A-Z of Christianity 'E'

The A-Z series continues with 'E' - ETERNITY

Before I used to really struggle with Heaven. The reason I used to struggle was that I just couldn't imagine it, I couldn't get my head around such a place. The Biblical account is very powerful yet likely to be mostly metaphorical with the mention of  beasts and dragons etc. Throughout Revelation it almost reads as if some final ceremony is taking place. Obviously, it sounds very other worldly.
But that was until I read Don Piper's account.

On January 18 1989 Piper was involved in a horrific collision with a lorry whilst driving home from a conference. Piper states he was crushed by the roof of his car, the steering wheel impaled his chest and the dashboard collapsed on top of his legs. When the emergency services arrived they declared Piper dead and covered him over as they waited for the medical examiner to arrive.
Piper was dead for around 90 minutes and during his time he visited Heaven, an experience explained in his New York best seller book '90 minutes in Heaven'. Piper speaks of the first people he met being the people who helped him find God in his life and obviously he was able to recognise them. He writes of gold paths that you could see your reflection in, a choir of angels and a light on a hill (which makes me excited because maybe that is where God was actually present!). This experience obviously changed his life and he felt his calling was to tell others about it.

This is my favourite description of Heaven from the Bible:-

Revelation 21

A New Heaven and a New Earth

¹ Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. ² I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. ³ And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ⁴ ‘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.”
⁵ He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”

The main issue most people have with the world we live in is all of the terrible things that happen. God actually created a world without those things but, by giving us choice, enabled us to bring sin in if we wished. Heaven will have no terrible things, there is no death, mourning, crying or pain.

As sinners we are not worthy of such a place but God created Heaven so He could be with us forever. The way in which we can punch our ticket there is by simply trusting in God and accepting the forgiveness for our sins God so clearly offered through Jesus.

I did that over five years ago and it is by far the best decision I have ever made. If you have more questions or thoughts before you commit then please message me - mjw6150@hotmail.com

Hopefully see you all there!

Grace, Peace & Blessings :-)

Jesus : The Way

I have struggled for time & ideas for the blog but this week I'm going to post on one of my favourite sayings of Jesus' - John 14:6

To give a bit of context, here is John 14:1-6...

 "¹ Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me.

    ² In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you.

    ³ And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.

    ⁴ You know the way to the place where I am going.

 ⁵ Thomas said to him, Lord, we don't know where you are going, so how can we know the way?

    ⁶ Jesus answered, I am the way and the truth and the life. No-one comes to the Father except through me."

He is the Way and the Truth and the Life. Jesus appears to distinct the three as separate things so I will blog on each one separately so it is natural to start with the first of the three in the verse, Jesus being the Way.

In John 2 & Luke 2 Jesus speaks of His Father house, but in those passages He is talking about the Temple in Jerusalem, the main place of worship for Jews at that time. Here Jesus is referring to Heaven as He refers to the house as a place 'with many rooms'. The Disciples had already been to the Temple so would have known about the room structure meaning that Jesus couldn't have been talking about that. Why would Jesus go to the Jewish Temple to prepare rooms for them? In Pre-New Testament Israel, the Temple was the place where the Priests could go to meet with God and be in His Presence on behalf of the people. When Jesus died the veil separating God from the people torn showing that Jesus had opened a way for us to be in relationship with God now. Of course, our relationships with God are all works in progress or works waiting to be progressed and the ultimate conclusion to the development of this relationship will come when we get to be with God for eternity.

So I believe Jesus is saying He is the Way to Heaven here.

But, how is Jesus the way to Heaven?

Revelation 21 describes Heaven as a place with no more death or mourning or crying or pain, sounds perfect to me! God resides in Heaven and He is Perfect. Nothing imperfect can go into Heaven because it will spoil it!

As human beings, we have all sinned and are all therefore imperfect but God doesn't like the idea of us not being there with Him because He Loves us.

Christ came to live a perfect live and trade His life for ours, taking the punishment for our sin on the cross so we could have the reward of a place in Heaven, where God will perfect us so we can fit in there :)

Put your trust in Christ today and punch your ticket for the greatest party of all time - Heaven.

What is Heaven like?

Today I saw an article with an opinion I seem to hear quite often these days. Star of Biutiful and husband of Penelope Cruz, Javier Bardem, said this:-

"Heaven must be nice, but is it too boring? Maybe you can get an apartment there and then go to hell for the weekends."

It is a shame how little the vast majority of the world know about Christianity in this age.

Revelation 21:4 - ‘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.”

There will be no sadness in Heaven! The worst thing about this world, which has a lot of beautiful and wonderful things, is the sadness that seems to be all around us. Every day on the News I see people dying too young, people without basic needs, countries at war and injustice. Heaven will have NONE of that.

Revelation 22 goes on to describe Heaven as like a wedding, where Jesus is the groom and the Church as His bride. I think the happiest event you could go to is a wedding. All your friends are there, there is food and there is dancing & partying. I can see Heaven being like that!

Hell is described as a place of pain and mourning, the worst bit must be knowing it was so easy to go to Heaven and you missed out. A lack of God in people's lifes causes the sadness on earth today so I can't imagine how bad it is there.

Jesus described Heaven as paradise:-

Luke 23:43
Jesus answered him, “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.”
The very word paradise must come from there and to me it means a place of perfection and awe inspiring wonder. I am excited for Heaven!

Of course, that verse is Jesus answer to the thief who was being crucified by His side when the thief put his trust in Jesus and asked if He would remember him in His Kingdom. If you trust in Jesus and ask if He will remember you, you will get the same answer TONIGHT.

Birds In A Bush

'A bird in the hand is worth two birds in a bush'

I never knew what this statement meant...until today!
In my third lecture at University, Financial Management, the tutor explained it in the sense of business dividends. Some businessmen feel it is better to have a cash inflow every year in the form of dividends rather than wait on the company growing and getting a better price for their shares when they sell them.

The idea is it is better to have money in your hand than to wait on something happening that will make your investment even more worthwhile in the future.

You are probably losing interest now but I will try and win you back with a thought I had.

Heaven is a bird in the hand. God GUARANTEES Salvation for all of those who confess Christ and believe in what He has done, asking for forgiveness of sins. (Christianity is the only faith to know they are going to Heaven)

Acts 10:43
All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”

Romans 10:9

That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

I think there are lots people counting on the birds in the bush, maybe thinking that if they wait something better will happen than what will happen if they do it the Jesus way.

Jesus dispels this by saying that HE is the only way to the Father in John 14:6:-

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

I encourage everyone to stop waiting  for something else to happen and do something about it now. God Loves you no matter what you have done or where you are at and He is delighted to receive all who come to Him.

Ironically, in this case, the bird in the hand can't actually be bettered. I can testify to it. If you have any questions or want to talk about this, don't hesitate to facebook me, formspring me (the link is below) or comment on here, you can be anonymous if you want.