Is Heaven For Real? Really?

Is Heaven For Real……. Really?          (A Christian Book Review)

A very popular book these days is based on the recollections of a 4 year old boy who was under general anesthesia for a surgery.  The young lad was the son of a Nebraska pastor.  While unconscious, the boy reportedly saw Heaven.  He met his miscarried sister, about whom he had never been told and his great grandfather, who had died 30 years before he was born.  He describes the horse that only Jesus could ride and how really big God is.  In one book reviewer’s words, the “disarmingly simple message is that heaven is a real place, Jesus really loves children and be ready… there is a coming, last battle.  …..Really?

How very reassuring!  I was beginning to think that the Bible is not enough reassurance for me.  I mean, if a 4 year old boy tells me, it must be so.  Who needs the words of assurance from an omniscient (all-knowing), omnipresent (everywhere present at once in the entire universe) God?  Do I sound just a trifle sarcastic here, folks?  If you have stuck with me thus far, please forbear a little, be patient with me and I will explain.

First of all, my sympathy is with a 4 year old and his family who had to endure the life saving and probably frightening surgery.  As far as I know, this part of the story is real.  Hospitals and surgery are very common in many people’s lives today.  I’ve been there myself.  I would never begrudge the comfort that anybody finds in these medical surroundings.

Secondly, I believe in Heaven.  I believe that Heaven is a real place.  I believe that Jesus really loves children and I am so glad that He also makes allowances for adults, because I have long since passed my childhood.  I believe that there is going to be a coming last battle and as a matter of fact that at some point, Jesus will appear riding a great, white horse.  Now all of these elements together present a very simplistic picture; there is more to the story, but so far, so good.

What I am amazed by is that we must reach these conclusions in the pages of a popular book, rather than from a more authoritative source.  In fact, I often wonder whether or not we as American Christians are being deluded by the Prince of Lies.  We who have received so much truth and have access to so much truth are still only capable of drinking milk and see no need to graduate to strong meat, that will make us stronger and spiritually more capable.

Heaven is real.  Really!  The Bible tells me that it is and as charming as it is to be reassured by a four year’s story, I find it ever so much more meaningful that I know because the Bible tells me so!  You see, death is final and someday when I approach it, I want my faith to be standing on the Bible and nothing else.  Because if I am mistaken, or wrong, I will find out too late that I have made an awful mistake.  Nothing but the Word of God will do for my authority.  In the Gospel of John, Jesus tells His disciples that, “in my Father’s house, there are many mansions, if it were not so, I would have told you.”  In Revelation, I find a description of my future home, in Heaven, where it states in chapter 21, “Look, God’s home is now among His people!  He will live with them, and they will be His people.  God Himself will be with them.”  In chapters  21 and 22 we read some of the most hoped for words in all of human existence and a rather complete, if somehow hard to imagine description of Heaven.

For those who want a better foundation for their belief in Heaven, I recommend the Bible.  Myself included, shamefully, we have become largely ignorant of It’s words in modern day America.  We have so many, and we continue to buy more, but we take so little time to read it!  Whether you purchase one today from www.InHisHonor.org, or you pick up one you have already at home, resolve today to begin to spend time daily in It’s pages.  Only by knowledge of the real will you be able to detect the counterfeit when you encounter it.  And only by knowledge of the real will you have to stamina to stand on the day when real troubles come.  “The Word of God is living and powerful sharper than any two edged sword, dividing asunder between the soul and the spirit.”  “All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true…”

One last note, you will find many choices of Bibles for purchase at www.InHisHonor.org.  This will be the subject of a future post.  There are of course, Bibles in print and audio Bibles, in several formats.  There are even Bibles in other languages, such as Spanish, and …..Sorry, see you next time.  J  And remember, Christian Books…… and bibles!!! Change Lives!

Christian Books Change Lives (Especially the Bible!)

     Christian books change lives and no book has changed more lives in more ways than the Bible.  The Bible claims to be the word of God.  The Bible is the word of God, written over centuries of time, by multiple authors, with one central and recurring theme.  The Bible itself says that it was written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. 

     Whether or not you agree with the foregoing statements, the Bible is one of the world's greatest literary works.  It contains poetry, history, liturgy, songs, laws, the good news of Jesus Christ, prophesy about the future and yes, no little bit of scientific and provable fact.  Did you know that the Bible for example talks about "the circle of the earth," millenia before the scientists of the day discovered that the world is indeed not flat?  In another example, the Bible states that the "life of the body is in the blood." Try disputing that with a researcher who studies HIV!

     Have you ever wondered how you could find time to read the Bible?  There are too many things to do in the course of each day and simply not enough time to get everything done.  Well, now there is a way to make the Bible a daily part of your life.  You can listen to the Bible.  Not read it, listen to it....while you drive to work (or commute).  You can listen on DVD, on CD, on tape and on your iPod or other tablet device.  You can listen while you work, if allowed in your workplace.  You can listen to it at home, with your family or by yourself.  And now you can listen to it for a reasonable cost thanks to the discounts offered on http://www.inhishonor.org/, an online Christian bookstore featuring the finest in Bible and Christian books.

What is your favorite version?  Is it the King James Version or The Message?  Is it the Good News Bible or the New International Version?  Maybe it is the New American Standard or the New Living Bible.  Or you could be looking for the 1599 Geneva Bible, the Santa Biblia or the Saint Joseph Bible.  If you are schorlarly, you might want to listen to the Bible in koine Greek or the Amplified version.  Now you can find all of these and more at a unique on-line Christian bookstore, http://www.inhishonor.org/.

http://www.inhishonor.org/  carries a full line of audio Bibles in almost any format you might want, by such well known narrators as Max McLean and Alexander Scourby.  You will also find Bibles narrated by Johnny Cash and James Earl Jones.  Then there are Bibles narrated by lesser known individuals such as  Todd Busteed, David Payne and Eric Martin.  There is even a Bible narrated by Spiros Zodhiates, a well know Greek scholar.   There are of course Bibles narrated by multiple voices.

As an example of what you will find at http://www.inhishonor.org/, one of the descriptions list "multiple voice dramatization brings the Bible to life with world class narratives and colorful true-to-life text, character renderings with fine orchestral backgrounds and sound effects to provide maximum enhancement."  Sounds like a virtual auditory banquet to me!

Sometimes you are not looking for the whole Bible.  You simply want to have access to a particular portion, such as the Psalms, the Proverbs, the New Testament or other portions.  http://www.inhishonor.org/ carries those portions as well.  Whatever you are looking for, in whatever format, by whatever narrator or however you would like to listen, there is a good chance that our bookstore can make it accessible to you.  Why not give us a try and log on today?  http://www.inhishonor.org/: where Christian books change lives, especially the Bible.

Who would dare to say, "No!" to Hitler? (a book review)

     Twenty five years ago or so, my wife and I stood in a quiet forest near a quaint German village named Flossenburg.  The sun was shining through the evergreen branches.  It was a somewhat warm day, but cool in the shadows.  We were standing on the grounds of a former concentration camp.  Not as famous as Buchenwald and Auschwitz, but just as deadly, more than forty years before.

     On April 9, 1945, only thirteen days before a U.S. armored cavalry column liberated this camp, a man was executed, partially for his role in a failed assassination attempt on Adolf Hitler's life, nine months before.  He was moved only a day or two before, from Tegel Prison in Berlin, specifically to be executed.  The day he died, an SS doctor, who witnessed his removal from his cell and movement to the location where he was hanged reported, "In the almost fifty years that I worked as a doctor, I have hardly ever seen a man die so entirely submissive to the will of God."

     Who was this man who so impressed a doctor in the SS, hardly even a nominal Christian, with his life and his death?  Who was this man, who fearlessly proclaimed the love of Jesus Christ to every man and woman, even to and especially to Jewish people, during the brief reign of one of the most famous haters of the Jewish race in modern history?  Who was this man who in his sermons and in his life, stood against the prevailing attitudes in pre World War II Germany, who time and time again, battled not only the Jewish haters of record, like Heinrich Himmler, Martin Borman and Reinhard Heydrich, but also stood against the efforts of the German "Christian" Church, aka the "Reich Church?"

He was born into an upper middle class German family in 1906.  His father was the most prominent
neurologist and also a psychiatrist in early 20th century Germany.  His mother was a well educated teacher who home schooled her children during their early years.  Between the two families, their ancestors contained many illustrious doctors, pastors, judges, professors, lawyers, artists and artisans, musicians and even theologians. His mother also had ties to the emperor's court in Potsdam. 

He was one of eight children, one of whom was his twin, born ten minutes later.  He teased his twin sister about this all their lives.  Who was this man and why did he have such a large impact on history, or....did he?

His name was Dietrich Bonhoeffer.  The name "Bonhoeffer" means "bean farmer" in German.  Not exactly the name I would pick if I were picking a hero.  Yet, this man amply illustrated the character and example of a life well lived, if short lived.  I will continue this book review in a future blog, because I have not yet finished the book. 

     "Bonhoffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy" is available for purchase on http://www.inhishonor.org/.  For those of you who enjoy a well documented biography, this is an excellent read.  Only 542 pages.  One of Dietrich Bonhoeffer's best known writings, " Sanctorum Communio", which was actually his doctoral thesis written after observing the workings of the Vatican, is also available on http://www.inhishonor.org/ along with other books both by and about Dietrich Bonhoeffer.

unPlanned: the story you need to read

Abby Johnson was the director of a Planned Parenthood clinic in Bryan, Texas.  Bryan is located in the Brazos Valley and is often in the path of hurricanes such as Hurricane Ike, which struck the Caribbean, Louisiana and Texas coastlines in September 2008.  An even bigger shock struck Bryan, Texas, the United States and perhaps the world in September 2009, when Abby resigned her position as director of the Planned Parenthood clinic in Bryan.
 Today, she sometimes stands at the very fence surrounding that clinic, except on the other side, praying for those who enter for various reasons and for the staff.  Abby has had a complete change of heart and mind, but let's start at the beginning.
Abby is an Aggie, a graduate of Texas A&M.  As a junior she attended a volunteer fair and decided to sign up to be a volunteer at a Planned Parenthood clinic.  Her job was to escort women who drove to the clinic, inside and distract them while volunteers from the other side tried to talk them out of going into the clinic.  The other side was the local chapter of the Brazos Valley Coalition for Life.  Coalition for Life volunteers stood on outside of the fence around the clinic, praying and talking to women before they entered the clinic.
Abby believed in the cause of Planned Parenthood as she understood it.  She knew that abortion was one of the options on the table, but believed strongly that she should ensure that women who found themselves in the midst of an unplanned pregnancy did not have to have the baby.  She endorsed adoptions of course and also assisted in counseling women how to avoid pregnancy.  She advanced steadily through the ranks and became the director of the local clinic.
 But it wasn't until the day that she assisted in an abortion, holding the ultrasound probe during the procedure that she came face to face with an ugly truth.  She watched as a baby that was about to be aborted, first tried to dodge the suction cannula, then started kicking in protest, then was twisted and shriveled and finally was sucked out of the womb.  As I write this description it sounds utterly horrifying.  Imagine watching....and participating!
Every woman who has ever thought about having an abortion should read this book.  Every man who has ever had intercourse with a woman, protected or unprotecteed, should read this book.  Everybody, anybody who has ever had or expressed an opinion about abortion or Planned Parenthood should read this book.  It will shake you, break you, make you open your eyes!  I read it straight through, cover to cover, non-stop.  I couldn't put it down.  Get a copy and read it today.  You will find this book online at http://inhishonor.deepershopping.com/ and of course at your local Christian bookstore.