Randy Alcorn's Blog

Readers Respond to Our New Children’s Book Heaven on Earth

Randy Alcorn — Mon, 14 Sep 2026 00:00:00 -0700

My new children's book Heaven on Earth: When God Makes Everything New, which I wrote with my friend Lisa Tawn Bergren, released this summer, and it’s been fun to see the readers’ responses to it. Though I’ve written several other children’s books (Heaven for Kids, Tell Me About Heaven, and Wait Until Then) what makes Heaven on Earth unique is that it’s geared for a younger audience—children ages 3-7. The beautiful illustrations by James Bernardin make it especially appealing to young readers (and older ones too!).

My friend Cliff Lea, who pastors First Baptist Church in Leesburg, Florida, shared this on X:

I gave your new children’s book a grandkid and uncle test run last night. It is outstanding. And I highly recommend to all.

A reader left this comment on my Facebook page:

I know it was written for kids, but I ordered a copy for myself! It is beautifully written and offers a lot of comfort.

Another left this review on Amazon:

I wish I could give this book 10 stars! The illustrations are absolutely beautiful and life-like and will capture the imagination of both children and adults. This wonderful book thoughtfully and biblically addresses the question so many children and adults ask: “What will heaven be like?” It offers comfort, reassurance, and hope while helping children look forward to the promises God has given us about eternity with Him. This is the kind of book families will want to read together again and again and keep as a treasured part of their home library. A must-have book for every family!

My friend Jim sent me this:

Just finished reading your book to two of my grandchildren. They listened intently all the way to the end and really liked it. It will be read to many other grandchildren soon. Thank you for the gift of such a great book with a relevant message.

I firmly believe that we can’t expect our children to be excited about Heaven—or to stay excited about it when they grow up—if we don’t share the biblical truth with them.

Ironically, some of the best portrayals I’ve seen of the eternal Heaven actually are in children’s books. Why? Because they depict earthly scenes, with animals and people playing, and joyful activities. The books for adults, on the other hand, often try to be philosophical, profound, ethereal, and otherworldly. But that kind of Heaven is precisely what the Bible doesn’t portray as the place where we’ll live forever.

If we do not grasp the biblical doctrine of the New Earth, we will never understand what the Bible actually promises us about the eternal Heaven. It will be a forever embodied, resurrected earth, a global Eden, filled with what Eden was full of, including rivers and trees and fruit and embodied animals and human beings. Colossians 1:20 is one of multiple passages that speak of the world to come, where God's promise is “through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.”

Sometimes Deuteronomy 29:29 is used to derail discussions about envisioning and anticipating Heaven: “The secret things belong to the Lord our God” (Deuteronomy 29:29). Heaven is regarded as a “secret thing.” But the rest of the verse—again, rarely quoted—completes the thought: “But the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever.”

We should accept that many things about Heaven are secret and that God has countless surprises in store for us. But as for the things God has revealed to us about Heaven, these things belong to us and to our children. It’s critically important that we study and understand them.

“Set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God” (Colossians 3:1). This is a direct command to set our hearts on Heaven. And to make sure we don’t miss the importance of a Heaven-centered life, the next verse says, “Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.” God commands us to set our hearts and minds on Heaven.

May we and our children can learn to envision the promised Heaven on Earth in a biblical and compelling way!

25 Years Later: Five Reflections on 9/11

Randy Alcorn — Fri, 11 Sep 2026 00:00:00 -0700

Today’s blog is excerpted from a lengthy article “19 Reflections on America’s Crisis,” which I wrote 25 years ago, in the days following 9/11. While this was originally written to Americans in the aftermath of September 11, 2001, much of it also applies to challenges related to present conflicts and natural disasters around the globe.

1. God is all-powerful, fully in control.

God was not caught by surprise on September 11, 2001. He “works all things after the counsel of his will” (Ephesians 1:11). Including those terrorist acts? Yes.

In well-meaning attempts to distance God from evil, some Christians have said things like “God didn’t want this to happen” and “God has nothing to do with terrorist acts.” True, He is not to blame for them, but if indeed He works all things after the counsel of His will, then obviously we can’t say He has “nothing to do” with them.

Scripture says, “When disaster comes to a city, has not the LORD caused it?” (Amos 3:6). After losing all his children, Job doesn’t say, “God had nothing to do with it,” but “the LORD gave and the LORD has taken away” (Job 1:21).

Nations will rise and fall, terrible things may happen, but through it all, “God is our refuge and strength, an ever present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea” (Psalm 46:1-2).

2. Suffering in this world is normal; Americans, like everyone else, have no promise of ease or immunity.

“Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed” (1 Peter 4:12-13).

Our hope should not be the illusion that we won’t suffer. Our hope should be that one day God will end our suffering (Revelation 21:4). Our hope should be in the fact that nothing in this world or outside it—no tragedies or accidents or terrorist attacks or anything else—shall separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:38-39).

3. God knows what it’s like to suffer.

God has never dished out any suffering He hasn’t taken on Himself. As a man He suffered (Hebrews 2:17-18; 4:15-16). Jesus Christ took upon Himself all the sins and evil of the world (2 Corinthians 5:21). On the cross, He underwent what was qualitatively an eternity of suffering in a time span of six hours.

Why? Because He loves us. No act of terrorism can take that from us—nor can it undermine the certainty of eternal life in Christ for all who trust in Him (1 John 5:11-13).

Where was God September 11? Where He always is—exalted in the heavens, indwelling the hearts of His children, comforting the afflicted, stretching out His nail-scarred hands in the offer of a redemption that costs us nothing, but cost Him everything. Where was God? Right there in the dust and ruins of broken planes and buildings and bodies, somehow accomplishing a purpose that will bring Him glory (Isaiah 48:9-11).

4. God has brought much good out of these terrible events, and will continue to.

“We rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope” (Romans 5:3). As much as we don’t want to go through it, suffering often builds our character and strengthens our faith.

Joseph said of his brothers who sold him into slavery, “You intended it for evil, but God intended it for good” (Genesis 50:20). God is a master of turning evil on its head, and thwarting Satan’s intention by bringing about good.

If God can bring the single greatest good in human history, the redemption of mankind, out of the single most horrible event in human history, the crucifixion of Christ, then He can bring good out of everything. If God made what could be called “Horrific Friday” into what we call “Good Friday,” can’t He bring good out of other evils?

5. We should remind ourselves daily that this world, as it now is, is not our home.

That day as I sat in front of the television stunned, watching the towers fall to the ground, I prayed for the suffering people, then said aloud, “This world is not my home.”

In my church, five days later, we sang “God Bless America,” which is a good prayer. But at the end, when I sang “My home, sweet home,” there was an asterisk in my heart next to the word “home.”

The Carpenter from Nazareth, my bridegroom and a builder by trade, has gone to prepare a home for me. One day I will live on a redeemed planet Scripture calls “The New Earth.” That will be my home. My ultimate home is not America. Every day I move closer to the day I’ll leave this world. If America were my true home, then every day of my life I’d be headed away from home. But because Heaven, where Jesus is, is my home, every day I’m not moving away from home, but toward it.

People of the world don’t need our reassurance that America is unshakable, that democracy will prevail, that our economy will recover, that death and suffering will not touch them, or that America or any country is a safe place to live. What they need, while living in the wreckage of this sin-stained earth, is to realize that the world’s main problem is that it’s inhabited by people like us, sinners in need of redemption. These thirsty people need us to reach out our hands and extend to them, as cold water, Christ’s offer of citizenship in another world, a coming eternal home described this way at the Book’s end:

“Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away. He who was seated on the throne said, ‘I am making everything new!’” (Revelation 21:3-5).

(See also Collin Hansen's article I Don’t Understand 9/11. But I Praise God Anyway.)

Generosity as Witness

Randy Alcorn — Wed, 09 Sep 2026 00:00:00 -0700

There’s an intriguing phrase in Acts 2:47 that describes the church in Jerusalem as “having favor with all the people.” What exactly were these early Christians doing that brought them such esteem? The preceding verses tell us: “And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts” (v. 45-46).

When unbelievers witnessed the generosity of these believers, they saw how they loved one another. Many came to faith partly through the power and integrity of this refreshing alternative to materialism: “And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved” (Acts 2:47, italics mine). Their generosity demonstrated the life-changing power of the gospel. While being attracted to the generous giving of Jesus-followers, unbelievers were attracted to the gospel of Jesus.

Paul says in 2 Corinthians 8:1: “We want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia.” How was God’s grace demonstrated? Through their giving to needy Christians. In verse 6, Paul calls the Macedonians’ giving to help the hungry in Jerusalem an “act of grace.” The same Greek word is used for Christian giving and for God’s grace.

Christ’s grace motivates and puts in perspective our giving: “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich” (v. 9).

As thunder follows lightning, giving follows grace. When the lightning of God’s grace strikes us, the joyful giving of our time, talents, and treasures should follow.

In 1 Timothy 6:17–19, Paul makes clear it is God’s will for us to be open-handed givers, generous and rich in good deeds. This passage tells us that through giving, we’ll “take hold of that which is truly life.” The materialistic, self-centered life is not the “good life.” The true good life is the life of generosity. When we live that way, the world will notice.

Jesus said, “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35). Our tangible love for others witnesses to the gospel truth that Christ loves us and died for us. This is explicitly related to what 1 John 3:17–18 says: “But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.”

There is a long history of Christian generosity as a powerful witness. The Roman emperor Julian had an interesting complaint about early Christians: “The impious Galileans support not only their own poor but ours as well; everyone can see that our people lack aid from us.” The theologian Tertullian said, “It is our care of the helpless, our practice of loving kindness that brands us in the eyes of many of our opponents.”

Aristides, an unbeliever, was sent by Emperor Hadrian to spy out those people called “Christians.” His words to the emperor have reverberated through the centuries: “Behold! How they love one another.”

Helping the needy has always set Christians apart, showing the world that we operate on a radically different value system. What religions besides Christianity have established hospitals worldwide, or networks of famine relief and development to help starving people, victims of disasters, and refugees?

True, Scripture tells us not to give in order to be seen by men (Matthew 6:1). Glorifying God is our primary motive, and we should be careful to avoid pride. But sometimes our generosity will be seen by men and even should be, just like when the early Christians sold their property and gave away the proceeds.

Earlier in the same sermon where he says we’re not to give in order to be seen by men, Christ commands us “let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16).

Acts 4:36-37 tells us that Barnabas sold a field and brought the money to the apostles. His act of generosity was commonly known among believers and permanently recorded in Acts. The body of Christ can benefit from seeing open models of generous giving like that of Barnabas. The world can benefit from seeing the Church’s generosity as an attractive witness to the grace of Christ.

Every local church also needs examples of other churches that are models of giving generously. When thousands of churches are giving more than half of their income to reach the lost, when they’re as excited about giving to the poor as they are about building projects, the world will observe God’s grace at work.

When the world sees the beauty of such generosity, they’ll be drawn to the good news of our Savior. They will notice our good deeds and glorify our Father in Heaven.

God’s People Don’t Become Angels at Death

Randy Alcorn — Mon, 07 Sep 2026 00:00:00 -0700

I’m often asked if people, particularly children, become angels when they die. The answer is no. Death is a relocation of the same person from one place to another. The place changes, but the person remains the same. The same person who becomes absent from his or her body becomes present with the Lord (2 Corinthians 5:8). The person who departs is the one who goes to be with Christ (Philippians 1:23).

Angels are angels. Humans are humans. Angels are beings with their own histories and memories, with distinct identities, reflected in the fact that they have personal names, such as Michael and Gabriel. Under God’s direction, they serve us on Earth (Hebrews 1:14). Michael the archangel serves under God, and the other angels, in various positions, serve under Michael (Daniel 10:13; Revelation 12:7). In Heaven human beings will govern angels (1 Corinthians 6:2-3).

Does This Matter?

When I shared about this topic on my Facebook page recently, we received 562 comments in response. Many commenters asked why this clarification even matters. Others wondered whether we should ever correct those who are grieving by sharing the biblical truth.

First, truth does matter. Scripture is clear that angels and humans are two very different types of beings. Unlike God and the angels, who are in essence spirits (John 4:24; Hebrews 1:14), human beings are by nature both spiritual and physical (Genesis 2:7). The fact that those who know Christ will forever remain human and one day experience resurrection is vital to our faith. Paul said that if there is no resurrection, “we are of all people most to be pitied” (1 Corinthians 15:19).

A grieving father wept as he told me, “I will never again hug my daughter.” I asked, “Don’t you believe in the resurrection?” He said, “Of course.” I responded, “But the resurrection means you will hug your daughter again and again!” Those who believe in the resurrection can grieve while consoling themselves that they will live forever with their Redeemer and their redeemed loved ones in their redeemed bodies on a redeemed earth.

Jesus Christ died to secure for us a resurrected life on a resurrected Earth. Let’s be careful to speak of our eternal future with Him in terms that deliver us from our misconceptions and do justice to the greatness of Christ’s redemptive work.

Second, grace also matters. Sometimes grieving hearts aren’t ready to hear the truth too soon after loss, but it is possible to share what Scripture says with those who are hurting—provided it is done carefully and sensitively, at the right time and in the right way. Scripture tells us this about Jesus: “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). Not 50% grace and 50% truth, but 100% of both. To be like Jesus is to be full of grace and truth.

In her book What Grieving People Wish You Knew, Nancy Guthrie writes, “So much of what other people say and what grieving people are tempted to grab hold of in the face of death is mere sentimentality or strange spirituality. Instead of taking hold of these things, we want to encourage grieving people to rely fully on the Scriptures and let the rock-solid truth revealed there be the ground underneath our unsteady feet and the anchor for our hopes.”

(A number of responses on that Facebook post mentioned the idea that our souls “sleep” until resurrection day. Other commenters questioned whether it’s biblical to say that our loved ones in Heaven might know at least some of what’s going on in our lives here on Earth. I’ve addressed soul sleep here, and the possibility of awareness in Heaven here.)

Meeting Angels

While we won’t become angels in Heaven, it appears that we will one day spend time with them. The fact that angels have served us on Earth will make meeting them in Heaven particularly fascinating. They may have been with us from childhood, protecting us, standing by us, doing whatever they could on our behalf (Matthew 18:10). They may have witnessed virtually every moment of our lives. Besides God Himself, no one could know us better.

What will it be like not only to have them show us around the present Heaven but also to walk and talk with them on the New Earth? What stories will they tell us, including what really happened that day at the lake thirty-five years ago when we almost drowned? They’ve guarded us, gone to fierce battle for us, served as God’s agents in answer to prayers. How great it will be to get to know these brilliant ancient creatures who’ve lived with God from their creation. We’ll consult them as well as advise them, realizing they too can learn from us, God’s image-bearers. Will an angel who guarded us be placed under our management?

If we really believed angels were with us daily, here and now, wouldn’t it motivate us to make wiser choices? Wouldn’t we feel an accountability to holy beings who serve us as God’s representatives?

Despite what some popular books say, there’s absolutely no biblical basis for trying to make contact with angels now. We’re to ask God, not angels, for wisdom (James 1:5). As Scripture says and as I portray in my novels Dominion, Lord Foulgrin’s Letters, and The Ishbane Conspiracy, Satan’s servants can “masquerade as servants of righteousness” and bring us messages that appear to be from God but aren’t (2 Corinthians 11:15).

Nevertheless, because Scripture teaches that one or more of God’s angels may be in the room with me now, every once in a while I say “Thank you” out loud. And sometimes I add, “I look forward to meeting you.” I can’t wait to hear their stories.

We won’t be angels, but we’ll be with angels—and that’ll be far better.

God’s People, Especially Those Grieving a Pet, Need a Biblical Perspective about Animals and the New Earth

Randy Alcorn — Fri, 04 Sep 2026 00:00:00 -0700

Since the 2004 publication of my book titled Heaven, I’ve heard easily a thousand questions about Heaven and the New Earth. The questions I hear most often are these: Will there be animals in Heaven? and, more specifically, Will our pets be there?

We’ve received many notes from readers over the years who recently lost or are anticipating the loss of their animals, and are grateful for the perspectives I’ve shared in Heaven and on my blog—especially after the deaths of our Dalmatian Moses and our Golden Retriever Maggie.

One person wrote, “We are mourning the loss of our cat. He was hit by a car and died in my arms. Can you give us encouragement as to whether we might be reunited someday?”

Another asked, “Our beloved dog died. Should I correct my kids when they say they can’t wait to play with him again in Heaven?”

Why do we wonder about a future for our pets in the far better world God promises? Well, given their importance in our lives, why wouldn’t we? Yes, God will make the New Earth primarily for humans. Nothing will diminish that. But people aren’t the only beings God loves, nor the only ones He made to live on the earth.

Many people, both children and adults, count their pets among their closest friends. Though their lives are shorter, pets are by our side more often than most people. These relationships involve loyalty, affection, comfort, and closeness without judgment. Writing about why the loss of a pet affects us to deeply, Tommy Tomlinson says, “When a loved one dies, it matters more. But when a dog dies, sometimes we feel it more.”

Pets are with us when no one else is. Sometimes they rescue us from the pit of loneliness. Who empowers them to do that for us? It’s not the devil; it’s God who created them to be our companions and bring us happiness! If they do that now in a world with suffering and death, why not in the redeemed world where there will be no more suffering and death?

Just recently a reader wrote us on Facebook:

Randy, it is through your words expressed about animals that introduced me to your writings. A follower of Jesus Christ as are you, my brother, I've long held the very same thoughts. We had experienced the parting of one of our four-legged family members and during my grieving and prayers to God for peace in my heart he led me to you. Thank you.

And another said:

I lost my heart and soul dog in March, shortly before you announced this book [All God’s Creatures]. The timing of your announcement actually gave me hope that I would be with her again as I felt the Lord sent the book announcement into my Facebook messenger at the moment of my deepest pain and doubt. She was with me 13.5 years. Her journey was cut short by bladder cancer. I cared for her for 19 months in the cancer journey before she said goodbye. It taught me so much about sacrificial love. And she loved me unconditionally. I think both of us would have given anything to stay together. While I wait for your book in November, I am reading Heaven and my hope is growing.

As Nanci and I have, many people sense a spiritual dimension in their bond with animals—involving an ongoing, two-way flow of happiness and friendship. So naturally we ask: Will our relationships with animals end permanently, or might they resume in God’s new creation and go on forever? It seemed like the right time to devote several years of research and an entire book to answering this question. I believe the far-reaching significance of the answer is far greater—and more God-exalting—than most Christians have imagined.

Louie Giglio, pastor of Passion City Church and founder of Passion Conferences, wrote this endorsement of the book:

In All God’s Creatures, Randy Alcorn sets his sights on a pivotal question: Will there be animals in Heaven or on the New Earth? Drawing on decades of thorough study and writing about Heaven, Randy brings a uniquely seasoned and trustworthy voice to this deeply personal topic through biblical wisdom, personal experience, and heartfelt animal stories. Randy invites us to believe Scripture and cling to the hope that God has a good plan for all his creatures.

I know that the two chapters in the Heaven book on animals, including one on pets, have impacted many people, and my hope is that All God’s Creatures will have a significant, and perhaps even widespread, impact on evangelical thinking that I believe is long overdue. I also envision the book helping people who are grieving and feeling hopeless after losing their beloved animals. The book’s reach and impact are totally up to God, but I am praying to that end! (Preview the introduction and first chapter here.)

From Beginning to End, Scripture Is Pro-Physical Bodies

Randy Alcorn — Wed, 02 Sep 2026 00:00:00 -0700

The ancient Hebrews were holistic in their perceptions of life. God made the body, and therefore the body was good. Greek thought, on the contrary, was characterized by a dualism in which the spiritual world was good, and the physical world was bad. Plato, for example, called the body a “prison” that held captive the soul. In his statement “Soma sema” (“a body, a tomb”), Plato suggested that the spirit’s highest destiny is to be free from the body. (What I call “Christoplatonism” still infects many churches, teaching that human spirits are better off without bodies, and Heaven is a disembodied realm.)

In the early centuries A.D., there were two schools of Greek thought: Stoicism and Epicureanism. The Stoics treated their bodies harshly, denying themselves even the most simple pleasures. Spirituality, to them, consisted of depriving themselves of all comfort and pleasure. In contrast, the Epicureans readily indulged their bodies, gratifying every appetite. While very different in behavior, the Stoics and Epicureans shared a common disregard for the body. The Stoics demeaned it, and therefore refused to satisfy it. The Epicureans demeaned it, and therefore felt free to abuse it in the pursuit of pleasure.

Some early Christians adopted Stoic philosophy and lifestyles. Other believers who elevated personal liberty gravitated toward Epicurean ideals and behavior. Christians on both extremes tended to view the body as vulgar and base.

C. S. Lewis spoke of Christians to whom the body was “‘a sack of dung,’ food for worms, filthy, shameful, a source of nothing but temptation to bad men and humiliation to good ones.”

Sometimes the apostle Paul is accused, even by Christians, of fostering this tragic disdain for the human body. But in Paul’s writings, “the flesh” is not synonymous with the body. Rather, the flesh is the depraved force that influences a man toward sin, prompting him to misuse the members of his body to disobey God. While Paul speaks of the flesh as the Christian’s enemy, he also speaks of the body as the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19). If the shekinah glory of God dwells within our bodies, surely they are not inherently sinful!

When the Christians of Corinth were indulging in the excesses of gluttony and immorality, Paul reminded them their bodies were “for the Lord, and the Lord for the body” (1 Corinthians 6:13). Furthermore, the bodies they were abusing would be raised up and inhabited for all eternity (6:14). Indeed, Paul devotes all of chapter 15 of the same book to the resurrection of the body, a concept held in disdain by the Greeks, who wanted only to rid themselves of their bodily prison.

Paul sees consecration as the submitting of the body to do the will of God (Romans 12:1-2). He is careful to discipline his body (1 Corinthians 9:27), but never to degrade it. He says the body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, and that the Christian can glorify God with his body (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). He even compares the holy Church of God to a human body, with Christ represented by the head (1 Corinthians 12:14-27). Properly understood, Paul was not anti-body!

“Your hands made me and formed me,” the psalmist says to his Lord (119:73). David expressed to God, “You knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:13-14). The body is something to thank God for, not be ashamed of.

Scripture contradicts antagonism between body and spirit. God created body and spirit; both were marred by sin, and both are redeemed by Christ. Our bodies aren’t prisons. Nor are they something we can occupy or abandon at will as a hermit crab does a shell. They’re essential and God-designed aspects of our being. Our bodies weren’t created to distract from our Creator but to disclose him. Bodies and spirits can, under the Fall, sometimes work at odds with each other (hence the references to the flesh in Romans 7:14-24), but this is not their natural, God-created relationship, nor is it a permanent one.

C. S. Lewis wrote in Mere Christianity, “Christianity is almost the only one of the great religions which thoroughly approves of the body—which believes that matter is good, that God Himself once took on a human body, that some kind of body is going to be given to us even in Heaven and is going to be an essential part of our happiness, our beauty and our energy.”

Christ’s incarnation is permanent proof that the body is not sinful. The human body is compatible with deity—God was not too good to inhabit a body! Jesus’ body never made him sinful. The New Earth will be inhabited by redeemed bodies, both Christ’s and ours.

God Is Offering You Bold Enjoyment of Life

Ray Ortlund — Mon, 31 Aug 2026 00:00:00 -0700

Note from Randy: I absolutely love this preface to Ray Ortlund’s book Eat, Drink, and Be Merry: A Gospel Call to Bold Enjoyment. His words remind me of the premise of my book Happiness: modern Christians need to speak more, not less, about happiness—the kind of happiness that’s centered on Christ, who is the source of all that’s good and wonderful. It’s not the people who know God who have reason to be miserable; it’s those who don’t.

You and I are being assaulted every day—pressured, even overwhelmed—by our modern culture of soul-numbing distraction. And we need a plan just to save our sanity.

The book of Revelation is blunt. It portrays our world with two shocking metaphors: a whore tempting us and a beast intimidating us (Rev. 17:1–2; 19:19). In our generation, it looks like the whore is working overtime, and we’re so tired of being degraded. But the deeper truth of it is even worse. The whore is the beast—just dressed up in the latest fashions.

How to respond? One way is anger. And we see a lot of anger these days, don’t we? In a way, it’s understandable. But I, for one, don’t trust our moral fervor. It gets mean, ugly. Anger is a dangerous substance. The Bible puts a warning label on it (James 1:19–20).

A far better strategy of response is the opposite, and one we never talk about: enjoyment. Yes, enjoyment. It’s a smart strategy both for prevailing over these disastrous times and for building a better future.

The Bible—the most serious book in the world—calls us to that enjoyment, and I can prove it.

It’s why I’ve written this book. This is my happy protest, and I’m asking you to join me in it. Anger and rage and fingerpointing aren’t sustainable. They’re a crushing burden. But enjoyment can carry us forward, now and forever.

So through this book, I’m hoping you’ll give yourself permission to dive right into what one scholar calls “the bliss of being alive.” And that sheer bliss is not something God says he might allow us to receive. God commands us to receive it—as the wise way to live!

Enjoyment is profoundly insightful, powerfully strategic.

One of our best trend-watchers, describing your generation, begins a recent book with a chapter titled “The Surge of Suffering.” And my generation is to blame for it. We cooked up this crazy idea of ever-present technology and smartphones and social media. You and your friends are suffering as a result. Anxiety, depression, exhaustion (and worse) are all on the rise. At the same time, the playful curiosity, the bold risk-taking, the rollicking good fun that all of us enjoy and need—those life-giving experiences—are declining.

God cares about that. And he has something to say about it in the ancient book of Ecclesiastes. There God counsels us to walk the path of joy as the path of wisdom. As if joy and wisdom combine perfectly! It’s why I love Ecclesiastes. And I hope you’ll find its insights as delightfully freeing as I do.

At one level, Ecclesiastes says something we all know: Life is short. That’s obvious. And yet, it isn’t obvious. I turned seventy-five a few months ago. Me, seventy-five? I was in my thirties just five minutes ago! You might not be seventy-five and half-dead like me. Still, you get it.

But at another level, here’s what Ecclesiastes wants us to think about more deeply: Life is good. Life is short, and life is good. It’s not an either/or. It’s a both/and. And what makes your short life good is the grace of God giving your life to you, moment by moment. Your part is to receive it. Not deserve it or achieve it or control it. Just receive it and enjoy this good gift from God that is your life.

Sometimes we might get to thinking, “I really want to live it up. So getting close to God—that’s the last thing I want!” Ecclesiastes says the opposite: God is the great giver of everything truly desirable. For example,

Eating, drinking, and finding enjoyment come from the hand of God (Eccl. 2:24–25).
Wealth, possessions, and the ability to enjoy them are gifts of God (Eccl. 5:18–19).
Joyful feasting, along with productive work, are given to us by God (Eccl. 8:15).
The simple joys of home life are of God and worthy to be celebrated (Eccl. 9:7–9).

How crazy, then, are we? We’re walking down the street, looking to have a good time, when we see God coming our way. So we cross the street to avoid him. We hope he doesn’t notice and call to us, because we think he’ll only spoil our fun. But the truth is the opposite. What drains the life out of us is not God. It’s this glittering, flashy, fraudulent world with its never-ending 24/7 grandiose hoopla and vulgar sensationalism and cheap spectacularization. It’s exhausting. God doesn’t rob us of life. His grace restores us. He enriches us with the greatest gift of all, Christ himself, the living one who gives us true life (Rev. 1:17–18).

Jesus said, “The Scriptures bear witness about me” (John 5:39). That includes Ecclesiastes. In Leviticus, for example, Jesus is the lamb sacrificed for our sins. In Kings, he is the leader who rules us nobly and defends us powerfully. In Isaiah, he is the protester against social evils and the prophet of a brighter day. The Old Testament keeps showing us Jesus from different angles of vision.

Through Ecclesiastes, Jesus comes to us as the sage who holds up a freshly picked flower and says, “This flower is dying. But its bright color is still beautiful, and its rich fragrance is so lovely. God your Father created this beauty, this fragrance, for you. And your time to enjoy it is now!”

So let me ask you: Do you ever feel like that person on the street that I described a second ago? Maybe you want enough of Jesus to feel forgiven but not so much of him that he takes over? I’m here to say: The further you go with him, the more alive you will feel. Jesus said, “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matt. 6:33).

So cross that street back to where Jesus is. Seek his kingdom first. And he’ll prove himself to you. He gives everything really enjoyable.

Do we need to worry that too much of that is going around? Ecclesiastes is asking us, Are you aware that God, in his wisdom, is offering you bold enjoyment? What if God is counseling you toward more laughter, more parties, more walks by the lake, more checking in on a lonely neighbor, more visits to the art museum, more having friends over for dessert, and maybe even getting a new puppy? What if a wisely joyous new you will have more to offer your suffering generation than an overly serious you could ever bring to the table? What if wise joy is the most underrated strategy for a better future for all of us? And if that is true, and it is, then why hold back? Why even wait?

Your life is short. Your life is good. God thinks so. Let’s you and I think about it together, okay?

Taken from Eat, Drink, and Be Merry: A Gospel Call to Bold Enjoyment by Ray Ortlund, © 2026. Used by permission of Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers, Wheaton, IL 60187, www.crossway.org.

Meet My Different Books on Money and Giving

Randy Alcorn — Fri, 28 Aug 2026 00:00:00 -0700

The Treasure Principle is a book that has shocked me (surprised isn’t strong enough) in the response it has generated. It has sold over 2 million copies in English and been translated into over 25 languages (including Chinese, Vietnamese, Indonesian and Arabic) It is often given away by churches to their entire congregations.

God has used this book to impact lives and fund missions in ways that far exceed anything I’ve done or will ever do—which brings tears to my eyes whenever I think of it. Sometimes what we do is way overblown in our thinking—and other times we do what seems a small thing (e.g. writing that book). Then God takes it way beyond anything we could have imagined. He is faithful and sometimes delightfully surprising!

However, over the years, I’ve realized that there are readers who are familiar with The Treasure Principle but are not familiar with my other books on money and giving:

The Law of Rewards

The Law of Rewards was first published in 2003, but in 2023, I had the opportunity to update it and also add some new material, especially as it relates to Nanci’s life, death, and relocation to Heaven. I continue to be excited about this small book and its potential for big impact in the lives of believers as they get excited about investing in eternity.

If your church has already shared The Treasure Principle with your congregation, I suggest considering The Law of Rewards as a follow-up on the theme of giving generously, and storing up treasures in Heaven. (The book is available from EPM both in softcover and as a special edition with a leatherlike cover; the special edition is affordable for churches to consider giving in bulk, and unlike most affordable versions, it is especially attractive with that leatherlike cover.)

Managing God’s Money

While The Treasure Principle is almost entirely about giving, Managing God's Money addresses the whole realm of stewardship. It lays a biblical foundation for us being the managers of God's assets, hence the title Managing God's Money. The book deals with a great many issues, from insurance and inheritance, to gambling, saving, and debt, yet it is still short and accessible. It is longer than both The Treasure Principle and The Law of Rewards, but significantly smaller than Money, Possessions and Eternity. (This is another book for churches to consider buying in bulk.)

Funny story about the book title: when my assistant was overseeing our book table at a conference where I was speaking, a man ran by in a hurry but happened to notice the Managing God’s Money book. “Manage God’s money?” he said. “I have a hard enough time managing my own!”

Money, Possessions, and Eternity

One of my earliest books, Money, Possessions, and Eternity was released in 1989 but newly revised and updated in 2003. It is a larger layman’s theology of stewardship, covering many areas besides giving. It is for the person who reads Managing God’s Money or The Treasure Principle or Law of Rewards and wants more, especially more Scripture that is developed and more issues there’s no room to address in the smaller books. Pastors and serious Bible students especially like this book.

Money, Possessions and Eternity has reached a wide audience and, by God’s grace, had a life-shaping effect on the four founders of the world-impacting ministry Generous Giving. And while the big book uniquely influenced them, they’ve passed along not only it, but countless copies of the smaller books.

Giving Is the Good Life

While reading 1 Timothy 6 I was intrigued by a phrase in verse 19 that talks about “the life that is truly life.” I’ve been struck for years by how in a remarkably clear way, 1 Timothy 6:9-10 shares the bad news about wealth, and 1 Timothy 6:17-19 gives the good news. And that positive news is that we can share with others the wealth God has entrusted to us in a way that helps the needy, and also—remarkably—will result in God granting us eternal rewards as well as greatly enriching our present lives. Giving Is the Good Life is the resulting book from my study of this passage.

The book is unique in that it includes more than seventy inspiring short stories of generous givers. Some of these stories are integrated into the main text, while others are featured in sidebars. They illustrate the biblical principles related to giving and will broaden readers’ minds to many creative and exciting ways to give that most people may never have considered. These short stories are engaging and varied, including children, singles, married couples and the elderly, Americans and internationals. There’s something everyone can relate to.

In addition, a sixth book on money, name not yet certain, will be a devotional, releasing in January 2027! I’m excited about it, and we’ll feature it in another five months or so.

Each of us has a responsibility to faithfully steward the money God has entrusted to us. My hope and prayer is that in the body of Christ, we will be found faithful—and experience the deep, overflowing happiness of giving!

For those of you who are pastors or church leaders, if you’d like to preview one of these books to possibly share with your church, please contact us and we would be happy to send you a copy and offer quantity discounts.

Congratulations to My Grandson Ty and His Bride Ava

Randy Alcorn — Wed, 26 Aug 2026 00:00:00 -0700

My grandson Ty married his sweetheart Ava on August 1. It was a wonderful event, start to finish. It was my privilege to serve them communion during the ceremony, so I talked to them while everyone could see us talking but the three of us spoke privately. Then I prayed for them, and honestly, if I could choose whether to perform a whole wedding (which I’ve done many times) or have those special moments centered on Christ’s sacrifice for us, providing the model for godly marriage, I would choose leading in communion in a heartbeat. It was precious and a pleasure not to have a microphone so I could say just what I wanted for only them to hear.

Ava is a godly young woman and has become very dear to me over the last few years. After raising two daughters, then having five grandsons who Nanci and I adore, it is my joy to now have two wonderful granddaughters added to our family through marriage!

Ava Stump, you are the best! Richie Stump, you are the best! I thank God for both of you, and I thank God in advance for who He may have in mind for my other grandsons.

There is nothing like seeing five grandsons grow up to become good men who know Jesus. But there is also nothing like seeing two new young adult granddaughters (who I did not know as they grew up) and realize how God was sovereignly working in their lives all those years preparing them to meet and marry our grandsons. They love Jesus with all their hearts. (And they both call me “Pops,” as their husbands do, and as all the guys on our tennis team did. 😊)

Here are Ava and Ty with her family:

I videoed Ty and Ava having fun with their bridal party before the wedding. (The photo shoot was a blast! 😂) The guy on the right is my grandson Jake, Ty’s older brother, who got married to his wife Richie last summer. The guy on the left is William McLaughlin, son of Heidi who is a vital part of EPM, and William is a close friend of both Ty and Jake.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gu8XPTDoLe8

Jake and William are below again. Check out what they did when the photographer asked them to move closer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVwj8bGl6Sg

Seeing my grandsons with their closest friends, some of whom I coached for Barlow High tennis, was such a highlight.

Watching our daughter Angie and her husband Dan help put on their sons’ weddings for two summers, back-to-back, takes me back to Nanci and our daughters' weddings six weeks apart (yes, they both got married in the same summer!).

Ava and Ty with the pastor who married them, my friend Steve Keels, up front at the beginning of the wedding:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYw5fMHrho4?is=9xCmd51-RaHKiqgJ

Ty and Ava dancing:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQlGf8zpz2I?is=Pzr0ZTsV9tE9aacn

Ty and his mom Ang dancing:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJiPVBjBNBU?is=9b1_Zs7jBHWReFiC

I said at both Karina’s and Angela’s weddings, in the summer of 2001, that I believed their two grandmothers, Lucille Alcorn and Adele Noren, were watching from Heaven, since Scripture suggests our loved ones now in Heaven are sometimes witnessing, in at least some capacity, God’s unfolding plan on Earth (see what I share in this video).

Because Nanci’s mom had been blind her last few years here, she was likely seeing the girls’ weddings in a way she couldn’t have before she died.

Now, 25 years later, Nanci is the grandmother who couldn’t be there for her grandkids’ weddings. But I truly believe God gave Nanci a front-row seat to both Jake’s and Ty’s weddings to their brides. Resurrection and eternal life await—Angela, Karina, and our sons-in-law and grandchildren and friends who love Jesus will one day be with Him and each other forever.

Honestly, Nanci’s single greatest regret in her final month before going to Heaven was not being able to meet the young women who would marry our grandsons. Nanci hasn’t met Richie and Ava yet but she certainly will. And I guarantee she will adore both of them! I strongly suspect she already does!

Don’t Miss Out on the Right Kind of Riches

Randy Alcorn — Mon, 24 Aug 2026 00:00:00 -0700

I have a friend who observes my adult daughters, my sons-in-law, and my grandchildren (two of them now married) and tells me, “You are a rich man.” He’s absolutely right. I value that kind of wealth far more than financial riches.

By telling us to be rich in good deeds, God is likewise encouraging us to redefine our view of riches: “Command them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share” (1 Timothy 6:18).

Being rich as the world defines it is merely an illusion. We fail to recognize true and lasting riches as compared to false and fleeting ones. Someone can have great earthly riches, as the rich fool did or as Ebenezer Scrooge did, and have a profoundly impoverished soul. And someone can have almost no earthly riches, like the poor widow and countless others, and have a vibrant, thriving soul.

When we give, we don’t surrender riches. Rather, we trade one kind of riches for another. The first kind we can’t take with us when we die. According to Jesus, the second kind of riches will go before us and await us in Heaven after we die (Matthew 6:19-20).

If I take Jesus seriously and choose a smaller house and less expensive cars here on Earth so I can invest the savings in God’s Kingdom, my Lord will give me eternal treasures in Heaven that, in retrospect, will make a big house and nice cars seem utterly trivial.

But why not believe Jesus now rather than wait until Heaven—when it will be too late to reverse our choices—to believe what He said was true all along? We might ask ourselves, Why settle for an expensive necklace or a deluxe entertainment system now when by giving away the money we could contribute to an imperishable treasure in eternity?

God has given us the gifts, opportunities, and resources we need to be rich in good deeds. We were “created in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:10)—not to do random or insignificant good works, but to do works prepared for us from eternity past. But God doesn’t only prepare works for us to do; He also continually prepares us to do those works. What a thrilling concept!

Years ago, when I was still a pastor, Nanci and I opened our home to Diane, a pregnant teenager who had previously had an abortion. While she lived with us, she gave birth and placed her baby for adoption. There were many tough times for Diane and for us, including late nights when I drove through town trying to find her. We had a two-year-old daughter at the time, and our second daughter was born shortly after Diane delivered, so our own stresses were multiplied.

But we had the joy of seeing Diane come to Christ and later become a terrific wife and mother. Over the years she has also had a powerful ministry to others. Nanci and I remained close to her, and we regularly reaped a harvest of joy that vastly outweighed the initial trials.

Diane once told me, “Abortion filled me with grief and regret. But when I think of the child I placed for adoption, I’m filled with joy, because I know he’s being raised by a wonderful family that wanted him.” We had the privilege of being with Diane when she was joyfully reunited with the son she surrendered for adoption thirty-three years earlier.

I recall one evening, when Nanci was sick with cancer, that Diane drove nearly an hour to bring us dinner, nearly forty years after she lived with us. The meal was great, but the real payoff, both now and forever, is in our precious relationship, which will outlive this world and be our treasure in the next.

Does doing good and ministering to others involve sacrifice? Absolutely. Often we see payoffs in this life, though sometimes it takes a while. But even when we don’t see the return on our investments now, Jesus promised we will see them in the next life, when He will make sure we “will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous” (Luke 14:14, NIV).

What New Opportunities and Abilities Will We Experience on the New Earth?

Randy Alcorn — Fri, 21 Aug 2026 00:00:00 -0700

The term perfect is often misused when it describes our state in Heaven. I’ve heard it said, for instance, “We’ll communicate perfectly, so we’ll never be at a loss for words.” I disagree. I expect we’ll sometimes grasp for words to describe the wondrous things we’ll experience. I expect I’ll stand in speechless wonder at the glory of God.

We’ll be morally perfect, but that doesn’t mean we’ll be capable of doing anything and everything. (Adam and Eve were morally perfect, but that didn’t mean they could automatically invent nuclear submarines or defy gravity. They were perfect yet finite, just as we will be.)

Do you remember a time when you were running or swimming or working and felt you were strong enough to go on forever (even though later you could hardly get out of bed)? That was a little taste of who you’ll be on the New Earth.

The fear, anxiety, dread, and turmoil we associate with certain activities on the present Earth will be gone on the New Earth. For example, some people have a deep fear of public speaking, and they imagine that ruling means they’ll be miserable, having to be “up front” and speak to groups. If God wants us to do something, He’ll wire and equip us to do it. Our service will not only bring Him glory but also bring us joy.

I believe the New Earth will offer us opportunities we wished for but never had. God’s original plan was that human beings would live happy and fulfilling lives on Earth. If our current lives are our only chances at that, God’s plan has been thwarted. Consider the injustice—many honest, faithful people never got to live fulfilling lives, while some dishonest and unfaithful people seemed to fare much better.

Heaven will be deeply appreciated by the disabled, who will be liberated from ravaged bodies and minds, and by the sick and elderly, who will be free from their pains and restrictions. They will walk and run and see and hear, some for the first time. Hymn writer Fanny Crosby said, “Don’t pity me for my blindness, for the first face I ever see will be the face of my Lord Jesus.”

One of the greatest things about Heaven is that we’ll no longer have to battle our desires. They’ll always be pure, attending to their proper objects. We’ll enjoy food without gluttony and eating disorders. We’ll express admiration and affection without lust, fornication, or betrayal. Those simply won’t exist.

Here are some quotes from authors who have also contemplated what life in God’s presence will be like:

I suspect that every saved soul in heaven is a great wonder, and that heaven is a vast museum of wonders of grace and mercy—a palace of miracles, in which everything will surprise everyone who gets there.

Charles Spurgeon, “Feeble Faith Appealing to a Strong Savior”

Something better awaits and beckons us all. We shall be “like the angels,” which means not neutered, anaemic spirits, but full, free and liberated persons in whom all the possibilities of our God-given humanity will burst forth in undreamed-of fulfillment.

Bruce Milne, The Message of Heaven and Hell

In Heaven, as on earth, each of us will be or do something no one else will be or do as well. No one will be superfluous.

Peter Kreeft, Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about Heaven

I do live expecting great things in the life that is ripening for me and all mine—when we shall have all the universe for our own, and be good merry helpful children in the great house of our father. . . . When we are all just as loving and unselfish as Jesus; when like him, our one thought of delight is that God is, and is what he is, . . . then, darling, you and I and all will have grand liberty wherewith Christ makes free—opening his hand to send us out like white doves to range the universe.

George MacDonald, letter to his dying daughter

As our minds expanded, we came to the realization that there were no limitations to that which we might do. Eternity gave us the opportunity to carry forward the grandest enterprises, reach the highest aspirations, and realize our loftiest ambitions. And ever before us there were new heights to surmount, new wonders to admire, new truths to comprehend, and fresh objects to call forth the powers of body and mind and soul.

Walton Brown, Home at Last

What will these glorified human beings be able to do in their transfigured universe, on their transfigured earth? The simplest answer seems to be: whatever they wish. For according to an old theological dictum heaven will mean the satisfaction of every rational desire. And their transfigured cosmos will obviously be an “extension of heaven,” wide open to whatever use the glorified men will wish to put it. It will be theirs to use and develop into an even better and better universe. There will be no conflicts, no enmities, no hatred, no wars, no property bounds, no segregation, no discrimination. There will be abundant space and abundant opportunity for everyone to do whatever he wishes and wherever he wishes. . . . Their beatific vision will make it impossible for them to be uncharitable, envious, jealous, avaricious, unjust.

E. J. Fortman, Everlasting Life after Death

What Is the Significance of Leaves for Healing on the New Earth?

Randy Alcorn — Wed, 19 Aug 2026 00:00:00 -0700

The prophet Ezekiel shares this picture of what’s coming in the renovated world that awaits us:

Fruit trees of all kinds will grow along both sides of the river. The leaves of these trees will never turn brown and fall, and there will always be fruit on their branches. There will be a new crop every month, for they are watered by the river flowing from the Temple. The fruit will be for food and the leaves for healing. (Ezekiel 47:12)

The apostle John reveals a parallel picture of the New Earth:

Then the angel showed me a river with the water of life, clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb. It flowed down the center of the main street. On each side of the river grew a tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, with a fresh crop each month. The leaves were used for medicine to heal the nations. (Revelation 22:1-2, NLT)

The tree of life in Eden will become a great forest of life on the New Earth, growing on both sides of the river and producing an abundance of delicious fruit that will provide God’s people continuous health (Revelation 22:1-2). What does this mean? That the New Jerusalem will be Eden magnified and expanded, but with far more variety not only in the fruit it bears, but also in untold other ways. (Assuming that New Earth animals will eat what New Earth people do, presumably they will experience the same benefits, whatever those are.)

If Eden was a rural utopia, the New Jerusalem, with its great waters and trees and fruits, will be an urban utopia, presumably with green spaces and water features and endless beauty that would be eye-popping to the greatest urban planners in this world. It will be all the best and none of the worst of the cities we’ve known on a fallen earth. (Anyone who thinks they hate the idea of a city has only seen fallen cities.)

Outside the city will be nations. We know this because the kings of those nations will bring their treasures into the New Jerusalem, perhaps as worshipful tributes to King Jesus (Revelation 21:24). Anyone who thinks he hates the country because of isolation, boredom, and lack of activity hasn’t seen what awaits us on the New Earth, both outside cities and inside them.

The healing of the nations is linked to the leaves of the tree of life. Most likely that tree in the New Jerusalem is literal just as it was in Eden, just far more expansive, with perhaps miles or hundreds of miles of “trees” stemming from one root, making it a single tree of life. (The Pando aspen grove in the Fishlake National Forest in Utah is a quaking aspen with stems that appear to be separate trees but are not, spreading out over 106 acres and connected by a massive interwoven root system.) We are told that right now the [not a] tree of life is in the Present Heaven (Revelation 2:7) and in Revelation 21 that its leaves and great variety of fruits will enrich our existence there. Throughout history, leaves have been a primary source of medicines used in healing.

But since there will be no suffering, sickness, or death for anyone on the New Earth—people or animals—what is the meaning of the “healing” the leaves will bring? One possibility is that the leaves are for celebrating the final end of divisions between nations. In the ancient world, leaves and wreaths were symbols of peace. The olive branch represented peace in the Greco-Roman world. Even the Great Seal of the United States has an eagle symbolizing war, holding an olive branch in its claw, with olives and leaves, symbolizing peace. Those seeking peace would hold an olive branch when approaching a high ranking official. Laurel wreathes not only crowned victorious commanders and athletes but also became symbols of peace celebrating the end of competition and the beginning of festivities. So the leaves of healing may represent that all earth’s inhabitants are perpetually healthy at last, nations are no longer divided, hate is over, and war is forever behind us.

Since on the New Earth war will only be a memory, surely the tree of life’s leaves won’t be necessary to heal us from such wounds. Diseases will be no more. However, while we can’t know for certain the exact nature of the resurrection body, it seems possible that in our everyday lives, or perhaps in particularly adventuresome activities, we will always be finite creatures even while living eternally. If so, could we—and the animals under our care—incur minor injuries (never fatal and without great pain), that the leaves could quickly heal?

Pain is not synonymous with evil, the curse, and the fall. What happened with the curse was the increase of pain and then the beginning of unrelenting pain leading to death. It's not that Adam and Eve didn't have nerves that didn't allow them to feel any pain.

While Ezekiel and Revelation are certainly talking about people in terms of the healing of the nations, as go people, so go the animals. So it could very well mean that animals could experience just the small amount of pain necessary to deter their actions—to pull a paw out of a fire, for instance. And then the leaves of the tree of life could also be used for their healing. This of course is speculation, but I'm just trying to make best sense of the text.

Pain can be beneficial when it’s only temporary and fleeting, prompting us to pull back our hand from a hot surface before damage is done or any ongoing suffering begins. This is the protective nature of pain that could theoretically still be part of our resurrection bodies.

Pain can prompt a reflective reaction in the body that protects it from harm that would involve actual suffering, which would be severe and ongoing—and we’re told will no longer exist. Our bodies can react reflexively to danger before we fully register pain consciously.

In a perfect Eden, with perfect but finite bodies, could Adam and Eve have tripped and fallen, or had a cut that bled? Could they have then tended and helped each other? Could the leaves of that amazing garden of Eden have had properties that helped administer healing? If so, could this be what it’s talking about concerning leaves of healing on the New Earth?

Perhaps the tree’s fruit and leaves will be one way God continuously infuses and sustains His resurrected people with life and health. God doesn’t have to make us once and for all invulnerable like comic book superheroes. He could instead give us a continuous and everlasting infusion of secondary means to maintain our health and well-being.

I am speculating, attempting to make sense of the leaves of the tree of life being for our healing on the New Earth when we already have our resurrection bodies, and death and suffering are no more. Some translations read “no more pain,” but that doesn’t need to mean “no more ability to feel” or “no more nerve endings or sensations,” just no more suffering. We don’t have to know the answers now, but one day we will!

I think part of retaining our humanity will involve still feeling sensations and responding to stimuli. I would expect the same of the New Earth and the animal kingdom. An inability to feel would reduce us to robots, while continuous empowerment and infusion of healthy foods and preventive treatments, such as the healing leaves of the tree of life, could help us maintain our full humanity.

God can do it however He wishes. Jesus sometimes healed people without any secondary means, simply by saying “be healed,” other times touching them, and in one case mixing his spit with mud, having the man put it on his eyes, then wash himself off in a river. The point is not how He will do it but that He will do it. And since the fruit of the tree of life will presumably be available to animals also, it may play a part in their ongoing perfect health.

God says of His people, “Never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst” (Revelation 7:16). This doesn’t necessarily mean we won’t require food and drink, but possibly that we will always have all the food and drink we want and need. The leaves, which have always been associated with healing in this world, will remind us of the profound personal and global healing sustained by God’s ongoing provision. If that is so, then the leaves do not have to cause the healing of present sickness but can forever remind us of God’s miraculous healing of the New Earth and all its inhabitants.

To be forever strong, our resurrection bodies may be sustained forever by unending access to nourishing foods and preventive medicines from consuming leaves that will have health-giving properties. This could be just as true of animals as people. In any case, the bottom line is the same, and Revelation 21:4 says it all: “He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.”

Meet Gracie’s Double in Our New Children’s Book “Heaven on Earth”

Randy Alcorn — Mon, 17 Aug 2026 00:00:00 -0700

One of the great blessings since Nanci went to be with Jesus has been our dog Gracie, who we picked out together. Nanci had only ten months with her, but I’ve had her now five years, and I often reflect on the joy she brought to both of us from the day we brought her home. In certain ways, Gracie is sometimes very Nanci-like. (While some women would shudder to be compared to a dog, trust me, my dog-loving wife would consider it a high compliment!) When I’m not traveling, especially when writing, whole days can go by with it being just the two of us.

When I need to leave Gracie home, I give her a good treat but when I come back (sometimes just after getting the mail), she goes crazy. Half the time we walk and half the time we run together, and her sheer excitement and delight as she dramatically pulls her leash forward at the beginning of a run always makes me laugh.

I have often videoed Gracie running purely for fun, but sometimes I can’t keep up with her quick movement. This shows you what I’m talking about:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GXOlnLEfWk

She’s only thirty-five pounds, but her speed once saved her when she was chased for sixty yards across a field by a big German shepherd, before jumping to the side, turning on a dime, and sprinting back to me. Family and friends have helped me grieve Nanci, but in her own way Gracie has done as much for me as anyone through her vibrancy and excitement for life, her loyal and truly unconditional love, and her utter devotion. There are days of bad weather here in Oregon where I would rather stay inside, but that’s simply not an option with Gracie, so I get the fun, fresh air, and the exercise!

Watch Gracie’s exuberant joy here as she greets the Eternal Perspective Ministries staff, gathered for a meeting at my office. Each time she’s released to see them, she dances around excitedly, greeting each person, before settling down and taking turns leaning against each staff person to get petted.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rzMycuzx2Q

Romans 1:20 says, “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made.” Animals are the second most important part of God’s creation, after people. We should see God’s nature in His creation, including His animal creation.

Think of Adam in Eden, naming all the animals. Consider the representatives of all animal families rescued on the ark along with Noah and his family, shepherds and their sheep in Scripture, how God made us to be caretakers having benevolent dominion over them. And don’t forget the prophet Nathan’s story of how much a man loved his pet lamb (2 Samuel 12:3).

Exodus 20:10 tells us animals were to be included in the Sabbath rest. Deuteronomy 25:4 says, “You shall not muzzle an ox when it is treading out the grain.” The animal gets to eat the grain also. In Exodus 23:4–5, God commands His people even to help an enemy’s ox or donkey!
And Proverbs 12:10 connects caring for animals with goodness and virtue: “The righteous care for the needs of their animals, but the kindest acts of the wicked are cruel” (NIV).

Are you a horse lover? Read Job 39:19–25, and you’ll see God is the original horse lover, not to mention their Creator! Isaiah 11:6-9 promises there will be animals on the New Earth, including wolves (dog family) and lions and leopards (cat family). The breeds indicated in Scripture are surely just a sampling. I’m confident there will be animals of every kind on that perfect restored world where former predators and prey are said to live together in perfect peace.

It might go to Gracie’s head to hear this, but she’s the inspiration for the dog featured in the new children’s book Heaven on Earth, which I cowrote with my very talented friend Lisa Tawn Bergren. The illustrator, James Bernardin, did a wonderful job. (Gracie also gets several mentions in my upcoming book All God’s Creatures.) You’ll definitely get the feel of animal-love in Heaven on Earth. Then in November, All God’s Creatures will offer you a rich theology of animals that I hope will engage your head and touch your heart.

Like the real Gracie, the book Gracie is a doodle (my Gracie’s the smaller kind, and is half Goldendoodle, half Labradoodle). The book Gracie is a bigger Goldendoodle, like real Gracie’s 80-pound friend Bo Keels. Both in real life and in Heaven on Earth, the two Gracies love people and going on walks and adventures:

She also deeply loves her people, as Book-Gracie adored both child and grandma:

She makes her family laugh:

And she is a gift from God to them:

Lisa Bergren and I wanted this to be a book that depicts the New Earth in fun and vivid ways. We hope you and your children and grandchildren and any child in your life will love it.

If you’re not familiar with Lisa, check out her website, and start reading her books!

Why Are Our Free Will and God’s Sovereignty Worth Discussing?

Randy Alcorn — Fri, 14 Aug 2026 00:00:00 -0700

What good can come from studying the mysterious and sometimes upsetting subject of God’s sovereignty and human free will?

Some recognize these issues as hugely important. Convinced of their position, bloggers, seminary professors and talk show hosts look for opportunities to make their case.

Others shrug and say, “These doctrines cause division and are impossible to understand. Why even try?”

I believe one compelling reason to study this paradox is to better understand what we cannot fully understand. While it’s not imperative that I understand everything, it is important that I believe in both God’s sovereignty and meaningful human choice. If I don’t believe in God’s sovereignty, I’ll either despair or imagine that I must carve out my own path. If I don’t believe in my freedom to make meaningful choices, I’ll either give up on life or not take responsibility for my decisions.

Following are six other reasons:

1. To develop a deeper appreciation for God and His Word, which reveals Him to us

When the United States announced its intention to send a man to the moon, it mobilized extravagant resources. By the time Neil Armstrong set foot on the lunar surface in July 1969, the US space program had done much more than reach its objective. Along the way, great advances were made in medicine, engineering, chemistry, physics, and numerous other fields. NASA aimed at the moon and got a whole lot more.

Likewise, our pursuit of godly wisdom and understanding will not only deepen our perspective on a specific passage or topic, but also helps us in countless other ways, as we give extra effort to diligently and prayerfully meditating on God’s Word (see Psalms 19:8; 119:30, 105; 2 Peter 1:19).

2. To help us mirror Christ’s humility

True humility and wisdom consist of recognizing how little we really know. The Bible insists we “know in part” and we “see but a poor reflection as in a mirror” (1 Corinthians 13:9, 12). We’re to bow to the wisdom of Scripture, even when its mysteries are hard to wrap our minds around. Humility requires that we realize how much we have to learn from God.

While the Ethiopian eunuch puzzled over Scripture, Philip asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” (Acts 8:30). Asking God to enlighten us and give us insight from His Word will go a long way toward increasing our wisdom on this topic.

Bible study is exciting when we come expecting to learn, to be challenged, and to be transformed—if we are open to adjusting our opinions when they don’t align with Scripture.

3. To embrace all of God’s inspired Word, not just parts of it

“The first to present his case seems right,” says Proverbs 18:17, “till another comes forward and questions him.” Our families and churches and the books we’ve read may have presented their cases first, but that doesn’t mean they are right.

The Message paraphrases Ecclesiastes 7:18: “It’s best to stay in touch with both sides of an issue. A person who fears God deals responsibly with all of reality, not just a piece of it.” God inspired all of His Word, not just parts of it, and He calls us to embrace it all.

Large dogs can get two tennis balls in their mouths at the same time. Not our Dalmatian, Moses. He managed to get two in his mouth only momentarily. To his distress, one ball or the other always spurted out. Likewise, we have a hard time handling parallel ideas such as grace and truth, or God’s sovereignty and free or meaningful choice. We need to stretch our undersized minds to hold them both at once.

A paradox is an apparent contradiction, not an actual one. Sovereignty and meaningful choice aren’t contradictory. God has no trouble understanding how they work together. In His infinite mind they coexist in perfect harmony.

As you may have noticed, our minds are not infinite. And while our brains can never fully grasp sovereignty and meaningful choice, by affirming what Scripture says about both, we can avoid the mistake of denying one in order to affirm the other.

4. To foster unity in the body of Christ

I encourage you to carefully examine your own position and inconsistencies before subjecting fellow Christians to critique. Let’s bear the fruit of the Spirit, which includes both peace and patience (see Galatians 5:22). Unity has an evangelistic power that needless division undermines (see John 17:20–21).

Let’s recognize our core areas of agreement, making an honest attempt to understand one another while refusing to let peripheral issues separate us. If we love the same Jesus and believe the same Bible, let’s start and end there.

5. To avoid both fatalism and crushing guilt

Church history shows us that leaning heavily toward a particular set of verses can result in apathy and passivity: “God is going to do whatever He wants to do anyway, so why bother doing anything ourselves?” Leaning heavily toward another set of verses can result in something close to frenzy and unrelenting guilt: “We have to save the world! It all depends on us!” What is God’s role and what is mine? Is my life in God’s hands, my hands, or the hands of demons or other people? What we believe about God’s sovereignty and human choice has a significant impact on how we live.

6. To prevent us from becoming trivial people in a shallow age

The times we live in are in no danger of going down in history as “The Era of Deep Thought.” In our world, feelings overshadow thinking, and sizzle triumphs over substance.

Taking their cues from the culture, Christians who hear about the paradox of sovereignty and free will might say, “It’s a mystery; we’re never going to solve it.” But this can just be laziness, a spiritual-sounding way of saying, “I don’t want to think too hard. Let’s watch a movie instead.”

If you want truth and depth, you have to spend time in God’s Word, allowing it to make the crucial sixteen-inch journey from your head to your heart. Yes, the question of how human choice and divine sovereignty can coexist is big and difficult, but it’s also vitally important. If we devote our lives to dealing only with trivial issues, we can’t help but become trivial people.

The Intriguing and Beautiful Relationship between God’s Sovereignty and Our Meaningful Choice

Of all the dilemmas we confront in life, none is more befuddling than God’s sovereignty and human choice. So why do I find the perplexing topic beautiful rather than frustrating?

It’s all about perspective.

When astronomers gaze into deep space they’re confronted with the universe’s puzzles. Cosmic rays are highly energetic particles that flow into our solar system from deep in outer space, but where do they actually come from? It’s been a mystery for fifty years. The sun’s corona, its ultra-hot outer atmosphere, has a temperature of “a staggering 10.8 million degrees Fahrenheit.” Solar physicists still don’t understand how the sun reheats itself. These mysteries and countless others have not so much frustrated scientists as fascinated them. Watch their interviews and read their articles; their wonder about things they don’t comprehend is palpable. You don’t have to be able to wrap your mind around something in order to see its beauty.

Likewise, for God to fully know in advance what billions of human beings could and would do under certain circumstances, and to govern our world in such a way as to accomplish His eternal plan—is this not stunning?

If we can gaze at the night sky or a waterfall or the ocean with hearts moved at their sheer beauty, should we not be able to study the metaphysical wonders of God’s universe with equal or even greater awe?

God’s Choices Come First, Ours Second

I do think it’s reasonable to look at God’s choices as being more foundational than our own. Why? Because we’re made in His image, and His choice-making precedes and empowers ours. The universe is first and foremost about the purposes, plan, and glory of God. Because He is infinite, His choices naturally hold more sway than those of His creatures. As His power exceeds ours, so does the power of His choices.

That doesn’t mean our choices don’t matter—they certainly do. He gives us room to make choices according to the prevailing disposition of our will and within the limits He imposes in His sovereign plan. My perspective is simply that everything about God, including His choices, is greater than everything about us.

A. W. Tozer said in The Pursuit of God, “Every soul belongs to God and exists by His pleasure. God being Who and What He is, and we being who and what we are, the only thinkable relation between us is one of full lordship on His part and complete submission on ours.”

That’s the spirit in which I approach this topic: eager to acknowledge His lordship and willing to submit to whatever He reveals in His Word.

Adapted from Randy’s book hand in Hand.

My New Book “Heaven on Earth,” and the Importance of Teaching Kids about Heaven

Randy Alcorn — Wed, 12 Aug 2026 00:00:00 -0700

My new children's book Heaven on Earth: When God Makes Everything New, which I wrote with my friend Lisa Tawn Bergren, released yesterday on August 11. It's beautifully illustrated by James Bernardin, and geared towards children ages 3-7.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJoHXldaLZs

Scripture says, “We wait for new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness will dwell” (2 Peter 3:13). Unfortunately, many children are not looking forward to this because they have not been taught what the Bible says about Heaven.

Many children are put at ease about Heaven when parents explain that we will not be ghosts. No child wants to become a ghost. The Bible says, “We know that when He appears we will be like Him, because we will see Him as He is” (1 John 3:2). Jesus in His resurrected body proclaimed that he was not a ghost but that He had actual “flesh and bones” (Luke 24:39).

Christ’s resurrection body was suited for life on earth. As Jesus was raised to come back to live on earth, we, too, will be raised to come back to live on earth (1 Thessalonians 4:14; Revelation 21:1-3). Teach your children the doctrines of the resurrection and the New Earth, and they will be excited about life after death!

Kids need to know that everything good, enjoyable, refreshing, and exciting comes from God. Jesus is creative, fascinating, and anything but boring. Heaven is going to be full of surprises and adventures as we learn more about God and explore His new universe.

My prayer is that Heaven on Earth will assist parents in helping their children get excited about life on the New Earth!

Randy Alcorn's Blog

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Why Are Our Free Will and God’s Sovereignty Worth Discussing?

1. To develop a deeper appreciation for God and His Word, which reveals Him to us

2. To help us mirror Christ’s humility

3. To embrace all of God’s inspired Word, not just parts of it

4. To foster unity in the body of Christ

5. To avoid both fatalism and crushing guilt

6. To prevent us from becoming trivial people in a shallow age

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God’s Choices Come First, Ours Second

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