A Life Without a Heaven

This past weekend, Daniel and I were walking on a downtown street in a town on the coast of California and we heard a song coming from a boom box that was being carried in a baby stroller by some peace demonstrators. It was one of those songs that just the sound of the music makes you want to hang around and enjoy it. The song was called "Imagine" by John Lennon.

Long after we had left the downtown area, I couldn't get the song out of my head. All day long I was either humming the tune to myself or trying to remember the words. Eventually I got back to my computer and looked up online, the lyric to Imagine.

Part of the song went like this: Imagine there's no heaven, it's easy if you try. No people below us, above it's only sky. Imagine all the people, living for today. To hear those words combined in a unique Beatle's tune was magical, but to actually read them was depressing. How fitting, I thought, that this song is in our generation and demonstrates much of the way many people view life. A life wrapped into a song of living life for today only --- and without a heaven.

It's dangerous to mock God, because some really bad things are going to happen. It's the cost of free will. A person can either obey God and leave the consequences up to Him, or they can reject God and suffer the consequences completely alone. Here are some men and women who mocked God:

John Lennon
Some years before, during his interview with an American Magazine, he said: Christianity will end, it will disappear. I do not have to argue about that. I am certain. Jesus was ok, but his subjects were too simple, Today we are more famous than Him (1966). Lennon, after saying that the Beatles were more famous than Jesus Christ, was shot six times.

Tancredo Neves (President of Brazil ):
During the Presidential campaign, he said if he got 500,000 votes from his party, not even God would remove him from Presidency. Sure he got the votes, but he got sick a day before being made President, then he died.

Cazuza (Bi-sexual Brazilian composer, singer and poet):
During a show in Canecoo ( Rio de Janeiro ), whilst smoking his cigarette, he puffed out some smoke into the air and said: God, that's for you. He died at the age of 32 of AIDS in a horrible manner.

The man who built the Titanic:
After the construction of Titanic, a reporter asked him how safe the Titanic would be. With an ironic tone he said: Not even God can sink it; The result: I think you all know what happened to the Titanic.

Marilyn Monroe:
She was visited by Billy Graham during a presentation of a show. He said the Spirit of God had sent him to preach to her. After hearing what the Preacher had to say, she said: I don't need your Jesus. A week later, she was found dead in her apartment.

Christine Hewitt:
A Jamaican Journalist and entertainer, said the Bible (Word of God) was the worst book ever written, in June 2006 she was found burnt beyond recognition in her motor vehicle.

Click here for some Imagination with eternal value:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxt5TsmEZaY

Life Principle #8--Fight every battle on your knees and you win everytime.

Whenever I read the 30 Life Principles by Charles Stanley, immediately my eyes are drawn to # 8. All the principles come together as being equally important, but for me, the eighth one is like a revolving door. If I'm not careful to exit out the other side of this door, I might find myself spinning out of control.

It's all about what God hates the most. Pride. Pride is essentially self-worship. There is nothing in this world that we could accomplish on our own if not for God sustaining and enabling us. Pride keeps many people spiritually bankrupt. It is God's promise that He opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.

A good example of self-worship gone bad is the story of six of the wealthiest men back in 1923. They were Charles Schwab, president of the largest independent steel company at the time. He lived on borrowed money the last five years of his life and died penniless. Richard Whitney, president of the New York Stock Exchange. He served time in Sing-Sing prison at the end of his life. Albert Fall, a member of the president's cabinet. He was pardoned from prison at the end of his life so he could go home to die. Jesse Livermore, the greatest bear on Wall Street. He committed suicide. Ivan Krueger, head of the world's greatest monopoly at the time. He also committed suicide. Leon Frasier, president of the Bank of International Settlement. He, too, committed suicide.

If any fight seems worth fighting for, try stripping the pride away first and if there is anything left after that, then do like Joshua did. The Battle of Jericho was a perfect example of fighting a battle on your knees. God spoke to Joshua telling him to march around the city once every day for six days with the seven priests carrying ram's horns in front of the ark. The walls of the city collapsed on the seventh day, and the Israelites were able to charge straight into the city. The city was completely destroyed. Only Rahab (yes the prostitute) and her family were spared, because she had hid the two spies sent by Joshua.

There are so many people's lives that are reflective of how humbleness is exalted. Christ could have been born in castle, but God chose a stable. He could have ridden into town clothed with fine linen and carried by servants, but he dressed simple with sandals and bridled a donkey.

He gave the best Christmas present over 2000 years ago. Eternal life -- a totally free gift. Sadly most people don't accept the gift because of pride. To think they may need a savior is perhaps too humiliating.Fighting a battle on your knees is probably the most humbling experience of all. In a worldly way, you are admitting defeat. But when God speaks, He speaks.

The Lord is a warrior, Exodus 15:3