heaven

  • Fear of Dying

    “‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” Revelation 21:4  NIV No more death – Are you afraid to die?  Before you answer with the “hoped-for next world eternal existence of the soul” paradigm, remember that dying…

  • Going Home

    we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord.  2 Corinthians 5:8  NASB 1995 Absent – “The fantasy of escape from the struggle of existence must be deeply addressed if one is to find the vital center of one’s being.”[1] “I just…

  • Kissing cousins (3)

    and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.  Revelation 21:4  NASB Death – What do we do to blunt the reality of dying?  The answer isn’t quite so straightforward as you might imagine.  Since death…

  • Can Heaven Wait?

    But God will redeem my soul from the power of Sheol, for He will receive me. Selah  Psalm 49:15  NASB Receive – If the Tanakh really doesn’t have a clear concept of Heaven, then what can this verse mean?  Doesn’t it imply that there is redemption from Sheol?  Doesn’t it suggest that God “saves” us from the eternity…

  • Howard Beale

    Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,  1 Peter 1:3  NASB Born again – What was the name of the movie where the newscaster stands in the window of…

  • The Pearly Gates

    For He looked down from His holy height; from heaven the Lord looked upon the earth, to hear the groaning of the prisoner, to set free those who were doomed to death,  Psalm 102:19-20 NASB Heaven – Early Hebrew thought says almost nothing about heaven or hell.  The ideas of eternal bliss in some celestial realm and eternal punishment in a…

  • Not Going There

    So they went on their way from the presence of the Council, rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for His name.  Acts 5:41  NASB Rejoicing– When the disciples were beaten and instructed no longer to proclaim Yeshua as Messiah, they reacted in a way that is not easily understood.  They rejoiced.  This seems particularly strange given…

  • The “All Directions” God

    “He found him in a desert land, and in the howling waste of a wilderness; He encircled him, He cared for him, He guarded him as the pupil of His eye.”  Deuteronomy 32:10  NASB Encircled– What good is a fence in the wilderness if it isn’t closed around the camp! Just so, if God doesn’t surround…

  • Out of Range

    “He found him in a desert land, and in the howling waste of a wilderness; He encircled him, He cared for him, He guarded him as the pupil of His eye.”  Deuteronomy 32:10  NASB Desert – Life in the house of God is not what the world imagines.  Heaven on earth has very little to do…

  • The End

    “It is all one; therefore I say, ‘He destroys the guiltless and the wicked.’”  Job 9:22  NASB Guiltless– You and I will be rewarded.  We are followers of the King.  We believe.  Therefore, He will protect us.  Right? All those terrible consequences that are destined to befall the wicked will not scratch us.  We will emerge whole, perfected, saved.  Right? …