This also sounds like a silly question. What has God given us? In a word: everything.

This planet we live on is perfectly adapted for us to live on. As Genesis 1:29-31 (BBE) says, "And God said, 'See, I have given you every plant producing seed, on the face of all the earth, and every tree which has fruit producing seed: they will be for your food: And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the air and every living thing moving on the face of the earth I have given every green plant for food:' and it was so. And God saw everything which he had made and it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day."

God also gave us sex. Genesis 2:18 (BBE) reads, "And the Lord God said, 'It is not good for the man to be by himself: I will make one like himself as a help to him
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But sex for sex's sake isn't what we were created for. Psalms 127:3 (BBE) explains, "See, sons are a heritage from the Lord; the fruit of the body is his reward."

Children are given to us to raise to be good and God-respecting adults. As Ephesians 6:4 )BBE) says, "And, you fathers, do not make your children angry: but give them training in the teaching and fear of the Lord."

But we believers aren't without future hope but have heaven to look forward too. Jesus promised in John 14:2 (BBE) that, "In my Father's house are rooms enough; if it was not so, would I have said that I am going to make ready a place for you?"

We know that Christ died to pay our sin debt. What a relief that we don't have to spend eternity in hell. And when Christ returns, we'll spend forever with him. As Paul wrote in 1 Thessalonians 4:16 and 17 (BBE), "Because the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a word of authority, with the voice of the chief angel, with the sound of a horn: and the dead in Christ will come to life first; Then we who are still living will be taken up together with them into the clouds to see the Lord in the air: and so will we be for ever with the Lord."

What a shame that we Christians don't ponder just how blessed we are. Everything we have and are comes from God, even our salvation. I'll be writing more on this in my next book called You Think You're Going to Heaven? We tend to forget the great privilege we have as adopted children in Christ's family. Many churches also fail to teach these wonderful facts. May the Lord help people believe through what I've written.

On Thursday, I'll post about how Christianity is unique. It's based on love, not fear and hate.

Saturday Song: Telex, "We Are All Getting Old"

I discovered this group's records in the delete bin at a local record store back in 1988. Costing only a dollar each, I figured I couldn't lose much. When I played both disks, I fell in love with the band's electronic music.

Hear this song here.

It certainly is true that we are all getting old. We feel it in our muscles and bones as we age. Even so, God is eternal.

As the Bible says in Isaiah 51:6 (KJV)  "Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath: for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment, and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner: but my salvation shall be for ever, and my righteousness shall not be abolished."

Though we die physically, we who have our trust in Christ's work of atonement still have hope. As 1 Thessalonians 4:16 (KJV) reminds us, "For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:"

Even the Old Testament saints knew they would be resurrected to new life someday. Job 19:26 (KJV) says, "And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God:"

So, what do you think of this song and what I wrote? Please comment below. But if you don't want to or the site won't let you write anything, have a wonderful weekend anyway.

Do Our Souls Sleep Until Christ's Return?

This month, I'd like to move on to the subject of the resurrection. It's the most important factor in our lives and our eternal destination. But I first want to clear up the matter of what happens before we believers rise from the dead.

I read a blog post recently which claimed that Christians don't go to heaven when they die. This sounds like the doctrine of soul sleep to me.

One scripture passage which the post claimed to prove soul sleep is 1 Thessalonians 4:16 and 17 (KJV). "For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord."

It's obvious from the passage that this is speaking of resurrection at the last day. Even so, some people think that the word "sleep" in the previous verses means that the souls of Christians remain in the ground.

But what about John 11:11 to 14? The King James Version renders the words of Christ this way. "These things said he: and after that he saith unto them, 'Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep.' Then said his disciples, 'Lord, if he sleep, he shall do well.' Howbeit Jesus spake of his death: but they thought that he had spoken of taking of rest in sleep. Then said Jesus unto them plainly, 'Lazarus is dead.'"

And what of Revelation 6:9 to 11? The Bible in Basic English reads, "And when the fifth stamp was undone, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been put to death for the word of God, and for the witness which they kept. And they gave a great cry, saying, 'How long will it be, O Ruler, holy and true, before you take your place as judge and give punishment for our blood to those on the earth?' And there was given to every one a white robe, and they were ordered to take their rest for a little time, till the number was complete of the other servants, their brothers, who would be put to death, even as they had been."

Any clear-thinking person can understand from the contexts of those verses that sleep is a euphemism for death. It's also obvious that the souls of departed believers are in the presence of God. As Paul pointed out in 2 Corinthians 5:8 (KJV), "We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord." He never said he or we would rest in the ground.

Because I was grossly misled by wicked phoneys, claiming to be advanced teachers of spiritual revelation, I wrote How I Was Razed. This glorious testimony shows how the Lord led me out of a toxic church and into his awesome truth.