You can sleep when your dead....

...or so one of my favorite sayings goes. But the question I have tonight, albeit somewhat nonsensical, is "Can We?" or better yet "Do we?"

I'm not talking about the theology of soul-sleep, of which I am a fan (at least until I research it more), no I am talking about sleep in heaven. Will there be sleeping in heaven? Will we need to sleep in heaven? Will we want to sleep in heaven? I suppose I could turn to the scriptures and offer a well thought out discourse on "NO" or "YES," but why bother. I just like to ask the question. I don't know if I really want an answer or if it really matters that much, but it is an interesting question that came up tonight in a conversation with a friend.

It seems to me that there are two types of people, those who like sleep a lot and would do it for fun and those who only sleep because they can't function without it and only sleep as little as possible. I personally fall into the latter category. I'm not a big fan of sleep, I only sleep because I have to. Yes that may be a little bit of an exaggeration, but I don't think it's awfully far from the truth.

I personally wouldn't want to sleep in heaven, I would want to fill my eternity (ha ha as if that could happen) with all the wonderful things of heaven. Not that heaven is about me by any means (and thus this whole argument is futile, but for amusement's sake we will continue).

But some of my friends, and my sister for sure, who like sleep a lot more than I, will surely like to spend some of their eternity sleeping while basking in the glorious light of the lamb. This sounds like a good idea, but then again heaven doesn't seem to be about us... or at least our wants... that is unless your a Christian hedonist (cf: John Piper) and then maybe it is all about your desires because they are fulfilled in glorifying Christ.

So will there be sleep in heaven? I don't know and I'm not sure that I care to know. All I know is that I will get to be with my glorious Lord Jesus Christ and that is enough for me. Sleep or no sleep it doesn't matter, but I still think it's a fun question to think about.

Needless to say this post is a little trite and light-hearted, maybe it's a good change from some of the others, maybe not, but either way this type of post will probably be a rarity. I'll try to keep my more serious thoughts on here, but every now and then I'll try to lighten the mood.

Blessings, and may you all long for heaven and the return of our King.

Reading from morning devotions

The last few days (maybe a week or so) I've been reading/singing through a hymnal along with my other disciplines. I find this to be absolutely enlightening. Most of the time i just flip page by page until I see a hymn I know and I sing it, but occasionally a title will catch my eye and I'll read it and meditate on the words. That's what happened today, a title caught my eye after singing like 4 hymns and I started to read the words. The words really spoke to me so I thought that I would share them on here. The hymn may reveal my charismatic/mystical biases, but I'm in good company because after I was done I looked at who wrote it and realized it was Charles Wesley.

Come, Holy Ghost, Our Hearts Inspire
by Charles Wesley - pg 131 in the 1966 Methodist Hymnal

Come, Holy Ghost, our hearts inspire, Let us thine influence prove:
Source of the old prophetic fire, Fountain of life and love.

Come, Holy Ghost, for moved by thee The prophets wrote and spoke;
Unlock the truth, thyself the key, Unseal the sacred book.

Expand thy wings, celestial Dove, Brood o'er our nature's night;
On our disordered spirits move, and let there now be light.

God, through himself, we then shall know If thou within us shine,
And sound with all thy saints below, the depths of love divine. Amen.

I don't want to sound overly preachy, but we truly need the move of the Holy Spirit in our dead western Christendom. His move is not just for the charismatics or the pentecostals. No, the whole church is to be driven by the "celestial dove," we should expect to see the evidences of the Holy Spirit and the Kingdom of God in our churches as we earnestly pursue God. We should be actively moving in and practicing the gifts that are given to the church for the edification of believers.

I would write more but I'm off to lunch with my Pastor, and no we're not going to study the Purpose Driven Life (see post below entitled: "an email I sent a few people the other day.” if you're confused). I guess since I have to go, my ranting and raving will have to be saved for another day, but fear not, it will come.

On Conversion... more or less

I've been doing a lot of thinking about conversion lately. Some of it has been on my own and some of it has been through dialogue with some of you who may read this.

I really don't know how to phrase what I'm thinking, but I will give it a shot and maybe someone will have some input.

Most of these thoughts (that I'll get to in a bit) have risen out of an increased desire to see my lost friends become part of the Kingdom of God. My heart is continually burdened for their salvation, that they may know the joy, hope and love that I have in Christ. Although I desire their salvation, I don't desire them to "be saved" in the sense that most of western Christendom uses the term. I don' want them to pray a prayer and go on with their lives, I don't want them to be part of a Christianity that teaches them that they "must" worship God because they have an obligation, that they must do such and such because that is the way that "Christians" act.

No, my heart longs for them to have a deep and intimate relationship with the Living God. I want them to exceed the bounds of normal, complacent, dead Christendom and live in the fire of the Holy Spirit. I want them to long to worship God, because they delight themselves in Him.

But the question is how... how do I explain to them this depth that can be theirs, that God longs for them to have? A couple of them have some concept of Christianity but others have no god-concept at all. How do I start from scratch, a person with no conception of any of the things of God or gods and speak to them the supernatural and the things of the divine?

Suppose I do start with the small things of God, how do I lead them to the intense depth that God has for them? I don't know how I've come to see it and live in it (not that I have achieved the goal by any means - I am still running). I have sought God and he has been faithful to answer, he has drawn me into his heart.

I do not want to lead my friends in the "sinner's prayer" and have then believe that they have accomplished all they ever need to do. No I want them to thirst after God, to taste and see that he is good, to rise above the common level of Christianity and become passionately in love with the Holy and Triune God.

I know how to preach to God's people, how to call and beckon them deeper, it seems to come naturally because it is the message that I've been called to proclaim. For those who aren't in the flock I find myself at a loss of how to relate. I suppose I could take them through the "regular steps" and let them dwell in complacent and apathetic Christianity for an extended period of time before they are urged to go "deeper," to which they may respond or not. But, that seems insufficient to me, why must they go through that stage, I don't believe complacency is a normal part of the Christian maturation process. Christian growth is a process, but I don't believe part of that process is settling for a decaying faith that has no power or passion.

We must dispel this notion that the current state of the majority of Christendom is normal, and that intense passion and zeal are only for the ministers, the missionaries and those who actually have the courage to give something up. Christianity has always been about sacrifices, about following with passion and zeal - that is normal Christianity. Normalcy for believers should be lives that are lived with the possibility of martyrdom in the mind at all times. Normalcy in Christ means dying and giving of oneself, it means loving when it hurts and it means standing for things that most don't stand for (even those on the conservative "Christian" right).

I would even go so far as to challenge the "salvation" of those who live in this "normal" complacent Christianity. Faith without works is dead, and yes we only need to call upon His name, but if we call upon it we better carry it as our banner for all of our days. And that means being willing to pay the price, or better yet, paying the price in every breath.

This, it seems to me, is where true Christianity lies - in the sacrifice. It's funny though how if you stand for the things of God and are willing to pay the sacrifice you actually end up doing it. The price often starts first from the complacent mass of Christians who realize their inadequacies and don't want to sacrifice their "golden calves" of "Christian values" or "American dreams". They push you to the fringes and write you off as a zealot, liberal, or something in between.

Don't get me wrong, I don't believe I'm perfect and I don't believe I've figured everything out. I'm not trying to sound overly negative or arrogant, I just am passionate about the lost. I'm so passionate that I don't want them to become "Christians" I want them to become followers of Christ, pursuers of God, or people filled with the Holy Spirit - whatever you want to call it. I want them to skip the "phase" of complacency and live how true Christians should be living. I love my friends and I would give my life for them to become part of the Kingdom of God - a true citizen of the Kingdom, who lives passionately for God, ready to give his/her life in an instant for the gospel. I don't want them to live the way everyone else lives... no I want them to follow Christ. This is my desire, not just for my friends, but for myself (as I'm still running) and for all. We need to prepare ourselves as the bride of Christ, for a day is coming when our beloved will return and we must be ready.