In his book on heaven, author Randy Alcorn, reveals a surprising truth – not every believer is all that excited about going to Heaven. Maybe you’re one of them.  You know that you should be excited, but find it hard to get too worked up about it.

As soon as the words were out of Alex’s mouth, he wished he could take them back. They were too harsh and he knew it. Yet, when Alice shot back at him in the same angry vein, he forgot his temporary remorse and the battle was on.

“God loves me fully right now, just as I am. He’ll never love me any more or less.”  Do you believe that’s true? We often struggle to believe this, for reasons I discussed in the last column, yet it’s the very foundation upon which a close, happy love relationship with God must be built. A foundation any less firm is unstable and sets us up for unnecessary spiritual worries and roadblocks.

 “God must hate me,” thought George.  He’d had a miserable day spiritually – lashing out at his wife at breakfast, making a stupid mistake at work, and spending ten minutes on a porn website in the evening. He was supposed to be a committed Christian, and yet . . . He  felt a sense of despair and self-loathing.

  It felt like a light saber duel out of Star Wars. I could feel the heat; hear the brilliant light humming as it slashed repeatedly in my direction My atheist friend was going after Christianity hammer and tong – my Christianity; my life foundation.   Not only is she very smart, she’s also grown up in the church and thus has inside knowledge about Christianity’s toughest issues, which she didn’t hesitate to attack aggressively.  

  Christmas was just a few days ago when I wrote this. Some of us really heated up the credit card giving gifts. Others of us didn’t hand out many boxes or gift cards – this year the money just wasn’t there.

            Here’s a bit of good news: one of the world’s most valuable gifts doesn’t cost a cent. Poor people can bestow it just as easily as rich people. Yet, despite its low price tag, it can enrich others in ways that money never will.  The gift I’m talking about is the gift of listening.

     I consider myself a “conservative Christian”.  What picture does that raise in your mind? You might be surprised, if you actually knew me, to find that I don’t fit certain stereotypes you assumed.   Actually, none of us fully fit stereotypes.

    We human beings love to use labels to describe one another.  On the one hand, this can be useful as a sort of short-handed snapshot to understand another person’s overall orientation. To say, for instance, that a person is politically conservative, moderate, or progressive gives you a ballpark idea of where they might be coming from on various issues. It alerts us to potentially sensitive issues, gives us an idea of where their priorities may lie, and helps us to better interpret their perspective and value

   Joe had become a believer in Jesus not that long ago.  As he stood talking in the parking lot with a group of men after church, his face lit up as he began to tell a funny story. When he hit the punch line, he paused, waiting for the usual reaction. All he got were a few tense chuckles.  The reason?  The story was the kind that would be considered, off-color or dirty in Christian circles. No one wanted to hurt Joe’s feelings, but the other believers also felt awkward laughing at his story (though, to be honest, it was funny).

   If I could give you tool kit and you could design your own God; a real God, mind you with all the God-like qualities, what kind of God would you put together? Would He look like the one found in the Bible?  Be honest.  I’ll bet He wouldn’t. Aren’t there at least a few biblical statements about God which are hard for you to swallow? 

    Yesterday I had the privilege of sharing an animated discussion with a man who does not consider himself a Christian.  One of the themes which came up, briefly, was the idea that everyone interprets the Bible differently.  Sound familiar?  It usually occurs when you quote the Bible to someone who disagrees with you, and uses this observation to turn whatever verse you quote into simply your opinion -- not the Word of God.

  My wife called on the phone last week to see how I was doing.  “I want to come home,” I whimpered.  She was at home, but I was over two hundred miles away in an empty Indiana house by myself.  Around me wafted the smell of fresh paint, along with  what seemed like miles of green painters’ tape and carefully placed drop clothes.

        My wife called on the phone last week to see how I was doing.  “I want to come home,” I whimpered.  She was at home, but I was over two hundred miles away in an empty Indiana house by myself.  Around me wafted the smell of fresh paint, along with  what seemed like miles of green painters’ tape and carefully placed drop clothes.

            Years ago I read a famous singer’s autobiography.  It was impressive, like having a conversation with a good-natured, sensible next door neighbor. I’m sure that a lot of what I read was true, but, like many autobiographies, it was selective. Those who followed his life know that it was also messier than the book might lead us to believe.

There’s a common Christian saying that goes something like this:“If God seems distant, guess who moved?” Have you heard this one?  It’s essentially saying: “When you don’t feel God’s presence, it’s your own fault.  Straighten up.”  In other words, it’s a rebuke.

It’s been 500 years, since the hammer hit its final blow and the document lay impaled on the church door trembling in the wind.  Martin Luther posted his 95 theses and the world has never been the same since.  It’s been on my mind especially since I’m almost finished reading a book called Protestants – THE FAITH THAT MADE THE MODERN WORLD, by Alec Ryrie, a professor of the history of Christianity at Durham University.  It’s a masterful book which traces the impact of the Reformation on our world from Luther’s time up to the present.  Professor Ryrie has obviously done his homework well.

I grew up with a lot of “Jesus makes life happier and easier” songs (remember “I’ve got happiness all the time…since I found the Lord?”). So those were my expectations.  Is that true, though? Does spiritual maturity bring increasing exhilaration and ease?

As Bill started to quote a Bible verse to make his point, Betty cut him short.  “Everyone interprets the Bible differently,” she said. Her implication?  Since we all come to the Bible from different perspectives, there can be no absolute certainty about biblical teaching.

“Post-modernism” is a somewhat  negative word in conservative Christian circles.  The term itself can be confusing, since it’s used in a variety of ways. One of those connotations, one which should concern believers, is the philosophy that there is no such thing as absolute truth, that we call “truth” is relative to each person.  You can have your truth and I can have mine and it doesn’t matter if our “truths” contradict each other as long as they work for us as individuals – “You’re a Christian?  Glad that works for you.  I’m a Hindu.  That works better for me.”  This perspective casts orthodox Christian beliefs and biblical claims into doubt. More about that in a moment.

When someone says, “I’ll be there” or “I’ll do that” do you believe them?  It really depends on the person, doesn’t it?  I once had a Sunday School superintendent, a nice guy by the way, who seldom followed through with his promises. He meant well, but . . .On the other hand, there are some folks in my church now whose word is as good as gold. If they commit, consider it done.  Where do you fall on this spectrum?  Is your word your bond?