Randy Alcorn's Blog, page 97

Christ Is the Unshakeable Foundation for Our Happiness—But It’s Also Good to Rejoice in Positive Life Circumstances

In my books Happiness and Does God Want Us to Be Happy?, I emphasize that the primary source of our happiness isn’t our present circumstances but our God, who promised He’d be with us always and who commands us to rejoice in Him.

When we talk about our circumstances, we usually mean the temporal, outward conditions of our lives. These may include a lost job, estranged relationships, illness, fatigue, or depression.

But if we are in Christ, we should look to and affirm our “spiritual circumstances,” which are eternal and very real. We are created by God, loved by Him, redeemed by Christ, indwelt with and empowered by His Spirit, assured of an eternally happy and abundant life. No one can snatch us out of God’s hands. We are more than conquerors through Christ, He is working all things together for our good, and nothing will ever separate us from His love!

Ponder those circumstances, every day and every hour, and they will overshadow your temporal circumstances.

Our present circumstances do matter. But in the scope of eternity, instead of determining our happiness, they offer opportunities for our growth and ultimate good. When they threaten to overwhelm us, difficult circumstances can remind us to look to God, our Rock and Redeemer, who is our happiness.

That said, sometimes there is a  modern sentiment in Christian circles that being happy due to positive circumstances, including the welfare of loved ones, is somehow unspiritual. True, circumstances change and our happiness should be grounded on Christ, who doesn’t change, but that doesn’t make it inappropriate to rejoice in favorable circumstances.

In 2 Corinthians 7:6-7, Paul said, “God, who encourages those who are discouraged, encouraged us by the arrival of Titus. His presence was a joy, but so was the news he brought of the encouragement he received from you. When he told us how much you long to see me, and how sorry you are for what happened, and how loyal you are to me, I was filled with joy!” (NLT).

The Good News Translation puts it this way: “It was not only his coming that cheered us. . . . He told us how much you want to see me, how sorry you are, how ready you are to defend me; and so I am even happier now” (verse 7).

The word chairo at the end of verse 7, translated “joy” (NLT) and “happier” (GNT), is triggered by Titus’s arrival. Chairo is clearly an emotional response of great gladness. While not all biblical joy—or happiness or gladness—comes out of favorable circumstances, many times in Scripture it does.

Note the emotion in Paul’s words:

I think it is necessary to send back to you Epaphroditus, my brother, co-worker and fellow soldier, who is also your messenger, whom you sent to take care of my needs. For he longs for all of you and is distressed because you heard he was ill. Indeed he was ill, and almost died. . . . Therefore I am all the more eager to send him, so that when you see him again you may be glad and I may have less anxiety. So then, welcome him in the Lord with great joy, and honor people like him, because he almost died for the work of Christ.  Philippians 2:25-30, NIV

The New Century Version translates verse 28, “I want very much to send him to you so that when you see him you can be happy, and I can stop worrying about you.”

Though the Philippians were distressed when their dear friend Epaphroditus nearly died, they rejoiced in his deliverance and would rejoice to see him face to face. Positive life circumstances can prompt deep and emotional joy and happiness, and it’s OK to express that, as long as we remember that our ultimate happiness isn’t based on them.

Speaking of good news: right now Nanci and I are rejoicing over some very positive news related to her health. Last Thursday she had a follow-up test after a suspicious spot showed up on her most recent MRI. It turns out what looked suspicious was just a shadow! The surgeon said all is well in the area of the colon where the original tumor was, and he’s very happy with what he sees. 

Now the concern is a black spot in her right lung. But last week’s news was the best possible, as among other things it means no intestinal surgery is needed. It’s uncertain what the spot is, and whether it will or will not grow and might require chemo, but she’ll have a  CT in 30 days that should help determine that. 

God is good all the time, whether our health news is good or bad. But it was very kind of Him to answer our prayers regarding Nanci. We are VERY happy and relieved and grateful to God above all, and also profoundly thankful to all of you who prayed for her! THANK YOU, LORD!  

“Be joyful always, pray at all times, be thankful in all circumstances. This is what God wants from you in your life in union with Christ Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, GNT).

Photo by Özcan ADIYAMAN on Unsplash

Giving Is an Eternal Investment That Benefits Us Here and Now

I’m sharing more today about my new book Giving Is the Good Life, which was released this week. Some readers might wonder how it differs from my book The Treasure Principle. Instead of a short book, it’s mid-sized, allowing me to explore many things there wasn’t room for in The Treasure Principle, including a number of things I’ve learned in recent years.

In particular, one distinctive of Giving Is the Good Life is that I have collected many exciting and meaningful giving stories, most of them short. Some are integrated into the main text of the book, while others are featured in sidebars. They illustrate the biblical principles related to giving and will broaden readers’ minds to many creative and exciting ways to give that most people may not have considered.

While the teaching from God’s Word, including the bad news and good news about money, is foundational, I honestly believe that the stories may inspire many people to discover forms of giving that fit their own hearts and passions and love for people.

The following is the second part of the introduction to Giving Is the Good Life (see part one).

One of the biggest misconceptions about giving is that the money we part with to help the needy or to spread the gospel just disappears and is gone forever. While we hope others will benefit from it, we’re quite sure we won’t. We even buy into the devil’s lie that giving will rob us of the good life.

We couldn’t be more wrong.

Jesus told His disciples that when they gave money away, their hearts would follow the treasures they were storing in Heaven (Matthew 6:19-21). He also said that at the Resurrection, God would reward them for helping the needy (Luke 14:14). Somehow we’re forever connected to what we give and the people we give it to. Martin Luther has been credited with saying, “I have held many things in my hands and I have lost them all. But whatever I have placed in God’s hands, that I still possess.”

The Bible shows that anything we put in God’s hands is an investment in eternity. But that doesn’t just mean that someday our giving will bring us good. It will actually do us good here and now—at the same time it does good for others. That’s why the good life is inseparable from generosity.

I once heard a longtime Christian say, “I always used to tithe, checking off the box of spiritual duties. I never got excited about it. Then, as my wife and I learned about generosity, suddenly giving became fun. My wife told me that until then she’d never seen me write a check with a smile on my face!”

Does that seem too good to be true? Keep reading, because as we’ll discover, the truth is far better than we could ever imagine.

Generosity Is Good for Everyone, Not Just Christians

Even outside the Christian world, there’s a great deal of emphasis on philanthropy. Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, and various actors, musicians, and athletes have championed giving to various causes. It’s not uncommon for people who don’t profess Christ to believe in helping the poor and advocating for the oppressed.

In fact, modern research has much to say about the benefits of generosity. In their book The Paradox of Generosity: Giving We Receive, Grasping We Lose, sociologists Christian Smith and Hilary Davidson write about Smith’s findings on giving, which are based on years of careful studies. His conclusions may seem unexpected, but they shouldn’t be at all surprising to those who understand we’re created in the image of a generous God. They write, “Those who give, receive back in turn. By spending ourselves for others’ well-being, we enhance our own standing. . . . This is not only a philosophical or religious teaching; it is a sociological fact.”

Smith’s extensive research, which included more than two thousand surveys of American adults and many personal interviews, reveals this:

Giving money, volunteering, being relationally generous, being a generous neighbor and friend, and personally valuing the importance of being a generous person are all significantly, positively correlated with greater personal happiness, physical health, a stronger sense of purpose in life, avoidance of symptoms of depression, and a greater interest in personal growth.

In her book The Giving Way to Happiness: Stories and Science behind the Life-Changing Power of Giving, Jenny Santi shares the results of a 2008 study by Professor Elizabeth Dunn of the University of British Columbia. Participants received an envelope with either five dollars or twenty dollars. Some were instructed to spend the money by the end of the day; others were told to give it away. “Participants who were instructed to spend the money on a gift for someone else or for a charitable donation reported greater happiness than those who were instructed to spend the money on themselves.”

These are not isolated examples. Scientific studies back up what God’s Word has been saying for thousands of years: generosity pays immeasurable dividends. God rewards people for generosity in this life as well as in the life to come. He does this because He is a God of grace and a lavish giver Himself.

Generosity Benefits Recipients and Givers

Surprisingly, the Bible doesn’t talk that much about how giving changes the lives of its recipients. More often, it talks about what giving does for the one who gives.

I could have filled Giving Is the Good Life with stories of how the hungry are fed, how clean water saves children, and how people weep for joy when they receive God’s Word in their heart language. While I’ve included some of those vital stories in the book, I’ve following the example of Scripture by focusing on the giver’s happiness, rewards, and spiritual transformation.

My book isn’t big enough to explore the extent of the world’s needs. While I briefly summarize the facts of poverty, injustice, and unreached people groups, most of my readers are probably aware of those needs already or you can learn about them elsewhere. I believe the best way I can serve the needy is to show God’s people the wonder and joy, as well as the present and future rewards, of generous giving.

Giving Is the Good Life is full of stories of people who have put into practice the life-changing biblical principles of generosity. Each story is a practical example that can help stimulate your imagination and expand your dreams of serving Jesus in fresh ways. These real-life models give you not just words to remember but footprints to follow. In turn, as you apply these principles in your own unique way and place, you will become an example to others, “a letter from Christ . . . written not with pen and ink, but with the Spirit of the living God . . . carved not on tablets of stone, but on human hearts” (2 Corinthians 3:3, NLT).

I’m excited about how we can change others’ lives through our giving. But I’m also excited about how giving can change our lives, for God’s glory and our good.

I pray that Giving Is the Good Life will give readers a bigger view of God and of generosity—one that stretches far beyond this present life. And in the process, I pray that they will understand more than ever what the good life is really all about.

Giving Is the Good Life: The Unexpected Path to Purpose and Joy

Wouldn’t it be great if we could do what pleases God, helps others, and is best for us―at the same time? Can we live the good life without being selfish?

In Giving Is the Good Life, bestselling author Randy Alcorn teaches life-changing biblical principles of generosity and tells stories of people who have put those radical principles into practice. Each story is a practical application that can help stimulate your imagination and expand your dreams of serving Jesus in fresh ways. These real-life models give you not just words to remember but footprints to follow.

Giving Is the Good Life reveals a grander view of God and generosity―one that stretches far beyond our imagination and teaches us what the good life is really all about.

And coming soon: Are You Living the Good Life? (booklet)

Photo by Jordan Rowland on Unsplash

What Is the Good Life?

Having written nearly 60 books, I rarely get super-excited about a new one coming out. But I’m very enthusiastic about two books that have just been released. Does God Want Us to Be Happy? isn’t merely a condensation of my big Happiness book—it is specifically designed to correct the myths and misconceptions about happiness many evangelicals have believed and taught.

And Giving Is the Good Life, which was released just yesterday, is unique in addressing the biblical good life and telling many short giving stories to broaden readers’ horizons about the joy and adventure of giving. I’m praying both books have a significant kingdom impact.

Why a book on the “good life”? While reading 1 Timothy 6 I was intrigued by a phrase in verse 19 that talks about “the life that is truly life.” In studying that chapter, I found that Paul actually lays out clear instructions for how we can experience and take hold of that kind of life. This isn’t the “good life” as the world defines it, but something far better, more satisfying, and eternally longer lasting. In fact, it’s connected to the abundant life Jesus came to offer us (John 10:10).

I hope you enjoy the following excerpt from the book’s introduction.  —Randy

Are you living the good life? If not, I know you wish you were.

People define the good life in different ways, but everybody wants to live it. After all, what’s the alternative? Living a bad life? A pointless, guilt-ridden, or miserable life?

We’d all choose the good life any day, and yet we often don’t understand how to make it happen.

A quick online search reveals that most people’s idea of the good life includes happiness. That makes sense—nobody wants to be unhappy. Most of us also want to make other people happy and help them if we can. But when it comes down to it, even Christ-followers suspect that spending our lives serving God and others might cost us our happiness.

Wouldn’t it be great if we could do what pleases God and what’s best for others, while at the same time enjoying happiness and deep satisfaction?

But that’s not possible, you may think.

Or is it?

What if we really can live the good life without being selfish? What if God not only wants us to live life more abundantly, as Jesus put it (John 10:10), but also provides clear instructions for how to actually experience it? What if it’s possible to discover what to embrace and what to avoid so we can live a meaningful and fulfilling life—the good life—even in this broken world?

Does that sound too good to be true?

Actually, it’s both “too good” and true.

That’s what my book Giving Is the Good Life is about.

The Good Life Is Countercultural

We live in a world that screams, “Make lots of money and spend it on yourself, and you’ll be happy. That’s the good life!”

There’s just one problem. It’s a lie.

Throughout His ministry, Jesus repeatedly turned our definition of the good life on its head. For instance, He said, “There is more happiness in giving than in receiving” (Acts 20:35, GNT).

Jesus told us that parting with money to help others will bring us more joy than hanging on to that money. Counterintuitive as it may seem, our greatest good, and the happiness that accompanies it, is found in giving, not receiving.

In other words, generosity is the good life.

This idea that giving away money and possessions equals happiness is a paradox. Human reasoning says that spending money on ourselves is in our best interest—and to a degree, that’s true. We all need food to eat, a place to live, clothes to wear. But once our basic needs are met, money can easily stop helping us and start hurting us.

According to CreditCards.com, the average American has nearly $16,000 in credit card debt. The average college student graduates with $40,000 in student loans, and some with far more. Almost 40 percent of Americans carry credit card debt month to month, continuing to spend more than they have and remaining in financial bondage. Debt is routinely incurred in pursuing the good life, yet psychologists attest that the debt-funded lifestyle leads to depression, anxiety, resentment, stress, denial, anger, frustration, regret, shame, embarrassment, and fear. This is the very opposite of the good life. It’s the terrible life!

Here’s a truth that can set us free: “living large” actually makes us smaller. Living “the good life” (as our culture defines it) results in missing the best life.

Deep down, we all know it’s true: you can spend every last cent you own on yourself—and, through credit, far more—and still end up miserable. In fact, if you want to be miserable, greed and stinginess are the perfect recipe. Those who hoard their money, like those who spend it all on themselves, are the unhappiest people on the planet. Jesus calls us to do something radical: love others by giving away our money and time. That sounds like loss, not gain. Yet in God’s economy, that’s exactly how we can expand and enhance our own lives.

Generosity Pays Off

Giving Is the Good Life really is about living the good life. I say this because you may wonder if I’m trying to make the generous Christian life sound easier and happier than it really is.

First, I’m not suggesting that giving always comes easily or without sacrifice. What I am saying is that in God’s providence, the payoff far outweighs the sacrifice. Generosity is God’s best, designed just for us. This is always true in the long run, and usually it’s true in the short run too.

Suppose I give up some vanilla lattes and two lunches out each month in order to support a child in Haiti. There’s nothing wrong with lattes or meals out, and I may miss them, but thoughts of how the money helps a needy child flood me with happiness greater and far more enduring than twenty minutes of pleasure from a drink or eating out. My life has a purpose beyond myself, and as I say no to that small thing, my day is put in perspective. That gladness and perspective don’t disappear when I finish the meal or toss the coffee cup in the recycle bin.

Giving Is the Good Life is about that kind of joy-filled, openhanded adventure of following Jesus, which brings us lasting pleasure and reaches far beyond this life to the next.

In part 1 of the book, I explore the good life as God defines it and discover what Jesus meant when he said, “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly” (John 10:10, NKJV). The first step to finding life is clear: we need to place our trust in Christ. That’s where eternal life—the ultimate good life—begins. Jesus said, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water’” (John 7:37-38).

Once we believe in Christ, what can we do to experience the abundant life—a life overflowing with vibrancy, satisfaction, and contentment?

Though we’ve been granted eternal life, many Christians don’t fully experience what Jesus came to give us. The stresses and pressures of life weigh us down and leave us feeling like we’re missing something. We lose both joy and purpose. Life becomes a drudgery, not an adventure. It’s a shrunken life, not a flourishing one.

If that’s where you find yourself, take heart. True, it’s not possible to eliminate difficulties and challenges until we’re living at last in the world we were made for (the New Earth, not this one). But we certainly don’t have to wait until we die to experience the abundant life Jesus promised.

Part 2 of the book delivers the bad news and the very good news about money, as described in 1 Timothy 6. The bad news is that loving and serving money will destroy us and rob us of life and happiness. The good news is that if we recognize God’s ownership of everything, we’ll steward our resources to help meet physical and spiritual needs. Our reward will be both future rewards and present contentment, purpose, and what Scripture calls “the life that is truly life” (1 Timothy 6:19, NIV).

In other words, giving really is the good life.

Giving Is the Good Life: The Unexpected Path to Purpose and Joy

Wouldn’t it be great if we could do what pleases God, helps others, and is best for us―at the same time? Can we live the good life without being selfish?

In Giving Is the Good Life, bestselling author Randy Alcorn teaches life-changing biblical principles of generosity and tells stories of people who have put those radical principles into practice. Each story is a practical application that can help stimulate your imagination and expand your dreams of serving Jesus in fresh ways. These real-life models give you not just words to remember but footprints to follow.

Giving Is the Good Life reveals a grander view of God and generosity―one that stretches far beyond our imagination and teaches us what the good life is really all about.

Waiting on God and Acknowledging His Goodness in Tough Times

It’s been a long time since I’ve mentioned my wife Nanci’s health issues, and her battle with cancer. I share about it now because some of you have health issues, and most of you have spouses, children, parents, other family and/or friends who are facing them and all kinds of other challenges. I hope this will encourage you and give you some perspective.

Eighteen months ago Nanci was diagnosed with colon cancer. Since then, she has had two surgeries, chemo and radiation, then a break, then more chemo. The side effects mounted with each infusion. Muscle and bone pain were her constant companion for many months. The chemicals caused not only extreme fatigue but also depression. The recovery has been slow and difficult, but until recently it seemed to be going well, with several tests indicating no detectable cancer.

Now we have moved back into uncertainty. This Thursday, September 5 Nanci’s surgeon will be checking on something “suspicious” that appeared on her latest MRI at the original tumor site. It could be the recurrence of cancer, or not.  We pray it is benign. Two spots on her lung are also matters of concern. We pray those too are harmless. But as is often the case, WE DON’T KNOW, and since they cannot be easily removed, the doctors believe we need to wait and watch.

When we get good news, it rightly prompts us to say things like “God is good.” But when we get bad news, or are thrown into uncertainty (with high stakes and low control), GOD IS STILL GOOD all the time. He is good when the cancer is gone, but He is also good when the cancer comes back. Consider these passages:

The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth. (Exodus 34:6)
Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever. (1 Chronicles 16:34)
And they sang responsively, praising and giving thanks to the Lord: “For He is good, for His mercy endures forever toward Israel.” (Ezra 3:11)
Good and upright is the Lord. (Psalm 25:8)
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. (Psalm 23:6)
The Lord is good to all, and His tender mercies are over all His works. (Psalm 145:9)

Nanci recently said some great things in a letter to encourage our pastor friend who is fighting cancer:

The cancer battle has been tough. However, my time with The Ancient of Days (one of my favorite names for God) has been epic! He has met me in ways I never knew were possible. He does provide strength—absolutely!

Every single time I came to Him, His grace, mercy and steadfast love poured into my soul. A major lesson I have learned is God’s use of “waiting” in our lives. God is always working, and sending this time of waiting to me has been the greatest mercy—other than my salvation—He has performed in my life.  

Through the reading of great books, as well as THE BOOK, God has impressed upon me a profound sense of His character and His attributes. I’ve studied and written lessons on the attributes of God in the past, but His sweet Holy Spirit has done a spiritual “infusion” of His character through this time of waiting on Him.

I have experienced His sovereignty, mercy, and steadfast love in tangible ways as I have been in this deep cave. He let me tell Him my fears and confess my lack of peace at what was happening and what might happen.

I now trust Him at a level I never knew I could. And He understands that I don’t need to be happy with everything, but that I can depend on the fact that everything that comes into my life He intends for my good.

As I am in “God’s waiting room” once again, I am taking advantage of some great reading material. Andrew Murray’s book Waiting on God was incredibly meaningful to me last year. This time I am going through it taking special note of the words I had underlined. The passage below has found its way back on our refrigerator door:

Learn to worship God as the God who does wonders, who wishes to prove in you that He can do something supernatural and divine.

Bow before Him; wait upon Him, until your soul realizes that you are in the hands of a divine and almighty worker.

Consent not to know what and how He will work; expect it to be something altogether godlike.

He is teaching you to leave all in His hands, and to wait on Him alone. —Andrew Murray

Nanci concluded by saying this:

The “supernatural and divine” may not turn out to be what we thought we wanted, but I am convinced that it will be what we will embrace in God’s grace!

And she added this verse: “You have multiplied, O LORD my God, your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us; none can compare with you!” (Psalm 40:5).

I hope Nanci’s words have encouraged you. Here are some words from God that are helping us while we wait to find out what’s going on:

But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint. (Isaiah 40:31)

I believe that I shall look upon 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)

The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. (Lamentations 3:25)

Therefore, the Lord waits to be gracious to you, and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you. For the Lord is a God of justice; blessed [happy] are all those who wait for him. (Isaiah 30:18)

For more on suffering, see Randy’s book If God Is Good, as well as the devotional 90 Days of God’s Goodness and book The Goodness of God (a specially focused condensation of If God Is Good, which also includes additional material).

Photo by Kari Shea on Unsplash

John Piper on God Control’s of Every Molecule in the Universe—Including Every Cancer Cell

R.C. Sproul wrote, “If there is one single molecule in this universe running around loose, totally free of God’s sovereignty, then we have no guarantee that a single promise of God will ever be fulfilled.” Thankfully, Scripture assures us of God’s sovereignty, and affirms that no atom or molecule is outside His control. These truths can bring us great comfort, especially in times of suffering and uncertainty.

Last year John Piper wrote an article titled “No Maverick Cells in Me: My Deepest Hope During Cancer.” Nanci and I first read this while she was undergoing cancer treatments, and it really encouraged us. It’s an apt reminder for us again, as we are in another season of waiting and uncertainty related to Nanci’s latest test results. (See her Caring Bridge page for updates.) We are resting in God’s sovereign grace, and entrusting ourselves to His mercy and wisdom. —Randy Alcorn

No Maverick Cells in Me: My Deepest Hope During Cancer

By John Piper

Two hours before writing this sentence, I received a phone call from a friend whose adult son was just told by the doctor that the medical professionals have done all they can do, and that barring a miracle, his cancer will be fatal. This would be the second child my friend has lost to cancer. I mention this because I am painfully aware that not everyone gets a reprieve from the cancer diagnosis the way I did—so far.

There are several ironies surrounding my own experience with cancer. My biopsy for prostate cancer happened on our thirty-seventh wedding anniversary, and the surgery to remove the cancerous gland happened on Valentine’s Day. It’s okay if you smile, even though cancer is not a laughing matter.

Routine Exam, Everything Changes

Let me set the stage. It was a routine checkup with my urologist, after years of dealing with the troubling effects of an enlarged prostate. I was sixty years old and, I thought, in good health. Strange, isn’t it, how we presume we are in good health when, in fact, we have no idea what is growing inside of us.

When people ask me now, “How’s your health?” I never say, “Fine,” like I used to. I say, “I feel fine.” Which, being translated, means, “I don’t know how I am. Only God knows. For all I know, I could have fatal cancer, or an aortic aneurysm that will burst tomorrow, or a blood clot in my leg that will release tonight and cause a fatal stroke as I sleep.”

Here’s what changed that simple habit of saying, “Fine.” My routine exam is over. But the doctor says, “I felt some irregularities. I’d like to do a biopsy.” Pause. I say, “Okay, if you say so. When?” “Now,” he says, “if you have time.” Pause again, as this sinks in. “Sure.”

He takes me to another examination room, tells me to change into the robe hanging on the hook, and says he will be back in a few minutes with the machine for the biopsy. He goes out and leaves me alone.

Perfectly Timed Gift

At this point, you remember your best friends—the ones you spend the most time with and who tell you what you most need to hear, when you need to hear it. Well, I had spent significant time early that morning with my friend the apostle Paul. In fact, I had loved his words so much that morning that I had committed two verses to memory.

As I sat there on the examination table with my legs dangling over the end, wearing my open-backed hospital gown, and waiting for I knew not what, Paul’s words came back to me.

God has not destined [you] for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for [you] so that whether [you] are awake or asleep [you] might live with him. (1 Thessalonians 5:9–10)

This was an exquisite gift to me. Perfectly timed. Perfectly expressed. Paul had spoken the words that morning. But God had arranged for me to read them during my devotions. God had put it in my heart to memorize them. God had brought them to my mind in the examination room. And God had given me the faith to embrace them as the sweetest gift he could give in that moment. Yes, even sweeter than “You will be healed.”

No Maverick Cells

But Paul was God’s instrument. His spokesman. His emissary to my need. I knew the voice of God, because I knew the voice of his ambassador. This was vintage Paul. Here’s the tailor-made news he spoke to me:

First, he told me, “What you are about to experience—cancer or not—is not wrath! If you have cancer, it is not owing to God’s punishment.”

To feel the full force of this, you need to realize that I share Paul’s unshakable conviction that God is absolutely in control of whether anyone gets cancer. Paul said, “From him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen” (Romans 11:36). He said, “[God] works all things according to the counsel of his will” (Ephesians 1:11).

So when Paul said to me, “This is not the wrath of God,” he did not mean, “If you have cancer, it’s not from God.” No. No. If I have cancer (which I did), it is most certainly owing to God’s ultimate purposes. God controls every molecule in the universe. He is God! There are no maverick cells outside his control.

What Paul meant when he said, “This is not the wrath of God,” is that, cancer or not, “God is not punishing you.” This is not punitive. God has his purposes, but they do not include punishment for my sin. They are all mercy. All love. How do I know that? Paul answers that question. I will come back to it in number four below.

Better Than No Death

Second, Paul told me, as I waited for the doctor, the positive side of “This is not wrath.” He said, “God has not destined [you] for wrath, but to obtain salvation.”

This cancer is not wrath. It is the path to salvation. Salvation is the positive counterpart to no wrath. Did he mean, “The biopsy will come back cancer-free. You will be saved from having cancer”? No. That is not what he meant.

There is no question about this. Paul said, in effect, that I might die from the cancer they are about to detect. So what, then, does salvation consist in? He will get to that.

Third, Paul told me that God does not guarantee I will escape death from this cancer.

He said that I would be saved “whether [you] are awake or asleep.” This means “whether you live or die.” Paul called death sleep not because after death there is no conscious fellowship with Jesus (Philippians 1:23), but because the body of a dead Christian looks like it is sleeping, and that body will be raised from the dead (as from sleep) at the last day (1 Corinthians 15:20).

You might think this would be small comfort—not being told that I was going to survive this cancer. But that is not the way it worked. What I needed at that moment was a comfort far more solid and lasting and unshakable than a few more years of life after cancer. I needed just what I got: “This is not wrath. You are destined for salvation. And that is true—absolutely true—whether you live or die!”

Of First Importance

Fourth, Paul gave the awesome answer to the question I left open at the end of number one: “How do you know this cancer is not the punishment of God for your sins?” Answer: because Christ already died for my sins. Cancer or no cancer, death or life, Paul told me that I was going to “obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for [you].”

At moments like these, we realize why Paul said, “I delivered to you as of first importance: . . . that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:3–4). “Of first importance” is that “Christ died for our sins.” Why?

Because, if he died for them, we will not die for them. That would be double jeopardy. That was the reason he came — that my condemnation under the wrath of God (John 3:36) would be endured by Jesus when he died on the cross (Romans 8:3). The person who is united to Christ by faith in him “does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life” (John 5:24).

That’s why Paul said, “There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1). No condemnation because Christ bore the condemnation. No wrath because Christ bore the wrath. That’s why Paul said to me so clearly and firmly and joyfully, as I waited for the biopsy, “This cancer is not wrath.”

Promise of a Person

The final thing he said to me was very personal—namely, just what he meant by salvation. “God has not destined [you] for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for [you] so that whether [you] are awake or asleep [you] might live with him.”

Whether you live or die, you will live. But not just live in some misty, unspecified immortality, but very specifically, you will “live with him”—the one who died for you and rose again. Which means at least two great truths. One is that I will live forever, since the one I live with cannot die. “Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again” (Romans 6:9). The other is that I get to live forever with the one who loved me enough to die for me. This is a very personal and deeply satisfying promise.

The doctor called me the next day and said, “You have cancer. I’d like to meet with you and your wife when it’s convenient for you and discuss your options.” We took the radical option: take it out. That happened seven weeks later—on Valentine’s Day. That was twelve years ago. How am I doing? I feel fine.

By John Piper. © Desiring God Foundation. Source: desiringGod.org

Photo by Allie Smith on Unsplash

Lasting Happiness Will Never Be Found in Sin

“What is the matter with the world?” Martyn Lloyd-Jones asked. “Why . . . war and all this unhappiness and turmoil and discord amongst men? . . . There is only one answer to these questions—sin. Nothing else; it is just sin.”

It’s common to blame the world’s suffering and unhappiness on lack of education, opportunity, or resources. If only we knew more or had more, we’d surely be better. No. Our most basic problem is just . . . sin.

Since lasting happiness can't be found apart from God, sin will never be a source of happiness.

Stephen Charnock wrote, “Though the fall be the cause of all our misery, yet [recognizing] it is the first step to all our happiness.”

Sin must be dealt with directly through awareness, confession, and repentance. Only in forgiveness can we have relational oneness with God and, hence, enduring happiness.

Anyone unaware of his or her guilt before a holy God is in the worst possible condition. What if a person with a burst appendix couldn’t feel pain? He might happily stay home and watch a movie rather than go to the hospital. And then he would die.

Sin kills ultimate happiness.

Puritan and Cambridge University professor William Whitaker (1548–1595) spoke of “sinning away that happiness wherein we were created.” This is a striking description of what Adam and Eve did in Paradise and what many of us do—we sin away happiness.

William Bates said, “The most pernicious effect of sin is the separation of the soul from God; and the restoral of us to happiness, is by reunion with him.”These two premises— that God is the source of all happiness and that sin separates us from God—lead to this conclusion: sin separates us from happiness.

Satan is the enemy of God’s happiness and ours. While he can’t rob God of happiness, he specializes in sabotaging ours, catching us on the baited hook of pleasure. The first hit of a drug, the buzz of alcohol, or the thrill of illicit sex seems so good at the time. But then the very thing that brings us a taste of joy robs us of true and abiding joy. Sin is the ultimate killjoy.

To sin is to break relationship with God. Therefore, sin is the biggest enemy of happiness, and forgiveness its greatest friend. Confession reunites us with the God of happiness.

If we believe that sin is never in our best interests, it will clarify many otherwise hard decisions in which we imagine we must choose between helping people do right and helping them be happy.

For instance, a young woman who believed that abortion takes the life of an innocent child nonetheless told me that because she loved her friend, she was going to drive her to the clinic to get an abortion. She said, “That’s what you do when you love someone, even if you disagree.”

I asked, “If your friend wanted to kill her parents and had a shotgun in hand, would you drive her to her parents’ house?”

“Of course not.”

But other than legality, what’s the difference? It’s never in a mother’s best interest to kill her child—it will ultimately take from her far more happiness than it brings. Too often, in the name of love, we assist people in taking wrong actions which, because they are wrong, will rob them of happiness. We may congratulate ourselves for being “loving,” but what good does our love do them if it encourages their self-destruction?

Because it doesn’t satisfy, sin demands increasing intensity.

Addiction provides a picture of all sin patterns. At first, the happiness it causes seems to outweigh the misery. But eventually the periods of misery increase while the periods of happiness fade. This is called the law of diminishing returns. Life is promised; death is delivered. Every drug, alcohol, and pornography addict is living proof that the next high is less satisfying than the last.

Heroin addicts first take the drug to be happy. In moments of clarity, they despise heroin for what it’s doing to them and despise themselves for yielding to it. Yet memories of brief pleasure overpower their prevailing misery. Longing to escape, they take another hit, hoping this time will bring lasting happiness. It never does.

If insanity is doing the same thing over and over while expecting different results, sin not only leads to insanity—it is insanity.

Regardless of your drug of choice—materialism, cocaine, pornography, power—the nature of any sin is saying, “This time will be different.” Yet it just keeps killing us—in the name of happiness.

Unrighteous lifestyle choices lead to deeper unhappiness. 

Historically, our culture’s fashion, film, and music industries—merchants of “happiness”— have been run largely by men. The immoral values promoted by these industries lure young girls into promiscuity, convincing them it’s cool. A girl has casual sex and later feels rejection, loss of respect, and disdain from the boy she believed loved her. The dream turns into a nightmare. But hoping that next time will be different, she has sex with another boy, and another, and another, until her self-respect is completely gone.

For decades, mothers have been promised they can be happy if they “terminate the pregnancy”—the deceiver’s language for “kill your child.” Yet I’ve talked with countless women who, years later, still weep over their abortions. The adverse physical and psychological consequences of abortion are well documented, including higher levels of depression and suicide. Numerous post-abortion support groups exist to help women heal after getting the abortion they were told would bring them happiness.

Our culture also entices people into viewing pornography. The happiness it promises instead delivers shame, loneliness, and devastation and leads to an endless downward spiral of deeper perversion and darkness.

Similarly, some people have bought into the idea that they’ll find happiness in the homosexual lifestyle. But when they surrender to their desires, they typically end up unhappy.

There’s a tragic irony in the positive term gay, which has replaced historically negative terms, such as sodomite, and neutral terms, such as homosexual. No matter how happy gay may sound, these are the facts about the suicide rate among homosexuals:

The risk of suicide among gay and lesbian youth is fourteen times higher than for heterosexual youth.

Between 30 and 45 percent of transgendered people report having attempted suicide.

I didn’t get these statistics from religious conservatives, but from a secular website sympathetic to gay and lesbian issues. [1] A study that analyzed twenty-five earlier studies regarding sexual orientation and mental health showed that “homosexuals and bisexuals are about 50% more likely than their heterosexual counterparts to suffer from depression and abuse drugs.” [2]

For many years, it was widely assumed that this much higher level of unhappiness was due to humiliation over others’ disapproval. Though society has become much more accepting of the homosexual lifestyle, unhappiness persists even among those surrounded by affirmation. Gay marriage may be legal, but that doesn’t change its nature or eliminate the harm to those engaging in it.

Likewise, countless heterosexuals’ lives have been destroyed by believing the false promise of happiness in an affair. I know many people who’ve had affairs and have spent the rest of their lives regretting it.

King Solomon could have had any woman he wanted—“the delight of the sons of man” (Ecclesiastes 2:8). But in his countless mistresses he found only emptiness and unhappiness.

Puritan Thomas Vincent said, “Nothing doth hinder men’s happiness here, nothing can deprive them of happiness in the other world, but this evil of evils, sin.”

We fall for Satan’s lies over and over again. But God tells us the truth about what will make us happy. Our ultimate happiness hinges on whom we choose to believe.

Excerpted from Randy Alcorn’s book Happiness. Also available: Does God Want Us to Be Happy?, which offers a collection of short, easy readings on one of life’s biggest questions: in a world full of brokenness, is happiness a worthy pursuit for Christians? It's perfect for those who would like to consider the central question in Happiness in a shorter form.

[1] Natasha Tracy, “Homosexuality and Suicide: LGBT Suicide: A Serious Issue,” HealthyPlace.com, April 12, 2013.

[2] Nancy Schimelpfening, “Homosexuality Strongly Linked to Depression and Suicide,” About.com, October 30, 2014.

Photo by Maksym Kaharlytskyi on Unsplash

Tim Challies on Amazon’s Power Over Christian Publishing, and What That Could Mean in the Future

In light of concerns about Amazon pulling some books from its website earlier this year, in the following article Tim Challies writes about “The Power Over Christian Publishing We’ve Given to Amazon.”

While for years I attempted to buy from Christian retail stores and from Christianbook.com, a site I still recommend, the truth is I buy lots of books for research, maybe half new and half used, from Amazon. Years ago I went with Amazon Prime only for the free shipping of books. Then we bought more from them, and then they started providing free videos, all of which we’ve taken advantage of. So I admit my buying habits have contributed to the very problem Tim Challies is addressing. 

I agree with Tim’s analysis of where our culture is headed. However, it’s not just Amazon that we have reason to be concerned about. Last week I was reading a post on Twitter from an NFL player I’ve come to appreciate. Actually, I was trying to read it but couldn’t. It was blocked, and said, “This tweet may include sensitive content.” Twitter informed me I could change my preferences and settings on my “safety account.” I actually didn’t want to do that. I couldn’t figure this out, because I knew this brother wouldn’t have said anything profane, sexual, or racist. Then I read a responding tweet from someone who had changed their settings, and who said it was labeled as such because the athlete said “All glory to God.” —Randy Alcorn

The Power Over Christian Publishing We’ve Given to Amazon

By Tim Challies

A few days from now, or maybe a few months, or even a year, Amazon will pull a book from its site. One day it will be there available for purchase with all the rest, and the next it will be gone. One day people will be able to order it and have it shipped to their homes, and the next day it will have ceased to exist, at least as far as Amazon is concerned. This will inevitably be a book that Christians have embraced as orthodox but that the culture has rejected as heretical. And, of course, the great “heresy” of the day relates to sexuality—especially homosexuality and transgenderism. The great “heresy” is that God created and defines our sexuality and that as his creatures we are accountable to live according to his ways. It seems likely to me that the first book to go will be on this very topic. Perhaps it will be Kevin DeYoung’s book or Denny Burk’s or one of Rosaria Butterfield’s or Christopher Yuan’s. And while I am no prophet, I do believe the day is not far off.

When it happens, it should come as no great surprise. Amazon is hardly a company founded by Christians or run according to Christian principles. To the contrary, it is a company founded by worldly people and run according to worldly principles. We cannot be shocked when non-Christians are affronted or offended by genuinely Christian ideas. We cannot demand of non-Christians any more than of Christians that they violate conscience to sell materials they consider repugnant. Thus, surely the day I’ve predicted cannot be far off.

The great problem here is that we Christians have given Amazon immense power over us. As Amazon has grown in its retail domination, first across America and then across the rest of the world, it has become the go-to bookstore—and, really, the go-to everything store—for Christians and non-Christians alike. If we look back just 10 or 15 years, we can see there was a much more diverse Christian marketplace for books. There were far more brick and mortar retailers and there were also more online retailers. Sadly, very few have been able to keep up with the juggernaut that is Amazon. Amazon won this battle because they wooed us with vast selection and free shipping and Prime Video and all sorts of great perks the other retailers simply could not match.

But as Amazon surged and other stores shuttered, we inadvertently handed Amazon a near-monopoly over the sale of Christian books. We did this with the good-faith assumption that they would continue to sell whatever we published. But times have changed and are changing and it seems increasingly unlikely that Amazon will continue to sell it all. It seems increasingly likely that they will cede to cultural pressure—pressure that exists both within and outside of the company—and begin to cull their offerings. And then what? It’s not like these books cannot be sold by the Christian retailers that remain. But will publishers even be willing or able to publish them if they cannot be sold at the world’s biggest marketplace? Will you and I even be able to find out about them if Amazon isn’t recommending them to us? And will we be willing to pay a premium to have them shipped to us from smaller retailers with higher prices and no ability to offer free shipping?

It seems clear to me we’ve put ourselves in a perilous position at the very point where we most need the Bible-based guidance of good books. At exactly the point the culture is on the attack, is the very place we’ve possibly weakened our ability to understand and respond.

(Of course, the story of moving to Amazon is not quite so simple as I’ve made it. Many Christian retailers were and still are far too willing to sell “Christian” books that are actually incredibly seditious and destructive to the true faith. A general lack of spiritual discernment has pervaded the industry for far too long. And in that way, I think many discerning Christian shoppers deliberately stopped supporting the kind of stores that so willingly declared foes of the gospel to be its greatest friends.)

I have often spoken about my decision to go all-in with digital reading, and especially the decision to focus more on Kindle than printed books. At the time, the decision made a lot of sense, even if only because I have such a tiny house without room for wall-to-wall bookcases. But when I made the decision, it seemed to reflect little more than a preference between media—paper or electronic. In retrospect, I can see it had far deeper consequences. It was not just about choosing who would get my money, but who would be the gatekeeper of Christian publishing. It was not just about choosing one retailer over another, but who would be able to ultimately determine, by their retail dominance, which books would get printed and which ones wouldn’t. And lest you think ill of me, you probably brought about the same consequence even if you stuck with paper books but chose to buy them through Amazon.

The upshot is that as Christians we have given a great deal of power over Christian publishing to the distinctly non-Christian Amazon. What can we do about it? To be honest, I’m not too sure. It may be too late. Obviously we can and should choose to support good Christian booksellers, and be willing to pay at least a small premium to buy from them. This premium isn’t just being nice Christians, but is a means of showing that we want them to continue to have some influence over the writing, publishing, and distribution of valuable, Bible-based resources. Beyond this, I think we need to collectively think and pray about ways of taking back at least a good measure of power from a company that doesn’t deserve to have it. I’m eager to hear your ideas.

This article was originally posted on Challies.com and is used with permission of the author.

Photo by Christian Wiediger on Unsplash

A Freeing Message for Moms (and Everyone Else): We Aren’t Enough, But God Is

When my wife Nanci and I were writing our book Help for Women Under Stress, we learned that according to research, the major stress vocations are health workers, waiters and waitresses, and nurses. [1] They are constantly serving people—all wonderful callings, but all exceptionally difficult.

An article called “The Most Stressful Jobs of 2012” featured these: Enlisted Soldier, Firefighter, Airline Pilot, Military General, Police Officer, Event Coordinator, Public Relations Executive, Corporate Executive, Photojournalist, and Taxi Driver.

Don’t the jobs on both those lists, cumulatively, sound remarkably like the job of a mom? She is health worker and nurse to her children, and often her husband. She is event coordinator, waitress, taxi driver, police officer, and yes, sometimes combat soldier and firefighter!

There’s nothing quite like being a mom. (I’ve seen this in watching my wife Nanci raise our girls, and now watching them raise their own children.) Motherhood can place constant and challenging demands on women. Yet those very stressors can be the pathway to greater dependence upon and fellowship with our Savior.

Although moms are the primary focus for this article, the principles Susan Narjala shares apply to all of us. On our own, we are weak. We are not enough. But we serve a Savior who is more than enough and promises to be our strength. This is very good news! —Randy Alcorn

Moms, You Are Not Enough: The Freedom of Depending on God

By Susan Narjala

“Mama, you got this. You are enough.” My heart sank when I read the last lines in an article on a leading website for Christian mothers. My heart sank, because it was my article.

The article was intended to encourage moms in the trenches of raising little ones and overwhelmed by trying to do it all. When I saw the article online, though, I noticed that the last lines had been altered. The original, unedited version read, “Mama, you got this, because he has got you. You are enough, because he who is in you is enough.” The published article had left out God.

One message women, including Christian women, have heard on repeat is these three words: “You are enough.” Christian authors and speakers have been incorporating this phrase in sermons meant to encourage women, especially moms, who are bogged down by guilt and plagued by self-doubt. The words often seem perfectly acceptable and, perhaps, empowering. At worst, it appears trite, but harmless.

But what does the seemingly innocuous phrase really mean?

Am I Ever Enough?

“You are enough” is a well-intentioned way of saying, “Life is hard, but you got a handle on it, because you’re a fierce, independent woman.” When you forget your child’s kindergarten orientation (true story!) or lose it when your toddler throws a tantrum before you’ve even brewed your coffee, don’t beat yourself up, because being a mom is undeniably challenging. And don’t give up, because you are strong enough for motherhood — you can do this.

While that seems uplifting, as Christian women, we’re hearing less than the full truth. The message is slowly diluting the gospel. This may sound disenfranchising to women, but you and I are not enough. No one is. The calling of motherhood — and of the Christian life — is a high and overwhelming calling for anyone. None of us is good enough, kind enough, right enough, or strong enough. And that’s why each of us so desperately need Jesus in the trenches every single day.

Your Never-Enoughness

The idea of being inadequate is unpopular in our earn-your-way-up culture. We would rather lap up nice-to-hear platitudes than grapple with what God says in Scripture. The Bible is not undermining our worth. It is simply pointing out that we find our true worth in Christ alone. With him, we are free to acknowledge that we are flawed.

When you’ve finally tucked the kids into bed and still have to load the dishwasher, it’s okay to recognize that you are not always gracious enough to respond kindly to a little voice that hollers, “I need water.” That’s when you and I have the beautifully freeing option of confessing, “Father, I just don’t have what it takes. I need you.” That may be all it comes down to: acknowledging our never-enoughness, so God has the chance to pour out from his endless reserves of grace.

God often lets us walk in paths that are far beyond our ability to endure. When you’ve been awake every night for a week, toggling between a nursing baby and a toddler with the flu, you understand what “beyond your ability” means. But in the midst of our exhaustion, when we whisper, “I can’t — God please take over,” that’s when we can build our dependence on the one who won’t ever let us down. When Paul and Timothy faced situations that were beyond their ability to endure, they learned to “rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead” (2 Corinthians 1:9).

Rejoicing in Weakness

Later in Corinthians, Paul speaks of his weakness. He doesn’t just mention it in passing. He seems to advertise it, revel in it, even boasts in it. He tells his readers that he rejoices in his weakness. Why? Because in Paul’s weakness, Christ’s strength is made perfect (2 Corinthians 12:9).

The Beatitudes also turn the world’s definition of power on its head. Jesus calls the ones who are meek, the ones who mourn, the ones who are poor in spirit “blessed” (Matthew 5:5–11). When we hear the mantra that we are “enough” on repeat, we are likely to stop rejoicing in our weakness, we don’t celebrate our poverty of spirit, we lessen our dependence on God. When I truly grasp that I’m not enough in my own strength, I don’t try to dig deep into myself to pull out resources that are running on empty. Instead, I dig into the word of God and pull out promises I can lean on.

When I am overwhelmed and have to count to three more times than I can actually count, I remember that his divine power has given me everything needed for life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3). When I feel isolated as a mom, buried under an avalanche of wet wipes, I rest in his promise that he has engraved me on the palms of his hands (Isaiah 49:16). And when I mess up as a mom, I don’t just brush away my sin with self-glorifying platitudes. Neither do I beat myself up. Instead, I go to the one who redeems my mistakes and gives me the grace to carry on (Psalm 103:12).

‘You Are Enough’ Is Not Enough

While articles or sermons telling women that we are enough are intended to vanquish self-doubt, perhaps they are misguided. “You are enough” puts the onus back on “you.” It’s a me-centric idea, where we’re called to scrape out every last bit of our so-called inner strength. But pulling ourselves up by our bootstraps is not how we tend to our souls.

John Piper tells young mothers, “Constantly pray, pray, pray, pray for whatever you need. That is how you make your days an act of worship. And then there may not be in your mind such a huge gulf between tending to your child and tending to your soul.” We need to take it — all of it, from the sheer exhaustion to the certifiable insanity of raising little people — to the Lord in prayer. We look outside of ourselves to a God who wants to strengthen us and give us rest.

He promises to gently lead those that have young (Isaiah 40:11). The more liberating and empowering message we need to hear is this: Christ in you is more than enough. It’s a message that doesn’t hinge on self-reliance, but on God-dependence. It gives us room to discover that he is an all-sufficient God.

Susan Narjala is a freelance writer, and lives with her husband and two children in India. She writes regularly at Alliteration Alley.

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

[1] Keith W. Sehnert, Stress/Unstress (Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg, 1981), 38–39.

Photo by Xavier Mouton Photographie on Unsplash

Famous Christians Are Losing Their Faith...and So Should You If Your Faith Is in Them

When we contemplate what feels like an avalanche of Christians declaring—whether through their actions or words or both—their loss of faith in Jesus and God’s Word, we should realize that for every leader who loudly denies Christ there are thousands of less well-known Christians who are doing the same. (Note: this will be a longer blog than usual because I don’t want to interrupt the flow.)

If I could share just one message in light of the high-profile Christians who have recently made public announcements renouncing their faith, it would be this: you should lose your faith…if it is in anyone other than Jesus. And you should forsake and reject any worldview, no matter how attractive and seductive and popular and affirming, that is not in concert with the worldview of God’s Word.

Read Ephesians 1:3-13. As you do, ask yourself, “Do I have any grounds for placing my absolute faith in anyone or anything other than the person and work of Jesus Christ, as predestined by the Father and accomplished by the Holy Spirit?” Seriously, read this passage now. If you never make it back to this blog post, that’s fine. Because God never promises my words won’t return empty, but He does promise that about His words (Isaiah 55:11).  

Ephesians 4:4-6 says, “There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call—one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.” What does this passage say about Christian writers, preachers, musicians, athletes, and celebrities? Absolutely nothing. Only God is worthy of our trust, faith, and hope.

Jesus Alone Is Worthy

Every time another Christian leader falls morally or declares he no longer believes in Jesus, it causes a crisis of faith for many believers. I’ve had people say, “I don’t know what to think anymore. That man led me to Jesus. He baptized me!” But God has always used people with wayward hearts and motives to proclaim the Gospel, and the Gospel is still the Gospel and Jesus is still Jesus. 

Paul says, “The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains. But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice” (Philippians 1:17-18).

Surprise, sadness, disappointment, and grief are natural and appropriate responses when someone we admire falls morally or otherwise abandons their faith in Jesus. However, if our faith is shaken when this happens, it reveals something wrong about our faith in the first place. Both Scripture and church history clearly state that many will turn away from Christ, even many who because of their gifts and oratorical or musical skills find themselves on platforms where people associate their name with that of Jesus.

First Timothy 4:1-2 is one of many such passages: “The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron.” So if people were NOT turning from Jesus it would suggest the Bible isn’t true. However, it is true, and they are turning away from Jesus. But there is only one Jesus, only one ultimately worthy object of our faith.

Christ Is the Chief Shepherd

Forty-two years ago, Nanci and I were part of starting a brand-new church, which we are still part of today. When I was a pastor at Good Shepherd Community Church, we often said, “There is only one Good Shepherd, and He is not on our staff.” We recognized Jesus was above and around and in us and worked through us, but anyone who thought their pastors were Jesus were preparing for nothing but disappointment. 

We emphasized the importance of plural ministry in which no one man is elevated in such a way as to make the church rise and fall with that man. We believed that if one man becomes too prominent, his weaknesses will go unchecked and the church will become weak where he is weak. No single leader’s weaknesses can destroy a church when there is a true team of pastors and leaders, and a number of people have an equal voice and rely on unanimity or at least consensus.

In the early years of our church we preached from I Peter 5, where it says pastors/elders are to “Shepherd God’s flock that is under your care,” with the reminders that pastors are only under-shepherds, the flock is not ours but God’s, and we should not be “lording it over those entrusted to you.” Then it calls Jesus “the Chief Shepherd” (1 Peter 5:4), who is Lord of the under-shepherds and will reward them for faithful service in caring for His flock. “Chief” means head or lead or senior, and shepherd means pastor. So we would say “Jesus is our head pastor, our senior pastor. This church belongs to no man but the God-man.”

None of us were at the top of the chain of command—Jesus was! Leaders are first and foremost sheep and only secondarily shepherds. Any church governing board that is listening to, elevating, or glorifying one human voice is setting up both the pastor and the church to fail and fall. Many pastors in America and around the world need true accountability in their spiritual, moral, financial, and inter-personal relationships not only with laypeople in the church, but also with other pastors and staff members.

Is your faith dependent on Randy Alcorn, Josh Harris, Marty Sampson (of Hillsong), or anyone else—including John Piper, John MacArthur, Francis Chan, Joni Tada, Beth Moore, Max Lucado, Greg Laurie, David Platt or _______ (fill in the blank, including any of your pastors or family members)? If so, then you should lose your faith before it’s too late. Having cleared away the rubble of human idols, we should embrace the only worthy object of our faith, King Jesus. That’s building our lives on the rock of divine strength, not the sand of human weakness. Only Jesus Christ can bear the weight of our absolute trust. (We like to both worship and crucify Christian leaders. But often the former leads to the latter.)

Those who thought Bill Hybels and James MacDonald, and hundreds of leaders who preceded them, were worthy objects of faith have been shown to be misguided. And they were just as misguided before those leaders fell than after they did. If our faith is grounded in anyone other than the triune God—Father, Son and Holy Spirit—let’s repent of the sin of idolatry and turn back to Jesus who is the Way, the Truth and the Life. Then and only then can we put in perspective the tide of Christian leaders who are turning away from Him and the truth of His Word. 

Suffering Will Reveal the Object of Your Faith

We all fall on tough times. Nanci and I have had a number of them and are facing another one right now. A lot of bad theology often surfaces when we face suffering, and I don’t doubt this may be a factor for the recent leaders who’ve rejected the Christian faith. When people lose their faith because of suffering, it suggests a weak or nominal faith that didn’t account for or prepare them for evil and suffering. Jesus said, “In the world you will have tribulation, But take heart; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). Imagining that God should always make our paths smooth sets us up to resent God and even lose our faith when our lives don’t go as we want. That’s another faith we should lose—to be replaced with faith in the God of sovereign grace and truth who doesn’t keep us from all difficulties but promises to be with us in all difficulties.

Any faith not based on the truth needs to be lost—the sooner, the better. I’ve noticed many who grew up in privilege end up citing the sufferings of people elsewhere in the world as their basis for rejecting Christ. Yet when I’ve interviewed people who have endured what to most of us would be unimaginable suffering, they embrace the Christian faith more passionately than we who live in relative comfort and ease. Many people who have endured deep hardship turn toward God in their suffering, not away from Him. They’ve found that no one else but Jesus can bear the weight of their trust, just as He bore the weight of their suffering on the cross.

For those who lose their faith, whether expressed publicly or gradually and privately, there is normally suffering and disillusionment in their background. Suffering and evil exert a force that either pushes us away from God or pulls us toward Him. But if personal suffering gives sufficient evidence that God doesn’t exist, then surely I shouldn’t wait until I suffer to conclude He’s a myth. If my suffering would one day justify denying God, then I should deny Him now in light of other people’s suffering.

Believing that God exists is not the same as trusting the God who exists. A nominal Christian often discovers in suffering that his faith has been in himself, his church, family, career, or social network, but not in Christ. As he faces evil and suffering, he may find his beliefs shaken or even destroyed. But genuine faith—trusting God even when we don’t understand—will be made stronger and purer. I have seen this in my own life and Nanci’s, and that of many family and friends.

Be forewarned. If your faith is based on lack of affliction, it’s on the brink of extinction and is only a frightening diagnosis or a shattering phone call away from collapse. Token faith will not survive suffering. Nor should it.

God’s Word Should Be Our Greatest Influence

In every case someone moves away from faith in Jesus, I think it’s accurate to conclude they’ve been listening to the wrong voices—voices which have served the purposes of the one Jesus called the Father of lies. Jesus said, “He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44).

The devil’s lies are convincing. They roll off his tongue as he speaks them through so many cool people, so many popular slogans, so many trendy causes. His lies are hypnotically credible because they soak into us, and we fail to counter them with heavy doses of the truth of God’s Word.

Jesus told us in that same John 8 passage the only thing that can defeat the devil’s lies: “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:31-32). When we stop holding to God’s truth, that’s when we start falling away from Jesus and sound doctrine. As Satan’s lies roll down the hillsides of our mind they become a landslide that produces an ultimate avalanche of apostacy. And this isn’t helped by all the professing Christians who applaud the “honesty” and “transparency” and “courage” of those denying Christ, as though they are doing something virtuous by rejecting the Son of God who came down to rescue us from the bondage of sin.

I would encourage you to think in terms of your life trajectory and the major influences you’re letting speak into your life. First Timothy 4:16 says, “Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers” (NIV).

I don’t know John Cooper, lead singer of the Christian rock band Skillet. But I thoroughly agree with what he recently said about believers needing to stop looking to “worship and thought leaders” as if they/we have an inside track to biblical truth or as if people should have faith in us: 

Ok I’m saying it. Because it’s too important not to. What is happening in Christianity? More and more of our outspoken leaders or influencers who were once “faces” of the faith are falling away. And at the same time they are being very vocal and bold about it. Shockingly they still want to influence others (for what purpose?) as they announce that they are leaving the faith. I’ll state my conclusion, then I’ll state some rebuttals to statements I’ve read by some of them. Firstly, I never judge people outside of my faith. Even if they hate religion or Christianity. That is not my place and I have many friends who disagree with my religion and that is 100% fine with me. However, when it comes to people within my faith, there must be a measure of loyalty and friendship and accountability to each other and the Word of God.

My conclusion for the church (all of us Christians): We must STOP making worship leaders and thought leaders or influencers or cool people or “relevant” people the most influential people in Christendom. (And yes that includes people like me!) I’ve been saying for 20 years (and seemed probably quite judgmental to some of my peers) that we are in a dangerous place when the church is looking to 20 year old worship singers as our source of truth. We now have a church culture that learns who God is from singing modern praise songs rather than from the teachings of the Word. I’m not being rude to my worship leader friends (many who would agree with me) in saying that singers and musicians are good at communicating emotion and feeling. We create a moment and a vehicle for God to speak. However, singers are not always the best people to write solid bible truth and doctrine. Sometimes we are too young, too ignorant of scripture, too unaware, or too unconcerned about the purity of scripture and the holiness of the God we are singing to. Have you ever considered the disrespect of singing songs to God that are untrue of His character?

I have a few specific thoughts and rebuttals to statements made by recently disavowed church influencers...first of all, I am stunned that the seemingly most important thing for these leaders who have lost their faith is to make such a bold new stance. Basically saying, “I’ve been living and preaching boldly something for 20 years and led generations of people with my teachings and now I no longer believe it…therefore I’m going to boldly and loudly tell people it was all wrong while I boldly and loudly lead people in to my next truth.” I’m perplexed why they aren’t embarrassed? Humbled? Ashamed, fearful, confused? Why be so eager to continue leading people when you clearly don’t know where you are headed?

Read the rest of John’s post.

Let me close with some other verses from God’s Word for us to ponder:

“Now this is what the parable means. The seed is God’s word.  The ones on the path are the people who listen, but then the Devil comes and takes the word away from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved.  The ones on the stony ground are the people who joyfully welcome the word when they hear it. But since they don’t have any roots, they believe for a while, but in a time of testing they fall away.  The ones that fell among the thorn bushes are the people who listen, but as they go on their way they are choked by the worries, wealth, and pleasures of life, and their fruit doesn’t mature.  But the ones on the good soil are the people who hear the word but also hold on to it with good and honest hearts, producing a crop through endurance” (Luke 8:11-15).

“I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel” (Galatians 1:6).

“But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ” (2 Corinthians 11:3).

“But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses. In the sight of God, who gives life to everything, and of Christ Jesus, who while testifying before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, I charge you to keep this command without spot or blame until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Timothy 6:11-14).

For more related perspectives from Randy, see his books Truth, If God Is Good, and Face to Face with Jesus.

Photo credit: Ben White via Christianpics.co

J.C. Ryle on Preparing for Our Dying Hour

I love these perspectives from Anglican bishop J. C. Ryle (1816–1900) on preparing for death by living well. With every passing year, each of us have more precious family and friends who have gone to be with Christ. As we look forward to the day when we too will see Jesus face to face, may we lean into and serve Him like never before.  —Randy Alcorn

In Our Dying Hour

The day may come when after a long fight with disease, we shall feel that medicine can do no more, and that nothing remains but to die. Friends will be standing by, unable to help us. Hearing, eyesight, even the power of praying, will be fast failing us. The world and its shadows will be melting beneath our feet. Eternity, with its realities, will be looming large before our minds.

What shall support us in that trying hour? What shall enable us to feel, “I fear no evil” (Psalm 23:4)? Nothing, nothing can do it but close communion with Christ. Christ dwelling in our hearts by faith—Christ putting His right arm under our heads—Christ felt to be sitting by our side—Christ can alone give us the complete victory in the last struggle.

Let us cleave to Christ more closely, love Him more heartily, live to Him more thoroughly, copy Him more exactly, confess Him more boldly, follow Him more fully. Religion like this will always bring its own reward. Worldly people may laugh at it. Weak brethren may think it extreme. But it will wear well. At even time it will bring us light. In sickness it will bring us peace. In the world to come it will give us a crown of glory that fadeth not away.

The time is short. The fashion of this world passeth away. A few more sicknesses, and all will be over. A few more funerals, and our own funeral will take place. A few more storms and tossings, and we shall be safe in harbour. We travel towards a world where there is no more sickness—where parting, and pain, and crying, and mourning, are done with for evermore.

Heaven is becoming every year more full, and earth more empty. The friends ahead are becoming more numerous than the friends astern. “Yet a little time and He that shall come will come, and will not tarry” (Heb. 10:37). In His presence shall be fulness of joy. Christ shall wipe away all tears from His people’s eyes. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is Death. But he shall be destroyed. Death himself shall one day die (Rev. 20:14).

In the meantime let us live the life of faith in the Son of God. Let us lean all our weight on Christ, and rejoice in the thought that He lives for evermore. Yes: blessed be God! Christ lives, though we may die. Christ lives, though friends and families are carried to the grave. He lives who abolished death, and brought life and immortality to light by the Gospel.

He lives who said, “O death, I will be thy plagues: O grave, I will be thy destruction” (Hos. 13:14). He lives who will one day change our vile body, and make it like unto His glorious body. In sickness and in health, in life and in death, let us lean confidently on Him. Surely we ought to say daily with one of old, “Blessed be God for Jesus Christ!”

—J.C. Ryle, “Sickness” in Practical Religion: Being Plain Papers on the Daily Duties, Experience, Dangers, and Privileges of Professing Christians (London: Charles Murray, 1900), 372-374. (online source)

For more on preparing for eternity, see Randy’s related books, including Heaven.

Photo by Andreas Selter on Unsplash