I was born and raised in a small rural town in southern Illinois. The kind of place where there’s a church on every corner and a bar just down the street. I’ve seen my share of both. Small town USA. You know that at ten to three every day ole Joe Smith goes to the First National Bank on the corner, and you don’t go near the south part of town where there’s a chicken factory and vinegar plant.
My family went to the Christian church by an elementary school and my grandparents went to the little one across the street from their house in a town of 500 people. We were the big city and the county seat with 8,000 folks. Every Sunday morning, we were in church and Sunday school, then the kids group every Sunday evening. I never questioned the Bible, Jesus, Heaven or Hell. But I also didn’t really know it. It’s just what we did. Like most people, as I got older I had the usual questions. Can people in Heaven see us down here? Who will be in Heaven? What’s Heaven really like?
A couple of weeks after Hurricane Irma hit Florida we had the pleasure of hearing Dr. Robert Jeffress speak at our church. Dr. Jeffress is the pastor of the 13,000 member First Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas. He’s also a radio and television host, and hosts Pathway to Victory, broadcasted on 1200 TV stations in the US and 28 other countries. If that isn’t enough, he’s the author of many books including Not All Roads Lead to Heaven. I was familiar with Dr. Jeffress from seeing him on several TV news talk shows. So when I saw that our very own church was having him speak I couldn’t wait to get there. Of course, there was standing room only.
We sat down on the front row, and right before he was introduced, the power went out. This was a first in the history of the church, but there were still trees down and lines down from the hurricane. We were all disappointed, but Dr. Jeffress stepped to the podium amidst emergency spotlights and started talking. We no longer noticed the blackout or the spotlights. I wanted to be calm like him.
He had just released his new book called A Place Called Heaven. I’m an avid fiction reader, but I rarely read nonfiction. And I thought I knew about Heaven, even with those questions most people have. I thought I knew enough. But what he said made me think. I realized that I not only didn’t know enough, I didn’t know much. I yearned to find out. Actually, I realized that I didn’t know about a lot of things I should know after spending my whole life going to church.
Right after Dr. Jeffess finished speaking, the lights came on. Was there a message there? I’m not a superstitious person but I know that the Lord works in mysterious ways. I stood in line to buy two of his books that he happily signed, knowing my 86 year old mother would love to have one. Then I came home and started reading.
All my questions were answered. Dr. Jeffress used scripture and analogies, which makes it easy to understand and remember. It was a slow read for me because I wanted to absorb everything. My eyes were opened wide and at the risk of sounding like a cliché, this book changed my life. It changed the way I think, the way I look at life and the way I look at death. The older I get the more I think about dying. I believe we all do. He presents it so well, I actually cried happy tears when I read the last page and finished it. This book is one I would recommend to everyone young and old. I purchased one for all my kids and even some friends. On the inside cover, I wrote “The Greatest Gift. Heaven” and signed it with love. I want everyone to have the peace and direction I felt after reading A Place Called Heaven.
God Bless
Grandma Arvey
