I’ve never been very good at basketball. I’ve been told over and over again how important it is to keep your eye on the basket when shooting. A coach told me once, “You have to see where you want the ball to go. Don’t let anything else distract you.” I think Jesus would have beenContinue reading “Our Goal”
Category Archives: heaven
Your New Garments
“Waiting for the adoption.” Romans 8:23 Even in this world saints are God’s children, but men cannot discover them to be so, except by certain moral characteristics. The adoption is not manifested, the children are not yet openly declared. Among the Romans a man might adopt a child, and keep it private for a longContinue reading “Your New Garments”
The End of Outrage
Do I as a living, breathing, conscious person have a concrete hope for my future? What do I have to look forward to? At times, when I discover that my own spirit is sagging and a sense of heaviness intrudes on me, I sometimes wonder why the gloomy cloud is perched above my head. BiblicalContinue reading “The End of Outrage”
The Unveiled
John the Revelator’s vision provides a glorious picture of what will be in heaven. There will be a high wall with twelve gates and twelve angels at the gates. The wall will have twelve foundations. The gates will be named for the twelve tribes of Israel and the foundations for the twelve apostles. The cityContinue reading “The Unveiled”
The Ultimate Paradigm Shift
When we ask questions about matters that elude our full understanding, we tend to look for models or patterns that are similar to what we do understand. We seek for clues to a new and different paradigm. The shift from earthbound thinking to conceiving of heaven is a massive paradigm shift. To speak of ourContinue reading “The Ultimate Paradigm Shift”
Mid-Morning: Believers Who Die
Yes, regenerate believers in Christ will go to heaven, but more must be said here. Physical death is not the end of existence, but a door that the regenerate human soul and spirit goes through to enter the greater experience of life in God’s immediate presence (John 11:25). Today, in this physical world, the regenerateContinue reading “Mid-Morning: Believers Who Die”
Nancy Got a Head Start
In light of Nanci’s departure to be with Jesus four weeks ago, a kind sister reached out to me, saying she was hoping and praying that I felt the closeness of Jesus. I told her that I do indeed sense His closeness. At the same time, grief and sometimes depression come upon me in waves.Continue reading “Nancy Got a Head Start”
Really Alive
Since it was the week after Easter, our five-year-old son, Wyatt, had heard plenty of resurrection talk. He always had questions—usually real stumpers. I was driving, and he was buckled into his seat behind me. Wyatt peered out the window, deep in thought. “Daddy,” he said, pausing and preparing to ask me a tough one.Continue reading “Really Alive”
What Will My Father Say?
“Let us learn never to despair of the salvation of anyone, as long as he lives. Fathers ought never to despair of prodigal sons. Mothers ought never to despair of self-willed, headstrong daughters. Husbands should never despair of wives, nor wives of husbands. There is nothing impossible with God. The arm of grace is veryContinue reading “What Will My Father Say?”
Why Do Even Unbelievers Hold to an Afterlife?
God has put within each of us an inner sense that life on earth is not all there is. The Bible answers this so clearly: “[God] has also set eternity in the hearts of men” (Ecclesiastes 3:11). People may suppress this truth or deny it, but our conscience still speaks. The “still small voice” ofContinue reading “Why Do Even Unbelievers Hold to an Afterlife?”
Intentional Faith 