Acts20.com

A recent Facebook post of mine:I had a conversation with a dean of a seminary after he'd preached a message, and said something about 'going to heaven when you die.' He said something I kind of knew, but hadn't worked out of my active vocabulary yet. He said the New Testament never speaks of going to heaven when you die.The idea of going to heaven when you die is at best inferred from just a little scripture, like a certain interpretation of II Corinthians 5. It is not directly taught in scripture. It is certainly not some kind of doctrinal emphasis in scripture.The New Testament teaches and emphasizes the resurrection of the dead. Jesus taught the resurrection of the dead and argued for it against the Saducees. Paul said that for the hope of the resurrection, he was bound by chains. He wasn't bound because of the hope of dying and going to heaven. When Paul writes or speaks of his hope, his hope is the resurrection and the return of Christ.We who are in Christ wait for the return of Christ, the rapture, and the resurrection. That is our hope. Our hope is not eternal disembodied bliss in heaven. The kingdom of heaven is the kingdom of God. The Jews often used words like 'heaven' to describe God, because at that time, they did not like to say the name of God out of their sense of reverence. Our teaching and our presentations of the Gospel shoudl mirror the teaching and presentations of the gospel in the New Testament. We should speak of the return of Christ and the dead being made alive when we present the Gospel, like the apostles did, not dying and going to heaven forever and ever.Paul wrote to the Thessalonian church that they should not grieve as them that have no hope. Did he go on to write about disembodied bliss in heaven? No, he wrote that the dead in Christ shall rise first and we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together to meet the Lord in the air. He wanted believers to comfort one another with words of the rapture and resurrection. He did not say to comfort one another with words of dying and going to heaven. So when confronted with the death of believers, we should comfort them with talk of the rapture and the resurrection as Paul instructed us to do.It is ironic that in the past year or two, I've been to one Pentecostal funeral, one Roman Catholic funeral (first ever for me), and one Baptist funeral. The Roman Catholic funeral liturgy and speakes kept talking about the resurrection of the dead. I don't think I heard a word about it in the Pentecostal or Baptist funerals, but plenty of talk of dying and going to heaven

Rick Renner leans heavily toward WOF teaching, so I would not use his Gems from the Greek without verifying the data through more credible sources. The Heb 12:1passage is speaking more or less of the legacy of those who have gone before us, their ongoing witness encourages and prods us forward toward the goal.

Food for thought.What did Jesus look like following His resurrection and before His glorification?Did He resemble a zombie with a disfigured body?Jesus on the cross is a horrible and bloody image.Or was their a transitional form that retained the hand, side and foot wounds?If that is the case, could we not also inhabit a transitional form after death while we wait for our glorified body Charles A. HutchinsSenior Pastor SPWCCongregational Church of Godwww.spwc.church

2 Cor 5:8We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.2 Cor. 6 Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. 7 For we live by faith, not by sight. 8 We are confident, I say,

Thus my closing qualification, ...and even at that.He wanted to know where the idea comes from - I am not advocating the conclusion.(Is that good enough?) Very good, Tom. Hey, ya gotta qualify them sources ya know.