Ten Cent Heaven
I have heard and read of people getting a glimpse of heaven. Odd, unusual, peculiar, awesome…are some of the words that come to mind when I think of these stories. Allow me to share my story. You can judge the worth of it after reading. I will not be offended if you do not believe my story.
Maybe I was asleep. I was given a One-day Pass to heaven. Yes, that is right. One-day! Could just go in and look around. Of course I saw Jesus. He is My Lord. I pinched off just a little time at the end of the day to look around heaven…having a One-day Pass I wanted to bring back information to share with others. A quick tour was in order.
I saw a sign: “Sam lives here.” The house was different from the others. Ostentatious. Several stories high. Steel grills in windows. A ten-foot fence guarded the yard, with a pit-bull on the inside waiting for a victim.
Sam on earth was a loan shark. He charged folks exorbitant interest rates and used force when necessary to collect. But every once in a while Sam would visit a preacher and magnanimously give $100 for the building fund. Sometimes at Christmas he made a show of writing a check for the poor.
Since I could not get inside the gate to visit Sam, I moved on down the street. A yard was littered with evidence of a Saturday night party. Shades on the home were pulled. No sign of life. I asked who lived at the house and was told it was folks who on earth had their own band and sponsored outrageous parties. However, they gave a generous percentage of all proceeds for homeless, hungry, and needy persons---thus getting them through the pearly gates.
A couple of blocks down the street I encountered a tight-faced Mr. Merchant. Remembered him on earth. He ran his business 7 days a week. Talked religious. Even had a Bible. Family had been church-goers. But Mr. Merchant loved money. He could not bear to think that closing on a Sunday could lose a few dollars---whether true or not. So he rarely went to church, but regularly sent some money---though never tithes. Just thought his tithe was too much money for any church.
I saw Miss Society. She, of course, did not even look in my direction. She had been a rich socialite funding abortion clinics and promoting gay rights. In return for her generous gifts to humanitarian causes she annually donated $1,000 to a church scholarship fund for needy children. Her grandmother had been a devout Christian. Miss Society did not need church. She thought the church needed her. And, oh the royal send-off the church gave her when she died.
Fishing Sam had his boat parked…hooked up to his SUV. Fishing tackle was obvious. Sam had taken his Bible with him fishing on Sundays. Never had time to teach a class. Liked for his children to go to church. And Sam was always willing to give a day of free labor working on the church buildings. Likeable. Good neighbor Sam---give you the shirt-off-his-back. Sam on earth would let you know he was a “Good guy,” and more generous than lots of Christians. He squeaked by the pearly gates on good deeds.
Don’t get me wrong, I sure did meet some nice folks. But what became obvious was that heaven ambitioned by lots of folks does not need a cross, a Jesus, tithes, a Bible or honoring Sunday. The Ten Cent Heaven is folks taking their earthly lifestyle into after-life without having to go to hell. The Ten Cent Heaven is just more of the same that was on earth---except for eternity. A few good deeds and a Free Pass.
I woke up. Figure for yourself.
Pastor Bare
John 14:6
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
“Without holiness no one will see the Lord” [Hebrews 12:14].