Resources by Topic: Christian Life

In part two of this two part video interview, I sit down with Jason, a young pastor I just met, and we discuss some questions he has about ministry, including how to jump in now and serve the Lord while also setting aside time to grow in wisdom and understanding.

In part one of this two part video interview, I sit down with Jason, a young pastor I just met, and we discuss some questions he has about ministry.

Well, it sounds like there are only two options, hope and destruction. Let me say this: will the world come to an end someday? Yes. The world as it presently is, we’re told in 2 Peter 3, will face a final judgment. 

John Donne wrote, “As he that fears God, fears nothing else. So he that sees God, sees everything else.”

Brandon Andersen with The Resurgence has written great advice to men on relationships. Here's a summary of his article with some of his quotes in italics, and then my own thoughts added in.

A. W. Tozer said, “Nothing less than a whole Bible can make a full Christian.” I think God has revealed to us what Scripture calls the whole counsel of God.

Like a parent, God delights to reward His children for what they have done. Randy Alcorn asserts that to want reward is not a selfish thing. He clarifies that selfishness is wanting something at the expense of another, but God's rewards are not limited, so for one person to receive ongoing rewards does not diminish the rewards available to another person. In God's system, everyone gains and no one loses. This video clip was excerpted from Randy's Eternity 101 DVD class.

Blaise Pascal said that, like a dethroned monarch who craves for the influence he or she lost, we often feel a similar impotence to accomplish great things for God. Though the fall has diminished our ability to accomplish as much as may want to, we don't have to wait for heaven to operate within a God given sphere of influence. Randy Alcorn reminds us that God has given us a sphere of influence and we should serve Him faithfully in it. This video clip was excerpted from Randy's Eternity 101 DVD class.

Our human culture has often been in direct opposition to God. But does it have to be? Randy Alcorn quotes Eric Sauer who posits that cultural achievements (inventions and discoveries, science and art, etc.) can be part of our God-given directive to take dominion over the earth. This video clip was excerpted from Randy's Eternity 101 DVD class.

Randy Alcorn asserts that "true riches" are people who are put under our care. In this clip he encourages us to serve God faithfully in the sphere of influence that He has give us. Randy also quotes Dallas Willard who addresses our involvement as a creative influence of the universe as God's apprentices. This video clip was excerpted from Randy's Eternity 101 DVD class.

What's wrong with rewards? Nothing. Randy Alcorn emphasizes that if rewards were our idea, there would be a problem. But God chose to give us rewards and Scripture tells us so repeatedly. Because works don't achieve our salvation we have deminished the delight that our service to God brings Him. This video clip was excerpted from Randy's Eternity 101 DVD class.

Is it simply just our job to serve God? Is He delighted by us merely doing our duty to Him? Randy Alcorn uses a family illustration to show that it is not the moral high ground to reject God's rewards and serve Him just out of a sense of duty. Though we shouldn't demand rewards of God, we should delight to receive what He chooses to give us. This video clip was excerpted from Randy's Eternity 101 DVD class.

Question from a reader: What is Randy's take on a Christian being vegan? I've seen some pretty horrible things considering animals at the slaughter. I'm curious to know what he thinks from an eternal perspective. 

The answer is yes and no, and it depends on whose approval we’re seeking.