Here is the other article of mine found among my father’s keepsakes after his November 3 death. You’ll see why it means so much to me that he kept it.

NO MATTER WHAT YOU BELIEVE ABOUT HEAVEN, YOU HAVE A SURPRISE IN STORE

(Originally written September 9, 2003)

In the latest Tom Clancy best-seller, “The Teeth of the Tiger,” foreign terrorists plot a doomsday act against the United States. As the team slips across the unguarded Mexican border, each man knows he has less than a week to live, but dreamily anticipates the glorious fate awaiting him in heaven as a martyr. The terrorists fantasize of celestial virgins catering to their every desire and the eternal glory in which they shall bask. The price for such a coveted reward is a suicidal act which snuffs out the lives of hundreds of the infidel Americans. They can hardly wait.

As I take that in–and I scan a lot of it because even reading such twisted thinking pains me–all I can say is, “Are you ever going to be surprised!”

I suspect there are a lot of disappointed martyrs waiting in some celestial dumping ground, eager for a reunion with the crooks and con men who hoodwinked them into believing that murderous martyrdom earns heavenly bliss. They are literally weeping and gnashing their teeth–weeping from the hell in which they find themselves and teeth-gnashing in anger at those responsible for their ending up there.

We wonder at the way some people consign their eternity to others without so much as a ‘by your leave.’ Promise them unending glory or godness and you can have everything they own. Don’t they question their leaders, we wonder. Why don’t they demand credentials from those asking so much of them? How can these people be so brilliant in a hundred ways and completely gullible in others?

The Lord Jesus once said, “No one has been to Heaven except the One who came from there.” (John 3) Whatever else we make of that, one thing is certain. Jesus claimed to be The Authority on Heaven. Not one of the authorities, but the sole authority. Not the angels, not preachers, not philosophers, not intellectuals, not theologians or soothsayers nor celebrities. Just Jesus.

The only Native of Heaven ever to set foot on earth is the One qualified to teach us what Heaven means, what it is, and how to get there.

As for the credentials of Jesus, how about a sinless life, a miraculous death, and a glorious resurrection! He truly is in a league of His own.

That’s not to say Jesus doesn’t get out-voted a lot. On practically any secular college campus in America–and in far too many seminaries–Jesus’ words are debated and dissected and discarded as too narrow, too primitive, and too irrelevant. Some people need reminding that God did not put Jesus up for a vote. In the memorable words of the Apostle Paul, “Let God be true and every man a liar.”

The Lord Jesus Christ was not submitted for our approval.

Now, admitting that Jesus is our Authority on Heaven, what is remarkable is how little He actually told us about it. Heaven is the Father’s House, a place of eternal reward, where we neither marry nor are given in marriage but are like the angels. Heaven is a real place prepared for the faithful from the foundation of the world. And Jesus alone is the way to get there.

He said all that but not a whole lot more.

Later, the glorified Jesus revealed other details of Heaven to the Apostle John, the account recorded in the last book of the New Testament. Even so, we find ourselves still wondering what Heaven will be like. Then we find Paul’s statement that sums it up.

“Eyes have not seen, ears have not heard, neither has it entered the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love him.”

The life God has planned for His children on earth and into eternity exceeds our understanding, our expectations, and even our imaginations. We cannot begin to know all He has in store. The first and most lasting reaction of everyone five minutes after death will be utter and complete surprise. Those who go to Heaven will be surprised at the way it exceeds anything they expected. Those who do not go will be surprised twice: that they do not and that they end up where they do.

Long ago in Birmingham’s West End Baptist Church, Pastor Bill Burkett told us we will find three surprises when we arrive in Heaven. We will be surprised who is there; we will be surprised who is missing; and most of all, we will be surprised to find ourselves there.

I once heard Professor Fisher Humphreys say he knew Heaven would be incredible because earth is so fascinating. “Who but God would have thought of oysters?” he said.

If there is a one-size-fits-all word for everyone facing death, it’s this: prepare to be surprised. Nothing is as you thought it would be. That, more than anything I can think of, drives us to hold on to the Lord Jesus Christ.

“Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me.”

At the age of 6, my granddaughter Erin sometimes finds herself wondering out loud if the old folks will still be around when she grows up. “Grandpa,” she said the other day as I was pushing her on the front yard swing, “How old will you be when I’m 16?”

I add ten years to my age and say, “73.”

She’s quiet a moment, then says, “How old will you be when I’m 34?”

I think of the age of my dad and say, “91.”

Erin absorbs this and then says, “Will you be dead then?”

I answer, “I might. But I might not. Pop is 91, so maybe I’ll live that long, too.”

When she says nothing, I decide now is a good time to prepare her for whatever the future holds. I say to her, “God does not tell us how long we have to live. Some people die young, and some people live a long, long time. But He doesn’t tell us when we are going to die.”

She brightened up. “It’s a surprise!”

I laughed, “It certainly is.”

(Scriptures referred to or cited include Matthew 22:13, John 3:13, Romans 3:4, I Corinthians 2:9, and Psalms 23:4.)