Who Is In Heaven

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In: Personal Reflections on the Study of God's Word
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Many years ago when I was in Respiratory Therapy school we were studying the interpretation of pulmonary functions testing (PFT's). This was one of the critical topics for the class and failure to pass this module meant failing the program. One student was struggling to understand the concepts that had been presented in class and could not successfully interpret PFT's. The instructors had spent many hours with him one-on-one and he still just did not understand it. As we approached the deadline for the exam that would make or break his career one of the instructors approached me and said, "Jon, you understand PFT's very well and can interpret them correctly consistently, would you spend some time with Sean and maybe he will be able to understand your perspective better than he is understanding ours." Sean and I spent one entire clinical day just working with and interpreting PFT's and by the time the day was over he was interpreting them successfully every time. This was not an issue of the instructors not knowing what they were talking about (teachers, you know what I'm talking about here!) It was an issue that Sean wasn't able to understand it from their perspective, but seeing it from a different view point made all the difference in the world.
 

Viewing God as Our Father

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In: Personal Reflections on the Study of God's Word
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Several years ago while on vacation with my family in Myrtle Beach, SC I broached the topic of God as our father with my extended family (all of my brothers and sisters were together for the first time since my mom's funeral a little over a year before). My focus on these words had been on "father". What does it mean that God is referenced as father? How has my relationship with my earthly father informed and directed my understanding of what it means for God to be called father? As I brought this topic up my youngest brother Peter wouldn't let me get past the word "Our". He commented that Jesus didn't say "My Father..." or "Your Father...", but "Our Father...." What does it mean that he is "ours" and not "mine" or "yours"? How does that change the way I see people? What about those people that I don't like very much - the ones that have hurt me? Is He their father too? If He is, how should that influence the way I view (and more importantly TREAT) them? Each one of us has been wronged by someone (and each one of us has wronged someone else!) Recognizing that God is their father as well as ours should direct the way we treat each other. (We could broaden this to include all those people who have different religious, social, or political views than us.) How can we become ONE family with differing views but the SAME father focused on HIS will

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