Archive for November, 2017

Children in Heaven

Thursday, November 30th, 2017

Will there be children in heaven?

Thank you for your question. I believe that there is one specific and very definitive passage that indicates that there are children in heaven. In 2 Samuel 12:22-23, King David had been mourning the death of his newborn son. He said, “While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept. I thought, ‘Who knows? The LORD may be gracious to me and let the child live.’ But now that he is dead, why should I go on fasting? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him, but he will not return to me.”

When David says, “… I will go to him …,” he is referring to the event of his own death (as a believer) at some point in the future. When he dies, he will immediately be in God’s presence in Heaven, so this must be where his son already is.

We can also infer from this that when a believer dies, he will be able to see all other believers (who have died) in heaven, including those who died as infants, and those who died in old age. However, it’s difficult for us to imagine the concept of age in heaven, since it’s an eternal state that is not bound by space or time.

I hope this makes sense. If not, please let me know.

Thanks,

Owen

Marriage in Heaven

Wednesday, November 29th, 2017

In heaven will my wife and I still be married?

Thank you for your question. The Bible is not definitive about what our relationships with others will be like in heaven. The best passage that we have on this is probably Matthew 22:23-33 where Christ is answering a question from the Pharisees concerning the afterlife for a woman who had multiple husbands on earth. In verse 30, Jesus says, “For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.” This implies that people in heaven will know each other, but they won’t have the same relationships, such as marriage.

I believe that our existence in heaven will be overpowered by God’s glory (Revelation 4:9-11). We will be so awe-struck by being in the very presence of God, that we will somehow not even be too concerned with others.

Thanks,

Owen

Greeting in Heaven

Tuesday, November 21st, 2017

Who will be there to greet us when we get to heaven?

Thank you for your question. The Bible doesn’t mention anyone welcoming us into heaven other than Jesus Christ (2 Peter 1:11). However, perhaps your question relates to several others that I have received lately about what heaven will be like. Readers often ask whether or not we will know each other in heaven, and specifically whether or not we will still be married to our earthly spouses.

The Bible is not definitive about what our relationships with others will be like in heaven. The best passage that we have on this is probably Matthew 22:23-33 where Christ is answering a question from the Pharisees concerning the afterlife for a woman who had multiple husbands on earth. In verse 30, Jesus says, “For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.” This implies that people in heaven will know each other, but they won’t have the same relationships, such as marriage.

I believe that our existence in heaven will be overpowered by God’s glory Revelation 4:9-11). We will be so awe-struck by being in the very presence of God, that we will somehow not even be too concerned with others.

Thanks,

Owen

What’s Worse than Starving Children in Yemen?

Tuesday, November 21st, 2017

The people of Yemen are being ravaged by a civil war and by persecution from Saudi Arabia.  People are dying, including starving children.  A child in Yemen dies every 10 minutes.  What could be worse?

We Americans kill a child by abortion every two-and-a-half minutes.  That’s four times the rate of those starving children in Yemen.  And we Americans do our killing willingly and legally.

Hypocritical Politicians in the “War on Women”

Tuesday, November 21st, 2017

What’s the truth about the “war on women?” Governments across the USA have a gender hypocrisy act.  Governments are the worst offenders, and many politicians are hypocrites, including House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, or even former President Barack Obama.

Top-paid men outnumber women 66 to 1 in New York City government and nine to one in Rahm Emanuel’s Chicago.  To read the full article, click here.

Our Loved Ones in Heaven

Sunday, November 12th, 2017

Question from a reader:

I have been asked recently and have also wondered myself if we will know our loved ones in heaven. Also are there any scriptures to support the answer. It is hard to imagine that the loving relationships we have had with families here on earth will be gone when we get to heaven. I know that we will be so blessed to see the Lord and all that heaven has to offer, but do not want to think this earth will be the end of our knowledge of our loved ones. Thank you for your answer to this important question.

Thank you for your question. The Bible is not definitive about what our relationships with others will be like in heaven. The best passage that we have on this is probably Matthew 22:23-33 where Christ is answering a question from the Pharisees concerning the afterlife for a woman who had multiple husbands on earth. In verse 30, Jesus says, “For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.” This implies that people in heaven will know each other, but they won’t have the same relationships, such as marriage.

I believe that our existence in heaven will be overpowered by God’s glory (Revelation 4:9-11). We will be so awe-struck by being in the very presence of God, that we will somehow not even be too concerned with others.

Thanks,

Owen

What’s Worse than Sutherland Springs?

Sunday, November 12th, 2017

In the horrific and senseless slaughter at Sutherland Springs, TX, 26 people were killed.  The headlines included, “Nine of them were children,” and one of those nine murdered children was an unborn child. (That’s right.  We include the unborn among the murdered.) What could be worse?

Well, we Americans kill 3,000 of our own unborn children every day through abortion.  That’s 115 times the total number killed at Sutherland Springs; 333 times the number of children killed; and, 3,000 times the number of unborn children killed.  And that’s in just one day–every day for the past 44 years.

What Happens to the Soul after Death?

Saturday, November 4th, 2017

Question from a reader:

I would like to know where the Bible talks about the state of soul after the soul leaves the body. Like the Catholics believing in purgatory, what do Christians believe in?

Thank you for your question about the state of the soul after death. I believe that our definitive passage on this is the story of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16:19-31. When the rich man died, he went to a place called “Hades” (verse 23), which was a place of torments. When Lazarus died, he went to a place called “Abraham’s bosom,” which Bible scholars have associated with the word “paradise.”

When people died in Old Testament times (including the times referenced in the Gospels), their bodies went into a grave, but apparently there was a temporary holding place for their souls. The Bible uses a term called hell, such as in Matthew 5:22, but the terminology is slightly different than what we normally use. Hell is the lake of fire where all unbelievers will spend eternity (Revelation 20:14-15). Apparently, however, the temporary holding place (sometimes called Sheol, or Purgatory) had a compartment for separate compartments for believers and unbelievers. (This is where the Catholics (mistakenly) built their doctrine of purgatory.) Unbelievers spent this period in the part called torments (Luke 16:23), while believers spent this time in a place called paradise (Luke 23:43).

However, with the resurrection of Jesus (the first resurrection), these Old Testament believers were transferred from paradise to Heaven. This is apparently what was going on in Matthew 7:53, which is a very difficult passage.

Now, for us, it’s completely different. Since the resurrection of Christ has already occurred, and He has ascended to Heaven, when believers die today, our bodies go to a grave, and our spirits go straight to Heaven (2 Corinthians 5:1-8) to be with Christ.

I hope this helps.

Thanks,

Owen

Thank you very much! 

Will God Forgive Abortion?

Thursday, November 2nd, 2017

Question from a reader:

I am a sinner, will god ever forgive me? I don’t know where to begin and ask god for forgiveness and I’m not sure whether to ask for forgiveness or not. I am a lost soul. The Holy Spirit has left me. I pray but it seems like my prayer doesn’t go anywhere and that god doesn’t hear me nor my prayer. I had an abortion.

Yes, God will forgive you. You need only to confess your sin to him as indicated in 1 John 1:9.

We become Christians by believing in Jesus Christ as Savior, knowing that His death on the cross saved us from all sin (Romans 3:23, Romans 6:23, John 3:16). God then forgives us in our ETERNAL state. Then, in our daily walk as Christians, when we continue to sin, we confess those sins to God, and he forgives us in our TEMPORAL state.

I too have felt like you do from time to time. I continue to sin, and I know that I have failed God. I also sometimes feel like God is not hearing my prayers. However, His word teaches that we simply need to confess our sins. He forgives us and we can start anew. He forgives and FORGETS those sins that we have confessed, and we don’t ever need to confess that occurrence of that sin again. No matter what we have done, we simply confess it to God. We then know that He has forgiven us, and since He will never look back upon that sin again, neither should we. I sometimes even pray that God will help me to forget things, and I believe that He does.

Once we become Christians, the Holy Spirit never leaves us, although we can still feel a loneliness due to our sin. The Bible teaches the doctrine of eternal security. In Philippians 2:14, the reference to becoming “children of God” suggests the type of relationship that Christians have with God. They are His children–his sons and daughters. Furthermore, just as we are naturally born as a product of our human fathers, we are spiritually born as a product of God the Father and His grace. In both cases, the birth establishes a relationship which can never be altered. One cannot undo a physical birth, so neither can he undo a spiritual birth. The eternal security of the believer is thus demonstrated by this analogy of children. Furthermore, Hebrews 13:5 says, “… Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”

Thanks,

Owen

We’ve Spent $1.46 Trillion on the ‘War on Terror’

Thursday, November 2nd, 2017

The Department of Defense’s cost of war report has just shown that the ‘War on Terror’ has cost US taxpayers at least $1.46 trillion ($1,460,000,000,000) since September 11, 2001.  That’s $250 million ($250,000,000) every day, for 16 years; or, $10.4 million ($10,400,000) per hour–about $1 million ($1,000,000) every 5 minutes, for 16 years.

It’s the longest war in our history, and after 16 long years of losing our soldiers, we’re still not willing to win it. Now we are, once again, escalating the war in Afghanistan. We’ll continue to lose the lives of our young soldiers, all at taxpayers’ expense. The terrorists will continue to kill our soldiers; we know that more will get killed in helicopter crashes; we’ll continue to spend billions of dollars per month; and, our homeland will be no safer for it. The whole Mideast is in continual war that is not winnable, and now they’ve pulled us into it as well.