Preparing for the New Creation
The Resurrection changes how we think about aging, the afterlife, and pastoral leadership.
In “The Changes to Come,” Dallas Willard sketches a startling vision: aging isn’t decline but preparation, death isn’t isolation but passage, and eternity isn’t boredom but creative partnership with God across a vast universe. It’s a daring glimpse of the life believers are being trained for now. (v)
In his sweeping resurrection study, N. T. Wright dismantles the cliché of “going to heaven when you die.” The real Christian hope, he argues, is bodily resurrection and new creation. That vision reshapes spiritual formation: disciples aren’t escaping earth but training now to live resurrection life in God’s coming world.
Leadership looks different when the tomb is empty. In this provocative pastoral list, the Center for Preaching and Pastoral Leadership argues the resurrection gives Christian leaders audacious courage—risk-taking mission, hope for dying churches, confidence in Scripture, and defiance against despair. If death is the loser, ministry’s darkest moments aren’t the final chapter.
