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Posts Tagged ‘How do I get into Heaven?’

SERVING OUR TIME IN THE PENALTY BOX

Posted in Me & The World, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on November 26, 2022| 4 Comments »

If you don’t follow hockey, then let me drop a surprise on you: goaltenders can get penalized.

The guy in the photo above, Ron Hextall, picked up a whopping 569 penalty minutes during his 13 National Hockey League seasons. That translates into almost 9.5 hours!!

But here’s the thing about hockey goalies: they don’t spend a single minute in the penalty box. Almost every league insists another player take the place of goalies in the ‘sin bin’. And it must be a player who was on the ice (rather than sitting on the bench) when the penalty occurred. The only exception in the NHL is game misconducts, which are *extremely* rare.

So the goalie is penalized, but someone else serves the time.

If you’re open to spirituality — and I assume you are, since you’re reading this blog — then consider this: the exact same scenario plays out every minute of every day in the spiritual world.

Let me explain. Jesus of Nazareth, who many people believe is the perfect Son of God, is *always* the other player on the ice who serves the penalty for ALL the wrong things His followers (like me) have done and ALL the right things they’ve failed to do. Every time, without exception.

Jesus does that through His death on a Roman empire cross. He was put there by false charges from frightened, power-hungry religious leaders who didn’t like what He was doing (healing the sick, forgiving people, hanging out with “sinners”) and what He was saying (God loves *everyone* and following Him can transform their lives for all eternity).

Those religous leaders thought they were getting rid of a nuisance, but all four original-source biographies of Jesus make it clear Jesus came back to life, appeared to many people, and set up His followers to change the world through their new way of living.

Did they – and, by extension, ME – sometimes get it wrong? Absolutely. But those ‘sins’ do NOT negate what Jesus is all about. And they don’t negate how He serves the penalty time for ALL His followers.

Why is this important? Because Jesus told anyone willing to listen that “you must be perfect, just as your Father in Heaven is perfect.” That’s right; in order to go to Heaven after this life ends, you must be without a single blemish or stain or imperfection.

Given that impossible standard, God took the extraordinary step of sending Jesus into our hurting world to show us how to live, how to treat others and how to follow Jesus to Heaven. Then, He had Jesus serve ALL our time in the penalty box.

The result of all that is when His followers finish with this life, God doesn’t see the wrong things we’ve done and the right things we’ve failed to do. All He sees is His Son’s perfection. So the bouncer at the gate to Heaven welcomes us in to spend eternity with our creator.

From my perspective, that’s a *great* deal for Ron Hextall and every other person in this world. Sound interesting? Yes or no, post your comment below and let’s have a conversation.

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IS THERE A ‘GOLDEN TICKET’ TO HEAVEN?

Posted in It's Not About 'Religion', Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on March 27, 2021| 1 Comment »

While visiting the blog of Vinny, a guy who says he writes about “A bit of this…A bit of that…bit of everything”, one of his comments grabbed my attention.

“The good thing is I’m Catholic so I have a golden ticket [to Heaven],” Vinny wrote, after describing all his medical issues. “Front of the queue where St. Peter will give me a hug and point me to the pub up there, The Heavenly Arms.”

While appreciating his humourous tone — lots of us would love to find a Cheers pub or a Friends coffee shop in the Great Hereafter — this made me wonder: how many people believe their affiliation with some kind of faith group gives them a golden ticket to Heaven when this life ends?

Before I started following Jesus of Nazareth (who many people believe is the divine Son of God), I thought that’s what it took: get connected with the right group and I’m probably in.

But now that I’m on a life-long project to read about and understand the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, I can tell you that I was thoroughly, spectacularly wrong.

In one of the original-source biographies of His life, Jesus tells anyone willing to listen what is really needed to get a golden ticket: “You must be perfect, just as your Father in Heaven is perfect.”

Yikes. Does that mean being a good Catholic or good Buddhist or good Muslim or even a good agnostic won’t cut it? If you believe Jesus, then NO. Your membership card in any of those  groups won’t get you in the door.

Man, this is a tough one, isn’t it? How can any person on this planet get into Heaven when nothing but perfection will get you past the bouncer?

The answer, thankfully, is simple: Follow Jesus. Make Him your Saviour, your best friend, the person you trust with your life starting RIGHT NOW.

Some of you might be asking how that will help your case. The help comes because Jesus is the only person who has ever been– and will ever be — perfect. That’s right: not even one stain on His record.

One of the men Jesus personally taught to follow Him, the ‘St. Peter’ Vinny referred to, stated it this plainly: “He never sinned and He never told a lie“. And the four primary-source biographies of Jesus’ physical life on earth back up Peter’s assertion.

It doesn’t matter if you’re a Catholic or Buddhist or Muslim or Hindu or agnostic. When you commit your life, with serious sincerity, to following Jesus, then God no longer sees the wrong things you’ve done and the right things you’ve failed to do. All He sees is His Son’s perfection — and that’s your golden ticket.

The great thing is, connecting with Jesus can make your life better immediately. In my case, following Him:

  • cleaned up my potty mouth
  • changed my career (I now work at organizations that specialize in telling people about Jesus)
  • influenced who I married (my wife is also a Jesus follower)

What do you think — is this the golden ticket you need? Yes or no, post your thoughts below and let’s have a conversation.

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THE TRUTH ABOUT A ‘MORAL SICKO’

Posted in Me & The World, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on July 18, 2020| 5 Comments »

If you think about this meme, you’ll realize what it’s really claiming: the creator and master of time, space and universe is a moral sicko who deserves to be scorned by all rational people.

To that charge, let me suggest this: the meme’s creator is depending on you making a superficial conclusion and moving on with your life.

But I’m going to trust that you’re interested in spirituality, so you’re ready to consider a very different picture of God.

First, there’s no doubt in my mind that our creator is merciful. Followers of Jesus of Nazareth, who many people believe is God’s Son, consider God so merciful that He sent Jesus to show us how to live and, just as important, to show us the character of God.

I write that with confidence because in one of the original source documents of Jesus’ physical life on earth, He told anyone willing to listen that “I and the Father are one heart and mind.”

So does God’s mercy extend to “repentant” murderers. It depends. For those who don’t know the word ‘repent,’ dictionary.com puts it like this: to feel sorry, self-reproachful, or contrite for past conduct; regret or be conscience-stricken about a past action, attitude, etc.

From my perspective as a Jesus follower, repenting for the bad things we do — and the good things we fail to do — is very good, but it’s only part of the equation. The other part is accepting the gift of Jesus as Lord and Saviour.

When we make a conscious, thoughtful decision to put Jesus in charge of our lives, then His sacrificial death on a Roman cross wipes away our moral crimes. God sees us like He sees His Son: perfect. And it’s that perfection that opens the door to us spending eternity in Heaven with God and Jesus.

My point is this: repentance plus Jesus makes things right with our creator. I wrote a blog about one notorious man who put these two things together and saw his life transformed: https://wp.me/p2wzRb-6K.

So what about “punishing a moral person for not believing in Him”? It’s not so much punishing as it is not achieving God’s standard for entry into Heaven. To expand on what I touched on earlier, that standard is perfection. I can write that because of what Jesus said: “you must be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.”

We can be a Michael Jordan of morality, but we’re still not perfect. Remember Mother Teresa? She was a shining rock star of morality, but she knew she fell short of God’s standard and that’s why she put Jesus in charge of her life.

So even if you believe you’re a moral person, please consider accepting the gift of Jesus. He’ll take you to a whole new place of morality and joy, starting right NOW. Interested? Yes or no, post your thoughts below and let’s have a conversation.

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THE FACTS AROUND HELL AND UNCONDITIONAL LOVE

Posted in Me & The World, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on May 23, 2020| 2 Comments »

Maybe you’ve wondered about the very pointed question in this meme. Certainly atheists and others have long argued that a loving creator would never devise anything as horrifying as hell.

So stick with me while we examine the facts around hell and a loving God.

1. Hell was absolutely NOT created for human beings. Says who? Says Jesus of Nazareth, who many people believe is God’s perfect Son.

In one of the primary source documents about His physical life on earth, Jesus referred to hell as “the fire that was prepared for the devil and his angels.” That’s right. NOT for people.

2. God’s love is absolutely unconditional. How do I know that? Because there are people in Heaven right now who have lived lives much more wretched and evil than you and me. I wrote a blog about one of those people: https://wp.me/p2wzRb-ko.

Maybe that fact disgusts you. I understand. But every person on this planet, including you and me, has committed moral crimes – either through the bad things we’ve done or through the good things we’ve failed to do. Every. Single. Person. So who are we to tell God where people should go after their lives end?

3. Hell continues to exist because many, many people – past, present and future – want it to exist. No, I’m not losing my sanity. Hear me out.

Getting into Heaven is simple. Just be absolutely perfect. It’s the price of admission because Jesus said, “you must be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.”

How can anyone achieve this impossible standard? On our own, we can’t. But it’s a different story when we decide, with sober thoughtfulness, to follow Jesus. He sacrificed His life to pay the penalty for the moral crimes of every person who declares Him Lord and Saviour. For those followers, God doesn’t see our crimes; all He sees is His Son’s perfection.

So what happens to people who reject Jesus? They’re sending God a clear, unmistakable message: “I don’t want to go to Heaven when this life finishes. I want to go to hell.” And so the God of unconditional love grants them their wish, even though He desperately doesn’t want to.

I know God wants everyone – including YOU – in Heaven because one of the people Jesus personally trained to follow after him wrote “The Lord does not want any person to be punished forever. He wants all people to be sorry for their sins and turn from them.”

So consider Jesus to be a gift. All you need to do is accept it, then He’ll come into you life and start to make you more like the person He knows you can be. And when this life ends, you’ll meet Him face-to-face in Heaven. Interested? Yes or no, post your thoughts below and let’s have a conversation.

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