Summer has arrived here in Notes land and with it comes all of the stereotypical summertime things. Getting the grass cut (sometimes twice a week), staying hydrated while being outside, dodging a pop up thunderstorm, and the all too important, vacations.
A Google search reveals a 2002 study that confirms the month of July as being the most popular month for folks to take a break from work. 51% of Americans say they plan to vacation in July, followed by August, June, and then September. As you can see, folks from the United States love to take a break away from everything. These breaks can take many forms, but, according to holidayvactionrental.com, the favorite place for vacationers is in reality...home. That's right, 74% of respondents were going to do nothing at all for their vacation. Given this statistic it seems that home may very well be the best Summer Place...
A Summer Place was the screen debut of teen hearthrob Troy Donahue (those teens would now be in their 60's). The movie also starred Sandra Dee ("Gidget", and the "Tammy" films) as Donahue's love interest and daughter of the film's ill fated adults. It was considered a good dramatic movie, yet its plotlines were driven by flawed people who made some morally questionable decisions . It survives today in folks memory because of the music that is associated with the film.
Originally recorded by Hugo Winterhalter, "A Theme From A Summer Place" became THE thing by which this 1959 film by Max Steiner was known.
A number of acts have covered "A Theme from A Summer Place". Most famously was the recording by Percy Faith and His Orchestra. Faith's single actually debuted 2 months before the movie premiered. It entered Billboard's Hot 100 in January of 1960 and went to #1 on February 22. It set the record for most consecutive weeks at #1 until it was tied by The Beatles with "Hey Jude". That record has since been broken numerous times, but "A Theme from A Summer Place" was the first instrumental to go to #1 and continues to hold the top spot for instrumental singles.
Part of the beauty of vacation destinations is the fact that they aren't permanent. Don't get me wrong. I love to travel and see new places, but truth be known, there really is no place like home. Perhaps that's why the above statistics suggest that many folks have staycations, where you don't have to spend extra money for a room, you know where everything is that you need, and you can come and go at your discretion rather than have a travel guide or show schedule dictate your day.
But even a vacation at home isn't a permanent situation. While it is a destination, of sorts, the place you live on this earth isn't a permanent residence.
Most religions have an idea of what happens when our life in this existence is over. In fact, most have an image or ideology/theology regarding this idea of what Christians believe of as heaven. But what is accurate?
Tuesday's Musical Notes has had a recurring theme recently regarding the view of the world by which we make our decisions. There truly are only 2 views, a Biblical one and a non-Biblical (worldly) one. What you believe about heaven is also a part of this vision of your world. Our hope today is to present some Biblical insight into heaven, a true eternal destination, not just a Summer Place.
So, what does the Bible say about heaven?
1) God created it and is there -Genesis 1:1 New International Version of the Bible/The Message paraphrase of the Bible
2) Followers of Jesus will go there when their life on earth is over -
3) Folks who do not accept the free gift of salvation through Jesus, do not get to be there when their life is over, they are forever separated from God -
Did you get the importance of point 3? Forever, the nonbeliever is separated from the God who loves them unconditionally, who created them as a beautiful, individual masterpiece, and ultimately, sent Jesus as a substitutionary sacrifice for our sin. Who would want to be separated from Him?
There are many folks who have opposing views to this. They will say that God can hardly be so exclusive that He would only let believers into heaven, , there are stages of eternal bliss for everyone or "When we all get to heaven, what a day of rejoicing that will be". I don't know about you, but it seems to take much more faith to believe these things than what the Bible, the Word of God Himself, says. So friend, when your time on earth is over, and you no longer have access or need of a Summer Place, where will you go? What is the eternal place that you will go on that permanent vacation?
'Til Tuesday,
Serving HIM by serving you,
Randy
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