Kirk Cousins, Focus on the Family, and How God Uses Opposition to Spread the Truth

Last updated on: December 8, 2023 at 3:14 pm By Randy Alcorn

Kirk Cousins, quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings, and former QB of the Washington Redskins, is a faithful and Christ-centered brother. We’ve gotten to know each other well over the last seven years, seeing each other once or twice a year and often texting. Several years back Nanci and I spent three days with Kirk and his wonderful wife Julie in their home and saw up close their hearts and character. (Here’s a Q&A I did with Kirk on Heaven, happiness, and generosity.) Those who have seen... Read more

What Changed Scrooge?

Last updated on: December 27, 2022 at 1:38 pm By Randy Alcorn

When the classic Dickens story A Christmas Carol begins, we meet Ebenezer Scrooge. This wealthy miser is caustic, complaining, horrendously greedy . . . and profoundly unhappy. (His life illustrates how the word miser is connected with miserable.) Scrooge’s loyal, joyful nephew says of his stingy uncle, “His offences carry their own punishment, and I have nothing to say against him. . . . Who suffers by his ill whims? Himself, always.” After a radical transformation from his three visions, Scrooge walks through the streets... Read more

The Best Part of Christmas Is Immanuel, “God with Us”

Last updated on: December 27, 2022 at 1:29 pm By Randy Alcorn

In the Old Testament, we read how God kept reaching down to His people: “The Lord…sent word to them through his messengers again and again, because he had pity on his people…But they mocked God’s messengers, despised his words and scoffed at his prophets” (2 Chronicles 36:15-16). The prophets foretold the coming of Messiah. Yet centuries of oppression and suffering passed, and many lost hope. In every generation there were people like Simeon and Anna who longed for and prayed for... Read more

A 7-Year-Old Reader’s Letter Reminds Us of the Heart of Giving and Making Eternal Investments in Others’ Lives

Last updated on: December 27, 2022 at 1:47 pm By Randy Alcorn

Recently our ministry got a letter in the mail from a 7-year-old reader. She wrote, “To Randy Alcorn: thank you for the book Heaven for Kids. I learned so much! It encouraged me to help others, like bring people lemon juice, and give missionaries money, and send this letter to you! I could never think of all that. It also helped me learn lots of other things! Thanks again! P.S. I’m getting Heaven also from the library.” Her note is precious beyond words!... Read more

Can Focusing on Heaven Become an Idol?

Last updated on: November 28, 2022 at 10:16 pm By Randy Alcorn

If our perspective shifts from Christ, we can idolize anything—including our own incorrect views of Heaven. Some people today write about angels and Heaven, but they completely leave out God (or paint a false picture of Him). I think a perfect example is Mitch Albom’s book The Five People We Meet in Heaven. I read that book and thought, there’s nothing about God! Heaven is the dwelling place of God, and Mitch Albom doesn’t even mention Him. How tragic—only talking about ourselves is... Read more

The Inn Had No Room; Does Your Heart?

Last updated on: December 18, 2022 at 8:48 pm By Randy Alcorn

“Mary gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn” (Luke 2:7 NRSV). Paul Tripp, in Come Let Us Adore Him, writes that “the Christmas story; rather, the entire redemptive story hinges on one thing—the eternal willingness of Jesus.” He says: Without his willingness, you and I would be without hope and without God. Without his willingness, we would be left... Read more

What Child Is This?

Last updated on: December 18, 2022 at 8:37 pm By Randy Alcorn

The angels must have been stunned to see the second member of the triune God become a human being! The baby of Bethlehem was Creator of the universe, pitching His tent on the humble camping ground of our little planet. God’s glory now dwelt in Christ. He was the Holy of holies. People had only to look at Jesus to see God. When we look at the life of Jesus, we see something unparalleled in all human history. As a... Read more

Gratitude Coupled with Humble Service Multiples Happiness

Last updated on: November 14, 2022 at 9:51 pm By Randy Alcorn

Dennis Prager writes, “We tend to think that it is being unhappy that leads people to complain, but it is truer to say that it is complaining that leads to people becoming unhappy. Become grateful and you will become a much happier person.” When possible, we should take positive action to right what’s wrong. But when we complain about circumstances beyond our control, we’re telling God, “You don’t know what you’re doing; I know better than you.” If you’ve recently... Read more

Whose Life Have You Touched—and Who Has Touched Your Life—That You Won’t Discover Until Eternity?

Last updated on: December 18, 2022 at 8:46 pm By Randy Alcorn

One of our EPM staff was going through the junk folder for messages sent to my Facebook page, because sometimes what is screened out as spam or other junk shouldn’t have been! She came across this treasure of a message sent several months ago: Dear Mr. Alcorn, I am reading through your book Deadline for probably the 7th time since my mom first read it to me as a young teenager back in the day. I am 36 now, the mom of four... Read more

A Season of Many Firsts without Nanci by My Side

Last updated on: December 18, 2022 at 8:25 pm By Randy Alcorn

This is a year of “firsts,” that is, the first of many things without Nanci by my side. These weeks have included three of the very hardest firsts, followed quickly by Christmas and New Year’s. Then there will be Valentine’s Day, and March 28, the day of Nanci’s homegoing, where in God’s providence our whole family will hopefully be all together, for the first time since her memorial service, May 15. Last month was my first Thanksgiving without Nanci since... Read more