Heaven! What the Bible says about Heaven!
Dear Sr. Adult Friends,
Pastor (author) Randy Alcorn is not afraid to entertain thoughts and questions on the subject of Heaven. Recently I read some of his thought provoking stuff about the subject. He conjectured that when we are getting ready to go somewhere or live somewhere, we take the time and effort to study our destination. So, why in the world would we put in all that effort to study a place we will visit or spend our earthly lives and not invest even greater effort into where we are going to spend eternity, forever?
Man, that is a great thought to motivate us in our upcoming study of Randy's book "Heaven." There has to be a thousand questions in our minds about what heaven is going to be like and what are we going to do. Are we going to sit around and sing all day? Are there unpopulated places in heaven where we can get away from it all?
Let's apply some time and mental energy in this direction. Just this past week I was with a man who was dying. I sang to him, though I'm not sure he could hear me. I prayed the Lord's Prayer with him. I shared a prayer of thanksgiving for that man. It's been my belief over the years that we get no closer to heaven on earth than when we spend time with a dying saint. I whispered, "Look up my dad and mom, "H. Lavern and Eunice!" and then, "Look for my brothers, Larry & Bruce." If we Christians believe what we say we do, why in the world don't we try to find out as much about Heaven as we can!!!
One of my first Scriptures to memorize when I was a child was, "Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God. Believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you. I go now to prepare a place for you and if I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am you may be there too. And where I am going you know and you know the way!" Thomas sad to Jesus, "Lord, we do not know where you are going, so how can we know the way?" Jesus replied, "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father any other way than me!" (John 14:1-6)
I did that out of memory while sitting here in the recliner in our front room. So, the punctuation is a bit off, but you get the picture. Heaven. Early in my ministry days we used to sing a little chorus, "Heaven is a wonderful place. Filled with glory and grace. I want to see my Savior's face. Heaven is a wonderful place!" Listen! Heaven has no comparison here. Just wait. Let's keep our little hand in God's big hand, all the way home!!!
Artist John Strommes down on 3rd St. just happened to have 4 copies of the textbook, "Heaven." He gave them to me for free! I (Wes) am happy to loan them out, but want them back for a future class. Discount copies of the book are available on Amazon, Ebay and other places.
Here are the details :
Starts: April 12, 2026
Class: Destiny Class
Title: Heaven. (Rick Warren said, "This is the best book on heaven I've ever read.")
Place: Room 220 Church on the Hill
Time: 10:15 AM (Sundays)
Text Books: Bible; "Heaven" Randy Alcorn, and, others.
And, I want you to know I have already put in a request to Randy Alcorn to come out and spend an evening with us during our study of his book
And, last of all, my disclaimer: we have other great SS Classes in our church. We have LOTS of small groups. I am excited about "advertising" your class and your events. Just let me know.
Friend,
Pastor Wes Smith
Church on the Hill, McMinnville, OR
