Several years ago, a friend and I were driving through a neighborhood on a beautiful summer day and he said, “We haven’t seen a single kid outdoors. They’re all inside, watching movies, playing video games and looking at computer screens.” Nanci and I have talked about how when we were growing up, free time when it was daylight meant being outside, and free time at night meant reading a book. I have great memories of playing army in the wheat... Read more
Years ago when I was working on my book Heaven, a pastor visiting my office asked what I was writing. When I told him, he replied, “Well, since Scripture says ‘No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him,’ what will you be talking about? Obviously, we can’t know what God has prepared for us in Heaven.” (He was referring to 1 Corinthians 2:9.) I said to him what I always... Read more
Over the years, I’ve observed some Christians who are perpetually somber, never laughing or poking fun at themselves, rarely celebrating, and quick to frown when they see someone having fun. They believe that happiness is ungodliness, and that having fun is a sin. It’s not! Though his portrait shows a somber expression, German Reformer Martin Luther (1483–1546) said, “It is pleasing to the dear God whenever thou rejoicest or laughest from the bottom of thy heart.”[i] As believers, we need... Read more
In an 1847 letter to his father, Scottish author George Macdonald (1824–1905) wrote of the barriers he faced in turning to Christ: One of my greatest difficulties in consenting to think of religion was that I thought I should have to give up my beautiful thoughts & my love for the things God has made. But I find that the happiness springing from all things not in themselves sinful is much increased by religion. God is the God of the... Read more
Augustine said, “By hearing Thee I am happy; because of Thy voice I am happy.”[i] There’s no place we can go to hear God speak authoritatively, to hear His voice with complete confidence, other than the Bible itself. When we’re right with God, we’re delighted with His words, because they’re an extension of Himself—His majesty, His beauty, and His happiness. “The law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul. . . . The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing... Read more
Since we’ll inevitably seek what we believe will bring us happiness, what subject is more important than the source of happiness? Just as we’ll live a wealth-centered life if we believe wealth brings happiness, so we’ll live a God-centered life if we believe God will bring us happiness. No one shops for milk at an auto parts store or seeks happiness from a cranky God. As much as I believe in the holiness of God, I also believe highlighting God’s... Read more
Based on the books I’ve read, the sermons I’ve heard, and the conversations I’ve had, I’m convinced that many Christians believe our desire for happiness was birthed in humanity’s fall. But what if our desire for happiness comes from God? What if He wired His image bearers for happiness before sin entered the world? How might this perspective change our approach to life, parenting, church, ministry, business, sports, and entertainment? Augustine asked rhetorically, “Is not a happy life the thing... Read more
The more holdings we have on earth, the more likely we are to forget that we’re citizens of another world, not this one, and that our inheritance lies there, not here. The Levites had no earthly inheritance, because God himself was their inheritance (Deuteronomy 18:1-2). Christians have been told that we are “a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God” (1 Peter 2:9). The priests had no earthly inheritance, and neither do we of... Read more
The major Christian creeds state, “I believe in the resurrection of the body.” But I’ve found in many conversations that Christians tend to spiritualize the resurrection of the dead, effectively denying it. They don’t reject it as a doctrine, but they deny its essential meaning: a permanent return to a physical existence in a physical universe—living forever with resurrected bodies alongside the resurrected Christ and resurrected people on a resurrected earth! When God sent Jesus to die, it was for... Read more
I promised myself I wouldn’t endorse any presidential candidate in 2016. I’m sticking with that. But I never would have believed I’d have to write what I feel the Lord compelling me to. (This isn’t to blame God for everything I say!) This is WAY longer than my normal blogs, three times longer, but I don’t want to follow up with another, so this is all of it. Four years ago I wrote seven election related blogs; not this time.... Read more
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