Overview-Introduction: In My Father's House

I have called the blog 'In My Father's House' as a reminder of Jesus promise in Jn. 14:1-3 (NIV) where He says:

"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. 2  In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. 3  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.

With an estimated 2.2 billion Christians in the world today this house has to be exceedingly large (Wikipedia, 2015). 

As a child my parents took me to church and we sang the children's song:

I Will Wear A Crown

I will wear a crown in my Father's house,
In my Father's house, in my Father's house.

I will wear a crown in my Father's house.
There'll be joy, joy, joy!

I will wear a robe in my Father's house,
In my Father's house, in my Father's house.
I will wear a robe in my Father's house.
There'll be joy, joy, joy!

I will play a harp in my Father's house,
In my Father's house, in my Father's house.
I will play a harp in my Father's house.
There'll be joy, joy, joy!

Today I'm not so fussed on crowns, robes or harps but I still want to be - in my father's house. C.S. Lewis (1952, p. 11) uses the analogy of the house and says:

It is more like a hall out of which doors open into several rooms. If I can bring anyone into that hall, I have done what I attempted. But it is in the rooms, not the hall, that there are fires and chairs and meals. The hall is a place to wait in, a place from which to try the various doors, not a place to live in. For that purpose the worst of the rooms (whichever that may be) is, I think preferable. It is true that some people may find they have to wait in the hall for a considerable time, while others feel certain almost at once which door they must knock at. I do not know why there is this difference, but I am sure God keeps no one waiting unless He sees that it is good for him to wait. When you do get into the room you will find that the long wait has done some kind of good which you would not have had otherwise. But you must regard it as waiting, not as camping. You must keep on praying for light: and, of course, even in the hall, you must begin trying to obey the rules which are common to the whole house. And above all you must be asking which door is the true one; not which pleases you best by its paint and paneling.  ...

He goes on to say:

When you have reached your own room, be kind to those who have chosen different doors and to those who are still in the hall. If they are wrong they need your prayers all the more; and if they are your enemies, then you are under orders to pray for them. This is one of the rules common to the whole house. 

From the outset there are some things that I assume that you need to be aware of:

1. There are sufficient grounds for belief that the resurrection of Christ occurred.
2. That Jesus is who He claimed to be and
3. That the Bible is God's Word.
4. I am a Christian that spends time in the room known as Seventh-day Adventist but at present am spending a lot of time in the hall and peeking into other rooms. I am also very conscious of some of the other houses on our block and wonder how we are treating our neighbours.

I have no desire to argue about these issues, and although I may have a view, there are far more Christians in the world who are more qualified to be apologists than I.

I suppose this blog is for people who may be loitering in the hall (or near one of God's wi-fi hotspots). For various reasons they may not be able to join in one of the rooms. 

I am hoping that this blog might meet the needs of a few people well and be a resource that others might dip in to from time to time. This blog will work for some people and for others it will not. 

It is my intention over the next few weeks and months to offer a regular forum of discussion. It will be interesting to see how long it takes to get traction or if it gets any traction at all. A lot of good websites already do a great job and perhaps another perspective just adds to the cacophony, and yet I hope not.

While I am expressing my intent you may notice from time to time that I write about some events from a kiwi (New Zealand) perspective so don't be surprised if there is material or cultural aspects you are unfamiliar with. I will use some te reo Māori (Māori language). The two underpinning values of this website will be focusing on are wairuatanga (spirituality: in this case Christian) and whanaungatanga (relationships). Each post after this will begin and end with a prayer.

As a general guide for discussion I will use the Seventh-day Adventist lesson but I in no way intend to be limited to it.

Tell me about your room in the house? or the hall?

References

Lewis, C. (1952). Mere Christianity. New York, NY: Harper Collins Publishers

Wikipedia. (2013, February). List of religious populations. Retrieved from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_religious_populations

Bible use: Unless otherwise stated the bible being used will either be the NKJV or the NIV.