As our culture becomes more secularized and hostile to the Christian faith, it's easy for us to believe that we are the first generation to face this kind of world. However, church history shows us that this is not the case. People such as Augustine, the Puritans, and many others faced cultural collapse, persecution, and various events that threatened to shake their faith in the Lord. In each case, they turned to Scripture to be reminded of our heavenly citizenship.

Today, the church must recover its understanding of pilgrimage, the notion that we are citizens not of this world but of the world to come. By doing this, we will be strengthened to stand firm in the faith as we join with the saints of all ages (Heb. 11:13-16). With them, we will look for a "heavenly country" that is the final destination of all Christians. We will also be equipped to reach those who see that this world cannot provide lasting satisfaction.

At our 2015 Regional Conference Pilgrims in Progress in the San Francisco Bay area, Drs. W. Robert Godfrey and Derek Thomas joined us to talk about what our heavenly citizenship means for our earthly pilgrimage, our pursuit of truth, and our future hope, among other topics.