[Note: The following is the foreword to the book, Hereafter: It’s Far Better Than You Can Imagine, written by Terry James and Jonathan Brentner. Order your copy on Amazon (Paperback, Kindle, and Audiobook)].
Having been reminded by the bathroom mirror that I was long overdue for a haircut, I found myself on a fine Saturday morning nestled comfortably into a lift seat at my favorite barbershop. Not your modern-day styling salon, no, here you breathed in the scented mixture of Barbicide, pomade, shaving cream, and beard oil with just a whiff of testosterone. This old-fashioned barbershop was a “man’s man” establishment where manly men with their man-cub sons came to be expertly manscaped by the hefty proprietor and his crew of tonsorial artists. Tall tales, raucous joking, and staccato laughs ran up and down the line of chairs and out into the on-deck room, punctuated by the snip-snip and buzz-buzz sounds of scissors and clippers.
As the cutting cape billowed down around my shoulders and was fastened behind my neck, it became apparent to me that something about my particular barber was amiss within this fraternal scene. The hands, though calloused and sleeved in tattoos, were slight and thin. Peeking at the wall of mirrors before me revealed only that the individual standing behind me was short enough that their spiked, butch-cut, mouse-brown hair stood above my mop. A few rough pumps of the chair’s lift lever lowered me down about half a foot, and I finally beheld a rather boy-like figure. It wasn’t until the voice uttered, “So, whatta you have?” did it finally dawn on me. My barber was a she!
Not that I have any problem whatsoever with a woman cutting my hair, for I grew up with a mother and a cereal bowl, just that she seemed a bit out of place. So, with my interest peaked, I conveyed my cut preferences and then struck up a friendly interrogation. As slivers of my hair began raining down all around me, I asked, “So, how long have you worked here?” “Just a few days, eh?” “Did you come from a beauty salon?” “No, always barbershops?” “Does what some of these fellows say get on your nerves?” “No, you’re just one of the guys?” Oo-kay.
It wasn’t until she distractedly asked me, “What do you do for a living?” did I hesitate a response. Now pretty sure I knew what her persuasion was, I softly eked out, “Um, I, uh, work in Christian ministry.” In response, her body tensed up, the clippers abruptly shut off, and she hung there for a heartbeat unmoving. Now giving our conversation her full attention, she spun me around, looked directly into my face, and pressed: “So, do you think I will be going to Heaven? After all, I hear God’s not too keen on people like me.” She then spun me swiftly back around again and the clipping resumed, though at a more frantic pace.
The Lord had clearly dropped into my lap a witnessing opportunity. Masking my quick prayer for help from both God and Ray Comfort with a deep breath, I started, “Well, let me ask you this, do you think you are a good person?” “Why, yes,” she replied, “I’m sure when I die and stand at the Pearly Gates that God will let me in.” Good, I thought, she at least believes that there is a Heaven, and so I continued: “Well, let’s run a little test to see if you are indeed good enough based on if God used only the Ten Commandments to judge one’s worthiness. Have you ever lied… stolen something… looked lustfully as to commit adultery in your heart?” She responded to each with a reluctant, “Well, of course.” And, now the tipping point, “So, according to you, you are a lying, thieving, adulteress, and that’s just three of the Ten Commandments? So, in God’s eyes, are you good enough to be worthy of Heaven?”
Realizing she wasn’t deserving based on her own merits, as the questioning intended, she began sputtering excuses as to why she will convince God she must be let in. For those reasons, it became apparent that she didn’t particularly understand Heaven as the Bible describes Heaven. “It’s a magical place where you get to eat all that you want… you never work… God gives you all of the desires of your heart… and He’s okay with whomever you love.” Her rendition sounded more like the sensual Paradise so favored by Muslims. This became yet another wonderful God-opportunity to share what the biblical Heaven is truly like. And so, after a quick check to make sure the back of my head by then didn’t have something questionable etched into it, I launched into a long description of the glories of the hereafter.
Then something very strange happened while I was detailing the joys and wonders of eternal life in the majestic New Jerusalem on a perfected New Earth. My barber and I, both at the same time, realized that the room had become dead silent. Everyone there had become drawn into our conversation. Even the clippers sounded muted as if they were listening in as well.
To my dismay, the devoted attention embarrassed her, and her defensive walls braced back up, deflecting anything more I had to say on the subject. And, it wasn’t just her. The room began to clear out as if a gas leak had been detected. Those waiting for their cuts suddenly realized they had other places they needed to be. Those already seated became fine with their haircuts as they were and became eager to pay. And, when the stampede out of the shop had finally died down, the trapped barbers congregated all together in front of a widescreen TV, staring through the game rather than at it. My cut completed, I was summarily dismissed, bill paid, hovered around for a bit hoping for any follow-up discussion, received no bites, and so departed deflated.
To this day, it was the oddest witnessing experience of my life. It took many weeks of scripture-searching before I grasped the people’s odd reactions. I came to two realizations. One, whereas the Bible assures us that something infinitely better awaits us in our future, there’s a price to be paid to receive it — surrendering one’s life to Jesus Christ — and most aren’t willing to in having accepted Jesus Christ as Savior then give up their earthly sinful pleasures and “walk as children of Light” (Ephesians 5:8). And, two, the majority of people grossly underestimate the sheer awesomeness of Heaven as well as the absolute terror of Hell. The result is they so greatly fear life after death that they cast all thoughts of it from their minds and hope that such recollections will never intrude upon their consciousnesses ever again.
How tragic! Misunderstanding our eternal destiny this side of death robs us of our only opportunity to embrace our loving Savior’s forgiveness and salvation. We also lose the jubilant hope Christ provides when it comes to expecting the glories He longs to share with His children. The delights and wonders of Heaven make the paltry pleasures of this current world appear as if they were nothing. However, most people live out their lives pining for such deprivations, and so miss out.
Heaven forbid that Christians also find themselves in such a state! That is why I am so thankful that trusted Christian teachers such as Terry and Jonathan have set out to produce a book that corrects our misunderstandings about what the Bible truly teaches about the hereafter. The biblical truths about our glorious future they will impart will establish you on a firm foundation regarding Eternity and will fortify you against the sorrows of this temporal life. The Lord will use this knowledge to comfort your soul when the fierce storms of fallen, earthly living rob you of your aspirations and dreams, refocusing you instead on the grand adventures which lay ahead.
I pray this book will make its way into the hands of that lost barber and, someday soon, together we will experience glorious life everlasting. I’ll see you there!
Resource
Hereafter: It’s Far Better Than You Can Imagine will broaden your understanding of Heaven and deepen your longing for Jesus’ appearing and the start of eternity. Thoughts of the splendor ahead for believers strengthened the Apostle Paul during his many hardships (Romans 8:18), and a grasp of the wonders ahead for us as saints will do the same for you. The thrilling perspective presented in Hereafter has changed everything for its authors, and they pray the glimpse of Heaven they provide on its pages will lift your eyes heavenward in the expectation of the magnificent blessings that lie ahead for you.
Order the book, Hereafter: It’s Far Better Than You Can Imagine, written by Terry James and Jonathan Brentner, on Amazon (Paperback, Kindle, and Audiobook)]!
