Resources by Topic: Christian Life

Randy Alcorn gave a message at Rise City Church in Gresham, Oregon about the theology of Heaven and the New Earth. He shared the good news that hope is found in an eternal life of “God with us.” The painful life under the curse on this present Earth is contrasted with the redeemed life we were intended for on the New Earth. Earth’s greatest days, as well as our own, are yet to come.  

It sounds like you are aware that living together without a covenant marriage commitment goes against what God tells us is His will for us and you are concerned about the consequences of continuing to live together. 

Inevitable questions about biblical forgiveness arise. Does forgiveness imply we ignore issues of justice and restitution? Does forgiveness absolve the guilt of the perpetrator? Does forgiveness imply reconciliation?

In this clip from a Q&A at an illumiNations gathering, Randy answers the question, “What would you like to be able to tell your younger self?” He talks about learning to say no in order to say yes to God, and about not listening to the voices telling you to avoid being radical in your service to the Lord.

In this clip from a Q&A at an illumiNations gathering, Randy Alcorn talks about listening to the Bible on audio as part of his personal devotions.

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.  

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). 

Scripture tells us it is God’s will that we be filled with and controlled by His Holy Spirit (Ephesians 5:17-18). What does that mean? My friend Kurt Nelson explains more in this excerpt from his book.

I love this article by Greg Morse, staff writer for Desiring God. How easy it is to fall into a Christian life of drudgery where we wearily put one foot in front of another, thinking, “I’m going to try my best to live for Jesus,” all the while neglecting to actually focus on Him.

Some Christians “hear God” when He is not speaking, and many of us fail to hear Him when He is—and sometimes we manage to do both at the same time.

Randy joined Pure Desire Ministries on their podcast to discuss the problem of Christian leaders and pastors having moral failings. Randy helps listeners to understand what contributes to the fall of high-profile leaders, how churches can recover and heal, and how to prevent failures from happening.  

In a discussion with some friends about social media, one of them recently wrote, “It’s so difficult to wade through social media attacks and gang wars. That’s why I can’t bear to be on social media.” I totally understand. Nothing makes me more cynical than listening to cynical people, and even though my cynicism is directed at them, it is still unhealthy. 

We can never achieve humility simply by willing it to appear. Otherwise, we’ll be thinking about ourselves and our valiant attempts to be humble. What we need is to be so gripped by Jesus and His grace that we truly forget about ourselves. Here are some helpful reflections on humility from Gavin Ortlund, related to his new book Humility: The Joy of Self-Forgetfulness.

Randy and Greg Laurie have a conversation about how investing in others' success during playing sports can be a preview of Heaven.