Being a full time minister as well as a caregiver to a spouse who has brain cancer is no picnic. There have been many ups and downs since her first brain surgery almost three years ago. Amy had been a bright, young, attractive Brit and I went completely bonkers for her when we first met. Her wit and charm were instant attraction points and I fell in love with her instantly.

In the early days of our relationship, the topic of death did not come up much. Amy was scared of the word. I was not even allowed to speak it. This was due to the fact that the summer that we met her father was murdered. A few short months later, I introduced her to Jesus Christ. In contrast, nowadays it seems that death is a familiar face at the dinner table, in the shower, while we are out and about... it even seems to be lurking around while we sleep.

I guess when you are forced to think about death constantly, as in our case, it allows us to entertain thoughts about what happens after death as well. As Christians, do we really possess the gift of eternal life through Jesus? Do we really understand the sacrifice Christ paid for us on the cross as a ransom for our sins? Do we know-- do we really know there is more to life after this body passes away? These are important questions that demand an answer.

Jesus Christ came to this earth to give us life! Sometimes I think Christians have a skewed vision of what that life entails. A better job, finding our mate, getting good grades-- these are all important things. However, our hope has to go much deeper than that. It has to look beyond the day to day decisions we face. It has to manoeuvre beyond thousands of life experiences and dwell on a moment in time that will arrive much sooner than is expected.

The apostle John wrote a revelation of this reality in Scripture. Early Judeo-Christians were still arguing the significance of the Kingdom and what role Jerusalem would play when the Messiah finally began His reign. Before Jesus went to the cross, the disciples fantasised about overthrowing the Romans and about Jesus becoming their physical king. After Jesus' death, moral issues and doctrines of the faith took centre stage. But John paints a picture of a different sort in his book.

John speaks of a new Jerusalem: a city not built with hands. He goes on to describe, in material terms, spiritual things that cannot otherwise be expressed in words. The streets are made of gold. There is no night or pain. He declares a time and place where God's promise to make all things new comes to pass.

When pain becomes a lifestyle and sickness, a bedfellow; when materials are taken, destroyed or rationed; when the soul aches to know and be known but is hindered by a barrier of flesh; when poverty, injustice, and persecution become a standard of living, the promise of God is a beacon of hope that life is still worth living.

"Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me." -- Philippians 3:12 (NIV)