Quotes from James Paul

Religion can be defined as a relatively-bounded system of beliefs, symbols and practices that addresses the nature of existence, and in which communion with others and Otherness is lived as if it both takes in and spiritually transcends socially-grounded ontologies of time, space, embodiment and knowing.

As I have understood more of the biblical view of heaven and earth, I realized that the real question I should be asking is not 'How do I get to heaven?', but, 'How can I be a part of heaven coming to earth?

Their message wasn't, 'One day you will go up to join Jesus in heaven,' but, 'One day Jesus will come back to earth.' Their message wasn't about humanity escaping to be with Jesus, but about Jesus coming back to earth to be with humanity.

So the new creation will be a place of never-ending, ever-increasing joyful relationship with God and with one another, but what will we actually do there? The answer is that we will reign over creation!

We are here in a physical world, with physical bodies, because that is exactly where God purposed us to be and where we shall be in the future.

In the Christian world view, having bodies is not a barrier to spirituality but how we live out our spirituality in a physical world.

Many of the things we think we know about heaven are half-baked versions of the truth, influenced more by ancient philosophies, the medieval imagination and pop culture than by what the Bible actually says. How, then, did the Christian story of heaven and earth come to be so misunderstood?

The earth is not our temporary residence while we wait to escape to heaven, but the place where God created us to live and the place we will share for eternity with all of God's creatures.

The story of the Bible is the story of God's grace to graceless humanity. It is the story of God bringing heaven to earth so that it might be saved from hell. Each of us, like the thief on the cross, has a choice to make: to receive God's gift or to refuse it. The feasting hall is lit and decorated; the table is set and a delicious meal prepared; the wine goblets are filled to overflowing; the invitation has been sent. But the choice is ours. Will you come to the party?