I'm a Cryer

NOTE: I wrote this post yesterday, but it wouldn't let me post it, so I'm posting it now!

For some reason, I was crying a TON at church today! Lars and I actually went to 3 church services today. First, we went to Praxis (an Acts 29 church) with our friend Karsten. Pastor Justin let loose a total tear-jerker of a sermon (in a good way). It was about hell and heaven. The former was obviously a difficult subject to breach, but he made an excellent point: we are OK with God doling out justice (i.e. sending someone to hell to burn in eternal torment) when it's someone that we think deserves it. But when it's our friend or family member that we think of as a "good person", it's a horrible thought. Justin said "I'm sure there are some people that you don't want to imagine going to hell. But imagine if during a trial of a mass murderer, the judge let him off because he was a 'good person' and wanted to give him another chance. People would be outraged. They would cry 'Injustice!' That's why God can never be that type of judge."

The best part of the sermon, and the one that made me cry tears of joy, was the part about heaven. He had us close our eyes and told us to try and imagine the most joyful time in our life, where we were surrounded by the people we loved in a place we loved, and never wanted it to end. I thought of my childhood, surrounded by my brother, mom and dad. I thought of high school, hanging out with my best friends. I thought of being with my cousins and grandparents in Texas. And more recently, I thought of hanging out with Lars and his family. He told us to open our eyes and said "Now imagine that that moment never ended, and no sin ever got in the way to cause tears, separation, pain and suffering." And all of a sudden I was overjoyed! He went on to say that heaven is not a place where we sit in the clouds, playing harps and wearing fleece diapers. Nor is it a huge ampitheater in the sky where all people past, present and future are standing, singing to God nonstop forever. I agreed with him when he said that those things would be hell in themselves! Instead, God will regenerate this earth and restore it to the way it was before the fall - a new garden of eden, a new Jerusalem. We will live in resurrected physical bodies, similar to what Jesus had when he appeared to the disciples after his resurrection. God created us as physical beings, and we will remain physical beings, except that our bodies will be redeemed and no longer subject to disease, decay, pain or suffering. I personally think that there will still be art, culture, sports and even things like institutions of higher learning in heaven (there will be a lot to learn about that our puny minds can't even comprehend in our current state!) It is a place to look forward to going! And I want everyone I know to go there with me, so I can enjoy a perfect eternal life with them! One quote that I really enjoyed from the sermon that summed up all of these complex ideas nicely was "For those destined for heaven, this world is as bad as things will ever get. For those destined for hell, this world is as good as things will ever get." (paraphrased)

We also watched a Mark Driscoll sermon about the Haiti crisis. Of course, I cried at this, too. The images of suffering and devastation were so heart-wrenching, especially in contrast with the perfection of heaven. For the sake of all those in Haiti, I wish Christ would come today and make all things right.

And I cried YET AGAIN at Desert Springs night service, where the sermon was about thankfulness and how often we ask God for gifts and blessings, and then forget to thank him for them. It's like you give someone a great gift that you KNOW they will love, and they open it and they are so completely enamored with it, and then they thank themselves, or the person next to you. The giver of the gift isn't acknowledged. All the glory goes to someone else. And that's what we do to God when we forget to thank him for the blessings in our life. We rob him of the glory that He alone deserves! I got so emotional thinking about all the times I have done exactly that.

I know, I know...these are a lot of BIG theological concepts. But I felt the need to share what God revealed to me today, in hopes that it will be helpful to you :)

<3lindsay>

P.S. I got invited to my first bridal shower today. I am soooo excited!