“How you take the line of the story matters a great deal. Many Christians believe the cosmos has an upper and lower story, with earth as the lower story and heaven as the upper story. You live the first chapters of your life here. Then you die, and you move upstairs to live with the …
And the Old Way is Closed Off Forever
“The materialism that came from the Enlightenment was a concerted way to get us back to the old way of knowing, the old way of relating to the authorities, the old way of dying. We are being asked to ‘know’ the world as though Jesus had not be raised from the dead in the middle …
The Plot Point of the Whole Thing
“So this means that the resurrection was not an odd event in the first century, with all ‘normal’ things staying just the same. The resurrection was the central event of all history, but we have to take this as the central event for all history. It defines history; it establishes the trajectory of the remaining …
The Future as God’s Gift, All of It
“The Lord’s promises to us are truly staggering, and it is not surprising that we cannot get our minds completely around it. But He delights to give to His people, and one of the greatest gifts that He has given to us is the future . . . What is the future of this world, …
And That’s Pretty Wet
“I asked earlier what the characteristics of His rule would be. The passage from Isaiah 11 should take your breath away. The earth will be as full of the knowledge of God as the Pacific Ocean is wet” (Heaven Misplaced, p. 16)
Of the Increase of His Government . . .
“The prophet Isaiah had more on his mind than providing feel-good quotes for our Christmas cards” (Heaven Misplaced, 14)
But What If . . .
“Of course, if it is not true, then it doesn’t matter how lovely it is. We have all had some pretty good daydreams. But if it is altogether lovely, then perhaps some might be persuaded to reconsider if it might actually be true” (Heaven Misplaced, p. 11)
God’s Helicopters
“No Christian is pessimistic about final glory. But most Christians are pessimistic about the course of history prior to the Second Coming of Christ. In this view, the world is God’s Vietnam, and the return of Christ consists of the few lucky ones helicoptered off a roof during the fall of Saigon” (Heaven Misplaced, pp. …
The Need to Be Thankful
“One of the principle failings in atheism is that it leaves us with no one to thank for the countless blessings we encounter daily. This extends from trivial things, like the pleasure we get from pulling our socks up, to more amazing gifts, like food, and music, and marriage” (Letter From a Christian Citizen, p. …
Gathered It All to His Chest
“Jesus died and in that death He embraced the pollutions of a very polluted world. He took onto Himself the wrath and anger of God, and He did this so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God. He gathered up a world full of hatred, adultery, treachery, rape, murder, envy, genocide, religious …