Greg Laurie - Interview with Randy Alcorn (08/12/2017)
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Pastor Greg Laurie introduces author and speaker Randy Alcorn, highlighting his extensive biblical study on the subject of heaven. Using Alcorn's book "Heaven" as a key resource, Greg emphasizes its comfort and scriptural depth, recommending it for every Christian's library. He sets the stage for a discussion on eternity, Alcorn's ministry, and his new graphic novel project aimed at a younger generation.
Introducing Randy Alcorn: An Expert on Heaven
We have a very special guest today that's been here before. In fact, he's been here so many times, he gets his own plaque. It says "Randy Alcorn Desk." That's because this desk was built originally for the first time that I had Randy out. Whenever I've done an interview here, we always say, "Get out the Randy Alcorn desk." So here it is, and we're going to put this plaque on it because Randy is going to come out in a moment.
If you haven't heard of Randy, let me tell you a little bit about him. I would describe Randy Alcorn as the foremost expert on the topic of heaven. Now, how can you be an expert on heaven when you've never been there? A lot of people, of course, have written books and claim to have been there. I'm quite doubtful about a lot of those books, to be frank with you. But Randy doesn't claim to have been to heaven.
What he has done is study it extensively for years. I think he's probably read every book written on this subject. But more than that, he has studied the scripture carefully. I find that he has, and here are some of his books. The most notable—whoops—would be this one you've probably seen before called Heaven.
The Essential Book on Heaven
Now, this is not a product promo or a commercial. I'm just telling you, every Christian should have this in their library. This is the best book on the topic of heaven I've ever read, and I've read quite a few myself. It has brought comfort to me and many others because of how biblical it is. As you can see, it's a thick book, so this is a book well worth having.
That book in particular is not his best-selling book, but it is maybe one of his most significant books as it has helped so many people. Randy was a pastor for 14 years and now is the director of Eternal Perspective Ministries. He's also an author of many books, as I said, 45 in total, including Heaven as well as If God is Good, The Treasure Principle, and the gold medallion fiction book winner, Safely Home.
Reaching a New Generation
And now Randy can add the author of a comic book to his resume. He has written a very cool comic book, or maybe another way to describe it is as a graphic novel, to reach a whole new generation. We're going to talk about that a little bit more in a few moments. But he has a powerful ministry encouraging people. Frankly, he doesn't get out and speak all that much.
We've become friends over the years. I threaten him and I bribe him with a trip to Disneyland—he loves Disneyland. We'll talk about that in a few moments. So let's give a warm Harvest welcome to Randy Alcorn.