Jesus has some interesting words regarding marriage in Heaven …

“But those who are considered worthy to attain to that age and to the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage.” [Luke 20:35, ESV]

This puzzles those that have happy, fulfilling marriages in this life. If a marriage here is a gift for which God has delineated many reasons in Scripture, why will that marriage no longer exist in Heaven? Scripture is very clear that our marriages are of limited duration, a bond dissolved by death.

Why?

First we must be clear that the Scripture is adamant there will be a marriage in Heaven. There is one marriage which God tells us will be enacted in glory:

“Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready.” [Revelation 19:7, ESV]

When Pete Absolon, the Rocky Mountain director of NOLS, set out for a climb in Wyoming’s Wind River Range last summer, life couldn’t have been better. A deadly mistake by another man ended it all in an instant. An sobering story of tragedy, sovereignty, grace and forgiveness.

Whew! I finally figured out how to stay safe.

There’s a blog over at Reclaiming The Mind ministries summarizing Pat Roberston’s predictions for 2008 (an immanent stock market crash that is scheduled for this year. Oil will reach $150 a barrel. As well, because of the crash, in the chaos, many people will seek the Lord. “We will see the presence of angels and we will see an intensification of miracles around the world.”)

What’s noteworthy is that he allegedly “receives these revelations from the Lord as the Lord speaks to him during prayer.” In other words, this is a “thus sayeth the Lord.” If one is willing to take a stance that they have received such revelation for the Lord, they must be judged as prophets - either “true” prophets or “false” prophets. Let’s take a cursory look at Pat Roberston’s record for prophetic revelation:

1980: The USSR will invade the Middle East

Michael Patton masterfully wrestles with this important and practical topic in Part 2 of his blogs on this subject. He skillfully dismantles this piece of common folk theology, getting to the heart of the matter. Starting with a powerful reductio ad absurdum …….

The satirical Wittenburg Door has an interesting interview with NT Wright here. Worth your time to read. The Door tosses out some tough questions, but Wright doesn’t shy away from answering. Some of the questions …

- How do you respond to those who interpret scripture using the lens of personal experience?
- How do we reach people for whom church is not part of their vocabulary?
- How do we balance the experience of the church with the authority of scripture?

If you’re intimidated by the postmodern challenges to the Church, yet you don’t want to abdicate responsibility for reaching 21st century cultures, then perhaps this conference is for you … Westminster Seminary in California is hosting a missional and reformed conference in mid-Jan.