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In this clip from a Q&A at an illumiNations gathering, Randy Alcorn discusses the power God’s Word has to change hearts, and the role it has played in his personal life.  

Randy joins a conversation with Stephan Tchividjian and Morgan Jackson at a gathering of illumiNations partners (Bible translation and resource partners working together to eradicate Bible poverty in this generation). They cover topics such as the power of God’s Word (both at home and abroad), the problem of suffering, and the hope of the New Earth.

Tragically, many people do not find their joy in Christ and Heaven. In fact, many people find no joy at all when they think about Heaven. A pastor once confessed to me, “Whenever I think about Heaven, it makes me depressed. I’d rather just cease to exist when I die.”

When we’re in Heaven, without sin, it won’t be hard to remember that Jesus is the source of every good thing, including reunion with loved ones. And here and now, we can pray, telling Jesus how much we long for that reunion, and sharing our deepest longings, hopes, and hurts with Him.

I first posted about “the problem of goodness” on my blog 14 years ago, but it is still relevant to conversations I’m having today with others (nothing has changed other than the fact that I am 14 years older!). People always talk about the problem of evil, and how it threatens the Christian worldview, but they almost never talk about the problem of goodness and how it threatens non-Christian worldviews.

As always, we welcome comments and feedback from readers, including those who disagree with my blogs! But I wanted to share these comments anonymously because they represent many who are struggling with this way of thinking about happiness, which is common.

Imagining that God should let us run life our way sets us up to resent God and even “lose our faith” when our lives don’t go as we want. However, that’s a faith we should lose—to be replaced with faith in the God of sovereign grace who doesn’t keep us from all difficulties but promises to be with us in all difficulties.

A year ago, I got a phone call from Operation Mobilization, an organization Nanci and I have loved for years. They asked how I felt about their naming the ship library on Logos Hope after Nanci. I was, of course, honored, and knew Nanci would be, because we absolutely loved our visit to the ship six years ago, when it was docked in Jamaica.

Randy spoke to a gathering of illumiNations partners (Bible translation and resource partners working together to eradicate Bible poverty in this generation). He shared about the gift of generous giving, as well as Revelation 5:9 and the hope of God’s Word reaching people of every tribe and language and nation.

This is a great article from Scott Hubbard, editor for Desiring God. As he points out, God wants us to know His will. Because He loves us, He gives us His Word, the Road Map, so we don’t have to grope in darkness. The Bible is the revealed will of God. If we want to live in His will, then we should “Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly” (Colossians 3:16). 

Sex as God intended—in marriage, between a man and a woman—is a pleasure to be celebrated (see Proverbs 5:15-19). Sex outside of marriage brings serious negative consequences—emotional, physical, and spiritual. Promising long-term pleasure it can’t deliver, addiction to sex and pornography enslave and degrade everyone involved.

Before she died, weary of the struggle, Nanci squeezed my hand and said, “Randy, please take me Home.” I said, “If I could, I would take you Home right now. And I would never come back to this world the way it is.” God promises we will in fact come back to this world, but NOT to the way it is now. He will bring us down to a New Earth, a resurrected planet with no more sin, no more death, no more suffering, no more weeping.

Your awareness of the owners/influences of The Epoch Times places it in the same realm we should place any media source: one we need to analyze carefully, using the “grid” of God's Word and His truth. 

Decades ago, I connected with Kevin Hartnett, who worked at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center for 40 years, retiring as a Science Operations Manager for the Hubble Space Telescope. Kevin is not only an accomplished scientist, but an amateur astronomer and astro-photographer. I hope you enjoy this great article.