Are the Ancient Biblical Manuscripts We Have Reliable?

Last updated on: June 28, 2024 at 7:55 am By Randy Alcorn

There are vast numbers of biblical manuscript copies (non-originals) in existence today. Not surprisingly, given the long labors of thousands of scribes, there are variations in them. Mistakes happen today even when we have built in spell-checkers and teams of trained people combing through manuscripts searching for errors. (As an example, I remember a time we found a missing comma in one of my books, which actually changed the meaning of the sentence. It was corrected in the next printing.)... Read more

Oh, That We May Know Our God More Deeply

Last updated on: June 28, 2024 at 7:48 am By Randy Alcorn

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In her journal she kept during her cancer years, Nanci quoted Charles Spurgeon: Oh, that we may know our God—His power, His faithfulness, His immutable love. He is one whose character excites our enthusiasm. Oh, that we may know our God by familiar fellowship with Him. He who comes out fresh from beholding the face of God will never fear. Later she wrote her own reflections: My deepened relationship with God after experiencing difficulties in life—most recently, cancer—can be illustrated... Read more

The Cost of Discipleship Pales in Comparison to Our Gain

Last updated on: June 28, 2024 at 7:43 am By Randy Alcorn

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And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, they must deny themselves, and take up their cross daily and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for My sake, they are the ones who will save it. For what is anyone profited if they gain the whole world, and lose or forfeit themselves?” (Luke 9:23-25) This is arguably the single greatest—and hardest—passage on self-denial... Read more

What Does It Mean That Christ Ransomed Us?

Last updated on: June 28, 2024 at 7:39 am By Randy Alcorn

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Scripture says Christ gave “himself as a ransom for all people” (1 Timothy 2:6, NIV). We “were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot” (1 Peter 1:18-19). Like many biblical terms, such as hope, love, and joy, we have to define what Scripture means by ransom. In most people’s understanding, ransoms are paid by good people, but... Read more

What You Read Builds Who You Are

Last updated on: July 11, 2024 at 8:24 pm By Randy Alcorn

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In God’s common grace, He shares insights even with those who don’t know or trust Him. For example, Oscar Wilde was not a good role model (to say the least). But he spoke these amazingly true words that I have seen confirmed in my life, and Nanci’s, and in the lives of many others: “It is what you read when you don’t have to that determines what you will be when you can’t help it.” Sending Our Roots Deep Every... Read more

Refined by Fire, for God’s Good Purposes

Last updated on: June 15, 2024 at 10:47 am By Randy Alcorn

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God tells us that trials in which evil and suffering come upon us “have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed” (1 Peter 1:7). God refines us in our suffering and graciously explains why: “See, I have refined you, though not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction. For my own... Read more

Right Now, We See the Underside of Life’s Tapestry

Last updated on: June 7, 2024 at 7:48 am By Randy Alcorn

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Ever been to a football game at half time when the band forms words or pictures in the middle of the field? They look great from up in the stands. But have you ever thought about what they look like from the sidelines? Pointless, confusing, apparently meaningless. We see life from the sidelines. God sees it from the stands. As we gain perspective, we leave the sidelines and start working our way up. God’s Higher Perspective Isaiah 55:8 says,... Read more

What If the Church Had a “Looking Forward Day”?

Last updated on: June 7, 2024 at 7:45 am By Randy Alcorn

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We received this thought-provoking letter from a reader named Richard Higby. As you read, consider what it might look like for your family and church to implement his idea of a day celebrating and looking forward to Christ’s return and the coming New Earth. In my book Happiness, I write about how the observances of Christ’s birth and resurrection have been commandeered by our culture and distanced from their true biblical and historical meanings. Rather than abandon these holidays, we can... Read more

How Can Christians Better Respond to Mental Health Issues?

Last updated on: May 31, 2024 at 9:13 pm By Randy Alcorn

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I’ve known a few people with perpetually sunny dispositions, but my own nature is reflective and, at times, melancholic. I’ve experienced seasons of depression, both before and since coming to faith in Christ—some due to my personality type and emotional makeup (and perhaps genetics), some triggered by my long-term physical illness (insulin-dependent diabetes), and some the result of adverse circumstances. When I blogged about my depression some years ago (see here and here), a few people expressed shock that someone who had written about... Read more

God’s Heart for the Elderly and Infirm

Last updated on: May 31, 2024 at 9:09 pm By Randy Alcorn

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One of the many problems facing Western society is that we worship youth and make the elderly disposable. Euthanasia, which is legal in my home state of Oregon, is simply abortion of the elderly, disabled, and terminally ill. The same logic and arguments and appeals to “compassion” and quality of life and financial concerns are used for both. God’s perspective on the elderly is vastly different. He told the Israelites, “You shall stand up before the gray head and honor... Read more