Of Such Is the Kingdom of Heaven

“Suffer little children and forbid them not to come unto me, for of such is the kingdom of heaven.”

My sister Lil and I recently had a bit of a discussion about children in Heaven. I mentioned about a retired minister I know who does not believe anyone in heaven will be children – that we will all be equal, disembodied souls. She immediately responded with “Of such is the kingdom of heaven” – implying that it is literally so, because there are more children in heaven than adults. We usually think of it as meaning that we must come to Christ in childlike trust and faith, which is true enough, but it is equally true that many scriptures can contain multiple (not contradictory) meanings. I just recently came to the understanding (through the heavenly experiences of my great-niece Kathryn) that people who died while they were children are still children in heaven – maybe not the same age as they were on earth, but still children nonetheless. I often wondered about that, because it is not addressed specifically in the Bible. I wondered if they would all grow up, and eventually there would be only adults in heaven. I’m glad to know that isn’t so; wouldn’t heaven be less than perfect without any children? When you think of all the miscarriages, stillbirths and childhood deaths of the past, and even now in countries without good medical care, as well as the horrendous numbers of abortions, there simply have to be far more children than adults in Heaven.

Kathryn tells of children in heaven who are there because of miscarriages – when determining the age of the body the Father gives them, he takes into consideration what would please their earthly parents. If the parents had already chosen a name for them, they have that name; at least, that was the case with the ones Kathryn met. He also gives them specific children’s “days” – although time is not the same there as here. Kathryn described one of those days with children playing in the field with kites and hot air balloons. Another time they were visiting the big farm and playing with the animals there. And children get to watch their parents and siblings who are still living. People in heaven get to see what goes on with those still on earth, and they can still pray to Jesus on their behalf.

I have a child in Heaven as a result of a miscarriage; a friend of mine has a child in Heaven as a result of a forced abortion. We like to think of our two little girls playing together in Heaven and waiting for us to meet them there.

The Donut Master

Authored by Art Nelson; email forwarded from my sister, received from our niece, Connie:

There was a boy by the name of Steve who was attending college where Brother Christianson taught seminary.

One day, Brother Christianson asked Steve to stay after class so he could talk with him. After class, Bro. Christianson pulled Steve aside and said, "You think you're pretty tough, don't you?"

Steve's answer was, "Yeah, I do."

Then Brother Christianson asked, "How many pushups can you do?"

Steve said, "I do about 200 every night."

"200? That's pretty good, Steve," Brother Christianson said.

"Do you think you could do 300?"

Steve replied, "I don't know... I've never done 300 at a time."

"Do you think you could?" again asked Brother Christianson.

"Well, I can try," said Steve.

"Can you do 300 in sets of 10? I need you to do 300 in sets of ten for this to work. Can you do it? I need you to tell me you can do it," Brother Christianson said.

Steve said, "Well... I think I can... yeah, I can do it."

Brother Christianson said, "Good! I need you to do this on Friday."

Friday came and Steve got to class early and sat in the front.

When class started, Brother Christianson pulled out a big box of donuts. Now these weren't the normal kinds of donuts, they were the extra fancy BIG kind with cream centers and frosting swirls.

Everyone was pretty excited. It was Friday, the last class of the day, and they were going to get an early start on the weekend.

Bro. Christianson went to the first girl in the first row and asked, "Cynthia, do you want a donut?" Cynthia said, "Yes."

Bro. Christianson then turned to Steve and asked, "Steve, would you do ten pushups so that Cynthia can have a donut?"

Steve said, "Sure," and jumped down from his desk to do a quick ten. Then Steve again sat in his desk. Bro. Christianson put a donut on Cynthia's desk.

Bro. Christianson then went to Joe, the next person, and asked, "Joe, do you want a donut?"

Joe said, "Yes." Bro. Christianson asked, "Steve would you do ten pushups so Joe can have a donut?" Steve did ten pushups, Joe got a donut.

And so it went, down the first aisle, Steve did ten pushups for every person before they got their donuts and down the second aisle, until Bro. Christianson came to Scott. Scott was captain of the football team and center of the basketball team. He was very popular and never lacking for female companionship.

When Bro. Christianson asked, "Scott do you want a donut?"

Scott's reply was, "Well, can I do my own pushups?"

Bro. Christianson said, "No, Steve has to do them."

Then Scott said, "Well, I don't want one then."

Bro. Christianson then turned to Steve and asked, "Steve, would you do ten pushups so Scott can have a donut he doesn't want?"

Steve started to do ten pushups. Scott said, "HEY! I said I didn't want one!"

Bro. Christianson said, "Look, this is my classroom, my class, my desks, and my donuts. Just leave it on the desk if you don't want it." And he put a donut on Scott's desk.

Now by this time, Steve had begun to slow down a little. He just stayed on the floor between sets because it took too much effort to be getting up and down.

You could start to see a little perspiration coming out around his brow.

Bro. Christianson started down the third row. Now the students were beginning to get a little angry.

Bro. Christianson asked Jenny, "Jenny, do you want a donut?"

Jenny said, "No."

Then Bro. Christianson asked Steve, "Steve, would you do ten pushups so Jenny can have a donut that she doesn't want?" Steve did ten, Jenny got a donut.

By now, the students were beginning to say "No" and there were all these uneaten donuts on the desks. Steve was also having to really put forth a lot of effort to get these pushups done for each donut. There began to be a small pool of sweat on the floor beneath his face; his arms and brow were beginning to get red because of the physical effort involved.

Bro. Christianson asked Robert to watch Steve to make sure he did ten pushups in a set because he couldn't bear to watch all of Steve's work for all of those uneaten donuts. So Robert began to watch Steve closely.

Bro. Christianson started down the fourth row.

During his class, however, some students had wandered in and sat along the heaters along the sides of the room. When Bro. Christianson realized this; he did a quick count and saw 34 students in the room. He started to worry if Steve would be able to make it.

Bro. Christianson went on to the next person and the next and the next. Near the end of that row, Steve was really having a rough time. He was taking a lot more time to complete each set.

Steve asked Bro. Christianson, "Do I have to make my nose touch on each one?" Bro. Christianson thought for a moment, "Well, they're your pushups. You can do them any way that you want." And Bro. Christianson went on.

A few moments later, Jason came to the room and was about to come in when all the students yelled, "NO! Don't come in! Stay out!"

Jason didn't know what was going on.

Steve picked up his head and said, "No, let him come."

Bro. Christianson said, "You realize that if Jason comes in you will have to do ten pushups for him."

Steve said, "Yes, let him come in." Bro. Christianson said, "Okay, I'll let you get Jason's out of the way right now. Jason, do you want a donut?"

"Yes."

"Steve, will you do ten pushups so that Jason can have a donut?" Steve did ten pushups very slowly and with great effort.

Jason, bewildered, was handed a donut and sat down.

Bro. Christianson finished the fourth row, then started on those seated on the heaters. Steve's arms were now shaking with each pushup in a struggle to lift himself against the force of gravity. Sweat was dropping off of his face, and by this time, there was not a dry eye in the room.

The very last two girls in the room were cheerleaders and very popular. Bro. Christianson went to Linda, the second to last, and asked, "Linda, do you want a doughnut? Linda said, very sadly, "No, thank you."

Bro. Christianson asked Steve, "Steve, would you do ten pushups so that Linda can have a donut she doesn't want?"

Grunting from the effort, Steve did ten very slow pushups for Linda.

Then Bro. Christianson turned to the last girl, Susan.

"Susan, do you want a donut?"

Susan, with tears flowing down her face, asked, Bro. Christianson, "Dr. Christianson, why can't I help him?"

Dr. Christianson, with tears of his own, said, "No, Steve has to do it alone. I have given him this task and he is in charge of seeing that everyone has an opportunity for a donut whether they want it or not.

When I decided to have a party this last day of class, I looked at my grade book. Steve here is the only student with a perfect grade. Everyone else failed a test, skipped class, or offered me inferior work.

Steve told me that in football practice, when a player messes up he must do push ups. I told Steve that none of you could come to my party unless he paid the price by doing your push ups.

He and I made a deal for your sakes.

Steve, would you do ten pushups so Susan can have a donut?"

As Steve very slowly finished his last pushup, with the understanding that he had accomplished all that was required of him, having done 350 pushups, his arms buckled beneath him and he fell to the floor.

Brother Christianson turned to the room and said.

"And so it was, that our Savior, Jesus Christ, plead to the Father, 'Into your hands I commend my spirit.'

With the understanding that He had done everything that was required of Him, He collapsed on the cross and died. And like some of those in this room, many of us leave the gift on the desk,

...uneaten."


~Art Nelson~

Sam

A while back I posted about death-bed repentances. Now I want to mention the recent passing of a friend whose repentance was long before his death-bed.

I have known Sam for about 17 years. I never heard him say much. But whenever he spoke, what he had to say was worth listening to. People who spent time in his home found that he spoke more freely there. Every Sunday morning Sam sat in a chair by the door and distributed church bulletins and Sunday school papers. Our pastor hasn’t had the heart yet to ask someone to replace him. He had been missing from his “spot” most of the time since he fell down the church steps a few months ago, and we all missed him.

If Sam had lived a couple months longer, he and his wife would have celebrated 60 years of marriage. They were both saved shortly after their marriage, and they never looked back. Sam was a good husband and father, and he was a good provider. His pastor said that there was only one other person whose funeral he had in his 20 years as a pastor that was as high a caliber Christian as Sam was.

Sam’s legacy will live a long time. Who knows how many lives he touched and influenced in the right direction?