young bethany swift's sudden departure from this world causes me to think deeply again about the nature of the heavenly realm. i have noticed that tragic and seemingly untimely deaths and the shock effect of them on us tend to open and soften our hearts to ponder life and death and Life beyond.
however, i am convinced that many people have been trapped in medieval concepts of that marvelous place in which truly the beauty and glory of God is fully on display and that society in which his will is fully done. i believe that one of the devil's greatest ploys in history has been to create an intrinsically distasteful image of God's realm in people's minds thus causing real doubts in their hearts about desiring to live there and to live forever and thereby evoking guilt about feeling this way. haunting images of a non-material, ethereal existence that is sort of like a never-ending earthly church service (except for the presence of chubby naked baby angels) are lodged in our imaginations and either make us want to live as long as we can in this sad and fallen world or even take the risk that there might be a crazy party to join in on with the sinners in hell. one of my goals is to preach to the people of this world about God's realm in such a way that a deep and gut-wrenching hunger to live with Jesus and the Father forever is imparted to them that then becomes a powerfully motivating force for them to live well and nobly during their time in this world.
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