Heaven Bound: An Incredible Journey to the Perfect Destination.

By S. Tucker Yates

Heaven Bound
Getting there, some day, is the ultimate but the process and the journey can be spectacular!
How does it happen? Its not a secret.

Heaven Bound
For those who want to know.
For those who dont want to know.
For those who already know.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Oct 26, 2012
• ISBN: 9781449769895

S. Tucker Yates

Retired from business, Tucker Yates lives with his wife, Ginny, in the unique village of Blowing Rock, nestled among the glorious Blue Ridge mountains of North Carolina. Passionate about God’s Word, he has read and studied the Bible for over sixty years. Originally written for his grandchildren, this book, he hopes, will be a blessing to many.

Book preview

Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction

One: What’s So Great About Heaven?

Two: A Necessary Foundation

Three: Some Basics

Four: The Four Keys

Five: The Glory of Grace

Six: New Birth

Seven: The Veil Of The Temple

Eight: Additional Thoughts

Nine: W ho Do You Say That I Am?

Ten: A Personal Prayer

Eleven: Some Questions

Twelve: Final Thoughts

Additional Supportive Verses

Notes

About The Author

It’s with a heart full of gratitude and the realization an old man’s grandchildren are his crowning glory (Proverbs 17:6) that this book is dedicated to my seventeen extraordinary grandchildren. They range in age from twenty-five to under one, all being reared in the love and admonition of the Lord (Ephesians 6:4). The older ones are already on the journey, with the promise that those younger will follow:

Crawford Sherlock Nelson

Tucker Yates Nelson

David Sears Nelson II

Virginia Shuford Nelson

Charles Alexander Hiller

William Scott Hiller

David Shuford Hiller

Susanna Steele Hiller

Margaret Ann Yates

Elizabeth Virginia Yates

Caroline Tucker Yates

William Shuford Yates, Jr

Henry Cullum Yates

Charles Daniel Collins, Jr

John Tucker Collins

William Porter Collins

Henry Alexander Collins

O God, You have taught me from my youth; and to this day I declare your wondrous works. Now also when I am old and gray-headed, O God, do not forsake me until I declare your strength to this generation, your power to everyone who is to come. Psalm 71:17 and 18

Acknowledgments

I am so very thankful for the love and encouragement of my dear wife, Ginny, who urged me to make this little book a reality; and, on a more practical side for her much needed technical and computer assistance (and gentle critiques!).

Much gratitude to John Pope, owner of Cornerstone, the marvelous Christian bookstore in our area, for his invaluable assistance and advice in helping me get this project off the ground.

And to three of my most special Christian friends, Jim Steele, Richard Hines and Coleman Ratterree, I give my thanks not only for their willingness to read my writing but also for their very helpful comments.

My profound gratitude goes to dear friend Jan Karon who, though in the midst of writing her twenty-second book, was kind enough to glance through my manuscript. She made vital suggestions, all of which proved to be invaluable, making this a much better book.

And finally, thanks be to God.

Introduction

"It was September 27, 1974. I was in my cell, locked in for the night. Everything was quiet. The thoughts tumbled over and over in my mind – about Bruce and the changes in my life, about the huge mound of sins I continued to see in front of me when I closed my eyes, about my ghastly crimes against humanity. I even thought about that little green room, the gas chamber, where I had expected to end my life. ‘I deserved to die there,’ I whispered.

"After several minutes of silence in the dark, a new sentence formed on my lips – an entirely new spoken idea for me. ‘I want to be forgiven,’ I said, barely audibly. The thought burned into me, refusing to leave.

"Can society forgive me for such acts against humanity? Can it take this guilt off my shoulders? Can serving the rest of my life in prison undo what’s been done? Can anything be done?

"I don’t think I asked any of those questions aloud. I believe they were all in my mind. But they were plainly articulated. And the answer to each was plain: ‘No.’

"I looked once again at my future, my alternatives: Stay in prison. Escape. Commit suicide. As I looked, the wall in my mind was blank. But somehow I knew there was another alternative. I could consciously choose the road as many people, especially Bruce, had been pressing upon me. I could decide to follow Jesus.

"As plainly as the daylight came the words, ‘You have to decide.’

"I turned onto my side and tried to think. Very quietly, I slipped into the most solemn moment of my life. Everything was absolutely quiet and unrushed. It seemed that time stopped, and I knew one fact beyond all others: This was my last chance. I don’t pretend to understand the theology of it, but I knew for a certainty that, at that moment, I had the opportunity to give my life to Jesus Christ, and I would never have another opportunity.

"The moment held still. ‘Am I asleep?’ I thought. No, I was fully awake. I turned again onto my back.

" ‘Behold, I stand at the door, and knock…’ Did I hear someone say that? I don’t know. But the statement was there. All else stood still.

" ‘Okay. If you’re there, come on in.’

"Total stillness… and then: ‘All right. I’ll come in, but you must open the door.’

"This was incredible! I talked back to the voice. I assume I spoke in my thoughts, but I’m not certain. ‘What door?’

" ‘You know what door and where it is, Susan. Just turn around and open it, and I will come in.’

"Suddenly, as though on a movie screen, there in my thoughts was a door. It had a handle. I took hold of it, and pulled. It opened.

"The whitest, most brilliant light I had ever seen poured over me. I was standing in darkness, but the light pushed the darkness completely out of sight. It vanished behind me. There was only light. And in the center of the flood of brightness was an even brighter light. Vaguely, there was the form of a man. I knew it was Jesus.

"He spoke to me – literally, plainly, matter-of-factly spoke to me in my nine-by-eleven prison cell: ‘Susan, I am really here. I’m really coming into your heart to stay. Right now you are being born again and you will live with me in heaven through all eternity, forever and ever. This is really happening. This is not a dream. You are now a child of God. You are washed clean and your sins have all been forgiven.’

"I was distinctly aware that I inhaled deeply, and then, just as fully, exhaled. There was no more guilt! It was gone. Completely gone! The bitterness, too. Instantly gone! How could this be?

"For the first time in my memory I felt clean, fully clean, inside and out. In twenty-six years I had never felt so happy.

I have no idea how long I lay awake in the night. When I did slip off into unconsciousness, I slept soundly for the first time in many years, free of nightmares – unafraid and warm.¹

This is Susan Atkins’ incredible testimony from the book Child of Satan, Child of God. Some will remember her as a member of the Charles Manson family that committed what many consider one of the most horrendous crimes of the twentieth century, the Tate-LaBianca multiple murders in the rugged Benedict Canyon area of Los Angeles in 1969.

The glamorous actress and wife of movie producer Roman Polanski, Sharon Tate, pregnant at the time, was among those stabbed to death. Manson, a self-styled savior, had a satanic hold over his followers, all bound by the most serious and addictive drugs, given over certainly to demonic powers. Susan was found guilty of one count of conspiracy to commit murder and seven counts of murder in the first degree, being given the sentence of death.

Not long after, while serving on death row, she learned that the California Supreme Court had just abolished the death penalty. Her sentence was then automatically commuted to seven years to life, with the possibility of parole, the maximum state sentence at the time.

Despite 17 parole hearings Susan never regained freedom, serving 39 years in prison, the longest serving woman in the California prison system at the time of her death. She died from brain cancer in September 2009 at age 61.

Susan was the child of chronic alcoholics, abused by a male relative as a young girl. Her mother died when Susan was 16. She left home at 18, searching for some solidity in life but making poor choices. She finally wound up under the influence of Manson, thinking she had at last found herself. She was 21 at the time of the murders.

Susan Atkins’ story is powerful, surely one of the most dramatic displays of redemption in anyone’s memory. Her conversion was genuine, an extraordinary example of Jesus’ coming into a life and changing it in supernatural power.

I speak of this with great conviction, for Bob Slosser, one of my closest and dearest friends and the person who wrote her story, was a university president, journalist and author of great renown and impeccable integrity.

Bob obviously came to know her well, convinced of the reality of her conversion. She became a new person, of great worth in the eyes of the Lord, her story an example to the world of Jesus’ ability to change a life no matter how degraded.

Anyone reading this book probably would have a difficult time relating to any member of the Manson family and the morbid, grisly crimes in which they were involved. Too, few of us would require such a dramatic conversion, but surely the Lord knew He had to meet her on a level that would dramatically arrest her attention, so hideous was her sin.

Not many of us have a white, brilliant light illumine our darkness, nor do we normally hear the literal voice of Jesus, though both are entirely possible. Susan required such an experience; otherwise, she may not have accepted it as real.

Knowing of her genuine conversion some might contend she should have been set free, given the new person she had become, forgiven by God. The Bible explains it this way:

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, (s)he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new (II Cor. 5:17).

Others will argue that her crime was so severe parole should never even have been considered.

Whatever one’s opinion she was greatly used of God on His behalf right where she was, His plan for her carried out in the prison where incarcerated. Many were blessed and changed who would not have been otherwise.

It’s true that we’re all on death row. The only way out of death row is Jesus (attributed to Billy Graham). Susan never escaped death row physically, but spiritually she certainly did, soaring above the limitations that would bind her.

Let’s look briefly at another such experience, this one from the pages of the Bible and equally dramatic, similar in many ways. Not long after Jesus’ resurrection from the dead and His ascension into heaven His followers faced terrible persecution, many enduring death.

One of the most notorious and feared antagonists was Saul of Tarsus, highly educated and brilliant, thoroughly convinced he was doing God’s will. Whether he actually took anyone’s life is not known, but he certainly agreed with the stoning of Stephen, the first Christian martyr, for he was present when it happened.

While he was traveling from Jerusalem to Damascus (see the biblical account in Acts 9:1-30), intent on wiping out a cell of Christians there, this startling, overwhelming event occurred:

Suddenly a light shone around him from heaven. He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?’ And he said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ Then the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus, Whom you are persecuting…’ So Saul, trembling and astonished, said, ‘Lord, what do you want me to do?’ Then the Lord said to him, ‘Arise and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.’

The men who were accompanying him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one. They realized Saul was blind and took him into the city where he remained three days without food or drink.

God had a plan for Saul (later called Paul) as He did for Susan Atkins. A beloved Christian named Ananias was lead by God to visit Paul and through prayer restore his sight, explaining to him that he was a chosen vessel, called by God to bear My name before Gentiles, kings and the children of Israel. It soon became apparent that Paul’s question, Lord, what do you want me to do? was a serious one, straight from his heart.

His life had been changed instantly through this encounter with Jesus, as was Susan’s, and he never deviated in his commitment to follow and obey his Lord. He was Heaven Bound, and as perfect as heaven would be for him at a later date, at God’s appointment, he was now on an incredible journey.

Though you and I might not experience the high drama Susan and Paul did our lives are just as precious to God as theirs; and yes, He has an outline, a plan for everyone who turns to Him in faith, to those who entrust their lives to him.

By intention this book is entirely biblically based (please have one close by to refer to as you read). Nothing less will work. It is not intended to be a scholarly treatise, nor does it get into broad discussions of theological opinion. Quite simply it’s designed to be easily understood by anyone who reads it.

It’s purpose? That you, like Susan and Paul, might be Heaven Bound and that your journey will be as incredible as are the promises that can become yours through Jesus Christ.

One:

What’s So Great About Heaven?

Heaven Bound. Even the statement is pretty audacious, assuming there is such a place, and I can go there. The Bible says yes, to both.

Opinions, however, run the gamut.

"Heaven? It’s only a myth. When

Reviews for Heaven Bound

[annetteoc · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

It’s probably the wish of every Christian parent and grandparent to leave their descendants a spiritual legacy as well as any material one. I’ve heard of transcribed diaries, handwritten copies of the New Testament, and numerous letters composed in effort to pass on one generation’s wisdom to the next, and I admire the efforts made to do so. However, while these works might be a meaningful blessing for the original intended audience, they don’t necessarily have the same effect on the rest of us. This is what crossed my mind as I was reading Heaven Bound: An Incredible Journey to the Perfect Destination (WestBow Press, 2012) by S. Tucker Yates.As its name implies, Yates’s book is about our eternal reward. In twelve uneven chapters, he maps out this “journey” Christians make from trusting in the Bible as God’s Word to having faith in Christ to spreading the Good News to others. He emphasizes the need for repentance and the forgiveness of others, while downplaying “water baptism.” Towards the end, he discusses some of the questions that can often haunt Christians, such as whether or not we’re supposed to “feel” something different and what can we do about doubt in our lives.Despite the best of intentions, the theological content of Heaven Bound is decidedly shallow. Rather than making concise arguments that might actually impact an unbeliever and strengthen the faith of a Christian, the author resorts to statements like “brilliant people in history [have] believed the Bible” (p.12), thinking that should convince us to do so too. And when it comes to controversial topics, such as dead children going to heaven (p.71), it’s as if it never occurs to him to substantiate his claims in any way. Yates is essentially writing for an audience that already agrees with him, even if he’s suggested otherwise by inserting mid-chapter appeals to unbelieving readers.This goes in hand with his tendency to place a lot of confidence in the testimony and teachings of people he admires or has personally known over the years. He shares what he remembers from this-or-that devotional book or sermon illustration, and pads his work with pithy sayings and random quotes without taking the time to thoughtfully incorporate them into his message. And readers are supposed to blindly accept the wisdom of people like his mother and small group buddies without knowing who these people are. Proof that he made a mistake himself in trusting too readily is his decision to repeat some inane idea that Jesus invented the Greek word “agape” for love. (When I asked my husband how Yates could’ve missed all of the earlier occurrences of the word in Greek and Hellenic Jewish literature, he quipped that the author must have been trying to make a new argument for the pre-existence of Christ!)The author began writing to his grandchildren, to whom the book is dedicated, expounding on the people whose messages and stories that have inspired him over the years. The end result was a subpar manual about “how to get to heaven.” Sure, Yates might have studied the Bible for sixty-plus years and led a few people to Christ, but that doesn’t mean he’s qualified to write a comprehensive plan of salvation. He needs to get his thoughts better organized and tap into his own reservoir of experiences and unique insights that he can share with others. I still give him points for composing for his kiddies, but if he was honest with himself, I hope he’d agree that they deserved better.Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the author and/or publisher through the Speakeasy blogging book review network. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.#SpeakeasyHeavenBound