Brave Kwame

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Little Kwame was a new student in 2nd grade. Nearly everything was new to Kwame. His family were refugees from Ghana in West Africa. They had just arrived in Australia and were sent to live in Tasmania—a little island below the Australian mainland.

Kwame didn’t play with the other kids at recess. He couldn’t speak the language they were using and the games were all different from home. The teacher would tell students to ask Kwame to play, but he always shook his head. He didn’t want to play.

Because he struggled to read English, Kwame participated very little during class. The teacher tried to help Kwame as much as she could, but she had 24 other students as well. Kwame would open his books and try to read for most of the morning. But by lunch he was tired of English and would sit in the reading corner looking at picture books or just staring out the window for the rest of the day.

During the next few weeks, the teacher became more and more worried about Kwame. Would he ever start talking? Would he learn English? How long before he would read his books and do his work in class? She knew he could understand most of what she said to him because he had responded with a few words from time to time. The only way he was going to become comfortable speaking, reading and writing English was if he tried.

The teacher talked to Kwame’s mother one day after school. “Kwame needs to try,” she said. “He is a good boy, but he is shy. What can I do to help him?”

Kwame’s mother said, “Kwame is very talkative and lively at home. He just needs to be brave.”
Kwame was listening to the conversation and agreed that he would try to be brave. But, as the days went by, the teacher could see nothing was changing. Kwame needed help.

Then one warm afternoon, something completely unexpected happened. The students were sitting at their desks and Kwame was sitting quietly in the reading corner when a small bird flew into the room through an open window. It was a little brown sparrow. As the sparrow fluttered around the room looking for somewhere to land, the students all screamed and hid under their desks.

The little bird finally landed on a high bookshelf where it panted in distress. The teacher told the kids to be quiet. Then, just as everything was calming down, a sparrow hawk—much bigger than the little sparrow—flew in through the window!

This time it wasn’t just the kids that screamed. The teacher let out a yelp and dove under her desk.
The Hawk landed on a low bookcase between the reading area and the classroom. It scanned the room full of frightened kids, one scared teacher and one terrified sparrow. Clearly, the sparrow hawk had been chasing the sparrow and the little bird had panicked and flown through the open window on accident. The hawk had followed without considering what might be on the other side of the window.

No one noticed Kwame. He hadn’t screamed when the birds flew in. He hadn’t hidden under a desk. Instead, he had watched calmly. And now, as the sparrow hawk stared toward the sparrow across the room, Kwame stood up. He was directly behind the hawk.

The other kids stuck their heads out from their hiding places to see the hawk and were surprised to see quiet little Kwame sneaking up behind the sparrow hawk. The teacher peered out from underneath her desk. The entire class watched Kwame as he inched closer and closer to the hawk.

“Miss,” one of the students whispered. “Miss, make him stop! He will get bitten!”

Kwame took another step toward the sparrow hawk. His little hands were coming up behind the bird.
The teacher responded, “Shhhhh, I think Kwame knows what he is doing!”

And she was right! Kwame took one more step toward the sparrow hawk and with a lighting quick move wrapped his little hands around the wings of the hawk. The bird tried to bite his hands, but Kwame had grabbed just the right place and the hawk was unable to get at Kwame's little fingers.

Kwame walked to the window, held the hawk outside, and let go. His hands were back inside in another lightning quick move and the sparrow hawk flew away.

In the next few minutes, the students and teacher watched as Kwame coaxed the little sparrow down from the shelf and caught it, too. Five minutes after the two birds had flown into the classroom, they were both safely outside again.

Kwame had saved the day!

When Kwame turned back from the window, after releasing the little sparrow, he was the centre of attention. The students had a thousand questions for little Kwame. How did you do that? Have you done that before? Where did you learn to catch birds? Was it scary? What did the hawk feel like? Did it bite you?

Kwame listened to each of the questions and answered them in slow broken English. The students gave him time to form his answers. The words came slowly, and then faster and faster as Kwame became more confident. The teacher watched in amazement as little Kwame went from being a shy quiet boy to the talkative and lively boy his mother said he was at home.

Something had just happened that the teacher could have never planned. Little Kwame had been brave.

In fact, Kwame had been a brave boy all along. He just needed a couple of birds to help him prove it to everyone else. And once he did, no one ever let him be shy again. After school, Kwame’s classmates told their brothers, sisters, mothers and fathers the amazing story of brave Kwame. The next day at school everyone wanted to talk to Kwame. And they all listened as he answered their questions.

Later that week, when Kwame was shopping with his family, he saw one of his classmates. The other little boy tugged on his mom’s coat, “Mom, that’s him! That’s Kwame—the boy who catches hawks! He’s the bravest boy in our whole school!”

Food Fight

“Sit down, both of you,” Mum said, pointing at the couch.

Candice sat, with a plop, in the middle of the couch. Abigail sat on the cushion next to her sister.

“Ew!” Candice squealed. “Don’t sit so close to me!” Candice bounced over to the far end of the couch.

Mum had her arms folded across her chest watching her daughters with dismay. They went quiet under her intense gaze. “Ok girls,” Mum said, “tell me what happened.”

Abigail said, “Well I,”

Candice cut her off, “You love Abby more that me!”

“Candy,” Mum said, “That’s crazy! I love you both equally.”

“Yeah right!” Candice argued, “That’s not what it looks like from here!”

Mum turned to Abigail, “Abby, why have you and your sister been fighting all morning?”

“I dunno,” Abigail answered. “She just hates me. I’m just trying to be good and she keeps bothering me: hitting me, chasing me and whatever else she can think of.”

“You asked for it,” Candice said.

“Did not,” Abigail blocked.

“Did so,” Candice flung back.

“Ok. Ok.” Mum took over. “What’s this all about? Candy, why are you tormenting your sister.”

“Because you always like everything she does better than what I do!” Candice said, almost crying.

“Candy,” Mum comforted, “You know that’s not true!”

“Then,” Candice sniffled, “why did you put her veges in the lasagna last night and mine went into the fridge?”

Mum was surprised by Candice’s answer. “Well, honey, I sent the two of you out to the garden. I clearly said I was making a vegetable lasagna and needed some veges.”

“Yeah,” Candice said, “And I got heaps. And Abby got just a few. And you used hers!”

“Candy,” Mum said, “You brought three heads of lettuce, two cauliflowers and a huge bunch of radishes. None of those go in a lasagna. I will use them, but in something else. That’s why I put them in the fridge—to save them for later!”

“You should just listen,” Abigail added. “Or learn how to make a lasagna!”

Candice jumped across the couch and swung her arm to slap Abigail. Mum reached out and caught her hand.

“You two,” Mum said, “be nice to each other.” Mum helped Candice back to her cushion with a little tug. “Now,” Mum continued, “How are we going to change? There’s no reason to react so strongly to a misunderstanding.”

Mum stared at the girls. They had no idea what she was waiting for.

“Well,” Mum repeated, “What can we do next time to avoid getting angry?”

“I guess I could listen more carefully,” Candice answered. Mum nodded and looked at Abigail.

“I guess I could try not to tease,” Abigail said.

Mum smiled. “And I will give clearer instructions,” Mum added. “Now, who wants to help me make lunch? I was thinking we could have a fresh salad and some cauliflower soup.”

The two girls looked at each other and laughed.

“Sounds yummy,” Abigail said. “I love Cauliflower soup!”

“Me too,” Candice agreed. She looked over at her sister and silently mouthed the words, “I’m sorry.”

Abigail hugged her sister and whispered in her ear, “I’m sorry, too.”

“Let’s cook girls,” Mum shouted from the kitchen. “Lunch isn’t going to make itself!”

(There’s a story in the Bible about two brothers who had a similar problem but it didn’t finish so nicely. You can find it in Genesis 4.)

Josh goes Home

Josh pulled his feet out of the river and dried them off as best he could before putting his socks and shoes on.

“Going somewhere?” Lance asked.

“Yeah,” I think I better go home,” Josh said.

Lance stared at Josh, “I thought you said your brother wants to kill you?”

“He did yesterday,” Josh answered.

“You can stay at my house again,” Lance said. “You can stay as long as you want!”

“Yeah, I know.” Josh said, “but sooner or later I’ll need to face reality.”

The two boys started to walk away from the swimming hole.

“Hey, where are you guys going?” a friend shouted from the water.

Lance answered, “Josh wants to get thrashed by his brother. He’s going home!”

“We’ll come with you,” the friend answered. “Common guys, let’s go protect Josh” All 14 grade 5 boys were at the waterhole. They joined Lance and Josh.

Lance laughed, “You’ll be safe now. You’re brother may be bigger than you. But he isn’t bigger than all of us!”

The crowd of boys started walking to Josh’s house. With each step, Josh got more nervous. Finally he turned to Lance and said, “Maybe we should send someone ahead to see if Eric is still angry.”

“Good idea,” Lance said. “Hey Joel, come here.” A scrawny boy joined them.

“Yeah?” Joel asked.

“You’re the fastest runner in our class,” Lance said. “Run to Josh’s house and see if Eric is still mad. Tell him Josh is coming home and see how he reacts. If he looks threatening, just run—he’ll never catch you!”

Joel laughed, “Yep. I’ll be right back!” And with that he sprinted away.

It what seemed only minutes, Joel was back.

“That’s some seriously low flying, mate!” Lance laughed.

“What did he say?” Josh asked.

“There’s a huge group of high school guys watching football with him,” Joel panted. “Eric said they will all come meet you.”

Josh’s face fell in horror. “I know those guys,” he said, trembling. “I’m dead if I don’t change Eric’s mind.” Josh stood still thinking. His group of friends gathered around. “Does anyone have any money?” Josh asked.

The boys pooled their pocket money. “Here’s $22.45,” Lance said as he handed a hat, filled with money, to Josh. “If it keeps you alive, you can have it!”

Josh turned and gave the hat to Joel, “Here. Run! Take it to Eric. Tell him I’m sorry and I have more in the bank!”

Joel took off sprinting again. The group of boys could see Eric’s mob just across the park. They watched as Joel made it to Eric. The could hear the laughter of Eric and his friends as the hat was handed over.

As Joel ran back, Eric followed, nearly keeping up. Eric’s group jogged behind. Josh started walking forward to face his fate.

Josh walked ahead and met Eric in the clearing between the two groups. As they reached each other Eric held out the hat full of money. “What’s this?”

Josh hung his head, “I didn’t want you to kill me.”

Eric hugged his little brother, “Mate, I’m sorry for getting mad at you yesterday. Mum and Dad are worried sick!” He turned to his group of friends as they approached, “He’s fine!”

The group whooped with joy. “Let’s get back to the football,” one of them laughed.

Eric wrapped his arm around Josh, “I’m so glad you came home.”

(Jacob and Esau is the comparison story. See Genesis 33.)

28 Stories - Fundamental Bible Studies for Post-Moderns

I've been working on a series (of 28) Bible studies called 28 Stories which uses an imaginative Bible story to introduce the topic and then the questions lead the reader/group through a series of personal application questions. These are followed by open ended questions that explore the Biblical topic using Bible verse quotes. It finishes with the Fundamental statement as worded by the Adventist Church and then asks for a response.

I've been using them for a few weeks now and getting positive responses. Since they have been designed in a weekly journal format (7 sections which work nicely as a daily study on the topic) I have been giving one as homework to my students and studying one in our weekly small group as well.

I've also made them available online and advertised them around the online Adventist world and am getting positive feedback from around the globe.

Have a look and let me know what you think!

The Good Classmate

Samantha put her lunchbox back in her school bag. She was always the last person in their 5^th grade class to finish lunch. She was slow at a lot of things, but it didn’t really bother her.

Sam squinted in the bright sunlight as she came out of the school building and down the stairs onto the oval. As her eyes adjusted, she could see a big group of kids midfield.

As she approached the group, Sam noticed a soccer ball resting between her and the cluster of kids. Why aren’t they playing? Sam wondered.

“Don’t touch him!” someone said forcefully.

“Henry ran into him real hard!” another voice said.

“I did not!” Henry’s voice came from the middle of the group.

Sam pushed her way through the crowd. She could just make out the body of a boy lyingon the ground. His legs were twitching.

“Somebody help him!” Henry said.

“I’m not touching him,” someone else said.

“Henry, you should help him,” James demanded. “You hurt him!”

“I didn’t run into him,” Henry argued. “He was coming toward me and then he just fell over!”

Sam pushed her way into the middle of the circle. Ignoring the argument, she knelt next to the shaking boy. It was Nigel, the new student from overseas, lying flat on his back, one leg bent uncomfortably underneath him, foamy saliva oozing from his mouth.

The other kids stopped their argument and stared as Sam took hold of Nigel’s shoulder and hip and rolled him onto his side. She sat behind him holding him in position. Only then did she notice her staring classmates.

Sam was calm because she knew what she was doing. She had been listening carefully in first aid class. Nigel was having a seizure. He needed care until he stopped fitting.

“James,” Sam said with confidence, “run and tell a teacher that Nigel is having a fit.”James pushed his way out of the crowd and ran toward a group of teachers.

“Henry,” Sam said, looking up at the accused boy, “You didn’t hurt Nigel. He will be fine in a minute.”

Henry looked very relieved, “Is there anything I can do?”

“Yes,” Sam said. “Keep the sun off his face.” Henry knelt above Nigel’s head blocking the hot midday son. Nigel had stopped shaking and was breathing quietly.

Just then Mr Perry broke through the crowd, breathing hard. Quickly, he knelt in front of Nigel, just as the boy opened his eyes.

“Hello, Nigel,” Mr Perry said gently. “How do you feel?”

“I’m ok,” Nigel said quietly.

“You’ve got some very good friends here,” Mr Perry said.

Nigel turned his head and looked at Sam and then Henry. Tears filled his eyes.

Henry spoke, “Samantha knew what to do. We were scared.”

“Thanks Sam,” Nigel said.

Sam smiled and rested her hand on Nigel’s shoulder, “You would have done the same for me, I’m sure.”

“Well done, Samantha,” Mr Perry smiled. “Our school is blessed to have you!”

Jotham’s Story

During recess something amazing happened on the playground.

Just as the students were getting ready to choose teams for a friendly game of basketball, Timothy grabbed the ball, walked to the middle of the court, and shouted, “I should be captain. Always! It should never be questioned that I am always one of the captains in every sport on every day! I am the biggest kid. And my Dad was the biggest kid at this school when he was here! My family should always be in charge!”

The other boys looked at each other in confusion. No one had ever seen or heard anything like this. Finally they nodded and said, “Fair enough. You are the biggest. You can be boss.”

Jotham had been watching from the swings and heard the whole thing. He climbed to the top of the playground slide and shouted,

“Listen to me, fellow classmates!
Once upon a time the trees decided to pick a king.
First they said to the olive tree, ‘Be our king!’

But the olive tree refused, saying,
‘Should I quit producing delicious olive oil
that makes cooking taste so good,
just to wave back and forth over the trees?’

“Then they said to the fig tree,
‘You be our king!’

But the fig tree also refused, saying,
‘Should I quit producing my sweet fruit
just to wave back and forth over the trees?’

“Then they said to the grapevine,
‘You be our king!’

But the grapevine also refused, saying,
‘Should I quit producing grapes, sultanas and juice,
just to wave back and forth over the trees?’

“Then all the trees finally turned to the thornbush and said,
‘Come, you be our king!’

And the thornbush replied to the trees,
‘If you truly want to make me your king,
come and take shelter in my shade.
If I am king you must do what I want,
or I will set all the trees on fire!’”

When Jotham stopped talking, every kid on the playground stared up at him in silence. They were waiting for something.

Finally Timothy spoke, “And? What’s the end of the story?”

“I don’t know,” Jotham said. “It hasn’t happened yet!”

Another boy shouted, “You’re weird. We don’t have a clue what you’re talking about.”

Jotham stood tall, on top of the slide. He confidently placed his hands on his hips. “Just think about it. Choose a leader because he is a good leader, not because he demands it!”

“Wait just a minute,” Timothy thought he might be understanding Jotham’s little story. “Are you saying I am a thorn bush?”

One of the boys sniggered.

Jotham smiled, “No, of course not. Thornbushes are prickly and grab at things hurting everyone they touch.”

“Yeah,” one of the other boys said, “He’s just telling a story. Let’s play ball.”

Jotham climbed down from the slide and returned to the swing set.

Timothy turned and handed the ball to one of the other boys. He looked down to hide the tears pooling in his eyes.

“Aren’t you going to play basketball?” the boy who had received the ball asked Timothy.

“No,” Timothy said bravely, “I’m gonna go on the swings.”

Timothy walked to an empty swing and sat down. He looked over at Jotham and asked quietly, “Could you please tell me more about the thornbush?”

“Sure,” Jotham said with a kind smile. And as the sound of basketball filled the air around them, a thornbush died and a giant oak was born.

Jotham’s story of the trees wanting a king
Judges 9:1-15

Forever Castle

Lorrie and her 5^th grade class were at a local beach for a biology excursion.

The students spent the morning exploring tide pools to see what they could find. Lorrie had seen lots of algae, a few jellyfish and the occasional little fish. Her friend showed her a starfish in a lonely pool stranded about 100 metres from the rest of the pools. A few of the boys caught crabs and tried to scare the girls with them.

Mr Wegener, a nature expert who joined them for the day, walked to each tide pool explaining to the groups what was in the pool. It was amazing what you could find, if you knew what you were looking for. He showed them sea snail eggs packed so tightly they looked like a jellyfish, funny kelp called sea grapes that popped if you squeezed them really hard and a sea cucumber that had been hiding under a shelf in the biggest tide pool.

Having finished lunch about 20 minutes ago, it was sandcastle-building time. Most of the kids were working in groups. It was interesting watching the different strategies the groups were using. A couple groups built huge piles of sand with their buckets and shovels before forming a castle out of it. The rest of the groups, except for Lorrie and her friend Grace, were building their castles one handful of sand at a time.

Lorrie and Grace had plenty of opportunity to see what the other groups were doing as they carried their buckets back and forth between the wet sand and the huge rock where they were dumping the sand in a large pile. They had decided to build their sandcastle on the flat surface on the top of a rock near the car park. It was a lot of work carrying the sand back and forth, but finally they had enough to build their castle.

The two girls spent about thirty minutes shaping their castle and then gathered some kelp from around the beach to make a cool border around it. Just as they were finishing they heard their teacher calling them to join together in a group. Lorrie and Grace jumped down from their rock into the sand and ran to the group.

As they approached, the teacher said, “We are now going to look at each sandcastle and allow the groups to tell the story of their castle.” The kids enjoyed this create your story game. It was how they presented projects they had done at home or in groups.

The wandered from castle to castle hearing the story of each. Some of the stories were very creative, some very factual. Finally they turned toward the car park and walked toward Lorrie and Grace’s castle.

As they approached the final castle the teacher asked, “What is the story of this castle?”

Lorrie and Grace climbed up behind the castle. Lorrie said, “This is Castle-Rock and this is the Forever Castle!”

Grace pointed back toward the beach and said, “All of your castles will soon be gone as the tide comes in. The Forever Castle will last into eternity!”

The teacher smiled and turned to the group. “That reminds me of a Bible story,” the teacher said. She turned and pointed to the car park, “Everyone back on the bus, I’ll tell you the story on the way back to school.”

A wise man builds on Rock & a fool on sand
Matt 7:24-27, Luke 6:47-49

Brother’s Fish

Joel and Jeremy were the best of friends and the worst of enemies—typical brothers. Jeremy was seven years old and thought his 12 year-old big brother was really cool. And Joel liked Jeremy because he laughed at all of his jokes.

Today Joel had the boy from next door, Reuben, over for the afternoon. They had been playing games outside and Jeremy had been following them around. Joel and Reuben didn’t really mind. They even let Jeremy play with them. When they played soccer, Joel said Jeremy could be the ball. Everyone laughed and then they let him referee.

Now they were in Joel’s bedroom playing with his toys. Jeremy had crawled under Joel’s bed and was pretending he was spying on the bigger boys. Joel and Reuben ignored Jeremy, which was perfect because it made him think his spying was working.

Then Reuben saw Joel’s fish tank. “Wow!” Reuben said, “You have heaps of fish!”

“Yeah,” Joel replied. “They are fun to watch, especially at night when their light is on and the room is dark.”

Reuben went over to the tank and knelt down to watch the fish. He watched one fish after the other as it zipped around the tank or floated quietly in place.

“They are all so different,” Reuben said.

“I know,” Joel answered. “Each of them has it’s own name.”

“Really?” Reuben asked, “Do they come when you call them?”

The boys both laughed. They watched the fish in silence for a little while and then Reuben asked, “Hey, would I be able to have one fish?”

Joel thought about it for a moment and then smiled, “Sure! I’ll just go get a plastic bag and a net.”

“That’s awesome, Joel!” Reuben was very excited. “You are so generous.”

Reuben watched the fish zipping around; trying to choose which one he would ask for when Joel returned.

After what seemed like an eternity, Joel came back with a bag full of water and a net. “Here ya go,” Joel said offering the bag to Reuben. There was a rubber band tied tightly around the bag holding the water in. And there was something inside.

“Hey,” Reuben said. “There’s already a fish in the bag!”

“Yup, you can have that one,” Joel said happily.

“I didn’t know you had other fish tanks in your house,” Reuben said.

“Just one!” Joel said with a laugh.

Jeremy shot out from under the bed. He knew where that other fish tank was.

“That’s my fish!” Jeremy shouted as he leapt toward Reuben.

Reuben pulled the bag close to his chest. “Be careful!” Reuben shouted, “You’ll pop the bag.”

Joel wrapped his arms tightly around Jeremy from behind, putting one hand firmly over his mouth. “Quick, take the fish home,” Joel said. “I’ll come over to your house in a bit.”

Reuben looked from Joel to Jeremy and then back, “Are you sure?”

“Yes,” Joel said as he forced Jeremy to nod his head.

Reuben shrugged his shoulders and left the room. Moments later the front door squeaked open and then closed. Reuben was gone. And so was Jeremy’s fish—his only fish.

Nathan’s story of the Pet Lamb
2 Samuel 12:1-13

Cuts and Scratches

“No, I’m not gonna stop!” Nathan shouted over his shoulder as he propelled his bike along the river trail.

His friends pedalled as fast as they could, attempting to match Nathan’s speed on their own bikes.

“Please, Nathan,” Max shouted breathlessly. “Just stop for a second! We need to talk to you.”

Nathan was the fastest rider in his group of friends. He knew they could never catch him or make him stop. But there was something anxious in Max’s voice. Nathan grabbed the back break ferociously and started a skid. Then, applying the front break carefully and lifting his weight off the back tire, Nathan spun his bike in a 180 and stopped in a cloud of dust facing his pursuers.

The two friends grabbed their brakes in a panic and managed to stop before smashing into Nathan. He fixed them with an angry stare, “What?” he said gruffly. “Don’t expect me to change my mind!”

Max stood astride his bike, and spread his hands in a wide-open gesture. “Come-on Nath! Just do it.”

“No!” Nathan growled, crossing his arms across his bare muscled chest.

The other friend, Garth, spoke, “It’s too easy, isn’t it?”

“What?” Nathan replied. “What does ‘easy’ have to do with it?”

“Well,” Garth continued, “if Old-Eli had asked you to do something hard, you would have taken the challenge. Right?”

Nathan thought about that for a moment. “Hmmmm…” A smile crossed his face, “Yes. I probably would have.”

Max took over, “But what if it works?”

“How can it work?” Nathan demanded. “I have these stupid blackberry cuts and scratches all over my legs.” He turned and looked at the dirty river they had been riding their bikes along. “How can that dirty river make the cuts go away?”

“We don’t know!” Garth said.

“But what if it works?” Max asked again.

“It won’t!” Nathan said angrily. “I went to see Old-Eli because he knows God and about nature and stuff. I thought he would make some magic potion to rub on my cuts to make them stop itching and heal quickly.”

“But he didn’t,” Garth stated. “He said to wash in the river and you would be healed.”

“It’s just dumb!” Nathan blurted.

“But what if it works?” Max and Garth chanted in unison.

Nathan examined the water again, staring at the slow moving stream.

“You need to stop being so obstinate,” Max said pleadingly.

“Yeah,” Garth said, looking down at Nathan’s cut-up legs. “Just humble out a bit!”

Nathan hadn’t thought about it like that before. Was he being prideful? Was he missing out on his own healing because he was arrogant?

“Well,” Nathan said, leaning his bike against a tree, “I guess it won’t hurt to try.” Slowly Nathan walked into the murky water. Seven times he dunked himself in the river.

When he walked out of the water, to everyone’s amazement, his legs were perfect—not a scratch or cut to be found.

All three friends shouted as one, “IT WORKED!”

“Let’s go back and thank Old-Eli,” Nathan said as he got back on his bike. “He really knows what he’s talking about!”

The Diary of Ash - Year 7 Bible—station based—Activity (Written for AUC Education Department)

Re: The Diary of Ash

Dear Colleagues,

I need your help. I am not sure what my team has discovered.

This morning I stood, peering in awe through the thick protective viewing window of the worlds only nonlinear particle replicator. The specimen box inside the replicator, empty just moments before, now held a book—it’s edges smoldering.

This very complex machine peers through a miniature wormhole, as if through a tiny fish-eyed window, into the future. The “eye” can be swiveled around the distant time to locate a small object. Then, in the present, the replicator creates a copy of the object in view.

It was highly theoretical. None of us really expected it to work. And yet, the book at which I had focused the eye of the wormhole was in the specimen box. Well, not the original book, but an exact particle-by-particle copy.

Images of the book appeared on huge flat-screens in the viewing room. It was a journal. Handwritten on the cover were the words: “The Diary of Ash.” A personal journal from the future! I rushed out of the viewing room, into the heart of the replicator, to the specimen box.

The corners and edges of the book were still smoldering. Clearly the replicator ran a bit hot for paper. But the journal seemed to be otherwise intact.

Slowly I lifted the lid off the specimen box and set it aside. Carefully I opened the journal. Following is a detailed description.

On the first page, in childlike scrawl, are the words, “Dear Diary, It’s me, Ash. Sorry it’s been so long since I’ve written. I’m 13 now.” A complete entry follows. Above the diary entry, where the date should be, are the words: “1st Entry — AA01, Day 5.”

On the inside of the cover, at the bottom, are the words: “After Ascension (AA) is the dating system we Saved Ones have chosen for the new era.”

An envelope is fixed to the inside of the cover. Using a pair of tweezers, I removed five pieces of paper. Tattered and warn—from much handling, no doubt—each piece has a typed quotation and, in the margins, handwritten notes.

Copies of these paper fragments and the diary entries have been included with this letter. Please analyze them and get back to me.

Anxiously awaiting your detailed response,

Dr Marcus Adams

---------

The paper fragments:

The date for our destruction arrived. At midnight we were to be killed. Just before this was to happen God came to rescue us… A deep blackness, deeper than the darkness of the night, fell upon the earth. 1 Then a rainbow, shining from the throne of God, filled the sky. The attackers that had been approaching to kill us stopped in amazement. Their mocking cries died away as, with fear in their faces, they looked on that incredible rainbow….
Not long after it appeared, it faded away and the sun came out, shining in full strength. Signs and wonders followed quickly…. There fell a great hail:… and men cursed God for it “was exceedingly great.” 2…

In Handwritten Scrawl: Amazing how much the last days and moments on earth were similar to the prophet’s expectations. Truly amazing how God communicates everything He is planning to His people through the Prophets!

Another event now took place that we had known would happen. Certain people were resurrected to see the second coming of King Jesus… “They also that pierced him… those that mocked and derided Christ’s dying agonies, and the most violent opposers of His truth and His people are raised to see Him in His glory, and to see the honour placed upon those who are loyal and obedient.” “Those who derided his claim to be the Son of God are speechless now. There is the haughty Herod who jeered at His royal title and told the mocking soldiers to crown Him king. There are the very men, who with mocking hands placed on His form the purple robe, on His sacred head the thorny crown, and in his unresisting hand the mimic scepter, and bowed before Him in blasphemous mockery. The men who struck Him and spit upon the Prince of life now turn from His piercing gaze… Those who drove the nails through His hands and feet, the solder who pierced His side, see these marks with terror and remorse. The priests and rulers who had led out in the attack on Him now recall the events of Calvary.”7

In Handwritten Scrawl: I wasn’t able to see this prophecy fulfilled as I was in Australia when Jesus returned. But, I have talked to witnesses. It was just as suggested by the prophets.

A “final earthquake shook the earth. In fear, our attackers tried to escape from the judgements of God which were now shown to all. Some had hurried past us as we came from our hiding places. Now they ‘hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains, but at the same time, in fear, said to the mountains and rocks, ‘fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sits on the throne … for the great day of his anger is come, and who will be able to stand?’ 8. …
Our attackers who stayed in the open and were not destroyed continued to look in terror on the scene. Streams stopped flowing. Dark, heavy clouds clashed against one another. Then through a break in the clouds, a star beamed with a brilliancy four times the darkness….10 the clouds were swept back and there appeared a hand holding two tables of stone folded together. It was God’s 10 commandments… the hand opened the tables, and there were seen the commandments, traced with what looked like a pen of fire. The words were so plain that all could read them. They were an exact copy of the law given to Moses,..

In Handwritten Scrawl: This was both the scariest and most awe-inspiring time of those final moments on the Old Earth. Those who had rejected Christ were irate at us for disobeying them. They tried to kill us. When the sky revealed the law of the Lord, we all saw it—evil and Godly alike. I’m not sure what emotions our attackers felt, but I know I was overjoyed!

Not long after, some of our group who had been gazing at the heavens excitedly called out, “Look! Look! Look over there!” When we asked, “Where?” they pointed out a small black cloud, about half the size of a man’s hand. 14 In solemn silence we gazed at it. As it grew larger and drew nearer the earth, the cloud’s darkness faded completely away, and it became one large burst of indescribable glory. At the same time we heard beautiful music… growing in volume as Jesus and His angels neared the earth. 15
In a short time the bright cloud drew very close to earth and covered every bit of the sky from horizon to horizon…. Finally, we saw HIM—JESUS HIMSELF, the Son of God, in all of His glory. He was dressed in a robe of the whitest light. His hair was white and curly and lay on His shoulders. His feet had the appearance of fire. In His right hand there was a sharp sickle, and in His left a silver trumpet. His eyes were as a flame of fire. On His head He wore a double crown of glory; a crown within a crown. Words completely fail to describe this incredible scene.18

In Handwritten Scrawl: Never will another memory take the place this one holds. The unveiling of Jesus the King! What a glorious day! I will ever cherish this memory!

At this time we heard a trumpet ringing loud and clear, we were sure, over the entire earth…. In the silence that followed this trumpet, Jesus, now near the earth, called out in a loud voice that was heard by all, “Awake! Awake! You who sleep in the dust. Arise.” At the same time the earth was again shaken by a great earthquake and graves were opened…. All, from Adam on down, came out…. 20 As each person stepped from the grave he was greeted by his own angel, who had been his guardian from his earliest moment…. Immediately afterward these angels spoke incredible words: ‘Follow us,’ they invited. ‘We are now going to lead you to meet Jesus your Saviour.’ As soon as they said this, our feet left the ground and we slowly rose into the air. As more and more of the saved came from all over the earth, the group moving up grew larger and larger, with the angels gradually making columns on either side. As we rose higher and higher, an angel choir struck up a song of praise….
The time of celebration had begun when we would rest from war - when the whole land would rest. The promise of Jesus had been fulfilled. He had returned. He was bringing us home. He was ending the war. Now we would be with Him forever. A rich, amazing reward was before us. Now we would meet Jesus Himself, face to face!” 25

In Handwritten Scrawl: I had cherished this quotation above all the others before the Second Coming. I longed to meet Jesus. Now that I have, I long to meet Him again and again and again! Every moment in his presence is both precious and glorious. Oh, how I love Jesus!

Entry 1 - AA01, Day 5
Dear Diary,
It’s me, Ash. Sorry it’s been so long since I’ve written. I’m 13 now. I couldn’t find my old journal, so I started this new one. It’s kind of fitting too because my life — everyone’s life, actually — has just gone through a huge change.
Jesus came back! No, I’m not kidding. He really did. Just like all the stories at church! First, there was this almighty trumpeting that made every person on Earth stop and look up. And I mean everyone — From Bourke to Bangladesh, Sydney to Seoul, Melbourne to Madrid — you get the point.
Then the sky ripped apart like someone tearing through a huge canvas. Actually, it reminded me of football players running through the large banner at the beginning of a game. Only it wasn’t a handful of guys, it was Jesus and about a zillion angels. Very cool! It brought the dead to life! They popped out of the ground and headed toward Jesus.
Everyone who loves Jesus floated up to meet Him in the air. I’m serious! I know it sounds crazy-wacky-zany, but it’s true! It’s like, people more attracted to Jesus than Earthly stuff had a new gravitational centre. Jesus got close enough to pull us to Himself, and that’s where we went! All my fears of the Second Coming completely disappeared when I saw Jesus. His presence gave everyone amazing peace.
So, anyway, now were making the 7-day trip to Heaven. There’s a pretty huge group of people here with me. We are zinging through the universe. Yesterday we went right through Orion’s belt! We’re traveling faster than I ever thought possible. Jesus is at the front, the angels are in the back and all of us Saved Ones (that’s what the angels call us—Saved Ones) are in the middle. It’s like a huge train headed to Heaven!
Jesus calls us by name. It is amazing! He knows each of us like we are his only child. On day 2 (we’re on day 5 of the trip right now) Jesus was working his way through the crowd and when he saw me, he smiled and said, “Hey Ash, enjoying the trip?” I was stunned! I couldn’t talk. I couldn’t even think of words to say. I just had this dumb super-smile plastered to my face while I nodded furiously. He gave me a hug and said we would have plenty of time to talk later. Then he said something that still makes me laugh. He held me at arms length and said, “Keep smiling, Ash!” Then He was gone.
Lots of stuff is different now. People who had scars, or sicknesses or anything else physically or even mentally wrong with them, are perfectly whole now. People who haven’t seen each other in years (because they died or were separated by war—that kind of stuff) are finding each other and having massive celebrations. Right after we lifted off the ground, guardian angels plucked up the resurrected babies (that had died before growing up) and flew them straight to their mothers. That was amazing to watch. Such joy!
It all seems impossible. But it’s real! I can’t wait to see Heaven!

Entry 2 - AA01, Day 11
Dear Diary,
Wow! Heaven is amazing. If I knew a better word than “amazing” I would use it. It’s like nothing I have ever seen or even imagined! I’ve been here for 4 days now and this was the first chance (and I mean the very first!) to actually sit and write. It has been intense!
The day after my last entry we started seeing a faint glow in the distance. I thought it was another star—we saw a lot of stars along the way—but it didn’t go past like all the others. It just kept getting brighter and brighter. Slowly it dawned on us that we were seeing Heaven.
Now that I’m here, I can tell you: It is bright!
Oddly, there’s no sun. The only star around here is God (He’s a superstar!) and all the light comes from Him. Heaven is a giant cube. Imagine a huge hollow Rubik’s Cube floating in space. God’s in the middle sitting on His throne and light is gushing from Him in every direction. There’s a wide glassy-surfaced river flowing out of the base of the throne. This ‘River of Life’ flows under a massive tree with roots growing on both sides of the river. It’s called the ‘Tree of Life’ and has a different kind of fruit every month and enough fruit for everyone to have a piece whenever they want one! So, to sum up; the ‘River of Life’ flows from the ‘Throne of Light’ through the ‘Tree of Life.’ It’s like heaven’s own tongue-twister!
This is where it starts getting weird, or at least very hard to explain. Even though it is a cube, there are foundations—twelve of them—and they are each made from a different kind of gemstone and each have the name of a different disciple written on them. On the surfaces of this Heavenly cube, there are pure-gold streets (that you can sort of see through) lined with houses. One of the houses belongs to my family and all our relatives live nearby. Each street is crazy-long and goes from one edge of a cube-side to the other edge. At the end of each golden street there is a huge gate. And each gate is made of a single pearl. The first time I saw one of these gates, my immediate thought was, “how big are the oysters around here?”
Everything here blows my mind! Here’s the trippiest thing I’ve seen so far; when the light from God’s throne hits the foundations it takes on the colour of that stone. This produces the most amazing rainbow—but it’s straight, not curved. God’s light takes on the colour of whatever it goes through. Come to think of it, the same is true with people. Any goodness that shines out of us is God’s light taking on our uniqueness and personality. Pretty cool!
It’s so awesome to think I get to live here for a thousand years!

Entry 3 - AA01, Day 15

Dear Diary,

Yesterday was my first Sabbath in Heaven. We gathered in the outer court of the Temple and faced the holy place. The worship service was amazing! Angel choirs—we seemed to be surrounded by them—led the worship songs. They sang songs we knew from Earth. Then they taught us a new song. It was fantastic! I usually don’t sing, because I sound like Kermit the Frog. The music was so loud that I thought, who’s gonna hear me? When I sang, my voice amazed me! I can sing! Awesome.

Then Jesus stood in front of the altar and, in a loud voice, began to preach. It was so different to any sermon I have ever heard before. He told us how much He loved the world—enough to die—and the detailed plan He had been living out for the last 6,000+ years. We all listened with rapt attention.

In the middle of the sermon something really weird happened. There was another layer of sound above the sermon. It was Jesus’ voice but He was talking just to me. He told me how much He loved me. He told me He died for me. Then he told me my new name! It’s such a cool name! I love it! And only Jesus and me know it! I wish I could tell you what it is, but I can’t write it. It doesn’t work like a normal word. I can’t explain it. I think only Jesus can say it correctly.

After Jesus finished telling us the epic salvation story, He told us what we would be doing for the next thousand years while in Heaven. Although there will be plenty of time to meet famous Bible heros and hear their stories, there are also other stories we must listen to—the stories of people who did not make it to Heaven.

Some of the Saved Ones have been asking why their pastor, parent or another loved one is not here in Heaven. There is a way to find the answer—and that is our primary task for the next thousand years. We are to examine the detailed records kept by God of every thought, action and unconfessed sin. They have all been recorded. Our task is to explore the stories of the Lost Ones and decide if God has been fair in His judgement.

There are also people here in Heaven who some Saved Ones don’t think should be here. We can read their records too and discover that they, like us, gave their lives to Jesus. Then, when God issues His final act of judgement, we will all agree that God is righteous in His judgement.

After church, we had the best Sabbath lunch ever! There was this huge banquet table and every Saved One sat at it. It was heaps-long! The food was delicious. Jesus, the disciples, Adam and Eve, and every other Bible hero, were there. And so was I. WOW! That was an amazing meal and a fantastic Sabbath.

Entry 4 - AA1001, Day 57

Dear Diary,

About two months ago, Jesus and the angels led us back to Earth. As we got close enough to see the Earth, our hearts fell. I thought the Earth would be beautiful after a thousand years without people polluting it’s surface and skies. But the opposite was true. Satan and his evil angels had been left here—with nothing to do and no-one to tempt—and they had destroyed the entire planet. It was a barren wasteland.

After we landed, to our amazement, the entire city of God—The New Jerusalem—broke through Earth’s atmosphere and settled in a freshly prepared spot. We quickly made our way into the city and peered through the gates. We knew evil still encompassed this planet and none of us wanted to go back to living under Satan’s rule.

Once we were all safely in the city, Jesus loudly commanded every person who had ever died to come forth from the grave. For 1000 years, Satan had been on earth with no humans to lead astray. Now they were popping up from the ground everywhere. The agony of defeat felt by the Devil was quickly washed away as he saw the huge army of angry humanity. He called them to himself. He told them he had brought them back to life! And then he pointed to the city of God and shouted, “There is your persecutor! There is our enemy! Prepare for war!”

For the next two months they prepared. They built every war machine you can imagine. Then they attacked. As the screaming massive hoard rushed from every angle toward the city, it looked like there was no chance for us. There were so many of them!

Floating in the air above the city, glowing in majesty and surrounded by angels, Jesus appeared on His huge golden throne. The sudden splendor of the moment brought the massive army to a screeching halt. They stared up at Jesus in awe. Then, between Jesus and the evil army, the sky became a huge movie screen visible from every angle. A gigantic image of Lucifer—Satan before his fall from Heaven—filled the screen. He was beautiful. A murmur of admiration rippled through the crowd. Then, as if someone pressed fast-forward the movie accelerated through history. The Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve, Noah, Moses...

The huge screen split into a vast array of smaller screens—appearing above the heads of each soldier in the army—as history reached the point when they had lived. Each person saw their part in the epic battle between good and evil. From inside the city the mass of little screens appeared like a mosaic telling one story—the great controversy between God and Satan—spanning the entire history of humanity.

Finally the screens flickered out. The telling had reached the present. Jesus sat on His throne in the deathly silence. No words were needed. The story had been so clearly presented that every person inside and outside of the city knew God was innocent. Satan was guilty of all sin, sadness and death.

The combined realization became a physical thing—erupting into a fireball, sweeping away from the city. Everything evil burned. The longer and more intense the evil of each individual the more intensely they burned. The fireball swept the earth clean and cleansed the atmosphere.

That was yesterday. Today there is no more sin. Death, sickness, sadness and all things evil are a fading memory. There is only God and good. I can’t explain how I feel other than to say: it feels nice... really nice!

Entry 5 - AA1001, Day 62

Dear Diary,

It’s Sabbath again. We have all gathered together to worship the King of Kings—our innocent Saviour, Jesus. What a glorious day! A Sabbath like no other! The judgement is finished.

In His sermon today, Jesus talked about eternity without sin. We had an amazing worship service and just finished lunch. Now, I’m sitting under the Tree of Life with a pen in my hand and eternity in my heart. I’m actually starting to be able to comprehend that word—“eternity.”

I often think about eternity on Sabbath afternoon. For 1013 years I’ve rested on Sabbath. And Jesus promises we will have Sabbath every week throughout eternity. And we will never die! Eternity... It just didn’t make sense, until the judgement was finished. Death made eternity illogical and undesirable. But now—with no death in the world—eternity is wonderful! It’s less about time and more about love.

God is love. God is eternal. Love is eternal. Eternity... I like the thought of it!

The New Earth is growing. It’s so green! And there is so much room. The oceans only take up a tiny fraction of the Earth now. The fire burned so hot, it melted the highest mountains and softened the abrupt angles of the others. The fire also evaporated water from lakes and seas into the sky where it creates a protective layer in the atmosphere creating a global greenhouse. It is green, growing and livable everywhere on the planet!

There are expeditions being planned to explore new lands. Jesus has told us to each find a plot of land we wish to care for and build a country home. So, we will each have a home in the city and in the country! How cool is that? And you can build it out of whatever you want. Why use wood when you can use diamonds, gold or opal? There are going to be some very cool houses!

There are animals everywhere. And they all get along with each other. No more death means things have changed a fair bit! Lions don’t eat lambs, they cuddle with them. Just today I’ve patted a leopard, giraffe, aardvark and a platypus. I love animals! And the animals here on the New Earth love being loved. This is going to be an awesome place to spend eternity.

But, we don’t have to stay here. This is just home base! We can explore distant planets, galaxies and universes. We can all fly like angels now. Actually, we wear a robe of light like them too. Distance and time are not barriers to travel like they were on the old Earth. You can be somewhere nearly as quickly as you can think about going there. It’s kind of like everywhere is connected by the presence of God.

God’s presence is something, even after a thousand years, that I cannot get enough of. Of all the places to explore and people to meet nothing comes close to my desire to know Jesus more!

I can’t wait until next Sabbath—to hear Jesus’ next sermon—and the one after that, and the one after that, and the one after that...