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Life in this world—the way it is now and the way we are now—can be difficult, can’t it? It’s easy to become burdened, discouraged, depressed, or even traumatized when you suffer the loss of a loved one, when your health is failing, or when your dreams—your family, career, or lifelong ambitions—have crumbled.

This issue is a huge controversy, and in searching online I did see some people identify me with the notorious (to them) “lordship salvation” position. To me, it is just the position that biblically informed Christians have always taken, but to people with the Grace Evangelical Society, it is heresy.

If we don’t fear God, we have good reason to be afraid of other things. You fear God when you come to grips with the fact that He is in charge, and you are not. As Spurgeon put it, He is the sovereign help of our souls.

In this article, Tim Barnett with Stand to Reason answers the claim that being prolife is just “pro-forced birth.” He writes, “Abortion advocates are brilliant at playing word games. Using clever rhetorical moves, they are able to make protecting preborn children look bad and killing preborn children look good.”

It’s so easy for us to take what we know here in this present life, and think that what’s in Heaven will be a copy or derivative of our present experience. But it’s more accurate to view things like marriage now as a shadow of the true reality.

Back in 2009, I was asked to be on a panel on Heaven and Hell at a book conference. When I asked who else would be on the panel, they mentioned J. I. Packer, and my response was, “I will do it as long as I can sit next to Dr. Packer.” (The organizers kindly accommodated my request!)

How much “time” elapses or how the dead experience any delays while waiting in the current, temporary Heaven is anybody’s guess. Scripture tells us everything we need to know for now and God will reveal as much more as He cares to when the right time comes.

In my last blog, I shared six false expectations that can diminish our happiness. So what truths should raise our expectations of happiness? Here are seven worth focusing on.

Most people intuitively know that our expectations profoundly affect our life experiences. Yet even as believers, we simultaneously expect too much and too little. We need to discover what we should expect less of and what merits higher expectations.

I think He will always intercede for us because He loves us, and because even though we will not always be sinners, we will always be His finite creatures. To be finite is to be needy, even if one is morally perfect.

One day all Heaven will attend the ultimate wedding, and we will be Christ's bride (see Revelation 19:7-9). However, I do envision that people who’ve had important roles in each other’s lives will continue to be friends—and that would include a lot of people who’ve been married.

I can see what you’re saying about that almost sounding creepy. But that certainly isn’t what Randy is conveying. Here is what else he has written that I hope might help.

When I was answering a question about animals and the New Earth, a comment was said about cats. I have to shake my head at this often-repeated joke, because I’ve been in three different churches where the pastor said from the pulpit that he thinks all dogs go to Heaven, but not cats. It’s good for laughs, but not funny to people who love their cats.

I came across this photo last week and was reminded of the great time Nanci and I had back in 2007 at the Desiring God National Conference in Minneapolis. With John MacArthur’s recent passing, most of the people in this picture are now in Christ’s presence.