L. Ray Smith“Is this the way that God would have Christians believe that He cares and provides for billions upon billions of His creatures? By burning their flesh in some terrorist torture chamber for all eternity? For absolutely no redeeming reason or purpose? Now I don’t mean to be unkind……………… but such sermons as this desperately need exposing. Millions are being deceived by such unscriptural nonsense and evil.
Let’s have a little sensibility in this matter: ……..”http://bible-truths.com/lake15.html+++++++++++++++++++
http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2012/09/22/different-takes-should-we-abandon-idea-of-hell/?iref=allsearchEditor's Note:
Mark Driscoll is founding pastor of Mars Hill Church in Seattle.
By Mark Driscoll, Special to CNN“As a pastor, my job is to tell the truth. Your job is to make a decision.”What happens when we die?“When controversies over biblical doctrines arise, it’s a humbling opportunity to answer questions about what the Bible teaches without getting into name-calling and mudslinging. Near the very top of the controversial doctrines is hell.”
Think of it in this way: God is the source of life. When we choose to live independently of God and rebelliously against God it is akin to unplugging something from its power source. It begins to lose power until it eventually dies.
The Bible is clear that one day there will be a bodily resurrection for everyone, to either eternal salvation in heaven or eternal condemnation in hell.”
What does Jesus say about hell? “Jesus was emphatically clear on the subject of hell. He alone has risen from death and knows what awaits us on the other side of this life. These are not just obscure Bible verses. In fact, Jesus talks about hell more than anyone else in Scripture. Amazingly, 13% of his sayings are about hell and judgment, and more than half of his parables relate to the eternal judgment of sinners.”
What does the rest of the Bible say about hell? “The Bible gives us many descriptions of hell including (1) fire; (2) darkness; (3) punishment; (4) exclusion from God’s presence; (5) restlessness; (6) second death; and (7) weeping and gnashing of teeth in agony.
Hell will be ruled over by Jesus, and everyone present — humans and demons and Satan alike — will be tormented there continually in perfect justice.”
Is there a second chance after death?“The Bible is clear that we die once and are then judged without any second chance at salvation. As one clear example, Hebrews 9:27 says, “It is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment.”
We live. We die. We face judgment. Period.”
How long does the punishment last? “Grammatically, there is no difference here between the length of time mentioned for “life” and that for “punishment”; rather, there is simply eternal life and eternal death.”
Am I going to hell?“The good news is that the closing verses of the Bible say, “Come!” Everyone is invited to receive the free gift of God’s saving grace in Jesus. Jesus is God become a man to reconcile mankind to God.
The stark reality is this: either Jesus suffered for your sins to rescue you from hell, or you will suffer for your sins in hell. These are the only two options and you have an eternal decision to make.
You’re not required to like hell as much as you need to believe in it, turn from your sin, trust in Jesus, and be saved from an eternal death into an eternal life.”
And ‘sensibility’ from Ray, by truth, deflates and destroys each and every word written by Mark Driscoll, and a thousand and one others like him. That’s what Ray does, thank God.
As I read Ray’s papers over and over again I can’t describe to you how elated I feel as Ray peels back the layers upon layers of truth in the word. But then again, all of us know and have felt that same happiness so it isn’t like you, yourselves, don’t know how pleasing it is to finally walk and live without fear.
Just thought I would share, that’s all.
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gk
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Topic: "Your job is to make a decision" (Read 5250 times)