Heaven now or Later?

We had an interesting discussion today in Sunday school that I really had a hard time sitting still for so, I didn't. We've been discussing Max Lucado's book 3:16 about John 3:16. Last week we talked about "should not perish" and the subject of Hell. Today was "and have everlasting life" and the subject was heaven. We talked about Revelation and the physical look of heaven as described in chapter 21 and such. But I finally broke down and said to the teacher, "I've been sitting here biting at the bit because I didn't want to highjack the lesson, but I have to say"... In the book of Matthew, John the Baptist states "repent for the kingdom of heaven is near." Jesus follows up with the same claim in the same chapter. I get so frustrated with the belief the eternity starts after we die. Eternity for me started when I was born and death is just an extention of that eternity. The thought that we have to wait to experience "heaven" until we die is contrary to scripture. Heaven is not so much the place, though I think there is such a place, but rather being in the prescence of God the Father and the Son. If we take the scripture as a whole we understand that Jesus sent the Spirit to be with us NOW and that we can experience some of heaven here. Not in the full sense, of course, but we can experience the love of Christ, his power, his love and his grace in our lives. On the other hand we can also be a piece of heaven for those around us as we love them, offer grace, give forgiveness, feed them, clothe them, and give them a drink of water. Scripture tells us the sobering story of the two groups of people before Jesus. One group is allowed into heaven because they loved others, (fed, clothed etc) the other is denied. In addition to all of this take a look at the verses surrounding John 3:16. It's a great verse by itself, but can also imply that condemnation comes from not believing in Jesus. Life and light come from believing. It doesn't say "after we die" then light or life. In fact, verse 21 states that "whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God." It implies living so others can see. This post has been long enough, but there are many more verses that describe this understanding of being "Christ" to others and giving them light or heaven now. Post your comments and find some verses to add to this. Don't forget, I'm not saying there is no heaven and that this time on earth is heaven. I'm saying that we often miss the heaven that God has promised us now.