When We All Get to Heaven

Heaven is for real. I know that in my heart, as well as believing Colton's story of visiting heaven while undergoing emergency surgery.


In "The Book of Hope" by Rev. Dave Bailey, I found the following poem about heaven. It made me laugh, and I hope it makes you laugh, too.


Heaven's Surprise
By Rod Hemphill

I was shocked, confused, bewildered as I entered Heaven's door,
Not by the beauty of it all, nor the lights or its decor.

But it was the folks in Heaven who made me sputter and gasp--
The thieves, the liars, the sinners, the alcoholics and the trash.

There stood the kid from seventh grade who swiped my lunch money twice.
Next to him was my old neighbor who never said anything nice.

Herb, who I always thought was rotting away in hell,
Was sitting pretty on cloud nine, looking incredibly well.

I nudged Jesus, "What's the deal? I would love to hear your take.
How'd all these sinners get up here? God must've made a mistake.

"And why's everyone so quiet, so somber - give me a clue."
"Hush, child," He said, "they're all in shock. No one thought they'd be seeing you."

Know the Direction, Be Surprised by the Destination

The first time we took the Kate to a Zoo. she was very young and wanted to know what it was going to be like.  "Will there be lions there?"  "I don't know, I've never been to this zoo before."  "Will the animals be just walking around where we can pet them?"  "No, most of the animals will not be walking around where you can pet them."  "How do you know?  You've never been to this zoo before."

A basic self-leadership principle is that a person cannot lead others to a place they have never been.  It is a healthy reminder that in order to lead others, we have to be going somewhere.  If I am to lead the people of our church in nurturing a relationship with God, I must be nurturing my own relationship with God, etc.

There is much truth to that principle, however, this image of leading people only to where we have already been misses the divine nature of the journey we are on.  When Moses led the people out of Egypt and toward the promised land, he didn't know where he was going.  They seem to have been wondering in the wilderness, walking circles in the dessert.  In the end, Moses gets them to the edge of the promise land.  He sees the land but never steps foot in it (Deut. 34: 1-4).  In essence, Moses led the people to a place where he had never been.  How does he do this?  He walks with God and brings the people along with him.  He does not know where he is going, but he knows what the next steps are, because God reveals those steps along the way.  At the beginning of the journey, Moses was concerned that he would not be able to convince Pharaoh to release the people, nor be able to convince the people to follow him into unknown territory.  "Moses said to the Lord, 'My Lord, I've never been able to speak well, not yesterday, not the day before, and certainly not now since you've been talking to your servant.  I have a slow mouth and a thick tongue" (Ex. 4:10).  God retorted, "I'll help both of you [Moses and Aaron] speak, and I'll teach both of you what to do..." (Ex. 4:15).

Jesus echoed this sentiment when preparing the disciples for ministry in response to persecution once he was no longer among them in the flesh: "Make up your minds not to prepare your defense in advance. I'll give you the words and wisdom that non of your opponents will be able to contradict." (Luke 21: 14-15)

Sometimes trying to get a sense of how everything is going to work out in the end paralyzes us from being able to take the next steps in faith.  Our journey is by it's very nature one step at a time.  None of us can know exactly where we are headed, only whether or not we are headed in the right direction. How do you know when you are on the right path?  Do you have God-sized expectations about where Christ will lead?

The Power of God

Look at the evening sky!
    Who created the stars?
Who gave them each a name?
    Who leads them like an army?
The Lord is so powerful
  that none of the stars
    are ever missing.
Isaiah 40:26 CEB



We had a lovely sunset last night here in South Jersey. And the reason I saw that sunset was because I went to our "Worship on the River" evening service.

"The Lord is so powerful that none of the stars are ever missing..." Often, in the hubbub and worries of everyday life, I forget about God's great power. I try to rely on myself rather than trusting in the Lord.

So from now on, every time I see a beautiful sunset, or stars shining in the night sky, I will try to remember and rely on God's power to ease my mind.

How about you? What helps you remember to trust in the power of the Lord?

Three Year Olds and Obedience

I've learned a lot about God through being a mom.  Katie Davis, a missionary in Uganda who adopted fourteen girls, writes this about her little 3 year old daughter Grace, and it sums up one of those lessons really well:

"I don't exactly remember when it started.  One day, Grace simply would not get into the bathtub.  So I didn't make her.  I let her get in bed dirty that night.  The fight just wasn't worth interrupting everyone else's bedtime.  But on the second night, I couldn't ignore her again.  She really needed that bath. 

So we began the struggle, and it continues to this day.  Night after night, we go through the same motions. The scene unfolds like this:  I ask Grace to get into the bathtub, to which she quietly replies, "I don't want."  I, in my kindest, sweetest Mommy voice, explain to her that she is three years old, that she doesn't always know what is best for her, and that she does not always get what she wants...  She simply looks at me, not understanding at all what I am trying to say. 

Not to be deterred, I try a different approach, saying excitedly, "Come on, Gracie! Let's go play in the bathtub!"  At this point she blinks her eyes very fast, ad big crocodile tears begin to run down her cheeks, another plea for sympathy.  When she sees that her tears are not getting her anywhere, she begins to shriek, "No bath, no bath, no bath!"  as if the water would melt her. 

I say it more sternly the next time.  "Grace.  Bath time."  I then lift her feet and practically drag her down the hall to the bathroom.  her sorrow turn to anger.  She makes her best, "I don't like you, Mom" face, folds her arms, and plots to her bottom.  "I don't want!" she shouts.  So I pick her up.  She kicks and screams, and eventually I get her into the bathtub.  She flails around in ther for a bit, letting me know with her wails that I am ruining her life and she may never be happy again.

And then, a funny thing happens.  As she splashes water on herself, she remembers: She likes the bath!  The bath is fun.  Not to mention a really great way to get clean.  By the end of the scenario, Grace usually enjoys her bath so much she doesn't want to get out of the tub.

The bath time struggle never is about the bath at all.  It is about obedience.  Grace is 3 years old and she simply does not want to obey.  She thinks she should be the one to decide whether she gets in the tub or not.  She is 3 years old, and she is trying to figure out just how much control she has in her little life.  At this point, not much...

The reality is, little disobedient Grace reminds me so much of myself.  I shudder to think what I could have missed in life because of my disobedience.  I am so thankful that God in His grace does not allow me to win.  Because usually, the fight is not really about what He is asking me to do.  It is not about the bathtub.  It is about me, trying to figure out just how much control I have over my little life.  At this point, not much..."
 

- Katie Davis, Kisses from Katie: A Story of Relentless Love and Redemption (New York: Howard Books, 2011) 225-226.

Thou shalt not... complain?

Do everything without complaining or arguing. Then you will be blameless and innocent. You will be God’s children without any faults among people who are crooked and corrupt. You will shine like stars among them in the world.... Philippians 2:14-15 GW

Another Facebook meme got me to thinking. As many of you know, my mom passed away in May at the age of 97 and a half. Can't forget that half, as she reminded us just the week before she died.

One of the unfortunate memories I carry of Mom from her last few years was the fact that she was always complaining. Nothing was ever up to her standards... her care at the three assisted living homes, yes, three because we kept moving her to try to make her happy; the healthcare associates, the food, her doctor, her apartment... you name it and she'd have a complaint about it. Or two or three. Even when we brought her flowers, she'd study the bouquet and find something wrong with it.

Luckily I have some good memories of Mom to help me forget the complaints... how she took such good care of herself right up until the end, how grateful she was for the small things my sister and I did for her, how generous she was to us.

But like Mom, I'm prone to complaining. Maybe it's in the genes.

Today, thinking about Mom's last years, I pray that I can follow Paul's direction in his letter to the Philippians. "Do everything without complaining or arguing...."

That's a tough one. Maybe I should get it tattooed on my arm so I can read it every day as I get older.

What do you think?

Something is Wrong

Something is Wrong part one

From my early stages of coming back to God and asking Him back into my heart there has been this theme constantly running in the back of mind. “Something is wrong!” There was a reason I left the church at a young age, something is wrong, I look around and I see churches dying left and right, something is wrong. You can’t watch ten minutes of television without hearing a sexual innuendo, or a slam on Christianity, something is wrong.  

Having this theme running in my mind may seem at first very pessimistic or unhealthy but I have found it to be quite the opposite. The way it plays out in mind is something is wrong, now let’s fix it. Taking a car into be serviced by a mechanic because something is wrong, the first thing he or she is going to do is find the problem.   Going under the hood all willy-nilly with a wrench replacing parts left and right might fix the problem temporally but chances are you will be back probably worse off than you started.

Having this theme running in my mind also helps to prevent me from playing church. If I am going through a struggle with the family or I am having an unresolved conflict at work it doesn’t do me any good to just offer a simple prayer and wash my hands of the matter while leaving God to do all the cleanup. Being active with God at my side teaches me where I went wrong. It straightens my walk and strengthens my faith. If I were having an issue with my temper, can you see God cleaning up my mess while leaving a card saying its ok he’s with me? I don’t think so. We can’t control our struggles or strives when they pop up but we can control how we respond to them. If I cannot respond with the love of Jesus I want to know why. Something is wrong, now let’s fix it.

To be continued

 

Testimonies of the 'Saints'

An aspect of being a pastor that I appreciate most is hearing people's faith stories.  Sometimes in the midst of being a pastor, I can become distracted from what exactly we are doing.  From a trustee meeting where we discuss plumbing issues, to a church council meeting where we discuss the next big project or ministry initiative to a Bible study to explain the Word of God, it is possible to forget that what we are all really doing is living our lives, seeking God in the midst of them, and discerning what it means to live our lives for God.  

To that end, there is nothing better than someone sharing how they came to know God, how God called them toward a particular ministry, where they see God at work in their family, or in their jobs.  It is a reminder that God is in fact working in the lives of those around us.

Lillian Daniel writes: 

Many people struggle with testimony.  We don't want  to shove our faith down people's throats.  We don't want to be pushy, obnoxious, or self-righteous....  [But] testimony is calling out that you have seen light in the midst of darkness.  Testimony is telling the story about how you met God, even when you have forgotten it.  (When Spiritual, But Not Religious is not Enough, p. 21).

Telling our God-stories is important because it helps all of us remember, and reconnect to God and one another.  Behind everything is a story.  If this week's message really hit home for you, you probably have a story to tell about why.  If, rather, the message was a struggle for you, rubbed you the wrong way, there is likely a story about that.  Whether you are "on fire" or exhausted, inspired or flat--there is almost always a life story about why, and God is involved.  Sharing such stories and testimonies of experiencing God in the midst of life is among the greatest gifts we can offer one another.  In this way we inspire one another to continue along the path that leads to life.