Bryan McAnally - The Indispensable Guide to Practically Everything: Life After Death & Heaven and Hell

The Indispensable Guide to Practically Everything: Life After Death & Heaven and Hell

ISBN 13: 978-0-8249-4773-6

Published by Guideposts
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Copyright 2009 by GRQ, Inc.
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Acknowledgments
Every attempt has been made to credit the sources of copyrighted material used in this book. If any such acknowledgment has been inadvertently omitted or miscredited, receipt of such information would be appreciated.

Scripture quotations marked CEV are from the Contemporary English Version, copyright 1995 by the American Bible Society. Used by permission.

Scripture quotations marked HCSB are from the Holman Christian Standard Bible, copyright 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Holman Christian Standard Bible, Holman CSB, and HCSB are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.

Scripture quotations marked MSG are from The Message. Copyright 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.

Scripture quotations marked NASB are from the New American Standard Bible, copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

Scripture quotations marked NIV are from the Holy Bible, New Inter national Version. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked NKJV are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked NLT are from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, IL 60189. All rights reserved.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

McAnally, Bryan.
Life after death & heaven and hell / Bryan McAnally.
p. cm. -- (The indispensable guide to practically everything)
ISBN 978-0-8249-4773-6
1. Future life--Biblical teaching. 2. Future life--Christianity--Miscellanea. 3. Heaven--Biblical teaching.
4. Heaven--Christianity--Miscellanea. 5. Hell--Biblical teaching. 6. Hell--Christianity--Miscellanea. I. Title.
II. Title: Life after death and heaven and hell.
BS680.F83M36 2009
236--dc22
2009003910

Editor: Lila Empson
Cover and interior design: Whisner Design Group
Typesetting: Educational Publishing Concepts

Printed and bound in the United States of America

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Looking for Godor Heavenby exploring space is like reading or seeing all Shakespeares plays in the hope that you will find Shakespeare as one of the characters.

C. S. Lewis

In those words, Lewis acknowledged humanitys timeless search for answers to the question of what happens to a person when the current life ends. Scientists, scribes, scholars, and seekers have contributed theories, myths, ideas, and opinions throughout every age and generation. While the answers to these questions are stitched into the fabric of reality, nowhere are the answers more apparent than in the words recorded in the Bible.

We are looking forward to the new heavens and new earth he has promised, a world filled with Gods righteousness. And so, dear friends, while you are waiting for these things to happen, make every effort to be found living peaceful lives that are pure and blameless in his sight.

2 Peter 3:1314 NLT

The revelation offered in the Bible regarding heaven, hell, and the afterlife suggests that God does not want humans to be ignorant about these matters. While much has been misunderstood, misreported, or altogether distorted throughout time, the Bible offers an unchanged, reliable record that addresses important aspects of this temporary present life as well as of the unending one that will follow. God wants every person to know about him. He desires that every person be informed about the nature of this life and the next. He wants every person to be aware of heaven, of hell, of angels and demons, and especially of Jesus.

Any one who feels the full significance of what is involved in knowing the truth has a coercive feeling that Eternity has been set within us, that our finite life is deeply rooted in the all-pervading Infinite.

Rufus M. Jones

Remarkably, God is not content merely to alert people to the reality of the afterlife. He has packaged his revelation to humans in an exquisite invitation that he offers to every person so that each one may respond to it. It is impossible to separate what the Bible says about the afterlife from what God invites every person to experience. God offers his best for the afterlife. It is Gods intent to make people aware of heaven and hell so that every person would opt for heaven, reject hell, and agree to follow Gods flawless path. While full understanding about the afterlife can be attained only when the current life ends, a comprehensive appreciation about it is available now to everyone who earnestly seeks it.