Let's Talk About Heaven!

Let's Talk About Heaven!  ~  Today a Christian sister, Krista Brewer, posted an interesting question on Facebook: 

"Will we have a Companion for 'life' in Heaven?  Obviously we won't be married, the Bible states that word for word.  But I heard two Pastors (one last night) say that there were indications in Scripture that we would have an eternal companion.  I'm gonna look it up and write something on it once I figure it out."

And I responded on her post:

Hi Krista Brewer, Personally I believe that in heaven we will have love for all the saints, but we will still remember and hold close the special relationships we had on earth. Below is a post I wrote on Facebook in 2002 which alludes to this same subject:

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TODAY, I CRIED  -  January 3, 2002

Today as I was ironing my shirts and levis, a male survival skill taught me as a youth by a wonderful mother, I was listening to a Good News Radio, a Christian radio station in Riverside, California.   The song they were playing, "I Bowed On My Knees And Cried Holy," sung by the Heritage Singers, really touched my heart.  The words spoke of meeting loved ones in heaven.

I thought of my mother who went home to be with the Lord in 1994.  A thought came to me, possibly the Holy Spirit, which made me cry.  I thought about those loved ones, especially my mom, who have gone ahead and I wondered if they know about me now.  I found solace and sadness in the fact that the Bible teaches us that there will be no more tears in heaven.  So my mother's pains, her unhappiness, her heartaches were all left behind when she went home to be with the Lord.

But I could see a picture of her in heaven, with Jesus, and she is always smiling.  She is always happy.  Then I remembered the question that many have asked, "Will my loved one, my mother, my father, my brother or sister, my wife or husband, my child - will they know what is happening to me here on earth, what I am doing, how I am living?  Will they know the many times I have failed to act and walk as a Christian should?  Would my mother be happy with what I am today?"  And I saw, what to me was the answer.

I see Jesus, every time I do something right, going to my mother and telling her what I have done that really pleased Him.  Oh, I know how happy that makes her.  But what about those times when I do things which I know will not please Jesus?  What does He tell my mother then?  The answer, He tells her nothing.  Because He wants her to be happy, so He tells her only the good things about me, the things I do which will make her happy.

That is when I cried.  Because I know that the things which He cannot tell my mother far outweigh the things He can tell her.   And I know then that, once again, I have made Him very sad - and once again He alone has carried my sins upon His wonderful, cross-scarred shoulders. Once again, He alone has borne my stripes.  That is why I cried.

God bless you and your family,

Bill 

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End Times Bible Study Videos

IN 1991, DURING THE DESERT STORM WAR IN KUWAIT, as the oil fields were burning and the smoke blackened the skies, our Friday Night Bible Study leader, Tom  Fletcher, chose to talk about End Times Prophecies.

But before we begin a discussion of the End Times, we will first define some of the key words and phrases which we will encounter as we travel the End Times Highway.  I do not want you to be as I was in 1991.  I was then a relatively new Christian, circa 1987, and the Gulf War was ongoing.  That war, especially the burning of the oil fields in Kuwait, led many Christians to thoughts of the End Times.  Not long after the war began, at our Friday Night Bible Study, our study leader, Tom Fletcher, began to talk about the Rapture and other End Times events.

At that time, I had "NO IDEA" what he meant or what this obviously soon-to-come Rapture entailed.  This was the first time I had ever heard the word "Rapture" and had no idea what Tom meant.  However, I was not going to be the one who asked, "What is the Rapture?  What are you talking about?"  No way!  I was not going to show my ignorance.  So I sat silently, totally in a cloud.

But there was a positive outcome of my hidden ignorance of Biblical prophecy that evening.  Shortly after that fateful 1991 Bible study, I began my own personal study of End Times Prophecies - and have continued since 1991, gaining new insight and knowledge almost daily.  I spent four years creating the End Time Charts in this video - and over the years, I have made a number of corrections.  As I gained new insight, or as someone made me aware of an error - I made changes.  And recently, while using my PowerPoint presentation to create these videos, I recognized a need for several more corrections.

I pray that if you find an error in the charts, you will bring it to my attention so that we can have a discussion.  My goal in these Bible Study videos, and the associated PowerPoint and PDF presentations, is to share with you the insight and knowledge I have gained over the years - with the goal that none of you will have to sit through an End Time Bible Study in a cloud of silence - as I did in 1991.

First we will take a look at this mysterious language, Christianese, so that we will all be on a level playing field.  However if the video introduces a word, a phrase, or a point you do not understand while watching the video - pause the video, open your Bible, or maybe even Google - and do some research.  We ALL are somewhat in a cloud of ignorance when trying to understand the End Times.  But God, in His Bible, has given us all the knowledge we need for salvation and to be eagerly waiting for His coming to "catch us up to be with Him in the clouds" (1 Thessalonians 4:17).

That is why we are told in 1 Corinthians 13:12, "For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face.  Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known."  Our task now is to stay in God's Word, daily striving toward maturity - and to share His Word in our own Jerusalem (our family and community) - and in all the world.  That is His Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20, Acts 1:8, Mark 16:15). 

The best way for us to mature in our own knowledge of God's Word and to be able to help others grow toward maturity - is to be engaged in lively discussions in our corporate Sunday Schools and Bible Studies.  That is the goal of these Bible Study videos, PowerPoint and PDF presentations - to help you create a lively group discussion of the End Times.

END TIMES Bible Study - Week One And Two ~ Edited July 23, 2018
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rUwF_igeTQk&list=PL_YT3RttutrhFulPncH3GflTo0nP3T7wT

It is my prayer that you will find this material helpful in your study of God's Word and in your ability and desire to share it with others.

God bless, have a wonderful, blessed day,

Bill 

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Then And Now! - A Wee Bit Of Southern History And Manners

In 1976, when Jimmy Carter was elected president - two things stand out for me. 

FIRST, at that time there was very little difference between the Democratic Party and the Republican Party.  Both parties had Liberal, Moderate, and Conservative factions.  At that time you voted for the leaning, not the party.  In most cases folks voted for the person or the issue, not the party. 

Let me give you an example:  In 1960 I voted for John Kennedy for two reasons, he was charismatic and Nixon was like a dead tree stump - and Kennedy was what I call a Moderate within the Democratic Party.  But in 1964 when Lyndon Johnson was nominated to be the Democratic Party candidate for president - I so disliked him, his Liberal leaning, and his good old boy politics - that I went out that very day and re-registered Republican.  And because of that I voted for Barry Goldwater. 

At that time Goldwater was in the Liberal side of the Republican Party.  So both candidates were Liberal ~ Goldwater Liberal - Johnson extreme Liberal, seasoned by good old boy politics.

In 1964 America was sick of the Vietnam War which Eisenhower and Kennedy had taken us into - and Goldwater told us, "Yes, I will escalate our actions in Vietnam to get us out of there as fast as possible."   Good old boy Johnson told us, "Heck naw, I ain't going to 'scalate the war in Vitnam (sp intentional)!  I'm gonna bring our boys home rat (sp) away."  

And just like the 2020 race between Biden and Trump - soft heads believed the liar and the wrong man won.  Within months after his inauguration - Johnson escalated the Vietnam War beyond imagination.  America was in the hated Vietnam War until 1973 - another NINE years after Johnson became president.  And that was a big part of why Johnson chose not to run again in 1968, which he legally could have done.  America was sick of Johnson and the Vietnam War. 

That opened the door for Nixon which eventually led to the Watergate Scandal in his second term - and the first time an American president has ever resigned while still in office.  Gerald Ford finished out Nixon's second term and chose not to run on his own in 1976.

In the Vietnam War 58,281 Americans were KIA or through death in captivity.  For those today who are yelling "White Privilege" - these are the individual death statistics for the Vietnam War:

White - 49,830  ~  Black - 7,243  ~  Hispanic - 349  ~  Hawaiian/Pacific Islander - 229  ~  American Indian/ Alaska Native - 226  ~  Non-Hispanic (other race) - 204  ~  Asian - 139 (Wikipedia).  No this was not a White Privilege war, but it was a war which could have been shortened - but that was not Lyndon Johnson's style.

So in 1976, the new kid on the block, the virtually unknown until then Governor Jimmy Carter of Georgia became the president in 1976. I remember in 1976 I was at a computer convention in Anaheim when I heard that Jimmy Carter was nominated by the Democratic Party.  My response, "Who the heck is Jimmy Carter?"

Then I found out that he had begun his run for the Democratic Party nomination with a speech at Spring Park in my birth town, Tuscumbia, Alabama.  Heck, Spring Park played a major role in my childhood: first time to go fishing, from the steps in the lake at Spring Park - playing tag football on Sundays with my cousins Eddy Byrd and Brent Hardin - watching my cousin, Christian Hardin, and her friend, Virginia, playing tennis at Spring Park, etc. 

And now Jimmy Carter was beginning his presidential run in MY Spring Park.  He must be a good guy!  Yeah, I was a typical soft head Liberal back then also.

And the SECOND thing which got my attention when Jimmy Carter was elected - shortly after he took office an enterprising writer saw an opportunity to take advantage of having a pure, seemingly straight off the peanut farm, Southerner serving as president in many decades:

The book "How to Speak Southern" by Steve Mitchell hit the market in 1977 - and on the the back cover we read: "This book is dedicated to all Yankees in the hope that it will teach them how to talk right."   (I would have spelled that "how to tawk right" - but I forgive the publisher)

I will never forget the first time I saw this book.  I was making a sales call at at company in Irvine, California, and the book was laying on the coffee table in the lobby.  Out of curiosity I picked up the book and began to look through it.  Remember, I had left my home in Alabama in 1955 to join the Air Force - and this was 1977 in Southern California.  So many of the words and phrases mentioned in the book had slipped my mind, or I had just forgotten. 

As I began to read the book, I could not help but start laughing because I was so enjoying this re-indoctrination into "tawking like y'all tawk!"  I was alone in the lobby except for the receptionist - and when I began laughing, she looked at me kind of funny, like, "Should I call 911 for help?"

"Okay, I know, I know - why go on this politico/comedic walk down memory lane?"   Today a good Friend and I were talking and he questioned me about one of my sign off phrases on Facebook and other social media.  Typically I will sign off with "God bless, Bill."   That is expressing my sincere desire that God will bless all my Friends who read my blogs - and their families.

But at other times, when I may have been a wee bit naughty in my comments or observations, I will choose not to use that phrase - instead leaning toward one that ALL Southerners know is as common as "Y'all" or "All Y'all"  ~  "Bless her/his heart!"

At such times I may sign off with, "Bless her/his heart, Bill" or "Bless their hearts, Bill" - and at times, if the person was caught with his/her hands in the cookie jar, I may sign off with, "Bless their crooked little hearts" or something similar.  But always based around the theme of:  "Bless her/his heart, Bill."

My Friend questioned if I was mixing a Biblical blessing with a secular "gotcha" blessing.  And to be honest, that was kind of a wake-up call - for I am so used to communicating with Southern Friends or folks we Southerners would adopt into our Southern family - that it never dawned on me that anyone would take this as, in any way, a reference to a Christian or Biblical blessing. 

Briefly I tried to explain that we Southerners prefer to be genteel, choosing to couch our comments in a gentler, softer manner.

Trip to the dictionary:  gen·teel: adjective, meaning:  "polite, refined, or respectable, often in an affected way."  Definitely not Biblical or Christian, but often much more appropriate.

Example:  "That dress is really tacky.  Bless her heart!' - OR - "He sure is funny looking.  Bless his heart!" - instead of saying, "Burn that tacky dress and make the world prettier!" - OR - "He is uglier that my old mule!" 

Can you see?  We Southerners just want to express our feelings without being nasty, so we say, "Bless her/his heart."  But I guess not everyone has been exposed to our Southern Manners.  "Bless their hearts." 

Let me close by saying that, while this blog is intended to be informative - it is NOT, in any way, intended to be a slap at anyone.  Just a wee bit of Southern history and fun.

God bless, have a wonderful, blessed day,

Bill 

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