One of the myriad of things I miss about having my wife CJ with me now is her joyful personality! CJ enjoyed just about everybody, and they enjoyed being around her. I benefited from being with her all the time. Because people loved her and were comfortable around her, they also seemed to be more comfortable around me as well. Now, since my personality isn’t as outgoing and social as hers, I have to work a lot harder at those relationships, something I don’t naturally enjoy. Something else I noticed about CJ and her friendships: they included folks of every political persuasion, every economic station in life, and even many different expression of faith or even no faith at all. And as we would talk to those folks, I noticed that that they all wanted pretty much the same things for their family and friends, and deep down certainly preferred that we could all get along and live in peace. So, why is it today that we are so anxious, stressed, divided, forced to see each other as opposing camps of belief, and reduced to labels that we can dismiss as “those people” who are always wrong and don’t deserve our respect?

I certainly don’t have the wisdom to answer those questions completely, and looking at the chaos of our culture, nobody else does either! But I do think one of the keys to our dilemma is the answer to the question “What is your source of Truth?” Most people would answer that question today by saying their truth comes from major news or cable networks, pundits, educational elites, scientists, “fact checkers”, and God forbid, Facebook or Twitter! We are told to follow one political party or another, or one system of finance such as capitalism or socialism, and on and on. And, because our choice is “true and right”, everybody else is now wrong, evil, and not to be trusted!

Well, we Christians ought to know better, but we too often fall into those same traps above. Let me suggest an idea that should be obvious, but is missed even in the Christian community today:

God is our source, and only source, of life and Truth!! There are many “resources” around us, and God may use some of them, but God is our only Source.

The Bible teaches that God created the universe from nothing, and created us on earth as the crowning achievement of his creation, made in his very image. We were designed to live with him and love him and enjoy a wonderful relationship with him and each other, forever. It also says that God is infinitely smarter and wiser than we are (go figure!):

⁸  For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. ⁹  For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. – Isaiah 55:8-9 (ESV)
Jesus, God come to earth in human flesh, told us:

⁶  Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the Truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. ⁷ If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”  – John 14:6-7 (ESV)

God also gave us a written instruction manual, called the Bible today. It was inspired by God, and tells us how he relates to us in the past, present, and in the future, and how we are to live in relation to him and each other. The Bible has the power to expose our hearts and motives, showing us where we need to repent and turn back to him for restoration and peace. Hebrews 4:12 says,¹²  For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

So, what does this mean for our culture of “fake news” and “misinformation” today? It means that God’s thoughts and ways are the only real truth. Everything else is just human opinion, and where it differs with God’s truth, it is false. It means our first source for truth should be God and his Word, not politicians, pundits, professors, doctors, media, entertainers, or even your favorite local pastor. So, READ YOUR BIBLE DAILY! That’s not to say that all human ideas are wrong or bad. Some are better than others, and some are evil and destructive. That’s one reason why free speech is a blessing is this country. And this present trend of “cancel culture” and censorship is dangerous for us all. If all human ideas are less than God’s ideas, and some are good or bad, we need to hear all sides in order to discern the best ideas and those closest to God’s ideas, which bring hope and peace. Plus, historically, whenever there is an effort to control speech (like the Nazis or Communists, for example), one of the first books banned is the Bible. Why? – because God’s truth is antithetical to any movement to control and manipulate people into a path leading to evil and destruction.

I want to leave you with two major thoughts in this struggle for truth today. (Yeah, they’re just my thoughts, but I think they are Biblical as well!)

1) WE ARE NOT EACH OTHER’S ENEMY!

¹²  For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.  – Ephesians 6:12 (ESV)

We are barraged daily with deceptive lies that our battle is conservative vs. progressive, Republican vs. Democrat, black vs. while, poor vs. rich, America vs. China or Russia, and on and on. The Bible says we are in a much deeper spiritual battle, beyond what we can see, that affects us on every level and dictates how we see all these divisive issue today. This battle is a battle for our very souls, and is between God and Satan, who is a powerful but fallen and evil angel that God allows, temporarily, to manipulate and control this sinful world and us. The Bible clearly teaches that Satan wants to kill us all, physically and spiritually, and that he is the father of lies. (He must have been a politician at some point- just kidding!) This means that the “systems” of this world, politics, education, and everything else, including our thoughts, are under the influence of Satan. That is where this conflict, hatred, confusion, and division come from.

It’s interesting that Vladimir Lenin, founder of the Russian Communist party, used the term “useful idiots” to describe his youthful, energetic followers in the west who wanted to promote Communism in America and Europe. I’m sure they sincerely thought these ideas were good and would create a better society, but Lenin probably already knew better and just wanted power, control and domination and was fine with the idea of using these “idiots” to get what he wanted. In today’s culture, I fear we Christians can sometime unknowingly become “useful idiots” for Satan when we fall into these camps of hatred, division, and accusation. I am guilty of that myself from time to time. We Christians need to remember who we belong to and that Jesus wants to give us the power and wisdom to effectively be his ambassadors in this dark, broken and struggling world.

2) CHOOSE TODAY WHO YOU WILL BELIEVE AND SERVE!

The Bible makes it clear that the ultimate battle is not all the ones we hear about daily, but the one between God and Satan, God’s Kingdom verses Satan’s rebellion. Make no mistake about it, God has already won this battle when Jesus defeated Satan and death on the cross. Satan, his demons, and all humans who refuse the free gift of grace and salvation through Jesus,  will all be banned from God’s future Kingdom and spend eternity separated from God in Hell. All of this division, hatred, rancor, mistrust, anxiety and fear we see today are all Satan’s distractions to keep us away from God and his forgiveness, redemption, and power to be transformed and live as we were intended to live!

The Bible has numerous passages that describe the gulf between these 2 opposing views of life, but let me share one of the best from Galatians 5. Here the word “flesh” doesn’t mean our bodies, because God created them to be wonderful, originally. Here “flesh” refers to the sinful state and thought pattern of sinful human beings, often presented as evil power in opposition to God’s Spirit. Read this passage and decide which way you would rather live. I think the choice is obvious!

¹³  For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. ¹⁴  For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” ¹⁵  But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another.

¹⁶  But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. ¹⁷  For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. ¹⁸  But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

¹⁹  Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, ²⁰  idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, ²¹  envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

²²  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³  gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.²⁴  And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. ²⁵  If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. ²⁶  Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another. – Galatians 5:13-26 (ESV)

Jesus’ Kingdom is sometimes described as the “upside-down Kingdom”, because it is opposite to the values of today’s world. We read daily of people who want control, power, money, and domination, and will use any means and hurt anybody to get it. Jesus calls us be like him: humble, gentle, forgiving, a self-sacrificing servant leader, putting others’ interests above our own, offering God’s mercy (not getting what we DO deserve) and God’s grace (getting his salvation, new life, and eternal life in the Kingdom, that we DON’T deserve!).

There are times since CJ died that I look at this world and grow weary of the daily headlines, day after day, of the same hatred, divisions, blame for the “other side”, and blood-thirst for power and control at any cost. Sometimes I long to take the easy way out and just die in my sleep and join CJ in Gods’ Kingdom in the next phase, free of the sin of this world, basking in the light, beauty, power and love of God’s presence forever. But then God seems to give me a “spiritual slap up-side the head” to remind me of why I’m still here. It’s not for me; Jesus has already rescued me from sin, forgiven me, and given me a place in his eternal Kingdom! No, I’m here to serve him and try to show others the amazing option of accepting God’s gift of forgiveness and new life in his Kingdom forever, where there will be a new Heaven and Earth and we will have new bodies that will never get sick or die.

Jesus said,

³⁵  For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it. ³⁶  For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? ³⁷  For what can a man give in return for his soul?  – Mark 8:35-37 (ESV)

Christian friends, it’s time we stopped playing by this world’s rules of power, control, and death. Jesus has rescued us from this world, and we will live forever with him on a new earth, restored to the way it was meant to be, and even better. We have nothing to fear from this world, and nothing to lose. We will never die! So, will you join me in trying my best to live like Jesus, being humble, gentle, self-sacrificing, putting other’s needs above our own, praying for those who wish us evil, and loving our perceived enemies? And most of all, telling them about Jesus, the God-man who loved them so much that he died for them, so that they can have new life?  This strategy has changed the world for 2000 years, and it can again today. Will you join me in being part of Jesus’ upside-down Kingdom? Our broken, fearful world really needs to hear from us, and that’s why we are here!  

A couple of days ago I was wrapping gifts for the grandkids (something CJ always did, so fortunately they are kids and not too concerned with how pretty the wrapping job is!) I took a break and sat down at her study desk upstairs. I glanced through a women’s Bible study she had been working on up until the last 2-3 weeks of her life, when her confusion got worse due to liver failure, and she was no longer able to do anything with her hands or a clear mind. Out of the book fell 2 cards marked “My Prayer Strategy”. The last prayer she ever wrote was one was for her kids & grandkids, which I will share with them privately. The other card said this: “Oh Lord, as I exit your Earthly Domain, I will not forget the discipline of a thankful heart. It is the first step to TRUE worship: “Enter His gates with a thankful heart and enter His courts with Praise!” Help me, Lord, as I walk through this pathway of worship, to understand the procedure of coming into your presence.”

Now, please don’t misunderstand what she was praying for! She was NOT seeking some mystical path to get into Heaven. CJ knew, as any Christian should, that the ONLY path to Heaven is through Jesus, by believing he is the Son of God, that he died and rose again, and that as we trust Him with our lives he will save us from sin and resurrect us from death to a new and amazing life with him forever. And that’s where she is now, because she believed that! 

Anybody who knew CJ well knew that intimate worship was central to whom she was, and what made her the person she grew to become. She learned that worship is about God, not us; and once we rightly understand that God is God and we are not, then we can recognize there is a biblical path to enter into God’s presence correctly.  Why is it so important to get into the presence of God? Because that is what we are missing in this sinful, dark, and broken world! We were created to live WITH GOD is this world, but sin separates us from Him. CJ understood that the closer we get to God and experience His presence in our daily lives, the more peace and true fulfillment we will experience. And NOW, free from the curse of sin and her decaying, cancer-riddled body, she is experiencing true peace, joy, and just plain fun with Jesus himself!

 For all of us still here, there is unanimous consent that 2020 was a horrible year! Whether you lost a loved one as I did, or had other losses and trials in your life, we all seem to focus on COVID as the prime evil of 2020. And it was a horrible virus, killing many and causing massive destruction not only physically, but emotionally, spiritually, and materially as well. And with the vaccines coming out, we all have great hope. But as Christians we should understand, even though 2021 will hopefully be better than 2020, we still live in a world under the power of evil and sin, and that will not change until Jesus returns to destroy Satan and evil and restore the world to what it was meant to be! As awful as COVID is, thankfully less than 1% of the world will actually die from it. On the other hand, we are all under the curse of sin, and 100% of us will die of that!

Paul says in Romans 8:18-21:
¹⁸  For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. ¹⁹ For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. ²⁰  For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope ²¹  that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.

Pastor Timothy Keller, in his book “Walking With God Through Pain and Suffering”, reminds us that this present world is broken and is NOT the world we desire deep in our hearts! He says “Human beings were not created to experience death, pain, grief, disappointment, ruptured relationships, disease, and natural disasters. The world we were made to live in was not supposed to be like that! A frustrated world is a broken world, in which things do not function as they should, and that is why there is evil and suffering.”

Christians who understand the story of God’s plan in the Bible know two main truths:

1) This present world is a hot mess, under the power of sin, and no human solution or government is going to change that. And even though we love much of life here and find joy and fulfillment at times, we all know something isn’t right, something is missing!

2) God offers us a new future, a new hope, when Jesus returns, destroys evil, and re-creates a new heaven and earth the way it was originally meant to be. In this new world, there will be no more sin, and we will again dwell WITH GOD all the time, every day!

OK, I think we can all agree, whether you’re a Christian or not, that this present world is messed up and you would like to live in a better world! Let me suggest three areas to focus on as you enter into 2021. This doesn’t guarantee you won’t struggle, suffer, or even die in 2021. But it will help you see God’s bigger picture, recognize that He is with you and will strengthen you no matter what you face, and realize that no matter what happens, there is a great new world coming for believers in Jesus, and nothing can take that away from us!

1) Ask God to help you see your life through His eyes, every day of the year!

 In Ephesians 1:17-18 (ESV), Paul offers a beautiful prayer for all of us, saying…
¹⁷  that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, ¹⁸  having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints,

– “having the eyes of your heart enlightened” means that God would focus your desires of heart and mind on what he has for you, which is far better than what you may think you want or need! Ask God to help you see your life and others the way Jesus sees them, and you will see hope and good even in the worst circumstances of life. CJ and I experienced this mindset time and time again in her 18 month battle with cancer, and it made life much more bearable.

2) Seek and look for God’s presence in your life every moment of every day!

Even though sin separates us from God, he promised us that when we trust in Jesus with our life, his Holy Spirit will come and dwell within us! Whatever you are doing each day, consciously ask God to help you and guide you and strengthen you. One of the names of the Holy Spirit is the Comforter, and his presence has greatly brought comfort to me in these past months, even though it’s still difficult.

3) Live each day with a Kingdom attitude of joy and thankfulness!

Going back to CJ’s last written prayer for herself, I’m amazed and so proud of her that her goal was to have the proper attitude as she knew she was leaving this world and going home to her Father’s presence! I remember that last 2 weeks watching her sit quietly on the sofa, her hands folded in prayer, quietly asking God to take her home. She had learned through practice to approach God with thankfulness for all that God had done and promised to do for us in the future, which naturally leads to praising him for his power to help us overcome even death itself!  

It’s easy and natural to succumb to having a “pity party” for yourself when circumstances are difficult. CJ and I both had our share of them, and I still do from time to time. But the Bible teaches us to keep our hearts and minds focused on Jesus and what he has done for us, and that moves us away from pity to thankfulness and even rejoicing, because we know God is always with us! Paul exhorts us in Philippians 4: 4-7,
⁴  Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. ⁵ Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; ⁶  do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

This afternoon, a friend sent me and others a wonderful quote by Christian author and theologian Henri Nouwen called “JOY” :

Joy does not come from positive predictions about the state of the world.

It does not depend on the ups and downs of the circumstances of our lives.

Joy is based on the spiritual knowledge that,

while the world in which we live is shrouded in darkness,

God has overcome the world.

Jesus says it loudly and clearly:  ‘In the world you will have troubles,

but rejoice, I have overcome the world.’

The surprise is not that, unexpectedly, things turn out better than expected.

No, the real surprise is that God’s light is more real than all the darkness,

that God’s truth is more powerful than all  human lies,

that God’s love is stronger than death.

I pray for all of us that 2021 will be a wonderful year in many ways! But most of all, I pray you will seek God’s intimate, daily presence, and that His presence will bring you unspeakable joy, even in the midst of trials and difficulties. And may that joy lead you to an attitude of humility, thankfulness, and unending praise for God and his great love for you.

God bless you all! Have a wonderful Christmas, blessed New Year, and never forget that God loves you more than will ever know!

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.  – “Matthew 6:33 (NIV)

Even before my wife Claudia died on October 22, I had been thinking daily about what my future might look like after she died. After we got her “death sentence” from our doctor in February, we both discussed continually what her last months would look like if God chose not to heal her physically, and what my life might be like following that. These are not conversations you ever think you will have with your spouse, but most of us go through something like this at some point in time. I thought of such things as “Will I keep our home or sell it? Will I move to another area or state, or maybe go to Florida for 6 months a year like many? Will I stay close to be able to see all our kids & grandkids? And, will I consider getting remarried?” (Talk about a weird conversation to have with your wife!)

Well, this next year will determine the answer to many of those questions! What brings me hope and peace about the future is, in spite of several unknowns, I know that I belong to God and nothing will change that relationship. That means I know who I am, I will not change how I look at life, and my purpose for the future will not change at all! This might be described as a “Kingdom mentality”, an understanding for Christians that we are already partially in God’s Kingdom now, and will fully enter into the Kingdom in the next phase of life. Now, I know many non-believers hear talk like this and think “That sounds like all he is going to do is go to church and do Bible studies and have a pretty boring life!” While those are both part of “Kingdom life” (and are NOT boring), that is not even close to what life in God’s Kingdom is like!

Dr.  Tony Evans has done a lot of great research and teaching on God’s Kingdom. He defines God’s Kingdom agenda as “the visible manifestation of the comprehensive rule of God over every area of life”. And he defines a Kingdom man or woman as “someone who is consistently living under the rule of God and the Lordship of Jesus Christ over every area of their life.” This means we see all of life from God’s perspective as Kingdom people. God created this world and everything in it, and he created us in his image to enjoy the world and rule over it. And he wants us to have an intimate, loving relationship with him and each other. In what we call the “Lord’s Prayer”, Jesus has us pray to the Father, “Your Kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven”… and, “Yours is the Kingdom, the power, and the glory forever.” When we consciously live under God’s rule in our lives, it brings us his power to live abundantly, and it brings glory to him.

For me, that means that all the enjoyable things I do in life are part of God’s plan for me, as long as I do them under his direction and see them from his perspective. So I plan to play a lot more golf this year, which also allows me to appreciate the beauty of God’s creation and develop new relationships with friends that may lead to eternal friendship in the Kingdom. I will go boating in my pontoon, fishing, and pulling the grandkids on the tube. This will help them learn the value God has given us for strong and healthy family ties. I will enjoy healthy dining in some of the great Michigan restaurants (an important retiree pastime!). I will enjoy the beauty of God’s creation in Michigan as I walk the magnificent beaches, dunes, and trails, and kayak on the rivers. I will enjoy the coastal towns and marinas, and shopping in the specialty shops. (Nah, not really! CJ loved the shopping, but I just loved being with her and walking around while she shopped!) And I will certainly enjoy blogging, and teaching small groups and men’s book and Bible studies. These groups have brought both CJ and I our closest and most supportive friends throughout our life, and have been the Christian brothers and sisters that we have lived everyday life with. The greatest thing about Kingdom life is that we have a Christian family of friends that will last for eternity!

As much as many aspects of my life will remain the same, it will of course be drastically different without CJ!  43 years of sharing life with someone as wonderful as CJ now leaves a large chasm in my heart that will only be bridged and healed by God’s touch and grace, in His timing. While I grieve her loss daily and wish she were back with me, I know she is amazingly happy in the presence of God now, and so I would never want her to leave the glory and beauty of God’s presence to be back here in this broken, sin-stained world, even though it would selfishly make me delighted.  Phil Paonessa, a good friend who lead music with CJ in our Clawson experience, told me of a song he had written for another friend years ago that had lost a son. The gist of the song was that our loved ones in Heaven are in a greater reality than we are, face to face with God. We live here by faith, trusting in God who we cannot yet see. But if I imagine Jesus holding CJ’s hand in Heaven right now, I can also reach out in faith and hold his hand from this side. Thus, the closer I am to Jesus, the closer I am also to CJ. And with Jesus holding our hands, we will see each other again in the future, and everything is going to be fine. That image brings me great comfort and hope!

CJ and I talked several times about the possibility of me getting remarried. (Weird, I know!) The thought of “dating” scares me to no end. I mentioned to CJ that I wasn’t that great at dating 43 years ago, and I’m probably not any better now! She graciously didn’t say anything, but I’m sure she was thinking “You’ve got that right, buddy!” After several talks, I decided that I have so enjoyed sharing every aspect of life with CJ for 43 years that I really can’t see myself staying alone for the (hopefully) 20 or so years I may have left. CJ said that would be ok, as long as the grandkids didn’t like the new person better than her! I assured her that as amazing as she was as Grandma, that would not be possible.

So, if there ends up being a woman in my future who is willing (and maybe foolish?) enough to date and possibly even marry me, there is one primary factor I will look for the most. And that is that she be a “Kingdom woman”, a Christian who looks to God to guide in all aspects of her life, and in the future to direct us in our marriage as well. CJ was such a woman for all the time I knew her, and her love and trust in God helped me become the kingdom man I am today. How could I possibly go backward? To marry someone who didn’t attempt see life from God’s perspective would weaken my relationship with God and that would in turn be unfair to her as well. And how sad would it be to marry someone who doesn’t believe in Jesus and know that after death you may never see them again for eternity? Anyway, these are some of the strange thoughts I wrestle with that I never thought I would have to. Like most men, I thought I would die first and CJ would have to deal with this stuff. I certainly wish it would have been me and not her, but it wasn’t, so my life will go forward with God’s help!

I close with a thought from Paul in Philippians:

¹³  Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, ¹⁴  I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. ¹⁵  Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you.  – Philippians 3:13-15 (ESV)

Of course, I will NEVER forget my wonderful 43 years of life with CJ! She was the love of my life, and always will be. But I do know that God is always calling us to move forward, pressing on toward the goal of eventually being fully with God in Heaven, and then returning to live with him in the future on the New Earth and Heaven forever. What a day that will be!

Please pray that God will give me his wisdom, peace, and patience as I move forward into the new aspects of life that he has for me. I know they will be good, because God is good!

And I will pray for God’s hand to guide you all as well, as you seek to live as Kingdom men and women of God.

At every stage of life, we have experiences where we think “I’ll never be able to do that again”.  It might be because we grow up, or because of financial reasons, or maybe because we are not as athletic as we used to be. But as I watched my wife Claudia succumb to the death sentence of “months’ our doctor gave us last February, it became very obvious that the process of death itself is a cruel, unrelenting task master of “never again” experiences. There were many, but let me focus on walking. CJ loved to walk! After that horrible diagnosis, she was still able to walk back in the woods behind our house for about 1 ½ miles in 3 inches of snow. When the snow melted, we took shorter walks on the hilly roads near us, and she would pick up rocks and label them the 1 hill, 2 hill, or 2 hill + rocks. We prayed for healing, and her goal was to get stronger and return them all as she healed. She returned the 1 hill rock, but the other 2 are still in our dining room. In spring, we returned to Ludington, our favorite Lake Michigan destination. She was able to walk out to the lighthouse, a substantial distance. A month later, she could only go about 1/5 the distance. On our last anniversary, July 22^nd, we returned to Ludington, and our kids surprised us by all being at the Ludington beach. CJ was able to make it down to the water’s edge and we had a wonderful celebration for about 1 ½ hours. But we never went to Ludington again. At home, walking was reduced to 3 houses down the street, then a slow walk around the house outside, then inside only. She could no longer climb the stairs to our bedroom, and I realized I would never again sleep in the same bed with my wife. Her last month she needed a walker, and struggled to walk from the bedroom to the bathroom to the living room, about 30 feet total. On her last Sunday, we moved the hospital bed to the living room because she could no longer walk to the bathroom or bedroom. Two days before she died, 2 women friends and I struggled to get her 5 feet from the sofa to the bed, where she stayed and died 2 days later.

I say all of this not so you will feel sorry for me or CJ! Everyone, especially near death, goes through these “never again” experiences. It can make you question God, ask “Why me?”, get angry at cancer and the seeming unfairness of life. We had our share of those thoughts!  But what I really want you to know is that these “never again” experiences are actually NOT TRUE!!

What gave CJ and me hope and strength to go forward is the promise that we, like Jesus, will be resurrected and live forever with God in a redeemed and restored earth! Yes, CJ ‘s body  is gone and she will never again walk in this phase of life. But the entire message of the Bible is that God originally  intended us to live forever with him and never die, and eventually , for those who trust in Jesus, he will reverse the course of sin and restore us to that original plan, giving us new bodies that will never get sick or die!

What does that mean?

1) Heaven, in the final phase, will be back here on earth as Jesus renews and restores this world to become the New Earth and the New Heaven combined! And God himself will dwell with us forever!

Matthew 19:28 says, “At the RENEWAL of all things, when the son of man sits on  his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on 12 thrones ,judging the 12 tribes of Israel.”

This future Heaven and New Earth is described in Revelation 21: 1-5:

¹  Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. ²  I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. ³  And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ⁴  He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” ⁵  He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”

2) CJ and all other believers in God who have died are now in an “intermediate” version of Heaven, with God, and it’s amazing! No, we do NOT become angels!  Angels are a separate part of creation, but we are human beings, made in the very image of God, and we will always be human beings. We don’t get our resurrection bodies until Jesus returns to judge and destroy all evil, restoring the earth   to what it was meant to be originally.  Then all believers will get new bodies and live in God’s presence forever!

3) In this New Earth and New Heaven, all the pain, suffering, and “never agains” of this sinful world will be reversed, and we will live as we were meant to live, abundantly, joyfully, and with God all the time!

In his book “Heaven”, Randy Alcorn describes what won’t be in Heaven:

“No death, no suffering, no funeral homes, abortion clinics, or psychiatric wards. No rape, missing children, or drug rehab centers. No bigotry, no muggings or killings. No wars, no unemployment. No handicaps, no cancer, no taxes, no bills, no weeds, no bombs, no drunkenness, no traffic jams and accidents. No unwanted emails. Close friendships but no cliques, laughter but no put downs. Intimacy, but no temptation to immorality.  No hidden agendas, no backroom deals, no betrayals.

Imagine mealtimes full of stories, laughter, and joy, without fear of insensitivity, anger, gossip, hurt feelings, or anything that eclipses joy…  We won’t need to be drawn into God’s presence, because that is where we will live, constantly and consciously. We’ll thank God profoundly, and worship and praise him together, whether we’re working in a garden, singing, riding bikes, or drinking coffee.”

In John 11:25-26, it says,
²⁵  Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; ²⁶  and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”

That’s the key question we each have to answer! Do you believe in Jesus as the Son of God?

 If so, Jesus says that even though we die now, we will live again and never die!

I believe that is true, for CJ and for me!

I can attest that watching your spouse or any loved one die is horrible! I have been slowly grieving the loss of my wife for 9 months now, watching all these seemingly “never again” milestones take place.  

But I ALSO know that death is not the final word! Not only do I KNOW that CJ is alive with God now, but that she will someday return to a new earth where I will see her again, and we will both have amazing new bodies. Interestingly, we will not be married in this new Heaven, so we will be wonderful, amazingly close friends, more like brother and sister in Jesus. And I can picture her picking up a new guitar, and with her amazing restored voice, she will lead some of us in brand new worship songs she learned in Heaven. And, not only will she walk again, but she will walk amazing trails with Jesus, with me, and with you, and we will all do this over and over again and   it will never be boring! (And, personally, I hope there are golf courses and I can eventually get better at it!)

So, please pray for me my friends. Pray that God would heal my broken heart and bring his peace and even joy to me, and that I will keep my eyes focused on the amazing Hope that lies before us!  And I will pray for you as well, that you would have this same unbreakable, everlasting hope and joy. Live in faith and hope, without fear!

Not only is everything going to be OK in the future. It’s going to be amazing! God bless you all!