Macclenny Church of God

Matthew 24:13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.

When you see me running, one thing you'll notice immediately is the fact that I'm certainly not out there to set or break any records. I run for the pure joy, relaxation and stress relief, I get out of it. I often tell my church folks "runnin' and prayin' keeps me alive". The cardio benefits and the good exercise I get are just some added bonuses to something that I thoroughly enjoy.

A few nights ago, I went for a short 3 mile run. I was about a mile into my run when I heard the rapid pounding of running shoes hitting the concrete path behind me. I took a quick glance over my left shoulder to see a strong young man who looked to be about 18 or 19 years old come up on my left side and pass me by with effortless ease. He ran with fluid ease. He went around me like water flowing around a rock in the middle of a stream. As he ran on ahead, I noticed he had a strong muscular build that I at 39 years of age, can only covet. I said to myself, "it must be nice to be that young and strong". Instantly, (MAN SYNDROME) kicked in and screamed like a marine corps drill instructor....... "Alright rev.! straighten your spine, lift your chin, push your hips forward, raise your knees, push off a little harder and show a young man how an old man can run!" So, that's exactly what I did.........for about 10 seconds. Then, another voice started speaking. The old experienced runner inside of me said, "slow down rev. and run a pace that you can maintain until you finish this night's run and get back home."

I noticed the young man about 100 yards up ahead of me, stop and leaned over to catch his breath. He had the build. He had the strength. But, what he didn't have, was the heart. I mean that literally. He didn't have the heart. Endurance comes from the heart. He had a strongly built body, but, his heart wasn't yet conditioned to maintain his physique at a hight level of physical exertion for a prolonged period of time. As I closed the gap between us, he look at me, (the old guy), and started to run but, it just wasn't there.......he was spent. I ran past him, made the turn, ran back and passed him again and the next time I looked back, he was gone. He is an awesome young man and I know that he will eventually build his cardiovascular strength and endurance and leave me in his dust. He just learned what I had to learn when I first started running. It's not how you start, it's how you finish. You can call yourself a runner, you can dress the part of a runner, you can wear the finest running shoes, you can subscribe to the most popular and the most informative running magazines, you can even tell everybody else how to run.......But, the test will come when YOU......... lace up YOUR SHOES.......step outside and start to run. Is your heart conditioned for more than an exciting start? Do you have what it takes to finish the race and make it home?

The Word of God compares the Christian life to a race. In 1 Cor. 9:24 Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain.
Again, is your heart conditioned for more than an exciting start? Do you have what it takes to finish this race and make it home?

The little boy was only five years old and he lay dying from a rare form of juvenile lung cancer.  The doctor had just come in and told the mother that it wouldn’t be long.  Suddenly, the little boy’s eyes brightened, his body tensed as he tried to set up.  His mother wrapped her arms around him and said, "Son, what’s wrong?"  He spoke for the first time in a while and said, "Nothing mama....I hear bells ringing."  She said, "Son, I can’t hear anything.  Are you sure?"  He said, "Yes mama, I can hear the bells ringing."  Then he relaxed and closed his eyes and was gone away to that place of singing angels and ringing bells. His mother said the experience gave her the peace and strength to deal with the loss of her son.  She knew he was free from his suffering and she knew he was in a better place than this.  As she thought about the ringing bells her son heard just before he left this world, she said in her heart, "There must be a heaven somewhere."
This last Saturday morning I received a call just before

An old saint from our church had been in the hospital in a deep coma for several days.  I went to the hospital where she was.. I knew she was ready to meet her Lord.  She had served her master for more than 50 years.  I could feel the presence of the Lord in the room.  I laid my hands on her precious old grey head and I asked the Lord to let her rest from her labors and take her on home.  The family told me not long after I left that her eyes opened for the first time in many days, she looked straight toward the end of the bed and reached out her hand exactly as if she were taking somebody else by the hand.  She breathed her last breath, her eyes closed, her hand fell to her side and she was gone.  When the family told me what had happened after I left, I knew again in my heart that… “There must be a heaven somewhere.”

Heaven is real.  Jesus called it "my Father’s house.”  Heaven is a real place, filled with real people, which is why the bible compares heaven to a mansion with many rooms and sometimes it is described as a city filled with people.  The bible also tells us that heaven is the dwelling place of God.  His throne is there, the angels are there, and the Christ our Lord is there.  In the book of Revelation, John tells us that it’s 1500 miles square.  That’s over 15 times the combined surface of the entire earth, including both land and water.  They say about 40 billion people have lived on this earth since Adam was created.  There’s roughly 6 billion alive today on earth and we’re worried about over-population.  In that new heaven, there’s enough room on the foundational floor to accommodate the 40 billion that have lived since Adam.  The city has twelve foundations made of precious stones.  There was a renowned artist who sat down with an open bible in front of him while he was arranging squares of colored glass.  He said, "I have made a singular discovery."  He said, “These are the precious stones in the foundation of the new Jerusalem and when placed in the order described in the vision by John on the isle of

in the book of Revelation, they form a perfect harmony of color.  A convention of artists could not improve on this."I don’t believe an old apostle banished to the isle of patmos could just set down and make this up.  No, this didn’t come from John’s imagination.  He saw a revelation from God of a heaven that is as real as this earth we live on.  John went on to say that he saw walls of Jasper, Gates of pearl and the street was pure gold.  He said there was a river that flowed thru the city that was a pure river of water of life that proceeded from the throne of God and of the Lamb (Christ).  John penned down what he saw and gave us as much information about heaven as we can understand, but there’s so much about Heaven that is indescribable.  One man in the bible said he was caught up into the third heaven.  He saw and heard what he said was unspeakable words, not lawful for a man to speak.  He was saying that there are no words in any language that can describe what he saw and what he heard. Heaven, for the most part, is a place of indescribable beauty, peace, and joy prepared for those who have accepted Christ as there Savior and Lord.  I know that there are those who don’t believe in God and they don’t believe in Heaven.  I’ve been asked, "How do you know there’s a heaven somewhere?"  Well, to start with, there’s just something in the soul of a man that cries out for a heavenly world.  The soul has always longed for such a place.  Whatever culture you stumble across, whatever time period of history, you will always find some sort of belief in the afterlife.  They may have worshiped a tree stump, a rock, or the stars, but it was because something in their inner most being knew there was a life beyond the grave.  How did they know that?  God put it in them to know that there something beyond this world.  But, back to the question I was asked, "How do you know there’s a heaven somewhere?”  Let me give you a simple little illustration...
One day, a little boy was flying his kite.  He released the string and allowed the kite to fly higher and higher until the kite wasn’t visible from where the little boy was standing.  A man walked up and said to the little boy, "Son, what are you doing?"  The boy replied, "I’m flyin’ my kite."  The man thought for a moment and decided to have some fun at the little boy’s expense and said, "Well, I don’t believe you’re flying a kite."  The boy replied, "Well, I am!"  The gentleman said, "How do you know you’re flying a kite when you can’t even see it?"  The little boy looked up at the man and said, "Because I can feel it pullin’ at the other end of the line."  The little boy didn’t have to see it to believe it.  He knew it was there because he could feel the pull from the other side.  Don’t ever let the devil shake your belief in Heaven.  Heaven is real.  I’ve never seen heaven.  I’ve never been to heaven.  But, I can feel something pulling at the other end of the line and it says to me, "There must be a Heaven somewhere!"
 
Shannon Conner
Pastor Macclenny Church of God