'RETHINKING HEAVEN' - Rev. Marlin Lavanhar

Sermon delivered on Sunday, April 29, 2012, at All Souls Unitarian Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma, by Rev. Marlin Lavanhar, Senior Minister.

[@pjz96]

I could listen to this man speak all day. Love all!

[@elspethparris2622]

Thank you Marlin. Wonderful. I have long considered that it is our job to make heaven on earth, rather than to look forward to heaven when we die, but its wonderful to hear it said in church, and the exploration of the idea was superb.

[@ianalan4367]

"Hell is not a place, no, it is a state of ones soul. That begins here on earth. Just so paradise lies in the heart of man; It is in this life, in this bodily form, that we may first come in touch with the Divine." - John Maximovich

[@ianalan4367]

In a Christian context I wouldn't say heaven is where our desires are fulfilled without boundaries. It is when our desires are in communion with our creator. Thus, in the same way, hell is a state of delusion for "condemnation shall come because some prefer darkness rather than light..." The term is 'die to self to live in Christ' so that our own selfish desires are replaced with the love of God that we may 'dwell in the house of the Lord forever'.