Publisher's Synopsis
"Where will you spend eternity?" That's a question I've heard many a preacher ask at the end of his sermon. It's an evocative thing to say, and it is a well-intended leading query. It forces us to think about our mortality and what happens to us after we die. But as you entertain thoughts about forever, you should consider this matter of spending. From the moment you were conceived in your mother's womb, you became an eternal being. After you leave this world, you continue to exist, somewhere. There will never come a time when you will cease to be. That's why your time in eternity will never get "spent." Let's say you have a $5 bill in your pocket, and you walk into the coffee shop for a mucho gigundo half-caf lowfat extra-sugar latte with light whipped cream; the clerk will demand that you fork over the five. Once you turn loose of it, that money has been spent. You'll never get it back. You can earn other money to replace it, but that particular note is gone forever. It has been spent. Not so with eternity. No matter where you find yourself in the afterworld, and no matter how long you've been there, you will have come not one second closer to ending your stay. In other words, there is no such thing as "spending time" in eternity, because you will never run out of time. Thus the reason for this book. I Cor. 2:9 says that "Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him." However, that's not the end of the story. Verse 10: "But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God." Just because we haven't been to heaven, that doesn't mean we can't know anything about it. Our Creator has deposited the idea of eternity in our hearts (Ecc. 3:11), so it stands to reason that He would reveal some things about our final destination. This little book is designed to be something of a brochure for the heaven-bound tourist. After all, we're only pilgrims taking a brief journey through this life. Since the place we're headed is so much better, and since the Bible gives us several juicy details about it, I thought it might serve as an encouragement to the children of God. It's my hope that we can cut through some of the misconceptions that surround this mysterious place called heaven. Come along with me as we explore the wonders of a home filled with love, joy, and peace, a home where we never grow old, never get sick, and never experience grief. Best of all, we'll never be separated from the Father who created us or the Son who died to set us free. "Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal" - II Cor. 4:16-18.
