Miracles from Heaven - Movie Review from a Biblical Perspective

Christians, 
As another sure-to-be-popular movie on "Heaven Tourism" emerges ("Miracles from Heaven") beware the dangers of this genre and these sorts of books/movies/stories. The main character, Anna Beam, claims in her accidental fall from a tree to have gone to Heaven to sit in Jesus' lap and be healed. We should hear some of God's below reminders about His revelation about Himself and Heaven before seeking out the experiences of a person.
"No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man." (John 3:13 ESV)
Ultimately, biblically minded Christians should know that our God does not work this way ("near death experiences" or "dying, going to Heaven/Hell and returning") in order to teach us about Himself and Heaven. Even though this genre ("Heaven Tourism") may feel good, be emotionally moving, and be seemingly sincere, it causes us to seek God in our experiences rather than through His revealed Word.

"And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment" (Hebrews 9:27 ESV)

Here is a simple 6 minute audio response by John Piper to these sorts of books and movies.

"No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father's side, he has made him known." (John 1:18 ESV)

If you are seriously considering taking 90 minutes of your time to watch this movie, I strongly encourage you to first invest 15-30 minutes by reading these Bible-saturated articles:
-"Heaven Is Real: Hallucinations Are Not" by John MacArthur
-"Dead Men Tell No Tales" by John MacArthur
-"What the Bible Says About the Heaven Books" by Tim Challies
-"Heaven Tourism" by Tim Challies 
- "What Does the Bible Say About Heaven?" by TrustworthyWord.com 

"And when they say to you, 'Inquire of the mediums and the necromancers who chirp and mutter,' should not a people inquire of their God? Should they inquire of the dead on behalf of the living?"
(Isaiah 8:19 ESV)

Should Christians spend their time on a movie or book that represents someone's recollection of Heaven or Hell?  No.  Their time is better spent in the Bible, discovering God's certain revealed truth.  Don't open yourself to subtle or blatant deception through such books and movies.


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Holiness and Sin

Holiness.  What is it?  How does it happen?  Is it possible?  

We know Christ is holy.  We know we are called to be holy.  We know holiness is connected with our behavior, and behavior is connected with our hearts, and our hearts are connected with our head.

"As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, [15] but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, [16] since it is written, 'You shall be holy, for I am holy.'" (1 Peter 1:14-16 ESV)

There are two important aspects to holiness: mortification and vivification.   Mortification means killing sin in our mind, hearts, and hands.  Vivification means imitating Christ in righteous thinking, feeling, and action.

Here is a good resource for discovering the depths of our sin through God's commandments, so that we may continuously mortify (kill) the flesh through knowledge, repentance, and confession.

Here is a helpful handout on understanding the work of holiness that God desires to accomplish within us!

"People do not drift toward holiness. Apart from grace-driven effort, people do not gravitate toward godliness, prayer, obedience to Scripture, faith, and delight in the Lord. We drift toward compromise and call it tolerance; we drift toward disobedience and call it freedom; we drift toward superstition and call it faith. We cherish the indiscipline of lost self-control and call it relaxation; we slouch toward prayerlessness and delude ourselves into thinking we have escaped legalism; we slide toward godlessness and convince ourselves we have been liberated." - D.A. Carson

Checkout TrustworthyWord.com online, on Facebook, on Instagram, or on Twitter for some great daily truths, encouragement, and resources from the Bible!

Top 10 Bible Verses on Love

Love.  We all desperately desire to be loved.  Some may outwardly appear to resist, avoid, or be dispassionate about love, but inwardly everyone desires to be loved deeply, permanently, and passionately.

God is love.  His Word expresses the depths, permanency, and passion of His love for His children.   The Bible simultaneously expresses how Christians are to overflow Jesus' love into the lives of others.   Perhaps the most well-known Bible verse it centered on God's love for the world!

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16 ESV)

Check out these "Top 10 Bible Verses on Love"... and click the image if you want to find some more powerful, biblical references on how to love one another!

1. 1 John 4:8-11 “Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.”
2. Mark 12:28-31  “One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, "Of all the commandments, which is the most important?"  29"The most important one," answered Jesus, "is this: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. 31The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these.’”
3. Ephesians 5:1-2 “Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children 2and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”
4. Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
5. Romans 8:38-39 “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
6. John 13:34 "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."
7. 1 Corinthians 13:1-8 “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.  4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.  8Love never fails.”
8. Galatians 5:22-24 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.”
9. 1 John 4:10 “In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”
10. Proverbs 10:12 “Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all offenses.”

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