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GRAPEVINE, Texas (BP)—Have you ever noticed that when a discussion turns to a recently deceased celebrity, someone invariably says, “I know he’s looking down on us right now”? It doesn’t matter how godless the person was, his peers refer to him as being in a better place and then gesture skyward. Mark Coppenger, professor of Christian apologetics at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, sees a lamentable example of that in the 1941 poem “High Flight,” which was quoted in tribute to astronauts who died in the 1986 explosion of the Space Shuttle Challenger. Not all the astronauts were Christians “but we...

LIFE IS HELL, or so the expression goes, but, for many Americans, the afterlife is looking up. Last week's release of a sweeping study by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life confirmed a long-developing trend in popular cosmology: belief in heaven is outstripping belief in hell. The Pew survey, significant for the breadth and depth made possible by its unusually large 35,000-person sample, found that 74 percent of Americans say they think there is a heaven, "where people who have led good lives are eternally rewarded," while just 59 percent think there is a hell, "where people who...

LAZARUS AND THE RICH MAN The parable of Lazarus and the rich man has been the foundation for many of the erroneous beliefs about "hell" within traditional Christianity. Some have viewed it not as a parable, but as a true story Christ told to give details about the punishment of sinners in hell. Yet a thorough, unbiased examination of this story will show that the generally accepted interpretations of this passage of Scripture are fallacious and misleading. In this article, we will go through the parable verse by verse to determine what Christ was truly teaching. Those who insist that...

The international ministry "Light for the Nations" presents: Revelations of Heaven and Hell to 7 Youths Together as a group, these 7 Columbian youths were taken by Jesus Christ and shown Heaven and Hell. Hear their account of the Glories of Heaven and misery of Hell. Due to the recording, we could only record 6 testimonies, Originally transcribed from Spanish Audio, Illustrations/Pictures were added later, and were not part of the testimony, Translation help by Claudia Alejandra Elguezabal -Heaven- [Youtube.com Video] http://www.minluznaciones.org --Hell—[translations listed at the link] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --- (1st Testimony, Esau) --- 2 Corinthians 12:2 : I know a...

Dearly Beloved . . . Following are some brief excerpts from Bro Jesse's book. I've read a number of Heavenly Visitation narratives. They are all different in some respects. Some folks might think that they are so different that the individuals must be visiting a different place. I don't feel that way. There's usually some things that are essentially the same. Virtually always, there's some aspect of the narrative that some group of Christians gets all up in arms about being unBiblical. I've never found any of the more convincing narratives that way, personally. I have observed that there's virtually...

There is no agreement in the church today about what happens to people when they die. Yet the New Testament is crystal clear on the matter: In a classic passage, Paul speaks of "the redemption of our bodies" (Rom. 8:23). There is no room for doubt as to what he means: God's people are promised a new type of bodily existence, the fulfillment and redemption of our present bodily life. The rest of the early Christian writings, where they address the subject, are completely in tune with this. The traditional picture of people going to either heaven or hell as...

A bishop described as "one of the most formidable figures in the world of Christian thought" is now challenging the widely held belief that Christians go to heaven when they die. N.T. "Tom" Wright, the fourth most senior cleric in the Church of England who has been praised for his staunch defense of the literal resurrection of Jesus Christ, has published a new book in which he says people do not ascend to God's dwelling place. Instead, God will be coming back to Earth. "Never at any point do the Gospels or Paul say Jesus has been raised, therefore we...

N.T. "Tom" Wright is one of the most formidable figures in the world of Christian thought. As Bishop of Durham, he is the fourth most senior cleric in the Church of England and a major player in the strife-riven global Anglican Communion; as a much-read theologian and Biblical scholar he has taught at Cambridge and is a hero to conservative Christians worldwide for his 2003 book The Resurrection of the Son of God, which argued forcefully for a literal interpretation of that event. It therefore comes as a something of a shock that Wright doesn't believe in heaven — at...

"Tom" Wright is one of the most formidable figures in the world of Christian thought. As Bishop of Durham, he is the fourth most senior cleric in the Church of England and a major player in the strife-riven global Anglican Communion; as a much-read theologian and Biblical scholar he has taught at Cambridge and is a hero to conservative Christians worldwide for his 2003 book The Resurrection of the Son of God, which argued forcefully for a literal interpretation of that event. TIME: At one point you call the common view of heaven a "distortion and serious diminution of Christian...

Vatican City, Feb 8, 2008 / 10:18 am (CNA).- In a meeting held yesterday in the Vatican's Hall of Blessings with priests of the diocese of Rome, the Holy Father participated in a question and answer session on wide range of issues, including the reality of Heaven and Hell. The exchange between Pope Benedict and the Roman priests involved ten questions covering the youth, evangelization, education and the four last things: death, judgment, Heaven and Hell.On the topic of the Final Judgment, the Holy Father said that in the Church today there is perhaps too little reference to sin, Paradise...

The description of heaven as depicted by Islam as reward for a devout, strictly adhered to life of a Muslim has always struck me as an eminently revealing aspect into the primitive mind of the Arab mentality and to the very legitimacy of Islam as God's word. Islam is the only religion, the only belief system in a supernatural deity that entices its adherents with the promise of a decidedly puerile, salacious, beastial, unspiritual nature, with the promise of an eternal afterlife of carnal indulgence without end. No other religion resorts to the sort of whorish pandering in which Islam...

It was December of 1994 that Linnie Smith of New Hudson, Michigan, "died" and returned. And when she did, she had an incredible description of Jesus. What she saw, as you will note in a moment, should be a warning to atheists: Many dozens -- hundreds, indeed thousands -- are those who return from death's door with a similar description. In all the fuss over Christmas, in all the commotion over its denial -- in the inconceivable hoopla over taking the Name of Jesus out of His very birthday -- we can rest assured of one thing: there are great...

One night while diving for lobster on the island of Mauritius, an Australian named Ian McCormick was stung on his forearm by what local Creole fishermen call "invisibles": extraordinarily poisonous but hard to see "five-box" jellyfish, in the nomenclature of the trade. Medics were called -- urgently. It was an emergency if ever there is an emergency. "Found in the waters off northern Australia, the box jellyfish Chironex fleckeri is not the only marine invertebrate to use venom, but it is the possessor of arguably the most lethal venom in the world," notes one expert. "In the past half...

Now I'm not a supporter of Mitt Romney, however I do think he deserves an equal chance to be elected President without being discriminated against. I would want Mitt to lose perhaps to Fred Thompson or Rudi, but Mitt should be given the chance to lose fairly, not by unfairly targetting his religion. Hindu, Catholic, Protestant, Muslim (i.e., Wafa Sultan is an example of a Muslim woman braver than any of us in the War on Terror), etc. Give each man or woman a fair chance as individuals... that's what the US consistution and this forum is all about. I...

Thirty years ago, fast living, drugs and heart disease buried quintessential entertainment icon, Elvis Presley. Ever since, admirers have tried in vain to recapture the heart-palpitating moments they experienced when the King of Rock and Roll was alive. Devoted fans drag him out of the grave via trashy memorabilia, movies, CDs, postage stamps, tattoos and Elvis impersonators. Just yesterday, after years of snubbing the impersonation concept, Elvis Presley's estate capitulated and held a contest to find the “Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist.” To commemorate this week’s 30th anniversary of his death, Elvis’s only child, Lisa Marie who was nine when he...

I would like your feedback suggestions and help on a new movie about Heaven. We are in the early stages but would like to get feedback on all aspects of the movie and suggestions of all kinds. You can help with prayers, your ideas about heaven, suggestion, and telling your friends. And also suggestions on fund raising or anything else you think would help. Thanks very very much in advance for your feedback. You can find more information at http://www.theheavenmovie.com .

A man and his dog were walking along a road. The man was enjoying the scenery, when it suddenly occurred to him that he was dead. He remembered dying, and that the dog walking beside him had been dead for years. He wondered where the road was leading them. After a while, they came to a high, white stone wall along one side of the road. It looked like fine marble. At the top of a long hill, it was broken by a tall arch that glowed in the sunlight. When he was standing before it he saw a magnificent...

HELL is a place where sinners really do burn in an everlasting fire, and not just a religious symbol designed to galvanise the faithful, Pope Benedict XVI has said. Addressing a parish gathering in a northern suburb of Rome, the Pope said that in the modern world many people, including some believers, had forgotten that if they failed to "admit blame and promise to sin no more", they risked "eternal damnation - the inferno". Hell "really exists and is eternal, even if nobody talks about it much any more". The Pope, who as cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was head of Catholic...

ENOCH AND ELIJAH: R.I.P.By M. Thomas Wark   Introduction:     Christians who believe in the immortality of the soul or spirit sometimes point to the antediluvian patriarch Enoch and the prophet Elijah as examples of men who have never died and are alive in heaven.     Enoch is sometimes further taken as a type of the "pre-tribulation rapture" of the Body of Christ at the end of this dispensation! According to this theory, just as Enoch was "snatched away" to heaven and safety before the Flood, so also will Christians at the end of the dispensation of grace be...

                                                                                                    Where Are Enoch and Elijah? Enoch was translated that he should not see death. Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. Yet the Bible reveals they are not in heaven today! Here's the astounding truth. Part One: Where Is Enoch?Enoch was "translated." Where did he go? Was he immediately taken to heaven? No! Because Jesus Himself said: "No man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the...

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- A recent sermon by the papal preacher, Capuchin Father Raniero Cantalamessa, took aim at John Lennon's famous line, "Imagine there's no heaven," saying it represented an empty, secularized vision of human destiny. But an Italian biblicist, Father Carlo Buzzetti, has approached the question from a different angle: The modern church, he said, does a lousy job imagining what heaven is like and communicating it to the faithful. Most Catholics, Father Buzzetti said, understand heaven as a vague place of eternal survival, where happiness can become monotonous and where the absence of human passions creates an "anemic"...

Hell––a bone of contention in our culture that often sees an everlasting state of punishment as somehow too sadistic and too cruel ... therefore a state of being that many hotly reject. I have something to suggest about the nature and severity of that punishment and I should be very clear that this is an analysis––MY ANALYSIS––and not a statement of vital doctrine. There are two principal torments indicated in scripture: the worm and the fire. The worm is within and the fire is without. Of the worm: I suggest that this is the "itch" to sin. I've often seen...

<p>Some years ago, my family adopted a kitten. He was so gray—even his eyes—that we named him Charcoal. We took to him right away, and he became our faithful companion and friend, living with us for years, moving with us three times. Like one of the family, he loved us and we loved him.</p>

Testimony, not Biographyhttp://scoutoath.tripod.com/id17.html By Hans Zeiger I once went to a car race where most of the cars were marked with the names and logos of their sponsors and drivers. Only one car stood out. This one was a sprint car, and it carried a simple message on the side: “Jesus is Lord.” As I watched the racers zoom around the track, I reflected on the difference between that car and all the rest. The race is now but a flash of memory – the dust settled, the fans went home, perhaps the prize money was spent – but that...

The story, if I remember correctly was written by a young man who actually died shortly after it was penned. It talks about going to heaven and finding a large card catalogue shelf with a drawer with his name on it. Upon opening he sees all the sins of his life... thousands of them. In his shame he thumbs through them and at the deepest depth of dispair he is approched by Jesus. He begs Jesus not to read the cards but he begins anyway. As Jesus begins to pull cards out of the deck they are blank. one by...

Belief in hell is going to you-know-where. And belief in heaven is in trouble, too. That's the concern of some Christian thinkers, including Jeffrey Burton Russell, an emeritus professor of history at UC Santa Barbara, and author of the new book “Paradise Mislaid: How We Lost Heaven and How We Can Regain It� (Oxford). Russell and other fretters aren't impressed by fads like the sudden popularity of the girl's name Naveah (heaven spelled backward) or polls that show most Americans believe in some sort of heaven. The growing problem, according to Russell and others, is that the way U.S. Christians...

NEAR THE SYRIAN BORDER, Iraq (April 29, 2006) -- The Marines watch impatiently as a KC-130J Hercules flies to the target area and six pallets come falling down in its wake. The parachutes open and the cargo slowly descends to the ground. The Marines run out to detach the parachutes and load the palettes onto a flatbed truck - mission accomplished. The Marines of the 1st Air Delivery Platoon, Combat Logistics Company 117, Combat Logistics Battalion 7, Combat Logistics Regiment 1, 1st Marine Logistics Group, successfully delivered about 800 cases of Halal meals to Iraqi border patrol forces along the...

Mid-Level Business Staffers Hit Hardest... Time Inc. eliminated another 250 jobs today in its latest, largest and, perhaps, last round of cutbacks. The mid-level and junior-level workers shown the door almost all came from the business side of operations at a long list of titles. "As Time Inc. continues to evolve from a magazine publisher to a multiplatform media company, we're continuing to look at our cost base and how to run our business more efficiently and effectively. In doing so, unfortunately, we've had to eliminate a number of positions." "But it's not just about cost cutting," Ms. Zelenko added...

Stacy at Christian Persecution Blog has an excellent article today called If your outlook is bad, then look up. It especially speaks to me because my life has been full of turmoil and upheaval lately. My wife and I sat down last week, counted things up, and found that between the two of us, we had had 5 surgeries, 4 emergency room visits, and a number of most unpleasant and painful office procedures within the past 2 years. She has also lost 2 immediate family members in the past 2-1/2 years and I have had 2 job changes. Life seems...

Carlton Pearson has still got it. The dapper clothes. The voluminous vocabulary. The toothy smile. And, perhaps most important, Mr. Pearson still has an unshakable conviction in his controversial "gospel of inclusion" – the belief that everyone will go to heaven, regardless of his or her actions on earth. The high-profile pastor lost followers, his church building, money and prestige – especially among conservatives – after he started preaching a few years ago that the gates of heaven are open to everyone, even, theoretically, to Satan. One prominent Pentecostal pastor, Clifford L. Frazier of St. Louis, summed up his reaction...

Brad at Broken Messenger had a really nice article yesterday on how our commitment to an object determines our true love of it. He explains how our commitment to Christ costs us a little bit now but gains us much, much more in the future. As I write this, I think about the single seed that gets planted in the ground now – dying, as it were – but yields a great harvest later. Brad writes: A relationship with Christ is a full commitment to be sure. His yoke is indeed light and His gifts are bountiful, but His will...

   For Mohammad, Heaven A Lonely PlaceBy a4gPoint Five Staff Writer @ 3:08 pm Despite throngs of followers, few willing to join him in paradise. Mohammad stands alone in paradise. An ill-advised prohibition against idolatry has left faithful followers unable to recognize his face.   A Point Five special report:Part seven in the Conversations series. HEAVEN - There’s a large sign above the gates of heaven that says, “All who seek comfort are welcome here”. But for Mohammad, heaven is a lonely place.“I look at Jesus, and he’s surrounded with followers. A rock star. Oh Allah, what a fool I...

Article Last Updated: 12/19/2005 08:18 AM a denver post special report Letting go: Dylan's last days Two parents face an agonizing test of faith and love for their son By Kevin Simpson Denver Post Staff Writer DenverPost.com Dave Walborn lifted his son upright, all 32 pounds of him, slipped one hand behind his lolling head and gazed into the open but vacant blue eyes. He spoke out loud the words that would move him and the boy's mother, Kerri Bruning, one step closer to an excruciating decision. "Dylan, it's OK if you want to go," he said. "I don't want...

A teacher dies and goes to Heaven. When she gets there she meets Peter at the pearly white gates. Peter says to her, "Welcome to Heaven. Let me give you an orientation first." So, Peter takes her to some beautiful mansions. The teacher asks, "Who lives here in these beautiful houses?" "These are for doctors. They did a lot of good on Earth so they get a nice mansion," replied Peter. Peter takes the teacher to some more mansions. These were more magnificent than the first. "Wow, who lives here?" " These mansions are for social workers. They did a...

by Fr. Paul Scalia Other Articles by Fr. Paul Scalia Heaven, a Dove, a Voice 01/08/05 At your Baptism, did you notice the heavens opening? The Spirit of God descending like a dove? Perhaps a voice coming from the heavens? No, you probably did not. Even if you were old enough to know what was going on, you would not have noticed these things. Because they happened spiritually. But they happened nonetheless. At our Lord’s Baptism these things happened visibly and audibly: "The heavens were opened for Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming...

Imagine there's a heaven -- a place of truth and love. Start by imagining there is such a thing as "goodness" in this life, and then imagine we can recognize goodness because there is evil too. And we can see the choice clearly. And we can see that choosing evil leads to great heartbreak and destruction. And we can see that choosing good brings joy to life and to our souls. Now imagine you have a soul -- a place of truth and love -- something in you that longs for goodness, that longs for the God who made you....

An upcoming ABC TV special promises to take an in depth look at the subject of heaven. Anchored by Barbara Walters, and titled “Heaven. Where Is It? How Do We Get There?” a news release from ABC says the program will explore the meaning of heaven with religious leaders of the major faiths, scientists, people who say they believe in heaven because they’ve been there, and celebrities who are vocal about their beliefs. Show producers even talk with terrorists. According to the news release, Walters takes viewers on a journey around the world – to India, Israel and throughout the...

Christmas in Heaven I see the countless Christmas trees, around the world below, With tiny lights, like heaven’s stars, reflecting on the snow. This sight is so spectacular, please wipe away that tear, For I am spending Christmas, with Jesus Christ this year. I hear the many Christmas songs, that people hold so dear, But the sound of music can’t compare with the Christmas choir up here. For I have no words to tell you, the joy their voices bring, For it’s beyond description to hear an angel sing. I know how much you miss me, I see the pain...

NEW YORK — Most Americans believe in God, heaven, miracles and angels, and while the numbers are not quite as high, large majorities say they believe in hell and the devil. The latest FOX News poll finds that more than nine in 10 Americans (91 percent) believe in God and almost as many believe in heaven (87 percent). In addition, 84 percent say they believe in miracles and 79 percent in angels. What about the dark side? Almost three-quarters of Americans (74 percent) say they believe in hell and two-thirds in the devil (67 percent). As Halloween (search) approaches, the...

Stairway to heaven By James Langton (Filed: 25/09/2005) Space may still be the final frontier, but getting there could soon be almost as simple as stepping into the office lift at the start of the day. The race is on to build the first "space elevator' - long dismissed as science fiction - to carry people and materials into orbit along a cable thousands of miles long. In a significant step, American aviation regulators have just given permission for the opening trials of a prototype, while a competition to be launched next month follows in the wake of the $10...

This is the account of a minister, Howard Storm, from Ohio, who "died" in 1985 from a perforation in his intestines and returned with an account of hell. While he's a minister now (at Zion United Church of Christ in Norwood), at the time he was an atheistic professor, chairman of the art department at North Kentucky University. Storm describes himself as a selfish man who not only didn't believe but detested those who did. Then came the crisis on June 1, 1985, while he was leading students on a trip to museums in Paris. "I needed surgery immediately but...

August 22, 2005Memorial of the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary Psalm: Monday 37 Reading I1 Thes 1:1-5, 8b-10 Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy to the Church of the Thessaloniansin God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:grace to you and peace. We give thanks to God always for all of you,remembering you in our prayers,unceasingly calling to mind your work of faith and labor of loveand endurance in hope of our Lord Jesus Christ,before our God and Father,knowing, brothers and sisters loved by God, how you were chosen.For our Gospel did not come to you in word alone,but also in...

AD CAELI REGINAM ENCYCLICAL OF POPE PIUS XII ON PROCLAIMING THE QUEENSHIP OF MARYTO THE VENERABLE BRETHREN, THE PATRIARCHS, PRIMATES, ARCHBISHOPS, BISHIOPS, AND OTHER LOCAL ORDINARIES IN PEACE AND COMMUNION WITH THE HOLY SEE Venerable Brethren, Health and Apostolic Blessing. From the earliest ages of the catholic church a Christian people, whether in time of triumph or more especially in time of crisis, has addressed prayers of petition and hymns of praise and veneration to the Queen of Heaven. And never has that hope wavered which they placed in the Mother of the Divine King, Jesus Christ; nor has that faith...

An AIDS patient writes a letter to the HIV virus, forgiving it for the harm it’s done him and thanking it for inspiring him to live a fuller life. A recovering alcoholic reminds herself to “let go and let God.” Parents pray to see their son as “the perfect child of God” rather than call a doctor to prescribe medication for his earache. A collective of incorporeal beings sends this message to a best-selling author: “There is nothing you cannot be, do, or have.” What do these people have in common? All of them are heirs of the religious philosophy...

In his new book, Radical Evolution: The Promise and Peril of Enhancing Our Minds, Our Bodies—And What It Means to Be Human, (Random House, 2005), author Joel Garreau describes research so cutting edge it seems mind-boggling: • A telekinetic monkey at Duke University in North Carolina uses its mind to move a robotic arm 600 miles (a thousand kilometers) away in Cambridge, Massachusetts. • At a Pentagon R-and-D facility in Virginia, program managers aim to create the ultimate warriors—soldiers that can fight without sleeping, tell their bodies to stop bleeding, and regrow lost hands and limbs. Garreau notes that regular...

Abstract In a marvelous passage on the glories of heaven we are told that we are already seated in "heavenly places" (Ephesians 2:6) positionally declared righteous in His eyes, and able to receive His favor and participate in His plan for the ages. What will we do when we get to heaven? Eternity is a long time. Of course, we will enjoy a close and personal relationship with our Creator/Redeemer, thanking and praising Him for all He is and has done on our behalf, but will there be any jobs to do? Certainly we will delight in renewing acquaintances with...

WILL SUICIDE BOMBERS OBTAIN HEAVEN? Those who seek to terrorize others by killing themselves along with innocent people can never be assured of reaching Heaven. Among those in the Sacred Scriptures who committed suicide is Judas. And through the Word of God we know he lost his soul: “And Satan entered into Judas, who was surnamed Iscariot, one of the twelve” (Luke 22:3). “And he indeed hath possessed a field of the reward of iniquity, and being hanged (Judas hung himself), burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out....So that the field is called....’The field of blood‘”...

Those who seek to terrorize others by killing innocent people will not reach Heaven. Among those in the Sacred Scriptures who committed suicide is Judas. And through the Word of God we know he lost his soul: “And Satan entered into Judas, who was surnamed Iscariot, one of the twelve” (Luke 22:3). And we also know that for all eternity he will suffer the pains of Hell, for the death of a good person is not described like the death of Judas: “Men, brethren, the scripture must be fulfilled....concerning Judas....Who was numbered with us, and had obtained part of this...

When you’re packing for vacation this summer, I recommend you take along: "A Travel Guide to Heaven" by Anthony DeStefano. It is a solidly orthodox, fast-paced, and fun-to-read book. Now, I was skeptical about this little book when it first came out, and I said as much on “BreakPoint.” I was afraid it would pander to our inborn narcissism. But then I went back and looked at it again and realized that I was wrong. The book is solid, and DeStefano builds his case for the wonders of heaven, relying only on biblical passages and church tradition. Life on earth,...

Kingdom of Heaven: Propaganda or History? by James F. Burke New Republican Archive After the anti-Christian Left was blind-sided by the popularity of Mel Gibson’s Passion of the Christ, key influencers in the media complex were eager to promote the release of Ridley Scott’s Kingdom of Heaven. Indeed, one finds the loudest praise for the film coming from the pages of the most radical left-wing papers and journals here in the U.S. and, of course, in Europe. Why then is turnout so high here in the U.S.? Viewers hoping for a more positive (or at least less anti-Christian) take on...