Where do you think you are going (or yer goin' for us rednecks at heart).?  Honest question that can be asked of most of us.  And many times the answer is.. "you can't get there from here."

This is true on many a road trip where I was lost, or took what I thought was short cut.  This is true for many a college graduate looking for a high paying job in Corporate America with a Masters degree in 'Cartoon Art History' with a minor in 'Bagpiping'. Or being mountain climber aspiring to climb Mt. Everest, but afraid to leave your home state of Nebraska.  Or taking a road trip from California to Hawaii. In all these cases and more.. the answer is .. you can't get there from here.

So based on the road I have chosen for my life.. am I going to Heaven or not?  How about you?  It matters eternally what we believe so choose the God of our Bibles.  There is no other God.

But many are Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, or simply believe in a 'higher power' and so we all believe basically the same thing, right?

I am the LORD, and there is no other, besides me there is no God; I equip you, though you do not know me, Is 45:5

Now you may argue with me that I am wrong, but this is what I believe. So the answer for me to the statement we all believe in basically the same thing is.. If you want to get to Heaven..  You can't get there from here.

So take these words for what it is worth.  I am sure I am preaching to the choir for the most part, but even us in the choir need to daily turn to God, serve Him first and foremost in our lives.. go beyond being a good person.   And for those not in the choir, I respect where you are at, but prayerfully take to heart the issue of Eternity.  It matters what you believe and where you place your faith.  Placing your faith in Jesus, and pursuing God first in your life, then with regards to eternity, and Heaven.. You CAN get there from here.

May God bless and use us all with our lives for his glory.  Amen.

​Jeff (a little bit lost sometimes) Larson

Location, location, location are the three rules of Real Estate.  I have found this true in my own life as a homeowner, and all the way to eternity.

The other week our pastor was going through a study in Nehemiah about rebuilding the wall around Jerusalem.  Not making a political statement about walls here, but my cartoonist brain pictured Nehemiah looking like a certain president who I won't name (but rhymes with BUMP) in building this wall and having Persia pay for it.

The rebuilding of this wall detailed in Nehemiah 3 included a number of gates. There was the Fish Gate, Old City Gate, Valley Gate, Fountain Gate, and <insert drum roll here>.. the DUNG Gate.

Now I can see building a home in a new development at 2003 Fountain Gate Circle, or living in a 2-story home at the end of a cul-de-sac at 156 Old City Gate Way, or a split level home on 1 acre of land at 927 Fish Gate Drive, maybe a fixer-upper at 633 Valley Gate Place, but a home address of 102 Dung Gate Rd?  I guess that is where people lived before they could live on the 'wrong side of the tracks'.

Over my almost 62 years I have lived in  a number of homes and locations, and my wife and I have now have settled into a town-home near our kids and grand-kids.  I jokingly call it our final resting place.. meaning I DON'T WANT TO MOVE NO MORE!

​I have never lived the so called 'good life' in a high status neighborhood, but God has been good and every house we have lived is blessed with good memories (and a few bad) of faith, family, and friends.

​Of course some day we all have the promise of Heaven.  

You could say Heaven is a (Pearly) gated community where all are invited, but.. only those who choose Jesus Christ may enter.  He is the ONE WAY to Heaven, not one of many ways so it matters what we believe and where we place our faith.

My prayer today is that your location in life includes Jesus Christ. It matters not to God if the location of your physical home today is a mansion or you are literally on the wrong side of the tracks. Our true home and joy should not found in the approval of man, but the approval of your Heavenly Father.

May God bless and use you greatly today even if you live at 102 Dung Gate Rd.

Jeff (Down-sized) Larson

- can't you just hear the Led Zeppelin Worship Band playing?

In Heaven is my mom with no more pain, glasses, hearing aides, diabetes, walker.  This makes me smile.

This makes me ponder my Heaven Already day. No more back pain, bi-focals, hearing aides, arthritis, or any of the many other ailments I am prone to mumble about. I think I have even been operating for a few years with my personal 'check engine light on'. 
So on my Heaven Already Day I will be..  Jeff 2.0  I can't wait for the upgrade!

Well, I cannot stop Father time.. or in my case grandfather time.  I will be 60 in 10 days, and if the calendar did not tell me that.. my body reminds me often.

I can't complain though, or rather I shouldn't complain.  I am in many ways healthier than I was even just a few years ago.  My blood pressure is very good, my weight is down 35 lbs from it's high water mark of 257, and I no longer drink alcohol (should'a figured that one out a long time ago).  Now on the flip side, I now have hearing aides, a stronger bi-focaled eye prescription, and I describe through exaggeration my spine as a shaken up can of Pringles.

I am not complaining.. I guess most would not say lovely and Hell in the same sentence, but as a cartoonist it means I was working on cartoons regarding the 'other' land down under.. WAY DOWN UNDER.  These cartoons all reside in my BP HELL page.  

So while the sun shines brightly here on a warm summer day in Minnesota I am in my office airbrushing Satan a nice a shiny red, and tidying up the road to Hell (Route 666).