Be a sinner—believing and rejoicing in Christ more boldly than you sin. And do so because Christ has overcome sin, death, and the world. If we are in this world, then we cannot help but sin. Our existence is not the dwelling place of righteousness. As Peter says, we look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.5

God whispers in our pleasures, but shouts in our pain.

You cant plan life. Theres bad things and its tough. Its hard every day and then something beautiful happens. Then its tough again and you are struggling and then theres a miracle, and thats really what life is. Its not just perfect all the time, but we have those amazing moments that make everything worth it.

rubbed the ugly, jagged scar that ran from the corner of his eye to his hairline just above his ear. He was glad

Well, I think the main message is there is more to your story. There is more than what happens between the crib and the grave, and that is what I am really trying to speak to, this idea that all of life is this life and that there is nothing more than what we see and experience right here on this earth.

Lower your expectations of earth. This isn't Heaven, so don't expect it to be.

A true biblical eschatology prepares overcomers for the difficulties they must endure and helps them to stand with confidence that the greatest outpouring of the Holy Spirit is surely coming.

Life is a gamble. You can get hurt, but people die in plane crashes, lose their arms and legs in car accidents people die every day. Same with fighters: some die, some get hurt, some go on. You just don't let yourself believe it will happen to you.

people who believe in the resurrection, in God making a whole new world in which everything will be set right at last, are unstoppably motivated to work for that new world in the present.

Christians do not avail ourselves of Plato's safety-hatch and say that the real world is not a thing of space, time, and matter, but another world into which we can escape. We say that the present world is the real one, and that it's in bad shape, but expecting to be repaired.

Life after death, it seems, can be a serious distraction not only from the ultimate life after life after death, but also from life before death.

What matters is eschatological duality (the present age and the age to come), not ontological dualism (an evil "earth" and a good "heaven").