Randy Alcorn's Blog, page 217

I appreciated this passage from a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "Daniel Facing the Lions' Den."

Act on the outset as a Christian should. What if employers should frown, or customers be vexed, or friends fail? Bear it! It will be the best policy in the long run. That is not, however, for you to consider. Do the right thing, whatever happens. Let us be as Daniel. Oh that the young among you would emulate the purpose of heart with which Daniel began life! Oh that the active and vigorous among you would seek with Daniel’s constant prayerfulness for that high gift of wisdom equal to all emergencies with which God so richly endowed him!

And, oh, that the harassed, tempted, and persecuted among you would learn to keep a clean conscience in the midst of impurities, as Daniel did; to preserve, like him, faith and fellowship with the faithful and true God, though living among strangers and foreigners, profane in all their thoughts and habits; and to hold the statutes and commandments of the Lord as more to be desired than wealth or honor — yea, dearer to you, as Daniel accounted them, than even life itself! So shall you honor God, and glorify Christ, and bless and praise his precious name in a way in which nothing else but decision of character can possibly lead you to do. God grant us all to have Christ for a Savior, and to live to his praise. Amen.

By, the way, eChristian is offering a free audio book download of The Christmas Carol, read by Simon Vance, who was the voice of Spurgeon for the We Shall See God audio book. Nanci and I listened to the first portion, and it is excellent. Merry Christmas season to all.

I shared briefly on Facebook what happened a couple of days ago, but wanted to blog about it now and add quite a few other thoughts and links.  

Nanci and I had to put to sleep our almost 15-year-old Dalmatian, Moses. Many of you have been there, as indicated by the 150 comments on Facebook that flooded in after I shared the news.

Animals aren’t humans, but they have personalities and display love and affection, and God creates a great bond between us and them.

Of course, animals aren’t as valuable as people, and losing a pet isn’t the same as losing a child or spouse. But it can certainly feel like losing a dear friend, because in fact a pet is capable of being a close friend (you don’t have to be human to be a friend). It is the very differentness of a pet that’s part of what endears us to each other. They can’t be the same that humans can be, but likewise no human can be what a dog or cat or horse can be.

Adam and Eve’s first job, given by God, was to rule over animals. God entrusts these animals to our care. He loves them, and he approves of us loving them. I’ve been thinking about how often God used Moses and the four previous dogs I’ve had to make me laugh, and bring delight, and show me love in times I really needed that unique unconditional love. Even when you’ve blown it and made a fool of yourself, your dog thinks you’re a hero. Even when you don’t sense much love from people, your dog would follow you to the ends of the earth and die for you in a heartbeat. His is an unconditional love.

Moses has been failing for the last year and a half, and in the last few weeks he’s been unable to control bodily functions or stand long without losing his balance. It became clear that this time he would not recover. Earlier in the week, Moses fell while trying to get up. He immediately looked me in the eyes, and I sensed as clearly as if it were an audible voice, “It’s time now.”

So a few days ago the vet came to our home and explained there would be two injections, the first to anesthetize him completely, and the second to stop his heart. (I’d done this at a clinic 14 years ago with our previous dog, Champ, and decided this time I wanted it to be done at home.)

Once final time I looked into Moey’s eyes during that first injection and saw nothing but utter devotion, absolute love and trust. He knew I would never hurt him, that I would act in his best interests even if it hurt me to do it. I thought, this is exactly the trust and devotion I should have for my Father in Heaven, no matter how tough the circumstances, no matter whether I’m capable of figuring out why.

Looking back on it, Nanci and I have learned many lessons from Moses including how much easier life would be if we weren’t intent on escaping through fences, stealing food or chewing remote controls. :)

The day we had to part with Moses was a day of great sorrow, and yet great sweetness. Who can know that inseparable combination like God’s children? The curse weighs heavily on us and the whole creation. The resurrection assures us that as the whole creation, including animals, fell on our coattails, so the whole creation shall rise on our coattails. Our God of sovereign goodness will reverse the curse, and we and the entire world shall rise to new life. There will be no more pain and suffering. I long for that day. Watching Moses die in my arms made me long for it more.

As I sat with Moses in his last hours, waiting for the vet to arrive, I found myself reading the two chapters on animals in my Heaven book. It was one of those rare times when I sensed God talking to me as though someone else had written it. In fact, while researching Heaven I deepened and broadened my theology of animals.

Humorist Will Rogers said, “If there are no dogs in heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went.” This statement was, of course, based on sentiment, not theology. However, it reflects something biblical: a God-given affection for animals. I thank God for Ranger, my black lab, and Spike the mutt, and Champ, my Golden Retriever I grew up with. And for the second Champ, our Springer Spaniel who our daughters grew up with (who was also Nanci’s first dog), and now for Moses, who walked with us through our daughters moving out of the home and starting their own families, and who played with our grandsons. Moses would let those boys wrestle with him, and bump him, and never retaliate.

I’ve written elsewhere about why I’m convinced that there will be animals on the New Earth, where we will live after the resurrection. Besides the two chapters I devote to it in the book Heaven, here’s a brief article and a 5-minute video treatment of animals in Heaven.

Also, I highly recommend this sermon by John Wesley which I quote from in Heaven. It’s a remarkable message about animals spoken by a man who spent thousands of hours with horses.

In her excellent book about Heaven, our friend Joni Eareckson Tada says, “If God brings our pets back to life, it wouldn’t surprise me. It would be just like Him. It would be totally in keeping with His generous character. . . . Exorbitant. Excessive. Extravagant in grace after grace. Of all the dazzling discoveries and ecstatic pleasures heaven will hold for us, the potential of seeing Scrappy would be pure whimsy—utterly, joyfully, surprisingly superfluous. . . . Heaven is going to be a place that will refract and reflect in as many ways as possible the goodness and joy of our great God, who delights in lavishing love on His children.”

In a poem about the world to come, another friend, John Piper, writes,

And as I knelt beside the brook
To drink eternal life, I took
A glance across the golden grass,
And saw my dog, old Blackie, fast
As she could come. She leaped the stream—
Almost—and what a happy gleam
Was in her eye. I knelt to drink,
And knew that I was on the brink
Of endless joy. And everywhere
I turned I saw a wonder there.

MY PRAYER: Thank you, Lord, for what you have taught me through each of my dogs, and through your other creatures, including nine months ago when I spent 90 minutes with Molly the seal.

As I looked into the eyes of Moses in those final minutes together in this world, I sensed unmistakably your presence in your sweet creation. You spoke to my heart through him. I expect it’s likely that by your extravagant grace one day, after the resurrection, Nanci and I will run with those dogs through meadows on your New Earth. Meanwhile, please be with Nanci who has lost a precious and inseparable friend and walking companion.

Thank you for your promise that one day there will be no more pain or sorrow or curse, that You will wipe away the tears from every eye (Revelation 21:4). Thank you that you promise relief not only for human beings, but also for the “whole creation” that now groans in suffering, and is awaiting the deliverance that will come in the resurrection of God’s children (Romans 8:22-24).  

Thank you for paying an unspeakable price to extend that grace to us here and now. Help us to be doing what your Word tells us we should: “Looking forward to a new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells” (2 Peter 3:13).

Your grateful and loving son,

Last month I received this letter from a 10-year-old Canadian boy named Christian. He had read the Courageous novel and wanted to share with Alex and Stephen Kendrick and me what he had learned from it.

Dear writers of Courageous: Mr. Alex Kendrick, Mr. Stephen Kendrick & Mr. Randy Alcorn,

My name is Christian and I am ten years old. I love the book Courageous that you men wrote. It’s awesome; and it’s my favourite (same with the movie!). Here are 20 notes that stuck out to me:

When you’re going to do something you have to do it right.
You HAVE TO SPEND TIME WITH YOUR FAMILY
Don’t let peers tell you how to do everything, take initiative, stand out, and do what’s best.
Making decisions takes a lot of prayer and thought.
To go against the flow is hard but it’s worth it in the end.
Say the truth even when it hurts.
To be courageous you need to have a lot of integrity.
Never give up on God.
Work hard.
Interview your daughter’s date.
Be a man of your word.
Love your family so much that you would be willing to die for them.
Don’t treat one family member better than the other.
Don’t ignore the advice of elders.
Be the head of the home.
Never give up.
The prayers of little children are very powerful.
Don’t be lazy.
Never give up on your children and influence them when you can.
Never let go of the wheel (be the man of your life).

Below is my response to him:

Thank you, Christian, for your wonderful note. I am so glad reading Courageous encouraged you. May you love Jesus with all your heart, and follow Him always.

This photo moved me. A few passages of Scripture come to mind:

“If you come across a bird’s nest in any tree or on the ground, with young ones or eggs and the mother sitting on the young or on the eggs, you shall not take the mother with the young.” (Deuteronomy 22:6)

“He [the LORD] encircled him [Israel], he cared for him,
he kept him as the apple of his eye.
Like an eagle that stirs up its nest,
that flutters over its young,
spreading out its wings, catching them,
bearing them on its pinions.”   
(Deuteronomy 32:10-11)

“Like birds hovering, so the LORD of hosts will protect Jerusalem; he will protect and deliver it.” (Isaiah 31:5)

The recent report of Billy Graham being taken to the hospital with the possibility of pneumonia prompted me to think of one of Billy’s closest friends, who is ten years older.

Four weeks ago I spoke at the Billy Graham Training Center at the Cove in Ashville, NC (near Billy’s home). I was speaking one night on Heaven, and before the session started, in came a wheelchair containing George Beverly Shea, who, Lord willing will turn 103 on February 1!

They called him up on the platform, and since I was about to speak, I was in the front row and took a few videos of George. Then he took his place in the front row, and I had the joy of seeing his joyful face as I spoke about Heaven.

In 1970, as a brand new Christian, I heard Billy Graham for the first time, and George was singing How Great Thou Art. Then it hit me—at that time, when I was a new teenage Christian, 41 years ago, George was already in his 60’s!

While at the Cove, I posted on my Facebook page two short video clips of George. Here is one I haven’t posted until now, with George singing part of How Great Thou Art, then telling a little story about a Christian motorcycle “gang”:

Here are the two 30 second clips I posted 4 weeks ago Facebook. They show an old saint with a great sense of humor. (I’m looking forward to spending time with George on the New Earth.)

Clip 1  |  Clip 2

Darren Carlson tells a story that captures the game that is often played by the medical community— depersonalizing the unborn child by semantics, so that abortion becomes a viable option.

Fetus or Child?

By: Darren Carlson

My wife is five months pregnant.  Last month we went for an ultrasound to see the baby and have the doctors check to make sure everything was progressing nicely.  We had done this three times before and were excited.  As we met with the doctor and ultrasound technician they referred to what they saw as "your child."  They must have said it 50x during the ultrasound as they referred to "your child's hand," "your child's heart," etc.  

But then something changed.  

Another doctor was brought into the room and for 5 minutes he stared at the baby's heart.  The room was completely silent.  He then began to tell us that there was a tumor on our child's heart and started to run down all the scenarios we were now faced with.  Then the doctor said to us: "If the fetus is abnormal and that is management problem for you, you have the option to terminate your fetus."  The slight change in wording tells the story.  I was in too much shock to respond.  But later it dawned on me what he had done. The child my wife was carrying was only a child if we wanted to keep it, as if it was our choice!  However, if we did not want the baby, it was only a fetus.

Three weeks later we came back for another ultrasound.  The growth on the heart was not a tumor, but a normal variant.  In the doctor's eyes, our child was a baby again.  In our eyes, nothing had changed.

Two years before abortion was legalized in America, a prochoice advocate instructed nurses in a prominent medical journal, “Through public conditioning, use of language, concepts and laws, the idea of abortion can be separated from the idea of killing.” The same year a Los Angeles symposium offered this training: “If you say, ‘Suck out the baby,’ you may easily generate or increase trauma; say instead, ‘Empty the uterus,’ or ‘We will scrape the lining of the uterus,’ but never, ‘We will scrape away the baby.’”

Language isn’t just the expression of minds but the molder of minds. How words are used influences our receptivity to an idea—even an idea that, communicated in straightforward terms, would be abhorrent.

Words that focus on the pregnancy and the uterus draw attention away from the person residing in the uterus. But no matter how we say it, “evacuating the uterus” or “terminating a pregnancy” is taking a human life.

Like toddler and adolescent, the terms embryo and fetus don’t refer to nonhumans but to humans at particular stages of development. Fetus is a Latin word variously translated “offspring,” “young one” or “little child.”

It’s scientifically inaccurate to say a human embryo or a fetus is not a human being simply because he’s at an ear­lier stage of development than an infant. This is like saying that a toddler isn’t a human being because he’s not yet an adolescent. One of my daughters is two years older than the other. Does this mean she’s two years better? Does someone become more human as they get bigger? If so, then adults are more human than children, and football players are more human than jockeys. Something nonhu­man doesn’t become human by getting older and bigger; whatever is human is human from the beginning.

Set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. — Colossians 3:1-2

It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this. — C. S. Lewis

(You can also listen to the 5-minute audio version of this blog, excerpted from the 50 Days of Heaven audio book.)

Over the years, a number of people have told me, “We shouldn’t think about Heaven. We should just think about Jesus.”

This viewpoint sounds spiritual, doesn’t it? But it is based on wrong assumptions, and it is clearly contradicted by Scripture.

Colossians 3:1-2 is a direct command to set our hearts and minds on Heaven. We set our minds on Heaven because we love Jesus Christ, and Heaven is where he now resides. To long for Heaven is to long for Christ. To long for Christ is to long for Heaven, for that is where we will be with him. That’s why God’s people are “longing for a better country” (Hebrews 11:16).

In Colossians 3:1, the Greek word translated “set your hearts on” is zeteo, which “denotes man’s general philosophical search or quest.” The same word is used in the Gospels to describe how “the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost” (Luke 19:10, emphasis added). Zeteo is also used to describe how a shepherd looks for his lost sheep (Matthew 18:12), a woman searches for a lost coin (Luke 15:8), and a merchant searches for fine pearls (Matthew 13:45). It is a diligent, active, single-minded pursuit. Thus, we can understand Paul’s admonition in Colossians 3:1 as follows: “Diligently, actively, single-mindedly pursue the things above”—in a word, Heaven.

The verb zeteo is in the present tense, suggesting an ongoing process. “Keep seeking Heaven.” Don’t just have a conversation, read a book, or listen to a sermon and feel as if you’ve fulfilled the command. If you’re going to spend the next lifetime living in Heaven, why not spend this lifetime seeking Heaven so you can eagerly anticipate and prepare for it?

The command, and its restatement, implies there is nothing automatic about setting our minds on Heaven. In fact, most commands assume a resistance to obeying them, which sets up the necessity for the command. We are told to avoid sexual immorality because it is our tendency. We are not told to avoid jumping off buildings because normally we don’t battle such a temptation. Every day, the command to think about Heaven is under attack in a hundred different ways. Everything militates against thinking about Heaven. Our minds are set so resolutely on Earth that we are unaccustomed to heavenly thinking. So we must work at it.

What have you been doing daily to set your mind on things above, to seek Heaven? What should you do differently?

Perhaps you’re afraid of becoming “so heavenly minded that you’re of no earthly good.” Relax—you have nothing to worry about! On the contrary, many of us are so earthly minded we are of no heavenly or earthly good. As C. S. Lewis observed,

If you read history you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were just those who thought most of the next. The Apostles themselves, who set on foot the conversion of the Roman Empire, the great men who built up the Middle Ages, the English Evangelicals who abolished the Slave Trade, all left their mark on Earth, precisely because their minds were occupied with Heaven. It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this. Aim at Heaven and you will get earth “thrown in”: aim at earth and you will get neither.

We need a generation of heavenly minded people who see human beings and the earth itself not simply as they are, but as God intends them to be. Such people will pass on a heritage to their children far more valuable than any inheritance.

We must begin by reasoning from God’s revealed truth. But such reasoning will require us to use our Scripture-enhanced imaginations. As a nonfiction writer and Bible teacher, I start by seeing what Scripture actually says. As a novelist, I take that revelation and add to it the vital ingredient of imagination.

In the words of Francis Schaeffer, “The Christian is the really free man—he is free to have imagination. This too is our heritage. The Christian is the one whose imagination should fly beyond the stars.”

Schaeffer always started with God’s revealed truth. But he exhorted us to let that truth fuel our imagination. Imagination should not fly away from the truth but upon it.

You may be dealing with great pain and loss, yet Jesus says, “Be of good cheer” (John 16:33, nkjv). Why? Because the new house is nearly ready for you. Moving day is coming. The dark winter is about to be magically transformed into spring. One day soon you will be home—for the first time.

Until then, I encourage you to find joy and hope as you meditate on the truth about Heaven revealed in the Bible.

Why not ask God to make your imagination soar and your heart rejoice?

Thank you, God, for the gift of imagination. In a world where ideas are so often grounded in quicksand and are contrary to sound doctrine, help us to be firmly based in your Word. Help us to be saturated in its teaching. Thank you for promising us “immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine” in your eternal Kingdom.

This blog of Jon Bloom’s from a couple of months ago is right on target. Years ago I taught a seminary course called “A Theology of Desire,” and Pascal’s quote was one of the many I cited.

Pleasure Is the Measure of Your Treasure

by Jon Bloom

No one puts it as bluntly as Blaise Pascal in his Pensées:

All men seek happiness. This is without exception. Whatever different means they employ, they all tend to this end. The cause of some going to war, and of others avoiding it, is the same desire in both, attended with different views. The will never takes the least step but to this object. This is the motive of every action of every man, even of those who hang themselves.

There you are. Warrior, pacifist, suicide, sluggard, workaholic; if you’re a human, you’re a hedonist. You can try to deny it, but you can’t change it.

If you want to try your hand at stoicism, forget the Bible. It has little for you. Scripture does not support the idea that our motives are more pure the less we are pursuing our own joy. Nope. In fact, according to the Bible, unless we are pursuing our happiness we cannot even come to God: “for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him” (Hebrews 11:6).

God blatantly entices us to seek happiness, joy, pleasure (whatever you want to call it) in him with verses like this: “Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” (Psalm 37:4), and “in his presence is fullness of joy, and at his right hand are pleasures forevermore” (Psalm 16:11). We’re supposed to want pleasure.

Why does God want us to want pleasure? Because it is a crucial indicator. Pleasure is the meter in your heart that measures how valuable, how precious someone or something is to you. Pleasure is the measure of your treasure.

Your treasure is what you love. Your greatest treasure is what you love the most. “For where your treasure is, there your heart [what you love] will be also” (Matthew 6:21). You will never be a true stoic because you can’t help experiencing pleasure in what you treasure. God wired you that way.

Pleasure is the whistleblower of your heart. More than anything else it exposes what you really love. If something sinful gives you pleasure, it’s not a pleasure problem. It’s a treasure problem. Your pleasure mechanism is likely functioning just fine. It’s what you love that’s out of whack. And pleasure is outing you. It’s revealing that, despite what your mouth says and the image you try to project to others, something evil is precious to you. 

That’s what sin is at the root: treasuring evil. Which makes the fight of faith in the Christian life a fight for delight. It’s a fight to believe God’s promises of happiness over the false promises of happiness we hear from the world, our fallen flesh, and the devil. And yes, it often involves denying ourselves pleasure, but only denying ourselves a lesser, viler pleasure in order to have a much higher pleasure (Luke 9:23-25).

So be a full, unashamed, bold Christian Hedonist! Pursue your pleasure in God, the greatest Treasure, with all your heart (Matthew 22:37). “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:21)

In this two minute video, I share about how there are so many things for Nanci and me to be thankful for this year.

Nanci and I have talked about how grateful we are for our family—we have two daughters who are married to godly men, as well as four grandchildren already born and the fifth one on his way. (So that will make five grandsons after raising two daughters!) We’re so grateful for them and their love for Christ.

We are also thankful for the goodness of God. Psalm 106:1 says, “Praise the Lord. Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His love endures forever.”

Romans 8 tells us that nothing can separate us from the love of Christ, no matter how tough life gets. Let’s face it—some people reading this right now are going through the most difficult times of their lives. But no matter how difficult those times are, remember we have eternal life in Christ if we’ve placed our faith in Him, confessed our sins, and embraced Jesus as our Savior and Lord. One day, He will make all things right. One day, in retrospect, we are going to see that He caused all things to work together for good for those who love Him—for us.

So we can be thankful not only for what God is doing in our lives right now, but also for what He promises we will experience for all eternity. There’s nothing better than that! We’re going to spend eternity with Christ, and He is going to wipe away the tears from every eye.

If this Thanksgiving is a cause for great rejoicing for you because it is a wonderful time in your family’s life—or, if it is the toughest Thanksgiving you’ve ever faced and you’re feeling alone and rejected, have financial problems, are suffering from an illness, or perhaps you’ve lost a loved one—remember the promise of Jesus Christ. He will be with you always. And if you love Him, one day you will be with Him forever in a new world where there will be no more pain or suffering.

God bless you, and have a Happy Thanksgiving.

In light of the recent failed Personhood Amendment in Mississippi, the most prolife state in the union, this excellent article by Al Mohler is worth reading.

We’re All Harry Blackmun Now — The Lessons of Mississippi

By Albert Mohler

When voters in Mississippi voted down the human personhood amendment last week, they sent a clear and undeniable message — the pro-life movement is not as pro-life as it thinks it is. The truth is that, even in what may be the most pro-life state in the union, the most basic moral logic of the pro-life movement is not fully embraced or understood.

The voters spoke loudly.  State-wide, 58 percent of voters cast ballots against the amendment. This came after polls had indicated that the amendment, once thought almost certain to pass, was fast losing support among Mississippians in the last days of the campaign.

The idea behind the personhood amendments is clear. Proponents frame the constitutional amendments as a moral statement, as a direct challenge to Roe v. Wade, and as a means of prompting legislation that will defend unborn life. Similar efforts failed twice in Colorado in recent years, but Mississippi looked like a sure thing. The state is already, as one leading pastor there told me, “the safest place in America to be an unborn child.” The state adopted pro-life legislation in the wake of Roe v. Wade, and there is only one abortion clinic in the state. The candidates for governor nominated by both major parties both supported the amendment.

After that, it got more complicated. The Roman Catholic church in Mississippi took the position that its members were not bound to vote for the amendment. Within the pro-life movement, there was a division over the personhood amendment. Some believed the amendment to be the best way of building support for the overthrow of Roe v. Wade. Others believed that an incrementalist approach is wiser, deferring any direct assault on Roe.

Make no mistake, the human personhood amendment is not an incrementalist approach — it is a head-on assault against the logic of Roe v. Wade and the denial of human dignity at every stage of human development.

Read the rest of the article.