From the Home Place

December 18, 2025

With 71 mph wind gusts, I think Miss Deb and I will just hunker down and work on our puzzle!

On Tuesday one of our dear friends took a great trip. It’s a trip everyone will get to take eventually, though there are two different destinations. Yep, yesterday our friend walked away from this earth, and because of her deep faith in Jesus, she left this ‘ol ball of dirt behind and walked into heaven! I call that day, “Graduation Day.”

Remember back to the day that you graduated high school? Do you remember the anticipation? It was the day that you left that school behind, to live the life that was before you! Graduation opened the door for the next level of your life! Well, that’s what death is like for the Christian. As we take our last breath here, we begin to live there! A whole new life with no pain, no struggles, no enemy, just abundant life – for eternity, walking with God!

And for those who prefer to walk away from God, well there is an eternity waiting for those folks as well – that eternity in hell! So, let’s visit about that place for a moment: Hell is a place of complete isolation, no playing poker and drinking beer with friends. That makes hell the perfect place for the introvert because you will never be around another person, for all eternity. Just you, all alone, in constant torment.

Look at Luke 16:19-31, here we find some statements about the condition of hell: It is “far away” from heaven – indicating in the “opposite direction.” Next, hell is the place where a person will eventually cry out to God, also hell is a place of “agony in this flame.”v.24 Note in verse 25, the person in heaven is “being comforted” while the person in hell is “in agony,” again a mention of opposites. Verse 27 reveals that the rich person who had denied God, soon becomes a beggar. Verse 28 clearly states that hell is a place of “torment.”

Heaven is portrayed as a place of constant celebration, a place of peace and comfort, a place of being united with friends, family and other saints who are there, but more importantly, a place of walking joyously with Jesus! In heaven there is no torment, nor agony, nor flame of judgment – each of those are reserved for the opposite place.

Could it be that is why Christians are to live their lives on earth as opposites of those who do not know Jesus. We will spend eternity being opposites. The amazing thing is that God allows every one of us to choose which place we want to spend eternity in. You see, God never sends anyone to hell, people choose to go there by refusing to accept God’s amazing gift of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ.

Remember, opposites attract. As long as professing Christians live their lives just like folks who do not know Jesus, there is only judgment and strife. But when Christ-followers live lives that reveal the amazing grace and power of God, those around us will be drawn to Jesus. For the most part, we humans know when we are walking away from God, we need someone to help us walk toward God. And that someone is supposed to be everyone who knows Jesus Christ as Savior! Let’s do our part so the Holy Spirit can do His part.

I close with this age-old statement, “This earth is all the heaven the unbeliever will ever know, and all of the hell the believer will ever know.” Sounds pretty much the opposite to me. So, do you want your heaven now or later? Your choice. “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord,” here and now, so that we can be with Him there, for ever!

Yep, “Ma” graduated on Tuesday as Jesus welcomed her home!

Spending eternity with God, and hopefully with you, Neal