Professor Hawking has hit the news again stating that heaven is a place for people that are afraid of the dark. Well is there a heaven? Is there life after death? The question is not just one raised by professor Hawking but is raised when we are faced with finality and terminus, it dawns on us that there is going to be an end that "one day I will not be here!" There is also a deeper feeling that death is a cruel interruption and is far from normal. The tears and the grief experienced at a funeral tells us that this is alien and should not be.
The Bible shows that death is a foreign thing to God's original plan for humanity, and only came along as a result of sin-disobedience to Gods orders (more about sin and its meaning in future blogs) Genesis 2:17, Genesis 3:4,.Romans 6:23. People are designed to live forever.
The book of Ecclesiastes in the Bible is written by a teacher who had great wealth. He had so much wealth that he had time to study human life. He gathered plants, precious metals, jewellery, animals to observe them he studied human wisdom from all over the world Ecclesiastes 1:13. He indulged himself in whatever took his fancy. He was the original self imposed "lab rat". His words were so sort after that royal visitors like the Queen of Sheba travelled to listen to him 1 Kings 10:1-13 The teacher is Solomon. He was one of the wisest men that ever lived and when he spoke it was worth its weight in gold..
Two women who lived in the same house came to him one day disputing that a baby boy was theirs. Without the ability to detect blood types and carry out DNA testing, Solomon sorted out the problem by giving orders to cut the child in half so that half may be given to each woman. The real mother balled and begged that the child be given to the other woman, whilst the impostor agreed that the child should be divided. Solomon moved by his acute sense of human nature gave the child to the woman who begged for his life to be spared. 1 Kings 3:16-28
When considering humanity he said "God has set eternity in the heart of men" Ecclesiastes 3:11. So woven into the DNA of every human being there is a sense of eternal continuity. From the Jungles of Papua New Guinea to Silicon Valley, instinctively we know that death is not the end. We know we were built to live forever!
Consider the humble Pigeon, if you take that bird from it's home in Birmingham, UK to the United States of America (USA) in a covered cage and release it, the bird will circle the skies to get its bearing but once that is done, it will head towards home, starvation and exhaustion permitting it will arrive in the UK. Birds do not teach it to each other, neither is it scientifically verified how this is done by birds who do not speak. Science says it may be because the bird has an inbuilt detector of the earths magnetic fields. Whilst heaven, its location and direction cannot be discovered by science it cannot be falsified or dismissed by the god of science either. Professor Hawking assertions about heaven are flying in the face of the Bible and the witness of the human soul, far from running away from the dark, our thirst for heaven is hard wired into our cells and no amount of blue sky thinking can erase that eternal hope.
New Testament Church of God (Handsworth)
244 Lozells Road
Handsworth
Birmingham
B19 1NP
0121 554 1358
www.ntcg-handsworth.org.uk/
Tuesday, 31 May 2011
Tuesday, 24 May 2011
Will the world end on Saturday?
Harold Campings prediction that the world would end at 6.00pm on Saturday 21st of May has stopped the world in its tracks sponsoring firey media interest. Today, Monday 24th May we are still here. Embarrassed Harold Camping has gone into hiding after followers gave away everything they had in line with his predictions. Well, the shouts of "the end is nigh" like this are sponsored by a misunderstanding of the Bible. There is some truth in the debris though so lets take a look at them.
Firstly, Jesus who prophesied about the end times over 2000 years ago, said that nobody could calculate the exact time when the curtains would close. That precise date is hidden in the heart of God the Father and he will reveal it to the Son (Jesus) when time eventually runs out. Ironically, Jesus himself said that one of the signs that the end is near, is that people would increasingly say things like "the end is near" and "I saw Jesus in a dessert let's go out and see him" Matthew 26:24, even more unreal "I am Jesus". The fact that people are tuned in to the finality of things is a massive clue that time is actually ending. Matthew 24:4 "...Jesus answered and said watch out that no one deceives you, for many will come in my name proclaiming that I am the Messiah and will deceive many.
Secondly, it's worth mentioning here that whilst Christ did not give a precise time when the world would end, he did tell his disciples that there will be certain clues as that end time approaches. It will be like the cramping womb of an expectant mother. Have you seen the TV dramas in which a pregnant woman’s contractions begin on an airplane 5000 ft in the air, or in the high street at midday. She knows that the baby is coming. Onlookers know the baby is coming. It might happen it the next minute. It might happen in the next 24 hours. Nothing will stop that baby not even public embarrassment. According to the Bible further indicative spasms include: the increase of wars, earthquakes and the predictions of false prophets. So will the world end next Saturday? I do not know, but it might, get ready!!!
New Testament Church of God (Handsworth)
244 Lozells Road
Handsworth
Birmingham
B19 1NP
0121 554 1358
www.ntcg-handsworth.org.uk/
Firstly, Jesus who prophesied about the end times over 2000 years ago, said that nobody could calculate the exact time when the curtains would close. That precise date is hidden in the heart of God the Father and he will reveal it to the Son (Jesus) when time eventually runs out. Ironically, Jesus himself said that one of the signs that the end is near, is that people would increasingly say things like "the end is near" and "I saw Jesus in a dessert let's go out and see him" Matthew 26:24, even more unreal "I am Jesus". The fact that people are tuned in to the finality of things is a massive clue that time is actually ending. Matthew 24:4 "...Jesus answered and said watch out that no one deceives you, for many will come in my name proclaiming that I am the Messiah and will deceive many.
Secondly, it's worth mentioning here that whilst Christ did not give a precise time when the world would end, he did tell his disciples that there will be certain clues as that end time approaches. It will be like the cramping womb of an expectant mother. Have you seen the TV dramas in which a pregnant woman’s contractions begin on an airplane 5000 ft in the air, or in the high street at midday. She knows that the baby is coming. Onlookers know the baby is coming. It might happen it the next minute. It might happen in the next 24 hours. Nothing will stop that baby not even public embarrassment. According to the Bible further indicative spasms include: the increase of wars, earthquakes and the predictions of false prophets. So will the world end next Saturday? I do not know, but it might, get ready!!!
New Testament Church of God (Handsworth)
244 Lozells Road
Handsworth
Birmingham
B19 1NP
0121 554 1358
www.ntcg-handsworth.org.uk/
Sunday, 15 May 2011
Would a Loving God Send People To Hell?
Well what a question this is! It is usually asked from the point of view that God is so good and hell is so terrible, the contrast between Gods goodness and the lethal nature of hell seems to drive a natural divide between the two, so thinking naturally God would not send any one there.
Lets step away from this scene a little to something different, Madeline McCann the daughter of Kate and Gerry McCann went missing four years ago while the family where on holiday. This year David Camereon has engaged Scotalnd Yard to review the case. This disappearance peaks our interests for many reasons but one common reason for most is the reason of justice. Something needs to be done to set this situation right. If someone has abducted her, those parties need to be brought to justice and punished in a public way. As part of the human family we want things to be put to rights. But still more than that we need this be set right. Suppose the guilty party is unearthed by the new investigation and confessess to what they did, would any sane person dismiss it as "one of those things", a mistake, something to be let go, let by gones be be by gones-I do not thinks so!
Humans have a sense of justice in the same way that God has a sense of justice, there is a divine demand that wrong be put to rights. The Bible sends clear warnings about hell Matthew 9:47, Matthew 18:9 says that hell should be avoided at all costs, it is so terrible that loosing an eye or a limb is a small price to pay in the quest to avoid it (do not try this at home!). The key point of about seperation is the giving up of sinful ways of living and replacing that with trust in Christ for the forgiveness of sin.
The good news about Hell is that no one needs to go there because part of Christ mission to earth was to go to Hell and take its punishment on behalf of everyone. The Bible records Christ being shown the way out of hell Acts 2:27, Acts 2:31 Christ was shown the way out of hell and today he offers his hand to anyone who needs to know that pathway.
In the book of Revelation Jesus is pictured having in his firm possession the keys of death and hell Revelation 1:18. Would God send a person to hell. Yes, but not at random. In a sense someone sends themselves there by ignoring the hand offered to them by God through Jesus Christ.
New Testament Church of God (Handsworth)
244 Lozells Road
Handsworth
Birmingham
B19 1NP
0121 554 1358
www.ntcg-handsworth.org.uk/
Lets step away from this scene a little to something different, Madeline McCann the daughter of Kate and Gerry McCann went missing four years ago while the family where on holiday. This year David Camereon has engaged Scotalnd Yard to review the case. This disappearance peaks our interests for many reasons but one common reason for most is the reason of justice. Something needs to be done to set this situation right. If someone has abducted her, those parties need to be brought to justice and punished in a public way. As part of the human family we want things to be put to rights. But still more than that we need this be set right. Suppose the guilty party is unearthed by the new investigation and confessess to what they did, would any sane person dismiss it as "one of those things", a mistake, something to be let go, let by gones be be by gones-I do not thinks so!
Humans have a sense of justice in the same way that God has a sense of justice, there is a divine demand that wrong be put to rights. The Bible sends clear warnings about hell Matthew 9:47, Matthew 18:9 says that hell should be avoided at all costs, it is so terrible that loosing an eye or a limb is a small price to pay in the quest to avoid it (do not try this at home!). The key point of about seperation is the giving up of sinful ways of living and replacing that with trust in Christ for the forgiveness of sin.
The good news about Hell is that no one needs to go there because part of Christ mission to earth was to go to Hell and take its punishment on behalf of everyone. The Bible records Christ being shown the way out of hell Acts 2:27, Acts 2:31 Christ was shown the way out of hell and today he offers his hand to anyone who needs to know that pathway.
In the book of Revelation Jesus is pictured having in his firm possession the keys of death and hell Revelation 1:18. Would God send a person to hell. Yes, but not at random. In a sense someone sends themselves there by ignoring the hand offered to them by God through Jesus Christ.
New Testament Church of God (Handsworth)
244 Lozells Road
Handsworth
Birmingham
B19 1NP
0121 554 1358
www.ntcg-handsworth.org.uk/
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