We are not always great at often talking to God (at least I’m not!), but I think we are even worse at listening to God. Of course, if we think we can’t hear God’s voice, at least in the figurative sense, why would we listen? Some Christians “hear God” when He is not speaking, and many of us fail to hear Him when He is—and sometimes we manage to do both at the same time. A Case of Selective Hearing I know... Read more
In a discussion with some friends about social media, one of them recently wrote, “It’s so difficult to wade through social media attacks and gang wars. That’s why I can’t bear to be on social media.” I totally understand. Nothing makes me more cynical than listening to cynical people, and even though my cynicism is directed at them, it is still unhealthy. I don’t read much social media, as I tend to be very selective, but as soon as I... Read more
On March 21, I gave a 30-minute chapel message at California Baptist University. They asked me to talk about suffering and Heaven, in light of Nanci’s homegoing, so I shared about Nanci and quoted from her journal. That date I spoke was actually the one-year anniversary of the day our family of 11 gathered around her bed, and Nanci spoke powerfully into our lives. A week later, she went to be with Jesus. After the chapel, I got to visit with... Read more
Philip Yancey tells a modern-day version of the prodigal son, about a girl with a nose ring and an attitude. She rebels against her parents, runs away, and becomes a drug-addicted prostitute in Detroit. The months go by. She sees her face on a milk carton but never bothers to tell her family she’s alive. Then, two years later, she gets sick and desperate. Her pimp throws her out on the street. All other alternatives exhausted, she calls home. She... Read more
In 1 Corinthians 15:17-19, Paul says that if Christ hadn’t risen from the dead, we’d still be in our sins—meaning we’d be bound for Hell, not Heaven: “If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.” He doesn’t just say that if there’s no Heaven, the... Read more
I miss Nanci every day, but I am profoundly thankful for the tremendous example she left me, and the way she mentored me and discipled me as she actively pursued God. She received from Him dying grace so powerful that at times it was startling. What a privilege to have seen it and her close up. In the journal she kept throughout her cancer years, Nanci wrote these reflections about the healing Jesus accomplished on the cross: “But he was... Read more
Martin Luther said, “It is pleasing to the dear God whenever thou rejoicest or laughest from the bottom of thy heart.” And who does that more frequently and sincerely than children? Talking to kids about Heaven was the focus of an interview I did with Greg Laurie, senior pastor of Harvest Christian Fellowship, for his radio program about my book Heaven for Kids. Greg and his wife Cathe certainly get how tough life can be. Years ago, Greg called me after his... Read more
Philip Yancey tells a modern-day version of the prodigal son, about a girl with a nose ring and an attitude. She rebels against her parents, runs away, and becomes a drug-addicted prostitute in Detroit. The months go by. She sees her face on a milk carton but never bothers to tell her family she’s alive. Then, two years later, she gets sick and desperate. Her pimp throws her out on the street. All other alternatives exhausted, she calls home. She... Read more
Through a set of divinely arranged circumstances, years ago I drove home a university professor I’d just met from a theatre parking lot. When we met again several months later, two hours before he came to Christ, he said, “I can’t get past the idea that someone could live a selfish, no-good life, then repent on his death bed and go to Heaven. It just sounds too easy, too cheap.” I challenged his underlying assumption, that we can earn Heaven. We discussed... Read more
I’ve heard people say, “We don’t need more head knowledge in the church today; we need heart knowledge.” But the problem is not that we know too much! By learning with humility and wisdom, the truth in our heads will also be in our hearts. As Lois Tverberg writes in Walking in the Dust of Rabbi Jesus, “The longest 12 inches that your faith has to move is from your head to your heart. And once your faith makes that move, it naturally... Read more
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