Quotes by Randy Alcorn

Yanked out of the present, Adam discovered the richness of the past in peoples stories.

Giving up everything must mean giving over everything to kingdom purposes, surrendering everything to further the one central cause, loosening our grip on everything. For some of us, this may mean ridding ourselves of most of our possessions. But for all of us it should mean dedicating everything we retain to further the kingdom. (For true disciples, however, it cannot mean hoarding or using kingdom assets self-indulgently.)

We should remember Christs words, Let nothing be wasted, when we look in our refrigerators and garbage cans and garages.

Whenever we have excess, giving should be our natural response. It should be the automatic decision, the obvious thing to do in light of Scripture and human need.

Many [Western Christians] habitually think and act as if there is no eternity. . . . We major in the momentary and minor in the momentous.

Someday this upside-down world will be turned right side up. Nothing in all eternity will turn it back again. If we are wise, we will use our brief lives on earth positioning ourselves for the turn.

Jesus miracles provide us with a sample of the meaning of redemption: a freeing of creation from the shackles of sin and evil and a reinstatement of creaturely living as intended by God.

Imagine youre alive at the end of the Civil War. Youre living in the South, but youre a Northerner. You plan to move home as soon as the wars over. While in the South youve accumulated lots of Confederate currency. Now, suppose you know for a fact the Norths going to win the war, and the end is imminent. What will you do with your Confederate money? If youre smart, theres only one answer. You should immediately cash in your Confederate currency for U. S. currency - the only money that will have value once the wars over. Keep only enough Confederate currency to meet your short-term needs. Kingdom currency, backed by the eternal treasury, is the only medium of exchange recognized by the Son of God, whose government will last forever. The currency of his kingdom is our present faithful service and sacrificial use of our resources for him. The payoff in eternity will be what Paul called a firm foundation consisting of treasures beyond our wildest dreams.

Parents who spoil their children out of love should realize that they are performing acts of child abuse. Although there are no laws against such abuse--no man-made laws anyway--this spiritual mistreatment may result in as much long-term personal and social damage as the worst physical abuse.

...if I try to make only enough money for my family immediate needs, it may violate Scripture. ...Even though earning just enough to meet the needs of my family may seem nonmaterialistic, its actually selfish when I could earn enough to care for others as well.

Some take pains to be biblical, but many [Christian financial teachers, writers, investment counselors, and seminar leaders] simply parrot their secular colleagues. Other than beginning and ending with prayer, mentioning Christ, and sprinkling in some Bible verses, theres no fundamental difference. They reinforce peoples materialist attitudes and lifestyles. They suggest a variety of profitable plans in which people can spend or stockpile the bulk of their resources. In short, to borrow a term from Jesus, some Christian financial experts are helping people to be the most successful rich fools they can be.

Too often we assume that God has increased our income to increase our standard of living, when his stated purpose is to increase our standard of giving. (Look again at 2 Corinthians 8:14 and 9:11).

..tithing isnt something I do to clear my conscience so I can do whatever I want with the 90 percent--it also belongs to God! I must seek his direction and permission for whatever I do with the full amount. I may discover that God has different ideas than I do.

Its curious that the Church has become the most tightfisted at the very time in history when God has provided most generously. Theres considerable talk about the end of the age, and many people seem to believe that Christ will return in their lifetime. But why is it that expecting Christs return hasnt radically influenced our giving? Why is it that people who believe in the soon return of Christ are so quick to build their own financial empires--which prophecy tells us will perish--and so slow to build Gods kingdom?

Given our abundance, the burden of proof should always be on keeping, not giving. Why would you not give? We err by beginning with the assumption that we should keep or spend the money God entrusts to us. Giving should be the default choice. Unless there is a compelling reason to spend it or keep it, we should give it.

God prospers me not to raise my standard of living, but to raise my standard of giving.

Worry is momentary atheism crying out for correction by trust in a good, sovereign God. Suffering breaks self-reliance.

I feel like a child who has found a wonderful trail in the woods. Countless others have gone before and blazed the trail, but to the child its as new and fresh as if it had never been walked before. The child is invariably anxious for others to join in the great adventure. Its something that can only be understood by actual experience. Those whove begun the journey, and certainly those whove gone further than I, will readily understand what I am saying.

its my responsibility to cultivate the man in my son. I cant be passive about that.

To procrastinate obedience is to disobey God.