Happy 100, Gordon!

 

Gordon, while serving as a volunteer for the Sheriff's office.  Regrettably, this is the best photo I have of him.  It doesn't capture his abounding laughter.  

February 22, 1926, exactly 100 years ago, Gordon Riffle was born in Chicago.  He has been in heaven for over 20 years now.   

In the early 2000s, we were members of the same church in Camp Verde.  Gordon was a retired pastor.  

In 2005 I requested prayer to grow in sharing the gospel.  Gordon called me on the phone, and said he wanted to teach me to share the gospel.  He asked me come to his house every Tuesday from 3 to 4 PM.  I had taken a couple classes in evangelism, and watched a few Ray Comfort videos.  I went, but inwardly I thought, "I already know how to share the gospel.  I just need to start doing it."   

After just one session with Gordon, I knew I was wrong.   

We met in a tiny little "mancave" in his carport which doubled as his prayer closet and his shop.  He began reading through an old evangelism textbook with me, from his days as a student at Moody Bible Institute.  The book was not slick or salesmanish.  It taught how to use Scripture to explain the gospel and answer objections.  But what made the book come to life was how Gordon illustrated it with personal stories of ev encounters from his decades walking with Christ.   

For example, he told me of one man who kept raising the common objection, "Where did Cain get his wife?"  Gordon finally told him, "When you stand before God on the day of judgment, is that what you're going to say to him?  'I couldn't believe in you because I didn't know where Cain got his wife'?"   

Gordon got me memorizing Scripture.  He gave me a bullet (without pin or powder) and said, "Every Scripture you have memorized is a bullet in your gun" with which to shoot down wrong beliefs.  I kept the bullet in my pocket for years as a reminder. 

Gordon also held me accountable and coached me in actually doing ev regularly.  He showed me to how use restaurants as "fishing holes".   

One day Gordon asked for my help to find the phone number of a waitress from one of the restaurants.  He had witnessed to her and wanted to follow up.  This was back in the day when we still used white pages.  I found a phone number and an address.  She didn't answer the phone, so he decided to go to the address in person.  I thought he was crazy.   Once again it turned out I was wrong.  He went.  She was home.  As a result of that visit, she, her husband, her two daughters, and their husbands came to Christ. 

These hours with Gordon became the highlight of my week, a holy hour in which time stopped.  I sat with a man whose love for Jesus overflowed.      

After about eight months, Gordon had to go in for back surgery.  He told me first, "If I die, please read 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 at my funeral."  He also asked me to preach for him at a chapel service he conducted regularly.   

As it turned out, Gordon did die, on October 31, 2005.  I went that night to a Halloween festival in Sedona (the darkest place available to me), passed out tracts, and talked with people about Jesus.  It was exhilarating.  Gordon had taught me to share the gospel.   

I began leading and preaching regularly at the chapel services that Gordon had led.  Everyone who knew me was amazed.  So was I.  So many fear barriers had been permanently shattered, in just 8 months.   

The point of retelling this story, besides giving praise to Jesus for the life of Gordon, is to encourage you that discipleship is far less complicated and far more powerful than you might think.  Walk with Jesus.  Find one person who wants to grow.  Spend time together regularly in the Word and prayer.  See what God does!

Jesus Wouldn't Write "In His Steps"

One of my favorite books as a young Christian was Charles Sheldon's classic, In His Steps.  This is the book that birthed the whole WWJD movement.  Part of the book's charm is simply the era it was written in, the golden age of American literature.  But also the book portrays a beautiful (though fictional) picture of a church revived, a church trying to follow Jesus seriously in all areas of their lives, even to the point of costly sacrifices.

But then I realized that the book does not contain the gospel.  The idea that Christ died to take the punishment for sinners, and that we must respond by trusting in Christ alone to rescue us from God's wrath, is nowhere to be found in this book.  It contains morals - but no gospel!  It paints Jesus as our example, but not our Savior.  How could I have missed that for so long?  

Further troubling: the characters in the book rarely consult the Bible to learn what did Jesus do.  They seem to just go with their gut to determine "what would Jesus do" in a given situation.  

Then I read Wikipedia's article about Charles Sheldon, the author.  Check it out, it's enlightening, and helps make sense of his gospel-less book.  Sheldon had a desire for the positive transformation of society, but not by people being born again.

Jesus wouldn't write this book.

Don't Underestimate Septuagenarians!

Last week I served as a poll worker at my local polling place.  I was by far the youngest; the average age of the other 5 workers was around 71.

Let me tell you: I was impressed.  People in their 70s can work hard physically.  They can use unusual technology, like electronic voting machines (and teach voters how to use it).  

We put in a 15 hour day on election day, not counting the hours of mandated training and the 2 hours of set up on Monday.  According to my calculations, we each made about half of minimum wage. 

On Monday, there was squabbling among the workers about the proper way to do things.  They all had past experience in different elections, and the procedures had changed slightly.  

On Tuesday, all differences were set aside and we gelled as a team.  Republicans and Democrats worked together flawlessly.

These are the people that our society tells to golf, travel, and watch TV.  

We are squandering a treasure.

Should you deny Christ if it would save lives?

That is the compelling question posed by Shusaku Endo's book, Silence.  The book is a piece of historical fiction set in 17th century Japan, as the Japanese empire seeks to eliminate Christianity from its midst.  Endo, a Japanese Catholic, wrote it not as entertainment but as a vehicle for proposing several complex theological ideas.  The book received commendation from the Vatican.

The main character of the story, a Portuguese Jesuit priest named Rodrigues, is captured by the Japanese authorities.  But rather than simply kill him, they try to induce him to formally renounce Christ by the symbolic action of putting his foot on the head of Jesus on a crucifix (called a fumie).  And rather than simply torturing Rodrigues physically, they torture other Christians and promise Rodrigues that if he tramples on Christ, they will release not only him but the other Christians as well.  They know that if they can get the church leaders like Rodrigues to apostatize, their people will follow.

Another priest, Ferreira, who has already trampled the fumie to save lives, tries to convince Rodrigues to do so also.  He does this first by telling Rodrigues that it's impossible for Japanese people to truly become Christians.  Thus, what's the point of trying to convert them by his example of faith?

"In the churches we built throughout this country, the Japanese were not praying to the Christian God.  They twisted God to their own way of thinking in a way we can never imagine... The Japanese till this day have never had the concept of God; and they never will... The Japanese are not able to think of God completely divorced from man; the Japanese cannot think of an existence that transcends the human.  The Japanese imagine a beautiful, exalted man--and this they call God... But that is not the Church's God." [160-161]

Then Ferreira plays this card:

"Is your way of acting love?  A priest ought to live in imitation of Christ.  If Christ were here... certainly Christ would have apostatized for them [the Christians being tortured]…. For love Christ would have apostatized.  Even if it meant giving up everything he had." [181]

Rodrigues is convinced.  Ferreira encourages him:

"Now you are going to perform the most painful act of love that has ever been performed... Your brethren in the church will judge you as they have judged me.  But there is something more important than the Church, more important than missionary work: what you are now about to do." [182]

Rodrigues raises his foot to trample on the fumie.

"And then the Christ in bronze speaks to the priest.  'Trample!  Trample!  I more than anyone know of the pain in your foot.  Trample!  It was to be trampled on by men that I was born into this world.  It was to share men's pain that I carried my cross.'  The priest placed his foot on the fumie.  Dawn broke.  And far in the distance the cock crew." [183]

This is the climax of the book.  Thus the book argues that it is loving and Christlike to deny Christ, if doing so will save others.

I regard this as a deception straight from hell.  But rather than simply tell you why, I urge you to study the Bible to discover the answers.  In future times of persecution, we ourselves may be faced with the choice between denying Christ and causing others to suffer.  And if that happens, you would not remember an answer I write here, but you will remember the answers you find in God's Word.

May the Lord use this awful book to remind us to pray for Japanese people to come to true faith in Christ.

New Pilgrim's Progress Film Lacks Gospel

John Bunyan's grave in Bunhill Field, London 

Revelation Media has produced an animated film version of John Bunyan's classic book Pilgrim's Progress.  Their goal was great: to produce a missions tool that could be easily translated into many languages.

Sadly, I believe the film almost entirely loses the gospel clarity of the book.  Even secular film adaptations of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe contain more gospel than this film.

But there are three gospel glimmers in the film.

1. The brightest is when Christian's burden falls off and rolls down a hill into an open tomb which looks like the garden tomb in Jerusalem.  A cross (of light, not wood) is at the top of the hill.  Those who understand what these represent could deduce that Christ's death and resurrection free us from guilt.  
2. During his trial in Vanity Fair, Faithful explains that God's blessings cannot be had at any price, except the surrender of the heart to the King's better ways.  
3. When Christian reaches the Celestial City, Christ tells him that His blood protected Christian from Satan as he was dying.  

All of these gospel glimmers are true and Biblical.  They are also incomplete and insufficient.  Many cults agree with all these.  You could embrace everything in the film and still go to hell.  Essential truths of the gospel are absent.  It's tempting to list them.  But I'd rather you learn to discern this for yourself.  If you need help, read Pilgrim's Progress!

The main message that the film conveys is persevere: continue obeying and believing God despite the hardships and temptations of life.  These are essential and Biblical commands.  But these are not the gospel.  Nor are they the central message of the original book.  

My aim here is not to bash this film or its producers, but something larger.  I want to plead with my fellow Christians that in our evangelism we do not lose the evangel itself.  The film is just one example of widespread gospel fuzziness emanating from many churches.  Ironically, in our desire to make the gospel well-known - in striving to make it succinct, relevant, and understandable - we can easily destroy it.

Father, for Your glory, and for the good of the lost, help us get this right.

A Cross That Could Not Save

A few weeks ago, I stood in Thailand looking across a small river.  Myanmar (Burma) was on the other side.

Vendors on my side stood under their portable canopies and attempted to sell raw meat in the 90 degree heat.  A disheveled woman sat on the sidewalk and nursed her baby openly.  Stray dogs (some with sores) wandered lazily.  A few beggars (including children) tried to catch anyone's attention.  Four young children, unaccompanied by adults, happily played a local version of "Duck, Duck, Goose".   Another woman rode by on a bicycle, her face black and blue.

Myanmar, on the other side, looked no less grimy.  Impoverished people come from Myanmar to Thailand for work - and not the other way around.  My friends and I stood looking into Myanmar, and prayed.

"There's a man over there carrying a cross!" one of my friends exclaimed.  We looked.  Sure enough!  It was a cross... or something like a cross?  Maybe about three feet tall.  The top part was short, a bit out of proportion for a cross.  Both poles were covered in some kind of cloth.  The man and a friend walked down the riverbank to the water on the Myanmar side.

Joseph, born in Myanmar, told us, "I think it's some kind of fishing tool."

The men put the "cross" into the water and it started floating downstream.  Then the men started walking back up the hillside.

Click to enlarge.  The cross is just to the right of the men, floating in the water.  You can't see the top part of the cross.

"Oh," Joseph corrected himself.  "It's not a fishing tool.  They put their sins on it and are trying to send their sins away."

Apparently this is a common Buddhist practice.  Transfer your sins to something that floats, take it to the river, and send it away.  These men happened to pick something in the shape of a cross, not knowing that there was another cross that really could take away their sins.

When I told this story to a friend the next day, he told me, "This Buddhist custom can be used as an evangelism bridge.  You can tell a Buddhist that the idea is good, but there are four problems.  The person bringing the float is dirty, the river is dirty, the float has no value, and there is no one to receive the float.  Then you can show how the gospel answers all four problems."

Are you trusting in the cross that can save?  If so, will you go to the people who are trusting in crosses that cannot save, and tell them about Christ?  

The Death of D. L. Moody

 Suddenly he was heard speaking in slow and measured words. He was saying: "Earth recedes; Heaven opens before me." The first impulse was to try to arouse him from what appeared to be a dream. "No, this is no dream, Will," he replied. "It is beautiful. It is like a trance. If this is death, it is sweet. There is no valley here. God is calling me, and I must go." Meanwhile the nurse was summoning the family and the physician, who had spent the night in the house.

Mr. Moody continued to talk quietly, and seemed to speak from another world his last message to the loved ones he was leaving.

"I have always been an ambitious man," he said; "ambitious to leave no wealth or possessions, but to leave lots of work for you to do. Will, you will carry on Mount Hermon. Paul will take up the Seminary, when he is older; Fitt will look after the Institute, and Ambert (his nephew) will help you in the business details." Then it seemed as though he saw beyond the veil, for he exclaimed: "This is my triumph; this is my coronation day! I have been looking forward to it for years." Then his face lit up, and he said, in a voice of joyful rapture: " Dwight! Irene!—I see the children's faces," referring to the two little grandchildren God had taken from his life in the past year. Then, as he thought he was losing consciousness, he said, "Give my love to them all." Turning to his wife, he exclaimed, "Mamma, you have been a good wife to me!" and with that he became unconscious.

For a time it seemed that he had passed on into the unseen world, but slowly he revived, under the effect of heart stimulants, and, suddenly raising himself on his elbow, exclaimed: "What does all this mean? What are you all doing here?" He was told that he had not been well, and immediately it all seemed to be clear to him, and he said:

"This is a strange thing. I have been beyond the gates of death and to the very portals of Heaven, and here I am back again. It is very strange." Again he talked about the work to be done, assigning to the sons the Northfield schools, and to his daughter and her husband the Chicago Bible Institute. ...

To the plea of his daughter that he should not leave them, he said: "I'm not going to throw my life away. I'll stay as long as I can, but if my time is come, I'm ready." ...

A second sinking turn left him exhausted, and he was willing to return to bed, where he remained, quietly awaiting the end, for an hour. To the very last he was thinking of those about him and considering them. Turning to his wife, only a little while before he passed away, he said: " This is hard on you, Mother, and I'm sorry to distress you in this way. It is hard to be kept in such anxiety." The last time the doctor approached to administer the hypodermic injection of nitro-glycerin he looked at him in a questioning and undecided way and said in a perfectly natural voice, "Doctor, I don't know about this. Do you think it best? It is only keeping the family in anxiety."

In a few moments more another sinking turn came, and from it he awoke in the presence of Him whom he loved and served so long and devotedly. It was not like death, for he "fell on sleep" quietly and peacefully. ...

Of that larger life he had spoken in no uncertain way. "Some day you will read in the papers that D. L. Moody, of East Northfield, is dead," he had said. "Don't you believe a word of it! At that moment I shall be more alive than I am now. I shall have gone up higher, that is all—out of this old clay tenement into a house that is immortal; a body that death cannot touch, that sin cannot taint, a body fashioned like unto His glorious body. I was born of the flesh in 1837. I was born of the Spirit in 1856. That which is born of the flesh may die. That which is born of the Spirit will live forever."

-- from The Life of Dwight L. Moody by his son William Revell Moody, pages 552-555. 

When God Wastes Your Life

I've wasted a lot of my life.  But so has God.

I never wanted to waste my life (does anyone?), but as a young Christian I was all thrust and no vector.  John Piper's Don't Waste Your Life showed me better how not to waste it. 

But the book didn't warn me that often God Himself would waste my life.  I chafed when circumstances crafted by God essentially threw away huge chunks of my time.

Why does the same God who said "the harvest is plentiful and the laborers are few" impede the service of the laborers He does have? 

Of course this has happened to other believers also.  Abraham spent years waiting for the promised son.  Job lost his life savings and had to start over.  Moses spent 40 years herding sheep - and another 40 years herding rebels. David used up a lot of time running in the desert.  William Carey lost years' worth of translation work in a fire.  Jim Elliot's widow Elisabeth, who had a vibrant ministry teaching women, spent the last decade of her life with dementia.

We could even think of Jesus' first 30 years on earth.  One recorded conversation from age 12.  The rest, forgotten.

It seems God is so confident of His team's victory that He often puts some of His players on the bench.

If God has left you on the court, don't dribble.  Play with all your might.  But if He has benched you, trust Him. 

"They also serve, who only stand and wait."

The King of Upside-Down

I just "discovered" this poem today.  I had to share it with you.  Please read, then share!  -- Daniel

THE KING OF UPSIDE-DOWN
BY ELIZABETH STUDENROTH

Behold the King without a crown
Who’s turned the whole world upside down!
Now first is last, and last is first,
And cursed is blessed, and blessed is cursed,
And even death can be reversed.

Why have you served the best wine last?
The bridegroom’s come - we cannot fast!
The children see the wisest men
Missing what is plain to them,
And grown-ups must be born again!

The lying cheat is right with God,
The pious man is found a fraud;
The wise are blind while blind men see,
The free are slaves, the slaves are free,
And good things come from Galilee.

The prostitutes have entered in
Before the ones who have no sin.
Now least is most, and most is least,
And five small loaves are quite a feast--
The King has washed His servants’ feet.

Now low is high, and high is low;
The one who’d rise must downward go;
The life that’s lost is life that’s found
And living plants will soon abound
From seeds that died and hit the ground.

The one who’s last receives full pay
The same as him who worked all day,
And mountains jump into the sea
By order of the mustard seed,
And light has dawned in Galilee!

His demands leave us aghast--
The Pharisees must be surpassed!
Our finest cannot pass His test,
And when He’s shredded all our best
He says He wants to give us rest!

We’ll give this king a thorny crown--
We do not want things upside down!
And maybe if we kill Him, then
We can turn them back again,
Where last is last and first is first
And best is best and worst is worst
And blind is blind and we can see
And slaves are slaves and we are free
And dead is dead and tough is tough
For human good is good enough!

Still reigns the King we thought a clown
Who turned the whole world upside down.
He turned on death when He was dead
And now He is alive instead!
He’s blessed the world by being cursed
He gave His best and took our worst
And lived our life and died our death
And loved us to His final breath
And when we thought He’d lost, He won!

Now soon He’ll turn the world around
Until the sky’s below the ground
And shake and shake ‘til all things fly
Off loose and fall into the sky,
And only what was not in vain
And can’t be shaken will remain.
And in that kingdom, He will crown
All who loved Him upside down.

A Poem for My Mother

My Mother

Some mothers like to bake a cake,
Or fry up eggs, or cook a steak.
But for Chinese with hearts that ache
My mother sometimes stays awake.

Some mothers love to shop for shoes
And brave Black Friday’s swarming zoos
And for ten bucks an hour lose.
My mother loves to pray for Jews.

Some moms prefer to preen their hair
And contemplate just what they’ll wear.
But even if she gets a stare,
My mother really doesn’t care.

Some women grab a paperback
Or binge on Netflix’s numbing crack
Or scan the tabloids in the rack.
My mother prays through midnight’s black.

Some ladies like to decorate
And of their house a god create.
But this one knows for heav’n to wait:
My mother fights at Sheol’s gate.

Some dainties dream of Paris trip
And cappuccinos coyly sip
While millions die in Satan’s grip.
My mother won’t let mission slip.

Some mothers only mollify;
Than speak hard truths they’d rather die.
Their kids dump God; they wonder why.
My mother talks like Christ is nigh.

Though all that I have said is true,
If I stop here she’ll run me through.
“Praise Christ, not me!” she’d say to you.
My mother’s God can be yours too!

Meet Cyndi, a Fruitful Single

The Bible says that unmarried Christians can be concerned about the things of the Lord, how they may please the Lord. (1 Corinthians 7:32-35.) But what does this look like in real life?

I got the idea to record a series of short audio interviews with unmarried Christians who are using their singleness fruitfully for the Lord. My hope is that these interviews will help more singles live lives of fruitfulness.

As a test, I am producing 5 interviews, each 15 minutes long, with 5 different Christians. If they prove helpful, I will set up a web site and produce more interviews that will be available to anyone online.

The first interview is with Cyndi, a widow who is using her singleness to disciple younger Christians and serve the mentally impaired. I would greatly appreciate your feedback, both positive and negative. You can find all of the interviews at www.fruitfulsingle.com. 

Also, would you share this message with any unmarried Christians you know?

Pre-order My New Evangelism Clothing and Save!

We have to wear clothes.  We might as well use them for Jesus.

With your help, I’m on a mission to create gospel-focused clothing that Christians will want to wear, and which will impact every non-Christian who sees it.  I had some great conversations with non-Christians as a result of my first shirt (released in 2016).  But I believe my new design will be even more effective.  

Click to zoom. 

If you want something dressier than a T-shirt, no problem: this new design will again be available as a polo shirt.  If it’s too cold to wear short sleeves, no problem: it will also be available as a standard sweat shirt, a quarter-zip “cadet collar” sweatshirt, and a hoodie.  (And if there’s some other style of clothing you’d like to see imprinted let me know!) 

If you pre-order, you’ll get a better price than if you wait until after they’re printed.  If you pre-order, you can also be sure to get exactly the style and color you want.  You can also opt to have only the back printed if you prefer to have a blank front.  

Colors: lots of choices!  Click the links below to view.  Keep in mind that since the text is white and the heart is red, light colored or red clothes will not display the design well. 

Pricing (valid only through March 6):

Tees: $7 each

Polos: $11.25 each

Sweatshirt: $13

Cadet Collar: $20.25

Hoodie: $17

The above prices are for sizes Small to XL

Add $2 per item for 2X, $3 per item for 3X and $4 per item for 4X.

Tax: 6.35% (AZ residents only)

Shipping: a flat $6 within the US, regardless of how many or which kind of items you order.  (If you live locally and can get the shirt(s) from me in person, there is no shipping charge.)

If you want to pre-order, simply email me {daniel at evangelwear dot com} with the quantity, style, size, and color of shirts you want.  You do NOT need to pay now.  But you do need to send me your pre-order by the end of March 6. 

Lastly, let me remind you of the exponential increase in impact that comes when people wear matching clothing at the same time.  Two people entering Safeway wearing the same design catches more eyes than two people wearing designs that don’t match.  So perhaps you might want to get shirts for other members of your family or your church. 

Don't Waste Your Singleness!

If you are an unmarried Christian (whether never married, widowed, or divorced), would you take a few minutes to fill out my short survey?  And please forward this on to other single Christians you know.  Let's use our singleness to full advantage for Jesus!

Are You Like Lu?

"This woman was abounding with deeds of kindness and charity, which she continually did."  Acts 9:36.

My friend Lu went to be with the Lord recently.  You need to meet her.

I met Lu because we both served on a team of volunteer representatives for the Voice of the Martyrs from 2006 to 2012.  Lu was not the most gifted of my teammates, or the strongest.  Besides the normal wear and tear of 70+ years of living, she had more serious health conditions including hepatitis C. But because of her incredible drive, she accomplished more than any of the rest of us. 

When VOM announced that they wanted to find churches willing to host regional conferences around the country, only one of my team decided to take up the challenge: Lu.   She organized a VOM conference at her church in Flagstaff, Arizona (not a metropolis), and 500 people from as far away as Wisconsin showed up.  Lu had intestinal surgery just days before the conference but still was there in person to make sure everything ran smoothy (and it did).  She had things organized down to how many cookies each volunteer needed to bake.

When a church in Southern Arizona asked for a VOM rep to come speak, none of the nearer reps (including myself) could find time.  But Lu drove 5 hours each way, spoke, and so connected with the people that one of them became a rep himself. 

The woman seemed to have only two speeds: gallop and collapse.  When she did collapse, she rebounded quickly, often within hours. 

Some hard workers are stoic or sour.  Not Lu.  She often signed her letters, "Joyfully, Lu".  And joy exuded from her pores.  She loved whatever she did.

Over the years we were together in the same car for at least 5000 miles, not to mention all the hours outside of the car.  We faced all kinds of situations.  Lu reacted to unexpected challenges and opportunities better than many people half her age.  I never saw her afraid.  She had an indomitable confidence in the goodness and sovereignty of God.

I worked with Lu toward the conclusion of her life, a life filled with service to Christ.  Lu and her husband Dick met at Bible college and Dick planned to become a pastor.  But not long after their marriage, meningitis permanently shattered Dick's emotional capacities.  Lu, the "weaker vessel", had to become the strong one in their marriage.  She did this with unusual grace, helping Dick to use his remaining abilities to their fullest.  She was strong in a way that made the men around her better leaders, not weaker.  They went on together to serve support roles in a variety of ministries, including Wycliffe, where they became friends with founder Cam Townsend and went through the jungle training camp in Mexico.

I don't even remember all of the things she did.  She hosted tea parties for girls.  She smuggled Bibles into China.  She loved to pray, and was with me in the most powerful prayer meeting I have ever seen.  She gave her wedding dress to a girl in Pakistan.  She was what a normal Christian is supposed to look like.

Dick and Lu

All of these feats were fueled by a deep, daily love relationship with Jesus.  These were not the works of a woman seeking glory from man or merit from God.  She knew that she did not deserve Christ's love or forgiveness, and it bubbled out of her in everything she did.

Want an 8 minute taste?   Here's her VOM "retirement" speech from 2012.

Justifying Our Luxury

A few days ago I discovered the following videos.

In the first, TV preacher Kenneth Copeland takes possession of a new jet for his ministry.  (They still are trying to raise another $2.5 million for upgrades.)

The second video shows Copeland and another preacher (who also has a jet) discussing why they "need" a jet for their ministries. 

The videos are sickening, but I don't share them here to bash prosperity preachers.  Hopefully you are discerning enough to already know that these men are preaching a false gospel.  Rather, I share these videos in order to ask whether we ourselves are guilty of using similar rationales in justifying luxury in our own lives, on a smaller scale. 

As Christians, we claim to follow a Man who didn't even own a pillow, and to respect an apostle who wrote 1 Corinthians while hungry and homeless.  I am not advocating a vow of poverty or financial asceticism.  I'm suggesting that we re-examine our reasons for believing we need the things we buy. 

Writing a Reluctant Robber

Periodically I get fraudulent emails.  Perhaps you do too.  Since I have an online business, these often take the form of requests to buy large quantities of products I sell.  I sometimes write back to the scammer to tell the scammer:

Due to the 99% chance that you are engaging in criminal activity (theft), we have no desire to do business with you.  However, I do desire that God bless you.  If you are indeed, as I suspect, a thief and a liar, please, give up your wickedness.  Jesus will take away your bad heart and give you a new, good heart if you will allow Him.  Please read a Bible and find Jesus before it is too late.  All thieves and liars will go to hell.  (Revelation 21:8).  I don’t want that to happen to you.

But yesterday, a scammer wrote back!  He said:

Thank you.  I was touched by your message.  Not doing this intentionally but i must live. I pray may God forgive me. If really you want me to stop let me know how you could help me finacially. Then i will promise you to you to stop.

What do you say to a guy in that situation?  Most likely he's an educated but unemployed young man in Ghana or Nigeria.  Here's what I told him:

Thank you for writing back.  I'm sure that your life is very difficult, and I am truly sorry.  What I have to say to you will sound harsh.  But please read this.  I say this because I do truly care about you. 

You said, "I must live".  You are right.  But the problem is, you are thinking of the small life.  You are not thinking about the big life.  As long as you think wrong, you will continue to sin.  Your small life is your life right now.  Even if you received 1 billion dollars right now, you probably would still only live to be 90 years old.  Then you would die.  Your big life is your life after you die.  The big life never ends.  You will spend your big life either in heaven or in hell.  After you die, you can never change your location.  You will either be in hell forever or in heaven forever.  After 10 billion years, you will still not be able to change your location. 

You think "I must live".  But you are sacrificing heaven in the big life to gain a few more dollars in the small life.  Jesus said, "How is a man profited if he gains the whole world, but loses his soul?" 

You said, "I am not doing this intentionally."  You are wrong.  You are doing this intentionally.  You don't like it; you feel guilty about it; you know it's wrong.  But you are destroying your relationship with God so that you can earn a few more dollars.  This is a choice you are intentionally making. 

With Jesus' help, you can choose differently.  Stop your stealing right now.  Yes, I mean right now.  This minute.  Cry out to Jesus to save you and make you a new person.  Contact the people you have lied to and stolen from.  Confess your sins to them.  Tell them you will repay the money you have stolen, when you are able.  Then you can have a clean conscience to ask God to provide for your needs. 

God may choose to provide food for you.  Or He may let you starve to death.  But even if your life ends at age 22 of starvation, it is only your small life.  Better to die at 22 and go to heaven, than to live to 92 and go to hell.  Jesus said, "He who saves his life will lose it.  But he who loses his life for My sake and the gospel will save it." 

Father God, you know "Mark's" real name.  Please help him to trust You.  To believe that You are good.  To trust that it is better to follow You and die, than to disobey You and live.  Give him the gifts of faith and repentance.  Bring glory to Yourself through his life.  For Jesus' sake, amen! 

 Do you have any other suggestions?  What would you say to a person in "Mark's" situation?

"Pretend" You're a Missionary!

Many professing Christians have the very bad notion that only a few are called to be missionaries.  But the Great Commission was given to all of us.  Stop waiting for a "call" -- you've already got one.

If you were a missionary, what would you do?

• Seek training to improve your evangelism and discipleship skills.
• Seize opportunities around you to evangelize and disciple.  No matter where you are, opportunities are all around you.   
• Look for other "missionaries" in your area that you can collaborate with.  (Hint: hopefully your church.) 
• Ask your friends to become prayer supporters.
• Send them regular updates on how to pray for you (and how their prayers are being answered).  Personally, I send out a prayer update email about once a week to friends who pray for me and my family.
• Periodically evaluate whether you should move to a new area where there are fewer missionaries.      

Hey, those are things that all Christians should be doing!  Start today!

Unhappy with Happiness

I think I've become a grinch.  How could anyone dislike a book called Happiness, particularly when the author is Randy Alcorn?  What makes my discomfort even weirder is that I agree with almost everything in the book.  No matter how hard I try to pin down my objections, they remain just out of sight, like tiny splinters in your finger that you sense only when you brush your hand a certain way on your pants.

Happiness is long, and massively researched.  Much the same as he did with Heaven, Alcorn has written a definitive work on the subject.  In some ways I found the length exhausting; I did not require as much proof and nuance as Alcorn provides.  But for people more critical of his main points, perhaps the additional documentation would be helpful.  And I know that for people in the midst of depression, long books with short chapters (like this one) can be a wonderful source of warmth and encouragement.

Much of the length is due to quotes from other authors' writings about happiness.  Many of these are from Puritans, my favorite genre!

I like Alcorn's main message, which is that "God wants you to be holy, not happy" creates a false and dangerous dichotomy.  When we attempt to obey God out of duty, and think that affections for God are unnecessary, we are on the track for moral collapse.  We must and we can find supreme happiness in Jesus. 

But in his attempt to encourage Christians to become a people known for happiness, I fear that Alcorn spends too much energy encouraging them to pursue happiness through what I regard as side-eddies, rather than heading straight for the Fountain.  Why spend so much ink trying to find Biblical evidence that Jesus laughed, that God is playful, that we might ride bicycles in heaven, when God's grander joys are clearly laid out for us in Scripture?

He quotes with approval from Robert Hotchkins:

"[Christians] ought to be preoccupied with parties, banquets, feasts, and merriment.  We ought to give ourselves over to celebrations of joy because we have been liberated from the fear of life and the fear of death."  (102)  It is the word preoccupied in that paragraph which I particularly take issue with.  It seems to leave no room for fasting, for sobriety, for warfare, which will also all be a part of the Christian's life until Christ's return.

On the same page, Alcorn himself suggests:

"A feast of Saint Francis, in which churches invite the community to celebrate animals in a way that's God honoring, not pantheistic, could be a joyful and powerful outreach to people who otherwise would never connect with a church."  (102)

The attempts to find reason to believe pets will be restored to us in heaven comes up again:

"We needn't be embarrassed either to grieve the loss of our pets or to want to see them again.  If we believe God created them, that he loves us and them, and that he intends to restores his creatures from the bondage they experienced because of our sin, then we have biblical grounds for not only wanting but expecting we may be happy with them again on the New Earth."  (404-405)

I could cite more examples, but it would be tedious for both you and me.

In summary, Alcorn's book combined some beautiful truths in an imbalanced package, which made it impossible for me to truly enjoy.  The reader must keep his tweezers ever present.  If you want to read a book that will truly stoke your happiness with massive, grand truths, I recommend John Piper's The Pleasures of God.

Need Counseling?

I am pursuing certification as a Biblical counselor through the Association of Certified Biblical Counselors.  Praise God, I just passed my exams and now there is only one hurdle left: completing 50 hours of supervised counseling.

If you know anyone who might be interested in receiving Biblical counseling, feel free to pass on my contact info to them.

• No problem is too big or too small.  Anything from anxiety or abuse.
• If the counselee is a woman, I will have another woman sit in on the counseling session.
• The sessions can be conducted in person or via Skype video call.
• There is no cost or fee whatsoever.

To learn more about what Biblical counseling is, click here.

Don't Waste Your Corpse

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Unless Jesus returns first, one day your body will be a corpse.  Have you considered how you can best use yours for the glory of God?  Here are three ideas.

1. Seek to let your death be seen.
Although 150,000 people die every day, I have never been present when a person died.  We have become adept at avoiding death, which is perhaps one reason we do not know how to live.  In the old days, people would die at home, with young children around, often with opportunity to speak long and touching last words.  Christian, what better way to show people that Jesus is truly faithful, than by letting them see how you die? 

2. Have an open casket funeral, with pallbearers. 
I can count on one hand the number of times I have seen a human corpse in person -- and most of these times, it was a human corpse artificially beautified by a mortician.  Even during my lifetime, I've seen open casket funerals plummet in popularity.  This is a tragedy.  Staring into the face of a corpse for five seconds or carrying a coffin for five feet teaches more about the brevity of life than five hours of the finest sermons.  

3. Opt for burial, rather than cremation, if you can.
Cremation comes from the Hindu belief in reincarnation.  Burial is rooted in the Christian belief in the resurrection of the body.  Of course if we die in a fire or are eaten by sharks, our bodies will still be resurrected; physical congruity in the grave is not necessary for reconstruction of our new bodies.  Burial is a symbolic gesture, showing Christians believe that there will be continuity between the body we have now, and the glorified body we'll receive at the resurrection. But burials are dying, in part due to the government-backed funeral industry cartel making full burials so much more expensive than cremations.  So you'll need to weigh the costs of both options.