Greed is Ruining America -- It is a Deadly, Deadly Sin That Destroys from the Inside Out

Greed is wrong.  It Must Be Kept in Check in our Capitalist Society.  Captalism without Moral Checks and Balances Can Be As Evil as Any Other Economic System. Here is some of what the Bible says about Greed.  Read and Meditate.

Proverbs 20:21 (AMP) An inheritance hastily gotten [by greedy, unjust means] at the beginning, in the end it will not be blessed. Proverbs 22:16 (CEV) Cheat the poor to make profit or give gifts to the rich – either way you lose. Ecclesiastes 4:8 (CEV) For example, some people don't have friends or family. But they are never satisfied with what they own, and they never stop working to get more. They should ask themselves, "Why am I always working to have more? Who will get what I leave behind?" What a senseless and miserable life! Ecclesiastes 5:10 (NIV) Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income. Ecclesiastes 5:13 (NLT) There is another serious problem I have seen under the sun. Hoarding riches harms the saver. Jeremiah 8:10 (NLT) I will give their wives to others and their farms to strangers. From the least to the greatest, their lives are ruled by greed. Yes, even my prophets and priests are like that. They are all frauds. Amos 5:11 (NLT) You trample the poor, stealing their grain through taxes and unfair rent. Therefore, though you build beautiful stone houses, you will never live in them. Though you plant lush vineyards, you will never drink wine from them. Matthew 6:24 (AMP) No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will stand by and be devoted to the one and despise and be against the other. You cannot serve God and mammon (deceitful riches, money, possessions, or whatever is trusted in). Matthew 19:23-24 (NIV) Then Jesus said to his disciples, "I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." Luke 12:15 (AMP) Guard yourselves and keep free from all covetousness (the immoderate desire for wealth, the greedy longing to have more); for a man's life does not consist in and is not derived from possessing overflowing abundance or that which is over and above his needs. Luke 12:16-20 (NLT) Then he told them a story: “A rich man had a fertile farm that produced fine crops. He said to himself, ‘What should I do? I don’t have room for all my crops.’ Then he said, ‘I know! I’ll tear down my barns and build bigger ones. Then I’ll have room enough to store all my wheat and other goods. And I’ll sit back and say to myself, “My friend, you have enough stored away for years to come. Now take it easy! Eat, drink, and be merry!”’ But God said to him, ‘You fool! You will die this very night. Then who will get everything you worked for?’ Yes, a person is a fool to store up earthly wealth but not have a rich relationship with God.” Luke 16:14 (CEV) The Pharisees really loved money. So when they heard what Jesus said, they made fun of him. Luke 16:19-28 (CEV) There was once a rich man who wore expensive clothes and every day ate the best food. But a poor beggar named Lazarus was brought to the gate of the rich man's house. He was happy just to eat the scraps that fell from the rich man's table. His body was covered with sores, and dogs kept coming up to lick them. The poor man died, and angels took him to the place of honour next to Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried. He went to hell and was suffering terribly. When he looked up and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side, he said to Abraham, "Have pity on me! Send Lazarus to dip his finger in water and touch my tongue. I'm suffering terribly in this fire." Abraham answered, "My friend, remember that while you lived, you had everything good, and Lazarus had everything bad. Now he is happy, and you are in pain. And besides, there is a deep ditch between us, and no one from either side can cross over." But the rich man said, "Abraham, then please send Lazarus to my father's home. Let him warn my five brothers, so they won't come to this horrible place." Acts 5:1-10 (NIV) Now a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of property. With his wife's full knowledge he kept back part of the money for himself, but brought the rest and put it at the apostles' feet. Then Peter said, "Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? Didn't it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn't the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied to men but to God." When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died. And great fear seized all who heard what had happened. Then the young men came forward, wrapped up his body, and carried him out and buried him. About three hours later his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. Peter asked her, "Tell me, is this the price you and Ananias got for the land?" "Yes," she said, "that is the price." Peter said to her, "How could you agree to test the Spirit of the Lord? Look! The feet of the men who buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out also." At that moment she fell down at his feet and died. Then the young men came in and, finding her dead, carried her out and buried her beside her husband. Ephesians 5:5 (CEV) Being greedy, indecent, or immoral is just another way of worshiping idols. You can be sure that people who behave in this way will never be part of the kingdom that belongs to Christ and to God. 1 Timothy 6:10 (NIV) For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. 2 Timothy 3:1-5 (MSG) Don't be naive. There are difficult times ahead. As the end approaches, people are going to be self-absorbed, money-hungry, self-promoting, stuck-up, profane, contemptuous of parents, crude, coarse, dog-eat-dog, unbending, slanderers, impulsively wild, savage, cynical, treacherous, ruthless, bloated windbags, addicted to lust, and allergic to God. They'll make a show of religion, but behind the scenes they're animals . James 5 1 Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming on you. 2 Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. 3 Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days. 4 Look! The wages you failed to pay the workers who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty. 5 You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter.[a] 6 You have condemned and murdered the innocent one, who was not opposing you.

When We Live By the Golden Rule, the World is a Better Place

The Golden Rule was stated by Jesus: It is at the heart of how humanity should live.  It is about respecting other people.

"Therefore all things whatsoever would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them" (Matthew 7:12, see also Luke 6:31). 

The common English phrasing is "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you". The Golden Rule also has roots in the two old testament edicts, found in Leviticus 19:18 ("Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself"; see also Great Commandment) and Leviticus 19:34 ("But the stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God").

Two passages in the New Testament quote Jesus of Nazareth espousing the golden rule:

Matthew 7:12

¹²Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.

Luke 6:31

³¹And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise.

A similar passage, a parallel to the Great Commandment, is Luke 10:25-28

²⁵And one day an authority on the law stood up to put Jesus to the test. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to receive eternal life?”

²⁶What is written in the Law?” Jesus replied. “How do you understand it?” ²⁷He answered, “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. Love him with all your strength and with all your mind.’(Deuteronomy 6:5) And, ‘Love your neighbor as you love yourself.’ ”

²⁸“You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do that, and you will live.”.

The passage in the book of Luke then continues with Jesus answering the question, "Who is my neighbor?", by telling the parable of the Good Samaritan, indicating that "your neighbour" is anyone in need.^[45] Jesus' teaching, however, goes beyond the negative formulation of not doing what one would not like done to themselves, to the positive formulation of actively doing good to another that, if the situations were reversed, one would desire that the other would do for them. This formulation, as indicated in the parable of the Good Samaritan, emphasises the needs for positive action that brings benefit to another, not simply restraining oneself from negative activities that hurt another. Taken as a rule of judgement, both formulations of the golden rule, the negative and positive, are equally applicable.^[46]

In one passage of the New Testament Saint Paul refers to the golden rule:

Galatians 5:14

¹⁴For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this;Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

This concept's framework appears prominently in many religions, including "Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, Zoroastrianism, and the rest of the world's major religions". According to Greg M. Epstein, " 'do unto others' ... is a concept that essentially no religion misses entirely." Simon Blackburn also states that the Golden Rule can be "found in some form in almost every ethical tradition".

The fact that Jesus emphasized this great wisdom makes it all the more important for Christians.

Who Do You Say Jesus Is?

Who is Jesus Christ? Of all the questions that might be posed to modern men and women, none is more important than this. It is no exaggeration to say that this is the central question of history and the most important issue anyone will ever face. Who is Jesus Christ? Where did he come from? Why did he come? And what difference does his coming make in my life? In the end, every person must deal with Jesus Christ. No one can escape him. You can avoid the question, or delay it, or postpone it, or stonewall it, or pretend you didn’t hear it. But sooner or later you must answer it.

It’s certainly not a new question. It’s as old as the coming of Christ to earth. Once when Jesus took his disciples on a retreat to a place called Caesarea Philippi, he asked them, “Who do people say that I am?” They offered four responses: John the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets (see Matthew 16:13-16). Even when he walked on this earth, people were confused as to his true identity.
Across the centuries the discussion has continued to this very day. Visit any Internet religious chat room and you’ll find a bewildering array of opinions regarding Jesus. Here are some contemporary answers to the question “Who is Jesus Christ?” A good man … The Son of God … A Prophet … A Galilean rabbi … A teacher of God’s Law … The Embodiment of God’s Love … A Reincarnated Spirit Master … The Ultimate Revolutionary … The Messiah of Israel … Savior … A first-century wise man … A man just like any other man … King of Kings … A misunderstood teacher … Lord of the Universe … A deluded religious leader … Son of Man … A fabrication of the early church.

Which answer will you give? Before you answer, let me say that you can find people today who will give every one of those possible answers. Does that surprise you? It shouldn’t. Two thousand years have passed and still many wonder about the man called Jesus.

I know what I beleive.  What do you belive?

For 2,000 years Christians have affirmed their faith in Jesus with these words from the Apostles’ Creed: “I believe … in Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, our Lord.” With this phrase we enter the second major section of the Creed. The Creed itself is Trinitarian—with a section devoted to the Father, a section to the Son, and a final section to the Holy Spirit.

Of the 110 words in the Creed, 70 occur in the section relating to Jesus Christ. That tells us something important. The Christian faith is all about Jesus! He is the heart and core, the touchstone of all that we believe.

You can be mistaken on some secondary issues and still be a Christian, but if you are wrong about Jesus, you are wrong in the worst possible place. Our faith in Jesus must be more than just an emotional experience of “having Jesus in my heart.” Our faith must rest on the revealed truth about Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, our Lord.

If we take this clause from the Creed and examine it, we can see that it contains four statements:
·
I believe in Jesus.
I believe He is the Christ.
I believe He is God’s only Son.
I believe He is the Lord.

He is the Savior!
He is the Messiah!
He is God’s Only Son!
He is our Lord!

I believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, our Lord. So says the Creed. Sos say we, as Christians.

This is the Jesus of the Bible. This is the Christ we worship today. This is the Jesus we call Savior and Lord. This is the true Christ of the Christian faith. There is no one like him for he alone is God incarnate. His words have divine authority because they are the words of Almighty God. One day the entire universe will bow down and worship him. We have no other Savior and we follow no other Lord. The martyrs died because they would not worship anyone else. We will not exchange the Lord Jesus Christ for anyone or anything.

He alone is the Lord. Oh, that our hearts would sing his praise. God hasten the day until every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father, Amen.

For the Beauty of the Earth - John Rutter

Westminster Abbey Choir - This is the day (John Rutter)

Living A Successful Life -- Wisdom from the Aposte Paul

Living a Successful Life
2 Timothy 4:6-8
6For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure.7I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing. — 2 Timothy 4:6-8 NIV

This is Paul's valdcdictory addrss to his spiritual son, TImothy.  The Apostle Paul is looking back on his life, and telling his young friend Timothy, who is like a son to him, that he’s ready to die.  And he sums up his life in three verses.

When you come to the end of your life, what do you want your life story to have been? What do you want others to say about you? When you come close to the end of your life, what do you want your thoughts and feelings to be as you look back at the 70 or 80 or 90 or more years that you will live?

Paul is writing to his young friend, Timothy, as I said. Timothy may be about your age, or just slightly older. But not much. And, Paul knows that if he wants to get Timothy’s attention, he has to use language Timothy will understand and, more importantly, relate to.

So, if Paul is going to get and keep Timothy’s attention, he has to use examples that Timothy understands and relates to. So, guess what Paul does? He talks about sports.

Paul uses four sports images to tell Timothy what he wants him to understand.
First, Paul says “I have fought a good fight.”
Then, he says, “I have finished the race.”
Followed by, “I have kept the faith,”
And finally, “I won the trophy.”

Fight a Good Fight

The first thing Paul tells Timothy, after he says “the time has come for my departure” — which means “I’m going to die soon” — is “I fought the good fight.”


Boxing was a Roman sport. But boxing had started long before Paul’s time. The first historical record we have of boxing as a sport is from a stone tablet found in Baghdad, Iraq which is over 7,000 years old. Boxing has been around a long time.

Paul tells Timothy, “I have fought the good fight.” Not a dirty fight, not a ruthless fight, not a fight of the gladiators where there were no rules, and it was survival of the fittest.

No, Paul says, “I fought a good fight.”

And in life, we’re not fighting people, we’re fighting problems. We fight for principles. We fight for justice. We fight for those who cannot fight for themselves, but we fight the problems, not other people. We are tenacious, strong, determined, courageous, and tough, but we are also fair, respectful, honest, and merciful.

Dr. Martin Luther King was a tenacious advocate for civil rights. Dr. King fought unjust laws that effectively denied the right to vote, denied the right to public access, denied the rights of full citizenship to African-Americans. But when Dr. King himself was attacked during a speech in Alabama, he dropped his hands to his side, and let his assailant flail at him until his aides pulled the man away. Dr. King knew the difference between fighting people and fighting problems.
Paul said, “I fought a good fight.”

Finish The Race

Okay, so we’re changing sports now, moving from boxing to track. Paul says, “I finished the race.” Obviously, he’s referring to a track-and-field event, and he finishes.

Paul didn’t quit. When he was thrown in prison in Philippi just for freeing a slave girl from an evil spirit, Paul didn’t quit. As a matter of fact, at midnight, chained to the wall of his cell deep underground, Paul and Silas were singing. Which I’m sure irritated the other prisoners, but said something about Paul’s attitude. And when an earthquake opened the prison doors, and broke the chains that bound Paul and Silas, they didn’t run out to escape, they stayed to tell their story of how God had saved them.

When Paul was shipwrecked off the coast of Malta, he could have said, “This traveling around to preach at churches all over the Mediterranean is too hard. I’m going back home.”

But he didn’t quit. When the other apostles, and the earlier followers of Jesus were criticizing Paul, who was not one of the original disciples, Paul defended himself by saying that “Jesus himself called me.” He didn’t quit.

When finally, old and tired and probably sick, Paul traveled to Rome to appeal his case to Caesar himself, which was his right as a Roman citizen, Paul continued writing letters, praying for all those he had met and preached to, and kept on telling the story of how God had changed his life that night when he met Jesus on the Damascus road. No, Paul didn’t quit.

Paul finished the race, he completed the task. Paul did what God called him to do. He started churches among people who weren’t Jews, he debated Roman orators in the debate halls all over the empire. Paul didn’t quit. He ran the race he entered until the end. He finished.

Don’t quit. When life gets tough in the next four years at college, don’t quit. When others think you’re crazy to give up the possibility of making a lot of money to become a teacher in an urban school, don’t quit. When the task seems too hard, and the days seem too long, don’t quit.

Keep the Faith

In one respect, “keeping the faith” means to believe the Word of God, and keep on believing it. But he is also talking about teamwork with other Christians, binding together in churches to encourage each other and to do God's mission in the world. Paul is saying, “I was loyal to the team. I kept faith with the other apostles, I kept faith with all the members of the churches I started, and most of all, I kept faith with the coach, Jesus.”

In the Acts of the Apostles, in chapter 9, Paul is on his way to Damascus to arrest Christian leaders and bring them back to Jerusalem for trial. But Jesus appears to Paul on the Damascus road. Blinded by a bright light, and spoken to by a voice no one else in his party heard, Jesus appeared to Paul, and said, “Paul, why are you persecuting me?”

Paul didn’t know whose voice it was, so he said, “Who are you, lord?”

And Jesus said, “I’m Jesus whom you are persecuting.”

That night, Paul became a follower of Jesus. You can read that story in the rest of the book of Acts. That night Paul went from being on the opposing team, to being on Jesus’ team. Paul changed sides, and was faithful and loyal to the work of Christ for the rest of his life.

At first, Christians were suspicious of Paul. After all, he was the guy who had been harassing and killing them. But he won them over, and over the years, Paul became the most successful apostle at starting new churches, preaching the story of Jesus, and defending the Christian faith.

When the Christian community grew in size and influence, the emperor Nero decided that Christians would make good scapegoats. So, he blamed Christians for all the social problems in the empire, and a program of persecution was begun.

But through it all, Paul was faithful. He kept the faith, he was true to his word, he played for the right team, he was honest and frank with those who needed his help. He gave up his own life, to tell the story of how he found a new life in Jesus Christ.

Get The Trophy

Okay, last one. Finally, Paul says, “Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.”

In the Roman games, when the contest was over, whether the sport was boxing, or track, or a team sport, the winners would stand in front of the emperor’s seat. The emperor himself took a a laurel wreath, a crown of green leaves, and placed it on the head of the victors. But it wasn’t the wreath itself the athletes valued, because it was just made of leaves. But it was the fact that the emperor himself placed it on the athlete’s head that made it all worthwhile.

That’s the image Paul paints in this last statement. Paul is saying “because I fought a good fight, because I finished the race, because I kept faith with my team and with Jesus, I’ve got a trophy coming!”

But, Paul was quick to say, “But it’s not just for me. It’s for anyone who has been on Jesus’ team, who has run the race to the end, who has fought a good fight, and who want to see their leader, their coach, Jesus, again. It’s for anybody who does what I did, and lives a life for God.”

So, when you look back on your life, will you be able to say with the apostle Paul, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day…”

If you can, you will have reached your goal of a successful life. May God bless you and keep you, may God make his face to shine upon you, may God lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace. Amen.

We Can Only Imagine -- Seeing Jesus Face to Face!

This is the Reverend Dr. Glenn Wilson of the Burt and Woden Iowa Presbyterian Churches.  This week we are talking about that miracle awaiting every believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior – the place we call heaven.  And we get to heaven by the grace of the Lord Jesus and having faith in Him.

One of our most beloved hymns, my ministry installation and ordination hymn, puts it this way:

My hope is built on nothing less

Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness;

I dare not trust the sweetest frame,

But wholly lean on Jesus’ name.

On Christ the solid rock I stand;

All other ground is sinking sand;

All other ground is sinking sand.

That says it all. If you want to go to heaven, you must base your hope on the solid rock of Jesus’ blood and righteousness. Are you standing on the Rock this morning? Are you wholly leaning on Jesus’ name?

No one goes to heaven by accident. Heaven is God’s prepared place for prepared people. We prepare for heaven and then God prepares heaven for us. I’ve already told you that most people believe in heaven and most people think they are going there. But are they on the right road? Are they building their lives on Jesus Christ-the solid rock? Too many, I fear, are standing on sinking sand and do not know it.

What is your hope for heaven? Mine is Jesus Christ. I’ve staked everything I have on him. If he can’t take me to heaven, then I’m not going there. What about you? When the dark night falls, the lights go out, and the waters of death swirl around you, what will happen to you then? If you know Jesus, you have nothing to fear. Put your trust in Jesus. Run to the Cross. Stand with your full weight on the Solid Rock of our salvation. May God help you to trust in Jesus Christ and him alone for your salvation. And may God grant that we will all meet one day in heaven.

What is heaven? It is our one true home. It is our eternal destiny in Christ. It is being in Christ. It is being like Christ. It is a destiny that our lives here and now are preparing us for.


A woman was diagnosed with terminal cancer. The doctors told her that she had three months to live. She called her pastor and said, 'Please come over. I want to put things in order.' He came over, and they sat down and they planned her funeral. She tidied up all of the loose ends. He promised her that he would make sure that all of her wishes were carried out.


Everything was now in order, and he got up to leave. She stopped him before he walked out the door and she said, "I forgot. Two more things that are very important. When I am buried, I want to be buried with my favorite Bible in the casket with me." The pastor said, "No problem."


And then she said, "The second thing, is also very important. I want to be buried with a fork in my right hand." The pastor was kind of stunned. He did not know what to say. And then she said, "All my life I have gone to so many church potluck suppers; and when the main course was over and they came to clear the table, inevitably someone would lean over and say to me, 'Keep your fork.' She said, "That was my favorite part of the meal. I knew there was something better coming. It might be a velvety chocolate cake, it might be a deep dish apple pie. I knew it would be wonderful, and that it would be of substance."


And she said, "I want to be laid out in my casket at the viewing with a fork in my right hand, because I want people to come by and look and wonder, 'What is with the fork?' And then pastor, you will have the opportunity to tell them, "Keep your fork because the best is yet to come."


And sure enough, she was laid out in the casket with her best dress, her favorite Bible, and a fork in her right hand. At the viewing people came by. The pastor overheard countless of them asking the question, 'What's with the fork?' And then at the funeral he was able to preach, 'Keep your fork. The best is yet to come.'


The next time you eat and you pick up that fork, may it be an oh so gentle reminder to you, that in Christ, with Christ, like Christ, the best is yet to come. That is what heaven is all about.


May the Lord give us a healthy appreciation of the beauty and wonder of this broken world, with its glimpses of the life to come. May we pour ourselves out, living for Jesus; binding up the wounds of those who are hurting, ministering to the poor. But also may we be so fueled by the reality that this is not the last word. This is not our true home. We are here to do what we can. But our destiny is eternal life with Jesus.  This has been Pastor Glenn Wilson of the Burt and Woden Presbyterian churches. Have a Jesus filled weekend!

 

Heaven Will Be More Beautiful Than You Ever Dreamed Possible!

This is the Reverend Dr. Glenn Wilson of the Burt and Woden Iowa Presbyterian Churches.  This week we are talking about that miracle awaiting every believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior – the place we call heaven.  

Some folks have asked me -- what will we do for all eternity? The answer is, we’re going to help God run the universe. Do you remember the story Jesus told about the man of noble birth who gave his servants money to invest? One servant had doubled his money so the man said, “You will rule over ten cities.” The next servant had seen a 50% increase so his master said, “Rule over five cities.” And the man who hid his money had even that amount taken from him in punishment. (Luke 19:11-27). The story is a picture of what heaven will be like. We will use our God given individual and collective gifts and abilities in heaven. I can guarantee you this: No one will be sitting around on a cloud eating grapes and polishing his halo. No, God will have things for us to do, for He is a God of action.

Here are five things that will occupy us in heaven. We will 

Worship without distraction.

Serve without exhaustion.

Fellowship without fear.

Learning without fatigue.

Rest without boredom.

The best part of heaven will be seeing Jesus himself face to face. We will worship the Son of God and celebrate his great victory over sin while the endless ages of eternity roll on and on. The best music you’ve ever heard will pale compared to the music of heaven. The most awesome worship you’ve experienced on earth is but a dim reflection of the praise we will render around the throne of God.

Do you want to be sure you go to heaven? This is the most important question of all. Here is a wonderful truth: God has made it easy for you to go to heaven. He did the hard part when he sent his Son to die on the Cross for you. He paid the price for your sins so that you could one day stand before God in heaven. Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). He also said, “I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he shall be saved” (John 10:9 NASB). Jesus is not only the way to heaven, he is also the door to heaven. If you want to go to heaven, you’ve got to go through the door marked “Jesus Christ.” There is no other entrance.

Several years ago Dr. D. James Kennedy, pastor of the famous Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Fort Lauderdale, FL, joined other evangelical leaders in a meeting with President Ronald Reagan at the White House. During the meeting Dr. Kennedy asked the president this question, “Suppose you were to die and found yourself standing at the door of heaven. If God were to say, ’Why should I let you into heaven?’ what answer would you give?”

Before I tell you how the president answered that question, let me ask how you would respond. Picture the scene. You are standing at the very gates of heaven. It’s more beautiful than you ever dreamed possible. This is where you want to spend eternity. This is where you belong. But before you enter, the Lord himself asks what possible reason you have to claim admission. You pause, knowing that all eternity hangs on your answer. What will you say?

Back to the White House. The President paused, thought for a moment, then replied, “Well, I guess I’d have to answer with John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life.” That is indeed a good answer because your only hope of heaven is through the Lord Jesus Christ.

Let me make this very personal. If you were to die today, do you know for certain that you would go to heaven? I’ve already said that this is too important to say “I think so” or “I hope so.” If you’re wrong, you’re going to be wrong for a long, long time.

What we need is solid ground on which to stand. And we have it in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Our entire hope of heaven is wrapped up in what Jesus did when he died on the cross for the sins of the world and rose from the dead on Easter Sunday morning. So make sure in your heart that you are going to heaven.  Discover the promise of Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior and live for Jesus in the here and now and then live with him in eternity.

This has been Pastor Glenn Wilson of the Burt and Woden Prebyterian Churches, have a Jesus filled day!

Heaven Will Be the Best Party You Ever Attended!

This is the Reverend Dr. Glenn Wilson of the Burt and Woden Iowa Presbyterian Churches.  This week we are talking about that miracle awaiting every believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior – the place we call heaven. Everyone who has genuinely trusted in Christ as Lord and Savior will be there.  And children who died before the “age of accountability go to heaven and I would also include those born with such mental limitations that they cannot understand the spoken or written gospel. The Bible teaches that the moment we die we go directly into the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul spoke of this in 2 Corinthians 5:7-8 and Philippians 1:21-23.

But not everyone who has died is in heaven now. Some people won’t make it. The Bible speaks of the saved and the lost. The saved are those who trust Jesus Christ as their eternal Savior. The lost are those who do not trust Christ as Savior. This is the great dividing line of humanity-you are either saved or you are lost. And there is no middle category. You will either spend eternity in heaven or eternity in hell.

I simply want you to know what God has said about heaven and who will go there. The saved of all the ages will be there-and that vast throng will no doubt include many people who would surprise us if we knew it now. Certainly heaven will be more wonderful than our imagination and it’s population more diverse than we expect.

But I am sure of this one truth. No one will go to heaven except by the grace of God and through the merits of the blood of Jesus Christ. If a man or woman says “No” to Jesus, the Bible makes it clear he or she has no hope of heaven.

Now according to the Bible “We may be sure that we shall not know less in heaven than we know here.” In 1 Corinthians 13:12, “Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.” How does God know us? Answer: He knows us completely, intimately, thoroughly, inside and out, with nothing hidden but everything seen as it really is  When we get to heaven we’ll know each other as God knows us because all the imperfections of this life will be removed. In this life sin causes us to cover ourselves-not just physically but emotionally and spiritually. But when sin is finally lifted from us, then we can be ourselves with no shame, no pain, no embarrassment, and no covering up.  In heaven we will know every person in heaven and all of them will be friends and loved ones to us.

The Bible shows that our individual personality survives into eternity. I’ll be the same person then that I am now-only with all the imperfections and limitations of sin finally removed. This is a wonderful thought-that the essence of who we are will remain throughout eternity-yet vastly improved by God’s grace.

That helps me think about a question that people sometimes ask: How old will we be in heaven? I once heard a preacher say that we will all be 33 years old because that’s approximately how old Jesus was when he died. Of course there is no scriptural support for that statement. The truth is, there won’t be any age in heaven in the sense we speak of age on the earth. Growing old is a function of the decaying effects of sin. I do not believe that babies who die in infancy will be babies for eternity nor do I believe that people who waste away of cancer will appear emaciated in heaven. It will be something else entirely-which I can barely explain and certainly do not understand.

In heaven we will know each other intimately. That’s why Peter, James and John recognized Moses and Elijah, even though they had been dead for hundreds of years, on the Mount of Transfiguration (Matthew 17:1-9). I don’t think they had nametags on. I think there was something about those two men that made Peter, James and John recognize them even though they had never seen them before.

That’s why a wife whose husband died when she was young will be able to pick her husband out of a crowd of billions of people, even though she hasn’t seen him for 50 years since he died on the earth. In heaven she will say, “Sweetheart! I knew it was you.” And he will know her.

In heaven there will be no strangers. When we all get to heaven what a day of rejoicing that will be!  This has been Pastor Glenn Wilson of the Burt and Woden Presbyterian Churches. Have a Jesus filled Day!

What An Amazing Place Heaven Will Be for Us Who Follow Jesus!

This is the Reverend Dr. Glenn WIlson, pastor of the Burt and Woden, Iowa Presbyterian churches.  This week we are talking about heaven.

Hebrews 12:22-24 tells us something amazing about what the gospel has done for us:

But you have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the judge of all men, to the spirits of righteous men made perfect, to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

The writer is here comparing Mt. Sinai with Mt. Zion. Under the old covenant no one could come near God except under very strict conditions. That’s why the mountain shook with thunder and lightning. [Note: three times the writer of Hebrews uses a Greek word that means “to come near” or “to approach closely.] But now in Christ we have been brought near to heavenly realities. Think of what he is saying:

In heaven, We are with the angels. We are with out loved ones, we are with God, we are with Jesus himself. Heaven is a real place, it’s where Jesus is right now, and it’s where Christians will go to be with him.

What is heaven like? The Bible gives us glimpses. images and pictures of heaven and comparisons with life on earth. Here are some biblical facts about heaven. It is …

– God’s dwelling place (Psalm 33:13).

– Where Christ is today (Acts 1:11).

– Where Christians go when they die (Philippians 1:21-23).

– The Father’s house (John 14:2).

– A city designed and built by God (Hebrews 11:10).

– A better country (Hebrews 11:16).

– Paradise (Luke 23:43).

Most of us have heard that heaven is a place where the streets are paved with gold, the gates are made of pearl, and the walls made of precious jewels. Those images come from Revelation 21-22, which offers us the most extended picture of heaven in the entire Bible.  This passage gives us some images with earthly comparisons, but heaven will be much greater than we can imagine.

Paul quotes Isaiah 64:4 in 1 Corinthians 2:9 “What no eye has seen,
what no ear has heard,
and what no human mind has conceived”^[b]—
these are the things God has prepared for those who love him—

Here’s a delightful legend that makes the point very well:

I love the old story of the rich man who, on his death bed, negotiated with God to allow him to bring his earthly treasures with him when he came to heaven. God’s reaction was that this was a most unusual request, but since this man had been exceptionally faithful, permission was granted to bring along just one suitcase. The time arrived, the man presented himself at the pearly gates, suitcase in hand– BOTH hands, actually, since he had stuffed it with as many bars of gold bullion as would fit. St. Peter said, “Sorry, you know the rules–you can’t take it with you.” But the man protested, “God said I could … one suitcase.” St. Peter checked, found out that this one would be an exception, prepared to let the man enter, then said, “OK, but I will have to examine the contents before you pass.” He took the suitcase, opened it, saw the gold bars and asked quizzically, “You brought PAVEMENT?”

When John writes about a street paved with gold, I do not doubt his words. He simply reports what he saw in his vision. Thus his words are literally true. They are also meant to tell us that the things we value so highly in this life will be used to pave the roads in heaven.

Heaven is a real place filled with real people. The Bible pictures it as a great city filled with all of God’s people.

What would such a city look like? It would be a city with …

No pollution for the skies would always be crystal clear.

No crime or violence for no criminals would ever enter.

No greedy politicians, no drug pushers, no child molesters.

No potholes and no power outages either.

It would be filled with abundant parks, rivers, rolling meadows, and flowing streams. Lining the streets would be flowers in constant bloom, fruit trees of every kind, every species of plant life growing free from pestilence and disease.    As my dad, a Methodist minister used to say – It will have all the good things of earth and more, much more – the brokenness will be gone and the glories like that of the Garden of Eden will be restored.

The gates would be made of pearl, the walls of jasper, the streets of gold.

Beautiful music  and praises floating from every direction.

In the city that God builds, there are no tears, there is no sorrow … no regret … no remorse. Bitterness gone forever, failure left far behind, suffering redeemed and rewarded. There are no eyeglasses, no braces, no wheelchairs, no false teeth, no bald heads, no hearing aids, and no crutches. Aspirin gone, accidents over, cancer disappeared, heart attacks banished, AIDS a distant memory. In heaven no one grows old and feeble.

There is one other thing you won’t find in heaven. There are no cemeteries in the city God builds. Why? There are no funerals … for in that glad city no one ever dies.

If you make it to that city, you live forever, never to die again. Either you believe in heaven or you don’t. It’s either a real place or it isn’t. This is heaven-where all our best dreams finally come true.  And you get there by the miracle of salvation.  You must believe in Jesus as your Lord and Savior.   So embrace Him and commit to Him or recommit to him right now!

This has been Pastor Glenn Wilson of the Burt and Woden Presbyterian churches.  Have a Jesus filled day.