Twelve Things I Doubt Pastors Will Hear in Heaven

I’d really hate to waste my life on things that aren’t significant.  Occasionally it is good to step back and wonder about the types of the things you probably will not hear in heaven.  So I imagine a scenario where someone that the Lord has called me to shepherd walks up to me in heaven and says, I sure wish that you’d have…

Here are 12 things I doubt would fill in that blank. 

1. I wish you’d have shown me more rapture charts
2. I wish you’d have told me steps to making more money
3. I wish you’d have prepared me for what heaven looks like
4. I wish you’d have settled those theological debates
5. I wish you’d have done funnier skits in our worship service
6. I wish you’d have pushed for a bigger building
7. I wish you’d have talked more about politics
8. I wish you’d have preached much shorter sermons
9. I wish you’d have worn ties (or cooler jeans for our postmodern crowd)
10. I wish you’d have given us better pop-culture references
11. I wish you’d have made our worship ambiance better and the transitions smoother
12. I wish you’d have spent the money to fix that pot-hole in the church parking lot

I could probably keep going.  Some of these things might be important and they might even be a means to serve and assist people in worship.  But they are not ultimate.  What I don’t want to fill that blank would be, “I wish you’d have pointed us to Jesus more.  I wish you’d have prepared us for heaven better.  I wish you’d have preached more to root out sin and unbelief.  I wish you’d have encouraged us to lay down our idols more.”  Those are the things I don’t want to hear. 

What I do want to hear is the sweet and grace filled words of the Chief Shepherd, “well done good and faithful servant”. 

3 Reasons I’m Not a Fan of the “I Went to Heaven” Books

Within the last couple of years I have had an influx of requests from publishers to read and review a host of “I went to heaven” books.  The more popular varieties of these books have often led many within our congregation to ask whether or not I’ve read these books and what I thought. 

I’ll start out by saying that more than likely I have not read the books.  I’ve maybe skimmed a couple of them.  Before you criticize me, though, for dogging books that I haven’t read please hear me say that you don’t need to read the books to make these statements.  The very presence of the books is the problem not even necessarily what they contain.  Here are my 3 reasons:

1. We don’t need them.  To believe that we do and that somehow they help exposes our lack of confidence in the Scriptures.  I really appreciate that The Gospel Project called out these books by saying, “The Bible doesn’t need our fantastic experiences to verify it.  It is the very Word of God from the very breath of God”.  Amen. 
2. They misplace our focus.  The point of heaven isn’t the streets of gold.  These books often are attempts at helping satisfy our curiosity about what heaven is going to be like.  The Bible doesn’t seem to care.  Notice that when Paul was contemplating death in his letter to the Philippians he only said, “To depart is to be with Christ and that is far better”.  He didn’t say, “To depart is to get a sweet mansion, gold teeth, and endless rides down the neck of winged-purple dinosaurs.”  The point of heaven is unhindered relationship with Christ.  Anything else only reveals our earthly idols. 
3. Paul couldn’t write about his experience.  In 2 Corinthians Paul mentions that he had a rockin’ heavenly vision.  It would have been a certain best-seller if he could have figured out a way to churn out a bunch of papyrus copies.  But the Scriptures say that rather than a multi-million dollar book deal the Lord gave Paul a thorn in his flesh to keep him humble.  If the apostle Paul couldn’t speak of his heavenly vision what makes these authors believe that they have the green light? 

If you are dying to know about heaven I’d suggest reading the Scriptures, spending time with believers, enjoying sunsets, and wage war against idolatry and other God-belittling sins.  Slowly but surely our vision of Christ will expand and we’ll catch a glimpse of what it will be like, though we still look as through a glass dimly, to know Him as He truly is.  That will give you a taste.  You don’t need these stories to distract you from what really matters. 

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If you are just dying for a book on heaven the best one I’ve read is Randy Alcorn’s book Heaven. 

Boring Heaven?

    And around the throne, on each side of the throne, are four living creatures, full of eyes in front and behind: the first living creature like a lion, the second living creature like an ox, the third living creature with the face of a man, and the fourth living creature like an eagle in flight. And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say,
    “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty,
        who was and is and is to come!”
(Revelation 4:6-8 ESV)

I have to make a confession.  When I was relatively new to the faith this verse scared me.  It scared me because I pictured heaven as nothing more than us sitting before the Lord and singing the same chorus of the same worship song over and over for all of eternity. 

I had wondered about playing baseball.  Walking on streets of gold.  Asking questions of Moses.  And what about hangin’ with my granny and my faithful dog Giblet.  (And what about finally asking Giblet’s previous owner what in the world they were thinking with a name like Giblet). 

But singing one chorus of one song for all of eternity like these twenty four elders?  That seemed more boring than I could endure.  Surely heaven will not be only this. 

I was an idiot. 

The twenty four elders aren’t singing “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come” because they signed up for that assignment on the day when the roll was called up yonder.  These twenty four elders are doing this because their vision of the Lord is so grand that it is the only fitting response.  They are doing exactly what they want to do as they are overcome with joy. 

It’s hard to fathom that something…Somebody…could be so magnificent and beautiful and breathtaking that all you would want to do for all of eternity is lie prostrate and never cease saying “Holy, holy, holy”.  Yet, this is the God that we serve.  Heaven is going to be so amazing because we will finally see the Lord for who he is and the only thing coming forth from our lips will be a rendition of the chorus of these twenty four elders. 

Holy, Holy, Holy! 

From the Pen of Newton: Rock Stars and Heavenly Jewels

Apparently celebrity pastors and rock star Christianity are not new to our culture.  Many even in John Newton’s day struggled with the assumption that more visible and mightily used men like George Whitefield must be more pleasing to God. 

The formula is simple. 

Whitefield is a pastor, Whitfield is a successful pastor, therefore, he must be a great man in the sight of God.  Frank is a shoe-shiner, though a good shoe-shiner and a humble man that loves Jesus, still he’s a shoe-shiner, therefore, he must not be quite as great a man in the sight of God as one like Whitefield.  To this notion Newton responds:

One man, like Mr. Whitefield, is raised up to preach the gospel with success through a considerable part of the earth.  Another is called to the humbler service of sweeping the streets, or cleaning the minister’s shoes.  Now, if the latter is thankful and content in his poor station,—if he can look without envy, yea, with much love on the man that is honored,—if he can rejoice in the good that is done, or pray for the success of those whom the Lord sends,—I see not why he may not be as great a man in the sight of God as he who is followed and admired by thousands. 

His point is that God has called George Whitefield to be George Whitefield and not Frank the shoe-shiner.  Frank is not judged because or seen as unfaithful because God has not called him to be George Whitefield.  Frank is judged as a “great man in the sight of God” by his attitude and response to the lot the Lord has given to him.  Perhaps American ingenuity and the mantra we feed our kids that “in America you can be anything you want to be” has even infiltrated our views of heaven, rewards, and gospel faithfulness. 

Newton continues by imagining a quest to find the “best Christian in the land”.  He says:

…it is more than two to one we should not find the person in a pulpit, or any public office of life.  Perhaps some old woman at her wheel, or some bed-rid person, hid from the knowledge of the world, in a mud-walled cottage, would strike our attention more than any of the doctors or reverends with whom we are acquainted. 

None of this is meant to demean the faithfulness of a Whitefield.  Instead it is to exalt Frank the shoe-shiner and the grace of God in his life.  His point is simple.  “Let us not measure men, much less ourselves, by gifts or services.  One grain of grace is worth abundance of gifts”.  What really matters is our heart and our response to the situations the sovereign Lord directs us into.  Newton brings this point home by looking at in from the view point of levels of sin:

The sin of nature is equal in all; and so I think would actual sin be likewise, but for the differences made by the restraining grace and providence of God.  He is not, perhaps, in the sight of God, the greatest sinner, who has committed the most notorious acts of sin in the sight of man.  We should not judge one wolf to be fiercer than another because he had opportunity of devouring more sheep.  Any other wolf would have done the same in the same circumstances.  (emphasis mine)

We are either righteous in Jesus and stand in a position to enjoy all of His lavish gifts or we are not.  So enough talk about comparing rock stars and heavenly jewels.  Love Jesus and be content with a happy pursuit of all that He is. 

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The above quotations are from Newton’s Letter to Joseph Symonds.  The whole thing is worth a read.  It’s letter 4 when you follow this link: Eighteen Letters to a Pastor.

Proof that John Owen is Not Dry and Boring

At least not all the time.  Check out this amazing prayer at the end of chapter one of Communion with God:

…I pray that the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has, by the riches of his grace, brought us from a state of enmity into this glorious fellowship with himself, may give you such a taste of his sweetness and excellence in this communion as to be stirred up to a greater longing for that eternal enjoyment of him in eternal glory. 

Maybe that was a tad wordy.  Owen’s prayer is that we may taste so much of Jesus in our present relationship with Him that it may cause us to long for that day when sin will no longer taint our experience of Christ. 

Borrowed Light: Today in Blogworld 12/27

Everyone seems to be wrapping up 2007 on their blogs. Timmy Brister is providing for us the Top 30 stories of 2007. So far he has covered 30-26 and 25-21. The Shepherd's Scrapbook has also released its Top Post of 2007. I would do one of those lists but it would probably only have about 3 posts, because I am so new to blogging. Maybe at the end of '08.

Randy Alcorn has responded to journalist Joel Stein's column on Heaven. Apparently after a Stein quote on heaven graced cups at Starbucks some Christians became angered (mostly at Starbucks not at Stein). They sent him e-mail's, letters, and Alcorn's book. This led to a conversation between Alcorn and Stein. On the 21st Stein briefly wrote on this encounter. You can read Stein's article here, or Alcorn's response here. I must say that I do have a tremendous amount of respect for Randy Alcorn; but I have to disagree with the way he closed this article. "And maybe someday, after the resurrection, when we’re enjoying God and each other on the New Earth, Joel and Shelly and I and Andy Pettitte, and maybe Jesus too, will reflect on this column as, wind blowing through our hair, we ride the back of a brontosaurus...to the glory of God."

I have not read all of Alcorn's book and I certainly am no expert on heaven. But my understanding is that heaven will be an enjoyment of God Himself and not so much his gifts. To me riding the back of a brontosaurus seems to cheapen the worth of Jesus. I know that telling an unbeliever that heaven is an eternal enjoyment of Jesus would seem strange and probably not appealing. And I fear that in order to make the rewards of heaven appealing we have made it about playing baseball, riding roller-coasters, and eating more ice cream flavors than Baskin Robbins. I see two problems with this line of thinking. 1) It communicates that Jesus is not a sufficient enjoyment for heaven--so we need other things. 2) If the unbeliever is "won-over" by the prospect of hitting a home-run off Andy Pettite as heaven, then can we really say that he sufficiently sees Jesus as a treasure?

Perhaps my line of reasoning is faulty; and if I so I welcome correction. I tend to get more excited about heaven not in thinking about riding a brontosaurus but in thinking about Sam Storms depiction of an eternal enjoyment of Jesus.

This has very little to do with blogworld but I have to mention that Sunday nights game between the Colts and Titans is huge if you are a Browns fan. Because they stunk worse than a wet dog rolling in stink bait, they are no longer in control of whether or not they make the playoffs. So if the Brownies are going to make the playoffs (despite a possible 10-6) record they have to have the Titans lose. Looks like their season rests on the shoulders of Jim Sorgi (because Manning will sit at least a half). Why is it never simple for Cleveland fans?