If it doesn’t work in the real world, I’m not interested…
Destination: Heaven
Pray a prayer. Check a box. And the Pearly Gates will open, right?
Or will they?
That’s what I thought until I read, reread, and reread the words of Jesus:
Sell everything; give the money to the poor. Come to Me for living water. Visit me in prison. Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more. If you do not forgive, you will not be forgiven. Count the cost. You must be born again. Today you will be with Me in paradise. Lose your life for My sake. Overcome.
How do you decode that? Am I going to heaven when I die?
It’s time to lift the veil and untangle the mystery of what it really takes to board the train to heaven.
Check out my latest book: Am I going to heaven when I die?
Internal junk
All of us walk around with a certain amount of internal junk—feelings and inner messages that keep us from experiencing life to the fullest. This is the stuff we seldom share, the inner self we hide when we go out in public. We like to deny that this part of us even exists. But it does, and it holds us back; it dampens how we experience life.
For the last 30 to 40 years I’ve been focused on this question: How do you get rid of this internal junk? More specifically, does our Christian faith offer us any tools that allow us to get rid of this junk?
Here’s what I’ve found: Most of the tools out there don’t work. Most of the Christian tools out there don’t work. Or they work like this: We try them. They don’t make a difference. But we don’t want to tell anybody they didn’t work. So we lie. We lie and say we’re fine.
I don’t like that.
I have a strong distaste for religious pretending disguised as faith. “I’m fine in Jesus’ name.” Yeah. Sure.
Denial is not the same as faith. Faith is first of all honest. Honest with ourselves, honest with God. Read the Psalms.
So anyway, I found something 19 years ago that works for me. I’ve seen it work for others. It really does clear out internal junk. It really does leave you feeling lighter, happier, stronger, more at peace, healthier. It changes how you experience life.
I’ve been trying to cut through the clutter and convey that for much of the last 17 years. I’ve been trying to shout from the rooftops: “Hey, this isn’t another form of religious denial. This is the real thing.”
If you want to learn about it, then I have a pile of resources for you. Here are some, with more information below.
Everything (almost)
If you want everything I have (minus the books), then you want the Inner Wealth archive. It gives you access to two courses: How to Forgive, and Spiritual Self Defense, plus literally hundreds of other articles, pages, videos, and resources. You can find it here… You can also check out my blog which you can sign up for here.
How to forgive others who have hurt you
For many years I didn’t understand how forgiving others worked. I tried real hard, but trying hard doesn’t work. There’s another way, and it’s not commonly taught. Once you know it, however, it changes everything. I recommend my “How to forgive” course. I also have a pdf resource here which isn’t quite as complete.
A fresh understanding of the gospel
My first recommendation in this category is my book, What It Means to Follow Jesus. Or you may want to check out my e-book, Understanding Your Christian Faith.
Other resources include:
- Is God angry? (video and illustrated article)
- What I believe about you (book)
- 7 reasons I choose Jesus (pdf)
- Are we constantly sinning?
- What it means to follow Jesus (excerpt from the book, pdf)
- The gospel as I understand it
- Are we really wretched sinners?
- What I believe about you (one page)
How to hear the voice of God
You’ll find a video on the sales page for the Inner Wealth archive
Or check out: How to hear the voice of God (pdf)
By the way, I don’t have this book listed here on this page, but my novel, The Man from Sun Prairie, is centered around a character who has an unusual superpower: Everyone she touches hears the voice of God. You might enjoy checking it out.
Healing and restoration
- The most complete resource I offer is the Spiritual Self Defense (course)
- But you can also check out: Spiritual Self Defense (book and DVD)
- If you’re looking for an introduction to this in the form of a story, my book, The Gift of Transformation might be for you.
More healing and restoration resources include:
- 5 things every survivor of sexual abuse needs to know
- Something to hang on to when your world is falling apart
- God’s purpose in your suffering (pdf)
- “Someone needs to change for me to be okay”
- When Christian leaders disappoint (pdf)
- How to restore someone who has stumbled (pdf)
- Fatherhood and knowing God (YouTube, sermon)
Prayer and miscellaneous
- A prayer for you
- Are you embarrassed when people ask you to pray aloud?
- 4 principles for dating
- Why fishing in a bucket never works and nine other things you need to know about dating and marriage
- What money teaches us about the heart of God (pdf)
- 7 questions to ask before voting: A fresh look at Christianity and politics
See also Understanding the Bible
Okay, I’ve probably overwhelmed you with choices, and I haven’t even listed everything. It might be easier for you to tell me what kind of information or spiritual help would help you the most. You can connect with me on Facebook here. Or you can use this contact form:
