Heaven: It's All About Jesus

When I was younger, and I was asked to imagine what Heaven would be like or look like, I began to think of places on earth that I loved to be.  An easy front-runner was Green Lake.  It was easy to start planning my eternal life in the beautiful outdoors, walking through Dawson Prairie or strolling down Memory Lane.

The truth is, Heaven will be unlike any earthly place.

However, as it is written: "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him."

1 Corinthians 2:9

There is one truth that I know, that I hold surely in my heart - Heaven is all about Jesus the son, God the father and His Holy Spirit - the beautiful, triune God.

Here is what Jesus told us:

"I am the way, and the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me."

John 14:16

So who goes to heaven?  I am now walking into very hot water, I know.  But bear with me.

Here's the hot debate in our world today: we have Christians telling non-Christians that they aren't going to heaven.  Christians are telling other Christians that they aren't going to heaven.  There are even some Christians that might tell you that there are other ways to enter heaven besides Jesus.  There is a lot of finger pointing.  A lot of judgement.  A lot of condemnation.  Again, bear with me.

Jesus also tells us this:  that He is going to prepare a place for us.  He talks about His father's house.  JESUS is preparing a room for YOU, because Heaven is all about being with HIM.  

Just as we have misconceptions about the visual appearance of heaven, we may also sometimes have other misconceptions about what eternal life there will be like.  We think about Heaven as a place where we will never hunger, where we will find rest, where we will find peace - I believe all those things will be there because Jesus is there.  He makes those things possible in Heaven.  Heaven is about being in a relationship with Jesus the son, God the father and His Holy Spirit.
   

Heaven is God's house; it is His place that He sent Jesus to bring us to.  Jesus has extended the invitation.  Jesus offers to cover our sin.  Jesus offers salvation.  There is no one else that has made the offer to prepare a place for you in Heaven.  And Jesus is the only one that can.

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Jesus' statement in John 14:16 is not the means to an exclusive offer.  Heaven is an inclusive community.  Jesus talks about there being many rooms, He never mentions a specific number.  Just as He commissioned His followers to make disciples of all nations, He wants His community in Heaven to grow.  He is saying that this is what Heaven is about: living in community with Him.  He is saying choose Heaven, choose a life everlasting with Him.

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So here it is: 

Jesus is the way, and the truth and the life.  He is the only way by which we can spend life eternal in Heaven because Heaven is about Him.  I want to choose a relationship with Jesus Christ here during my time on earth because that is what my soul longs for in Heaven. 

~SP   

      

Hymn: How Great Thou Art

Oh, Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder, 

consider all the worlds Thy hands have made.

I thought it would be appropriate to reflect on How Great Thou Art since it is the namesake of the blog.  My God, how great Thou art!

The first line of this hymn takes about awesome wonder.  Awesome is an extremely overused and abused word.  We rarely consider that, because every time we see something that we think is nifty or cool, we deem it awesome.  

Have you ever watched ABC's the Bachelor or the *Bachelorette?  They throw the word awesome around almost to the point that it is meaningless.  This date was AWESOME.  That guy was AWESOME.  Making out with what's-his-face was AWESOME.

I will admit to my own personal abuse and misuse of the word awesome.

The dictionary gives us this definition of awe:

"An overwhelming feeling of reverence, admiration, fear, etc."

Awesome would suggest something that inspires those feelings.  I doubt when the bachelorette is on a date, she is overcome with reverence, admiration or fear for the lad that she is with.

When the writer of this hymn talks about awesome wonder, they are talking about a feeling that completely covers you, almost paralyzes you, it is so strong.  It is a feeling that makes us drop to our knees.  It is a feeling that leaves us without the words to describe the situation.  

    

God is all powerful.  He is graciously majestic, beautiful and strong.  In His presence we should be in awesome wonder of who He is.  

~SP

*To be perfectly honest, I watch the Bachelorette.  So no condemnation intended to anyone who enjoys a good rose ceremony : ).  

Quest: How Church Camp Builds a Foundation

I am extremely fond of Quest - the church camp I grew up attending and the place where I was blessed to be able to work and serve God for the past two summers.  The church I was raised in did not have a youth group during my middle school and high school years - being in community with other young Christians at Quest was a huge part of my spiritual growth during those years.

Let me take a brief pause, and give this disclaimer: this is not a "my church camp is better than yours" reflection.  This is something that I hope anyone who has ever attended a church camp anywhere can relate to.

Camps like Quest and other camp-like experiences often get referred to as "Mountain Top" experiences.  They are places where kids are on a spiritual high, set apart from the rest of the world for a week or so.  Campers are submerged into this inclusive, loving, non-judgmental, God-centered environment.  (As I write this, I acknowledge that this is the ideal, and not every church camp experience fits this description.)  And then everyone piles into the 15 passenger rental vans and begins the descent from the mountain top - back into peer pressure and other worldly pressures.

I can remember back to my first year at Quest.  Sunday, the day after I returned home, I can remember bawling my eyes out.  I'm not entirely sure that I knew why I was so overwhelmed (lack of sleep was probably a key player) but I was.  I longed for those friends I had made that week and the time spent in that God-centered community.  As I left co-workers these past two summers, I experienced a similar heartbreak.

In those moments, it may have seemed like I was re-acclimating.  Transitioning from valley to mountain and back again.  But it is unfair to look back and see those summers simply in terms of spiritual highs and lows.  It is true that going back into my non-camp life was harder each time, but I look back and I can see a foundation being built.

Being on the other end of camp, as a counselor, I have realized that we have the ability to take those short weeks and start building a foundation with them.  It takes some time, and it takes strong mortar to fill the spaces between the bricks.  And sometimes there are setbacks and cracks that arise.  But God has used Quest to help build a foundation for me that I can continue to build on as I move forward.

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So here is what I want to say - to my campers, to your youth leaders, to anyone else who is a part of your community:

Know that myself, and the other counselors and the people you met at camp, continue to pray for you and think of you long after you return to your homes.  Our relationships with you did not end when you left Green Lake, just as your relationship with Jesus Christ did not end.  

Know that being back at home will not always be easy - there will be days when you wish that you were throwing your counselors in a mud pit or covering them with shaving cream, or eating pretzels and cheese at 9:30 at night.  But you have a foundation.  You have your Church home, you have your friends there.  And most importantly, you have Jesus to lean on.  He goes with you always.  

You have seen how God builds community and that is a great foundation to stand on.  He will do that for you in all places in your life, not just at camp.

Fun fact: several of your Quest counselors were Quest alums.  We were strange, goofy and maybe a little awkward.  And to some extent, we still are.  Yet God has been at work in our lives since the time that we were campers, and He is still at work in our lives now.  He is at work in your lives too!

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So, while you are biding the other 51 weeks of the year until you return to Green Lake or wherever your camp is, stand on the foundation that has been built.  Know that God can work in your life in any place - He is not limited to church camp.  He also knows the joy you experience at camp, and His heart is glad for your desire to return to that community.

With Love,

Sarah       

These are pictures from the summer after my junior year in high school, which was my last year as a camper.  Above is my small group meeting in the infamous Dominguez room.  Below is my small group on the log - probably trying to figure out everyone's birthdays so we can put ourselves in the proper order :)

And then below, here's me keeping life, always a little less than interesting, and always completely strange as Value Mart Lady.  

Christ is Risen: A Prayer for the Broken Hearted

Matt Maher's latest album All the People Said Amen is a live album featuring one of my favorite songs we sang in Green Lake this summer: Christ is Risen.  It uses scripture poignantly to sing about our God, who has triumphed over the grave in order to give us life.  Just before Maher gets to the bridge that begins with "O death, where is your sting...," he pauses and tells his audience this:

"The same power that raised Christ from the grave can resurrect the heart within you."

God has used Maher's words to speak to my heart, so I want to share how they have done so.  

There are a lot of things that bring us down.  Sometimes we are covered under a pile that accumulates from the smallest pebbles, and sometimes we find ourselves crushed beneath a boulder.  Sin and shame are heavy whatever form they come in.

Sometimes there are extrinsic things.  People in our lives who we love, or people we barely know make decisions that can harm us and hurt us.  Worldly standards tell us that we're not enough and we are not worthy.  

Sometimes there are intrinsic things.  Our own sin and shame bury our heart.  Depression and heartbreak are real things.  They are human things.  They can consume us.  Then the world tells us we are wrong and strange to feel that way.  The weight on top of us builds.  Sometimes we struggle to forgive ourselves.  We let our heart stay captive in darkness.

God's truth is in Maher's words.  It means a couple of things.

God is mindful of the heart within you.  Your heart is not too small, or too insignificant.  It is not insignificant at all.  Neither is your pain.  God knows the heart within you.  He knows when it is heavy and He knows when it is broken.  

God can and will redeem your heart.  Christ has overcome death.  Death is the end.  It is the farthest there is from the joy of heaven and eternal life with God.  It is permanent entrapment under the pile of sin and shame.  God has reached in to that seemingly infinite pile and brought His son home so that we also might come home.  The power of God knows no limits.  No distance is too far.  No pile is ever to big.  No heart is ever too lost or broken.

God's love and power, His sufficient grace that covers all, is constant.  Before the cross, at the cross, and beyond the cross.  That same power.  It has not changed. 

If your heart is in that deep place, know that you are not alone.  Know that my heart has been there too.  Know that I will pray for you, even if I don't know who you are.  I will pray that you know and trust the God who is willing to reach in and reclaim your heart. 

~SP  

Hymns - Why do they matter?

I love hymns.  When I am in church I get excited when a hymn gets thrown into the order of worship, because that is a rarity nowadays.  Hymns are beautiful and prayerful.  Rich with scriptural depth.  I love all kinds of music that I sing in church.  Chris Tomlin, All Sons and Daughters, Hillsong - they all have great music, and I enjoy worshiping through their music in church and in other places.  But it breaks my heart when we don't crack open the hymnal every once in a while.

I sat down at a piano with my grandma not too long ago and we pulled out a hymnal.  I would open up to a hymn I liked and asked grandma to play.  She didn't even have to look at the page!  She would start playing the hymn in her key of preference, with the variations that she liked.  It is truly a gift.

I have learned a lot from my grandparents.  I have watched them serve in their church.  I have watched them serve God as volunteers at Green Lake.  And there are many other people, in my church and in other places in my life, that I have witnessed as they model a life lived for the glory of God.  We have to learn how to follow before we can be a leader.  We have to watch life modeled for us, before we can live.  That is why we need Jesus.

The hymnal is just a euphemism for bigger things that are going on in our churches.  I'm not here to tackle that right now.  But I do want to make a plea for the hymns.  These were words and verses that were written down by someone before us who was learning about what a life lived for Christ is.  We are not the first ones on this journey.

So I want to bring back the hymns.  Not because I despise contemporary music sung in church.  Hymns are just as much praise music as what we deem to be the "praise music" of today.  When we are singing together in worship we need to praise God through the music, meditate and pray through the words, and listen for His words within it.  I want to bring back the hymns because I don't want them to get lost.

Consider this: when David was writing Psalms, do you think he thought about you and I?  Do you think he even imagined that we would be reading his writings?  I don't know!  I have read several Psalms through which God has spoken into my heart.  I am so grateful that the Psalms did not get lost.  Through David's words I have heard God speak to me about hope, peace and taking refuge in Him.  In the same way, I think that hymns offer another avenue for God to speak into our hearts.  

So look for some reflections on hymns to pop up every once in a while.

~SP    

One of the many things I love about Green Lake is Judson Tower.  Every hour, (usually at 3 past the hour, because the clock is a little off) it plays hymns.  It is wonderful to walk around the assembly grounds and hear the hymns sing sweetly form the carillon.  

For Your Joy

When I was younger, my mom and dad talked to me a lot about delayed gratification and how patience was a virtue - young Sarah needed to work on those things.  Sometimes, 21-year-old Sarah needs help with them too.

Patience entails waiting, and waiting is hard, because there is so much unknown in the waiting.  But scripture encourages us to wait - and at that, to wait for some very beautiful things.

"But those who wait on the Lord will renew their strength; they shall mount up on wings like eagles.  They shall run and not grow weary.  They shall walk and not faint."

Isaiah 40:31

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When we see something good, we usually want it right away.  And why shouldn't we?  I think that a loving, Godly man would be a great addition to my life!  If he's the next person to walk through my door, why should I say no?  But if he doesn't show up soon, I don't need to be afraid that he never will.  Maybe God has a better time and place for that.  

Likewise, it would decrease a lot of my anxiety if I knew where I would be living next year; where my internship will be.  But do I still trust God that He has a plan for me, a new location for me somewhere out there?  Yes!

So why does God hold off?  Why doesn't He give me a hint as to what is to come - some cleverly placed clues along the way?

God knows about joy - specifically, my joy and your joy.  The joy He has planned for each and every one of His children.  And sometimes - most times - that joy is not an immediate thing.  God leads us on a journey to joy because He has other purposes for us along the way.

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There were many lessons about patience and waiting that I learned growing up.  Throughout my childhood I thought they were just crummy ways that my parents could find to prevent me from having cool things or doing fun stuff.  (Don't get me wrong, I have two wonderful parents - they are an enormous source of joy that God has put in my life.)  But my parents were actually teaching me the virtue in waiting.

When I was in kindergarten most girls were getting Barbie dolls to play with.  I was not.  This was a bummer!  Barbie looked like a lot of fun.  But my mom was adamant about waiting on the Barbie doll.  She told me - in the words that you would use to explain it to a 5 or 6-year-old - that Barbie's image was unrealistic.  She had some features that were over-sized, and some that were severely undersized.  Yet her advertising made Barbie the "it girl."  My mom wanted me to make sure that I understood that I was beautiful because of how God made me.  Barbie was not the standard for my beauty.

I eventually did get a Barbie, and had as much fun with her as you can have with a piece of plastic.  But I look back on that lesson and see that waiting until I understood where my beauty comes was incredibly important.  It has helped me understand that I don't need to compare myself to other women, or change myself (physically or otherwise) to please anyone.  There is joy in the beauty that comes from my Creator.

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When you get older and you grow up past the Barbie phase, there are other temptations and snares that will make you want to skip the waiting.  If you love someone, why wait?  This temptation can plague us from the early days of high school, or even before.  We think we love someone, and think that what we are experiencing in the moment could be turned into something everlasting.  And the movies make it look so good!  So what stops us from giving ourselves up physically and emotionally?

God doesn't do this to rob us of enjoying ourselves, just like my parents didn't withhold Barbie to be malicious.  It is done out of love.  God, above all else, knows intimacy.  Read Psalm 139 and you'll know what I mean!  He loves each and every one of His children, and wants all of each of those hearts, because only He can truly give a love in return that is worthy of that heart.  And our earthly marriages are a reflection of that intimacy, that love.  So He asks us to wait.  He asks us to seek righteousness and purity in our hearts, and to be patient.  He asks this of us for the purpose of our joy.

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This idea from a sermon that I heard at my church has stuck with me for years:

Happiness is momentary, but joy is everlasting!

Sometimes we have to give up momentary happiness - not all the time, but sometimes.  The journey toward God's joy may be uphill, it may be frustrating, it may get tiring.  However, in the end we will look back and realize that the journey was also joy because it was a journey toward the savior. 

~SP

The parents who taught me about God's love and joy and waiting and patience!  (Above) The day of my dedication.  (Below) Celebrating their 27th wedding anniversary.

  

My Life is Not My Own

Choosing to follow Jesus and live a life that is God-glorifying is a huge step.  It is like one day, getting up, leaving everything you own and everything you know, and following Him.  You may not leave your earthly possessions immediately, but you come to the realization that they are confined to this life.  You may not actually leave your home, but you know that your hope is set on a new home, one with your father in heaven.

You also lose your life.  It is not a physical death, it is a death to earthly things.  And a spiritual rebirth - or a birth into the spiritual life that God has planned for you.

Then that's the next part: You've left one life behind, and you have the opportunity to give the new life up to the one who designed you.

This lyricist says it beautifully:

I lean not on my own understanding.

My life is in the hands of the maker of heaven.

I give it all to you God,

trusting that you'll make something beautiful out of me.

________

Romans 8:28

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him,

who have been called according to His purpose. 

We are broken people in a broken world.  God does not break things and repair them.  He takes what we have broken, and renews us.  God is the redeemer.  If we were whole already, and satisfied with that, then there would be nothing to redeem.  

Giving your life up to God is not handing a puppeteer your strings.   You still have the gift of free will, and you still choose to freely love Him.  In Hebrews, God is referred to as the "author and perfecter of our faith" (Hebrews 12:2).  I like to think of giving up my life to God as handing Him over the pen, and saying write me into your story. 

So what does this mean when  things happen in our lives that cause us pain and heartbreak?  Giving your life up to God doesn't mean you have to pretend like tragedy isn't just that - tragic.  When you see storms destroying entire cities and disease and hunger ravaging throughout the world, you do not have to simply shrug your shoulders and accept it.  You are not giving your life up to a God that will be careless with you or any of His children.  You are not giving your life up to a God who relishes in your heartbreak or suffering.  You are giving your life up to the comforter and the healer.

  

So what does that life look like?  It looks like us choosing His will.  It looks like us trusting Him through the brokenness.  It looks like trusting in His plan to prosper us, and believing that He will do that on His own timeline.

~SP   

What is (Godly) Love?

There are a lot of ideas about what God's love is and how we are called to express it.  Most church communities seek to grow through discussing what it means to show Christ-like love in their community.  Sometimes, I notice that we get lost in loving people.  The love we show for others can get disconnected or supersede the love that we show to God.  To love others in a Godly way, we must love God first.

Not Just the Warm Fuzzies

1 John 4:8 makes the bold and true statement: "Whoever does not know love does not know God, because God is love."  God is love.  But to leave that statement in its simplicity is to miss the point.  We have to think about what God's love is and how He loves us.

I think one of the misconceptions is that love always needs to be expressed as something that can light up a room, and put a smile on everyone's faces.  When I think of love, sometimes the warm fuzzies come to mind, but not always.

There is a song written by Ingrid Michaelson that reminds me of how our attitude toward love can be sometimes.  Michaelson sings:

"We hate the rain when it fills up our shoes, but how we love when it washes our cars.  We love to love when it fills up the room, but when it leaves oh we're cursing the stars."

Part of that Godly love is doing the hard things and making the hard choices.  Sometimes love is saying no to something that we so desperately desire.  Sometimes love is giving up momentary fulfillment for something greater, but farther off.  It would feel good for both the giver and the receiver if we could give love in a way that always made the other person happy.  But happiness is just temporary.  True Godly love is given as a pathway to everlasting joy.  

We can't forget that love was expressed for us as Jesus on the cross.  God gave His only son to die for our sins.  That can be a very painful image to look at and to think of,  but all the same, that was an expression of love.  I am certain that God's heart was broken when His only begotten son was nailed to the cross, but love poured out from His broken heart.  

The Greatest Commandment

I have been reading through the Gospel of Mark these past few weeks.  In Mark 12, the scribes approach Jesus and ask Him which is the greatest commandment.  Jesus tells them that the first is the greatest: Love the Lord your God with all of your heart, will all of your soul, and with all of your mind.  Why does Jesus say that the first commandment is the greatest?  Is it alright if we slip up on the other ones?

After He designates the greatest commandment, Jesus says this: "The second is this, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself'.' There is no greater commandment than these." Mark 12:31

If we are keeping the first commandment - loving God with every part of who we are - we will be able to love others well.  In the same way, loving God and keeping that as a top priority will hold us accountable to all of the other commandments.  If we are loving God and seeking to live a God-glorifying life, we will choose not to lie or steal; we will honor our parents.

So we can take a look at our communities, and we can take a look at ourselves.  We can't love others because it is the cool thing to do.  We can't love others if we are not loving God first.

You shall love the Lord your God, with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind - and when you do that, you will be able to truly love your neighbor.

~SP