Heaven

For most of my life, I didn’t look forward to Heaven.  Heaven seemed so distant, so unknown, so vague . . . that I didn’t really look forward to it at all.  I would hear people saying that they were looking forward to Heaven, and I just didn’t get it.  But it sounded so unspiritual to admit that you really weren’t looking forward to Heaven.  I mean, as a Christian, you are supposed to want to just stand at your Savior’s feet and sing worship songs all day and all night for an infinite number of days, right?!?  (Which is not an accurate picture of Heaven, by the way, but it’s what I thought it was going to be like!)

Well, several years ago, I read a book on Heaven that completely changed my life.  Second only to the Bible, this book has changed my life more than any other.  I can honestly say now that I look forward to Heaven.  When I get sick of all the pain and suffering on this earth, my heart cries out, “Come quickly, Lord Jesus!”  I admit that it is a big book.  There are shorter versions of it available as well, but I think the big book is worth it.  If you don’t have the money to buy it and you know me, come borrow it :).  The Bible has so much to say about Heaven and yet so many times we just don’t get it.  Randy does an excellent job of drawing out the Scripture and helping us to imagine what it might be like.  So now when I read this Scripture, my heart just overflows with joy and hope and longing for the day when it is fulfilled: 

"Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.’ And he who was seated on the throne said, ‘Behold, I am making all things new.’” –Revelation 21:1-5a
 
Come quickly, Lord Jesus!

All glory to Him,
Stephanie

A Hole In Our Gospel

WHAT DOES GOD EXPECT OF US? 

Is our faith just about going to church, studying the Bible and avoiding the most serious sins-or does God expect more?

Have we embraced the whole gospel or a gospel with a hole in it?

Ten years ago, Rich Stearns came face-to-face with that question as he sat in a mud hut in Rakai, Uganda, listening to the heartbreaking story of an orphaned child. Stearns' journey there took much more than a long flight to Africa. It took answering God's call on his life, a call that tore him out of his corner office at one of America's most prestigious corporations-to walk with the poorest of the poor in our world.

The Hole in Our Gospel is the compelling true story of a corporate CEO who set aside worldly success for something far more significant, and discovered the full power of the gospel of Jesus Christ to change his own life. He uses his journey to demonstrate how the gospel-the whole gospel-was always meant  to be a world changing social revolution, a revolution that begins with us.

ECPA 2010 Christian Book of the Year Award Winner!

Forgotten God

A follow up to the profound message of Crazy Love, Pastor Francis Chan offers a compelling invitation to understand, embrace, and follow the Holy Spirit’s direction in our lives.

In the name of the Father, the Son, and … the Holy Spirit. We pray in the name of all three, but how often do we live with an awareness of only the first two? As Jesus ascended into heaven, He promised to send the Holy Spirit—the Helper—so that we could be true and living witnesses for Christ. Unfortunately, today’s church has admired the gift but neglected to open it.

Breakthrough author Francis Chan rips away paper and bows to get at the true source of the church’s power—the Holy Spirit. Chan contends that we’ve ignored the Spirit for far too long, and we are reaping the disastrous results. Thorough scriptural support and compelling narrative form Chan’s invitation to stop and remember the One we’ve forgotten, the Spirit of the living God.

One Thousand Gifts

Just like you, Ann Voskamp hungers to live her one life well. Forget the bucket lists that have us escaping our everyday lives for exotic experiences. 'How,' Ann wondered, 'do we find joy in the midst of deadlines, debt, drama, and daily duties? What does the Christ-life really look like when your days are gritty, long--and sometimes even dark? How is God even here?' In One Thousand Gifts, Ann invites you to embrace everyday blessings and embark on the transformative spiritual discipline of chronicling God's gifts. It's only in this expressing of gratitude for the life we already have, we discover the life we've always wanted...a life we can take, give thanks for, and break for others. We come to feel and know the impossible right down in our bones: we are wildly loved--by God. Let Ann's beautiful, heart-aching stories of the everyday give you a way of seeing that opens your eyes to ordinary amazing grace, a way of being present to God that makes you deeply happy, and a way of living that is finally fully alive. Come live the best dare of all!

Becoming More Than A Good Bible Study Girl

Is Something Missing in Your Life? Lysa TerKeurst knows what it's like to consider God just another thing on her to-do list. For years she went through the motions of a Christian life: Go to church. Pray. Be nice. Longing for a deeper connection between what she knew in her head and her everyday reality, she wanted to personally experience God's presence. Drawing from her own remarkable story of step-by-step faith, Lysa invites you to uncover the spiritually exciting life we all yearn for. With her trademark wit and spiritual wisdom, Lysa will help you : 

* Learn how to make a Bible passage come alive in your own devotion time. 
* Replace doubt, regret, and envy with truth, confidence, and praise. 
* Stop the unhealthy cycles of striving and truly learn to love who you are and what you've been given. 
* Discover how to have inner peace and security in any situation 
* Sense God responding to your prayers The adventure God has in store for your life just might blow you away.