My Blue Heaven

I recall a discussion a while back regarding what we will see in heaven. Some asked if their favorite things on earth would be there; their dog, their spouse, or their favorite steak dinner. Someone responded that he believed it would be so. I cannot really say as the Bible is silent on the matter, but I must respectfully disagree because I believe the view is a bit narrow – and here are my reasons:

If we are to think heaven, the place to start is in the original state our God created us; the Garden of Eden. What we see there before the fall is simply perfection in all our needs and joy fulfilled. Adam and eve were “unashamed” in everything they did and everything they did was good. I mean they walked around naked unhidden from each other – no secret was kept between them and absolute trust was given. No fear of betrayal or what would happen to tomorrow because complete trust was given to the Lord. In our world, we can only glimpse a shadow of what that is like and it varies at different levels; ideally the marriage is a shadow of what life was like in paradise because (again, ideally) the husband and wife place their complete trust in each other and nothing is hidden from their sight and they can see each other naked and be unashamed. Ideally, in a marriage there is no secrets kept from each other and the home is a place of true rest. There is a lesser picture of paradise with most trusted friends or family though it can never be equal to that of a godly marriage. Trust and support can be found there as well and true love of a friend is a divine gift. But no matter how we strive to create our marriage or friendship as God intended, there are always  periods of struggle and strife. The greatest marriage counselors will admit to you that making the perfect marriage is impossible.

I read this morning about a man who had a terrible dream that his wife and children were killed. The dream was so vivid that he woke scared to death and when he looked at his wife, he was filled with unprecedented love for her and all the dearest thoughts of he simple poured out of him and he wept in thanks God she was with him. Imagine that moment, where all your most profound love for your most intimate friend was bottled up in one moment. Hold that thought and you will only taste the profound joy you will experience every moment in heaven and it will be multiplied a million times because the joy will be shared with every saint unashamedly together.

But will my favorite steak dinner be in heaven? Who cares.

 

Another Idol fallen

I confess, I was praying Tiger Wood was sincerely innocent because I hate to see what such things can do to a family and I had hopes he was a little more mature, but the reality of this world falls hard again and again. I was asked why this happened and the answer was pretty simple; idols need to be worshiped and more so when their popularity and success is waning – when humanity begins to replace idolatry. A friend told me that he could not understand why Tiger would have need to look outside of his marriage with such a beautiful wife, but the truth is that his wife – as with any wife – did not see him as a god, but just another human with extraordinary talent. Tiger, like any idol, needed to be worshiped. I do not think this was intentional at all and want to believe Tiger loved his wife and children dearly – I do believe it – but it was his sinful humanity which craved being worshiped. Very few people can handle fame well and very very few people have the level of fame Tiger is trapped in. I pray Tiger will rise again, but the idol will remain fallen – only in Christ is this truly possible.

And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.” (Luke 2:34-35 ESV)

 

Yeshua or Jesus

 

Member of the Body

 

What Are SBC Baptists?

 

Love

To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it up carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket—safe, dark, motionless, airless—it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. The alternative to tragedy, or at least to the risk of tragedy, is damnation. The only place outside of Heaven where you can be perfectly safe from all the dangers and perturbations of love is Hell. (C. S. Lewis, The Four Loves [Orlando: Harcourt, 1988]: 120; orig. 1960).

 

And proof for the doubters…

After posting yesterday about the weaknesses of polls, look at what comes across the news-

Pollsters Struggle to Handicap Presidential Race

Barack Obama’s leading in virtually every national poll, but his margin fluctuates wildly — suggesting that in some cases, the numbers do in fact lie.

http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/10/27/dont-like-polls-wait-minutes/

The only thing that really counts is your VOTE!

 

Things to ponder before you vote

As I write this there are just a few days before the presidential election. Polls seem to indicate that Senator Obama holds a lead over Senator McCain. Political commentators are saying that it is all over for McCain and that Obama will be our next president.

I personally have never placed much faith in polls. When I was in college, I took a class on Statistics. We learned how poll questions can be “loaded” in such a way as to produce a desired result. Also how the numbers can be “interpreted” by statisticans to show a desired result. There is an old joke- An engineer, a physicist, and a statistician were moose hunting. After a short walk through the marshes they spotted a HUGE moose 150 yards away. The engineer raised his gun and fired at the moose. A puff of dust showed that the bullet landed 3 yards to the right of the moose. The physicist, realizing that there was a substantial breeze that the engineer did not account for, aimed to the left of the moose and fired. The bullet landed 3 yards to the left of the moose. The statistician jumped up and down and screamed “We got him! We got him!”

Let me leave you with seven things that should NOT determine who you vote for as President:

1. Don’t vote for them based on the color of their skin. Vote for them based on the color of their character.

2. Don’t vote for them just because the promise “change”. Politicians have been promising “change” since day one. Most politicians put YOUR “change” in THEIR pockets.

3. Don’t vote for them based on how the economy is doing. Presidents actually have almost NO influence on the economy. The Congress really passes the laws, or fails to pass the laws, that will determine how our economy does.

4. Don’t vote on them based on what they promise to do with Medicare or Social Security. Let’s be honest- and face the fact that taking from the “rich” to give to the “poor” only makes politicians rich.

5. Don”t vote for them just because they do well in debates. “Debates” are nothing more than political “Beauty Contests”.

6. Don’t vote for them based on their political affiliation. No political party has all the answers.

7. Don’t vote for them because they have the most money to spend. Investigate for yourself where their money is coming from!

Three more things-

1. If you are a Christian, you should remember that you will give an answer to God someday for how you vote- or even IF you vote. To vote is a right- but it comes with the responsibility to vote wisely and in a God-honoring way.

2. Christians are COMMANDED to pray for their governmental leaders- whether they like them or not (1 Timothy 2:1-4). We must pray for our next president whether we like him or not.

3. Regardless of who wins the presidential election, God is still on the throne!

 

Revival, part 5

“If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”

God gives us an awesome promise here! If his people (Christians) will humble themselves (accept themselves as they really are before God), seek God’s face (confess our sin), and turn from their wicked ways (repent), then God WILL:

1. Hear from heaven- that means that God will hear our prayers and answer them. There are time when God chooses NOT to hear the prayers of His children!

Isaiah 59:1,2- “Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.”

But, thank God, when we confess our sins and turn from them, God promises that he WILL hear us.

2. Forgive their (our) sin- What a wonderful thing that God forgives our sin! God forgives PERFECTLY- not like people do! How many times have you told someone, “I forgive you” but the next time that you saw that person you immediately thought of the wrong thing that they did to you? God is not like that!

Isaiah 38:17- “In your love you kept me from the pit of destruction; you have put all my sins behind your back.” God not only forgives sins, he FORGETS them.

3. Heal their land- you remember when Adam and Eve sinned, the ground was ‘cursed’ because of their sin. God told Adam that he would have to sweat and work to bring food from the ground. Our sins do affect the world we live in- physically, politically, and in every other way.

Some people look to the preacher for help. Many people are looking to John McCain or Barak Obama for the answers, but the truth is that NO man can help us out of the mess we are in- only GOD can do that.

Psalm 103:1-5- “Praise the LORD, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits-

who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases,

who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion,

who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.”

God is waiting to hear from us. God is willing to change us.

But- are we willing to spend time with Him and let Him change us?

 

Revival, Part 4

“If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”

We have already seen that revival is for Christians and that we must humble ourselves and seek God’s face to experience revival. But there is one more step- God says, “Turn from your wicked ways.”

What does that mean? Well, there is another word that is used in the Bible that means the same thing. That word is repentance.

Let me tell you what repentance does not mean- repentance is not just being sorry for our sin. Rather true sorrow LEADS to repentance- “Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.” (2 Corinthians 7:10)

‘Worldly sorrow’ is “I am sorry because I got caught” sorry. That is ‘jailhouse conversion’ sorrow. It does not produce a changed life!

Genuine repentance is what David expressed in Psalm 51 after his adultery with Bathsheba and his murder of her husband-

“Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge.”(v. 1-4)

1. First, there is personal responsibility for sin. David did not blame Bathsheba for his sin, he blamed HIMSELF. There cannot be real repentance until we take a good, hard look in the mirror and say, “That is the person that is responsible for my sin!”

2. There is a recognition that all sin is an offense against God. We take sin too easily- “Oops, I did it again, Lord- sorry!” Your ( and my) sin is a HORRIBLE thing. God HATES sin. It is so horrible that Jesus died for it!

“Surely you desire truth in the inner parts; you teach me wisdom in the inmost place” (v. 6)

3. A third part of genuine repentance is honesty with God and ourselves. When we truly repent, we “lay it all out”. That means that there is nothing held back, no hidden plans- we just come to God as we are and confess what we are.

“Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will turn back to you. Save me from bloodguilt, O God, the God who saves me, and my tongue will sing of your righteousness. O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise.(v. 13-15)

4. The final evidence of genuine repentance is a changed life. When we repent in truth, we will show it by our new actions. Look at Luke 19:1-9, the story of a man named Zacchaeus-

“Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. He wanted to see who Jesus was, but being a short man he could not, because of the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.

When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.

All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a ‘sinner.’ “

But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.“

Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.”"

A changed life involves restitution. ‘Restitution’ means ‘to pay back’. When we have truly repented, we will want to go to people that we have done wrong to and make things right. It is NOT enough to just go and say “I am sorry” to God. He demands that we go and make it right with those people that we have done wrong to. Jesus said, “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.” Matthew 5:23,24

I pray that each of us will spend some time with God today, asking Him to search our hearts and show us any sin that is in our lives. And that when He does show us the sin, that we will genuinely repent.