Head-dibs

Have you read Rob Bell's book "Love Wins?" Do you agree with his conclusion?  What is your response to Rob Bell, personally?  Would you happen to have William Barclay's commentaries on your shelf?  Are you still are a C.S. Lewis fan? "I am a convinced universalist. I believe that in the end all men will be gathered into the love of God . . ."  (Barclay, William.  William Barclay: A Spiritual Autobiography . Eerdmans: Grand Rapids, 1977. Note pages 65-67). "There are people in other religions who are being led by God's secret influence to concentrate on those parts of their religion which are in agreement with Christianity, and who thus belong to Christ without knowing it . . . . For example a Buddhist of good will may be led to concentrate more and more on the Buddhist teaching about mercy and to leave in the background (though he might still say he believed) the Buddhist teaching on certain points. Many of the good Pagans long before Chri...

The existence of hell and the surety of the judgment are not the claims of fallible man. The Bible is the source of the claim, and it is utterly infallible. When someone becomes a Christian, he is admitting that he was in the wrong, and that God is justified in His declarations that we have sinned against Him. However, let’s surmise for a moment that there is no Judgment Day and no hell. That would mean that the Bible is a huge hoax, in which more than forty authors collaborated (over a period of 3,000 years) to produce a document revealing God’s character as "just." They portrayed Him as a just judge, who warned that He would eventually punish murderers, rapists, liars, thieves, adulterers, etc. Each of those writers (who professed to be godly) therefore bore false witness, transgressing the very commandments they claimed to be true. It would mean that Jesus Christ was a liar, and that all the claims He made about the reality of judgment were there-fore false. It would a...

Is Belief in Jesus Necessary ? Ronald Nash explores the dangers of Inclusivism. "The inclusivist view that those who have never heard the gospel will be saved has a serious, negative effect on Christian missions. In light of these and other problems, inclusivism should not be considered an acceptable option for Christians." David Wilkerson answers the question, " Hell: What is it Like ?" Former Redskins coach, NASCAR team owner talks at prison, then school . Joe Gibbs, who won three Super Bowl championships as coach of the Washington Redskins and three NASCAR titles as a team owner, spoke to inmates at the S.C. Department of Corrections and later a luncheon at Columbia International University about his testimony, “Life is Game.” If any gospel has God’s saving mission to the ends of the earth within its purview it is the Gospel of Luke. Registration for Summer Studies at Columbia International University open April 1!  Register for Atlanta courses here .

How Can There Be Both Mercy and A Hell? The distinction between a game and a puzzle is that while a game produces winners and losers, puzzles are centered on a solution. C.S. Lewis debates the doctrine of universalism (“all will be saved”) along the same lines of this distinction: is personal eschatology to be regarded as a puzzle or a game? If a game, then why is the winner detestable? If a puzzle, then why the doctrine at all? Which is more tolerable: dismiss the doctrine of hell because it is disagreeable; or, allow the wicked person to enter heaven against his will and remain as he is? Does God send people to hell, or is it their sin? This is the difference between world religions and biblical doctrine. Hell is inflicted because men prefer darkness to light. Hell is not a sentence, but a fact of being. Punishment is just because righteousness, not vindictiveness, stands behind it. A man satisfied with evil will not be satisfied with righteousness. “Pain plants the flag o...

E.M. Bounds' classic book, "Necessity of Prayer" is available as an audio book ! When I look at these , I can't help but wonder if I did not see one in a Doctor Who episode. Great Balls of Fire . . . Again. On Jupiter . Again. Speaking of fire, Sinclair Ferguson answers the question, " What Then Shall We Preach On Hell ?" NPR wonders: " Is Belief in God Evolutionarily Advantageous ?" The Zwemer Center for Muslim Studies has posted their latest newsletter .

There are programs today that allow teenagers to experience prison with the intent of saying, “you don’t want to be here.” It is a legitimate scare tactic that helps deter unlawful behavior and not only keeps the peace between citizens, but keeps families together and allows one to enjoy a better life. You should be thankful for programs like this! Who knows the kinds of people you rub shoulders with in this world! Consider public service announcements like this that were very common years ago: Are you aware that the number one causes of car accidents are trees? Did you know that the number one killer in the world is death? Have you ever seen what happens to a person who did not wear a seat-belt? I have. He did not go home that night and hasn’t been home since. When announcements like this are made, nobody complains because of the reality of the situation. Let’s be clear about one thing. The message of the gospel is not about relocation; that is, being saved from one place to go to ano...

Toads don't go to hell. Humans do . Dr. King shares Coaching and Consulting resources (related to his CIU-Seminary and School of Missions course, "Biblical Foundations of Leadership.") Tired of the old John Piper and Rick Warren debacle? Try Skip Heitzig rolling out the red carpet for Leonard Sweet at Calvary Chapel . One parent + one parent + one parent = one baby . I vote "Eugene" as a name. Ash and lightning above the Iceland volcano. Death comes unexpectedly : "You Say Party! We Say Die!" drummer dies onstage.

"The person who rejects God does not know the real horrors of hell. This may be because he does not believe hell exists, or it may be because he convinces himself that it would be tolerably preferable to heaven. But whatever he believes or does not believe, when he chooses against God, he is wrong about God and about hell. He is not, at that point, preferring the real hell over the real God. He is blind to both. He does not perceive the true glories of God, and he does not perceive the true horrors of hell." How Willingly Do People Go to Hell? :: Desiring God Christian Resource Library

"I see no faults in the Church, and therefore let me resurrected with the Saints, whether I ascend to heaven or descend to hell, or go to any other place. And if we go to hell, we will turn the devils out of doors and made a heaven of it." Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 316.

In his post on February 20, Filmmaker’s Company Name Rejected Due to Blasphemy Laws , Hemant Mehta rightly (though mockingly) describes hell as "an imaginary concept — a scary one." At the end of the blog, he states, "There’s nothing wrong with Hell" meaning there is nothing wrong with using the word "hell." To a point, I agree with the thrust of the blog--there is nothing wrong with using the word and the action that he is responding to is certainly questionable; however, noting the responses of his readers, I was drawn to how others were responding to this scary "imaginary" concept of hell itself: "When told that I would be going to hell, I always replied, 'That’s ok. That’s where all the fun people are.'” "If Hell is the absence of God, then yeah, it seems alright to me, at least at the moment. Though I could do with a sandwich." "Hell’s a cool place, especially in the summer. It’s about 30 minutes NW of Ann A...

The words translated throughout the Bible which describe the place of eternal punishment are the subjects of much debate and interpretation. These terms have historically been been translated by using one word in the English, "hell;" but, one must understand the range of meaning in the original (such as "love" being translated from "eros," "phileo," or "agape") to get an accurate picture of what is meant by "hell." For example, when the Bible refers to the "abyss," this is understood to include all of the entire underworld, though "depths" only speaks of the fathoms of the seas. The connotation of "abyss" includes all that is mean by "Sheol," "Hades," "Gehenna," "Tartarus," even "the Lake of Fire." The "abyss" is a pit. The idea of "Tartarus" is "bottomless abyss." Some understand this to mean the lowest level of ...

"The nature of Christ's salvation is woefully misrepresented by the present-day evangelist. He announces a Savior from hell rather than a Savior from sin. And that is why so many are fatally deceived, for there are multitudes who wish to escape the Lake of Fire who have no desire to be delivered from their carnality and worldliness." A.W. Pink (1886-1952)

How can those who reject a loving God enjoy heaven?

A few weeks ago I had a conversation with a lady in the park. She claimed to have a Christian background, though was surprised to be caught by the law and her exposed sin. She admitted her guilt before God, and that the punishment for sin is death. She also said that though she did not deserve heaven knew she would be there because God “just forgives.” I asked her what she meant by that. She told me that she knew she would go to heaven because her mother was an atheist, and God would not send her mother to hell, so God forgives and lets everyone into heaven. My heart breaks right there. Recently Steve Sanchez shared on his blog : “But what can you say to someone who realizes that a deceased loved one might already be in eternal torment? One lady ran up to me after a recent open air sermon, furious about what she had just heard and shouted at me, ‘You mean to tell me that my 11-year-old son is in Hell for stealing a piece of gum? That’s a bunch of $#%&*!$%!’ Then she stormed away.” ...

Apparently while preaching one day John Wesley was alarmed to discover several members of his congregation had fallen asleep. "Fire! Fire!" Wesley suddenly cried whereupon the guilty parishioners jumped with alarm. "Where?" They demanded glancing around. "In Hell" Wesley replied, "For those who sleep under the preaching of God's Word." Get back on the Old Path here .

In a country village of Pennsylvania a physician gave books on infidelity [immorality, pornography] to a young man and persuaded him to deny the Lord Jesus Christ. When the young man was fifty years old, he lay dying and was attended by the same physician, the infidel teacher. As the end was approaching, the doctor told him to die as he lived—a rejector of the great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. “Hold on to the end,” the doctor urged. “Yes, doctor,” said the dying man, “there is just my trouble—you gave me nothing to hold on to.” The doctor could not answer.

The time was 1884. The place: Montgomery, Michigan. A spiritualist was stricken with a disease and his life was ebbing away. He had such a hatred for Christ that open his death, he requested that his body not be carried to a church for funeral services nor should any pastor be called upon to officiate. As he lay in his bed dying, he turned his face to the wall and began to talk to himself about his future. His wife, sitting by his bedside, saw that he was greatly troubled and tied to comfort and console him by telling him not to be afraid. She told him that his spirit would return to her and they would still be with each other then as now. But he would not find comfort in her words. With a look of despair, he said, “ I see a great high wall rising around me and am finding out at last—when it is too late—that it is easier to get into Hell than it will be to get out .” A few minutes later he died to receive his reward of unrightousness.

Edgar Allan Poe's "The Pit and the Pendulum" comes to mind when I reflect on a conversation I had yesterday with "Sam" in the park. With him, the pendulum swings one way. With these guys, the pendulum swings the other . . . "Sam" had a difficult time thinking up a small list of things he was thankful for, but was finally decisive that he was thankful for his life, for his children, for his wife and for education; however, he was not sure what God's purpose for his life was. Matter of fact, he concluded his purpose was to question his purpose! Mind you, this is a neatly dressed young man about 25 years old, walking his dog, sitting with his girl in the park. To him, God seemed to be a powerful spiritual being who pulled you through life circumstances in order to prove that He exists. To her, God was "out to get you" at first, but then is more like a "mighty being." Here's where his pendulum swings: "Sam" beli...

I am going to be away from the computer until sometime in early August. In the meantime, see if you can answer these questions: Why do 80-90% of those making a decision for Christ fall away from the faith? What is the principle that Spurgeon, Wesley, Whitefield, etc., used to reach the lost? Why has the Church neglected it? Don't let anything stop you from listening to this incredible teaching. (This is NOT a sermon about Hell.)