We're back with Randy Alcorn, an expert on what the Bible says about heaven. Randy, thanks for joining us. So here's a question near to my heart. Will there be baseball in heaven? In other words, we know that there will be play in heaven. Isaiah 11, 8 and Zechariah 8, 5 seem to indicate this in scripture.

But will competitive sports carry over from this world? Things like baseball and basketball and golf. We know we're speculating on this, but I believe there's every reason to expect there would be. There's continuity. If we go back and we say, what will not, instead of asking the question, what will there be on the new earth that will be the same as on the old earth, we should kind of turn it around.

What would we expect to be different? Well, we know there won't be sin. The new earth in which righteousness dwells, 2 Peter 3, 13. I mean, we know that for sure. So there won't be sin. So I actually had a pastor tell me, who was disagreeing with my comment that I would expect there to be sports on the new earth.

Now when we say sports in heaven, you know, there's the present heaven and the non, the pre-resurrection heaven. So I'm not, not even talking about that. I'm talking about the eternal heavens after the resurrection that will actually be centered on the new earth and new heavens, new earth, a physical realm.

And he said, well, yeah, but there couldn't be sports because sports bring out the worst in us. Sports make us sin. I said, well, first of all, sports don't make us sin, but certainly I know what you're talking about. I coached high school tennis for many years and I have seen guys at their worst, but also I have seen them at their best in sports.

And he also said, well, yeah, but we can't have anybody lose ever in a game in heaven. I'm thinking, well, why not? Why could we never lose? It's okay to lose. It's okay to have a competition and not have it all be about you. And I even use the illustration of when I play tennis with my guys that I'm coaching, I would want them to develop to the point where they were finally able to beat me.

And I celebrated with them, trying as hard as I could to win, but celebrated with them when they did beat me. And this is, I think, is an example of even in this life, we can have vested interests in someone else's success, but certainly on the new earth, sin won't be there.

As Paul Helm says, we will not sin. We won't want to sin. We won't want to want to sin. And so that just won't be part of our world. So I would say, where did sports come from? Who gave us the ingenuity to even create them as human beings?

Clearly it's from God. We are made in his image. Satan did not come up with the idea of sports. Interesting. So to lose does not mean one has sinned or been sinned against. That's helpful. Thank you for that, Randy. I can't wait to see what my glorified fastball looks like.

But for more on this and so many other topics, see Randy's bestselling book simply titled Heaven. Also check out Randy's ministry, Eternal Perspective Ministries online at epm.org. And speaking of heaven, will we travel in heaven? As in will we travel to see other cities and will we travel in space?

We'll ask Randy that tomorrow. I'm your host, Tony Reinke. Thanks for listening to the Ask Pastor John podcast. 1. What is heaven? It's a place where you can find answers. It's a place where you can find answers. It's a place where you can find answers. It's a place where you can find answers.

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