Heaven? Not Interested.

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Webers.Home

Well-known member
May 28, 2018
5,895
1,084
113
Oregon
#1
.
It's an alien world with which I am totally unfamiliar; and when I leave here,
I will be leaving behind everything dear to me, e.g. photos, mementos,
collections, sights and sounds, mountains, creeks, rivers and forests,
clothing and equipment, landmarks, entertainment, hobbies, a spouse, BFF,
etc, etc.

The culture shock tsunami of leaving all that I know and going to a foreign
land where I know nothing at all, is not my idea of a good time. Personally;
I dread the thought of having to start all over again from scratch.
_
 

Magenta

Senior Member
Jul 3, 2015
61,149
30,299
113
#2
Our foundation is Christ, not "scratch."


Hebrews 13:14~ This world is not our home; we are looking forward to our everlasting home in heaven.
There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain

1 Corinthians 2:9
Rather, as it is written: "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no heart
has imagined, what God has prepared for those who love Him."

2 Corinthians 5:17
Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away. Behold, the new has come!

2 Peter 3:13
But in keeping with God's promise, we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.

Revelation 21:1
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.

Isaiah 43:18
"Do not call to mind the former things; pay no attention to the things of old."
 

LightOfMyLife

Well-known member
May 6, 2023
389
429
63
Independence, Mo
#3
.
It's an alien world with which I am totally unfamiliar; and when I leave here,
I will be leaving behind everything dear to me, e.g. photos, mementos,
collections, sights and sounds, mountains, creeks, rivers and forests,
clothing and equipment, landmarks, entertainment, hobbies, a spouse, BFF,
etc, etc.


The culture shock tsunami of leaving all that I know and going to a foreign
land where I know nothing at all, is not my idea of a good time. Personally;
I dread the thought of having to start all over again from scratch.
_
Are you a born again Christian? If you are, you should be looking forward to going to a beautiful perfect place with Jesus. No more tears, bills, pills, doctors, shopping, gas prices, etc. I am so excited to be getting out of this evil world.
 

Evmur

Well-known member
Feb 28, 2021
5,219
2,618
113
London
christianchat.com
#4
Are you a born again Christian? If you are, you should be looking forward to going to a beautiful perfect place with Jesus. No more tears, bills, pills, doctors, shopping, gas prices, etc. I am so excited to be getting out of this evil world.
reminds me one day I was preaching out in the park and one wag said "ah never mind the gospel what about my gas bill?"
 

LightOfMyLife

Well-known member
May 6, 2023
389
429
63
Independence, Mo
#5
reminds me one day I was preaching out in the park and one wag said "ah never mind the gospel what about my gas bill?"
The person should be more concerned about where they will spend eternity. Some people don't believe in God one day they will find out they made a terrible mistake for eternity.
 

NightTwister

Well-known member
Jul 5, 2023
2,122
806
113
65
Colorado, USA
#6
The person should be more concerned about where they will spend eternity. Some people don't believe in God one day they will find out they made a terrible mistake for eternity.
They'll regret the punishment, but still won't question their choice (or lack thereof).
 

Webers.Home

Well-known member
May 28, 2018
5,895
1,084
113
Oregon
#7
.
I rather suspect that new arrivals in Heaven are immediately quarantined in
a sort of Bible boot camp where they're fitted with appropriate clothing and
undergo intense indoctrination-- all their mistakes are corrected and all the
blanks filled in --so that when newbees are released into general population
- a.k.a. gen pop --there is no debating and no quarreling over theories,
interpretations, and/or applications.

I also suspect newbees are processed thru a sort of finishing school where
the roughness of their manners are sanded off so that they don't go about
insulting folks, stepping on their toes, and/or hurting people's feelings with
thoughtless remarks.
_
 

ChrisTillinen

Active member
Sep 16, 2022
354
184
43
#8
It may be a mistake to draw a very stark distinction between "this world" and "heaven" and then leave it at that. There's a sense in which "this world" represents everything that is going to pass away, but it is also true that in another sense, "the world" as the current creation of God is not going to just pass away but be renewed into something much more glorious, away from its state of being subjected to its bondage to decay. (Romans 8:20-21) Christ's own resurrection body seems to be an example of this. There may be profound change, but there's also continuity between the old and the new. If this more nuanced perspective is correct, it seems plausible that much of what is good in this world will carry over in a more perfected form into the new creation, the new heavens and the new earth. So perhaps it's not going to be something totally foreign but rather very familiar in some ways, but just stunningly more glorious.

I'm not going to take it as a habit to spam my poems outside of the poetry forum, but it's exactly this view is what led me to write the short poem "Dawning Day After the Storm".

 

Webers.Home

Well-known member
May 28, 2018
5,895
1,084
113
Oregon
#9
.
For many of us working stiffs, the first day on a new job is stressful and
quite an adjustment. The night before that first day can cause enough
anxiety to keep us awake worrying about what we might expect.

I'd imagine that, whether we end up in the right place or the wrong place in
the afterlife, we will be just as stressed on our first day there as the first day
here on a new job.

The anxiety associated with death is to be expected seeing as how most of
us have no experience at all with that particular journey. But much of my
own anxiety in regards to death is related to what comes after. Pity there
are no guide books available in print to prepare us in advance for the
adjustment folks are required to undergo as they struggle to fit into Heaven's
(or Hell's) way of life.
_
 

Magenta

Senior Member
Jul 3, 2015
61,149
30,299
113
#10
Pity there are no guide books available in print to prepare us in advance for the adjustment
folks are required to undergo as they struggle to fit into Heaven's (or Hell's) way of life.
It's called "the Bible." .:). According to Guinness World Records as of 1995,
the Bible is the best-selling book of all time, with an estimated 5 billion
copies sold and distributed, and is available in 733 languages.
 

Magenta

Senior Member
Jul 3, 2015
61,149
30,299
113
#12
You deserve a big reward in heaven for the Only Best Answer-Gods written word The Bible! :love:(y)(y)
Thank you! I wanted to add to my edit that the Bible's New Testament is translated into 1,622 languages .:D

Wycliffe (an organization that translates the Bible into different
languages), says the Word of God is available in 3495 languages.
e en

Wiki breaks it down and adds about a hundred more languages...
 

LightOfMyLife

Well-known member
May 6, 2023
389
429
63
Independence, Mo
#13
Thank you! I wanted to add to my edit that the Bible's New Testament is translated into 1,622 languages .:D

Wycliffe (an organization that translates the Bible into different
languages), says the Word of God is available in 3495 languages.
e end of 2021.
That is funny how many of us can speak more than 1 language? Some of us do good with English. :ROFL:
 

Cameron143

Well-known member
Mar 1, 2022
20,080
6,883
113
62
#14
That is funny how many of us can speak more than 1 language? Some of us do good with English. :ROFL:
Actually, some of us do well with English. Everyone else uses adjectives in the place of adverbs.
 
G

Gojira

Guest
#15
.
For many of us working stiffs, the first day on a new job is stressful and
quite an adjustment. The night before that first day can cause enough
anxiety to keep us awake worrying about what we might expect.


I'd imagine that, whether we end up in the right place or the wrong place in
the afterlife, we will be just as stressed on our first day there as the first day
here on a new job.


The anxiety associated with death is to be expected seeing as how most of
us have no experience at all with that particular journey. But much of my
own anxiety in regards to death is related to what comes after. Pity there
are no guide books available in print to prepare us in advance for the
adjustment folks are required to undergo as they struggle to fit into Heaven's
(or Hell's) way of life.
_
This is what faith is about.. trusting God to do what He says, not what you think or feel instead.

I don't want to leave some things behind either. I understand that. But, we need to work on believing it when He says that all tears will be wiped away, and eventually, we'll forget the former things. Now, I don't want to forget all of the former things. Maybe that's not what He meant, or maybe He did. I'm not sure. But, that does speak to the kind of existence those who accepted Him as their savior will have.
 
G

Gojira

Guest
#16
It may be a mistake to draw a very stark distinction between "this world" and "heaven" and then leave it at that. There's a sense in which "this world" represents everything that is going to pass away, but it is also true that in another sense, "the world" as the current creation of God is not going to just pass away but be renewed into something much more glorious, away from its state of being subjected to its bondage to decay. (Romans 8:20-21) Christ's own resurrection body seems to be an example of this. There may be profound change, but there's also continuity between the old and the new. If this more nuanced perspective is correct, it seems plausible that much of what is good in this world will carry over in a more perfected form into the new creation, the new heavens and the new earth. So perhaps it's not going to be something totally foreign but rather very familiar in some ways, but just stunningly more glorious.

I'm not going to take it as a habit to spam my poems outside of the poetry forum, but it's exactly this view is what led me to write the short poem "Dawning Day After the Storm".

Mhm... He's going to restore all things.
 

Webers.Home

Well-known member
May 28, 2018
5,895
1,084
113
Oregon
#17
.
The one thing I do look forward to in Heaven is its library where everything
that can be known about the cosmos is stored. Carl Sagan would've loved
that library because he went to his grave with a lot of unanswered
questions. But now they'll never be answered because Carl was, at best, an
agnostic, and at worst, an atheist.
_
 

ChrisTillinen

Active member
Sep 16, 2022
354
184
43
#18
Mhm... He's going to restore all things.
I get a sense of both restoration and going beyond anything that has been so far. It won't be just a return to Eden as it was. Seems to me it would be hard to think that 1 Corinthians 15:35-56 is describing just restoration.
 

Webers.Home

Well-known member
May 28, 2018
5,895
1,084
113
Oregon
#19
.
The hardest part of Heaven is not getting there, but staying there.

Some years ago it occurred to me that it's very easy for me to live in this
world, but Heaven would require a level of piety and self control that I was
pretty sure I couldn't keep up forever. Sooner or later I'd mess up and get
thrown out. But if it were just as easy for me to live in Heaven as it is for me
to live in this world, then for sure I'd never get thrown out.

In other words: if only thinking, feeling, and acting like Jesus came just as
natural to me as thinking, feeling, and acting like me; then that would
be the cat's meow. Well, anon I discovered it's possible.

The supernatural circumcision spoken of by Colossians 2:11 makes it
possible for a sinner to enter Heaven completely free of human nature, i.e.
100% sinless; which means Heaven' citizens will never have to worry they'll
do something serious enough to get themselves banished; especially seeing
as how their human nature gets replaced by a nature like God's.

2Pet 1:3-4 . . His divine power has given us everything we need for life
and godliness through our knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory
and goodness. Through these He has given us His very great and precious
promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and
escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. (cf. Ezek 36:24-27)
_
 
May 24, 2023
573
112
43
#20
It is better to be the enemy of the world and the friend of God than it is to be the friend of the world and the enemy of God.