heaven on earth

This morning, I was reading in 2 Samuel and 1 Chronicles the part about David wanting to build a temple for the ark of God. In this passage, David says "Here I am, living in a palace of cedar, while the ark of the covenant of the LORD is under a tent." David recognizes the inequity between his dwelling and the dwelling place of God and wants to do something about it. That concept really got me thinking. How many of us are concerned about the inequity between our abundance and blessing and that of the current dwelling place of God, the current temple of the Lord .... His people.

Lately, Jamie and I have also been reading "Velvet Elvis" by Rob Bell. If you haven't read it, I highly recommend it....so much good stuff in there (which I will probably be blogging about sporadically). But this morning, as I was reading "Velvet Elvis," God reiterated the lesson above for me. In the book, Rob Bell is talking about heaven and how it is not a future place, but a reality here and now for those who are believers. Here is an excerpt from what he says:

"Jesus said that as this new reality takes over our hearts and lives and minds and actions, we are crossing over 'from death to life.' He called this new kind of life 'eternal life.' For Jesus, eternal life wasn't a state of being for the future that we would enter into somewhere else; it is a quality of life that starts now....

When we choose God's vision of who we are, we are living as God made us to live. We are living in the flow of how we are going to live forever. This is the life of heaven, here and now. As we live this life, in harmony with God's intentions for us, the life of heaven becomes more and more present in our lives. Heaven comes to earth...

Now if there is a life of heaven and we can choose it, then there's also another way. A way of living out of sync with how God created us to live. The word for this is hell: a way, a place, a realm absent of how God desires things to be. We can bring heaven to earth; we can bring hell to earth...

When people use the word hell, what do they mean? They mean a place, an event, a situation absent of how God desires things to be. Famine, debt, oppression, loneliness, despair, death, slaughter -- they are all hell on earth.

Jesus' desire for his followers is that they live in such a way that they bring heaven to earth.

What's disturbing then is when people talk more about hell after this life than they do about hell here and now. As a Christian, I want to do what I can to resist hell coming to earth. Poverty, injustice, suffering -- they are all hells on earth, and as Christians we oppose them with all our energies. Jesus told us to."

So to follow Christ, to live the life of heaven on earth, to take care of God's current temple, we must be concerned about others, about injustice, about using the resources that God has blessed us with (whether it be gifts, talents, material blessings, prayer) to oppose hell on earth.

I am so thankful for those of you who are already doing this, who are bringing heaven to earth here and now. I have been able to see it so clearly lately in people rallying behind me to help prepare for my trip to Uganda. It has been amazing to see people pour out generously to support me financially, to encourage me spiritually and to meet a need STAO has by getting a laptop for their use. (Seriously, thanks guys....I think I have been offered 5 laptops at this point!) Though I know many of you can't go and would want to, please know that a piece of you will be going with me...through your prayers, your financial support, and your love. Thanks for helping me attempt to bring heaven to earth :)

leaping...

So, I did something scary yesterday (no not skydiving -- a little different type of leap). I booked my ticket for Uganda. This was (and still is!) scary for two reasons: #1 -- it means I am actually going and #2 -- I booked the ticket only having about half as much money as I need to pay for it. It did feel a little bit like I would imagine skydiving does, jumping into the unknown....guess that's why they call it a leap of faith. The thing is, this is something I have to do. Despite my apprehension recently about this trip (mostly due to its proximity to my wedding), I realized that all of my doubts and fears were coming from ME not God. I promised God I would pursue this dream until He closed the door or told me not to -- and He hasn't. So here I am taking a huge leap, knowing that God WILL provide. My part is to pursue God's will to the best of my ability... pretty sure He can handle the rest ;). As Nelson (the pastor in charge of STAO says): "He has a thousand cattles on a thousand hills. He is going to sell one for you."