For most of us, our image of heaven is misguided.  Combine that with an uncertainty about when eternity will arrive, and the result is what Bierma refers to as a crisis of hope.  As a result, we seek solace in shallow substitutes for the sacred things God intended, distracting us from our purpose in creation.

Using Revelation 21 as a backdrop, Bierma posits that “eternal heaven will be on earth.”  Not only that, but heaven will be a glorious culmination of the story of God’s creation, yielding a continuity between our earthly existence today and our future heavenly home.  “[H]eaven will not be an escape from this earth but a renewal of this earth.  Heaven will be a relevant resolution of the story of creation.”

God created humans and charged us with creating culture, and as part of the continuity between this life and the next, “Heaven will be a cultural place.  We will again interact with other people, designing things, trading things, keeping traditions, enjoying a vibrant cultural life.”  But it will be a purified culture, devoted to God, as God originally intended.  Christ’s redeeming work was for all creation, not just individual souls.

Bierma covers a wide-range of fascinating aspects to this type of worldview, more than I dare try to summarize in a simple post.  One point he made that brought a bit of conviction was that many Americans have let the hope of retirement warp a true view of heaven.  We view it as “a permanent vacation.  Heaven on earth.”  But rather than the retirement years, it is heaven that is “an earthly fulfillment of the work of our hands.”

I very much appreciated the time Bierma spent continuing the topic of work.

Each person is created with unique skills ….  Each person is distinctively created to fit a niche–to find the intersection, as Frederick Buechner puts it, “where the world’s deep hunger and your deep gladness meet.”  To work this way–not for a paycheck, not in dread, not in the sole, shallow hope of the artificial existence of retirement– is to live out an active hope for the eternal restoration of the world.

Having read about Bierma prior to this book, I knew I disagreed with him on a number of political issues.  As he delved into the role of Christians within today’s political culture, I found myself questioning some of his points, and wondering whether my political leanings, or perhaps his, were skewing an accurate reading of Scripture.  But in the end, I think Bierma remained true, while forcing me to evaluate some of my long-held beliefs.

While touching on many doctrinal issues, Bierma does a great job keeping the book conversational rather than overly theological.  In college two of my favorite subjects were the doctrine of creation and eschatology.  Part of the reason I found Bierma’s book so refreshing and invigorating is because it showed the intersection of those two doctrines, forming a healthy view Christians should celebrate regarding this life and the next.

[W]e have the Bible’s promise that God will one day restore planet earth … restore the works of human minds and hands … restore human relationships ….  This is the promise of heaven.  This is the hope of our lives.

Most recently, I re-read Shusaku Endo’s Silence. Set is 16th century Japan, it is a novel about missionaries struggling with the persecution of Christians by the Japanese ruling class. Specifically, they cannot comprehend God’s silence in the midst of the persecution. “I know well, of course, that the greatest sin against God was despair; but the silence of God was something I could not fathom.” It was a challenging read, causing me to question how I would respond in such a situation. On a lighter note, did anyone else picture Gollum whenever Kichijiro’s character was described? Many similarities, I thought.

Speaking of persecution (though of a much different nature), I read David Limbaugh’s Persecution: How Liberals are Waging War Against Christianity (personally signed, no less). Being a lawyer, Limbaugh is very methodical in documenting case after case of the Christian faith being pushed further from both the public and private lives of Americans, at a time when tolerance is often viewed as the highest cultural virtue.

Along those same lines, Alan Sears and Craig Osten combined efforts to write The ACLU vs. America. I didn’t intentionally read this one in proximity to Limbaugh’s book, but there was great similarity in their themes. What amazed me about this book was not only the documented cases of the ACLU trying to undermine much of what’s made this country great (e.g., capitalism, faith), but their overt admission of having such intentions.

On more of a devotional and spiritual front, I was encouraged and challenged by several books. The first was 7 Habits of Highly Healthy People (Antidotes for the 7 Deadly Sins), by Rev. Curry Pikkaart. While I didn’t get an advance copy, I can boast receiving a signed copy from the first printing. It’s only fair, given the indirect reference to yours truly in the opening paragraphs. As the book cover lays out, “Since the object of our focus is what most frequently influences us, it is important to focus on the development of the habits that produce the 7 virtues.” It’s with that mindset that the book goes through the personal challenges of doing good works, practicing contentment, applying the golden rule, feeding hunger, aiming for simplicity, guarding your mind, and learning to restrain yourself. Given the style of the book and its Biblical grounding, it could easily serve as a devotional study that will bring different things to light with each reading.

In a similar vein, I enjoyed Charles Swindoll’s A Life Well Lived, a study of Micah 6:8, and Keep A Quiet Heart, by Elisabeth Elliot. Elliot provides a quote from Annie Keary that hits me right between the eyes each time I read it:

I think I find most help in trying to look on all the interruptions and hindrances to work that one has planned out for oneself as discipline, trials sent by God to help one against getting selfish over one’s work. Then one can feel that perhaps one’s true work–one’s work for God–consists in doing some trifling haphazard thing that has been thrown into one’s day. It is not a waste of time, as one is tempted to think, it is the most important part of the work of the day–the part one can best offer to God. After such a hindrance, do not rush after the planned work; trust that the time to finish it will be given sometime, and keep a quiet heart about it.

I find that quote very convicting and challenging.

On the political front, I read Michael Reagan’s In the Words of Ronald Reagan. It’s a collection of his dad’s quotes on acting, age, America, the assassination attempt, Communism, Congress, football, horses, jelly beans, freedom, faith, family, and everything else under the sun. It was very refreshing to read such wit, wisdom, and optimism. Similarly I listened to the audio book of The Founding Fathers on Leadership, by Donald Phillips. (Listening to a book still counts, right?) I actually enjoyed it more for its historical retelling of our country’s formation than the leadership lessons.

In the technical realm I re-read Getting Real, by 37 Signals. Always insightful, it was especially interesting to read it with an eye toward the government workspace.

And the list surely isn’t complete without the books I’ve learned from my son. Two of my favorites are Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! by Mo Willems, and The Bear Wants More, by Karma Wilson. Both books are part of a series, all of which amuse me. Given the repetition required when books fall in favor with your toddler, you want to ensure they’re quality books. I assure you these are such books.