Our first discoveries in Heaven

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“Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him, and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him. Even so, amen” (Revelation 1:7).

I’m going to go out on a limb here and make a few predictions about Heaven.

As with every religious charlatan who ever came down the pike, there’s no way to prove me wrong for the time being. But unlike the con men, I’m just thinking out loud here. After all, who among us does not like thinking about Heaven, our abode forever and forever?

The first surprise, I have no doubt, will be to find yourself awake.  “Wow,” you think. “I died.  I really did.  I remember everyone gathering around the hospital bed and them all crying.  And I recall that last surge of pain and then everything went black.  And lo and behold, I wake up.  How wonderful is that?”

“As for me, I shall behold Thy face in righteousness.  I will be satisfied with Thy likeness when I awaken.” (Psalm 17:15)

When I awaken.  A given fact. It’s going to happen.  But as much as we say we believe that, I’m confident the first sensation we will have on the other side of that curtain is to find our eyes open and the new realities of our situation setting in.

The second surprise will be to see how real everything is.  How bright and clear are the colors, how total your hearing, how alive you feel. And–dare I say this–how young you are.  Not the elderly person who dealt with aches and pains, with wrinkles and gray hair, with failing eyesight and weak hearing.  Young, really young!

Now, all this time, when you thought of Heaven, it was in the sense of it being ethereal, somewhat foggy, as though this earthly life is the real thing and the celestial is something not quite as solid.  Imagine your surprise when you find it to be quite the opposite.

“…an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison,” is how 2 Corinthians 4:17 puts it.  “For the things which are seen (i.e., the earthly) are temporal, but the things which are not seen (heavenly) are eternal.”

The third surprise?  I don’t have a clue.  It could be so many things….

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Fifteen lies Satan will tell you about Scripture

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“(The devil) was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him.  Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar, and the father of lies” (John 8:44).

If I were the devil, I would do everything in my power to keep you from the Word of God.  I would say anything I could think of, anything I thought you would believe, anything that works, to get you to read other things.

As Paul said, “We are not ignorant of his devices” (2 Corinthians 2:11).  We know how he works.  And here are some of the lies we have noticed pouring out of his factory, all geared toward destroying confidence in God’s Word.

One. “You already know it, so don’t read it.”

He’s lying. You do not know it. I’ve studied the Bible all my life and in no way could I say I “know” it. I know a great deal about it, but there is so much more.  For the typical church member to shun the Bible because “I’ve been there and done that” is laughable. And frankly, Satan thinks you are a fool.

Two: “No one can understand it, so don’t read it.”

He’s lying.  Even a child can understand a great deal of Scripture.  Paul said to Timothy, “From a child thou hast known the holy scriptures” (2 Timothy 3:15).

Meanwhile, the Ph.D. will find plenty to challenge his thinking.  Only a book from the Almighty could touch so many people at every level of their existence.

Three: “It’s boring. So don’t read it.”

He’s lying.  The Bible is a lot of things, but boring is not one of them.  We’re boring, and that’s the problem.

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When the pastor exceeds his expiration date

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Of all the questions church people send my way, this may be the most difficult.

Our pastor has been here umpteen years.  He has lost his vision and his energy, and the church is dying.  The numbers are down considerably, and yet the church is located in a growing area.  We love him and are so grateful to God for his ministry over the years. But isn’t there a limit to the loyalty thing?  At what point does a pastor need to be told that his time here is up?

There are no simple or easy answers to this.  Handled wrongly, this matter can destroy a church, inflict a terminal wound to a veteran minister, and hurt his family in lasting ways.

On the one hand, the minister is there by the Lord’s doing. Paul tells us the Holy Spirit makes the pastors/elders the overseers of the church (Acts 20:28).  We do not want to casually hurt God’s servant since our Lord Jesus said, “Whoever receives you, receives me” (Matthew 10:40).  Now, we are not equating today’s pastors with Moses but throughout Israel’s wilderness wanderings, it was clear that the Lord took personally the treatment/mistreatment of His man by the people.

I think that’s still the case.  When people mistreated God’s prophets down through the ages, He interpreted that as an offense toward Himself.

So, we always want to try to honor the Lord’s servant, even if he is undeserving at this particular moment.

On the other hand.

We feel a strong devotion to the health of the Lord’s church and the need to protect it.  Anyone who is depressing the church, blocking its mission, sapping its strength, and deadening its soul needs to be dealt with, even when that happens to be the undershepherd himself.

So, what is a church to do?

Pray for wisdom. Pray for understanding to know what to do. Pray for courage to be able to do it. Pray for the pastor to get his act together.  Pray for the church leadership to be faithful and responsible. Pray for the membership as they respond to their leaders.

Pray for the Lord’s will to be done in this and everything.

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Let not a minister of Christ misrepresent himself

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“Lie not one to another, seeing that you have put off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of Him that created Him….” (Colossians 3:9-10).

I hate to admit this, but it needs to be done.

Preachers sometimes misrepresent themselves. 

Some claim to have degrees that sound authentic but were bought on the sly somewhere because they know that laypeople in our churches are unsophisticated about that sort of thing but are impressed by high-sounding degrees. Some claim to have been places they merely flew over, to know people they shook hands with, and to be more than they are.  Some give the appearance that they know the original languages when they are merely quoting something they picked up in a book.

There is no substitute for integrity in those called to preach the Word and lead the Lord’s flock.

A surgeon must have cleanliness at the heart of all he does; a teacher must have a love for the students at the heart of all she does; a carpenter must have the blueprint at the heart of all he does; and a pastor must have integrity undergirding all he does.

Integrity. Truth. Honesty.  No deception. No embellishment. No twisting of the fact. No irresponsible reporting.  No claiming what is not so, no declaring what we do not know, and no using what belongs to another.

The temptations are ever with us to do otherwise.

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A book I heartily recommend

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Confronting Christianity: 12 Hard Questions for the World’s Largest Religion  by Rebecca McLaughlin

Rebecca McLaughlin holds a PhD in Renaissance literature from Cambridge University and a theological degree from Oak Hill College.  She is one amazing lady.  I loved (understatement of the year) her book.

The “hard questions” which she deals with–

–Aren’t we better off without religion?

–Doesn’t Christianity crush diversity?

–How can you say there’s only one true faith?

–Doesn’t religion hinder morality?

–Doesn’t religion cause violence?

–How can you take the Bible seriously?

And that’s only the first six!

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Books I’m reading at the moment

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TIMOTHY KELLER’S “KING’S CROSS: The story of the World in the Life of Jesus.”  

Our church library has a shelf of freebies, books donated which they don’t need.  Yesterday I picked this one up and am loving it.  Keller is focusing on the life of Jesus from the Gospel According to Mark.

Consider this paragraph from the opening…

Who was Mark?  The earliest and most important source of an answer comes from Papias, bishop of Hierapolis until 130 A.D., who said that Mark had been a secretary and translator for Peter….and “wrote accurately all that (Peter) remembered.”  This testimony is of particular significance, since there is evidence that Papias (who lived from 60-135 A.D.) knew John, another of Jesus’s first and closest disciples, personally.  …Mark mentions Peter more than the other Gospels.  If you go through the book of Mark, you’ll see that nothing happens in which Peter is not present.  The entire Gospel of Mark, then, is almost certainly the eyewitness of Peter. 

Keller says the other religions of the world give advice; Christianity has “news.”  They all tell what you have to do; Christianity tells us what God has done.

HUMBLE INFLUENCE:  The Strength of True Followership by Jim Matuga

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We can love Him here and He feels it there

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If you love me, keep my commandments (John 14:15).  He who has my commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves me (John 14:21).  If anyone loves me, he will keep my word (John 14:23).  If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love (John 15:10).  You are my friends if you do whatever I command you (John 15:14).

Anyone see a trend in these verses? He wants us to love Him and tells us how: Obedience. 

With that in mind, the question before us is this: Is it possible to do something so loving, so affectionate, so Christ-honoring here on earth that Jesus will feel it in Heaven’s Throneroom?

Can I do something loving for Jesus here and have Him feel the love there?

Yes.  Absolutely.

We direct your attention to the woman of Luke 7:36ff.

 

Then one of the Pharisees asked Him to eat with him. And He went to the Pharisee’s house and sat down to eat. And behold, a woman in the city who was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at the table in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster flask of fragrant oil, and stood at His feet behind Him weeping; and she began to wash His feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head; and she kissed His feet and anointed them with the fragrant oil….

What courage it took for this fallen woman–known to be so–to enter a home where she was not welcome in order to see the Savior.  What depth of love drove her to His feet where she wept and worshiped.  Then, seeing what she had done and with nothing to dry the tears on His feet, she let down her hair and used it for a towel.  Then–in for a dime, in for a dollar–she broke open a flask of ointment and began to anoint His feet. The fragrance filled the house.  No one was unaware of her presence or of what she was doing.

A drama ensued. The Pharisee-host fumed inwardly, and our Lord turned it into one of Scripture’s greatest object lessons. We do love everything about this wonderful story.

It’s a lovely story.  We admire this woman.  And in some ways we envy her. We wish we had her courage, ignoring what people were thinking in order to do something that pleased Jesus.

What Christ-lover would not relish the opportunity to sit at the feel of our Lord and worship Him with our tears and our touch.

That day is coming, saints of the Lord.  Be faithful.

There is a sense, however, in which we can do that now.

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Meeting the Lord and facing your deeds

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“And their works do follow them” (Revelation 14:13). 

“Pastor, my aunt Bernice would like you to visit her this week. There’s something she wants to talk with you about.”

I knew this young deacon’s Aunt Bernice. She was up in years and sickly, and while not a member of our church, she was related to several.  With her years and health, I figured she wanted to talk with the minister about getting ready to see the Lord.

She did, but not in the way I had expected.

The next afternoon, as we sat in her living room, Miss Bernice said, “Pastor, I know I’m saved. I have no doubt about that. I remember being saved. But there’s something else bothering me.”

“Pastor, I haven’t done right by the church.”

She continued, “As a young adult, I got away from the church. I raised my son without the church and really came to regret it. And now I’m old and can’t even go. But if you’d let me, I’d like to put my membership in and become a member. I’ll pray for you all and send an offering from my monthly check.”

I assured her we would be honored to receive her, and took care of that the next Sunday.

On the way back to the church office that day, I asked myself, “Have you done right with the Lord’s church?”

Good question for each of us to consider.

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They asked you to pray at the secular convention and you agreed. Now what?

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Sooner or later this happens to every pastor:  Some civic (translation: ‘non-religious‘) outfit calls and asks you to lead a prayer at their gathering.  Sometimes it’s the city council or state legislature, sometimes it’s a convention or some club’s gathering.  You are faced with the decision on what to say and what you should not say. 

So here’s my story.

I was in my fourth year pastoring the First Baptist Church of Kenner, LA, in metro New Orleans (across the street from the New Orleans International Airport).  I received a phone call one day informing me that when the American Dental Association held its annual meeting in our city a few months hence, they wanted me to offer the invocation.  I was surprised and honored.

The caller said I would have three minutes for the prayer. She added, “And Pastor, please make it interdenominational.”  In my journal I wrote: “Had she said to omit the name of Jesus, I would have declined the honor for the sake of principle. As it was, I felt I could do something that would satisfy everyone.”

The day came.  It was a huge hotel in downtown New Orleans.  Perhaps 700 to 1,000 people in the room.

Here is what I wrote in my journal:

“The President of the ADA is Dr. Gaines, a dentist from Greenville, SC.  Said his SS teacher gave him my name.  Dr. John Roberts, editor of the SC Baptist Courier.  Just before the meeting started (8:30 am), backstage I met Heather Whitestone, Miss America 1994 (or is it 1995?), the near-deaf lass from Alabama.  We spoke briefly.  Before leading the pledge of allegiance she told the audience how much she loves this country and is grateful to those who have kept it free.  Her chaperone whispered to me, “I never know what she’s going to say.”

After she finished, I prayed the invocation.  Shall I record it here?

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The painful putdown can be a gift in disguise

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As we sat at the breakfast table discussing memories good and bad, my Bertha said something so special I wrote it down just so I’d get it right.

We have a wagonload of memories of God’s people who have loved us and cared for us. But we also have painful memories that we wish we could edit out of our lives.  But the Holy Spirit has shown me that if He took out the pain and strife, He would also be removing the lovely things that happened during that same time. Or, that happened as a direct result of the bad event. 

It brought up a painful memory from my junior high days.  A teacher said something really harsh that forever left its mark on me. Over the years as I have sometimes reflected on that incident, my primary focus has been on the painful hurt he caused.  I’ve thought about that teacher, why he said what he did, what it meant, and how I took it.  But I realized something from what Bertha said.

He helped me.

The teacher who scarred the kid 

I was a new student in that school.  There were a hundred of us seventh-graders from across that part of the county, and that day we had been herded into the gymnasium. The band director–Mr. Keating was his name–called us to order and announced that today we would be electing class officers.

Now, for four years I’d gone to school in rural West Virginia and then we moved back to Alabama in time for my sixth grade in a two-room rural (I mean really, really rural!) school.  So, now, we would ride the bus on into the county seat of Double Springs, AL for the rest of our schooling.  Junior high and senior high classes were all held in the same building.

Of the hundred students in our class, perhaps half lived there in town. Since the rest of us were from across the county, only the town kids knew each other.  So, when class officers were chosen, they nominated people they knew.  As a result, the town kids were nominating one another. Only they were being elected.

So, I raised my hand.

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