There is a common interpretation of Scripture that would have this be false, and I was put here to tell you that this interpretation is killing you. You will never attain that childhood vision of what you think you understand about eschatology. God is much more subtle and complex than this, and Christ's first coming demonstrated this, despite our brother Judah's master plan. You will lose your silver as long as you hang yourself with this willful vision of the Kingdom, held out to ? is "Mormons" really the correct answer? and fail to see the Kingdom in your next decision, and the one after that.
Your future will always, only, ever be just that. Future.
From Conversations With My Dog, Me:
"Yup, you sure say funny things, bird. Ok, then is when. Now is when and then is when, but now is never then."
Today is not the first day of the rest of your life, and the fact that it is a common premise should be a clue for you. The Bible is clear that now is the time, and it is the only time you are ever going to have, and today is the last day of your life in a very real sense. Amanah might have a little perspective, here...
Do you have a scripture reference for when you say a "common interpretation of scripture" or is it just a generalized reference...
By that I mean that the understood conception of Christ's second coming is surely naive, and all your eschatology, your image of Heaven someday, in an eternity that never begins, is understanding Christ's second coming like they understood His first, which is to say, completely wrong. That common image is a picture to hang on your mind, yes it "will be" like that, "when you're with Christ," right? And Christ died for you 2000 years ago...these are both true, of course, but they elicit an image that has been distorted out of all proportion, and they all too easily displace your center in time, by which I mean "remove you from present effectiveness." This is simply another way by which a Christian is made ineffective; you are never going to win over someone without "life, more abundantly," right now, and you are the worse for a witness if you postulate eternity at a thirsty man. If "Free beer tomorrow" is going to happen before "eternity" in your lexicon then you might take a look at that.
I read a book once as a youth... trying, trying to remember the title... it's just a distant memory... In it a man dies, he has gone to heaven where he is met by a guide to be shown around. Life is very different there with a richness and fullness but a familiarity. In the scene that has always stayed concreted in my mind as the rest has faded into background... They come upon a church, where there is singing of hymns and preaching... When the guide is asked why this would be in heaven the first person character is told that it is because for some this is 'heaven'... they have become so entrenched in the waiting and the expecting that they can not conceive that there is a happening all around them... and for this reason they will forever be where they are at.
Amen; until they are not. See the branch you will become, and be that branch in your next decisions, and you will do much greater things. Don't wait for Heaven.
I see what you are saying. Try not to live each day thinking about how it will be in eternity, and wondering, and never really living. But live each day, today, as if today is your eternity. Is that kind of in a nutshell what you are saying?
Your words challenge me. You have a way of saying things that makes you stop and think about what it is you are trying to say. Sometimes I have to read what you say several times to understand the point you are making.
I see what you are saying. Try not to live each day thinking about how it will be in eternity, and wondering, and never really living. But live each day, today, as if today is your eternity. Is that kind of in a nutshell what you are saying?
Your words challenge me. You have a way of saying things that makes you stop and think about what it is you are trying to say. Sometimes I have to read what you say several times to understand the point you are making.
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