It Ain't Heaven Until Heaven

Last Sunday night I heard a sermon on heaven. Heaven is a wonderful place and I want to go there. But I have to constantly remind myself that it ain't heaven until heaven. Let me explain what I mean and see if you can relate.

Often times I can get frustrated, disappointed, and even downright angry because things aren't the way I would like them to be. I expect things to be a certain way. I expect people to act a certain way. When my expectations aren't met, then I am disappointed. The problem is that I have expectations that I have no right to have.

I live in a sin-cursed world. Things don't always go the way I expect. People don't always do what I expect. But neither do I. I don't always do what I should and I don't always respond to the circumstances and people in life like I should. It ain't heaven yet. When I keep this in mind then I can enjoy so much more. I am never going to know heaven here on earth no matter how hard I try to create it. Most people are trying frantically to produce a perfect world for themselves. Ain't gonna happen.

Heaven is something to look forward to. Heaven is our hope. I have to keep this in mind. I must remember that for the Christian, this world is the worst it is ever going to be. We have nothing but better things to look forward to. That's a kind of truth that can give me strength for today.

When we all get to heaven, what a day of rejoicing that will be .

Maranatha.

Shepherds' Conference Debrief

After what has been referred to as an "epic" Shepherds' Conference, the dust is finally settling here at Gcomm on a rainy Monday afternoon. Here are some of my reflections.

• The eagerness of the men - The conference started at 10:00 on Wednesday with registration opening at 8:00. In past years when I have arrived at 8:00 there was a small group of men on campus. This year it seemed like 3,000 were already there when I arrived.
• The hunger of the men - My seminar was in the first seminar session on Wednesday afternoon. My topic was the ministry minefield (biblically dealing with the inevitable ministry problems). Since I am the new guy here and my seminar was on problems I envisioned me and a couple of guys sitting around, drinking Cokes and talking about ministry. Not so! The room was packed out before I even arrived. In the following sessions I went to seminars based on room size because unless you got there early you would be standing up in most of them.
• The fellowship of the men - This was evident from the main speakers and throughout the conference. The men were just enjoying studying, singing, and talking together. I had a great time visiting with the men from my former church in San Antonio, men I went to seminary with, and friends I have made along the way. The fellowship was sweet.
• The commitment of the men - I talked with one friend who preached his last sermon at his church last Sunday. He has been asked to leave by the leadership. He was still trusting the Lord and looking forward to the next ministry opportunity. I was also greatly impacted by the story of Steve Lawson and how he was chased out of his previous church but he is still faithfully and effectively serving the Lord. This kind of commitment is encouraging.

It was also interesting for me to be involved with this conference from the perspective of a staff member. I had to park far away on some days, but I also got to go to a small, informal meeting featuring CJ, Al, Mark, and Ligon and I got to invite some of my friends to go along. I also had many opportunities to minister personally to pastors. The last one was after the Communion service on Sunday afternoon and this dear brother could have sat and asked questions for a month (by his own admission).

Sometimes we can get discouraged about the condition of the church, but when you have a conference like this you realize there is a lot to be thankful for.