Is There Recognition In Heaven?

I read an article about if there will be personal recognition in heaven. In our 507 class we had talked about if there would be personal identity after death and this article agrees with that. Since we are all created in the image of God and God is not a physical being; then in spirit we pass on from one mode of existence to another. So the spirit is just as capable for recognition as before with we were in our bodies. Also our spirits will be enhanced after death because we won't have our physical bodies holding us back.

How does this all related to counseling?

This article relates to counseling because in order to know who we are and to prepare ourselves for heaven, we need to know about our own personal identity. What that means is that we need to prepare ourselves spiritually, physically, and mentally to help those who may need our guidance and to make us stronger counselors. We as christian counselors need to prepare our spiritual wellness by having a good relationship with God; by being engaged in religious and spiritual activities such as mediation, prayer, and worship which will as help our physical and emotional health as well. We also need to be aware of our feelings and how we express them to those we counsel because they maybe grieving or going through a hard time. All of this will help us to prepare our body, mind, and soul.


How does this relate to me as you may be asking right now?

I believe that our spirits leave our bodies after death and that once our spirits leave our bodies we have enhanced abilities. What those enhanced abilities are I am not sure of yet and probably won't know until I go to heaven. But I know when I do go to heaven I will be there with those whom I loved that have passed away and I know that I will be able to recognize them there.All I can do now is prepare myself for that day by prayer, mediation, worship, keeping up my emotional health, staying healthy, and by treating others like Jesus would do. With my counseling side I will prepare by helping all of whom I can to accomplish their goals, to move on, to heal, to forgive, or to repent whatever it is that is bothering them.

The Importance of Material Man

I recently saw the last Harry Potter movie (Deathly Halllows Part 2) with my boyfriend in the dollar theater here in Lynchburg VA and in the movie there was a very interesting statement that caught my attention. (I will forewarn you that I am about to share information about the movie that may spoil part of the plot line so you may not want to read on if you plan on watching this movie and have not seen it yet.) Harry Potter had just been killed and he was "in heaven." It looked like the train station he used to get to Hogwarts school except that it was clean, glowing, and there were no people around. He came into contact with the deceased headmaster of his school, Professor Dumbledore, and they began talking about the events that just occurred. Harry Potter had a way to return to the mortal world and right before he left "heaven" he asked Professor Dumbledore a very interesting question. He asked if what was happening to him was real, or was it all in his head. Professor Dumbledore responded with a statement about how just because it was in his head, did not make it any less real.

That statement really stuck out to me and it caused me to start thinking about material and immaterial aspects of the human. In Dr. Corsini's class we have discussed many aspects of the material and immaterial human and I have found that my focus has been primarily on having proof of the immaterial man. As a Christian I am very concerned about the immaterial aspects of man and I sometimes find myself discounting the importance of the material aspects. As we discussed the 5 different Biblical aspects of man (Heart, Mind, Conscience, Spirit, and Soul) in class, I noticed how intertwined the material and immaterial parts of those aspects were.

This brings me back to similar thinking from my previous blogpost (on September 22nd) about God using material aspects of man to help him understand the immaterial aspects of man. I realize that Harry Potter is not a real person, and that Dumbledore is not speaking "the Gospel Truth," but I started to realize that even material aspects of oneself can help us understand immaterial aspects. Just because the "heaven" Harry was envisioning may have been in his head (a material aspect of his mind), there may still be immaterial aspects to it that are very real. As a Christian who is concerned about proving the immaterial aspect of man, I must also remember that there is much to learn in the material aspect of man that can also point someone to God.

Heaven/Hell Experiences Leave Unanswered Questions

(This blog was inspired by an earlier blog post on September 15th titled "Heaven is Real")

A lady named Tamara Laroux claims that when she was a teen girl, she died, went to hell, saw heaven, and came back to life. She had been struggling with depression and attempted to commit suicide. She claims that "a voice" told her to shoot herself in the chest instead of in the head. She claims that she died and went to hell where she saw a "sea of people" who could not communicate with each other. In hell she was given perfect knowledge about every one's sins and lives. Everyone was in great agony and no one wanted any other person to experience what they were experiencing. Heaven was visible from hell and there was a known reality that people in hell would never be able to go there. She then claims that because she had cried out to God, He scooped down and took Tamara to heaven. In heaven there were many people who were talking but Tamara was "not allowed" to talk to them. Later she was placed back into her body on earth and faced a miraculous recovery from a gun wound that should have taken her life. to see her story watch the following clip.

In Dr. Corsini's class, it was said that "just because something is real, does not make it true." Although heaven and hell are real places, it does not mean that Tamara Laroux actually went there. The class has been discussing the material and immaterial aspects of the human. Some of the best evidence (outside of Scripture) for immaterial aspects of a person, is the "out of body" experiences that many people have claimed having after dying and coming back to life.
These experiences are hard for skeptics to argue with because the physical body stops working, and people are able to maintain thoughts and feelings.

I must admit that I normally take stories like Tamara's with a grain of salt. I tend to be a skeptic. The one major point that skeptics can use to argue for no immaterial person (in regards to these stories) is that every person's story about what happens when they die is different. For Tamara, she went to hell, then to a heaven where she was not allowed to talk to anyone. In a previous posting, a little boy claimed that he was able to talk to his miscarried sister and to his great grandpa. As a Christian I do believe that there is an immaterial part of a person, but I also believe that these experiences of heaven and hell may not be completely real. One possible explanation that I can think of is that these people somehow experienced a type of dream. Throughout Scripture God uses dreams to reveal important things to people. (it is first recorded in Genesis when God reveals information to Abimelech in a dream, and ends in Matthew where God warns Joseph about things in a dream) Is it possible that what Tamala experienced was a God-given dream? This begs another question. Can dreams be part of the immaterial person, and not just part of material thoughts? These are the questions that Tamala's story left me asking.

Heaven is Real

Heaven is for Real is a true story about a boy named Colton who had to have emergency surgery. Colton was four years old at the time of his surgery. During his surgery, while unconscious, he entered into Heaven. He survived the life-threatening surgery and later told about some of what he saw while in Heaven, how he was able to look down and see the doctors as they performed the surgery, as well as how he watched his Dad pray in the waiting room during his surgery. Initially his family was unclear about what to believe. But as Colton began to share about meeting his miscarried sister (whom he had never been told about), and details about his great-grandfather (who had died 30 years before Colton was born), they soon realized that Colton's experiences were very real. Heaven is for Real is told by Todd Burpo, Colton's father, but is often in Colton's own words.

Recently in class we discussed the "material" and "immaterial" parts of a person. Dr. Corsini shared stories about "cooberating evidence" and how research has shown the validity of deathbed experiences in which people were pronounced dead, or flat-lined, but were revived and later shared details about their out-of-body experiences. During these experiences they were very aware of their surroundings and were often also aware of remote events.

To me, from a purely rational or logical perspective, Colton's experience, as well as similar experiences of others, is difficult to fully comprehend. But as a Christian that believes that a person consists of a material part as well as an immaterial part, and that Heaven is indeed a very real place, I find these stories extremely fascinating and incredibly exciting.

Boy Envisions Heaven

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/42154263/ns/today-books/
The article listed above talks about a four year old boy who spent time with Jesus in Heaven during one of his surgeries. It is an interesting article because the boy's father is a pastor and he and his wife did not know about the incident until their son was confronted about his hospital visit. When he was asked about his surgery, the little boy says that the hospital is where the "angels sang to me." He mentions that he sat on Jesus' lap in Heaven, where he also visited with his great-grandfather. During the surgery, the little boy said that he knew what his mom and dad were during while they were waiting for their son to return, because he saw them! Astoundingly, they were in a different room! When the little boy talks about his visit to Heaven, he knew things that he was never told about. For example, his mother had a miscarriage and the little boy said he saw his baby sister in Heaven. His mother never told him about the incident. The family was in awe.
I enjoyed this story because out-of-body experiences is a topic that is becoming more popular. More and more books are being written about people's experience in Heaven, and even Hell. It is a topic that no one can know the answer as to whether the person actually experienced such an event. But to that person, it is a very real phenomenon.
In class we mentioned corroborative evidence and death bed experiences while discussing a person's immaterial and material aspects of the mind. I believe the stories that are told about those who have gone to Heaven or have seen Jesus. God can and does make Himself known to His creation and His methods of doing so should not be debatable. God's methods of revealing Himself are not at all fair, as we also mentioned in class, and this story is an example of that. Not everyone will experience the vision of Heaven or sit on Jesus' lap while angels sing to them; however, God's revelation is real and it shows mankind one thing: That God exists and He is a personal God.