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Bringing Heaven Down To Earth
Connecting This Life to the Next
by Nathan L.K. Bierma

Chapter 7
Thinking ‘Big’: Connecting Heavenly Hope To Daily Life

• Synopsis
• Discussion Questions
• Quotation Citations
• Further Reading

Synopsis
To make this heavenly picture a reality in our daily lives, we need to redefine the meaning of “gospel,” or “good news” of God’s intervention in a broken world. Believing the gospel means more than accepting Christ into one’s heart and then hunting for other converts; it is a way of life that actively anticipates the restoration of the whole of nature and culture. It means living with a bigger picture, or worldview, in mind, working for the shalom of the city in which we are exiled, while longing for full restoration of eternal heaven.

Discussion Questions
• What is the difference between a "small gospel" and a "big gospel"?
• What are the "three legs" on which the "big gospel" stands? What does it mean to believe and live out a "big gospel" in these three ways?
• Why does this chapter say that you don't have a choice of whether or not to have a worldview?
• How are we tempted to reduce our understanding of what our work is for? How does this chapter call us to reconsider how we understand both work and rest?

Quotation Citations
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Further Reading

Adams, Scott. The Dilbert Principle: A Cubicle's-Eye View of Bosses, Meetings, Management Fads & Other Workplace Afflictions. Collins, 1997. A.

Bierma, Nathan. "Why Atheism is a Faith." In "Sure of What We Hope For: Essays on Belief," unpublished essay collection accessible at www.nbierma.com/writing/belief.

Mouw, Richard on Abraham Kuyper in Calvinism in the Las Vegas Airport : Making Connections in Today's World. Zondervan, 2004.

Naugle, David. Worldview: The History of a Concept. Eerdmans, 2002.

Schultze, Quentin. Here I Am: Now What On Earth Should I Be Doing?. Baker Books, 2005.

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