Earlier this year, our dear friend Sharon Misenhimer retired from Eternal Perspective Ministries. Her impact on this ministry has been far reaching. When I started EPM in 1990, I never anticipated God would use our organization to reach so many prisoners with the gospel or help disciple believers in prison. The key to this vital part of our ministry has been Sharon. With her great heart for prisoners, for many years she has handled their correspondence and sent requested books... Read more
You can also listen to the audio version of this blog. The Pharisees, God’s self-appointed gatekeepers, never emphasized grace. Christ’s hearers had seen truth in the law of Moses, but it was Christ who gave them their first clear view of grace. The law could only reveal sin. Jesus could remove it. Some churches today embrace truth but need a heavy dose of grace. Other churches talk about grace but cry out for a heavy dose of truth. Some time ago, I... Read more
The following is an edited transcript of my interview with Tony Reinke, who invited me to be a guest on Desiring God’s “Ask Pastor John” podcast a few years ago. You can also listen to the audio. Tony Reinke: We’re joined again by author and speaker Randy Alcorn, sitting in this week for John Piper. We’re calling it Heaven Week. In Monday’s episode, Randy, you said this: “If there’s a New Jerusalem, why not a New Los Angeles, why not a New Chicago, why not... Read more
In my books and on my blog, I’ve written about the happiness of God. But some might ask, “Humans who are happy with themselves are often considered arrogant and self-obsessed. So how can it be a compliment to say that God is happy with Himself?” For a time, C. S. Lewis struggled with God’s demand that we praise Him and give Him glory. Eventually Lewis realized that he’d misunderstood the truth: The most obvious fact about praise—whether of God or anything—strangely escaped... Read more
For years, when my daughters were young and I was a pastor, I lived under the tyranny of the telephone. I treated the ringing of the phone as a divine mandate, and I missed too many dinners and bedtime prayers with my daughters because of that phone—no, actually because of my choice to answer the phone. Finally I discovered something that changed my life: phone calls are seldom from Mt. Sinai. There are few true emergencies and it won’t hurt... Read more
Ancient theologians often spoke of the “beatific vision.” The term comes from three Latin words that together mean “a happy-making sight.” The sight they spoke of was God. To see God’s face is the loftiest of all aspirations. But sadly, for most of us, it’s not at the top of our list of desires. Wayne Grudem writes in his Systematic Theology: When we look into the face of our Lord and he looks back at us with infinite love, we will... Read more
The idea that we should seek the giver, not the gift, has truth behind it, but it can be misleading. Suppose I said to my wife, “Nanci, I love you. Therefore I will not love the meals you cook, the books you gave me, the Christmas presents from you, or the vacation we went on.” Would that make any sense? No. If I love gifts and vacation more than I love Nanci, that would obviously be wrong. But as long... Read more
Each phase of life is different, with its own challenges but also its own rewards. The way to contentment is to trust God’s purposes in our present circumstances. For many of us, there’s major uncertainty about where we will be or what we will be doing a few months from now or even tomorrow. Contentment must be learned. God is our teacher and source of contentment: “I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it... Read more
When I was a brand new Christian in 1969 I heard the story of the five missionary martyrs in Ecuador. It had a powerful effect on my life, one that has never diminished. Some years ago Steve Saint (Nate Saint’s son) and I became friends. He came to my home church within a week of the 50th anniversary of the death of those missionaries, and I interviewed him and Mincaye, the former warrior who speared to death both Nate Saint and Ed... Read more
The warfare against demonic powers depicted in Scripture is very real. But though unrighteous angels can fight God, they cannot overpower Him: And there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to... Read more
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