Thoughts of Heaven

I haven't posted here is quite some time but today I want to share a thought that has worked in my mind for two years now. In June of 2010 there was a Christian conference I had the sad experience of missing the first sessions of but was able to stream the rest online. When I first heard the subject of what was to be the final address in the series of talks I thought to myself: hmmm this will be interesting; but not for a second did I think on how profound what was about to be said was going to be. The topic of the final message to be deliver came from one of my favorite scholars and theologians R.C. Sproul and it was called "Can We Enjoy Heaven Knowing of Loved Ones in Hell? “ 

I will start by saying that very often today we pervert the gospel of Jesus Christ and Heaven gets taught without Hell or Hell without the hope of Heaven. This then means that this message was already a part of a minority of "gospel" messages out there and the second thing to make it so remarkable if you will, is that while so many desire to go to Heaven not enough know what Heaven is from a Biblical construct.

SO, I guess since you've even read this far, you are wondering what it is that was said that I still find to be one of the most profound things in the teaching of Heaven that I have ever heard, well here it is:

“'Don’t you know that when you are in heaven you will be so sanctified that you could look at your own mother in hell and rejoice in the display of the justice of God.'” 

As you can see the quote is a quote from Dr. Sproul who is quoting a teacher of his own. Regardless, the profundity of the statement still stands.

Imagine fully understanding the suffering and the pain of those who shall be in eternal torment and rejoicing as such! It is a ludicrous thought and at a glance may seem cruel beyond belief!

Now imagine that the perfect God, the single being in the universe who can claim perfection, holiness, goodness, and righteousness has wiped away your tears, you are like Him in conformity and have a fully righteous desire to see justice played out such that His desires are completely your desires and there is no longer an option for those who have committed wrongs to receive the grace and mercy extended to them but to receive the just desserts of their actions. The desires of your heart, your pleasure will be wholly in Christ and as His bride no other person; no matter you relationship with them in the past could even begin to move your heart against the justice of God.

So, why is this so amazingly profound? 

1) We peer into how imperfect we are now. Right now the reason the idea at rejoicing at the eternal suffering of a loved one is so horrific is twofold:

          - We place our affection in earthly things as opposed to the spiritual

          -We are called to desire and seek all people for the Kingdom of God

As this is the case when perfected we will seek perfect justice as we have also received perfect mercy (both of which have their meeting on the cross at Calvary)

2) We peer into Heaven. I've heard (and even at one point wondered myself) "if we are to just worship God in Heaven, wouldn't it be boring?" The answer to this is one hardy NO! To live in the presence of God in Heaven could be thought of as the best orgasm ever... multiplied infinitely! My point is, having been truly conformed in the likeness of Christ and being in the presence of Him it will be our joy to worship Him.

3) We peer into just how HOLY and PERFECT God truly is. For anyone else to lay a finger on the one who bore you would be like the beginning of WWIII but God in His wisdom and power is the only one who can distribute justice with no error and no wrong in Himself that would make him unfit to be its deliverer.

Referance:

 Revelation 21:1-8

 Romans 8:19-30
Hebrews10:14

http://www.ligonier.org/blog/2010-ligonier-national-conference-rc-sproul-ii/

How Open is You Mind?

So yesterday I went to hear former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright give a lecture and answer some questions at the Carnegie Music Hall of Oakland in Pittsburgh PA. There was something she said, among others, that certainly got people's attention. She said, "The only completely open mind is an empty mind". There is of course the very simple idea behind this that no matter how much we may try to open ourselves to things, take in different perspectives and try new things we will always have the things that have shaped us. It is true that everyone has a different background, a different perspective, and different emotional responses to things. To be completely open we would have not to have taken in anything. So now my question is just how open to we really want to be? We hear people say, "keep an open mind" and "my mind is always open to new things" but at what point should yes be yes and no be no?

Why Blogs Suck...

Short mini rant...

When trying to write a paper and needing to cite credible sources I don't need everyone's blog popping up! I like blogs heck I even have one  but blogs are not acceptable forms of information when it comes to academia, that isn't to say a blogger isn't well versed or professional, its just to say I can't legitimately put it in a citation so stop crowding my search engine!!!!!

(Laughing at this myself LOL!)

99 Problems

I find myself at this moment frustrated to no end with no one answering the phone and on an entertainment media fast (and hence no mind-numbing outlets). So here I am with all these thoughts, no one to talk to and nothing to curb the incessant workings of my mind when it occurs to me...I have a blog, why not use it?

Well here I am and I am going to tell you some things that quite possibly you haven't really given much thought to before (or maybe you have).

I am finally back in the US and studying at one of the finest educational institutions money can buy (a lot of money that is....try around 53,000/yr). I can say I haven't been quite this challenged in some months and as exhilarating as it is it has its frustrations. Here goes...

I have spent my entire day trying to understand the Federal Reserve, the American banking system in conjunction with how our money is valued and I have come to the conclusion that either I have an intense deficiency in learning or the information that is out there and readily available to the public is insufficient. I know that there are scholars who spend their lives studying such things, however, what I want to know is what stands in the way of the reasonable observer from being able to understand his or her own system in the country which they live.

There are many opinions out there about whether the Federal Reserve is a profiting institution, the Fed controlling the economy, how the Reserve is truly not a governmental institution answerable to Congress and how it does not actually have reserves. I find that I am certainly not well versed enough to tackle all of this yet but when I can we will certainly discuss it in greater detail. Where I am at the moment is simply trying to figure out what is true about our economy and can the average person be truly well informed on the subject.

In 1913 the third attempt at a national bank (The Federal Reserve) was put into place stemming from the Panic of 1907. This is pretty well known information but its going from here that causes problems. We could use prisoner's dilemma or utility to try and understand how the men (or companies?) who run our economy should act but the truth is so many of their actions are hidden from the public that we'd really be grasping at straws unable to greatly substantiate such conclusions.

 Insufficient information...that is why I am angry.

I have a headache after having spent my weekend in this room first reading on the Realist, Liberal, and Marxist theories of International Relations and now American economy. I don't know if this little rant has prompted any thought but I will say that I believe it a necessary to understand these types of things.

At the end of my life I'd rather say "what I had was at my discretion" than "they really screwed me over" (that's just a small unrelated jab at the people who rely on the government to be their security).

*** Have I mentioned the the US Mint has the most annoying website EVER!

No seriously. I understand that what they do is supply and sell coins but someone needs to tell them that supplying substantial information (like how much they produce and what governs their production) instead of boasting about how pretty their coins are would be very useful. I'M JUST SAYIN!

Check out: The Money Masters- How International Bankers Gained Control of America