If you have ever hoped that you could see or experience aspects of heaven while on earth, then Heaven 3.0 is the book for you! Heaven has begun reigning down God's messages, glory, and revelation as every day circumstances allow people to witness God promises about heaven. Consider just two facts matched against God's promises: 1) every day in the world, over 770 people witness a glimpse of heaven through a near death experience, and 2) Millions of people around the world have switched their religious beliefs based on a heavenly dream they experienced. Documented stories like these, allow humanity to touch heaven, and see another generational cycle of truth about heaven. Heaven 3.0 allows readers to realize we are entering a 3rd generation of knowledge about the greatest place know to every person who has and will walk planet earth; and that place is called heaven. Heaven 3.0 will challenge, delight, and inform every reader about their opportunity to enter into full view of God's promises. God informs us to watch for signs and wonders in the heavens (Acts 2:19) and that the Heavens would open up and rain down righteousness (Isaiah 45:8). Heaven 3.0 allows readers to enjoy the promise of heaven, and realize that the advances of the world are not just for physical things such as technology, media, and entertainment; but also for the things that pertain to the Kingdom of Heaven. Both Heaven, as well as earth advance, and the Author of Heaven 3.0 encourages you to see and believe in the advancement, while staying connected to scriptural truth. This advancement allows anyone who is willing to 'see and believe' that the common-ground and destiny called heaven, was prepared for people of every tribe, tongue, and nation

HEAVEN 3.0

Seeing and BelievingBy Michael L. Mathews

AuthorHouse

Copyright © 2012 Michael L. Mathews
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4772-6060-9

Contents

Dedication and Special Thanks.............................................................1Foreword..................................................................................3Preface...................................................................................7Introduction: The Reflections of Heaven as Time and Knowledge Advance.....................11Unit 1: Heaven 3.0 Entrance...............................................................23Chapter 1. The Tribal Effect: Angel See Angel Do!.........................................31Chapter 2. The Door Has Been Opened; Why Not Take a Peek?.................................43Chapter 3. Coming out of the Closet: The Facts are on God's Side..........................57Chapter 4. When My Story Reflects His Story...............................................73Chapter 5. Water and Blood Have Life, Memory, and Reflection..............................85Chapter 6. Light versus Love..............................................................101Unit 2: The Principles and Keys to Seeing Heaven 3.0......................................117Chapter 7. The Law of Refraction and Reflection...........................................119Chapter 8. The Principle of Illusion of Knowledge and Time................................125Chapter 9. The Law of Reference-Point Living: The OODA Loop...............................135Chapter 10. The Principle of the Enigma Experience........................................149Chapter 11. The Principle of the Merchant and Pearl.......................................157Chapter 12. The Principle of Thanksgiving Worship.........................................167Chapter 13. The Principle of Clouds: Keeping Your Head in the Clouds......................181Chapter 14. Fearfully and Wonderfully Made................................................191Bibliography..............................................................................201

Chapter One

The Tribal Effect: Angel See Angel Do!

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. —Colossians 3:1–2

The one who follows the crowd will get no further than the crowd. The one who walks alone is likely to find himself in places no one has ever seen. —Albert Einstein

In 2006 I was taking a flight from Dallas to Minneapolis via Chicago. I was coming off a bad month of travel experiences and sensed this was about to be one more bad experience. About thirty minutes before the flight was to land in Chicago, I started talking to a passenger next to me, who was from Bulgaria. He was staring at my nice leather Bible I was using to prepare a sermon. As we approached Chicago I asked him if he had a Bible; he said no and appeared to be admiring my Bible again.

As soon as the plane started moving down the runway, it diverted to a side area of the airport and sat there for a few minutes before the pilot spoke: "This is your captain. I know we are running late, but we were informed by air traffic control to divert to a holding area on the runway while they get our gate ready."

A million thoughts ran through my mind as I looked at my watch and knew I had only twenty minutes to catch my flight to Minneapolis. At that very moment I sensed God say, Give the Bulgarian passenger your Bible! I was hesitant at first, but I asked the Bulgarian, "How would you like my Bible, seeing you don't have one?" He said, "Oh, I couldn't take such a nice Bible; it is so nice, big, and pure leather." I insisted he take it, so he eagerly took it and started fondling the leather covers and started fanning through the pages. As soon as I saw the glow on his face, the airplane started moving toward our gate, and I sensed a great sign of relief and pleasure that my nicest Bible was in the hands of a Bulgarian traveler.

Well, my excitement stopped after the plane made it about 400 yards and came to a stop. The pilot expressed again his regrets about being late. He said it was a false alarm and we had still not been cleared to proceed to the gate. At that very instant I heard a clear whisper in my spirit saying, this plane will not budge unless you share the Gospel with the Bulgarian passenger. I took a second to make sure it was God speaking as the sweat ran down my forehead. I quickly looked at the passenger and said "Let's look at John 3:16 in your new Bible." Within three minutes I had shared the Gospel, and he smiled as if he knew exactly what was happening from the very beginning. As soon as he received the Gospel message, the plane immediately raced to the gate, and I made my flight.

As I sat on my next flight I heard the whisper again. This time it was a gentle reminder that God is in charge of all my travels, and if I spend every flight and travel experience worrying about my own personal details, I will miss the blessings and responsibilities of my spiritual walk and life.

For the next six years of travel I started focusing on divine connections within the spiritual realms of life and spent less time on my travel experiences and disappointments. This experience taught me I was far too focused on earthly things and not the heavenly things, where divine connections occur. Through those years many of my colleagues would worry and say, "Mike, how come you don't remember which hotels you are at until you're getting off the flight, and why do you never know the details of your return flight?" I would simply smile and reply that I had bigger concerns than dwelling on all the physical details of my travel. Through those years my wife and kids would wonder how I made it around, but they always appreciated the stories of divine appointments.

In essence, I knew my responsibility of being a messenger as well as being ministered to by messengers was where I wanted to spend my energies during my times of travel. Many times I would sit back and laugh and rejoice as I knew I had entered a new realm of understanding and was part of God's heavenly host or heavenly tribe of travelers. It's not easy, but I would rather mimic and follow the behaviors of heavenly hosts than mimic and follow the behavior of earthly worriers.

Many of us have heard the saying "monkey see monkey do." Why is it easier for people to come down to the level of animals versus stepping up to the level of angels? Why don't we say "angel see angel do"? Before we can answer this question we need a little background information on our human desire to be part of things we can see and touch versus those we can only imagine or read about. This understanding will also help prove the point that it is always easier to see the lowest rather than the highest common denominator from a physical and spiritual perspective.

The saying "monkey see monkey do" originated in Jamaica in the early eighteenth century and popped up in American culture in the early 1920s. The saying refers to learning a process without understanding why it works. People are prone to repeat what they see or believe within their groups, including groups of athletes, coworkers, family, churches, community organizations, hobbyists, schoolmates, and so on.

A more comprehensive concept of this reality is referred to as tribal behavior or the tribal effect. The tribal effect indicates that as humans we like to be part of groups or tribes we can feel...