HEAVEN IS A WONDERFUL PLACE - Cindy M. Selke (August 23, 2025)

Sitting in my elementary school desk with the space for books and supplies above my lap and the metal rack under the seat for more storage, I recall discovering the gift of writing. The smell of old textbooks and chalk dust was the backdrop for the creativity about to burst forth. And the comments written in red ink beside my literary composition by a caring school teacher stirred what would become a lifelong desire to express myself through writing.

The first significant piece I remember working on was a short story on “Heaven” and I don’t remember how I came upon that topic. Had someone died recently? Was it chosen randomly from a list of suggested subjects? But once the idea was conceived, I took off with a rudimentary concept of the afterlife and my imagination.

I hadn’t read the Bible and didn’t have any theological understanding of heaven; I just had a desire for paradise. An escape? A home? A longing for peace and love and acceptance? I understand myself a little better now as I look back 45 years to the life experience of a 13-year old girl growing up on the prairies of Saskatchewan. Heaven seemed like a place I wanted to be sure of ending up eventually. So I created in my composition all the “best things” I could think of and put them together into a dream-like experience. On paper.

Now at the age of 58, still living in southern Saskatchewan, I am much closer to actually arriving at my heavenly home! Greying hair, wrinkles around the eyes, a granddaughter that I adore, all prove that I am not that young, idealistic and ambitious girl anymore. As God has seen fit to draw me into a relationship with Himself and open up the Scriptures to my finite - but spiritually renewed comprehension, I want to write what I have learned about that wonderful place called HEAVEN.

Revelation 21:1-5 is a reasonable place to start. The description of the eternal home of the saints was given to John, the Apostle, who was exiled to the Island of Patmos for following Jesus Christ. John received these images and words through visions given by Jesus Christ Himself through an angelic messenger (Revelation 1:1 & 9). He was also the author of the Gospel of John and the three letters entitled 1, 2 and 3 John of the New Testament. We can trust His authorship as the early church leaders approved and included these writings in the canon of Scripture.

Verse 1: “Then I saw a ‘new heaven and a new earth,’ for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away…” John saw a new heaven and a new earth. The implication is that somehow the original created heaven and earth was gone, destroyed, disappeared. A new reality replaced the old. As Dr. Voddie Bauchum taught in a YouTube sermon, the new doesn’t mean “better or improved” but is the best, supreme, incomparable. The old had to go because of the stains and decay of sin. The heaven and the earth that God created out of nothing was beyond fixing up, repairing or patching somehow. Just as humanity needs a full replacement of heart, so nature, the universe needs to be made new, brand new.

And how could this depraved world be made new? One of the foundational influences that had to be dealt with was the devil, Satan, the deceiver. In Revelation 20:10, John wrote these futuristic words: :And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever.”

But how did God finally end the tyrannical reign of the devil? Backing up sixty years or so before the giving of Revelation, our Lord Jesus Christ died on a Roman cross. His death signalled the fulfillment of the Old Covenant between God and the Jewish nation. Yearly, the sacrifice of the Passover lamb pointed to a once and for all Lamb who would take away the sins of the whole world! In Hebrews 9:12 Jesus served as both the priest offering the sacrifice for sin, and as the sacrifice, the Lamb. “He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but He entered the Most Holy Place once for all by His own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption.” The perfect and sinless Man, Jesus, fully satisfied all that God required to pay the price for sin - the sin of humanity all the way from Adam and Eve until the last person born on earth.

Not only that, but Jesus’ death on that cross, and His resurrection three days later, sealed Satan’s fate. He no longer owns nor controls the heavens and the earth. Revelation 1:18 declares, “I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.” One of Satan’s titles is “prince of the power of the air” - after he had been cast out of heaven for leading the rebellion of many angelic beings against the Lord God Almighty. (Isaiah 14:12-15 and Ephesians 2:2) Satan had been allowed to exist and operate on the earth, in the spiritual and unseen realm of the “air.” But Jesus died, descended to the depths and retrieved the keys to death and Hades (hell). Forty days after Jesus rose from the dead, He ascended in the clouds to His place at the right hand of the Father. We see that Jesus reigns as the King…well, His final act is yet to come to take His rightful place as King of kings and Lord of lords.

Which is what John the Revelator continues to record in Revelation 21. Let’s look at verse 2. “I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.” Who is the bride? Why the reference to Jerusalem? What does that have to do with heaven and Jesus?

The city of Jerusalem is prominent in the covenant of God and the Jewish people. Many prophesies yet to be completed involve Israel, Jerusalem and the Hebrew people. It is more than politics or religion. This is God’s promises that He will prove good for throughout history. He promised His dwelling in the Temple of Jerusalem, to be present among His people. Now that promise extends beyond the nation of Israel and those of Hebrew lineage, but all the peoples of the earth have been invited to join in the spiritual vine through Abraham, Moses, David and the fulfillment, Jesus of Nazareth. “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” The term “world” is from the Greek, “ethnos”, which refers to nations or peoples, not exclusively the nation of Israel. The work of Jesus’ death on the cross is effective and available to all who believe. This forgiveness and redemption comes by faith in Christ alone. “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith…” Ephesians 2:8a

Back to the bride and the Holy City…

God promised to dwell on earth through the Temple located in Jerusalem. Now John records the vision of a new Jerusalem - His bride. We know from references in Ephesians 5 and other statements in the book of Revelation, that the Bride is the Church, those who follow Jesus Christ by faith and are called saints. We collectively are known as Christians, Christ-followers and Jesus is the Bridegroom, coming back to take us home.

Home. Heaven. We all as believers in Christ are the betrothed Bride, having been promised to Jesus as our groom but not having been taken to our home with Him yet. We are preparing, being prepared by the Holy Spirit, to join with Christ. There is even a wedding supper being planned and prepared: “Then the angel said to me, ‘Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!’” (Revelation 19:9)

What a day that will be! The Bride in all her glory, having been made beautiful and perfect by the Blood of Jesus. And the banquet! Our North American weddings cannot hold a candle to the Jewish traditions of week long celebrations. The celebration of God’s Son and His Church being joined forever in eternity will be grander and more glorious than we can fathom!

“Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people…” (Revelation 21:3 b) That place is described further in chapter 21 and 22. But the thing that John records in these first five verses of chapter 21 are that “He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” The significant quality or notable point of heaven is that we will be comforted from all our sorrows and no longer have to deal with death, mourning, crying or pain. With no sin, no evil influences upon us, we will have perfect peace and joy. The “old order” refers to the laws of sin and death. They are gone.

Verse 5 is packed with truths that we can hold on to and fully believe. “He who was seated on the throne said, ‘I am making everything new!’ Then He said, ‘Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.’” God himself affirms from His place of authority and power, the throne. He says to write the words down because they are His words, fully trustworthy and true. God cannot lie (Titus 1:2). So when God declares He is making everything new, that includes you and me, the heavens and the earth.

My simple, imagined vision of heaven as a grade school student pales in comparison to the Biblical descriptions. I wrote about angels, clouds, light, a lovely bedroom all my own decorated as a teenaged girl in the 1970’s might envision. I can’t wait for the wonderful mansion God is preparing for me - for all of us - to delight us with pure joy and pleasure and freedom in His everlasting home. His presence will be the absolute delight of our souls!

Heaven is a wonderful place

Filled with glory and grace.

I want to see my Saviour’s face,

Heaven is a wonderful place.

(unknown)

 "A change is as good as a rest."  (anonymous)

Our second full week of camp was a change of pace:  Walter stepped out of his maintenance role and I handed over the kitchen duties.  Instead, Walter became the camp speaker, speaking ten times in five days.  He had prepared five lessons at home and hoped to finish his preparations once at Big River.  We were so busy once we arrived that there was little time to spend in Bible study. The theme Walter chose was to do an overview of the whole Bible, leading up to the death and resurrection of Christ.  A tall order!

I was to lead the worship sessions during the chapel times, choosing three or four songs each session.  I tried to carry over some of the songs Caylea and Campbell (who led worship in the evening chapels and at campfire) had done.  Some of the favourites during the Junior teen camp were:  My Lighthouse, My Redeemer Lives, Awesome God, Glorious Day and How Great is Our God!  I usually had Caylea at the keyboard, Eric on bass guitar and Kervans, a cabin leader from Saskatoon area, on "Cahone" and we sounded pretty good! A Nigerian man played on drums (Daniel?).  I truly enjoyed seeing the kids begin to learn the songs, get into the actions and begin to worship.

The warfare definitely ramped up as Walter and I approach every ministry opportunity very intentionally.  Walter wanted to teach and proclaim the Gospel, giving the foundation for many young people who may not know much about the Bible and why Jesus had to die on the cross.  Each night, we prayed together in our room and every morning, we joined in the staff meeting to pray.  Knowing these kids were often from difficult family situations and did not have consistent Christian input and Bible teaching meant we felt a serious responsibility to feed them truth that would carry them for months or even a year until they returned to the Bible camp!  

How did that warfare show up in real life?  We got sore throats.  Every evening I'd have tea with honey and try to preserve my voice.  And by God's grace I would open my mouth as I stood in front of the microphone and 60+ campers and cabin leaders and songs came out.  There were also some challenging behaviours and relational dynamics in the cabins.  Some kids wanted to go home after the first day!  Eric handled the fights, homesickness and other issues with calmness and kindness.  And we would pray with whoever was handy when the issues arose.  That's our best weapon!

Although at first I missed being in the kitchen and having the satisfaction of preparing and serving three meals a day, plus night snack, it was nice to focus on music and worship.  Walter and I love to minister together, me leading worship and Walter preaching.  We make a good team!

Caylea also assigned us to help her with Tuck at 3 pm each afternoon. Walter took the boys' line up and I took the girls; we crossed off the names of each of our "customers" so they wouldn't double-dip for their daily treats.  This way we did get to know the names, faces and even snack favourites  of each camper.  

Zayne - a small boy from the Big River area, who loved collecting clams during swim time.  He wanted to keep a bucket of them in his cabin and I tried to dissuade him.  He sat in the front row of chapel with his cabin-mates, often commenting on Walter's messages when we thought he wasn't paying attention.

Jake - a tall boy from a community about an hour from the camp, who carried sticks around.  From lovely small pieces of driftwood to long branches that the wind had broken off the trees, Jake gathered quite a collection.  He gave Walter his favourite stick at the end of camp so Walter would always remember him.

Danielle - at the end of chapel one day, she wanted to talk with Walter and her cabin leader brought her over to where we were still sitting when the others had been dismissed.  She lived on a First Nation nearby, and had been to camp once or twice in past years.  With amazing articulation, Danielle expressed her concern about forgiveness.  She believed God would forgive her but she felt she couldn't forgive herself.  My heart broke as I wondered what shame she was carrying and the lies the enemy was feeding her that she was somehow so stained she couldn't forgive herself.  Walter and I listened to her, and Walter counseled her from the Word of God.  She never shared her specific burden but we prayed for her and tearfully she joined her cabin for the next event.  The next evening at campfire, she stood up and shared that she had asked Jesus into her life!  Her smile was bright and she came and gave Walter a hug and thanked him for helping her come to the Lord.  

J., S. and A. - three sisters who were brought to camp by a social worker. They were living in with relatives in a nearby city, separated from their other sister and a younger brother.  The girls were put in a cabin together but their arguments and anger issues began to spill over.  One lunch hour, S. bumped into J., a plate fell and broke and tempers flared.  Eric jumped in to settle one sister; the nurse Juliana, grabbed a broom and began to sweep up the shards.  Finally J. left the dining hall and S. shrugged and continued on to get her food. By the final campfire, two of the three sisters gave testimony that they accepted Christ in their lives.  They were smiling, singing, and hugging one another.  Their fights had made them realize they needed to change or it would end badly.  God did a miracle!

Sh. - one young lady who came with others to say Bible memory verses to me (and I'd reward them with candy).  When the other campers drifted off to swim or play at the playground, Sh. sat at the picnic table across from me and began to share her story.  She had been raped at age 12 and had an abortion.  Her life had been a series of trauma, foster homes and too much sadness for such a young girl.  I listened, asked if she had support and someone to talk to.  She was evasive and I didn't want to pry.  I asked what else she would be doing this summer and it seemed that camp was her only opportunity to get out of a situation where she looked after the younger children in the home.  I was so thankful when Sh. gave her heart to Jesus at the last cabin devotional time.

So many lives, so many precious souls!  The sleepless nights, desperate prayers and extra efforts to teach, lead worship and engage in conversations were worth it to see over 20 junior teens give their hearts to follow Jesus Christ.  The comment was that they hadn't seen this kind of response to the Gospel in a few years at BRBC.  Only the Lord could do that.

By Friday afternoon, we were exhausted, but in a good way.  We helped unload the groceries and I got my mind into the head cook mode once again.  Then we hopped on our quad and rode around the camp property across the road.  The fresh air and change of scenery was rejuvenating.  We went into town for supper at Third & Main, then came back to relax.  

Saturday, I had again volunteered to warm up leftovers for the weekend staff.  I found a couple of cookie recipes and baked several dozen for Sunday night's snack.  I wanted to get a headstart on Week 3.  I think we also watched the Roughrider football game Saturday afternoon that had been delayed from Friday night due to the smoke from the northern forest fires.  (We also had smoke around our camp and one evening the kids had to come inside the chapel for their campfire songs and sharing time.)  Five young people from Pine Ridge Bible Camp (near Beauval, SK), came to BRBC as the fires caused the camp and surrounding communities to be evacuated.  We gained a couple extra staff for the following week but it was sad that our gain was Pine Ridge's loss.

Sunday, we went to church in town.  Walter had been asked to preach and I sang a song with Faith, one of the local young ladies who served at camp.  We sang "Jesus, Thank You", a song we did in chapel at camp.  It was great to be encouraged by the family of God as they prayed for all of us serving this summer.  And by 2 pm, we were gearing up for Week 3 - Kids Camp! 

 

 How does one describe the experience of Bible Camp?  Is it a job, a volunteer opportunity, an adventure or a series of calamities and miracles that God somehow directs by His sovereignty?

YES!  It is all of the above. 

Our first week at Big River Bible Camp was Teen Week.  Years ago the camp would start with the youngest age group and end the season with the teens.  But the former leaders/directors found the staff would be worn out by the time Teen Week happened and they were either sick, tired or both!  So they hold Teen Week first; the staff are fresh for the late nights and high energy needed.  The last two weeks are the youngest age group (ages 8-12) and the schedule has an earlier bedtime and an activity known as FOBIC.  This stands for Flat On Back In Cabin - nap time!  Another reason they have Teen Week first is that many of those teenage campers come back to serve as Leaders in Training (LIT's) and help with dishes, cleaning and games with the campers.  This training is also a practical program for discipleship/mentorship of the teens that make decisions to follow Jesus.  

Being head cook for Teen Week proved to be a challenge.  Even with notebooks and helpful hints to prepare meals, there are always questions about how much to cook, how many leftovers to freeze or re-invent for the week.  I made a few boo-boos, like forgetting a roaster full of spaghetti in the oven overnight (it got recycled into The Amazing Race game!)  Some of our toast turned out too dry so it got repurposed into croutons for Caesar salad!  I overestimated the amount of rice for one meal; it showed up as rice pudding the next supper. You get the picture!

My team in the kitchen was wonderful.  Two of the women were friends of ours from Regina/Saskatoon areas.  I appreciated their energy and support and advice.  One fellow was a volunteer from Edmonton who had cooked at a homeless shelter and as a baker so his height, strength and expertise was much-appreciated.  Another woman - whose husband was the speaker for Teen Camp - volunteered in the kitchen and quietly and cheerfully helped wherever needed.

Each morning, one of our kitchen crew went to the 8 am staff meeting with the other camp directors and cabin leaders.  The rest of us would get breakfast started.  Later in the day, we would take a break and the person who was at the meeting would share the gist of the morning devotional and any announcements and prayer requests.  This really proved to keep us in the know of the schedule and how to pray. 

The teens did their own dishes and cleaned bathrooms for Teen Week and so we got to interact with some of these campers.  As we helped coach them in the dish pit and showed them where the clean dishes, pots and pans belonged in the kitchen, we got to know them a bit.  Some had lots of energy and were teachable; some had little experience with work and needed lots of encouragement and reminders. Investing in their practical skills is part of the overall discipling and teaching at Bible Camp.

No one camper stands out from that week...but several of the staff and interns were on my heart.  I got to see them in their behind-the-scenes roles; I looked for opportunities to affirm them.  Telling them "good job" and writing a couple of encouragement cards was one of my other ministries besides cooking.

A third role I had was fill-in worship leader.  Caylea got a nasty cold and I filled in leading the morning chapel worship songs.  I threw off my apron and strapped on my guitar.  "My Redeemer Lives" and "Glorious Day" became very familiar to me and seemed to be favourites among the teenagers.  Then I'd run back up to the kitchen to carry on preparations for lunch. I felt stretched but it was amazing how God gives new strength.  Every. single. day.

Friday lunch of hot dogs, chips and watermelon was simple to cook and easy to clean up.  After the campers left, we all had extra cleaning duties.  I organized the leftovers for either the freezer or for meals on the weekend.  Rearranging the cupboards was another chore was to get the kitchen ready for the next week's cooking crew.  And then the clock struck 2 pm...the grocery delivery arrived!

For the next 15 minutes, all hands were on deck to unload and put away the food order.  The shelves in the cooler, freezer and pantry were overflowing and I was so grateful for the provision of God for another week of camp.

The last thing I did was mop the floor before calling it a wrap.  Walter and I went for supper with Caylea and Eric.  It was nice to relax a bit, take a walk by the dock along Cowan Lake and debrief.  We called it an early night.  

Saturday I volunteered to warm up leftovers for the staff who stayed for the weekend.  I made a homemade soup with some leftovers and some Pilsbury biscuits.  Supper was leftover smokies and pasta and salad.  

Sunday morning we drove a couple of the junior staff to church and it was good to just sit back and receive.  We knew a challenging week lay ahead of us and we needed all our energy and clear mindedness.  The next installment will be about that exciting adventure of Junior Teen week...