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In this clip from a Q&A with students in the Torrey Honors College at Biola University in 2012, Randy talks about how our earthly lives will not just restart in Heaven. This brings value to our present life, and reminds us that this life is not our one chance to fulfill our deepest dreams.

In this clip from a Q&A with students in the Torrey Honors College at Biola University in 2012, Randy explains that in Heaven, we will not be deficient in the way we usually think of it. We are finite beings with a lack of complete knowledge, and we will learn forever in Heaven.

In this clip from a Q&A with students in the Torrey Honors College at Biola University in 2012, Randy says that although we will have the ability to make choices in Heaven, we will be fully righteous, and use our free will to love and worship our Creator. We will be with God, the source of all goodness, so there will be no temptation to sin.

In this clip from a talk with students in the Torrey Honors College at Biola University in 2012, Randy explains how we can speculate while reading the Bible without leading ourselves into incorrect biblical interpretaion. We can differentiate which parts of our thinking are speculation, and which parts are present in the text. He also talks about literal versus figurative interpretation of Scripture.

In this clip from a talk with students in the Torrey Honors College at Biola University in 2012, Randy uses the illustration of a believer named Billy to explain the present Heaven and the New Heaven. He goes on to describe aspects of the Future Heaven, including the Tree of Life, what we will do, how we will grow, and the reality of different tribes and nations.

In this clip from a talk with students in the Torrey Honors College at Biola University in 2012, Randy says that the nature of the the New Earth is physical. He explains that some theologians say the present Heaven is completely immaterial, but he points to examples in Scripture that support the physicality of the present Heaven.

In this clip from a talk with students in the Torrey Honors College at Biola University in 2012, Randy explains that Heaven is the central dwelling place of God, where His throne is. But one day, God will bring Heaven down to the New Earth to dwell with His people.

In this clip from a talk with students in the Torrey Honors College at Biola University in 2012, Randy shares how the deaths of friends and family members compelled him to ask questions about both the present and the future Heaven. The tangibility of the last two chapters of Revelation and the lack of teaching, even in seminaries, led him to explore the New Earth further.

In this clip from a talk with students in the Torrey Honors College at Biola University in 2012, Randy says that often, truth found in old books has stood the test of time, and warns about heresy, which often consists of old falsehoods packaged as something new. He also explains the reading he did in preparation for writing his book Heaven.

One of the greatest books I’ve ever read is J. I. Packer’s Knowing God. Knowing God came out in 1973, when Nanci and I were in our first year at Bible college. We read it right away.  It was an instant classic. (Nanci reread it when she had cancer and got even more out of it then.)

Almost three years ago, I did a blog on Robert Wolgemuth’s insightful book Finish Line: Dispelling Fear, Finding Peace, and Preparing for the End of Your Life. Now Robert has lived out what he wrote about, having entered the presence of Jesus on January 10.

Thousands of people around the world die for Christ each year, and God knows the story of each one. We are to “Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body” (Hebrews 13:3).

I find that any day I haven’t contemplated Scripture and worshiped my Lord, my happiness invariably diminishes. I tend to be impatient, critical, self-centered, and unhappy. Something’s wrong—and that something is the lack of God’s fresh infusion of grace through His Word.

Like many, I was heartbroken over the news that highly respected Christian author Philip Yancey, now 76 years old, was involved in an 8-year adulterous relationship. Every time this happens it stings, but it stings worse with the many I have known personally.