Phil Robertson Leaves An Eternity-Focused Legacy That Will Last Well Beyond Duck Dynasty’s Fame

[rebelmouse-proxy-image https://thefederalist.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Screenshot-2025-05-27-at-7.39.04 AM-e1748349631780-1200x675.png crop_info="%7B%22image%22%3A%20%22https%3A//thefederalist.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Screenshot-2025-05-27-at-7.39.04%5Cu202fAM-e1748349631780-1200x675.png%22%7D" expand=1]Life for Robertson was so much more than duck hunting in the swamp. Death for Robertson holds an even bigger promise.

Good Friday Reminds Us Death Isn’t Normal

As you gaze upon the cross of Christ today, take heart that the death we were never designed to experience has been ultimately defeated.

Why You Should Use This Lent To Think More About Hell

As much as Jesus unconditionally loves us, He is also a preacher of hell.

Beyond cloud nine: Why heaven will be better than you imagine



God has revealed to us through his Son, through the Holy Spirit, and through scripture so many reasons why we should be excited about heaven.

Let’s look at a few reasons why we have so much to look forward to.

1. Jesus will be there.

This is the best news there is. Jesus will be there. I can’t imagine what it will be like to finally see Jesus. To be able to kneel at his feet. To be able to look into his eyes and feel a love that nothing on earth has prepared us for.

I think of friends of mine who are going through very hard things right now; perhaps you are there as well — cancer, divorce, struggling to pay your bills, chronic illness. Every day must feel like a battle. But I know for sure that the moment they, the moment you, look into Jesus’ eyes, all the pain will be gone in a second.

I’ve always thought that we’d cry when we first see Jesus, but now, I wonder if it’s more likely that we’ll laugh. Will we laugh with pure, unadulterated joy until tears run down our faces because every messy piece of our lives has fallen away? We’ll be home, and we’ll be loved, and we’ll be whole, and we will join in worshiping Christ, the Lamb of God, the King of Kings forever.

2. Your citizenship is there.

Not only will you finally see Jesus, but you will also be a citizen of heaven. You’ll belong there. You’re not visiting, your heavenly passport says, you are home, this is your country.

When I first came to America, I had a green card. It allowed me to live and work permanently in the United States. Then I married Barry, and we had our son, Christian. So Barry and Christian had U.S. passports, and I had a United Kingdom passport. That was fine until we were watching a movie one day about a plane being hijacked. The hijackers separated the U.S. passport holders from the rest of the passengers and made those who were not U.S. citizens get off the plane. That’s all it took. The next morning, I began the process of becoming a U.S. citizen. No one was going to be putting me off the plane, leaving my family behind.

That illustration is far from perfect, but what I want you to know is that when you are a citizen of heaven, you belong there; no one can or ever will ask you to leave.

"But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives" (Philippians 3:20).

3. Your friends and family are there.

One of the most amazing things about being in heaven will be that we’ll experience the greatest reunions we’ve ever known. We’ll get to see friends and family who have trusted in Jesus and who’ve gone before us — and not as they were but as they are without any pain or sorrow, without anxiety or depression or any kind of sickness. There will be no fear or comparison, just overwhelming gratitude that we are finally home.

I have a photo I treasure of four generations of women: my great-grandmother, my grandmother, my mum, and my sister and me. My mum told me that my great-grandmother, who died when I was a baby, was the godliest woman she ever knew. She never once in her life heard her say an unkind word about anyone. Her response to difficult people was always, “We don’t know what they might be going through.” I can’t wait to see her in heaven. I want to thank her for the life she lived, for the faith that carried her through the years, for all that she poured into my grandmother and how that legacy was passed down to my mum, then to my sister and me.

I think of those of you who are lonely, who have lost a husband or a wife, a parent or a sibling — that is a hard weight to carry. When the loss is sudden, there’s no time to prepare, no time to say the things you wanted to say.

Our great hope, however, is that we will be together again.

I think of moms and dads who have lost children. That has to be the greatest heartache of all. I can’t imagine that kind of pain. I have watched friends walk through this devastating loss. It is as if a part of them has been ripped out of their body, and it’s hard to even take a breath again. One of my friends who has lost two sons told me that when the pain is the freshest, words should be the fewest. At times like these, all we can give each other is the gift of our presence and our love.

The reunions that will take place in heaven between moms and dads and the children who have gone ahead of them must surely be the sweetest of all. You will see your little one again.

4. Your spiritual heroes are there.

Not only will we be reunited with those we love who died before us, but we’ll finally get to meet those we’ve read about, those whose lives have inspired and encouraged us.

Can you imagine what it will be like to sit down with Moses, Elijah, Abraham, David, or Mary the mother of Jesus and simply know them as our brothers and sisters? I think it will be wonderful to chat with C.S. Lewis or Tolkien, with Amy Carmichael or Charles Spurgeon. I think I’m most looking forward to talking with John, the beloved disciple. I love the way he understood that Jesus loved him; it’s sprinkled all through his Gospel account. He refers to himself in John 21:7 as “the disciple Jesus loved.” Think of all the people who have shaped your life, those in scripture and those whose books you’ve read or stories you’ve heard.

I think the greatest thing will be a vision correction, a fine-tuning of our focus. We tend to put certain people on pedestals and think that somehow they are spiritually superior to us, and while it’s fine to be encouraged by a brother or sister, there will be one hero and one hero alone in heaven, and his name is Jesus!

5. Peace and joy are finally yours forever.

I remember a day when I was still a little girl sitting on a towel on the beach beside my mum. It was an unusually warm spring day for Scotland. There was no wind, and the sea was like glass. The sky was periwinkle blue, and we could see across the water to the Isle of Arran. There was still a touch of snow on the peak of Goatfell, its tallest mountain. It was a perfect day. I asked my mum, “Do you think this is what heaven will be like?”

“This and so much more,” she said.

This and so much more. That’s what heaven will be like. This and so much more.

The peace you’ve hoped for.

The joy you’ve prayed for.

The rest that you are weary for, as all disappointment is gone forever. This and so much more.

This essay was adapted from "The Hope of Heaven" by Sheila Walsh ©2024. Used by permission of Baker Books, a division of Baker Publishing Group.

During The Total Solar Eclipse, Consider The Heavens

You can take time away from the chaos of daily life and absorb the majesty of it all, if only briefly.

Hozier’s ‘Inferno’-Inspired EP Goes Through Hell And Back But Still Rejects Redemption

[rebelmouse-proxy-image https://thefederalist.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Screenshot-2024-04-03-at-8.23.28 PM-1200x675.png crop_info="%7B%22image%22%3A%20%22https%3A//thefederalist.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Screenshot-2024-04-03-at-8.23.28%5Cu202fPM-1200x675.png%22%7D" expand=1]Even after rising from terrible experiences, Hozier admits he won't reject the sins that led him through hell in the first place.

Bad News In The World Reminds Us We Still Await A Second Advent

Because of the future Advent we long for, we are not just free but emboldened with confidence, even commanded, to engage the present.

Distillery 'disheartened' that its Rittenhouse Straight Rye Whiskey being used to 'celebrate' not-guilty verdict — and Twitter crushes 'virtue signaling' company



Not surprisingly, a number of leftists were triggered after a jury agreed that Kyle Rittenhouse acted in self-defense when he fatally shot a pair of adult males who attacked him — and blew off the bicep of a third adult male who pointed a gun at the teenager's head — amid rioting in Kenosha, Wisconsin, in August 2020.

However, plenty of others were relieved by the not-guilty verdict and celebrated the fact that justice was done.

But take note: If you've raised a glass in tribute to the exonerated defendant, let the record show that one particular distillery really hopes it wasn't done with its Rittenhouse Straight Rye Whiskey.

Say what?

Seems that Heaven Hill Brands of Bardstown, Kentucky, got word that some revelers have been using its spirit, which happens to share Kyle's surname, to celebrate his not-guilty verdict. And Heaven Hill not only wants it to be known that there's "no connection" between Rittenhouse Straight Rye Whiskey and the court case, but also that the outcome is "no cause for celebration."

"We have been disheartened to learn that some individuals and businesses have been using our Rittenhouse Straight Rye Whiskey brand to celebrate the Kyle Rittenhouse case verdict, despite the profound loss of life from those events," Heaven Hill tweeted.

 
1/3 We have been disheartened to learn that some individuals and businesses have been using our Rittenhouse Straight Rye Whiskey brand to celebrate the Kyle Rittenhouse case verdict, despite the profound loss of life from those events.
— Heaven Hill Brands (@Heaven Hill Brands) 1637523138 
 

The company added: "There is no link between our Rittenhouse Rye brand, which was started post-prohibition to commemorate Rittenhouse Square, and this case. It is our strongly held belief that in serious matters such as this, where lives were lost and people deeply affected, there is no cause for celebration, but instead deep reflection on how we can make the world a more peaceful and respectful place for all."

 
3/3 there is no cause for celebration, but instead deep reflection on how we can make the world a more peaceful and respectful place for all.
— Heaven Hill Brands (@Heaven Hill Brands) 1637523166 
 

How did folks react?

As you might guess, many commenters took Heaven Hill to task for unnecessary hand-wringing and "virtue signaling":

  • "I'll celebrate a verdict that reaffirms the American right to self defense all I want with or without your brand," one commenter replied. "The loss of life was caused by the actions of the attackers, not Kyle. This is not a partisan issue, the kid is not a conservative, he was just protecting his town."
  • "Never heard of you until this statement," another user noted. "A boy was arrested, charged, became a man, and tried by a jury of his peers. The jury found him not guilty. That is cause for celebration. As you have requested, I will scratch your brands off of my shopping list."
  • "And I’m on the board for a nice group of restaurants in Tennessee that spent over $175,000 on your products last year, and we are done doing business now," another commenter declared. "Go woke, go broke."
  • "Quit virtue signaling," another user wrote. "I doubt anyone cared whether or not there was a link. They just had the name Rittenhouse on the label and that was enough. This all would have blown over in a few days."
  • "Get ready for a marked decline in all Heaven Hill brands at the largest liquor store in southern Maryland. I can and will make that happen," another commenter warned. "Should have stuck to whiskey. There was no reason to insert yourself into this debate. Enjoy your virtue signaling."

But this quippy response — in reference to convicted chid sexual abuser Joseph Rosenbaum, one of the attackers Rittenhouse shot dead — could just be the outright winner: "Maybe you folks can create a pedophilia line of 8-year-old scotch and call it Rosenbaum to offset your feelings."

A Requiem For The Dancing Grannies

In reading about those who died at the Waukesha Christmas parade, it’s clear that their enjoyment in dancing at parades came from something deeper and far more serious.