The Hey You Lady

Every now and then I like to think of what heaven will be like.... Here are some random questions on that topic: Is there an "express lane" for Christians to enter heaven? What will my mansion be like? When we are “clothed in our heavenly dwelling” what will we look like? (Seeds often look nothing like the mature plant ... will our "heavenly dwelling" look anything like our earthly human form?) What will be along the streets of gold? Street vendors? Mansions? Will there be cars? Will the streets have gutters? Will we need the internet in heaven? Will the Book of Life be online, or is it all manually written down? After Jesus, who is the first person I would want to see? Is fishing allowed in the River of Life? What about skinny-dipping? What does an angel really look like? What kind of food will be at the feast? How many people can be seated at the table? Will I have to wait in a line to be with Jesus? Will everyone in heaven always get along? Will there be people ...

"I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." (John 14:6) To many non-believers, that statement makes Christianity smack of exclusivity. "You mean to tell me that I can only get in to Heaven if I believe a certain way, and it has to be your way?" While there is only one way to gain access to God - through Jesus Christ - there are as many ways to Jesus as there are individuals. For example, let's say that I invited you to have coffee with me at my home. There's only one way that I'm going to let you into my home, and that's through my front door. But how do you get to my front door? There's more than one way - it all depends on what your starting point is. The way is different for someone who lives in San Pedro than, say, someone who lives in San Bernardino. But both would still have to go through my front door to gain (welcome) access to my home. God's love for us is so vast that he has provided as ...

I seem to live in a constant power struggle. You see, I have this insatiable need to be right, and to be in control of my circumstances. There are times that the situation at hand is obviously bigger than my abilities. I feel powerless, and the result does not match the picture that I had at first set out to create. It didn't take long for me to realize that by giving up my autonomy - my "Mary-Do" mindset - and sharing the load, then the bigger tasks could still have the end result I originally envisioned, and I could still maintain at least some sense of control. But even in sharing the struggle, I can still put a limit on what God can do to intervene in my life. The struggle becomes one between God and me. If I can handle, delegate or manage every detail, then where is the room for God? I know what I want the outcome to look like. And I won't let anything change that image in my mind. God tells me in Jeremiah 29:11, "For I know the plans I have for you," ...