"If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us." (1st John 1:8-10)
To me it seems to be one of the most preposterous claims made is, "when we all get to Heaven, what a day of rejoicing there will be." Properly pitched and presented the above statement is enough to drive the average Christian into an emotional frenzy. But, can you imagine for a moment what Heaven would be if we all made it to the place, we call heaven? For some reason, I tend to visualize a nightclub scene, dancing, and rejoicing but no order or purpose. Some even speak of shaking hands with their loved ones. This could be the setting for many heartbreaking moments. Imagine getting to heaven and not being able to find our loved ones. Forced to spend eternity missing our loved ones would not be the settings for a wonderful life in the hereafter. Truly, there must be something missing in the scenario that we are overlooking and not being not being told.
Maybe the Book of Job holds the answer. Did Job spend the rest of his life missing his lost children or did God reset Job's memory? If God did a reset, which is well within his power, then this would explain the lost civilizations. Try explaining the building of the pyramids and your dissertation digress into hopeless speculations.
What is most troubling about the scenario of "all of us going to Heaven" is will we be able to transplant this climate of hate to the Pearly gates? Are we looking forward to a Heaven where we will not have to deal with other ethnic groups? As a religious author, I have no qualms about those who do not profess to be a follower of Christ but I call into question the ministers of the Gospel who spouts hateful rhetoric while glorifying those who did all that was in their power to render the word of God impotent. There are too many Christians teaching the message of Christ but not following in his precepts.
On any given Sunday, Christian ministers stand in the presence of God and condemn public officials for their perceived indiscretion as if they themselves are innocent. There is no litmus test to prove that the accused is innocent or guilty. During the Salem Witch Hunt, dunking was one of the tools used to prove a person was a witch. Confessed they were a witch or drown were the only options, if they drown, they were innocent. How would Jesus handle the situation? Remember the woman caught in the very act of adultery, his response to the accusers was simple, "He that is without sin cast the first stone".
Why do we continue to plant the seeds of hate, while praying for God to heal the nation? After listening to a fiery message of her pastor on his hatred for a particular president, a young girl attacked her once close friend because her friend chooses not agree with the preacher's hateful rhetoric.
As we become of age, we have created a potpourri of labels that serves no purpose than to create dissension and hate. Once these labels are created they are added to the cauldron of hate where they act as a catalyst. The power to dominate is given by the rulers of our society and the power claimed by each group is to determine what is right or wrong for the masses. The consensus has been destroyed and all of the sacredness of God and the once Holy Church can now be attacked. As the power to dominate, the power to rule grew within the ranks of Christendom, community, and political platforms were reestablished within the church as they were in the days of Martin Luther.
Today, there are certain ethnic groups demanding their own God. The God of Abraham has been rendered irrelevant in a highly educated society. The detractors are searching the scripture for what they deem to be inconsistencies without even Understanding the Word of God. They ask such questions as, how old is the Earth or where did Cain get his wife? These questions could be put to rest if Christianity stepped out from behind its walls of religious quagmire and did a careful study of the first and second chapter of Genesis. The problem here is those who have attempted to interpret the scripture have attempted to adapt the scripture in accordance with certain denominational guidelines.
There are many shocking and sobering truths have become known since we began a study of Heaven and the part the church play in the overall scheme of God's plan. Christendom and the concept of Heaven have undergone radical changes since the time of Jesus Christ and his Apostles, yet it is loudly proclaimed that the Word of God never changes. History supports the theses, Pagan ceremonies and traditions were introduced into the professing church soon after the death of the original Apostles, and the belief structure of the church was changed. Even today the belief structure of the church is constantly changing. The justification of sin has allowed us to stray farther away from God than mankind ever has.
In Revelation 2-3, Jesus addressed a church that was suffering from spiritual corruption, a church that strove for political power and worldliness. The message of Jesus letters to the seven churches should not be lost on the churches of today. Herein is a simple question, what has the church become after Martin Luther rebelled against the Catholic church and paved the way for the Protestant Reformation? An answer to this question would put everything into proper context. Have we become closer to God or have we become more divided?
Theologian Martin Luther forever changed Christianity when he began the Protestant Reformation in 16th-century Europe. The trials and failure of Martin Luther's religious ideologies should not be lost on society, the divided churches and those who wield political power. Divisions and scandals plagued the Protestant camp during the days of Martin Luther. With the aid of armies of princes and political power, they sought to guarantee that the reformed religion that he decreed would be outwardly maintained.
Martin Luther's instructions to the German prince to "smite, strangle and stab" them in the name of God is often cast aside in favor of the good he strove to do. Yet, they had no power to cleanse the faith and morals of the subjects. They were unable to make one spirit of the warring factions that arose within the Protestant movement; they merely created a greater division. A closer study of Martin's action would find hate and envy lurking in the background, and these two entities would provide the fuel for his actions. What Martin Luther had sought to stamp out began to grow and denominations or kingdoms were established totaling more than 30,000 today. What the government tried to eliminate has grown.
A past president signed into a law a bill that was supposed to eradicate hate. A fine undertaking but it was an impossible task. Hate cannot be eliminated, to expose hate to the light of day causes it to grow. No one with a clear conscious can deny that from the date of that signing, hate has grown expediently. Like the church in the early days of the Protestant movement, our society has become divided and different groups are seeking to dominate. A simple question, what was achieved by the signing of a hate bill? Did it make one person say, "I love you?" A simpler question is, Are we so naive that we think we can create a society where everybody walks around saying, "I love you? An even simpler question is what difference would it make for a total stranger to "I just love you".
Could Martin Luther not have known that to attack the hierarchy of the Catholic Church in the name of religious purity would open a floodgate that would be destructive to the ideology that he sought to perpetuate? When a people seek to attack the bastion of hate by stirring the cauldron, what is the result? The heresy that Martin sought to stamp out, cultivated by his own hand, took root and flourished. The preaching of hatred that many have turned into an art form has grown and the rhetoric of an entire generation akin to the church is based on false narrative.
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