Heaven Presentation

On Saturday August 2, 2025 I gave the following Heaven Presentation to my churches men’s monthly meeting. It was well received. Toward the end of the presentation, you will notice at the end of about five paragraphs numbers in parentheses, such as (1). These refer to the Topical Cliff Notes I wrote based on John Burke’s book Imagine Heaven, that you will find on my website (douglasmwebb.com) under Writings called Description of Heaven.

 This morning, we are going to talk about Heaven.

 I am currently writing a book about Heaven, called Bringing Heaven to Earth & The Intermediate Heaven, and I am using three primary references:

 Surprised By Hope by N. T. Wright

Imagine Heaven by John Burke

Touching Heaven by Dr. Chauncey Crandall

 Surprised By Hope is one of Wright’s most popular books. I call it his theology of Heaven. One of the things Wright emphasizes is the importance of Matthew 6:10 “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven.” Wright says we should spend our Christian life helping to bring Heaven to earth.

 In Imagine Heaven, Burke uses reports of about one hundred Near Death Events where the person went to and spends some time in Heaven before returning to earth. The various NDEs are remarkably similar. They give us a wonderful view of Heaven and I use these descriptions in my book. I did write a sort of Cliff Notes version of Burke’s book, but I arranged it by topic. I brought copies of that if you would like to take a copy home at the end of the morning. Now I would like to read excerpts from Imagine Heaven from pages 15 to 18. I have discerned for myself that God is behind these NDEs for the purpose of encouraging people to live in a way that ultimately brings them to heaven.

 In Touching Heaven Dr. Crandall, who is a cardiologist, demonstrates how one man learns to completely follow Wright’s declaration about the importance of helping bring Heaven to earth.

 I recommend you read all three of these books.

 Let’s take a minute for me to give you a few examples of what I think helping to bring Heaven to earth might look like:

 It might look like providing an unexpected kindness to a complete stranger in need.

 It might look like becoming a mentor to young fatherless boys.

 It might look like visiting the elderly in an assisted living home.

It might look like visiting the sick.

 It might look like giving away crosses when someone admires yours.

 It might look like sharing Randy Alcorn’s booklet on Heaven with recent Christian widows and widowers.

 It might look like people noticing your behavior by following John 13:34-35, “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

 It might look like an opportunity that came to me in November 2021. I was contacted by the head Chaplain at the hospital where I volunteered. They had an 84-year-old, male patient, named Walter, whose wife had just died, and who desperately needed help. He couldn’t drive, and he didn’t know how to pay bills, his wife had done everything for him. I could not find anyone to drive for him, so I agreed to become Walter’s chauffer. I picked up Walter at his house about 20 minutes from my home two or three times a week. We went to Wal Mart, banks, doctor’s offices, the laundromat and other places. Every time I brought him home, we prayed together. Walter got sick in late 2022 and died that October. I really enjoyed my year as Walter’s friend and chauffer. I didn’t know at that time about the significance of Matthew 6:10 but looking back, I hope I brought Walter a touch of heaven on this earth.

 I am sure that each of you here today could come up with your own list of events that would be helping to bring heaven to earth.

 I want to now turn to 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18. These verses will be familiar to you, but my emphasis will be on verse 18.

 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 “For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words.”

 Before we get to verse 18, which is the last sentence, verses 16 and 17 for many describe the Rapture and for many others, including me, describe the second coming. But whichever way you interpret 16 & 17 verse 18 is accurate: These words are encouraging to everyone, no matter your interpretation.

 In writing a book about Heaven my whole purpose is to encourage readers to look forward to Heaven. But also, to prompt them to follow Wright’s declaration and Dr. Crandall’s example, to help bring Heaven to earth while we are here.

 Some have suggested that “Some people are so heavenly minded that they are of no earthly good.” This saying is attributed to Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. and are lyrics in a Johnny Cash song.  

 Well, I don’t believe that ‘people can be so heavenly minded that they are of no earthly good’ and I agree with C. S. Lewis, who said, “If you read history, you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were just those who thought most of the next. The apostles themselves, who set on foot the conversion of the Roman Empire…the English Evangelicals who abolished the slave trade, all left their mark on Earth, precisely because their minds were occupied with heaven. It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this. Aim at heaven and you will get the earth “thrown in,” aim at earth and you will get neither.”

 Above, I gave examples about what bringing heaven to earth might look like for an individual. But what C. S Lewis is saying is that a group of heavenly minded people have, in the past brought huge benefits to God’s kingdom by working together.

 Let ‘s talk about eternity. I think we humans don’t have any real concept of what eternity means. Our life spans pretty much are between 70 and 100 years, and most of us will die in our 70s and 80s. You no doubt remember that stanza of Amazing Grace that says: When we’ve been there ten thousand years,

          Bright shining as the sun,

         We’ve no less days to sing God’ praise

           Than when we first begun.

 I don’t know about you, but I can’t imagine living even 200 years, let alone 10,000 years.

Let’s tackle another interesting question. Are we spirit or embodied in Heaven? Let’s examine what Wright says about this from an excerpt from a chapter in my book on the theology of Heaven, where I quote Wright: He also discusses what happens when we die, “There is no agreement in the church today about what happens to people when they die. Not surprisingly, therefore, there is also confusion in the wider, non-Christian world not only about the fate of the dead but also about what Christians are supposed to believe on the subject. That is all the more curious, in that the New Testament itself, which most churches officially regard as their primary doctrinal source, is crystal clear…In a classic passage, Paul speaks of “the redemption of our bodies” (Romans 8:23). There is no room for doubt as to what he means: God’s people are promised a new type of bodily existence, the fulfillment and redemption of our present bodily life. The rest of the early Christian writings, where they address the subject, are completely in tune with this.”

Another interesting question is do we only get our bodies at the end of the age when the New Heaven and New Earth come about as described in Revelation 21 & 22? Or when we die today and go to what Randy Alcorn called the Intermediate Heaven in his book Heaven which was published in 2004 - do we get bodies then? And are those bodies different than when the end of the age comes? The second question will only be answered when the end of the age comes. The first question is answered in Imagine Heaven, where clearly everyone the NDErs encounter in heaven has a body. (1)

There are many other questions about Heaven including will we meet our Christian family and friends who have died before us? That question was answered in Imagine Heaven, and yes, we will see our saved family and friends in Heaven. (2)

In Imagine Heaven the NDErs find the Intermediate Heaven on another planet that seems quite large. They are given no idea of what universe that planet is in. Further, the city they arrive at appears to be the City of New Jerusalem described in Revelation 21 & 22. I had originally thought that city only came to be at the end of the age, but apparently it is in the Intermediate Heaven also.

Do we have work to do in Heaven? Yes, we apparently do. (3)

Are there children and pets in Heaven? Yes, to both. (4)

Are there houses where we live in Heaven? Yes, but only some of the details are spelled out in Imagine Heaven. (5)

Now I would like to read you one chapter from my book. It takes me about 35 minutes to read it out loud. One thing I need to tell you before I read this chapter is that I am writing with a pen name which is Andrew Norton and my wife’s name is Naomi. Also, my approach is to only use real names for people who have actually died. This chapter finds Andrew dying and going to Heaven, and then describes his first day in Heaven. In my book this chapter is followed by a chapter where Andrew finishes out days two through seven in Heaven. And then the final chapter takes place probably about two weeks after Andrew arrives in Heaven when Jesus assigns Andrew his work in Heaven.

 Sorry, you do not get Chapter 5 of my new book as a part of this update.

Doug