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Based on books I’ve read, sermons I’ve heard, and conversations I’ve had, it’s clear many Christians believe that humanity’s desire for happiness was birthed in the fall and is part of the curse. Hence, the desire to be happy is often assumed to be the desire to sin. But what if our desire for happiness was a gift designed by God before sin entered the world?

When I was writing my book Giving Is the Good Life, there were some people of times past I wished I could have interviewed. One of them was Stanley Tam, whom I’d read about years earlier. I contacted a friend who’d known Stanley to find out more about his life. I was shocked by his response: “Want to talk to Stanley on the phone this Saturday?” So to my delight, I spoke with then-102-year-old Stanley Tam. 

I see no conflict or inconsistency in the statements. I believe both of them.

Despite the fact that I finished writing it in 1993, twenty-eight years ago, in the last few months, our ministry has received multiple reader responses to Deadline. I have long believed that the Holy Spirit providentially brings certain books to the fore at certain times, touching many hearts even with older books and sometimes not bestsellers.

When I look at my books in other languages on the shelf, I sometimes marvel at how far God has taken them and what lasting impact there may be even in books which have gone out of print but will fall into someone’s hands at the right time and place in the providence of God.

A reader wrote: "I ran across your blog while researching VidAngel. I’m a Christian, and a mom to seven. I’m thinking VidAngel is an amazing answer for us, in wanting to enjoy so many stories without the smut. But I had a friend ask, 'Aren’t we still supporting those who make movies with all this content we wish to avoid?'"

In January 2021 Randy Alcorn did a presentation for the C.S. Lewis Institute. He looked at Lewis's depiction of Heaven in the Narnia stories, and discussed how that reflects what we see in Scripture.

I’d been a pastor for ten years before I discovered the writings of Charles Spurgeon, and then I couldn’t get enough of him. I enjoyed these writings from Spurgeon on the gospel and Jesus, which I found through the excellent Logos software.

As we learn to give, we draw closer to God. But no matter how far we progress in the grace of giving, Jesus Christ remains the unmatchable giver. It was He who left the wealth of Heaven to make the supreme sacrifice to deliver us from eternal poverty and grant us eternal riches.

My daughters Karina and Angela know my weaknesses and imperfections and when I failed them, sometimes knowing it, but most of the time not knowing. But I hope they also know the depth of my love for them, which is beyond anything I can express. I do recall times of asking their forgiveness for things I said and did, but I’m sure there were other times when I failed to do that. I thank God for His love and forgiveness.

Everything will be glorified, even nature itself. And that seems to me to be the biblical teaching about the eternal state: that what we call heaven is life in this perfect world as God intended humanity to live it. When he put Adam in Paradise at the beginning, Adam fell, and all fell with him, but men and women are meant to live in the body, and will live in a glorified body in a glorified world, and God will be with them.

The book of Hebrews seems to say that we should see Earth as a derivative realm and Heaven as the source realm. If we do, we’ll abandon the assumption that something existing in one realm cannot exist in the other. In fact, we’ll consider it likely that what exists in one realm exists in at least some form in the other. 

I’m often asked for advice on writing. I appreciate Trevin Wax as a brother, and I like his ten favorite quotes on writing. I hope you enjoy them too.

Retired NFL player Benjamin Watson is husband to Kirsten and father of seven precious children. He recently wrote an excellent opinion piece in Newsweek titled “To Address America's Declining Birth Rate, We Need a Culture of Life.”