Moral Authority

Do Christians have Moral Authority or Power? The answer to this question depends on who you ask.

If you ask the majority of people in the US they would probably say something like this "Not really. What have they done to earn that authority? I mean look at all of the stuff going on in the Catholic Church and in other churches" From a worldly stand point the Church has lost a great deal of its power to pronounce what is right and what is wrong. So much so that the entire concept of right and wrong has been questioned.

However, the book of Acts tells us something completely different. In Acts 1:8 we are told that when the Holy Spirit comes to us then we receive power. The Greek word used for power is Dunamis. The word Dunamis has many connotations one of which is to have moral power or authority. Simply put then the Church (under the power of the Holy Spirit) has by divine declaration, Moral Authority here on Earth.

Eternity

Have you ever considered what Heaven might be like. If you go to Heaven what will you do? Will it be fun? Will we get to play games? Will be long one continuous church service?

There is so much about Heaven we will not know this side of death. The book of Revelation does give us some glimpses into what life may be like in Heaven. One of the most consistent themes through out the Book of Revelation is the constant state of movement. These movements though are always initiated by the will of God. The angels, elders, and living creature only act when God wants them to. This a far cry from how things happen here and now. This does not mean we will not have free will or choice in Heaven, however sin will no longer be something we desire to do. Essentially, we will chose not to sin every again. We will finally get to experience life as it was designed to be in the Garden of Eden. John's Revelation is not our only source of information about Heaven.

I believe we can gleam a great deal about Heaven from what we know of God's character and His original design. Humanity was created in God's image. One of the results of this is that we are social beings. God Himself is social. Even before the creation of man, God had fellowship within the Trinity. To me this means we will have fellowship with others in Heaven. We will interact with friends, family and strangers. This means I will someday see my precious Colin and Hannah again. This means that if your departed loved ones knew Jesus then you will see them again and you will rejoice together.

I believe we will have fun in Heaven. God is not a boring a God and as such He would not create a Heaven that is boring. I am not totally sure how this will play out but I am not worried about because I know God will take care of this for me.

The details of Heaven are one of the great mysteries of Christianity. It is one of those mysteries that will not be fully solved until we are there. If you want to be there with us then there are somethings you need to do now. Revelation 20:15 makes it clear that your name must be written into the Lamb's book of life to not only avoid Hell but to be granted entrance into Heaven. To have your name in the Book of Life is actually a simple process.

First, you must acknowledge that you like all of us are a sinner who cannot be your own will cannot become perfect.

Romans 3:23 “For all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God.” We must all realize that we are sinners and that we need forgiveness. We are not worthy of God’s grace."

Second, you must realize that through Jesus, God gave us a way to be saved from our sins. God showed us His love by giving us the potential for life (Heaven is a part of this life) through the death of His Son, Jesus Christ.

Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates His love toward us, in that, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Next, you must see that if we remain sinners, we will die. However, if we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, and repent of our sins, we will have eternal life.

Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Next, you need only to believe that Jesus Christ id Lord and that God raised Him from the dead.

Romans 10:9-10 “That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation."

If you believe that Jesus is Lord then by willingly praying this prayer you will be saved.

“Father, I know that I have broken your laws and my sins have separated me from you. I am truly sorry, and now I want to turn away from my past sinful life toward you. Please forgive me, and help me avoid sinning again. I believe that your son, Jesus Christ died for my sins, was resurrected from the dead, is alive, and hears my prayer. I invite Jesus to become the Lord of my life, to rule and reign in my heart from this day forward. Please send your Holy Spirit to help me obey You, and to do Your will for the rest of my life. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.”

If you have prayed this prayer today let myself or your pastor know today so that we may celebrate with you in this life changing choice.

Silence in Heaven

Can you imagine what it must have been like for John (Revelation 8) to be in the presence of God, the Angels and all of the hosts of Heaven and there be absolute silence. I know for me I have always heard that there is always singing and praising to God in Heaven. This is mostly true. In fact, in Revelation 7 we see the great multitude giving praise and glory to God. Then at the opening of the Seventh Seal there was 30 minutes of silence. I am not exactly sure why there was such silence. I think though much of it had to do with the reality of the Seventh Seal. The reality of the intense suffering that was soon to occur on Earth struck all of Heaven at once. I cannot help but thing that in their hearts many of the Angels and other Heavenly Creatures felt a sense of sorrow for those still left on Earth.

In the end though I believe this silence teach us that we must take the time to be silent for God. If the hosts of Heaven were called (though in silence) to be silent then shouldn't we also be silent before Him. When we do this we must also allow the Holy Spirit to come and teach us things that we might no otherwise have been able to learn. My challenge to you and me is to take the time and be silent before God and see what He has to show us.