From Beer to Eternity: Discovering the connection between the here and the hereafter

By Calvin Poole III

Does your life have meaning? Do the things that happen in everyday life have any significance in eternity? Does God really care about you? Why do evil and death exist? These questions can rarely be satisfactorily answered from a human perspective, but by looking at these questions from God's perspective, we might discover answers and find encour

• Language: English
• Publisher: Aspire Publishing Hub, LLC
• Release date: Jul 2, 2024
• ISBN: 9781964393650

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DISCOVERING THE CONNECTION BETWEEN

THE HERE AND THE HEREAFTER

CALVIN POOLE III

From Beer to Eternity

Copyright © 2024 by Calvin Poole III

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law.

Library of Congress Control Number: 2024913092

ISBN

978-1-964393-64-3 (Paperback)

978-1-964393-65-0 (eBook)

Acknowledgments

There are no original ideas in this book. Biblical scholars have been writing about Reformed Theology since 1517 (when Martin Luther posted his 95 Theses), so any novel ideas introduced at this late date would most certainly constitute heresy. A theological work is never a stand-alone structure, but rather an additional building block to be stacked upon the existing tower of previous works, hopefully enabling the reader to see just a little farther over the horizon. While it would be impossible for me to name every person who has involuntarily loaned me ideas for this book, I will name a few. They include Martin Luther, John Calvin, Matthew Henry, C.S. Lewis, R.C. Sproul, James Montgomery Boice, Tim Keller, Sinclair Ferguson, Helmut Thielicke, John Piper, Michael S. Heiser, James B. Jordan, Emory Chip Watson, Jeffery L. Hamm, Robert L. Fossett, Jack Williamson, and the Session of First Presbyterian Church of Greenville, Alabama. I assume full responsibility for all errors and misinterpretations of scripture but will leave you with the notion which has guided this book: All the world’s problems are the result of bad theology. The antidote is good theology. May God give us wisdom to discern the difference.

-Calvin Poole III

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction:

Chapter 1A Train is Late

Chapter 2Continuity of Existence

Chapter 3How We Believe

Chapter 4To Be Eternal or Not to Be Eternal

Chapter 5Rumors of God

Chapter 6The Meaning of Life

Chapter 7Your Life Will Have Eternal Significance

Chapter 8The Meaning of Death

Chapter 9What Does It Mean to Be a Sinner?

Chapter 10To Repent or Not to Repent?

Chapter 11The Oldest and Second Oldest Sins

Chapter 12Evil : To Be, or Not to Be?

Chapter 13Why Doesn't God Like Me?

Chapter 14Border Wars

Chapter 15The Great Reversal

Chapter 16Continuity, Continued

Chapter 17Holy Ground

Chapter 18The Importance of What Happens on Earth

Chapter 19Created to Be Destroyed

Chapter 20Devoted to Destruction

Chapter 21Peace When There Is No Peace

Chapter 22Consider Your Immortality

Chapter 23Motivation: Self or External?

Chapter 24A Crazy Little Thing Called Church

Chapter 25Fear of Faith

Introduction:

A Train is Late

The train was late in arriving at the station. This opening sentence raises questions, doesn't it? Who is on the train? Who is waiting for the train? What is supposed to happen when the train arrives? Did something happen to the train? Why the delay? What problems will be caused by this delay? How long will it be before the train arrives?

You may have the same questions about life that I have. It seems that we are waiting for a train that never arrives. We go about our daily jobs. Your job could be formal employment such as a bank teller, or it could be informal employment such as a bank robber. In either case, as we work towards our goals, we do so with a divided sense of what we are actually working for. On the one hand, we are working to establish something that will endure. On the other hand, we realize that our death is inevitable and that our accomplishments are impermanent.

Think of the last time you visited a large hospital. Hundreds of people working to fight off death, knowing full well that the victories are only temporary, and that every single patient, as well as every doctor, nurse, orderly, and administrative person working there will die. Does that mean that the health care business has no value?

Let's ask Lazarus. He is one of many people whose story is told in the Bible. Lazarus got sick, died and was placed in a tomb. Jesus brought him back from the dead. Later, although we don't know exactly when, Lazarus died again. The work of a physician imitates the work of Jesus: fighting off death with the full realization that death will eventually come. There is the immediate concern to save a life, but there is also another thought that finds harbor in the back of our minds. That thought is of a train that has not yet arrived. A thought that there is more to this story. There has to be more.

The Bible gives us a beautiful depiction of a feast which takes place at the home of Lazarus's sister Mary, on the day before Jesus would make his triumphant entry into Jerusalem, the day we celebrate as Palm Sunday. Jesus, Lazarus, and Mary were celebrating. This was after Lazarus had died and been brought back to life. Surely, this is a picture of our future, as well. After we die, there will be a celebration with Jesus. There must, we assume, be some connection between what happens during our lives on earth and what happens after we die. There must be some connection between the daily hum drum of say, drinking a beer, and the future of our existence in eternity. A connection between the here and the hereafter.

God has put eternity in the hearts of men. The Bible says this, but we all have a sense that this is true, even without the Bible telling us. We have some sense that our work will endure. We are not sure how that will happen, since most of us are not famous and will not have a statue erected in our honor, or even a bridge or stretch of untraveled highway.

So join me on an expedition to discover the connection between beer and eternity.

CHAPTER 1

Continuity of Existence

After typing the title of this chapter, I have stared at a blank page for about thirty minutes. No, that's not true. I have filled the page several times, only to back-space and erase trite and inadequate introductions to this topic.

Isn't the topic of life after death the single most important thing we think about? Don't we all want to know what happens to us after we die? Do we become one with The Force? Do we come back to life reincarnated as an animal or different person? Do we enter some dream-like state of semi-consciousness? Do we become angels, flying around in heaven? Or do we simply cease to exist?

If there is no continuity of existence for us after death, then you should immediately quit reading, and spend your time having as much fun as possible. Don't do any good deeds for anyone else, unless the people you are helping are able to do something nice for you. Don't fret over injustice in the world, unless it affects you directly. Don't waste your time trying to please a god unless he or she promises to give