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Posts Tagged ‘How good do I have to be to 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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WHO’S ON WHAT SIDE? AND DOES IT MATTER?

Posted in Me & The World, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on September 17, 2022| 6 Comments »

Most of us know who Stephen Hawking is. For younger readers, Kirk Cameron was a swoon-worthy idol during his time acting on the 1980s TV comedy Growing Pains.

You might also not be aware that during the show’s seven-season run, Cameron decided to follow Jesus of Nazareth, who many people believe is the Son of God. Since the show ended, Cameron, now in his 50s, has starred in and/or produced many faith-themed movies and documentaries.

So why is he being mocked in this meme? Well, many of his productions have been….underwhelming. And some of his socially conservative public statements have made him a target of criticism from media, atheists and many celebrities.

What’s interesting about the meme that sparked this blog is how it singles out one controversial person while ignoring other Jesus followers who are widely admired for their intelligence and accomplishments.

Immediately, I can think of several:

  • Academy Award-winning actors Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington
  • Country singers Garth Brooks and Carrie Underwood
  • Scientist Francis S. Collins, who led the way in mapping the human genome (I wrote about him here: https://wp.me/p2wzRb-3o)
  • U.S. talk show host Stephen Colbert

There are many, many more Jesus-following notables – I listed a few in this blog: https://wp.me/p2wzRb-e9.

Here’s the thing, though: it’s not about who’s on what side, it’s not about popularity contests and it’s certainly not about anyone’s IQ. All these “measurements” are distractions, designed to prevent us from thinking about the big questions: who am I? Why am I here? What happens after this life ends?

If you’re willing to consider these questions, then consider this: you’re a creation of God. And one of the original-source biographies of Jesus says “God loved the world so much that He gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him would not be lost, but have eternal life.”

Maybe you’ve read that statement before. Did you know it applies to you? God so loved YOU that He gave His only Son, so that if YOU believe in Him then YOU will not be lost, but have eternal life.

If this doesn’t make sense, then let me ask: do you believe there’s something beyond this life? Maybe even a “good” place and a “bad” place? If yes, then ponder these words that Jesus told anyone willing to listen: “you must be perfect, just as your Father in Heaven is perfect.”

So that’s the ticket we need to spend eternity in Heaven with Jesus and His Father. None of us have any hope of achieving perfection, so what to do? Simple. Trust in Jesus. Declare Him Lord, Saviour and your best friend.

If you do that with serious sincerity, then He’ll come into your life and start to make you more of the person God created you to be. And when this life ends, God will see you like He sees His Son: perfect in every way. And the doors of Heaven will be opened to you.

Sound interesting? Yes or no, post your thoughts below and let’s have a conversation.

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FOCUSING ON WHAT’S IMPORTANT

Posted in Me & The World, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on August 14, 2021| 8 Comments »

Perhaps you’ve had thoughts along the lines of this atheist meme. “No one can even prove God exists. So why should I bother with Him?”

I get that. We can feel foolish for believing something our culture insists is a joke.

But is it? I’m not about to explain all the evidence for a creator. Many websites make that case very well (check out the ‘links’ tab for a few of them). I’ll just highlight one: the existence of this universe and the fact it’s ridiculously fine-tuned to allow life as we know it.

The website Biologos.org explains my point like this: “If the universe had physical constants with even slightly different values, the universe simply could not support life. It would expand too quickly, or never form carbon atoms, or never make complex molecules like DNA.”

I hope this gives you something to think about. But notice the meme is making a different point? It claims God can’t prove He exists. That leaves me scratching my head; just because God hasn’t proven His existence certainly doesn’t mean He can’t.

Consider this: If God proved He exists, then there would be limits on His gift of free-will — in this case, the freedom to be an atheist. If the horrors of human history prove anything, it’s that God champions free-will above everything.

So if you’re beginning to suspect the claims of this meme are not important, then move on to consider a man. Not only did He believe God exists, He believed He was put on this planet to show people God’s new and better way of living and thinking.

His radical philosophy includes:

  • Don’t just try to tolerate those you dislike–actually LOVE them.
  • Don’t fight back against someone who wants to harm you. If they hit you on one cheek, let them hit the other cheek, too.
  • You will be judged the same way you judge others. God will treat you the same way you treat others.
  • If you forgive others for the wrongs they do to you, then God will forgive your wrongs. But if you don’t forgive, then God will not forgive you.

This man — Jesus of Nazareth, who many people believe is the Son of God — made another point that’s even more important than what you’ve just read. He told anyone willing to listen that “you must be perfect, just as your Father in Heaven is perfect.”

Oooo, that’s a tough one — an impossibility for us very imperfect humans to achieve. And the point Jesus is making is that perfection is the only ticket that will get us into Heaven when this life is finished.

So what to do? The solution is to trust in and follow Jesus. Original-source documents of His physical life on earth say that as the Son of God, He was put to death to make up for ALL the wrong things His followers have done and ALL the right things His followers failed to do.

When you trust in and follow Jesus, God sees you like He sees Jesus: perfect in every way. Not only will that get you into Heaven, it also opens the door to God coming into your life RIGHT NOW to help you become the person He always wanted you to be.

Sound like a good deal? Yes or no, post your thoughts below and let’s have a conversation.

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YOUR VERY OWN WEEKEND AT BERNIE’S

Posted in Movies & TV, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on April 9, 2016| 5 Comments »

Weekend_at_BerniesSomebody mentioned it a week or so ago and since then, I’ve been thinking about the 1989 American cult movie favourite Weekend at Bernie’s.

If you know anything about this comedy (and its 1993 sequel), you’ll know it’s hardly a cinematic classic. Basically, Larry and Richard do their best to make it seem like their corrupt boss (Bernie) is alive and partying because the boss ordered them to be killed unless he – the boss – stays alive.

What follows are various hijinks as Bernie the corpse appears to be partying at his mansion and even having sex. Oh, and Bernie has a habit of disappearing, causing no end of trouble for Larry and Richard. You’ve probably figured out by now that this ain’t Casablanca or Citizen Kane.

But something about the movie’s theme struck me. We all are trying to hide something, to put on appearances and make things seem real to others when we know very well the opposite is true.

For Larry and Richard, it was making a corpse appear to be alive. For you and me, it might be pretending we’re better people than we really are. More compassionate and less judgmental, more generous and less petty, more interested in doing what’s right and less interested in serving our own greedy “needs”.

We know the truth, but if we can just fool others, then we’ll:

  • qualify for the raise in pay
  • get the girl (or guy) we desire
  • gain the favour of someone with power and influence
  • earn the promotion we’ve long wanted
  • win the respect of others.

Now consider this: if you believe in a creator, maybe that creator is personally interested in YOU. And that creator knows you better than you know yourself.

Followers of Jesus of Nazareth (who many people believe is the Son of God) believe God knows everything about us. We also believe He is perfect and that’s His standard for judging every person on this planet.

If that’s the case, what are you going to do with the knowledge that all the flaws you’ve carefully hidden from the world are absolutely out in the open with Him? How are you going to explain them away?

You may not like the answer, but here it is: you CAN’T. No one on this planet, no matter how virtuous they seem, can. No one is good enough to get into Heaven.

So here’s the good news: you don’t have to be. God made a way for every person to spend eternity with Him, no matter how good or bad they are. And that way is Jesus.

By dying on a Roman cross, Jesus paid the penalty for EVERY bad thing we’ve done and EVERY good thing we’ve failed to do. Our only obligation is accept what He did. Believe in what He did. And know that He is alive and ready to work in your heart RIGHT NOW.

Interested? Post your thoughts below and let’s have a conversation.

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