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Heaven is God
Scott Oliphint and Sinclair Ferguson:
Some time ago we heard a fascinating radio program in which a number of famous people were asked what they thought heaven would be like. A consistent three-point pattern began to emerge in their answers, although its most significant element seemed to pass unnoticed by the program makers:--K. Scott Oliphint and Sinclair B. Ferguson, If I Should Die before I Wake (Baker, 1995), 44; quoted in Dan Barber and Robert Peterson, Life Everlasting: The Unfolding Story of Heaven (P&R, 2012), 185
1. All those interviewed believed in heaven.
2. All those interviewed assumed they would be there.
3. When asked to describe heaven, not one of those interviewed mentioned that God was there.
But it is the presence of God in holy, loving majesty that makes heaven what it is. It can even be said that heaven is the presence of God--being in heaven means living with him forever.
Unless You Turn and Become Like Children
A Philistine will stand before a Claude Monet painting and pick his nose; a person filled with wonder will stand there fighting back the tears.--Brennan Manning, The Ragamuffin Gospel (Multnomah 2005), 89-90
By and large, our world has lost its sense of wonder. We have grown up.
Take Heart
I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.
--Jesus
--Jesus
Those Non-Puritanical Puritans
Leland Ryken:
Married sex was not only legitimate in the Puritan view; it was meant to be exuberant. [William] Gouge said that married couples should engage in sex 'with good will and delight, willingly, readily, and cheerfully.'--Leland Ryken, Worldly Saints: The Puritans as They Really Were (Zondervan, 1986), 44
An anonymous Puritan claimed that when two are made one by marriage they 'may joyfully give due benevolence one to the other; as two musical instruments rightly fitted do make a most pleasant and sweet harmony in a well tuned consort.'