52 Paths to Heaven

Jesus is an interesting person, complex in many ways.

His character is powerfully reflected in a video and the poetry of the late Dr. S.M. Lockridge, a pastor you may never have come across.

The audio is a bit rough, but the message is clear: Jesus has many more attributes than you can fathom at any one time.

If you’re a fan of creativity, writing, oratory and spiritual insight, you may be touched by the way he captures the heart of Jesus (the video images help along with some modern background music).

Here’s an excerpt followed by the Christian video:

“My King”

He strengthens and sustains.
He guards and He guides.
He heals the sick.
He cleansed the lepers.
He forgives sinners.
He discharges debtors.
He delivers the captive.
He defends the feeble.
He blesses the young.
He serves the unfortunate.
He regards the aged.

You can’t see it, taste it or feel it. But it exists. Who cares what it looks like?

You”ll find out in the Soul chapter that we have a soul at birth. Whether it arrives at conception or a little after doesn’t matter either.

 I think the soul is our connection to God. It provides fuel, spiritual connections for our communication. God didn’t want to create  bunch of robots. But He didn’t see the point in letting us fend for ourselves. The soul was His gift to us to give us the capacity to respond to Him in a supernatural way.

It’s the soul that survives death. Is yours going to heaven or hell?

It’s OK to drink alcohol if you’re Christian and if you aren’t a believer in Christ.

I know many Christians disagree with this - that Jesus doesn’t want people getting drunk. And others say it’s better to avoid booze just because - kind of like you avoid the sin of being drunk just by not drinking in the first place. The same thinking comes from people who don’t think boys and girls should dance together because someone may get romantic. Or, they don’t want boys and girls to swim in the same lake because those bathing suits (or skin) may arouse someone.

Anyway, I drink now and then because I have a few drinks that I like. I don’t get drunk and drive home or kill people. In fact, plenty of references in the Bible (Old and New Testaments) talk about parties and drinking. In other words, it’s not necessarily a bad thing. But God clearly teaches against excess.

Here’s a twist: As Christians, we may want to consider not drinking if our behavior causes someone else to stumble. In other words, if your drinking makes someone else think drinking is OK for them (when it may not be for any number of reasons), maybe you shouldn’t drink either. Or, maybe you shouldn’t drink simply because someone else watching your Christian witness may be turned off because they see you with some hard liquor.

Stuff to think about, stuff that has little to do with whether you’re a friend of Jesus. Pride is a more serious issue.

“She rides pretty good for a black girl,” the teen-ager told me one day.

I was glad in a sense that my son heard the comment in 2007 about a young girl’s skateboarding ability. It demonstrated how he should never act and revealed a bad streak in his otherwise jovial friend.

Whether that was racisim or just an ignorant remark by a teen who hangs out with black friends, the truth is that pure-bred racism can lead to heaven.

The chapter explains that you need to live through your evil and essentially make a record of it before you can come to grips with it and have a fighting chance of reaching out to Jesus for His forgiveness.

Are you a racist? What about your friends?

As much as I fail to live up to what I know, the truth is, this is all about Him.

The Him is Jesus. He’s the ultimate path to heaven. You may go through a lot of things. You may meet a lot of people. In the end, it’s just you and Jesus or you without Jesus.

I made 52 Paths To Heaven to reflect my personal journey and touch on issues that may be foreign to me but not you (like abortion).

We like to think of prayers and preachers and the Bible as our guiding light. The truth is, the Holy Spirit is our light and He’s authorized to do whatever God wants to reach us - no matter how high we go with our pride or how low we go with our depravity.

You’ll be able to order to book soon. In the meantime, drop me a line if you’re interested in the book or the topic of what we do to get to heaven. I’m eager to know how you feel.

The book should be out December 10th or sooner.

–Mike