Wednesday, March 19, 2008

How will Jesus make the new homes on the New Earth

This search term led to my website, so I'd like to post an answer (although speculative).

1) Jesus will make new homes for us on the New Earth!

In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. John 14:2-3

Heaven, which after the end of history will be merged with the New Earth, has houses.

And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal dwellings. Luke 16:9
2) Jesus is very qualified to make the homes

He spent most of his life a home-builder with his father Joseph. He also created the entire universe. While always being God, he took on human form got first hand experience in living day-to-day in houses.

3) Current building project in Heaven

Because Jesus says 1) that he goes to prepare a place for us in John 14, 2) he ascends to Heaven after 40 days after his resurrection and 3) the New Jerusalem comes ready-made out of Heaven down to Earth at the end of history in Revelation 22--Therefore, I infer that Jesus is right now working on a physical (not "spiritual") city 1,400 miles long, wide, and tall in which to dwell with his bride (the church across all time).

And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. Rev 21:2-3
The language of referring to the city as a bride implies to me that the Bride--people, the church--has already moved in to the city as it comes down from Heaven.

4) Marriage metaphor fulfilled

Jesus's personal attention to the building of houses just for us is consistent with the marriage image we are given throughout the Bible of God relating to his people. "I love you, I want to be with you, I have rescued you, Now come live with me forever, I've personally made a special place for us, I will dwell with you forever."

Question: How will Jesus make the new homes on the new earth? I don't know details, but he was a home-builder on Earth, can create literally anything, has promised to do it, and the Bible shows us a special city descending out of Heaven where "Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people".



Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Relationship with God: Transposing Up

I'm a young Christian, but I wanted to post things I've learned from other Christians that have benefited me in knowing our God.

Transposing Up

Transposing up is a musically term when a melody is moved up the scale to a higher key. I got it from C.S. Lewis.

It brings greater and deeper joy in life's daily pleasures. You enjoy something great, your think of the person, God, who made the thing you enjoy and your joy goes deeper. You now delight in a) the pleasure and b) the God who thought up the pleasure and shared it with you.

An example: I enjoy chips with fresh cut salsa.

Transpose it up: Who thought of such a great food? What is a tomato? A fruit or a vegetable? I don't know. But it's wonderful and it goes with onions and cilantro in a special way. Yum!--the freshness of the veggies on top of the crunchiness of the corn chip. It's great!

Now who thought of "salsa"? My God made all these foods for his own pleasure and for people to enjoy. He planned out the infinite combinations of food and spices and cooking.

I not only delight in the salsa (lower level), but in the God who made me and the salsa (delight transposed up). I fire inside is lit up, and I remember what I was made for: The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy him forever.

Friday, March 14, 2008

NY Times: Priest-Cosmologist Wins $1.6 Million Templeton Prize

Link

This is a $1.6 million prize given by a non-profit to "progress" in answering the big questions of science/philosophy (Where did we come from? What is our purpose? Is there a God? What can we know?)

The answers to the questions are precious. If someone had the answers conclusively they would be worth millions--billions!

Let us not find out that the answers have been clearly written in a book that we've been overlooking.

And if any person finds such a book, with THE answers to the the BIG questions of life, he ought to spend the rest of his life studying it and conforming his strivings to the answers uncovered.

Monday, March 10, 2008

The Church in the Coming Economic Collapse

What should the Church in America do during the coming economic collapse of America?

By "coming economic collapse" I do not mean the current recession, although the current recession is a foretaste.

This new Great Depression comes gradually over the next 5-20 years. The US government promises for Social Security and Medicare will overwhelm our ability to pay. The promises to pay for these programs amount to a debt of $455,000 per household in America.

See this article from the resigning Comptroller General of the United States (read: the Chief Accountant!) How the U.S. can avoid a fiscal wreck. Bush's top accountant is jumping ship early to fight for this. It's big!

What will come: The U.S.'s credit ratings will fall, the interest rate on the debt will jump up, the government will need to both drastic raise taxes AND print money it's not taking in which will be a tax itself.

The situation summarized--most Americans will feel like they are working harder than ever and still can't be their bills. Some will "drop out" of working because they can't make ends meet by working, and some will drop out of paying taxes because of the high tax rate.

The Coming Generational Storm documents the problem well.

What should Christians do?

Naturally, I would probably do a mix of tax evasion, working overseas, and saving money to cover my own situation.

But for Christians: conduits of grace and renewal. Loving the neighbor, repenting of personal sin, working a job, paying the bills, paying taxes.

What the Church should do is not hard for me to see. It's me that's hard. I want to cop-out on experiencing this coming Great Depression. I don't want to work under 60% taxes with rising prices and falling wages. This prolonged depression (I predict) will try my endurance.

Tuesday, March 4, 2008

Article: Moses must have been high on drugs

Link

The key passage:
"As far Moses on Mount Sinai is concerned, it was either a supernatural cosmic event, which I don't believe, or a legend, which I don't believe either, or finally, and this is very probable, an event that joined Moses and the people of Israel under the effect of narcotics," Shanon told Israeli public radio on Tuesday.
The author is definitely grappling with this strange reality--the account of Moses is too specific and too historically rooted to be made up or legend.

I offer this evidence that he wasn't on drugs: a) the law of Moses is really, really long. That's a very extended hallucination. And it's really, really mundane listing out specific, strict regulations that have deadly consequences b) I've never heard of someone having a spiritual/drug experience and coming out of it with very exclusive views of God and his justice. They always see a cosmic, spirit being who wants them to be happy and know that there aren't any rules except 'be happy'.