My beautiful loving wife died 14 years ago. She's up there waiting for me now with open arms. I've had one significant GF now going on almost 10 years. She's never been married,never had any children. My family is now her family. If she dies before me--and then I die--who do I go to first with open arms? Of course my wife--but what about the woman I've been living with and loving for nearly a decade? Do I spurn her? How is that heaven for her? _
That's another great point. I really would like to hear a Christian rationalize these things. And btw ... Are my parents still old, feeble and broken down in heaven? ... Or are they young vibrant lovers of 25 again? I'm sure that would be great for them ... But really weird for me.
Hey I may be an asshole but I'm not a bad person. If I'm going to hell there is going to be one HELL of a line in front of me. _
When my children go and meet me in heaven are they going to be toddlers or teenagers or the other exact age they were when I departed? _
Most rational christians will use answer this question with God knows the hearts of all his creations and will see their wishes fulfilled. What is deemed to be a problem for humanity will not be seen as a problem in heaven. Growing up in a family that is deeply religious they all believe that when you are "reborn" in heaven that you are an adult and in a new body. Weird if you ask me. Many christians or people who have a viewpoint on the afterlife have this thought process that people will remain the same. Same desires, same dreams. Reality wise if you have ever studied the scriptures you will come to understand that christianity has nothing to do with fulfilling your own self wants but it is based around you becoming more like Jesus. People who do make it into heaven would then become more christ like, and there only purpose would be to serve others. Eternal slavery I guess you could call it with a nice dose of mind control to make you never realize that you are a slave.
Not to mention the outfit you die wearing will be what you wear for eternity. So no excuse not to be looking sharp.
http://globalnews.ca/news/2782480/montreal-priests-no-longer-allowed-to-be-alone-with-children/ Montreal priests no longer allowed to be alone with children
"Among the Christian churches, only the Catholic Church has existed since the time of Jesus. Every other Christian church is an offshoot of the Catholic Church. The Eastern Orthodox churches broke away from unity with the pope in 1054. The Protestant churches were established during the Reformation, which began in 1517. (Most of today’s Protestant churches are actually offshoots of the original Protestant offshoots.) Only the Catholic Church existed in the tenth century, in the fifth century, and in the first century, faithfully teaching the doctrines given by Christ to the apostles, omitting nothing. The line of popes can be traced back, in unbroken succession, to Peter himself. This is unequaled by any institution in history. Even the oldest government is new compared to the papacy..." http://www.catholic.com/documents/pillar-of-fire-pillar-of-truth
"The Catholic Church has existed for nearly 2,000 years, despite constant opposition from the world. This is testimony to the Church’s divine origin. It must be more than a merely human organization, especially considering that its human members— even some of its leaders—have been unwise, corrupt, or prone to heresy. Any merely human organization with such members would have collapsed early on. The Catholic Church is today the most vigorous church in the world (and the largest, with a billion members: one sixth of the human race), and that is testimony not to the cleverness of the Church’s leaders, but to the protection of the Holy Spirit. ... Although some Catholics dissent from officially-taught doctrines, the Church’s official teachers—the pope and the bishops united with him—have never changed any doctrine. Over the centuries, as doctrines are examined more fully, the Church comes to understand them more deeply (John 16:12–13), but it never understands them to mean the opposite of what they once meant." http://www.catholic.com/documents/pillar-of-fire-pillar-of-truth"
"The Church Jesus established was known by its most common title, "the Catholic Church," at least as early as the year 107, when Ignatius of Antioch used that title to describe the one Church Jesus founded. The title apparently was old in Ignatius’s time, which means it probably went all the way back to the time of the apostles. The Church Jesus founded is apostolic because he appointed the apostles to be the first leaders of the Church, and their successors were to be its future leaders. The apostles were the first bishops, and, since the first century, there has been an unbroken line of Catholic bishops faithfully handing on what the apostles taught the first Christians in Scripture and oral Tradition (2 Tim. 2:2). Early Christian writings prove the first Christians were thoroughly Catholic in belief and practice and looked to the successors of the apostles as their leaders. What these first Christians believed is still believed by the Catholic Church. No other Church can make that claim." http://www.catholic.com/documents/pillar-of-fire-pillar-of-truth
They'll still be free to provide spiritual and moral guidance to the community though, right? These men who can't be trusted with your children.