In certain circles—including some religious ones—people deny that a real heaven exists in a real place. Instead, they say heaven is a state of mind—it if exists at all. Other people criticize thoughts about heaven as wishful thinking. To believe in heaven is to believe in fairy tales. Don’t be fooled. Heaven is not an alternative to reality. Heaven is reality. C.S. Lewis puts it this way:

If Heaven is not real, every honest person will disbelieve it simply for that reason, however desirable it is, and if it is real, every honest man, woman, child, scientist, theologian, saint, and sinner will want to believe in it simply because it is real, not just because it is desirable.

Heaven is a real place, created by God, that will exist forever. Heaven is where Jesus lives now (Acts 3:21) and where those who have trusted Jesus by faith will live in the future (John 14:2). Gary Habermas writes, “the life of heaven is eternal life.” And it isn’t merely a continuation of our life now. There will be no sorrow, crying, or pain in heaven, and the inhabitants of heaven will never again experience death (Revelation 21:4).

Sharing Your Faith

Immediately before Jesus left earth and ascended into Heaven, He gave this final instruction to His followers:

But when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, you will receive power and will tell people about me everywhere . . . (Acts 1:8).

Jesus said that we are supposed to be His witnesses (Acts 1:8). That means we should tell people what we know about Him. Plain and simple.

Sharing your faith should be the most natural thing in the world because it’s really nothing more than telling someone else the story of what God has done for you personally. It doesn’t have to be in a fancy speech or in a well-crafted presentation; in fact, it is better if it isn’t. Since the essence of Christianity is about a relationship with Jesus, you’re better off by simply sharing your personal story of what Christ means to you (it is called your “testimony”).

In the New Testament the word “disciple” was used to describe the relationship between Jesus and His followers. Jesus was often referred to as “Rabbi” (which means teacher), and anyone who followed Him was called a “disciple” (which means learner). A disciple was anyone who believed in Jesus (John 8:31) and who learned from Him (Matthew 5:1). The same is true today. A disciple of Jesus is one who has trusted Jesus as Savior and Lord, and who desires to learn from Him and follow Him fully.

Become a Disciple

Jesus is the one who calls us to be His disciples (Matthew 4:19). And He doesn’t just ask us to learn from Him. Jesus wants us to follow Him in everything we do. Discipleship means that we commit to the person of Christ as well as the teachings of Christ.

Your success at walking in the Christian life will depend upon a continuing and deepening relationship with Jesus Christ. You must stay connected with Him. Here is how Jesus explained it to His disciples:

Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful apart from me. Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing (John 15:4-5).

Staying connected with Christ is not solely for your benefit. Yes, it will change you from the inside out, and you’ll be a better person. But there is a collateral benefit to others. Just as Jesus had compassion for you, as you become more like Him, you’ll find that you have more love and compassion for others.

continue reading

GO TO CHURCH

Next to reading the Bible and praying, the most important thing you can do in your Christian life is go to church. That’s because the church is not some human idea or invention. The church is God’s great idea. Church is where the people who “belong to the Lord” and who have been “called out” by God (that’s what the word church literally means) gather regularly to worship God, study the Bible, and encourage one another.

Even though you probably go to a specific church, the definition of church is much broader than a particular location. In reality, the church includes all Christians—those who believe in the God of the Bible and have received Jesus Christ as their personal Savior—for all time. In other words, all Christians living today are part of the church, but so are all believers who have died. Here are some other qualities of the church:

• The church is invisible and visible. Because the church includes all genuine believers for all time, there is a sense in which the church is invisible. From our human perspective, we don’t know for sure who the true believers are, even in the church we attend. That’s because we can’t see people the way God sees them (1 Timothy 2:19). At the same time, the church is definitely visible. Professing Christians are the visible representation of the church.

continue reading

Learn To Pray

Before you start worrying about what to say when you pray, let’s consider whether you should pray at all. You’ve got many other things to think about as a new Christian. Perhaps this seemingly super-spiritual practice of “prayer” can be reserved for the veteran Christians and disregarded by the rookies.

Apparently not. God makes it very clear that He wants all Christians to be praying, because this is the primary way you talk with God. The Bible is pretty blunt about it, with verse like:

• Pray at all times (Ephesians 6:18)
• Devote yourselves to prayer (Colossians 4:2)
• Keep on praying (1 Thessalonians 5:17)

God doesn’t ask us to pray because He is lonesome. (Don’t flatter yourself. He’s not lonely, and you’re not that great of a conversationalist.) God wants you praying because prayer gets Him involved in your life. His involvement is an essential if you are going to grow as a Christian. For example:

• You gain spiritual strength through prayer.
• You are equipped to resist temptation through prayer.
• God will give you wisdom if you pray for it.
• Prayer plays a part in physical healing.
• You’ll only get to know God better as you communicate with Him.

continue reading

READ THE BIBLE

Now that you’re a Christian, you probably want to know God’s will for your life. It’s only natural, because now you are living for God, and not for yourself. Even though people tend to worry about finding God’s will, it doesn’t have to be that way—because finding God’s will isn’t that difficult.

We’re not talking about the specific things in your life—such as what kind of career you should pursue, or who you should marry, or where you should live. While these are important matters (and they matter to God), they aren’t at the heart of what God wants you to do. In fact, living in the center of God’s will for your life begins with God doing a work in your life:

We ask God to give you a complete understanding of what he wants to do in your lives, and we ask him to make you wise with spiritual wisdom. Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and you will continually do good, kind things for others. All the while, you will learn to know God better and better (Colossians 1:9,10).

Do you see how this works? God is ready to give you a complete understanding of what He wants to do in your life. He wants to make you wise. But God won’t force Himself on you. It’s up to you to please God by getting to know Him better and better. And the way to do that is to read and study His Word, learn how to talk with God through prayer, and regularly gather with other believers in church. If you do that, you’re going to be in the center of God’s will, because you will be doing what He wants you to do.

continue reading

If you are like most new Christians, you’re probably wishing you had some kind of guide or mentor to help explain the intricacies of Christianity. Actually, clarifying the intricacies would be a luxury that can wait; you probably feel that you’ve got a more pressing and immediate need for help with some of the basics:

• You want to please God, but how do you know what that entails?
• You want to read the Bible, but you aren’t sure that you can make sense of it.
• You guess that you should be praying, but that puts you in unfamiliar territory.

Is it unrealistic to think that you – as a novice – can survive the Christian life without constant counseling by a spiritual advisor?

We’ve got good news and bad news for you in this regard. First, the bad news: Yes, it is unrealistic to think that you can hack it as Christian without intense guidance. But now, the good news: God has made arrangements for your personal spiritual tutor. And better news: This spiritual mentor is not just some seminary geek who is fluent in ancient Hebrew and has a complete set of Disciple trading cards. Your personal spiritual counselor is none other than God Himself – in the Person of the Holy Spirit.

continue reading

It’s no small thing to be called a “Christian.” As a Christian, you are someone who has personally surrendered your life to Christ. It means you have accepted Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord:

• As your Savior, Jesus has literally saved you from eternal death and separation from God;
• As your Lord, Jesus now rules and reigns in your life.

We’re going to look more carefully at what the saving life of Jesus and the lordship of Jesus really means. But first, let’s consider who Jesus is.

Who Is Jesus?
Have you ever wondered what God would look like? Is it difficult for you to get a mental picture of Him? God knew that we mere mortals would have a difficult time conceptualizing a Spirit (that’s what God is—see John 4:24), so He sent His only Son, Jesus, to be a tangible, visible presence of God on earth. That’s the explanation the apostle Paul used when he described Jesus Christ:

Christ is the visible image of the invisible God (Colossians 1:15).

Jesus was God in human form. The word used to describe this is the incarnation. It literally means taking or being flesh. The Gospel of John says it this way:

So the Word became human and lived here on earth among us (John 1:14).

There are two very important things to know about Jesus: He was fully human and He was fully God.

• Jesus was fully human. In His humanity, Jesus had a human body, mind, soul, and emotions. He was so human that those who were closest to him didn’t think of him as anything else. Yet even though He experienced all of our frailties, including temptation, Jesus never sinned. This gives us tremendous hope and comfort, because we have a Savior who faced the same situations as we face, yet without sin (Hebrews 4:15-16).

• Jesus was fully God. The New Testament contains extensive proof for the deity of Christ. The words theos (God) and kyrios (Lord) are used to refer to Christ. Jesus Himself made many claims to his deity (see John 8:58 and Revelation 22:13), and the New Testament writers also referred to Him as God (John 1:1). In addition, there was ample physical evidence. Jesus had control over nature (Matthew 8:23-27), He forgave sins (Mark 2:1-12), and in the ultimate demonstration, He was resurrected after dying on the cross. This gives us tremendous assurance, because we have a Savior who can actually save us!

continue reading

So, you’ve made the choice to be a follower of Jesus Christ. That is an awesome decision; one that you will never regret. But we know that the initial stages of your new life as a Christian can be a bit intimidating. You may be thinking:
• What do I do next, and how do I learn more?
• Will my personality change?
• Are there rules and regulations?
• What have I gotten myself into?
We know that you might be vacillating between excitement, hesitation and curiosity.

Well, you can start by taking a deep breath and relaxing. The process of growing as a Christian is a simple as getting to know someone who will become your best friend. In fact, it is easier than that because Jesus Christ is already in love with you, and He has been all along, even before you made the decision to follow Him.

continue reading