I think it’s funny how people portray Heaven as a white cloudy kind of place where people dress in robes and have halos and play harps.  And then people look at that made up idea and say it’s boring, so they’re not all that interested in going.

Of course the reality of Heaven is beyond our imagination.  The Bible says it’s massive and full of color and lights and trees and flowing water.  But it’s also a place of worship.  It will be like church 24/7.  And people will be singing praises to God and worshiping him non-stop.  Of course that idea doesn’t appeal to anyone who doesn’t believe in or like God.  So they probably wouldn’t be interested in Heaven anyway.

of course everybody who admits the truth, understands how great God is and how worthy he is of our worship and obedience, and how limitless the blessings of a relationship with God is.  But they like to hold on to the idea that Heaven is like winning the lottery and doing whatever you want without interaction with God.  Many people think they can con God into letting them into Heaven in spite of their sinful hearts and lives and that somehow their hearts and minds will magically change when they die.  But the scary truth is, your heart and mind are judged for what they are and if you’re not purified before you kick the bucket, you’ll be pitched out and burned with all the other impurities that aren’t worthy of entering God’s presence.

What do you think of that thought?

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Are you content with your life right now?  Could you die today, happy?  Are you ready for the end?  Are you ready to meet your Maker?

We’re all going to die, but so many people are completely unprepared for that destiny.  In spite of the fact that we never know when our final day may arrive, so many people live in denial of death.  How about you?  Are you ready to expire, to pass on, to perish, to peg out, to push up daisies, to become extinct, to pull the curtains, to be deceased, to meet your demise, to depart, to be as a doornail, to check out, to shuffle off this mortal coil, to kick the bucket, buy the farm, cash in your chips?

It happens to the best of us?  Are you ready?  Would you like to be?

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I remember when the word tolerance used to mean only accepting those things that fall within acceptable limits.  For example a machined bolt had to be made within tolerance or else it was garbage because it would do the job it was designed to do.  So it was ok to have a little adjustment room, but if you never set any limits, you would actually be working against the ability of things to function well.

Today, culture has redefined the word to mean basically the opposite.  You only have tolerance if you have no moral boundaries.  Tolerance today goes beyond just accepting other viewpoints to actually supporting all views and lifestyles regardless of how dangerous they may be to yourself, your family, and society.

It’s an impossible system because if applied fairly in all cases the philosophy should accept even the viewpoints of Christians who do not accept anti-God behaviors.  But  typically the modern “tolerance” movement accepts everything except conservative Christian values.

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CHAPTER TEN – Rock On

What is your life built on?  Do you base your beliefs on anything solid, or is it just the way you feel?  Would you like to be sure about who you are and where you’re going in life, and what the purpose of all this is?

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CHAPTER FIVE – Do You Want The Good News or The Bad News First?

Have you ever notice how things can completely change depending on your perspective?  For example, imagine that you’re asleep–a nice comfortable sleep filled with sweet dreams and somebody slaps you in the face so that you wake up to a very sore cheek.  How do you feel about that person?

Ok, now say the same scenario happens, but once you’re awake the person who hit you explains that the building you’re in is on fire, and you need to get out before you’re trapped inside.  Now how do you feel about that person?

The Bible can bring about different reactions from different people.  For example.  If you don’t love God, and your life demonstrates a disregard for how he has told us to live, much of the Bible is going to sound pretty harsh–and even frightening.  But if you’ve been saved by God, and your life shows it through living the way he tells us to, then you’re going to read the same Bible with a lot of thanks and joyfulness.

So what do you get out of it–good news or bad news?

PS. I don’t know what happened, but this one has terrible sound quality too.  The others are better.

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CHAPTER THREE – Really Bad Breath

Let’s say you are at home, in your front yard, and you look across the street and notice black smoke and flames coming from the roof of your neighbors house.  Then you notice that your neighbor is just getting home from work and hasn’t noticed that his house is on fire and he’s on the porch fumbling for his keys.

What do you do?  Do you let him go into a burning house without saying a word.  Or do you yell at the top of your lungs, “DON’T GO IN THERE!  YOUR HOUSE IS ON FIRE!”

Now picture all the people who are dooming themselves to eternal fire through their own sin.  What do you do?  Do you do whatever it takes to get their attention and convince them to stop?  Or do you let them walk into that burning house?

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Do you know Jesus?  How do you know that you know?  Did somebody else tell you?  Are you just guessing?  Do you have any proof?  If you claim to know Jesus, are you sure he’d claim to know you?

Do you know why Jesus tells people to “Depart from me.  I never knew you.”?  Don’t you think that might be something important to know about?

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Paul said, in 1st Corinthians, that if Christ has not risen from the dead that our faith is pointless.  What use is it to believe in a man who said he would rise from the dead who never rose from the dead?  So all of Christianity is hinged on the fact of Christ’s resurrection.  And if Jesus did not really live, die, and then live again, then it makes no sense to put our faith in anything else about Jesus.

In the same way, if you can’t accept part of the Bible, then what’s the point of accepting any of the Bible?  There are plenty of things in the Bible that people have a hard time accepting–Jonah and the fish, Noah’s flood, the creation of the universe in 6 days, etc.  But if you can’t take those things at face value, how can you put faith in other parts?

Jesus taught from Genesis.  So if you believe Jesus, then you need to take the whole Bible seriously.

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Do you know what you believe in?  Can you explain it?  If someone has serious and complex questions about your faith, can you put it in terms that anyone can understand?  Can you answer deep questions about the Bible?

1st Peter 3:15 says if someone asks about your Christian hope, always be ready to explain it.  Are you always ready to do that?  Or do you not know what you really believe?  Do you know what the Bible teaches?

Did you know that rat poison is mostly good food?  It’s made of 99.5% wheat, fillers, sweeteners, solvent, flavor enhancers, and coloring.  And it’s only 00.005% poison.  So it doesn’t take much of a toxic substance to make something really bad for you.  If you claim to believe in Jesus, you ought to be 100% informed on who he is, what he teaches, and what he requires of his followers.

Always be ready to give an answer!

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I love how Jesus’ half-brother, James, described faith.  He basically said faith without works is dead faith.  A belief that doesn’t result in changed behavior is not really belief at all.  In fact your true belief is demonstrated by what you do.  That’s why it’s important to have an informed faith.  Faith in God is not a blind faith.  It’s an informed and grounded faith.  There is so much evidence for who Jesus is and what he did in history, that we can have a faith based on reality, and from there our faith helps us to do all the things that Jesus commanded us to do.

PS. I’m sorry about the sound quality on this one.  It’s pretty terrible.  You can hear it if you crank the volume, but it’s not recorded well at all.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 34:46 — 15.9MB)