23 MINUTES IN HELL

This is my first entry after our trip. We traveled over 10,000 miles - and some of our experiences will make their way into my blog and my facebook page eventually....

But, today I am detoured by a link I received and listened to in trying to catch up on e-mails. The leader of the small group (AKA Adult S. S. class) I attend on Sunday mornings sent a connection to a 64-minute video of a man named Bill Wiese telling about his out-of-body experience of spending 23 minutes in hell.

It is compelling viewing, even though the speaker is soft-spoken and not at all like the fire and brimstone preachers of my childhood. In fact, he is not a preacher, but a Real Estate agent. But God chose him for this task....

You can type in '23 minutes in hell' and get several options for viewing portions of the full message. As our instructor said, I recommend not doing it before bedtime. I did, though - - listened to it, then went to sleep. It did not haunt my dreams. It informs my 'awake.' Now that I have seen this, I don't know what to do with the information.

If I thought it would draw unbelievers to God, I'd definitely want them to see it - to be admonished by the warning, and to turn to God before it is too late.

The reality is: I cannot think of one person who was drawn permanently to God out of fear of hell. We as Christians need to know it is real so we don't deny it exists. There is a heaven to gain, which means there also is a hell to shun. And, I admit, I've been guilty of 'hoping' that those who are good people who never accept Jesus just 'die' - - not go to such an awful, wicked place - - but this man's message curtails that hope. The portrayals are beyond-belief horrible.

It is, at the very least, a reminder of what we have been spared by the love of God: sin demands payment - and God, in his enormous love, provided us a way of escape by paying the penalty himself - - by coming to earth and becoming the sacrifice justice demands. God incarnate. Yeshua/Jesus/Messiah taking the full brunt of sin by being rejected, cruelly beaten, then dying on a despicable cross so we can escape the judgment we deserve. He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world...if people only turn to Him. After all the blood sacrifices of the Old Testament, he became the final sacrifice. We are saved by His shed blood. He sealed salvation with His resurrection, defeating death, hell and the grave. He rose in victory!

Non-Christians feel that hell is a threat: They hear the message "You need to turn to God and accept Jesus Christ or you will die - or worse yet, go to hell" as merely a threat instead of the truth. Their focus is on the negative side - and so they choose to dismiss it as unloving and unkind, rather than seeing that there is very loving God who forewarns - - much like a 'Bridge out' sign placed purposely before a cataclysmic drop-off.

All I know to do is to keep proclaiming Jesus as THE WAY, THE TRUTH AND THE LIFE, and pray for the Holy Spirit to do His work. I can't do it for Him - - no matter how badly I want to help! And I pray for those I know and love to hear God's message of love for them before it is too late. I know God's Word is true - - and believe that anyone who truly wants to find out only has to challenge God with "Show me!" then open His Word to search for whether He reveals himself! He will respond to all earnest seekers!

He who has the Son has life. He who does not have the Son of God does not have life. Whether or not we accept Eternal Life is our choice - but it is accomplished by His grace and what He did for us on the cross. We can't earn it. We don't deserve it. But we can have it! I am amazed anew at the reality that GOD - who created the universe - cares so deeply about me (and you) as an individual that He yearns for me (and you) to have a personal relationship with Him!

Thank you, Lord. You are amazing! Open eyes to see and ears to hear the TRUTH of the Good News of your Word! And help me live faithfully as a model of your amazing grace.

Amen.