I have to confess I find worship difficult!  Why? Well, I love worship in church and we are so blessed to have wonderful worship musicians and a great worship leader, but it personal worship, when I am on my own, I find hard. Why I can’t seem to find a way to “adore” God as I sit by myself each morning?

However towards the end of last year I found something that has really helped. I started beginning my devotional time by listening to a couple of carefully selected worship songs.  Three albums have been a particularly helpful so I wanted to share them with you.

• The first is “Banquet” by Graham Kendrick. Graham is “the father” of British contemporary worship music and I had the privilege of working with him on a number of occasions when I was in the UK.
• “Come to the Well” is the latest offering from Casting Crowns. Each of their albums has songs with startling and challenging lyrics. One such song on this album addresses the emotions of a young girl on her birthday growing up with an absentee father.
• The third album is the latest from Matt Redman entitled “10,000 Reasons”. In my opinion Redman is the very best of the contemporary worship writers (and just for the record he is English too although he is resident in Atlanta I believe). Almost every song on this album really enables me to
  
  express my worship to God in a way I would not be able to do otherwise
• Whether or not you use them for personal worship I really recommend each of the albums as inspiring and challenging in many ways. So do any of you have particular things that you do to help you worship in your personal time with God?

No its not an attack of wishful thinking or a correction of my recent birthday; I am getting used to writing “60” when asked for my age. The number is a reference to Isaiah 58. Some time ago I wrote about the challenge of global poverty and shared a video that introduced an upcoming project by this name. Recently I received a second email detailing another stage in the project’s development and sharing some more initiatives.

In Isaiah 58 the prophet challenges us to examine the practice and motivation of our fasting. So for those who are part of New Life Christian Fellowship it occurred to me that our 21day fast is a wonderful opportunity to, once again, think about the hungry, those whose circumstances dictate that their life is a long enforced fast!.

Scripture makes it clear that Jesus had some priorities in His ministry, that I believe He expects His church to reflect. The poor, lonely, disenfranchised, and hungry, along with the lost are those to whom He came to bring “good news” (Luke 4:18-19).  So take some time to explore the resources and information this project offers. Then let’s ask ourselves how our priorities line up with those that Jesus set.  Is there any corrective action we should take?

The importance of choice has been a recurrent theme in my thinking so far this year. The amazing reality is, that God gives us the opportunity to choose whether we serve Him, obey Him, or indeed pay Him any attention at all.  As I thought once again about choosing, I was reminded that often our choices include a decision not to choose. Sounds like a conundrum I know, but let me explain.  30 years ago when I gave up smoking it was an agonizing process, but the key was to make the choice that I was no longer going to make a choice. When offered a cigarette or confronted with the “ harmless” desire for “just one”, the choice that I wasn’t going to smoke had already been made.  I chose not to “choose” any more but to practice reminding myself of the choice I had made.

The importance of this idea is that we can make choices when we are able to think carefully away from the situational pressures that can cause us to slip up before we know it. For instance are there particular circumstances when your own vulnerabilities sing their alluring melody; those things that always cause you to loose your temper, eat what you shouldn’t, or purchase something you don’t need or can’t afford? Remember, as the old chorus used to say, “ Yield not to temptation for yielding is sin!” Note- being tempted is not sin, only “yielding” and yielding is choosing. One of the most significant areas in which choosing not to choose makes an enormous difference is in the choices we make about sexual activity. If we make the choice to practice purity before we embark on a relationship, when the pressure is on we can fall back on a choice already made and so choose not to choose.

So as we respond each day to Joshua’s challenge to choose whom we are going to serve, are there some decisions we should make right at the outset? This will mean that as time goes on, there will not be so many “choices” but instead reminders of decisions made long ago.

Some times it feels like a "Christian diet,” or maybe a way of getting God’s attention so He will  pay more attention to our prayers. Yes its that time again, time for what has become part of our pattern at New Life Christian Fellowship, time to start the New Year with a fast. Next Monday we will begin our 21day fast for 2012. Of course it’s not a weight loss program or an attention getting device neither is it something only for those who are especially spiritual. We do it to be obedient to the words of Jesus in Matthew 6. As part of His Sermon on the Mount Jesus speaks of “when we give” v2, “when we pray”v5 and “when we fast” v16 . But why does Jesus say this is so important?

I believe God gave us a clue on January 1 when we thought about the way Joshua challenged the people of Israel to choose who they would serve Joshua 24. That choice is every bit as important for us today as it was then. If we are going to serve Jesus it is imperative that we set aside time to listen to Him and our time of fasting is just that, to free up time to give God our undivided attention.

To help in this process we have prepared a booklet, which gives some practical suggestions about how to prepare. At the end of this blog there is a list of additional programs and materials that you could use. The prayer meeting in my office each Wednesday provides a great opportunity encourage and pray for each other. There will be additional times when folk can pray and be prayed for at 5:30-6:30am in the “cry room next to the sanctuary (enter by the outside office door) and at the Quartermaine’s home (1336 Crespi Drive) each evening (except Wednesday) 7:30-8:30pm. Whether you come for 5 minutes or the whole hour is not important , they are times to help us focus on the task in hand.

I cannot emphasise enough the NEED TO PLAN. If you do not make a clear and specific plan truthfully it probably will not happen! IT is also very important to share with anyone who will be effected by any changes you make in your schedule so that it does not come as a surprise.

“Not often, but every once in a while, God brings us to a major turning point—a great crossroads in our life. From that point we either go toward a more and more slow, lazy, and useless Christian life, or we become more and more on fire, giving our utmost for His highest—our best for His glory”. Oswald Chambers

It is my prayer that these three weeks will be one of those “major turning points” for each of us as individuals as well as our church fellowship.

Books and Additional Resources

“Fasting” and “The Fasting Edge” Jentzen Franklin

“Awakening, 21 days to revolutionize your relationship with God” Stovall Weems

(A limited quantity of these books will be available at the Information Table for $10)

http://www.markbatterson.com/uncategorized/21-day-prayer-challenge/

http://www.awake21.org/

The You Version Bible app has a 21 day fasting reading plan: http://www.youversion.com/reading-plans/21-day-fast

To begin our new year and as we prepare for our fast on January 16^th (more about that later) here are a few thoughts from the message last Sunday. The importance of  “choosing” came home to me powerfully, the things that we choose to do and those we chose not to do! Often the latter is harder than the former and how are we supposed to make these choices.

As he approached the end of his life Joshua reminded the people of all the things God had done for them in the past, the promises He had kept, the words He had fulfilled, the grace and patience He had shown them. As we look back we can see so many amazing things that God has done in and with us and these should be a powerful encouragement to commit to all that he has for us in 2012. So lets remind ourselves of our mission statement and vision and ask our selves and each other challenging questions.

Our Mission: We exist to Connect, Grow and Serve

Our Vision: To be a church that is known in Pacifica, in the World and in Hell!

Connections

How is my “connection” with God? What am I doing to make it stronger and deeper? What connections have we made over the past year and how strong are they? What connections would God have me make in the coming year? Are their any connections that have be damaged or broken? What can I do to repair and heal the damage?

Growth

Ask someone (not a member of your fan club!)

Where have you seen me grow over the past year?

In which areas do you think I need to grow?

Then our choice of course is what am I going to do about it!!

Serve

Where am I serving? Where would God have me step up in the year to come? Will that mean setting something down or handing it off?

Our Covenant

We are drawn together as a church family by the covenant we make with God and with each other. Have you signed that covenant yet? Is that a step of commitment God would have you make this year?

Finally Joshua does not ask the people what they are going to do he asks who they are going to serve. I guess you could ask the same question in the form of a challenge I first heard from George Barna. This year Are we going to “go to” church or “be” the church. Will we make our first priority to listen to Him and obey? I guess the choice is yours and mine!

Here are a few more things that have made me think recently

“ have you been taking your MED’s”

This unusual quote is apparently a question that Andy Stanley frequently asks his colleagues. He mentioned it in a Leadership podcast when he was taking about the importance of leaders seeking and mentoring their successor’s . However as I thought about it the principle is applicable to almost every area of a Christian’s life. The letters stand for Modeling, Explaining and Demonstrating. It would seem that whether it is as parents, coworkers or leaders of groups small or large we live our lives in front of others. Are we modeling, explaining (when presented with the opportunity) and demonstrating the life of Christ?

He’s done it again, my daily reading of Oswald Chambers “ My Utmost for His highest so often grabs me by the throat so to speak!!!

“You cannot truly intercede through prayer if you do not believe in the reality of redemption. Instead, you will simply be turning intercession into useless sympathy for others, which will serve only to increase the contentment they have for remaining out of touch with God.” My Utmost for His Highest, Oswald Chambers,

Made me think about how I pray for people, am I asking God for full and complete redemption or will I be satisfied if things are just patched up?

“In God’s economy nobody is known for what they have; we are all known for what we have given away. We are known for how we have followed Jesus-down-to the point of giving our lives for others”. “Invitations from God” Adele Ahlberg Calhoun

Makes you wonder doesn’t it? I wonder what that means I will be known for, if I am known at all! How about you?

Yes you are right it’s an idea I had in the shower! I realized that I read and hear things frequently that make me think. Sometimes I tweet them, sometimes I highlight them, sometimes I make a note of them, and sometimes I either forget them or forget where I made the note! Then I remembered a comment made by Mark Batterson that if you write a blog it should be firstly for yourself. (I am sure that is not an accurate quote. Sorry Mark! but you get the idea). So there I was in the shower and all of sudden it came to me, why not write an occasional blog sharing some of these things. May be it will help me remember them and, who knows, you might appreciate them too. So here goes:

• 1. “You will accomplish more in the next two months developing a sincere interest in two people than you will ever accomplish in the next two years trying to get two people interested in you” ! !

Tim Sanders ( 5/10/06 Catalyst Podcast)

Never heard of him before but he has written a number of books including “ The Likeabilty Factor” which I think may be in my reading future!

• 2. “…for you are a slave to whatever controls you” 2 Peter 2:19

Hit me like a bolt from the blue in my quiet time, so I tweeted it along with a comment suggesting we might think about what controls us. No comments. I wonder why?

Maybe no one read it, but then maybe be we did not like what it made us think!

• 3. “...according to scientific research, seven-eighths of an iceberg lies below the water. When I think about the reality of sin in all of our lives, that photograph often comes to mind. ... For many sincere Christians, spiritual maturity is about trying hard to decrease the size of the iceberg above the waterline. With a few sermons and some behavioral adjustments, we can manage to do just that. The end result is a superficial spirituality that will never change our lives much.

Alan Kraft. Good News for Those Trying Harder (p. 45). Kindle Edition.

‘Wow!' and ‘Ouch!’ are about all I can say there.

So did anything above make you think?

Once again my membership of the IVP book club has provided me with a book that has challenged my thinking in unexpected ways. Almost without exception these books have been ones I would not have known about let alone read, if I had not been a member the club.

Currently I am captivated by “ Practicing the Way of Jesus” by Mark Scandrette. I feel sure I will write more about this book in the future, but for the present in summary the author challenges his readers to ensure that we do not simply learn about the way Jesus lived. He encourages us take part in “experiments” to help us investigate ways of acting that reflect what we learn.

At New Life for the past 3 weeks we have been looking at Jesus’ encounter with the woman at the well (John 4:1-42) and yesterday I suggested that we tried an experiment that is derived from my reading.

Here is the suggestion I made to them:

We have been learning about the way Jesus lived by his encounter with the woman at the well. How about we try something:

• With one or two friends or with your family read over John 4 once more.
• Talk together about the sort of boundaries and barriers that exist here in Pacifica. What kind of people are typically mocked or despised by your group?
• Come up with some ideas as to things you might experiment with to cross those obstacles
• Who would be the person or people that those who know you would find it most shocking to see you talking with?
• Commit to engaging in some way with someone who is very different from you culturally or socio-economically

Maybe you would like to try this over the next one or two weeks. If you do try it, please let me know about your experience and if you have any thoughts on the experiment let me know as well. I pray the each one of us will learn to, more fully, live what we learn about Jesus

Maybe you have heard that Maggie and I are flying to Nicaragua on August 8. We are going to visit Open Hearts Ministry, a faith based, non-profit Christian mission, whose primary ministry outreach is aimed towards helping and encouraging children through rescue homes, a local school, and various churches.

Chris Farrington graduated from seminary with me and, with his wife Krista went straight to join this ministry, founded by Krista’s family in 1997 and we have followed their work since them.

So why are we going? Ever since we received their first newsletter we have been struck by the wonderful work they are doing and thought how nice it would be to visit and see the work first hand. As New Life’s commitment to missions has (and still is!) taken shape we wondered if we might take a group at some time to play some part in the work going on there. Now seemed a good time to go and investigate in the hope that we might take a group in 2012.

Nicaragua is one of the second poorest country in the western hemisphere and for a while I have been seeking God as to how we might act in a way that reflects God’s heart for the poor. Since 2000, Open Hearts has been hosting church groups and so maybe this is one place we could make a small contribution to fighting the “pandemic of poverty.” So will you pray with us that God will make His plans clear and, if it is right for us to go, whether you might be one of those He wants to be part of the team.

The Body of Christ worldwide is mourning the loss of one of this century’s most influential followers of Jesus. Dr John R W Stott’s exposition of scripture was without equal and paralleled by a daily commitment to live all he preached. Everyone who met him , and I was privileged to be one of those, was first struck by his overwhelming gentleness and humility. He was one of those few remarkable people who made everyone who met them feel that they were, for that moment, the most important people in the world. While Rector of All Souls Langham Place his preaching was significantly influential in my family's walk with Jesus and I am indebted to his ministry for the certainty of one of my sisters' eternal destiny.

His books are essential for every pastor's library. His amazing ability to explain the most complex of doctrine in comprehensible language lives on in the pages of such books as “Basic Christianity” and “The Cross of Christ.” If you know little of this amazing servant of God, you can read his biography “ Basic Christian” and visit the memorial website, you will not be disappointed!

The following says it all...

27^th July 2011

As the Christian community around the world grieves the loss John Stott, one of the global church’s heroes, may we all embrace the truth of who Jesus Christ is and be refreshed to serve Him as did John Stott.  Below, may the words of Christopher Wright (International Director of the Langham Partnership) and Frances Whitehead, John Stott’s “omni-competent” assistant (since 1956) bring you comfort and peace.

Benjamin Homan, President

John Stott Ministries

------------------------

Dear friend,

 

We are sure that you would wish to be among the first to know that today at 3.15pm (UK time), John Stott went to be with the Lord. Close family and friends were with him during the morning, and they listened together with him to selections from Handel’s Messiah, including “I know that my Redeemer liveth”, and read through 2 Timothy. He died very peacefully during the afternoon. He had become very weak and weary in recent months and we thank God for a merciful and peaceful ending to his earthly pilgrimage.

 

John Stott reached the great age of 90 in April this year. During his lifetime, he became known worldwide for the clarity, faithfulness and relevance of his writing and preaching, combined with extraordinary integrity and humility. A man of remarkable global vision and strategic insight, he was instrumental in the establishment of many thriving Christian agencies. Countless people around the world can testify to the personal encouragement they have received from ‘Uncle John’. His ministry took him to every corner of the globe, whilst all the time remaining pastor and eventually Rector Emeritus of just one church – All Souls, Langham Place, London.

 

As the Founder and Honorary President of the Langham Partnership International, he will be remembered as a tireless advocate and friend of the churches in the majority world, demonstrating his concern for their well-being through the provision of literature, the support of younger leaders, faculty development of evangelical seminaries, and the training of pastors and preachers.

 

In honour of his memory, a memorial web site has been set up in thankful recognition of all that John Stott did to serve the church and to further the cause of God’s Kingdom.  The site contains many biographical details of John Stott’s life, ministry and writing,  photographs, a remembrance book, and ways in which you can respond to the event. This website will also publish, in due course, details of memorial services in different parts of the world.  We are sure you will appreciate visiting this site, www.johnstottmemorial.org.

 

Please join us in praying that the Lord, who has now called his good and faithful servant John home to his rest and reward, may continue to bless with increasing fruitfulness all the ministries that have sprung from his vision and leadership.

 

Thank you,

Chris Wright	Frances Whitehead

The challenge of communication has been much on my mind lately. I realize these observations are specific to New Life Christian Fellowship, however I suspect that for every church, the principles are much the same. Recently I heard a couple of comments that really got me thinking. (Both are anecdotal and serve as illustrations not accusations!!) The first went something like this “ Why did I not know about …” the second “ why didn’t ------ know about this?” Certainly, as the staff of your church it is our job to make sure that events and programs are publicized as well as possible and in a timely fashion. True as it is that personal invitations are often by far the most effective way of encouraging someone to come to something, I do not think it is reasonable to expect the staff and/or leaders to personally invite everyone individually to events.

As I thought about it this morning, I realized that if we are to make real progress the people to whom we communicate must take some responsibility. I have lost count of the number of times I have heard “Oh I don’t read the bulletin” when reminded that details of an event was published there. I feel sure that the same would be said at times of websites, facebook pages, text messages or any other communication methods used.

So if you come across either, an event you did not know about, or someone who did not hear about something, would you be so kind as to ask yourself;

• Did I read the bulletin?
• Have I visited the website/ face book page recently to check for upcoming events?
• Did I arrive at church early enough to read the announcements projected on the wall before the service starts?
• Have I shared upcoming events with anyone who I think might be interested?

We are well aware that we can improve the ways we share information and please rest assured that we will continue to try and do better. Any suggestions you can make of things that will help will be greatly appreciated. But can I ask that if you want to know about upcoming events, you help us by using the tools we have and please make it your task to encourage those you know to join you in participating in an activity…. Or am I being unreasonable?

The challenge of my response to the plight of the poor seems to have been a message that God has been sending me in a number of different ways.

In the course of preparing a recent sermon on the heroic behaviour of Boaz (the sermon series is entitled “Heroes”) my attention was caught by the process of gleaning. I wanted to know more so I read further in Leviticus 19:9-10. Here we see how God established this practice to provide for the poorest and most needy people in society. It seems He did not make it “a suggestion” He made part of the Law. His expectation that His people would make care of the poor a priority is established right from the earliest days. However He seems to expect that we would not do well!

In “Surprised by Hope” N T Wright suggests the problem of global debt that triggers so much of our worlds poverty is potentially a crime of heinous proportions.

“Sex matters enormously but global justice matters far far more. Whatever it take we must change this situation or stand condemned by subsequent history alongside those who supported slavery two centuries ago or those who supported the Nazi’s seventy years ago… every time we put it off one more day, several hundred children die. And thats just the start”

Mark Labberton in “The Dangerous Act of Loving Your Neighbor” put it this way

“ Systematic injustice, the absence of the rule of law, and the suffering of so many innocents at the hands of oppressors rely on the complicity and distraction of our ordinary hearts”

If indeed the Body of Christ is charged with working towards the New Earth that Jesus will redeem and restore how can we contemplate sitting by and watching while huge numbers of people wake up each morning to the challenge of finding a splash of clean water and any scrap of nourishment. They do this when in all probability that they will lie down at night having found neither.

“The world is to dangerous to live in- not because of the people who do evil but because of the people who sit and let it happen” Albert Einstein. I really don’t want to be one of those people but I fear that I often am. Just last week I was sent this trailer for a movie to be released in October produced by the live58 Project inspired by Isaiah 58….

“a pandemic”, that we have the resources to eliminate and we don’t. How dare we rationalize this situation but what can we do? It seems our feeling of helplessness is one of the evil one’s most effective tools in disabling us. Groups such as producer of the above trailer and Micah Challenge are offering us some help in feeling less inadequate and the ministries of Steve Sjogren and Dino Rizzo encourages us with ideas as to action we can take on our own doorstep

So the question I posed to our church family at the end of the sermon is what is the 21^st century equivalent of “gleaning”? If God felt it was important enough to make a provision in the Law for the poorest and most needy people in society how can we reflect this in our actions, and of course when are we going to step out?

As I mentioned in my two previous blogs I am currently reading “ Surprised By Hope” by N T Wright and it continues to make me think deeply about my perspectives on our future hope. Right from the outset Dr Wright suggests that our thinking about what he calls “life after life after death” has, over time, become deeply flawed. The theology reflected in many of our hymns and songs, (for example the one I used in title of this article) does not reflect the teaching of scripture or the preaching of the early church. He says

Frankly what we have at the moment isn’t, as old liturgies used to say” the sure and certain hope of the resurrection of the dead” but a vague and fuzzy optimism that somehow things will work out in the end… If we are not careful, we will offer a “hope” that is no longer a surprise, no longer able to transform lives and communities in the present, no longer generated by the resurrection of Jesus himself and looking forward to the promised new heavens and new earth”

Wright suggests that scripture indicates that this world will indeed be our home for eternity. It will be a restored, renewed, and redeemed but that Gods commitment to the world He created and “saw that it was good” is unwavering and his plan culminates in its restoration not its destruction.

Why is this important? Because it adjusts our focus in everything we do.  Everything we do becomes working for the kingdom that will come right here on earth.  Our care of the planet, the art and music we produce, the people we reach out to, the kingdom starts now in a very real sense for those who follow Jesus. Wright puts it like this

“ The work we do at present, then, gains its full significance from the eventual design in which it was meant to belong. Applied to the mission of the church, this means that we must work in the present for the advance signs of that eventual state of affairs when God is “all in all”, when His kingdom has come and His will is “done on earth as it is in heaven.” This will of course be radically different form the kind of work we would engage in if our sole task was to save souls for a disembodied heaven or simply help people enjoy a fulfilling relationship with God as though it was the end of the matter”

I have become convinced that my thinking on our future hope has become what Wright describes as “vague and fuzzy”. As a consequence I run the risk of devaluing the significance to God’s Kingdom of every action we take here on earth. It becomes more and more apparent to me that to live and preach whole life transformation is imperative. Then and only then, as God transforms us, can we play a full part in intentionally accomplishing things that are significant for the kingdom that will come.

At the outset of the series we finished recently, Why Believe, we talked about principles that had followed us right the way through the series. First we saw that we all believe in some things that we cannot prove. That the sun will rise tomorrow and that we are loved are just two examples! Most if not all of the subjects we considered had aspects to believing them which could not be proved in the literal sense of the word. There is no (unarguable) proof for the existence of God or for that matter that He does not exist. Whereas there is clear historical support for the existence of a man called Jesus, no such evidence exists for the suggestion that he was the Son of God. However in those places where categorical proof does not exist we are not condemned to step out in blind faith checking our brains at the door. There is evidence and the evidence points us in certain directions and our task is to examine that evidence and follow its directions. Lee Strobel in his book The Case for Christ says “ Faith is a reasonable step along the path that the evidence points”

Returning to the realization that- we all believed something- we also noted that, if we are wise, we are willing, on occasions, to review those beliefs in the light of the information we receive. I discovered just this truth as I prepared to speak about heaven. It was not that I did not believe in heaven but I discovered I believed very little about it simply because I had not given it much thought. As I explained in my previous blog God turned my thinking upside down to see that the hope of a bodily resurrection and participation in the New Heaven and New Earth (Rev 21:1-5… Go on read it again and get excited about it!!) makes sense of everything. This is the foundation of the hope we can share with the world. It was a shock to identify how lame my belief was, but so exciting to recognize the need to make adjustments reflecting the teaching of scripture (with some help from the writing of N T Wright “Surprised by Hope”!)

So tell me, what beliefs have you reviewed lately and did you make and changes or adjustments?

PS If you missed any of the Why Believe series or just would like to do some more thinking about what you believe, The Starting Point groups are a wonderful way to examine or re-examine fundamental beliefs with a small group of others. Sign up here and we will be sure to tell you about the start of the next group.

When I was planning to complete the Why Believe series with yesterday’s sermon on heaven, I thought it was similar to the whipped cream and cherry on an ice cream sundae. It finishes it off and the dessert would not be complete without it, but the substance is in the ice cream. However, as I prepared, God showed me that I could not have been more wrong! In fact the message on heaven makes sense of it all! It is the fulfillment of God’s plan and the final glorious chapter in God’s story.

In my devotional time I have just begun to read N T Wright’s book “Surprised by Hope” and even though I have only read the introduction and first chapter (along with the section on Paradise as research for the sermon) he is able to express the things I have been thinking in a clear and coherent way which makes me want to say Yes! Yes! Yes! all the time I am reading !

He underlines the amazing ambivalence and confusion in most parts of our society about life after death. Street preachers are scorned for proclaiming hell fire and damnation and for selling what appears to be an “insurance policy” to avoid the flames. On the other hand, many of those who profess atheism, when it comes to the funeral of a loved one, reach for the thought that the one who has passed away is somehow watching over them in some alternate state of existence. Some Christians are secretly afraid that heaven will actually be boring as they become residents of the 112^th cloud on the left and proficient harpists… for eternity?

So what can we know about heaven? Clearly I cannot do justice to this huge subject in this short missive, but there are a few things which seem to be clear from what scripture tells us. All the words used, both for heaven and hell, suggest that they are real locations. Whether they are up there, over there, or indeed down below is not clear, but they are spoken of as locations. Jesus made it clear that He was longing to return there, (if in doubt read John 17!) and that glory and the presence of the Father would be predominant factors. He also stated that he was going there to prepare a place for us! (John 14:2-3). Remember that in Genesis 1and 2 God prepared this magnificent garden (Gen 2:8) for man to live in and His presence was a daily reality for them. Adam and Eve had things to do (Gen 2:15) and a real relationship with God as they “ walked with Him in the cool of the day.”  (Gen 3:8). If that was God’s original intention, it is likely that these elements will be present when the relationship is finally restored and we inhabit the “new heaven and new earth” (Rev 21). As a consequence, a residence among the clouds does not seem likely!

But why should we be excited when the information we have on heaven seems difficult to understand and sometimes rather scary (the Book of Revelation). Firstly if Jesus was so excited to return to His Father and to have us join Him it has to be immeasurably better than our present experience.   It seems this world, with all its struggles and pain is merely a blip on the radar of eternity. As a result, our purpose need not be big retirement accounts, wonderful homes, and substantial bank accounts to pass on to our children. We can therefore lay aside so much of the striving and worry that come with that territory. We can enjoy our blessings so much more as a mere taste of what is to come rather than regret their brevity. In short we can stop pouring all our energy in something that will come to an end and instead invest in something that will last forever, life the way He intended. And of course, if we believe in and fix our eyes on the place Jesus has gone to prepare for us we have a real hope to share with our trouble stricken world. They too can know that sense of “eternity” planted in all our hearts (Ecc 3:11) was put there by the Creator and is a gift for them to accept

And what of those who cannot or do not choose to accept God’s offer; they will also get what they wanted all along, a world without God. I fear they will discover how different it is from a world where the hand of God is in control even if some of His actions (and inactions!) are painful and inexplicable.  Suddenly it will become apparent how many times His unseen hand prevented and protected us from the full consequences of our human nature. So they will get what they campaigned for, an existence where they can never again be offended by references to God. And those who have trusted the unseen and sometimes frustrating Creator of the universe will get to enjoy eternity with Him in the New Heaven and New Earth.

So you see every one wins… sort of!