Outposts of Heaven

I'm so pleased to have finally found a 'proper' name for my blog that I like. I hope you like it and that it doesn't sound arrogant..? Let me explain my inspiration...

So me and a friend from the GBU started doing one to ones together this week, which is great! We're going to study Philippians together seeing as it's one of my favourite books, and we studied it at the GBU camp, but both of us being native english speakers, didn't quite get all of the teaching. And to be honest, I've realised now that I've studied it not three, but four times over the course of my first two years at university. Each time it came up again I'd say something like "wow God must really be wanting to teach me something through this!" So now I just feel so priviledged to be able to be preparing these one to ones for us both in Philippians, in a book that I love, and that I feel somewhat like God has been preparing me to be able to study with someone else, not confidently exactly, but somewhat more assuredly than might have been the case otherwise.

Anyhow, one of the places I studied it was in my second year at the weekly student bible study at my church in Preston. As prep for our first one to one, an overview of the history of the church in Philippi (Acts 16) and the key themes of the book, I downloaded and re-listened to the overview given then, which is where I will unashamedly say, I stole the notion of an "outpost of Heaven".

Philippi was/is(?) a town in Southern Greece/Macedonia, and at the time Paul's letter to the Philippians was written, a Roman colony. This would have meant that Roman law applied, the people in Philippi were Roman citizens, they were different to the people who lived in the surrounding areas, and as such they would have had special rights and priviledges. It was an outpost of Rome.

So then chapter 3v20 of Philippians takes on some interesting connotations for the Philippian readers who, from the term citizen, would have brought all of this kind of information to mind:

"But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Saviour from there, the Lord Jesus Christ"

In other words, Christians in the world are like Philippians(Roman citizens) living in Macedonia. We are different to others around us who are not citizens of Heaven, and we have the special rights and priviledges of sons and daughters of God. The church in the world, is an outpost of Heaven.

I just love that phrase and the ideas behind it. The blog title then, outposts of heaven, is also a bit of a play on words (aren't i witty?) with posts, blog posts, this is a blog, i write posts, i'm a christian, part of a church, an outpost of heaven... geddit? :) Although in saying that I am in no way claiming that everything I write is necessarily good, true, God inspired, from Heaven... etc etc. Although I do try to write in line with the Bible. But yeah.. just wanted to include a little disclaimer in there.

Whilst trying to think of a new strapline for the blog to go with this newly inspired title, I though of/googled a few bits and pieces and it seems a shame to let them go to waste:

-"Stamp eternity on my eyeballs!" - Jonathan Edwards
-"To live is Christ, to die is gain" - Philippians 1
-"pressing on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." paraphrased a bit from Philippians 3
-"Here we have no continuing city, but we seek one to come." Hebrews 13:14
-Citizenship in Heaven : A Sermon by Charles Spurgeon (October 12th, 1862)
http://www.spurgeongems.org/vols7-9/chs476.pdf

quotes from Spurgeon sermon:

-"Yours are we Jesus, and all that we have, your rule without a rival"

-“The things eternal I pursue,
And happiness beyond the view
Of those who basely pant
For things by nature felt and seen.
Their honors, wealth and pleasures mean,
I neither have nor want.
Nothing on earth I call my own—
A stranger to the world unknown,
I all their goods despise.
I trample on their whole delight,
And seek a country out of sight—
A country in the skies.”
(-i think he implies this is from A Pilgrim's Progress)