace.

After four hours we walked out of that restaurant, side by side. We hugged.

In our conversation, truth wasn’t shared at the expense of grace, or grace at the expense of truth.

Birds need two wings to fly. With only one wing, they’re grounded. The gospel flies with the wings of grace and truth. Not one, but both.

For more on this topic, see Randy’s book  The Grace and Truth Paradox ,  and his devotionals  Grace  and  Truth .

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Will There Be Travel on the New Earth?

The following is an edited transcript of my interview with Tony Reinke, who invited me to be a guest on  Desiring God’s “Ask Pastor John” podcast  a few years ago. You can also listen to the audio.

Tony Reinke: We’re joined again by author and speaker Randy Alcorn, sitting in this week for John Piper. We’re calling it Heaven Week. In Monday’s episode, Randy, you said this: “If there’s a New Jerusalem, why not a New Los Angeles, why not a New Chicago, why not a New Paris, why not a New London?” And so I want to pick up on that today and ask about travel: Will we travel around and leisurely explore the New Earth? Assuming there are cities, will we travel to them? And will we travel to other planets and explore the universe?

Randy: The reality is that the New Earth will correspond to the old Earth in the same way that our new bodies will correspond to our old bodies—a better version of the same, but not fundamentally different except in the sense of perfected, glorified, always healthy, not subject to death and suffering and all of that, because we will no longer be under the curse. Therefore I think the natural understanding would be that travel on the New Earth in the resurrection would be similar to travel as it is now. We can walk. The New Jerusalem has streets. Streets are made for walking. They could also be made for riding horses. There could be automobiles. There could be jet engines and air travel. There could be space travel, all of these things. In fact, there’s no reason at all to think there wouldn’t be. What we see in Revelation 21 and 22 and, for that matter, in Isaiah 60, 65, 66 and other New Earth passages, is that you would expect people to do what they have been able to do—except do it better. Our minds will be better. Our bodies will be healthier.

So will we run? Well, probably faster than we have ever been able to run, not getting tired. Of course, we will still be finite. Some people suggest that they see Jesus in the resurrection appearing suddenly in rooms where the disciples are present and so people speculate, “Well, maybe we’ll be able to do that, transport Star Trek like, without the transporter to another location.” That’s possible, although it’s also possible that’s something limited to Jesus, being the God-man who has a fully human body yet at the same time still has properties of deity that we don’t have. Maybe He’ll be able to do that and we won’t.

But back to the question of whether we would travel someplace, even in space to explore the universe, new heavens and the New Earth. (In talking about the new heavens, we’re not talking primarily about Heaven, the dwelling place of God. We’re talking about the physical celestial heavens, what we think of as outer space.) I remember as a teenager having a telescope and looking at the great galaxy of Andromeda three million light years away and at all these hundreds of billions of stars and thinking: Wow, wouldn’t it be great someday to go there? And then later I became a Christian, and read about the new heavens and the New Earth and thought: Maybe one day I will go there, to the praise and glory of God!

Tony: Well then, what about bucket lists? So many people say, “Before I die I want to see Paris and I want to see Rome, I want to see London.” (I’ve never heard Chicago being on anyone’s bucket list.) If what you’re saying is true, it makes these “bucket list” aspirations seem a bit lame.

Randy: I think the whole concept of a bucket list is entirely understandable for people who believe that this is the only life they will ever live, and that after they die they will no longer exist. Or even for those who believe that after they die, maybe they will still exist, but they will be a ghost forever and won’t have actual bodies. This means that for us as Christians, we should be the last people to think in terms of the bucket list.

Now, there’s a distinction between the bucket list and having some things I would like to do with my wife and family. OK, well, that is fine, of course. But if it is the bucket list in the sense of: “Hey, I’m going to kick the bucket, and this is my only opportunity as a physical person to do things in a physical world”—that’s utterly and completely unbiblical, contradicted start to finish by 1 Corinthians 15 and every passage that speaks of the resurrection and eternal life.

Tony: Fascinating. There’s some food for thought. That’s especially hope-giving for those of us who cannot afford exotic travel destinations. Thank you, Randy. For more on this and so many other topics, see his bestselling book, simply titled Heaven. Also, check out Randy’s ministry, Eternal Perspective Ministries online at www.epm.org. I’m your host Tony Reinke. Thanks for listening to the Ask Pastor John podcast.

Through Thursday, July 18, you can purchase Randy Alcorn’s Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Heaven from EPM for $5 (67% off $14.99 retail), plus S&H. Sale ends Thursday, July 18 at 12:00pm PT (noon).

“Great book on quick points about Randy Alcorn's Heaven book! I plan on giving this book to friends and family that don't read the Bible much so as to help them understand Heaven a little more and expose them to truth concerning God's Holy Scripture.” —Reviewer on Amazon

Photo by William Bout on Unsplash

Doesn’t God Being Happy with Himself, and Seeking His Own Glory, Seem Smug or Self-Centered?

In my books and on my blog, I’ve written about the happiness of God. But some might ask, “Humans who are happy with themselves are often considered arrogant and self-obsessed. So how can it be a compliment to say that God is happy with Himself?”

For a time, C. S. Lewis struggled with God’s demand that we praise Him and give Him glory. Eventually Lewis realized that he’d misunderstood the truth:

The most obvious fact about praise—whether of God or anything—strangely escaped me. I thought of it in terms of compliment, approval, or the giving of honour. I had never noticed that all enjoyment spontaneously overflows into praise . . . just as men spontaneously praise whatever they value, so they spontaneously urge us to join them in praising it: “Isn’t she lovely? Wasn’t it glorious? Don’t you think that magnificent?” The Psalmists in telling everyone to praise God are doing what all men do when they speak of what they care about. My whole, more general, difficulty about the praise of God depended on my absurdly denying to us, as regards the supremely Valuable, what we delight to do, what indeed we can’t help doing, about everything else we value. [1]

If God is indeed the primary source of all that’s good and praiseworthy, wouldn’t it be unloving for Him to withhold from us the happiness of praising Him?

Lewis concluded,

I think we delight to praise what we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses but completes the enjoyment; it is its appointed consummation. It is not out of compliment that lovers keep on telling one another how beautiful they are; the delight is incomplete till it is expressed. . . . Fully to enjoy is to glorify. In commanding us to glorify Him, God is inviting us to enjoy Him. [2]

Remember, what’s for God’s best is ultimately for our best too. God says, “For my name’s sake I defer my anger, for the sake of my praise. . . . For my own sake, for my own sake, I do it. . . . My glory I will not give to another” (Isaiah 48:9, 11). A human being who repeatedly says “for my own sake” demonstrates selfishness. But we didn’t create the universe. When people seek glory for themselves, it rubs us the wrong way because they aren’t worthy of that glory. It’s different with God: He is worthy of all the glory—more worthy than we can possibly comprehend.

When an audience gives a standing ovation after a concert, don’t we expect the composer, the director, and the orchestra members to be happy? And doesn’t the fact that the performers find happiness in the audience’s happiness—which is so great that they erupt into spontaneous praise—negate the idea that the performers are selfish? Is it selfish to want to make people happy? Similarly, why should it disappoint us that God would be happy to receive the praise that makes us so happy when we offer it to Him?

The doctrine of the Trinity explains how God can appropriately be God-centered. First, because He’s worthy. Second, because He properly exalts what’s worthy. Third, because in delighting in the other members, each person of the Trinity is others-centered. The Father is Son- and Spirit-centered. The Son is Father- and Spirit-centered, and the Spirit is Father- and Son-centered.

God’s desire for us to please Him is not only for His good but also for ours. Spurgeon said, “The chief end of man . . . in this life and in the next, is to please God, his Maker. If any man pleases God, he does that which conduces most to his own temporal and eternal welfare. Man cannot please God without bringing to himself a great amount of happiness.” [3] John Piper says, “God is the one being in the universe for whom self-exaltation is not the act of a needy ego, but an act of infinite giving. The reason God seeks our praise is not because he won’t be fully God until he gets it, but that we won’t be happy until we give it. This is not arrogance. This is grace.” [4]

Excerpted from Randy's book Happiness. 

[1] C. S. Lewis, Reflections on the Psalms (New York: Harcourt, Brace, 1958), 93–95.

[2] Ibid., 95, 97.

[3] Charles H. Spurgeon, “Faith” (Sermon #107).

[4] John Piper, “Is Jesus an Egomaniac?” Desiring God, January 4, 2010.

Photo by Carolinie Cavalli on Unsplash