The Simple Pastor

By Phil Whittall, church planter, blogger & book reviewer

• Jobs you won’t be doing in heaven

  February 21, 2012 | 0 Comments

  I’ve been thinking about this for a while. I started thinking about inequality but, as I often do, I wandered and stumbled into something new. Those who trust in Christ will, I believe, inhabit the new heavens and earth (more specifically the new earth) and that new earth will be full of good things for us to do and that includes work. I don’t think we’ll be bored in these new lands, there will be lots to do and it will be deeply satisfying. Rewarding, creative, fulfilling – work as it was intended to be.

  Then I read this post, jobs you can do forever. But of course not all professions will be needed in this new reality and as a result there could be a lot of people learning new trades. Fortunately for them they’ll all have the time in the world to do it.

  1. Undertakers: Anyone currently employed in the mortuary, cemetery, crematorium, undertaking, grave-digging, coffin manufacturing, headstone carving and wreath making business will all be first in line for new job training, after all ‘death shall be no more’ (Rev 21:4)
  2. The Medical Profession: That’s right, no need for the skills of doctors, nurses, physiotherapists, surgeons, opticians and so on. If I’m not going to die and there’ll be no ‘pain any more’ then these skills will be surplus to requirements.
  3. The Pharmaceutical Industry: No headaches, no illnesses, no depression, no addictions, no health related problems. Say goodbye to the pill makers.
  4. Arms Manufacturers: Absolutely no need for tanks, destroyers, missiles, bullets and bombs. Same goes for those in army, airforce and navy.
  5. Politicians: Heaven is an absolute monarchy, sorry theocracy, and I don’t suppose there will be too many disappointed to see the pollsters, lobbyists and the general gravy train of government, largely disappear.
  6. Charities: Obvious but slightly surprising one this, no need for Oxfam or Tearfund, no need for Shelter or Cancer Research. Illnesses gone, poverty gone, famine gone, war gone, death gone, old age gone. If you work in the charity sector there’s a good reason you’ll need all that treasure you’re storing up. No job!

  I feel on solid theological ground with those predictions but there are some other industries and jobs that are I think by implication are definitely time-limited.

  1. The Beauty Industry: No need, nor desire to have cosmetic surgery in the new heavens and earth, I suspect. With a complete understanding of what beautiful means, without waking up and feeling your self-esteem on the floor, and no peer pressure that rather kills the demand side of things. I rather think that anyone setting up shop in this area will find eternity with no customers rather dull.
  2. All forms of law enforcement and security: No need for police, judges, prisons, guards and burglar alarms
  3. No insurance industry: I have to say this one thrills me, but really insure against what? Can you imagine that sales pitch?
  4. Banking: This might also prove to be a popular idea, but certainly in the realms of high finance and the business of making money from money it’s not a heavenly notion. Seriously, can you imagine anything more pointless? The pavements are made of gold, for crying out loud.

  Here’s a couple more to throw out especially if you take a few other verses at face value:

  1. Nothing to do with the sea! Rev 21 says the sea disappears before it says death does (Rev 21:1) so that means no sea fishing, no sailing, no surfing, no scuba diving….hold on that can’t be right can it?
  2. No wedding industry: Not according to Jesus anyway (Mt 22:30), no being or getting married so no need for the whole ridiculous extravagance that has become weddings. It’s just as well this is the new heavens and earth because having taken away funerals and weddings there’s not much left for Anglican vicars to do!
  3. No baby business either: Logical really, if the above is right then this one is too – heaven’s population will be eternally static and no need for midwives and pre-natal clinics.
  4. No divorce lawyers: No marriages, no discord, no divorce.

  Other professions not to make the cut: social workers, adoption agencies, self-help authors, hypnotists, private detectives, murder mystery authors, counsellors and therapists and I suspect many more. Suggestions?

• Unintentional blogging break

  February 20, 2012 | 0 Comments

  You may (or more likely may not) have wondered where I’ve been and the absence of any posts for the last couple of weeks. A few factors have been at play.

  Firstly, we have bought a house in Kista, Stockholm and that took a bit of time. We’re delighted, believe it is God’s provision (Acts 17:26) and we’ll complete at the beginning of May and move sometime after that.

  Secondly, we’re learning a new language, involved in our local church and are the tired parents of two lovely small children who have been known to wake us up in the night. Tiredness doesn’t lead to blogging productivity.

  Thirdly, our landlords router broke and we had a few enforced days internet free. I was amazingly twitchy the whole time, therefore it was good for me to have that time away from constant connection.

  Anyway, I hope to resume some blogging and as usual have some ideas that may or may not see the light of day.

   

• Miscellaneous: 7 links

  February 3, 2012 | 0 Comments

  So we’re house hunting actively in Stockholm now and I’ll be glad to stop looking at property websites. Here are a few more interesting things to look at, to keep you going over the weekend

  1. This is a fascinating insight into missionary work into North Korea
  2. Doug Paul argues that in many ways Rob Bell and Mark Driscoll are the same
  3. There’s quite a lot of snow and ice in Sweden just now, but I’ve not seen anything quite as remarkable as this
  4. I’m all for simplicity and minimising the amount of stuff you have but this guy takes it to a whole new level!
  5. Where do the richest 1% of the world live? The answers shouldn’t surprise you, but this little fact at the end was quite striking, “In the grand scheme of things, even the poorest 5% of Americans are better off financially than two-thirds of the entire world”
  6. This is an excellent article by Tim Keller, you never marry the right person!
  7. Charles Moore has an interesting review of Alain de Botton’s Religion for Atheists

• What you think matters

  February 2, 2012 | 0 Comments

  There are a lot of blogs that I like to read and I use Google Reader to track currently 84 different blogs (that number goes up and down a bit as I opt in and out). Over the past year I’ve noticed that I’ve starred posts from one blog more than any other for further reading, to share with others, to engage with, respond to by commenting or reposting here. In fact right now I have 20 of their posts which I’m going to link to below as an example of what I’m talking about, and also to clear the… Read the rest

• Capitalism needs an ethical boundary

  January 27, 2012 | 0 Comments

  Randy Alcorn has recently completed some interviews with Os Guinness (key note speaker at the upcoming Everything Conference) who makes some interesting comments about capitalism. Firstly, he affirms capitalism:

  “I have no problems admitting the extraordinary superiority of market capitalism; it is a remarkable engine of dynamism, fruitfulness, productivity, and so on. I question that not at all. But it is only a mechanism, and the problem comes in when people make it a source of meaning.”

  However he sees the problems and those are telling,

  “ Unless capitalism has an ethical boundary, it will always create two

  … Read the rest

• Miscellaneous: 7 links

  January 27, 2012 | 0 Comments

  How did we get to the end of January already? Really, whoever is speeding the world up, stop it. Anyway, a little more eclectic set of links today.

  1. Tim Chester has a great post on hearing God speak
  2. How to build an extended family and by that Mike Breen means church, sort of.
  3. Do universalists have a point? Andrew Wilson thinks so.
  4. Peter Ould on the significance of what Jesus didn’t say about homosexuality
  5. Carl Trueman thinks about the importance of Eph 5:12
  6. Jeremy explains the best way to offset your carbon emissions, which I found helpful.
  7. I

  … Read the rest

• Junia or Junias?

  January 26, 2012 | 0 Comments

  A while ago I read Steve Holmes review of Scot McKnight’s Junia is not Alone: Breaking our silence about women in the Bible and the church today. Holmes recounts that McKnight gives a history of how Junia became Junias and then Junia again. The highlighted quote is,

  “Let me be clear once more: the editors of the Greek New Testaments killed Junia. They killed her by silencing her into non-existence. They murdered that innocent woman by erasing her from the footnotes.”

  So the argument goes that for 60 years of so there was some sort of plot to get … Read the rest

• Reasons You Should Not Marry an Unbeliever

  January 25, 2012 | 0 Comments

  Anyone who has been involved in pastoral ministry for any length of time, will likely have come across this situation where a Christian has decided to marry a non-believer. Personally, I find it hard, no-one wants to have a painful conversation and point out to friends that a course of action will lead to disobedience and likely heartache. Who wants to do that? But those conversations must be had. Anyway I found this by Kathy Keller and I think she hits the nail on the head.

  “Having grown weary and impatient, I want to snap and say, “It won’t work,

  … Read the rest

• Book review: All hell let loose

  January 23, 2012 | 0 Comments

  For a while now I’ve averaged about one book every ten days, yet here we are three weeks into January and I’ve only just finished my first book of 2012. The reason for that is that Max Hasting’s monumental volume on the second world war, All Hell Let Loose, is 748 pages long so it’s like reading three books!

  The volume of literature on the last great war is immense, the bibliography to this book is enormous and so it’s hard to say where this single volume work ranks. I also haven’t read many other books so have little … Read the rest

• Miscellaneous: 7 links

  January 20, 2012 | 0 Comments

  We started language classes yesterday, so hopefully our Swedish will improve. No idea yet of the impact on my English. Anyway a few links to give you some reading material over the weekend.
  1. Denis Alexander gives a brief answer to the following question:  ’if we last shared a common ancestor with the chimps about 5-6 million years ago, and humans have been gradually emerging through a series of hominid intermediates ever since, then why did Jesus die?’
  2. Jake Belder, a north American, shows his appreciation for the British Queen’s Christmas Day speech
  3. I thought Tim Challies on exchanging the natural

  … Read the rest

• Micro-finance for mission

  January 19, 2012 | 0 Comments

  Not so long ago I signed up to the excellent Kiva, which harnesses the power of the internet to raise finance for micro-finance groups all over the world. I’m all for it. Just the other day a lady in Cambodia repaid the first part of a $25 loan. I could take the money out and put it back in my pocket but, of course, I won’t do that. I’ll recycle the money and lend it to someone else and so increasing the amount of times my gift does some good.

  This got me thinking, is there a space for … Read the rest

• The richer you become the less important God becomes

  January 18, 2012 | 0 Comments

  That’s basically the findings of this Gallup survey from 2009. While the article itself focuses on the anomaly of religious belief in rich world America; it was this table that for me as a missionary to Sweden, caught my interest.

  “On the opposite end of the spectrum, the 10 least religious countries studied include several with the world’s highest living standards, including Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Hong Kong, and Japan. (Several other countries on this list are former Soviet republics, places where the state suppressed religious expression for decades.)”

   

  Which just demonstrates the scale of the task ahead of us … Read the rest

• Make lent 2012 time for a consumer detox

  January 17, 2012 | 0 Comments

  I want to flag up a resource for you that I think will be profoundly helpful to all of us who are recovering consumers. My friend Mark Powley has put a programme together for individuals and small groups to use during Lent this year. Here are the details:

  This is an invitation to take part in the 2012 Lent Consumer Detox.

  The Detox is attached and available here. It includes:

  • Creative and challenging small group activities, with Bible discussion suggestions
  • Inspiration from a daily Lent blog and online talks
  • Or read through Consumer Detox by Mark Powley (Zondervan

  … Read the rest

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