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... Read more
Over the years, I’ve been asked by readers about whether God’s future restoration of creation means that “undesirable” and “unpleasant” animals like rodents (such as rats) and insects (such as mosquitoes or spiders) will be present in Heaven. As one reader candidly wrote, “That sure wouldn’t be Heaven for me!” But asking how rats and spiders and insects could possibly be on the New Earth is like asking how they possibly could have been in Eden. The point is, they... Read more
The New Testament repeatedly affirms God’s love, through Christ, to His people. With amazement, John writes, “How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!” (1 John 3:1; see also 4:16). If ever exclamation marks were justified in a translation, surely they are here. “God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us” (Romans 5:5; see also... Read more
Many years ago, when we spoke at the same prolife event, I met and conversed with former abortionist Bernard Nathanson (1926-2011). At the time he still had no faith in God, though he later became a Catholic. Dr. Nathanson was a cofounder of what is now the National Abortion Rights Action League (NARAL). He owned and operated what was at the time the largest abortion clinic in the western hemisphere and was directly involved in over sixty thousand abortions. Dr. Nathanson’s study of... Read more
Martyn Lloyd-Jones said, “It is not a true gospel that gives us the impression the Christian life is easy, and that there are no problems to be faced.” The true gospel is about Jesus, and therefore a gospel that’s about health and wealth is a false gospel. Part of Jesus’ gospel is the promise of eternal life, guaranteed by Christ’s resurrection. That life includes everlasting health and wealth. That is Good News! I recently read the following in Russell Moore’s book Onward: Engaging the Culture... Read more
Today’s blog is excerpted from my book Heaven for Kids. It was a blast writing it—one of the things I loved doing was including a bunch of material from The Chronicles of Narnia, more than was in the big Heaven book. And by the way, if my big Heaven book seems too heavy for you, or if 50 Days of Heaven is too devotional, consider this: there’s a church in Florida in which the men’s ministry read and studied Heaven for Kids! Clothes are important to us. What do you... Read more
Since it made national headlines, many of those both inside and outside the church are familiar with the story of Jarrid Wilson, the vibrant, passionate, Jesus-loving, 30-year-old associate pastor at Harvest Christian Fellowship in Riverside, California who took his life. That happened on September 9, the day before Suicide Awareness Day (September 10). He left behind his wife, Juli, and two young sons. Over the years I’ve spoken at Harvest four times with my good friend Greg Laurie, at both... Read more
I don’t talk about our ministry on my blog much. But God is doing remarkable things through Eternal Perspective Ministries, and every once in a while, I believe there’s value in sharing with others the glimpses that God has graciously given us of His work through EPM. I often tell people who support EPM that they have had a direct hand in helping us fund missions, sponsor prolife causes, and feed the hungry. That’s because those who give to our... Read more
You can also listen to the audio version of this blog. Throughout the ages, Heaven has played a dominant role in the thoughts and lives of God’s people. Heaven is the North Star by which countless Christians have navigated their lives. But have you noticed? Heaven today has largely fallen off our radar screens. If we are honest, we must admit that we are not daily and consciously looking forward to Heaven, much less to a New Earth. We’ve reduced Heaven to... Read more
Some readers will remember that several years ago some Christians were very offended that Starbucks used plain red cups at Christmas time, instead of saying “Merry Christmas” on them and using a more festive design. It was even called by some the “Starbucks War on Christmas,” leading some people to call for a boycott. (I like how Ed Stetzer responded: “It’s not Starbucks’ job to share the love of Jesus. It’s your job.”) This “controversy” is long past now, but it... Read more
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In