Would you be happy in heaven if Jesus were not there?

In his book, God is the Gospel, John Piper poses this question:

The critical question for our generation --and for every generation is this:
If you could have heaven, with no sickness, and with all your friends and loved ones there, and all the food you ever liked, and all the leisure activities you ever enjoyed, and all the natural beauties you ever saw, all the physical pleasures you ever tasted, with no human conflict, no human disasters, no physical pain or suffering, and even a new resurrection body, could you be satisfied with heaven--if Christ were not there? 

Would you be happy in heaven if Jesus were not there?  

John 17:3 says, "This is eternal life, that we might know the one true God and Jesus Christ whom He has sent." What is eternal life? KNOWING GOD. Beholding God. Eternal life is NOT having your sins forgiven. Eternal Life is being reconciled to God, the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. Eternal Life is being in relationship with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, the Eternal Godhead.

By the number of hits on my last post, it appears that this is NOT a popular topic, or maybe I'm not putting this good news across in such a way that it can properly be understood.

Regardless, my reason for attempting to write on this subject is because I don't want to miss out on the Good News and I don't want that for you either. And the Good News is God Himself. I think that I and so many others get sidetracked and miss the fact that we're saved not for all the gifts and benefits, but we're saved to fall in love with Jesus, to let Him love us and to love Him right back. He is the greatest gift, and for many of us, He is the gift that remains unopened, unseen, unknown, not even sought after.

Maybe that's why worship is so hard and so few believers enter into real worship of the Lord, because you can't worship what you don't know. That's what Jesus told the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4 and it's true for us today as well. If we don't KNOW Him, we have NO desire to worship Him. We may love the trappings of Christianity, love going to Church, love serving in Church, but if we don't worship Him, then we don't love Him and don't know Him.

Consider what Paul writes in Philippians 3:7-9 (NLT)

⁷ I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done.

⁸ Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ

⁹ and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith.  

Paul's heart desire is to become ONE with the Messiah, Jesus, Our Lord. His goal is not going to heaven, or having peace with God, or receiving any of God's other gifts, his goal is Jesus Himself. As Matt Redman writes in "The Heart of Worship",

"I'm coming back to the heart of worship, and it's all about You, all about You, Jesus....I'm sorry Lord for the thing I've made it, when it's all about You, it's all about You, Jesus."

Some Good News for you this Christmas!

Here's something to think about: If you knew that you could go to heaven in your new resurrection body along with no more pain, no more problems, and on top of everything else, you'd be reunited with all your loved ones, would you want to go? Of course! But what if there was just one problem--What if Jesus wasn't there? If Jesus was absent from heaven, would you still want to go? Would it still be heaven?
                                                      What is the Good News? 

What message did the angel proclaim to the shepherds on a lonely hillside outside of Bethlehem? If you asked the average churchgoer in a Southern Baptist church around where I live, they'd tell you that the Good News means you're saved and going to heaven. Others would say that "forgiveness" is the Gospel. But is that really the good news? Is being forgiven and getting your ticket punched for heaven the essence of the Gospel?

If Jesus wasn't there, would Heaven still be Heaven? 

The point John Piper makes in his book, "God Is the Gospel" is that heaven isn't heaven without Jesus. Yet many Christians would still want to go there, even if Jesus wasn't there. Why? Because they don't really KNOW Jesus. Salvation to many so-called "Christians" means you're not going to hell and you get to go to heaven. But all too many "Christians" know nothing about Jesus, much less knowing Him. He is not their daily bread, or their daily portion. They don't worship Him because they don't love Him. They love church and Christianity, but not Jesus. They love the gifts, but not the Giver Himself.

Here's the Good News that the angel announced to the shepherds on the hillside outside Bethlehem.

Luke 2:8-14 (NLT)
⁸ That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep.
⁹ Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified,
¹⁰ but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people.
¹¹ The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David!
¹² And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.”
¹³ Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others—the armies of heaven—praising God and saying,
¹⁴ “Glory to God in highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.” ⁹ Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified,
¹⁰ but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people.
¹¹ The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David!
¹² And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.”
¹³ Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others—the armies of heaven—praising God and saying,
¹⁴ “Glory to God in highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.”

Merry Christmas: God is the Gospel

This Christmas, the Good News is that God is the Gospel. God came down to earth, became a man, lived a sinless life, suffered on a cross, died, was buried and rose again on the third day--Why? So that you and I could be with Him, see Him in all His glory, and KNOW Him. That's what Christmas is all about. It's about the ultimate gift: A relationship with God Himself. He is our everlasting treasure!

Philippians 3:8 (NLT)
⁸ Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ and become one with him. 

• Search for Him. Find Him. 
• Get to know Him. 
• Christmas is not about church or religion or helping others. 
• It's not about Santa Claus, or giving or receiving presents. 

It's all about Him. Christmas, the Good News announced by the angel to the shepherds is that our salvation has come, and that salvation is wrapped up in knowing and being with Jesus. He is the Gospel. It's seeing him in all His glory and letting His glory shine forth in our daily lives.

I'm on my quest to get to know Him, to learn about Him, to love Him and worship Him. Some days are better than others. Sometimes I drift back into religious piety and put my quest on hold. But deep in my heart, I know this: I want to know Jesus because He is the Gospel.

Merry Christmas.

  

Turning Water Into Wine: God loves a party!

In the Gospel of John, chapter 2, Jesus attends a wedding in Cana, about 8 miles from Nazareth. Jesus' mother is already there, and as with all weddings at that time in Israel, they lasted seven days and the hosts invited as many friends and family as possible. To run out of wine at a wedding was a major social disgrace. The host was supposed to have enough wine for all seven days.

When Renee and I were married at the Brockport Presbyterian Church in Western NY in 1979, our wedding did not last seven days and we had no alcohol at our wedding. ZERO, unless you count the alcohol that some of our guests discretely brought in undercover. We should have invited Jesus to do something similar, since he was at our wedding. He could have made it special just like he did here in Cana. Many of our guests (not from our local church) felt awkward and ill at ease because of no alcohol.

In retrospect, I believe we did a disservice to many of our guests by not serving alcohol; we didn't even serve champagne for the toast. Now don't get me wrong. I'm not pushing alcohol. At this point in time, I seldom drink, but if I'm at a wedding, I'd probably have some champagne or a glass of wine. The issue for me is those who try to make the Bible say something that it doesn't say. The issue for me is those who paint God's character as one who is a celestial killjoy. Some of the Christians who abstain from alcohol and everything else look like they've been baptized in lemon juice. They are not fun people--in fact, some of them don't even know how to have fun or to enjoy a wedding or a party.

Here at this wedding in Cana, Jesus' mother asks  him to do something. There were six stone jars there which were used for purification rites and held 20-30 gallons of water each. Jesus commands that each jar be filled with water and then he tells the servants to draw out the water and take it to the master of ceremonies. In John 2:9-10, we read

"The person in charge tasted the water that had become wine. He didn't know where it had come from, although the servers who had poured the water knew. The person in charge called the groom and said to him, “Everyone serves the best wine first. When people are drunk, the host serves cheap wine. But you have saved the best wine for now.” 

I want you to notice what the MC (host) said to the bridegroom. He says that usually at weddings, they serve the best wine first and then after people are drunk (did you notice that--Jesus is at a wedding where people were drunk, and he created wine for people to drink who were already drunk?) the host would serve the cheap Red Mountain wine which no one would even notice because they taste buds and senses were dulled. But now the host is astounded because he says they've saved the best wine for last. This is the wine that Jesus had just created in his first miracle.

Here's what I want you to see in Jesus' first miracle: God is no killjoy! He loves weddings and parties and does not have a problem with people drinking alcohol.

In Matthew 11:19, we see that Jesus did NOT abstain and he was considered a drunkard by his critics. God made everything and everything is good, including wine. Paul tells us that nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving. The problem with those who argue for abstaining because alcohol is being used wrongly is that it's not a consistent argument. Sex is abused and misused and we don't tell married couples to abstain because there is sexual perversion. We don't get rid of sex, but instead we use it rightly. When we see people engaging in gluttony and overeating to the point of obesity, we don't forbid eating food and we don't abstain from eating food including desserts.

Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 10:31 that "whatever you do, do it to the glory of God." Men have abused all kinds of things including children and women and we don't get rid of them, do we?

Proverbs 3:9-10 (GW) 

⁹ Honor the LORD with your wealth and with the first and best part of all your income. ¹⁰ Then your barns will be full, and your vats will overflow with fresh wine.

Here's what God tells his people to do after they've worked hard, paid their bills, paid their tithe, taken care of the poor--in Deuteronomy 14:25-26 (GW)

²⁵ If so, exchange the tenth part of your income for silver. Take the silver with you, and go to the place the LORD your God will choose. ²⁶ Use the silver to buy whatever you want: cattle, sheep, goats, wine, liquor—whatever you choose. Then you and your family will eat and enjoy yourselves there in the presence of the LORD your God. 

Here's the problem in some Christian circles today, especially here in the Bible Belt, we selectively take different issues which are debatable and turn them into "forbidden sins." We don't like cigarettes and smoking so that's a sin because it harms your body--never mind that these same legalists usually carry more weight than is healthy for their "temple." We don't like certain music and it's sinful unless you can buy it at your local Christian bookstore. We don't go to movies because they are evil and sinful, but if the movie is "Christian" or made by some church in Alabama, then we can give ourselves permission to darken the doors of our local cinema complex.

There are two gospels at work in the Christian church today: One is a gospel of works where we achieve a degree of righteousness based on what we do or don't do. We are "good Christians" if we don't drink, smoke, chew, go to movies, watch TV, etc. The other gospel which is the Gospel of Jesus Christ says that we cannot attain His righteousness by any of these legalistic "dos and don'ts." Only the blood of Jesus and His sacrifice on the cross can make us righteous and holy.

If you don't drink, be blessed but don't look down on those who drink--don't fall into the trap of classifying them as "lost sinners" because they frequent a bar or drink wine with their meals.Otherwise, you become like the Pharisees who called Jesus and his disciples drunkards.

On the eve of St. Patrick's Day, Ireland needs another Patrick.

What is the saddest, most tragic aspect of the Industrial School abuse of children is this--that it was done under the guise of Christianity. Children, often as young as a few months of age were taken from their parents by the Irish government in collusion with the Catholic Church. It was portrayed as a loving act of charity, but there was NO love at all, certainly nothing that would mirror the love of Christ.

From the mid-1880s until the early 1970s thousands of Irish children officially in the care of the state were subjected to a double regime of sexual abuse and wageless slavery. Ireland's notorious industrial schools and orphanages--all run by Catholic orders--were homes to boys and girls who had been officially declared criminals by the courts.

Some children were even sent to these institutions simply because their parents had split up: one-parent families, usually held together by abandoned wives, were regarded with suspicion in post-independence conservative Catholic Ireland.


In these Industrial Schools, you had priests and nuns representing  Christ to these children--and these adults would beat, torture and physically abuse to such an extent that some children sought suicide as their only means of escape. Others were beaten to death or allowed to become so sick without any medical treatment that they ultimately died.

The Ryan Commission has sought to investigate allegations of child abuse. But, following this lengthy inquiry, there have been NO criminal prosecutions brought against the abusers or against those in the hierarchy of the church … complicit in the brutal crimes against innocent children.


It is unlikely that officials from any government department will ever be held accountable having presided over an illegal, cruel and wicked system that led to untold suffering for tens of thousands of innocent Irish children and their families since the foundation of the state.

Here's what I want to know? How can the Catholic Church claim to be the representative of Jesus Christ here on earth when it endorses, fosters and is totally complicit in this kind of abuse and not just in Ireland, but Scotland, Wales, England, Canada, Australia and the United States. When the Catholic Church is confronted with its dirty laundry, instead of confessing its sins and asking the victims for forgiveness, the Catholic Church hides behind lawyers and legalese. When the clergy scandal was exposed by the Boston Globe, instead of coming clean, confessing its sins and humbly asking for the forgiveness of each of the victims abused by its priests, the Catholic Church brought out a battery of lawyers in an attempt to stonewall the issue and in effect treating the victims as "enemies" of the Church. There is nothing godly or holy about the Catholic Church in how it has responded to what the UK Guardian newspaper calls a "cruel and wicked system." 

Matthew 18:6 says, "But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea." How many children who were abused by the Catholic Church in Ireland, Scotland, Wales, England, Canada, Australia and the United States are now grown men and women who no longer believe in Christ. They no longer look to the Church. They have lost their faith and their hearts have become hardened towards God. Why? Because of the Catholic Church. I believe the Catholic Church  will stand in heavy judgment by God for the destruction of the faith of countless thousands upon thousands of men and women--all because they did not operate out of love and mercy.

Last of all, tomorrow is St. Patrick's Day and the irony is that Patrick brought the Gospel to Ireland in the early part of the 5th century. This is a shameless promotion for my wife's book, A Secret Hope, which you can get at Amazon.com. This is her first novel and it's historical fiction and very accurate in every detail. Go get a copy and if you like it, tell others about it as well. But my point in bringing up St. Patrick, as we honor him this coming Saturday at every pub and bar in America, Britain, Ireland and elsewhere is this: Ireland needs another St. Patrick. The Irish people are filled with shame (because so many were complicit or silent while this abuse took place), and the Irish people are filled with anger at the Catholic Church, and rightly so. They've turned their back on the Catholic Church, and rightly so, but at the same time, they've turned their backs on God. The people of Ireland need to hear about the love and mercy of God. They need to hear about his compassion and his goodness. They need to know from the Scriptures that Our Lord Jesus Christ is nothing like the Catholic Church in Ireland or the United States. They need to know that God hates the sin and wickedness that so many have experienced in these Industrial Schools or at the hands of priests here in the United States.

Pray for the people of Ireland. Pray for God to send evangelists to Ireland to proclaim his love and forgiveness to them. They need to be forgiven. They need to also forgive those who have perpetrated this evil against them and members of their families. They need healing and restoration from the pain and suffering that they've experienced or members of their family tree. They need to hear the Good News that Jesus suffered on the cross at Calvary and rose from the grave so that they could have a relationship with the Father. Pray that the people of Ireland will have open hearts to receive this message even as they did 1600 yrs ago when Patrick was guided by a God-given vision to return to Ireland proclaiming God's love and acceptance.                                     

The Rapture: Who's Really Left Behind?

As a young Jesus freak, I worked alongside Larry Norman at the Hollywood Free Paper. While he was singing "I Wish We'd All Been Ready" to throngs of young believers, I was drawing cartoons for the HFP where I depicted Christians being caught up in the air with Jesus. Those days are long gone, and Larry Norman is now with Jesus.Years later over dinner in a Toronto restaurant, Larry remarked to everyone else at our table that "we survived the Jesus movement." By that, he meant that our faith remained INTACT. We did not fall away or lose faith in our Lord.  But where is our blessed hope today? Does it reside in a pre-trib rapture, or in His Second Coming?

Dale Yancy in radio studio 1973

In perhaps the best-known teaching about the end times and the inspiration for Larry Norman's song (I Wish We'd All Been Ready),  in Matthew 24:37-44, Jesus describes his second coming: "...two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one will be left. Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one will be left." There is one key which unlocks our understanding of this passage and it is found in Matthew 24:37-39:

As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also shall the coming of the Son of Man be.

Twice in this passage, Jesus says the coming of the Son of Man will be "as it was in the days of Noah" (v. 37) and again, in case we missed it in v. 39. Anytime Jesus repeats himself, it's worth cleaning out your ears to listen carefully to what he is saying. Jesus here is talking about two groups of people: One is righteous Noah and by implication, his family; they are saved and they are not caught by surprise. The other is the unrighteous, who are described in Genesis 6:5 as wicked with every intent of their heart set upon doing evil. This group was caught by surprise. It was their wickedness that prompted the flood which came upon them and took them all away. The key to understanding this passage is "taken away." Who was taken away? The evil and wicked. Who was left behind? Righteous Noah and his family. We are told twice that the Second Coming of Jesus will happen just like this: Two men will be in the field; One will be taken and one will be left behind. Who is taken up? The wicked man. Who is left behind? The righteous man. Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one will be left behind. Who is taken? The wicked woman. Who is left behind? The righteous woman. This is the rapture as described by Jesus in Matthew 24. The wicked are taken away with no chance to experience the triumphant reign of Jesus here on earth at his Second Coming. Question to all those who teach the pre-trib rapture: Haven't you thought it strange that according to your belief system, unrighteous are here on the earth to greet Jesus at his second coming? Doesn't that seem strange? Do they all of a sudden get religion, or get a pass, and get to sit at the banqueting table with Jesus upon His return? Whereas, the rapture that is described in Matt. 24 removes the wicked from the earth prior to Christ's return.

In Luke 17:26-36, we have a different version of this teaching where Jesus twice speaks of two persons, only one of whom will be taken. Here Jesus refers not only to the flood but also to the story of Lot and the destruction of Sodom. In the story of Lot, the righteous are taken away from Sodom while only the ones left behind are destroyed. The important differences between Noah and Lot resides in the last day judgment referenced to in Matthew 24 in the account of Noah is a judgment on the whole earth. The Lot story is not about global judgment but only the judgment of two cities.

In my next post, I will finish this teaching with a look at 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 and how it is used as a proof text for the rapture. Does it really teach the disappearance of all the saints?

In closing, I have started reading a book by John Piper, "God is the Gospel." The Good News is NOT the rapture; it's not even that God loves me or you. The Good News is God Himself. That you and I can know Him and be known by Him. Our pursuit and blessed hope should not be the rapture, but God Himself. Knowing the Father as revealed by His Son, Jesus. That we could say along with David in Psalm 73:26, "God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever." Or as Paul writes in Philippians 3:8 (ESV) 
^8"Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ."

This is why we have been bought with a price. We have been called out of darkness into the light so that we might have a relationship with the Lord God Almighty. He is the Good News. Knowing Him and having Him is enough. What else is there?