What Heaven Lacks

(The following comes from John MacArthur’s book, the Glory of Heaven.)

One is tempted to say nothing will be lacking in heaven, but happily that is not the case. The apostle John lists a number of things utterly absent from heaven. You may be surprised by some of them.

No Temple

John writes, “I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God, the Almighty, and the Lamb, are its temple” (v. 22, NASB). So in one sense there is no temple in heaven. In another sense, however, God Himself is the temple.

In what sense is God the “temple” of heaven? A temple is where you go to worship. John is suggesting that in heaven when we worship, we will worship in the very presence of God. He is the place of worship. He spreads His tabernacle over all who are in heaven (Rev. 7:15, NASB). They serve Him day and night. The worship never stops.And since worship is simply glorifying God, this means there is nothing required of us that cannot be done as an act of worship. Therefore, if we were perfect beings, sinless in every regard, our lives would be non-stop worship.

No Light Source

Revelation 21:23 says, “The city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.”

No Security System

The apostle John further writes, “And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there” (Rev. 21:25). In an ancient city the gates were shut at night to protect the people from robbers, bandits, and invading armies. Gates that are always open speak of perfect security and protection. There will be absolutely no threat to the security of heaven, so there will be no need of closed gates.

No Curse

If any aspect of heaven stirs my heart with eager anticipation, it is this: “ And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him: and they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads. And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.”   —Rev. 22:3–5

The curse will be overturned and erased forever, with all its painful and detestable ramifications. Pain, the agony of toil, sweat, thorns, disease, sorrow, and sin will have no place whatsoever in heaven.

May God bless us with a stronger love for heaven!

-          Bro. Dave

Prayer Needs and Update from The Malta Mission Trip

On our recent mission trip to Malta last week, we were able to pass out more than 1600 outreach packets. We would talk to anyone who would listen to us and would gently share the gospel as we passed the packets out. Each packet included a tract, info on how to get a free Bible, an invitation to an area Bible study, and contact information for prayer needs and any spiritual questions. In recent feedback from the Malta team, we have learned that the responses from these packets is already coming in:

The KY team did arrive home safely and their visit was a big blessing for us personally and also for the Maltese. They did practical ministry (helping install a kitchen in a church), prayerwalking, evangelism, and distributions [in towns] adopted by churches in their association, [and] encouraged us. We’ve already received some responses from the distributions too!

Here are some post-trip prayer needs:
- Please pray for more people to respond to the outreach packets and for the Holy Spirit to draw the people to read through the materials.
- Please pray for the permanent team in Malta that God would bless them as they follow up on these responses.
- Pray for the area Bible studies to continue to grow and grow!
- Pray for God to bless the wonderful people of Malta with a deeper love for Jesus Christ!
- Pray that God would send more laborers to Malta to work in the harvest fields!




May God bless the seeds that have been scattered, that they may develop and produce fruit!

- David Crowe

Malta Report - Day 10 - (After Trip Upload)

October 28, 2010.

We woke up this morning and finished packing to meet with Earl at 11am. We loaded up the cars with our luggage and made our way towards the airport. On the way there, we stopped by the older building that the church used to meet in. The old sign was still up, along with a schedule of the other ministries that meet in the building.













We left there and traveled straight to the airport. There we checked our bags and sat down for a final meeting.









We shared some last minute insights about what we enjoyed about the visit and if there could have been any improvements. Then we all gathered up for one final group photo.





We hugged each other and Ghent made our way to the terminal where we waved a final goodbye to the team.










We boarded the plane for Frankfurt and headed home. Our return trip allowed for an overnight layover in Germany and we stayed at the Holliday Inn Express.






We caught dinner in Germany and then caught an early flight back to the US.










We landed safely in Lexington around 3:15 in the afternoon, ending an incredible trip with an incredible team!

Thanks everyone for your prayers and support for our mission trip!

- David Crowe

Malta Report - Day 9 Afternoon (After Trip Upload)

October 27, 2010.

After San Juan, we traveled to Mdina to eat lunch at Fontanella on the wall of the castle.
















We then traveled to Kirkop for a Bible Study.












We closed out the night at McDonnalds.








- David Crowe

Malta Report - Day 9 - Morning (After Trip Upload)

October 28, 2010.

We made our way over to Mtarfa this morning to do a full distribution to the entire town.







After the distribution, we caught up with our friend Kurt, and looked at some of the needs of the town. Kurt took us to some buildings that he is hoping can be turned into community centers for the town.






Afterwards, Kurt took us to San Juan to see some sights off the beaten path. Kurt was the mayor of San Juan years ago, and he knew of a private sight under the city where there was an underground mill built during world war two.









- David Crowe

Malta Report - Day 8 - (After Trip Upload)

October 26, 2010.

We left our hotel early (8:30 AM) to meet with Earl and headed over to the adopted city of Bruner's Chapel Baptist Church. We had a great meeting with one of the civic leaders of the town and talked with him for more than three hours.








We gave him a copy of the New Testament and The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren. Then we gave him materials about Harrodsburg.


We went next to a Respite home for people with special needs, and then we grabbed lunch in Mosta.




After lunch, we traveled to Bethel Baptist Church's adopted village of Garghur and prayer walked.








To finish out the day, we had a celebration dinner at Mama Mia's restaurant.








For His Kingdom,

- David Crowe

Malta Report - Day 7 - Evening (After Trip Upload)

October 25, 2010,

We had the afternoon off and we all took a walk around Valetta.









Brandon went to the Pinkston's house to try and Skype Pioneer Baptist Church. Sadly, because of technical difficulties, it did not work. After walking around Valetta, we waited for Brandon to return so we could catch dinner. We all agreed to go to Pizza Hut.












After a fine dinner at Pizza Hut, we were able to give a Bible to our waitress and pray for her, we took a walk back to the hotel and called it a day. It began to rain and it rained all night.








- David Crowe

Malta Report - Day 7 - Morning (After Trip Upload)

October 25, 2010

We went to Evangelistic Baptist Church today and had a wonderful service with the Maltese believers.

We had a great time in Sunday School with Australian/Maltese Sunday school teacher "Jeff." Jeff did an excellent job walking us through 1 Corinthians 3:1-10. Jeff and his wife Robyn have been serving in Malta for 2 and a half years. After Sunday school we had "Tea Time" with the church for 30 minutes.



We left our time of fellowship and made our way into the sanctuary. When we began the service, I (David) was able to share a testimony of how God walked me through my cancer journey, and then Brandon and I shared a song together.




After our song, Brad King preached an awesome message from John on the claims and proofs of Jesus as the hope for salvation.



After the service, we had a great time fellowshipping with the Maltese Christians.





After the service we grabbed lunch with the Pinkston family at Burger King in Valetta.

- David Crowe