So I just finished watching the movie "What Dreams May Come" with Robin Williams. I had heard about how it gave a very strange idea of what Heaven is like and I was interested to see how it depicted it. It was scary seeing how so much of the world pictures Heaven: as their own self-fulfillment without any kind of relationship with the God that created us. How disappointing that would be. In the movie, Heaven was very beautiful, but that was about the only part I agreed with.
I have been thinking a lot about Heaven over the last year and have come to learn very much about misconceptions some people have, and what it will actually be like. I became interested in the subject because honestly, Heaven scared me a little. I'm sure some of you know what I am talking about, but many, I hope, do not. I think that the first reason I used to be afraid of Heaven in some way was the idea of eternity...it just freaks me out. The idea of something continuing forever, and ever, and ever was too big for me to handle. I also fell victim to some of the misleading ideas about what Heaven is like. I had heard that it was a place where we would worship God forever. I love music and I love worshiping God, so that sounds pretty good. I had also heard that we would no longer have relationships with other people and would not even recognize others, since we will only need God. That seemed like it sort of stunk, but I assured myself that I would be happy about it once I got there. I had heard that we would float around in a purely spiritual place. I wasn't too sure about that one, but I didn't really know. I mean Heaven is "spiritual", right? I had even heard the argument that once we go to Heaven, we lose our identity, as we know it now, completely. I had heard all sorts of things from people and my conclusion was that I was surprised that any of the people who told me these things were really satisfied with that kind of eternity and were not longing for something more.
A book I read recently, Heaven by Randy Alcorn, has shown me, along with scripture, the errors in my understanding concerning Heaven. The exciting thing is that now that I understand more what Heaven will be like, I am overjoyed that I will be able to spend eternity in such a place.
Heaven is a Spiritual AND Physical Place:
One of the main points in the book I read was that Heaven has a very physical aspect to it. Revelation tells us that the New Jerusalem will come down on the New Earth and they will be one. There will be a new Heaven and a New Earth which we will rule over with Christ. Heaven is not just some spiritual reality or state of mind. Heaven will be a physical place where we will walk, talk, and have relationship with our Creator, Savior, and Friend. While the New Earth will no doubt be different in ways we cannot currently understand, it will be a New EARTH, meaning that it will be very much physical. Many Christians, I believe, are naturally opposed to this idea in a way because we are constantly told that "worldly" things are evil and we therefore conclude that there will be no "worldly", "Earthly", "physical" things in Heaven. We mistakenly focus on the fallen Earth as it is now, and not as God intended for it to be: a beautiful and perfect place for humans to live. In the New Earth, we will have physical bodies that will be made new when we are resurrected from the dead! There is nothing to be afraid of about that, but only to be excited about.
Relationships and Marriage:
I always hear that we will not have "relationships" with other people in Heaven, but I do not know where this idea comes from. One thing is for sure - it is NOT the Bible. While the ultimate joy in Heaven will come from our relationship with Christ, there is nothing to make us believe we will not also have relationships with each other. God has made us relational people and we have every reason to assume that when we are in Heaven, we will have ETERNITY to build relationships and have community with the rest of the body of Christ. Also, since we will be ruling over the new Heaven and Earth with Christ, I would assume that we will be required to have relationships with others as we do that. It is also true that we will not be given in marriage, since the Church's marriage to Christ will be the anticipated reality of the picture we painted of such in marriage on Earth, but I am sure we will not cease to know who we had relationships with beforehand. This is nothing to be sad about since we will not lose anything here, but only gain.
Our Personal Identity:
The thing that upsets me most is when I hear people talk about how we will not even have an identity in Heaven. This does not sound like a Christian view to me, but I have heard it from Christians before. This eastern idea implies that we will be absorbed somehow into a state in which we will be pure enough to be with God. The fact is, that if you are not aware of who you were on Earth, then YOU have not really gone to heaven. The whole point of salvation is that God accepts us, despite our sin, and allows us to have a relationship with Him for eternity. In order for us to experience God's grace and mercy, we MUST know the whole story when we are in Heaven so that we know the full extent of His love. Yes God will give us a new name and a new body, but it will only be a renewal of who we are, not an entirely different person. If you accept Christ as your Savior and give your life to Him, He is going to want to have a relationship with YOU, not some drone.
I hope that my random thoughts made some sense tonight, but if you disagree with anything I wrote, please comment and let me know. I am very aware that I do not have a great or perfect understanding of what Heaven will be like, but I am trying to prepare myself as much as I can for what it will be as I walk daily with my God towards that day. I am no longer afraid of what eternity will bring. I can hardly wait to experience all God has for me when I am finally with Him as it has always meant to be.
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Thursday, June 12, 2008
The Farm, Tea, and Katie
I apologize to the hundreds you readers who undoubtedly have been waiting for another post, and who I have been keeping waiting so long. I don’t have the internet at the house here in Leona, so I have been going to the church to use it when I need to. I guess I’ll start with an update of what I have been up to lately. For the last two weeks I have been leading worship at Leona Baptist Church, helping with vacation bible school at First Baptist Madisonville, hanging out with the youth, and studying for an insurance licensing exam. I went up to Dallas on Monday and Tuesday to take my exam and to see Katie. It was good to see her since it had been about two weeks and that is the longest we had ever gone without seeing each other. I know that doesn’t sound long, but it definitely felt long for us. We didn’t get to hang out for very long, but the time we had together was good.
The Farm:
I have really enjoyed my time here at the farm thus far. To some degree I miss people being around, but being here alone has for the most part been a nice change. I have always loved being up here. Even the smell of my great grandfather’s old house when I come in the door makes me smile. When I go on a bike ride or a run in the morning, I see the roads and the land and am reminded of all the times I have been here before. I am thankful that I have always had the farm to come to in order to get away from everything and I am thankful that it will always be here for me to come to. God seems to have a special way of speaking to me here. He shows me who I really am whether for good or bad. If any man wants to truly know his own heart, then he should go away by himself for a few days. He should take notice of what he spends his time thinking about and doing. You can hide with schedules, with work, with school, or even with other people, but when completely alone, God will show you exactly who you are.
Tea:
On a lighter note, I have recently been drinking tea quite a bit. I have a tendency to kind of go all out when I get into something new, be it a new instrument or a new random hobby. I started drinking tea mainly because of Katie. Having been raised a Brit, she drinks loads of tea, and I decided that I would give it a shot. I love coffee so I figured that tea might be alright too. The thing that really started me onto it is when I stopped having Katie put milk or sugar in it. I find that tea, like coffee, has the best flavor when it is unhindered by any additional ingredients. My favorite tea at the moment is Twinning’s Irish Breakfast Tea. It is a delicious black tea that will change your morning. I also enjoy Bigelow Green Jasmine Tea which reminds me of Chinese food restaurants. I could name more, but I have no doubt that no one really cares about my tea drinking too much, so I will stop.
Meeting Katie:
Changing subjects again, Katie recently blogged about how we first met a year ago. It was very interesting to hear from her point of view, as I have before, how she and her sister Carolyn thought I was a creepy Corps guy who was just trying to hit on them. I will try and extend to you my view of how things went and if you would like the more complete and detailed side from her, you can go to her blog listed to the right, and check out the post yourself. First let me start with the day we met. I went into Coffee Station, as was my general custom, to study some Geology. I saw that my usual couch was unoccupied so naturally I got a cup of coffee and had a seat. There were two girls sitting in the same section, but I didn’t really think anything of it. Somehow I started talking with the girls and found out that both of them had taken the class I was studying for. I had a question about something in my book and Carolyn helped me with it. They eventually left and I didn’t really think anything of it. In fact, I didn’t even learn their names until the next time we met. I will admit that I noticed that they were both attractive girls who were very nice, but what guy wouldn’t notice that? Anyways, I saw them again when they were in Coffee Station another time and I actually learned their names this time. From there, we started hanging out more and I invited them to come if my buddies and I were seeing a movie or cooking out or something. The more I saw them, the more I liked hanging out with them and eventually I got the idea that I wanted to have some people come out to the farm one weekend. I invited my buddies, friends, and the Hill sisters, and we all went off to the farm. It wasn’t until we were all sitting around the dinner table one night, talking about what we were passionate about, that I realized that I really liked her. She was talking about how she loved serving others and talking to people to get to know more about their lives. I saw so much of Christ in her at that table. I enjoyed every minute of that trip. After that I went through a period of denying that I liked her, but my feelings grew. I loved each conversation we had and how it always pointed toward the Lord. We would meet at Coffee Station and learn about each other’s lives and ideas we had about different issues in life. Those two months were a sweet time of friendship and learning and I would not have had it any other way. It took me a long time to feel that I was ready to start another relationship since Margaret and I had dated for so long, but eventually I felt like it was time. I asked Katie to come to Houston with me for my birthday and she did. She says that at the time, she didn’t realize I really liked her at this point. We had a great time in Houston and ended up actually starting to date a short time after the trip. For what it I worth, that is my recollection of what happened last summer and how Katie and I came to be “in a relationship” as they say.
While I would love to continue writing about how marvelous the days since we started dating have been, I’m afraid I must go to sleep now so that I can be rested for vacation bible school tomorrow. If you actually read this, it must mean that you have a good deal of free time, so you should check out Katie’s blog. She has an amazing heart for people and a great deal of wisdom for someone our age. I really like to read her thoughts, and you might as well. This plug is likely in vain since if you are reading this it is probably because of a link from her site, but I figured what the heck?
Good night,
-Austin-
(2340 hours 6-11-08)
The Farm:
I have really enjoyed my time here at the farm thus far. To some degree I miss people being around, but being here alone has for the most part been a nice change. I have always loved being up here. Even the smell of my great grandfather’s old house when I come in the door makes me smile. When I go on a bike ride or a run in the morning, I see the roads and the land and am reminded of all the times I have been here before. I am thankful that I have always had the farm to come to in order to get away from everything and I am thankful that it will always be here for me to come to. God seems to have a special way of speaking to me here. He shows me who I really am whether for good or bad. If any man wants to truly know his own heart, then he should go away by himself for a few days. He should take notice of what he spends his time thinking about and doing. You can hide with schedules, with work, with school, or even with other people, but when completely alone, God will show you exactly who you are.
Tea:
On a lighter note, I have recently been drinking tea quite a bit. I have a tendency to kind of go all out when I get into something new, be it a new instrument or a new random hobby. I started drinking tea mainly because of Katie. Having been raised a Brit, she drinks loads of tea, and I decided that I would give it a shot. I love coffee so I figured that tea might be alright too. The thing that really started me onto it is when I stopped having Katie put milk or sugar in it. I find that tea, like coffee, has the best flavor when it is unhindered by any additional ingredients. My favorite tea at the moment is Twinning’s Irish Breakfast Tea. It is a delicious black tea that will change your morning. I also enjoy Bigelow Green Jasmine Tea which reminds me of Chinese food restaurants. I could name more, but I have no doubt that no one really cares about my tea drinking too much, so I will stop.
Meeting Katie:
Changing subjects again, Katie recently blogged about how we first met a year ago. It was very interesting to hear from her point of view, as I have before, how she and her sister Carolyn thought I was a creepy Corps guy who was just trying to hit on them. I will try and extend to you my view of how things went and if you would like the more complete and detailed side from her, you can go to her blog listed to the right, and check out the post yourself. First let me start with the day we met. I went into Coffee Station, as was my general custom, to study some Geology. I saw that my usual couch was unoccupied so naturally I got a cup of coffee and had a seat. There were two girls sitting in the same section, but I didn’t really think anything of it. Somehow I started talking with the girls and found out that both of them had taken the class I was studying for. I had a question about something in my book and Carolyn helped me with it. They eventually left and I didn’t really think anything of it. In fact, I didn’t even learn their names until the next time we met. I will admit that I noticed that they were both attractive girls who were very nice, but what guy wouldn’t notice that? Anyways, I saw them again when they were in Coffee Station another time and I actually learned their names this time. From there, we started hanging out more and I invited them to come if my buddies and I were seeing a movie or cooking out or something. The more I saw them, the more I liked hanging out with them and eventually I got the idea that I wanted to have some people come out to the farm one weekend. I invited my buddies, friends, and the Hill sisters, and we all went off to the farm. It wasn’t until we were all sitting around the dinner table one night, talking about what we were passionate about, that I realized that I really liked her. She was talking about how she loved serving others and talking to people to get to know more about their lives. I saw so much of Christ in her at that table. I enjoyed every minute of that trip. After that I went through a period of denying that I liked her, but my feelings grew. I loved each conversation we had and how it always pointed toward the Lord. We would meet at Coffee Station and learn about each other’s lives and ideas we had about different issues in life. Those two months were a sweet time of friendship and learning and I would not have had it any other way. It took me a long time to feel that I was ready to start another relationship since Margaret and I had dated for so long, but eventually I felt like it was time. I asked Katie to come to Houston with me for my birthday and she did. She says that at the time, she didn’t realize I really liked her at this point. We had a great time in Houston and ended up actually starting to date a short time after the trip. For what it I worth, that is my recollection of what happened last summer and how Katie and I came to be “in a relationship” as they say.
While I would love to continue writing about how marvelous the days since we started dating have been, I’m afraid I must go to sleep now so that I can be rested for vacation bible school tomorrow. If you actually read this, it must mean that you have a good deal of free time, so you should check out Katie’s blog. She has an amazing heart for people and a great deal of wisdom for someone our age. I really like to read her thoughts, and you might as well. This plug is likely in vain since if you are reading this it is probably because of a link from her site, but I figured what the heck?
Good night,
-Austin-
(2340 hours 6-11-08)
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