What Would You Think?

What would you think if I told you I keep a dog chained up in my basement? I feed him and keep him alive, but every day I go down and burn him with a hot poker. What would be your opinion on what kind of person I am?

Yet, most Christians believe God does that  to human beings in a place they call Hell.

I wonder how many atheists are atheists because of this doctrine?  Why would anyone want to worship or love a being who would do that to an animal, never mind people. But when I tell people I don't believe in a hell like this, most Christians are deeply offended. As if this belief is a cherished one!

I was raised in a church that taught us death is a sleep until either Jesus resurrects us and takes us to heaven, or a sleep until Jesus raises us for the judgement and we will be told why we are lost. This is a teaching from the Bible I can live with and then love and admire God for his wisdom and mercy.

I have read the teaching of eternal torment in hell originated with the Greeks. Christians adopted it around 200 years after Jesus went back to heaven. Augustine taught this and it was incorporated into the Catholic Church. They later added Purgatory as a stop-off place to be purged of your sins. You could pray or buy your relatives out of purgatory.

So, that is the history of an eternal  hell of torment for the wicked. There are a very few verses in the Bible where people could get this teaching, but the vast majority of verses in the Bible about death call it a sleep or unconscious state.

And do those who love God go straight to heaven when they die? No, they also sleep. Jesus himself called death a sleep. Before he raised Lazarus from the dead, Jesus said to his friends, "I go to wake him out of his sleep." The disciples argued that if Lazarus was sleeping he would recover. But Jesus then said plainly, "Lazarus is dead."  John 11.

Now, Jesus didn't say, "Lazarus has died, gone to heaven, and I'm going to call him back from heaven." No, because Lazarus wasn't in heaven. The Bible says when Jesus died, many of the saints were raised. They went around Jerusalem telling the people about Jesus. The Bible doesn't tell us who these people were; it just says they were raised from the dead. It doesn't say they came back from heaven and walked around. "The tombs also were opened. And many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many." Matthew 27:52,53 Perhaps John the Baptist was in that group. People would have recognized him!

When Jairus' daughter died, Jesus called it a sleep. "And when he had entered, he said to them, “Why are you making a commotion and weeping? The child is not dead but sleeping.” Mark 5:39

"Consider and answer me, O LORD my God; Enlighten my eyes, or I will sleep the sleep of death..." Psalm 13:3

"You have swept them away like a flood, they fall asleep; In the morning they are like grass which sprouts anew."  Psalm 90:5

"But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus." 1 Thessalonians 4:13,14

"He died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep, we will live together with Him." 1 Thess. 5:10

God said, "When your days are complete and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your descendant after you, who will come forth from you, and I will establish his kingdom." 2 Samuel 7:12

"Consider and answer me, O LORD my God; Enlighten my eyes, or I will sleep the sleep of death..." Psalm 13:3

"But Michael the archangel, when he disputed with the devil and argued about the body of Moses, did not dare pronounce against him a railing judgment, but said, "The Lord rebuke you!" Jude 1:9
Moses was raised with his body. His "spirit" didn't fly up to heaven. God raises the dead when he wants to and who he wants to. Moses was probably raised before many other people but most will be raised when Jesus comes back.

As for the word, "eternal" or "forever" in the Bible, it does not mean what we think it means. There are many sites that explain this. I've put one of them below. The "everlasting" fire of hell means, "until it is done." If you google this topic you can read what other scholars say about it.

http://www.goodnewsaboutgod.com/studies/forever2.htm

Well, I could tackle the few verses that seem to say hell is a place of torment without end and what Jesus' parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man meant, but I'd have to write a book. I'll just add a few more verses and ask you to have an open mind and study this topic for yourself if you are interested.

"You will tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day which I am preparing," says the LORD of hosts." Malachi 4:3

"... he will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.
And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever; they have no rest day and night, those who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name." Rev. 14:10

The wicked will be destroyed at the judgement day in front of God and the angels - not in some pit somewhere underground.

Speaking of his judgement on the nations, God says "It will not be quenched night or day; Its smoke will go up forever. From generation to generation it will be desolate; None will pass through it forever and ever." Isaiah 34: 10  

But the world will not burn forever - in our idea of what forever means, because God says in Revelation that one day this earth will be the home of the City of God - the Holy City will come down here from heaven. God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit and the angels will live among us, therefore the world cannot be on fire forever. 

I Felt Humiliated.

My 89 yr.old mom is living with us. We love having her here. She has always gotten a daily newspaper since she was married. The paper started coming here, but this is an apartment building and they leave the paper outside the main door. Sometimes it gets stolen.

This morning, when I first woke up, I threw my coat on over my pajamas and went down the elevator to get the paper. I had forgotten my keys so I tried to hold the door open while picking up the paper. Couldn't do it. A young man came running up and held the door for me. I thanked him, then tried to pick up the paper. I kept dropping it. Because of my fibromyalgia it is hard to bend down at all. I kept saying I was sorry (I am Canadian) and told him about the fibromyalgia. He graciously picked up the paper for me and said comforting words.

Back in my bedroom, I sat on the bed feeling embarrassed and a little humiliated. Then I heard God's voice in my heart, "Pray for him."  I did so immediately. I realized then that the reason that all happened is this young man needed someone to pray for him. I felt so happy I could do this for him and for God.

I thought of the verse, "Humble yourself under the mighty hand of God..."  I think maybe God can use us better when we are humbled. I just finished reading a book by a woman who was an A-type personality. She felt she had to control everything and the longer she went on that way, the less she could control, her life became a mess and was too much for her.

This woman had a mental breakdown and was humbled by it. She realized she hadn't let go of all the many parts of her life and given them to God for him to control. If we insist on doing it ourself, God will let us. But if we give our life, everyone we love, everything we do and everything we have, to our Father, he can then control it. If we obsess, worry and fret, he may wait until we give up on ourselves.

Eternal Life.

If someone would have asked me what eternal life is; I would have told them it is living forever.

I heard a preacher say that was wrong. Jesus told us what eternal life was.

He said, "And this is eternal life, that they might know you (God the Father) and Jesus Christ whom you have sent."  John 17:3

The preacher said eternal life is not a time-span.

Eternal life is a person.

I was at a family dinner one time and one of my son-in-laws asked me, "Do you know God, Belle?"  I answered, "Yes." Then he asked everyone at the table, my daughters and their children, "Does she know God?"  They said, "Yes."

But, now I would say, "I know him in a small way. I am learning about him and knowing him better day by day."  Because what I thought I knew about God has grown and expanded from the day I gave my life to him when I was nineteen. And I won't fully know him until I am in heaven and can learn more and more of his love and goodness.

How can we know God? Read the Bible each day and tell God you want to know him. It's that simple, but also hard because we must persevere and not give up.  ""You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart."  Jeremiah 29:13

Thus says the LORD: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.”  Jeremiah 9:23-24

"I will give them a heart to know that I am the LORD, and they shall be my people and I will be their God, for they shall return to me with their whole heart."  Jeremiah 24:7

"And they shall not teach, each one his neighbor and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest."  Hebrews 8:11

"If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”  John 14:7

"I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me."  john 10:14

"Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?"  John 14:9

Absolute, Extreme, Unutterable Love.

"I offered my back to those who beat me,

my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard;

I did not hide my face

from mocking and spitting.

Because the Sovereign Lord helps me,

I will not be disgraced.

Therefore have I set my face like flint,

and I know I will not be put to shame."   Isaiah 50:6,7

"Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end."
John 13:1

Pulpit Commentary
 "Here the sentence ends with the climacteric expression, He loved them utterly; he manifested, and that before the Paschal Lamb should be slain for them, his absolute, extreme, unutterable love."

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

"...having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end—The meaning is, that on the very edge of His last sufferings, when it might have been supposed that He would be absorbed in His own awful prospects, He was so far from forgetting His own, who were to be left struggling in the world after He had departed out of it to the Father that in His care for them, He seemed scarce to think of Himself save in connection with them: Herein is love, not only enduring to the end, but most affectingly manifested when, judging by a human standard, least to be expected."


Excerpts from Isaiah Chapter 53.

He was despised and rejected by mankind,

a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.

Like one from whom people hide their faces

he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.

Surely he took up our pain

and bore our suffering,

yet we considered him punished by God,

stricken by him, and afflicted.

But he was pierced for our transgressions,

he was crushed for our iniquities;

the punishment that brought us peace was on him,

and by his wounds we are healed.

We all, like sheep, have gone astray,

each of us has turned to our own way;

and the Lord has laid on him

the iniquity of us all.

After he has suffered,

he will see the light of life and be satisfied;

by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many,

and he will bear their iniquities.Therefore I will give him a portion among the great,

and he will divide the spoils with the strong,

because he poured out his life unto death,

and was numbered with the transgressors.

For he bore the sin of many,

and made intercession for the transgressors.

"...Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."

Hebrews 12:2

"For God so loved the world, he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not die, but have eternal life." John 3:16

Is God Enough?

Although I've been a Christian since I was 19 and am now 66 years old, I have been a dumb, slow-learning Christian. Lots of times I have learned something good and then when the chips are down, I forget what I've learned. I'm sharing this for those who are also slow-learners in the Christian life. You can take heart, because you are not alone.

When my grandson died 4 years ago, it was my worst nightmare come true. I had always hoped and prayed no one young in my family would die. But it was not to be, and I know God knows everything and is all-wise, therefore he knows best.

I wondered how I would be able to cope with Craig's death. I loved him so much it was like he was a son instead of a grandson. I had babysat him for many years. When I first heard the news, of course I started screaming and crying; but as soon as my husband told me what Craig's last words to him were, I had instant peace.

Craig said, "Thank you both for praying for me."

I knew that God was telling us Craig would be saved and I would see him again. I still felt the pain of his death but a wonderful peace settled on me and that peace has never left. A few times, when I saw a video of Craig or a photo, I could feel my stomach lurch and pain in my heart. But I would turn to God and he was enough. He filled me with his peace and love.

God is enough when someone you love dies.

About two years ago, after I moved out of my daughter's house and quit babysitting my granddaughter, I became severely depressed. My husband and I lived alone; we didn't see our girls or grandchildren very often. I was so lonely and bored. I tried to find things to occupy my time but nothing worked. I felt dead inside. There was nothing to live for and so I took sleeping pills.

Well, obviously I didn't die. I went to therapy and tried to find a reason to live. Therapy helped me think more positively but this is what surprised me; God became enough for me. I told him how lonely I was and how I needed him and how it was just him and me now. It's amazing, but God's friendship became enough for me. I started to have happy days with him. I talked with him off and on during the day. I read the Bible more and Christian books and listened to on-line sermons. The days got better and better.

God is enough when you have lost everything you lived for.

I didn't know God would be enough to live for. I didn't know he could give me such happiness.

I told God how bored I was. I needed some ideas of what to do with myself. He did give me ideas for some arts and crafts hobbies. I am happier than I have been in my life. This has shocked me. This I did not expect.

God is enough when you are sick of life.

My sister lost all her possessions, except her old van, when she became sick and couldn't work. She lived with us for 2 years, but got sicker because of all the plant life here. She has many problems, one of them being allergies. So, she packed up her van and moved to Washington State which is free of almost all pollens. She became a little stronger and could at least go to a store and buy groceries and get out of bed.

As she became more accustomed to camping out in her van, she told me, "I have never been this happy in my life."

God is enough when you lose everything you own.

I thought I'd put some photos up of some of my art projects.

My granddaughter, Hope.

My granddaughter, Cherish.

Nancy Drew Altered Book.

Book of growing flowers.

Little Women.

The Pearl of Great Price.

You Are Never too Young to Work for God.

I was listening to a sermon on-line and the speaker said Jesus was 28 years old when he preached the Sermon on the Mount. I'd forgotten how young Jesus was when he first started preaching. And in that sermon he turned the religious teachings of the day upside down.

He said to the people, you have been told by religious leaders this - but I'm saying something new. No wonder the religious leaders hated him. He was undermining their authority and position before the people.

Jesus was 28 and he had never gone to the religious schools of the day. He knew how to read and had read the scriptures for himself. He was full of the Holy Spirit who taught him what to say. Remember Jesus said, "When you have lifted up the Son of Man on the cross, then you will understand that I Am he. I do nothing on my own but say only what the Father taught me." John 8:28

God has used many young people to do his work. Age and education are no barriers for God.

 Dwight L. Moody began to work for God at age 18.

Dwight L. Moody didn't attend school beyond the fifth grade; he couldn't spell, and his grammar was awful. His manners were often brash and crude, and he never became an ordained minister. Once, before his conversion, he so outraged an Italian shoe salesmen with a prank, that the man chased him with a sharp knife, clearly intending to kill him. Yet, Dwight L. Moody was used by God to lead thousands of people to Christ. Moody's life of Christian service began with his conversion on this day, April 21, 1855. 
http://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1801-1900/dwight-l-moody-was-converted-11630499.html

William Booth preached his first sermon at 23 years old.

William Booth (10 April 1829 – 20 August 1912) was a British Methodist preacher who founded The Salvation Army and became its first General (1878–1912). The Christian movement with a quasi-military structure and government founded in 1865 has spread from London, England, to many parts of the world and is known for being one of the largest distributors of humanitarian aid.

Jeremiah was young when the Lord called him.

The word of the Lord came to me, saying,

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,

before you were born I set you apart;

I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”

“Alas, Sovereign Lord,” I said, “I do not know how to speak; I am too young.”

But the Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am too young.’ You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you,” declares the Lord.

Then the Lord reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, “I have put my words in your mouth. See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant.”  Jeremiah 1:4-10

If the Lord calls you, don't worry about how young you are or of what your education consists. He can use you to his glory for nothing is too hard for the Lord.

Selections from Matthew Chapter 5.

“You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgement.’ But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgement. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

“It has been said, ‘Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.’ But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, makes her the victim of adultery, and anyone who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

“Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not break your oath, but fulfill to the Lord the vows you have made.’ But I tell you, do not swear an oath at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne; or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. All you need to say is simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also. And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well. If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles. Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

All Creation Groans.

German Forest Ranger Finds That Trees Have Social Networks, Too

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/30/world/europe/german-forest-ranger-finds-that-trees-have-social-networks-too.html

I read this article in the New York Times today. The scientist is Peter Wohlleben. He wrote a best-selling book about his findings called, "The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate - Discoveries From A Secret World."

As I was reading, I remembered this verse from the Bible, "For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now."  Romans 8:22

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

"...It refers, as I suppose, to the whole animate creation; to all living beings; to the state of all created things here, as in a condition of pain and disorder, and groaning and death. Everything which we see; every creature which lives, is thus subjected to a state of servitude, pain, vanity, and death." 

Groaning - Greek, Groans together. All is united in a condition of sorrow. The expression denotes mutual and universal grief. It is one wide and loud lamentation, in which a dying world unites; and in which it has united "until now."

And travails in pain together - This expression properly denotes the extreme pain of parturition (giving birth). It also denotes any intense agony, or extreme suffering; and it means here that the condition of all things has been that of intense, united, and continued suffering; in other words, that we are in a world of misery and death. This has been united; all have partaken of it: it has been intense; all endure much: it has been unremitting; every age has experienced the repetition of the same thing.

http://biblehub.com/commentaries/romans/8-22.htm

All creation has suffered because of sin. I'm sure the animals didn't kill each other and eat each other. Trees didn't die - nothing did. But when Adam and Eve sinned, all of creation was changed. The Bible says the wolf and the lamb were made to sleep together, but that isn't the case now.

A few times, I've watched nature shows with my husband. We can see many of these shows because we have Netflix. But almost every time, I quit watching because I don't like seeing animals kill each other. It is hard to find a movie that doesn't have that featured. I've told my husband, "I love nature from a distance. As soon as you see it close up, it is sad. (Or creepy, I hate bugs.)

I'm looking forward to heaven where all people and animals will be at peace and full of love. (And hopefully, no bugs.)

"The wolf will live with the lamb,

the leopard will lie down with the goat,

the calf and the lion and the yearling together;

and a little child will lead them.

The cow will feed with the bear,

their young will lie down together,

and the lion will eat straw like the ox.

The infant will play near the cobra’s den,

and the young child will put its hand into the viper’s nest.

They will neither harm nor destroy

on all my holy mountain,

for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord

as the waters cover the sea."

Isaiah 11:6-9

“Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

Revelation 21:3,4

“See, I will create

new heavens and a new earth.

The former things will not be remembered,

nor will they come to mind.

But be glad and rejoice forever

in what I will create,

for I will create Jerusalem to be a delight

and its people a joy.

I will rejoice over Jerusalem

and take delight in my people;

the sound of weeping and of crying

will be heard in it no more.

“Never again will there be in it

an infant who lives but a few days,

or an old man who does not live out his years;

the one who dies at a hundred

will be thought a mere child;

the one who fails to reach a hundred

will be considered accursed.

They will build houses and dwell in them;

they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.

No longer will they build houses and others live in them,

or plant and others eat.

For as the days of a tree,

so will be the days of my people;

my chosen ones will long enjoy

the work of their hands.

They will not labor in vain,

nor will they bear children doomed to misfortune;

for they will be a people blessed by the Lord,

they and their descendants with them.

Before they call I will answer;

while they are still speaking I will hear.

The wolf and the lamb will feed together,

and the lion will eat straw like the ox,

and dust will be the serpent’s food.

They will neither harm nor destroy

on all my holy mountain,”

Isaiah 65:17-25