heaven

Blind Trust

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April and I visited a friend of mine today. A dear friend whom I hadn’t seen in several years. He’s now getting up in age, and it seems like he is ready to go home. Heaven, that is, as Earth is not home for those who believe in Jesus Christ. I was feeling that if I wanted to see him alive, then I had better go now.

We had to travel two hours away. In fact, to another state to reach his residence. I pulled out my old GPS from storage. I know my phone has it built in, but I don’t like to tie up my phone. One might say I was going “old school.”

We reached our destination without any problems. In fact, we made it without my GPS screaming at me, “Recalculating!” Not once! We had a very nice visit. My friend is a man of God, and I have always admired him and how he lives his life. He talked about how God has always been there with him, guiding and directing him. The way he talked made me think he had blindly trusted God every day after he accepted Him.. We can’t see God, but at times we can feel his presence.

On the drive home, I asked April if she knew where we were. She said, “No. Not at all.” “Is that scary?” I asked. “No. I trust you.” It made me feel good to be trusted.

I have a sense that “blindly trusting” God makes him feel good as well. He wants us to trust him and to believe that He is taking us to the right destination. It shows that we are confident in our God. Remembering He is strong and mighty if we face any battles. If we live consistently according to God’s commands, then we can be sure we will reach our final destination, heaven

Look, God is my deliverer! I will trust in him and not fear. For the Lord gives me strength and protects me; he has become my deliverer.” Is. 12:2 (NET)

You keep completely safe the people who maintain their faith,
for they trust in you. Is. 26:3 (NET)

Copyright © 2025 Mark Brady. All rights reserved.

For the Kingdom of Heaven

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I have always been intrigued by Jesus’ teachings. I especially liked it how, while he was speaking, he would point to something and say, “The kingdom of heaven is likened unto…” Okay, that’s how it is written in the King James version of the Bible. A current way would be, “God’s kingdom is like…”

That line has had a huge influence on how this blog is written. If you have ever noticed, I try to take something from real life and show how it can relate to the kingdom of God. I think the gospel of Jesus Christ is relational and practical. It’s not just some lofty words that sound nice.

I think that is where so many casual Christians go off-key. They “go” to church, hear a great sermon, but toss it in the trash on the way out. Then they go about their week as if the God who loves them so much hadn’t delivered a custom “love” letter to their heart. God uses people to speak on his behalf. He delights in partnering with them to do his business.

Sunday’s sermons and hopefully this blog should be thought about during the week and should certainly be applied. It may be challenging, but that is where we can ask God to help us. We should always be growing and maturing in our walk with God. I know of some who have been the same hurtful people for many years. They “go” to church almost every time the doors are open, but when they are there, they forget to unlock the doors of their heart.

Boy, I didn’t expect those words to come out when I started writing this post.

Hear the words of God. Whether spoken through a sermon, read in the Bible, or perhaps in these blogs. Think about them. Ponder their meanings. The Bible is relatable. Its words are alive, and they change people, or at least should. The words the Bible contains can be applied to every part of our lives. Even more than Seinfeld-isms.

Copyright © 2025 Mark Brady. All rights reserved.

“You’re My New Superhero!”

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We all like heroes. Marvel Comics has proven that with their highly successful movies. It can make us feel good knowing that someone can do something that we cannot do. Perhaps, inside all of us is a secret desire to be a superhero. To have the abilities to do things, hopefully for others, that would help them or better their lives.

Recently, when out and about, I may stop and ask someone for some help. For instance, last week, I asked an older lady at Aldis where they keep ricotta cheese. She told me that it would probably be with the cottage cheese. A few minutes later, I would learn that it indeed was.

I thanked her for her help and said, “You’re my new superhero. In fact, are you wearing a cape?” as I looked behind her. She started laughing pretty loudly and exclaimed, “Oh my goodness. You just made my day.” I have used that line several times, and it always makes people smile and feel special. There is also a popular song titled “Hero” by the Christian rock group Skillet.

Two of the lines in the song go like this:

A hero’s not afraid to give his life
A hero’s gonna save me just in time.

One might say that Jesus Christ is the ultimate hero. He laid down his life for us because he was not afraid to die. He knew three days later he would be alive again. And he came here from heaven to save us from eternal death. By accepting him and what he did on the cross, which forgives us of our sins, we can live forever with him.

You need a hero. You need Jesus. Please accept or invite him into your life to save you and then to help you with whatever you need. With anything that matters to you, because it matters to him.

“This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn’t go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again. Anyone who trusts in him is acquitted; anyone who refuses to trust him has long since been under the death sentence without knowing it. And why? Because of that person’s failure to believe in the one-of-a-kind Son of God when introduced to him. John 3:16-18 (MSG)

Copyright © 2025 Mark Brady. All rights reserved.

Saying, “See ya later.”

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I learned a couple of weeks ago about an older gentleman who passed away. I had only known him for about twenty years. He was always smiling and had such a sweet, gentle spirit of God about him. He was very positive in his attitude and way of life and very encouraging, too.

He was the kind of man that you never minded being around. When I met him, he had already aged. Wrinkled skin, and what hair he had was grey. If there were ever an “Adopt a Grandparent” program, he would be the first man to be picked. Hearing of his passing was difficult to accept, but knowing that he was now in heaven and that I was prepared to go there myself, I knew I would see him again. So I didn’t have to say, “Goodbye,” but instead said, “See ya later.”

If you are ready to stand before God and know that your sins have been forgiven by accepting Jesus Christ into your life, and a person you know has, too, then you have the hope of seeing them again. But if one of you has not accepted Jesus, then when death occurs, you or they will never be seen again.

I never did find out when his funeral was going to be, so I didn’t attend. But a few nights ago, I had a dream with him and his wife in it. The atmosphere was nice and sweet. The sun was shining very brightly, and the birds were chirping. We were trying to get somewhere but had trouble finding the correct path that would lead us to our destination. The three of us laughed at our struggle and kept trying.

When I woke up and recalled the dream, I had a good feeling in my spirit. I knew it was me saying to him, “See ya later.” Then, watching him walk ahead alone, leaving his wife and me behind.” I’m glad I had the opportunity to know him and spend the time we had together.

I thank my God upon all my remembrance of you, Phi. 1:3 (ASV)

And regarding the question, friends, that has come up about what happens to those already dead and buried, we don’t want you in the dark any longer. First off, you must not carry on over them like people who have nothing to look forward to, as if the grave were the last word. Since Jesus died and broke loose from the grave, God will most certainly bring back to life those who died in Jesus.
1 Thes. 4:13-14 (MSG)

Copyright © 2025 Mark Brady. All rights reserved.

Nope!

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A man once told his wife that the reason he didn’t go to church and had dismissed his belief in God is because he was abused as a little boy in a main denominational church, and he couldn’t believe a loving God would allow that to happen. I hate that it did happen. It was so wrong, but the truth is this: you will not be exempt from hell because of someone else’s moral failure! Nope! Notta!

The Bible is clear about this issue. “Everyone must die once. After a person dies, he is judged.” Heb. 9:27 (ICB) That same man will not be judged for the sins of someone else, but he will be judged for how “he” lived his life.

All people have sinned and are not good enough for God’s glory. 24 People are made right with God by his grace, which is a free gift. They are made right with God by being made free from sin through Jesus Christ. 25 God sent him to die in our place to take away our sins. We receive forgiveness through faith. And all of this is because of the blood of Jesus’ death. Rom. 3:23-25a (ICB)

Recently, a famous senior pastor, who proceeded over several campus locations and was on television, had his past sins revealed. The indiscretion took place many years ago but was disclosed. He probably thought it was hidden and would never be known publicly. This shows that scripture is true when it says, “Everything that is hidden will become clear. Every secret thing will be made known.” Luke 8:17 (ICB)

My point in bringing this up is no one can say, “See. The church is full of hypocrites, and I don’t want to be like them. I’m just as good as they are. So, I will live my life how I want to!” The church is indeed full of imperfect people, but they are forgiven if they have asked God to forgive them in the name of Jesus.

A reporter once asked President Bill Clinton, “You have committed an indiscretion in the Oval Office, yet we see you go to church and carrying a Bible.” President Clinton smirked and replied, “If anybody needed to be in church, don’t you think I should have?” Honestly, he was right.

There is no getting around this matter. There are only two eternities. One is heaven, and the other is hell. God cannot allow people into heaven who are filthy and have not been washed in the blood of Jesus. Fair or not, that is the way it is and must be. For God is Holy.

It is your evil that has separated you from your God. Your sins cause him to turn away from you.  And then he does not hear you. Is. 59:2 (ICB)

Each creature was calling to the others: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of heaven’s armies. His glory fills the whole earth.” Is. 6:3 (ICB)

God is light, and in him there is no darkness at all. 1 Jn. 1:5b (ICB)

Your eyes are too good to look at evil. You cannot stand to see people do wrong. So how can you put up with those evil people? How can you be quiet when wicked people defeat people who are better than they are? Hab. 1:13 (ICB)

That is why God had to turn his back on his Son, Jesus, while he was dying on the cross because Jesus took on the sins of the world. So get it through your head today: either accept God’s gift of salvation through Jesus Christ or die as a sinner and be condemned to spending eternity in hell. It’s your choice. You will not be able to blame anyone else.

Copyright © 2024 Mark Brady. All rights reserved.

It is Finished

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Endings can evoke a variety of emotions. For example, when you finish a good book, a good movie, maybe a bad movie, or when someone’s life ends. Sometimes, April will ask after we finish a movie, “Now what?” It’s a good question.

When Jesus died on the cross, his last words as a man were, “It is finished!” His thirty-three-year mission to boldly go where no God had gone before was over. “Now what?”

The very moment he died, here comes my favorite part: the curtain that hung in the temple was ripped from top to bottom. Now, there was no more separation between God and man. It meant that if we accept Jesus and ask him to forgive us of our sins, we now have access to God Himself. We can actually enter the throne room of heaven and have an audience with the Creator of the universe!

When man dies on Earth, it’s over. The end. It is finished. “Then what?” The very next thing he will see is God as he stands before him. God will look in the “Lamb’s Book of Life” to see if his name is written in it. If not, God will have no choice but to send him to hell. By the way, in the beginning, every name was written in the “Lamb’s Book of Life.” The only person that can remove your name – is you!

God wants people to love him freely of their free will. So, He gave man the right to choose to live for Him or to live for Satan. That’s it. There are no other sides to life. You will not be reincarnated. You won’t simply die and wind up in nothingness. You will live for eternity, either in heaven or hell. Choose life in heaven. Accept Jesus. Have your sins forgiven. The reason you must have your sins paid for by Jesus is because God is Holy and cannot be in the presence of sin. The End!

At that moment, the Temple curtain was ripped in two, top to bottom. There was an earthquake, and rocks were split in pieces. Mat. 27:51 (MSG)

Nothing dirty or defiled will get into the City (heaven), and no one who defiles or deceives. Only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life will get in.
Rev. 21:27 (MSG)  In parentheses mine.

Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment,
Heb. 9:27 (NIV)

Copyright © 2024 Mark Brady  All Rights Reserved

Game of Chess

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The game of chess came about in 1475. Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces, with the objective to checkmate the opponent’s king.

If you have never played, know that the different pieces can only move in specific ways and a number of spaces at a time. There is a hierarchy of pieces from the pawns to the king. There is only one King who becomes the final victor.

The battle between two sides has always been a key part of a good story. Good vs. evil. Light vs. darkness. And, of course, The Rebel Alliance vs. The Evil Empire. I have often thought of God vs. Satan as a chess game, and humans are the pieces that do battle for either side.

Satan wanted to be a god unto himself, but there can only be one at the top. When he and one-third of the angels rose up against God, He had no choice but to banish them from heaven forever. Ever since that time, Satan has been waring against God to get revenge, take over, and destroy His kingdom.

Chess is only a game, but life isn’t! When life ends, there is only heaven or hell. One may say they don’t believe in God. Heaven isn’t real. They may refuse of their own will not to accept God’s gift of salvation to be saved from hell. They may say, “I don’t believe in hell,” but hell believes in them. Satan is not playing a game. Out of hate, he is trying to win. He doesn’t care about humans. He will use them to get back at God and then destroy them. His biggest lie is that there is no God and that there is no punishment for not accepting Him.

I am definitely on God’s side. I am not the King, and I am certainly NOT the queen (LOL), but I have thought of myself as a mere pawn. My moves are limited; therefore, I need to follow the instructions of the King. Who is the King? That is Jesus Christ. The King of Kings. I hope you will choose to be on God’s side. Willing to be led by Him and live according to His ways, which are pure, right, and out of love. For when God says, “Checkmate,” it will all be over once and for all.

7 And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, 8 but they [a]did not prevail, nor was a place found for [b]them in heaven any longer. 9 So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. Rev. 12:7-9 (NKJV)

14 These will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, for He is Lord of lords and King of kings; and those who are with Him are called, chosen, and faithful.” Rev. 17:14 (NKJV)

7 Now when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison 8 and will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea. 9 They went up on the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them. 10 The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where[b] the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. Rev. 20:7-10 (NKJV)

15 And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire. Rev. 20:15 (NKJV)

Copyright © 2024 Mark Brady  All Rights Reserved

Mayday

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I’ve mentioned before that I don’t always sleep when I should. I suffer from “OMS” (Old Man Syndrome). Sometimes, when this is the case, I will turn on the TV. One of the shows I like to watch in the middle of the night is called “Mayday.” They go over actual airplane crashes and report “70% of all air crashes are due to human error.” At one time, I wanted to be a pilot.

While watching last night, I thought about people who have never accepted salvation. God’s free gift was through His Son, Jesus, when He died on the cross. They think because they aren’t hurting anyone and are basically a good person, then they should go to heaven. According to Romans 3:23, we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. You can’t save yourself, and you can never be “good enough!”

There’s a way of life that looks harmless enough;
    look again—it leads straight to hell.
Sure, those people appear to be having a good time,
    but all that laughter will end in heartbreak. Prov. 14:12,13 (MSG)

When they stand before God, they will realize they had a chance to have forgiveness, but they didn’t ask for it. Human error! It is then you may hear them cry out, “Mayday! Mayday!” for they will know they are going down. Crash and burn in hell!

I saw a photo on Facebook the other day. The couple was drinking wine, going to concerts, and, in general, living it up. No one usually posts the hard and ugly side of life. That might be called “Uglyfacebook.” There is life, and then there is eternal life. What we do now in life prepares us for the eternal. Ask Jesus into your heart. Ask him for forgiveness and receive it no matter what you have done in the past. Then move over and let God pilot your life. There may be turbulence, but you will reach your final destination, alive!

Copyright © 2024 Mark Brady  All Rights Reserved

The List

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I like lists. I like making lists. Grocery list, shopping list, packing list, prayer list, and even to-do list. I don’t like being on lists unless it’s Santa’s “Good” list, but I’m probably on his “Naughty” list. These days, I rely on lists, especially when grocery shopping. But I still tend to forget things and have been known not to pick up something on my list!

Lists can be good. They can be valuable tools. They can help us get things done or go on vacation and not have that sinking feeling that we forgot to pack something. My packing list allows me to checkmark what to take, if I need to buy it, and when it is packed.

There is one list I definitely want to be on. I want to ensure my name is among the many names listed in the Lamb’s Book of Life! If your name is written in this book, Jesus will remind his Heavenly Father that you accepted him and asked for forgiveness of your sins, and you will enter into Heaven. What’s interesting is every single person’s name is initially written in this book. It is only by an individual’s choice to have their name “blotted” out. That is done by not accepting Jesus. Accept Jesus. Be included in the list of names written in the Book of Life.

The one who is victorious will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out the name of that person from the book of life, but will acknowledge that name before my Father and his angels. Rev. 3:5 (NIV)

I saw a Great White Throne and the One Enthroned. Nothing could stand before or against the Presence, nothing in Heaven, nothing on earth. And then I saw all the dead, great and small, standing there—before the Throne! And books were opened. Then another book was opened: the Book of Life. The dead were judged by what was written in the books, by the way they had lived. Sea released its dead, Death and Hell turned in their dead. Each man and woman was judged by the way he or she had lived. Then Death and Hell were hurled into Lake Fire. This is the second death—Lake Fire. Anyone whose name was not found inscribed in the Book of Life was hurled into Lake Fire. Rev. 20:11-15 (MSG)

Only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life will get in.
Rev. 21:27 (MSG)

The Beast you saw once was, is no longer, and is about to ascend from the Abyss and head straight for Hell. Earth dwellers whose names weren’t written in the Book of Life from the foundation of the world will be dazzled when they see the Beast that once was, is no longer, and is to come.
Rev. 17:7-8 (MSG)

Copyright © 2023 Mark Brady.

If They Knew

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Once upon a time, there was a rich man, expensively dressed in the latest fashions, wasting his days in conspicuous consumption. A poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, had been dumped on his doorstep. All he lived for was to get a meal from scraps off the rich man’s table. His best friends were the dogs who came and licked his sores.

Then he died, this poor man, and was taken up by the angels to the lap of Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried. In hell and in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham in the distance and Lazarus in his lap. He called out, “Father Abraham, mercy! Have mercy! Send Lazarus to dip his finger in water to cool my tongue. I’m in agony in this fire.”

But Abraham said, “Child, remember that in your lifetime you got the good things and Lazarus the bad things. It’s not like that here. Here he’s consoled and you’re tormented. Besides, in all these matters there is a huge chasm set between us so that no one can go from us to you even if he wanted to, nor can anyone cross over from you to us.”

The rich man said, “Then let me ask you, Father: Send him to the house of my father where I have five brothers, so he can tell them the score and warn them so they won’t end up here in this place of torment.”

Abraham answered, “They have Moses and the Prophets to tell them the score. Let them listen to them.”

“I know, Father Abraham,” he said, “but they’re not listening. If someone came back to them from the dead, they would change their ways.”

Abraham replied, “If they won’t listen to Moses and the Prophets, they’re not going to be convinced by someone who rises from the dead.”

As a young man, I heard our pastor preach many sermons described as “hell fire and brimstone!” He held nothing back, ensuring everyone knew what the Bible said about hell. How awful it would be there if we did not simply accept Jesus Christ as God’s Son and ask him to forgive us for our sins. I knew I didn’t want to be there!

The above story was initially told by Jesus himself. It is recorded in Luke 16:19-31, and the version I pulled from was The Message. It makes me wonder, though, if someone did come back to life and had been in hell as their sentence from how they lived their life and told everyone about hell, would people believe them? Would you?

You probably won’t ever hear of someone coming back from hell. But you do have the Bible, which is full of truth. Some of those truths are:

All have sinned and have fallen short of the Glory of God. (Rom. 3:23)

After you die, you will stand before God and give an account of how you lived your life on earth.
(2 Corinthians 5:10)

Unless you are “born again,” meaning you accepted Jesus Christ, you cannot enter heaven.
(John 3:3)

Accept Jesus. Ask him to forgive you of your sins and live forever in heaven. If the living knew what the dead knew, the whole world would follow Jesus the Christ!

Copyright © 2023 Mark Brady.