I think it’s a real place.

-That really lasts forever.

-Where real people go.

-With real and everlasting torment.

I believe that Hell is the wrath of God poured out for our sins.

I believe that Hell was created for the Devil and his angels.

I believe that Hell is eternal separation from God, from love, and from hope.

I believe in Hell because Jesus did.

I take Hell seriously because Jesus talked about it more than Heaven.

I believe that Hell is what I deserve for rebelling against God.

I believe, that, once Hell is entered, it cannot be escaped.

I believe that though we deserve Hell, we were given the grace of God through Jesus Christ.

I believe that, that grace, is received through faith in Him.

I believe that when we follow the Person and Work of Jesus Christ, and receive His grace though faith-

That we will never have to suffer the torment of a place meant for the Devil and his angels.

I believe, that then, we can experience the everlasting goodness and joy of a relationship with God Himself.

Because I believe these things so strongly, I choose not to allow the topic of Hell to intimidate me, but instead to propel me forward in speaking of it all the more. Because if I don’t, the blood of those I failed to share the full truth of the Gospel to, will be on my hands.

There’s nothing we can do to ‘not sin’. We can wear all sorts of masks to make it look like we’ve got everything figured out and put together, but behind the mask we’re still just a sinner bound for an eternal hell.

We can join a religion, work hard, read good books, and do lots of good things but those things will never forgive us of our sins or change the fact that we are sinners.

Our only hope in being acquitted is the just judge who created us and set the rules to begin with. But because He is just, there must be punishment for sin. Because He is holy and blameless those who are sinners cannot dwell in His presence.

So out of His great love for us He sent His Son to live the sinless life that we could never live and to take on the punishment that we deserved to be given: the wrath of God poured out on Him for all the sins of man.

Because Jesus, His Son, took our punishment, we stand forgiven of our sins if we claim and trust in His finished work on our behalf. We no longer are seen as sinners by God. When we have been saved by Jesus. When God looks at us, He sees the righteousness of Christ because that’s what we have been given.

So without Jesus, we go to hell for what we DO. But with Jesus we go to heaven (to eternal relationship with God) for what He DID.

We never go to heaven because of what we do or do not do, it will always be because of what Jesus already did for us.

As a Christian, throughout my life I’ve been taught from time to time (directly or implied) that even if you have been saved, that if you die while in the act of sinning, that you will go to hell. For example, a Christian hits his thumb with a hammer and mutters “dam it” under His breath. Then at that exact moment he has a heart attack and dies, because of saying a ‘cuss word’ at the time of his death he will ‘go to hell’.

This is silly because just as there’s nothing we can DO to get into heaven, because Jesus already DID all that needs to be done, once we trust in His finished work and submit our lives to Him, there’s nothing we can DO to keep us out of heaven.

That being said, as Christians, we don’t have the liberty to sin against God whenever we want because there’s nothing we can DO to keep us out of heaven. Because one who sins whenever and however they feel like it with no concern for Christ’s work on the cross, does not understand the sacrifice and grace of Christ, has not had their life changed by Christ, and according to the ‘fruit’ of their life is not saved by Jesus from hell to begin with!

The purpose of all these seemingly random thoughts? You can’t save yourself! Being a nice guy, loving your family, and believing in God will not save you- ever. The only thing that can save you from the punishment and consequence of what you have done is Jesus Christ’s sinless life, His death for your sins, and His resurrection from the dead. So stop talking about what a good guy you or someone else is because it’s just not true. You are a sinner whose every intention is evil and who is bound for hell without the grace, love, and hope of Jesus!

You must turn from your evil ways and turn to Jesus as the author and the perfector of your faith. And once you have recieved the free gift of salvation from Christ He will change you and you will not want to take advantage of His grace by continually sinning against Him.

Will you still stumble and fail as a Christian? Yes because you still reside in a body ravished by sin. But if you deliberately live a continual lifestyle of sin as if Christ never died for you, you don’t have a sin problem, you have a salvation problem.

But the Lord is the One Who gives.
The Lord is the One Who Takes away.
Blessed be the Name of the Lord!

And at the end of the day, we have fallen short.
This is how it will end for almost every last one of us.
We all take a last breath.
We all experience one final beat of the heart.
We all have one last synapse fire through our brain.
We are all returned to the ground.
We all know death all to well because it lives right next door.
And someday were moving into that house.

But death is not the end.
The One who took is from the dust and returned us to it will enact justice on all.
So don’t tell me that life is not fair because all die for our transgressions.

Life is better than fair because the One who took us from the dust became dust Himself.
He did not turn away from the Master plan.
He became our sin.
He bore all of the justice and wrath on Himself.
He returned to dust.
The dust could not hold Him down because what happened to Him was not fair.

He rose from the dust a second time.
If we trust in Him,
That He has everything in control,
That His death made us right with Him,
That through His resurrection we can live again-
Forever.

Because Death is Not the End.

One day you will slip fatefully into the dark.
It will be fair, righteous, and just…
…Even though it feels like anything but.

Today is the day of salvation.
Have you called upon the Name of the Lord?

It’s sad though to see sin in the life of a little boy.

Last night my son was giving my wife a run for her money. She got him in trouble and then found him sometime
later hiding under his covers sobbing uncontrolably in shame for the way he had treated his mom.

How awful to see you small children coming to know shame- coming face to face with their own sin. It’s depressing, but it also caries hope that one day they will turn to Jesus.

I know that God is a sovereign God, but lately I’ve been praying that God will save my children someday. Sure they have ‘faith like a child’ now and love Jesus. And I know with all my heart that if they were to die at this young age that they would surely go to be with Him.

But as they get older and the effects of sinful man start to weigh heavily on their precious souls, I hope that they call out to God to save them and give to them His righteousness and His Spirit to live according to His will.

I hold the verse to heart that says,” teach your children in the way they should go and when they are old they will not depart from it.” And I believe that teaching them the Gospel from the Scriptures from a young age will make a great difference for them when they go out into the world on their own.

Because the day when my son exits his shame behind his blankets and embraces new life in Christ will be better than any day I could ever imagine.

The local church is a gateway to the new life that Jesus offers to His creation.

My idea of the local church is people from every age, race, social status, economic level, and vocation within a local community coming together to: worship the Lord Jesus Christ, grow in relationship with Him, build authentic, encouraging, and accountable relationships with each other, serve and meet the needs of the world around them, and share the faith, love, and hope that they have found in Jesus Christ in a tangible way with all who they come into contact with.

Within this local church, this community, everyone needs to be integrated in order for the community to progress and reach others with the same good news that they have been transformed by.

One way to integrate everyone is to break up into smaller communities- communities made up of: specific age groups (infants, children, youth, college, young adults, seniors, etc…), specific life stages (singles, married couples, parent, empty nesters, retirees, etc…), specific ministry passions (local missions, homeless ministries, global missions, etc…), or specific life situations (divorcees, addicts, grief, etc…); all while continuing to meet together as a large community in order to strengthen and encourage one another.

One such smaller community is youth ministry. Youth, or student ministry, consists of both Middle School and High School students. Middle School and High School students are not ‘the church of tomorrow’ as so many people like to label them, THEY ARE A VALUABLE AND INTEGRAL PART OF TODAY’S CHURCH.

Youth ministry, a community of Middle School and High School students within the larger community of the local church, is the greatest way for the local church to reach the lost youth of their community for Christ. Not only is youth ministry the greatest way for the local church to reach JUST the lost youth of their community, BUT one of the greatest ways to reach lost people OF ALL AGES for Christ- period.

In a poll conducted by The Barna Group in 2004, 43% of all Americans who have accepted Jesus Christ as their savior indicated that they did so before reaching the age of 13. The same poll also revealed that 64% of American born again Christians accepted Jesus Christ as their savior before their 18^th birthday. While only 13% of American born again Christians made their profession of faith between the ages of 18 and 21.

This means that approximately 77% of all Christians in America choose to follow Christ sometime between birth and the age of 21- with the chances to reach them declining dramatically each year. It is crucial that the local church put much of their outreach and ministry focus on children, teens, and young adults in order to reach the lost for Christ.

So, needless to say, youth ministry is extraordinarily important within the context of the local church. But what could it look like?

My idea of youth ministry within the context of the local church is similar to my view of the local church as a whole: Middle School and High School Students from every grade, school, race, social status, and recreational interest within a local community coming together to: worship the Lord Jesus Christ, grow in relationship with Him, build authentic, encouraging, and accountable relationships with each other, serve and meet the needs of the world around them, and share the faith, love, and hope that they have found in Jesus Christ in a tangible way with all who they come into contact with.

It is important for Middle School and High School Students to have a ministry targeted directly at them within the local church. The reasons for this are many, a few of those reasons are- because teens face issues unique to their age group (discovering their identity, deciding what they want to do with their life, learning how to build and keep relationships, struggling with the pressures of newfound sexuality, working to get good grades, etc…), teens respond more within a group of their peers more than they do within a group of adults (because their peers are going through the same issues as them, their peers tend to be less judgmental than adults, they enjoy recreating with their peers more so than adults, etc…), and teens tend to relate more with others who share or are aware of the same generational interests as them (music, television, movies, publications, video games, web sites, jokes, etc…).

This ministry would have a weekly worship gathering for Middle and High School Students- preferably during the middle of the week so that students could be encouraged from the events that have transpired previously in the week and for the ones to come. This weekly worship gathering would have a relaxed atmosphere, yet offer high energy corporate worship music, corporate prayer, Bible teaching, and group ice-breakers or games. The weekly worship gathering would be the GATEWAY to the local church’s youth ministry where students could confidently invite their ‘non-Christian’ friends because they themselves know that their friends will be accepted by their peers and their leaders, have a good time, hear a message relevant to their lives, and encounter Jesus in a non-judgmental, non-pressured way. Serving a meal before the weekly worship gathering would be optimal as to draw students in from the community and allow the rest of the church community an opportunity to serve their young people.

This ministry would have weekly small-group meetings split up into age-specific and gender-specific groups. In these weekly small-group meetings students will develop close-authentic-accountable relationships with a small group of their peers and a mentoring relationship with their small-group adult leader. Within these groups students will eat together, share their struggles with one another, pray for each other, read and discuss the Word of God together, and hold each other accountable. Different small groups could meet at different times, but having this group meet on Sunday nights would be optimal as to encourage each other to live for Christ throughout the coming week and to discuss the topic from the previous week’s worship gathering.

This Youth Ministry would have consistent monthly events planned for students to recreate, serve, and evangelize together. These events would enable the group to grow closer together, invite their friends, and have life experiences that they may have never experienced without attending. These events could transpire both locally and in distant locations.

The Youth Ministry would have at least one retreat or camp scheduled per calendar year for Middle and High School Students to attend. These retreats or camps would give the students a rare opportunity to be ministered to outside of their local context- lowering their inhibitions to what the Lord can do in their life and opening their eyes to new life experiences.

This Youth Ministry would be led by a God-loving youth pastor who would build and oversee a team of adult volunteers within the local church and student leaders within the youth ministry. The youth pastor’s duties would be (but not limited to) to schedule and oversee all events as well as spend quality time loving, serving, and mentoring his students, volunteers, church community, and surrounding community. The adult volunteers’ duties would be (but not limited to) to run and work within certain departments of the ministry (leading individual weekly small group meetings, preparing meals before the weekly worship gathering, engaging and mentoring students at the weekly worship gathering and at Sunday services, ‘shepherding’-chaperoning- youth events and retreats/camps, etc…). The student leaders’ duties would also be (but not limited to) to run and work within certain departments of the ministry (running specific events at the weekly worship gathering like sound, video, projector, greeting, games, etc…mentor younger students, lead worship music, etc…).

A healthy youth ministry will have its leaders and volunteers visiting its student’s campuses for lunch and extracurricular activities. It will also have its leaders and volunteers developing relationships with students’ families by participating in home visits.

I believe that both the Middle School and High School Students should have the opportunity to attend ’Big Church’ with their adult family and friends so they can- learn from the senior pastor’s teachings; worship with their adult family and friends; be mentored by the adults within the church community; feel, hear, and see that THEY ARE A VALIABLE AND INTEGRAL PART OF THE GREATER CHURCH BODY; have more opportunities to serve their church community; be involved with ministry at Sunday services (on the worship team, ushering, greeting, etc…); and so that the adults within their church community can see that the youth ministry needs their support- prayerfully, relationally, financially, and by volunteering. Some churches have their ‘youth services’ during Sunday morning ‘Big Church’ services, and there’s nothing wrong with that, but I feel that it robs students of awesome opportunities that they can experience with the adults of their church community. This is one of the reasons why I advocate for youth ministries to have their weekly worship gatherings during the middle of the week.

I believe that if some of the above ideas were followed and if the local church as a whole was committed to similar philosophies, that the natural result would be growth within the local church’s youth ministry. Once the number of Middle Schoolers and High Schoolers within the local church’s youth ministry exceeded approximately 30 students, respectively, it would be wise to separate the weekly worship gathering up between the Middle Schoolers and High Schoolers. This is because just as Middle Schoolers and High Schoolers face different issues and relate to culture differently than their adult community members do, the same division translates on a smaller scale between Middle Schoolers and High Schoolers. So having separate weekly worship gatherings, and possibly even events, would allow the youth pastor and adult volunteers to tailor meet the ministry needs of the two student groups.

All this being said, there is not necessarily a wrong or a right way to do youth ministry. You have to do what works for the students unique to your community. And the only way to do what works, in any ministry, is to let GOD LEAD YOU- by His Word, through prayer, by His Holy Spirit, and under the direction of an elder that God has placed with you.

Predestination:

I want to write a substantial article on this in the future, but for now I just want to touch on a few things that I have been thinking about. I am in know way an expert on this topic. I also find it to be trivial in the grand scheme of God’s great salvation for mankind; and acknowledge that God’s ways are mysterious to us and we cannot even fathom what He has and will continue to do for us.

The Bible is clear that it’s not us who find God, but rather, it’s Him who finds us.

And just as God called Abram out of a life of Godlessness to be His friend, God also calls us to relationship with Him by His good Grace.

The Bible says that many are called, but few are ‘chosen’. But it also says that it’s not God’s will that any should perish.

The teachings of John Calvin state an unconditional election- that God not only knows, but chooses (or predestines) in eternity past who would be saved. This belief can easily negate the free will of man.

I’m totally down with only God doing the work of salvation, but this predestination belief is not resting with me so well.

Now I 100% believe that God knew who would be saved before He created us, but I’ve always kind of been on the Arminian side: the belief that God chose, or predestined, those who He KNEW would chose him in the future.

After all the Bible says,” that if you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart God raised him from the dead, then you are saved”. So you have to make a decision to choose Jesus, right?

But Calvinism teaches that God’s chosing of us in eternity past was not based on our future decision to follow Him, but rather- simply His sovereignty. I acknowledge that I don’t have this figured out yet, but I do have a few potential problems with that philosophy:

1. God knows that future and He does know what decisions people will make, so He can’t make a choice or a decision without considering the future because He has already seen it. The future is His decision, and visa versa- a paradox, I know.

2. I’m not claiming to be right on this one, just jot down my feelings, but if God predestined those who would be saved unconditionally according to His soveriegnty; it makes Him seem cruel for not chosing to save everyone and unable to do so.

Now I know for a fact that every man deserves hell and it’s by God’s great grace alone that we are saved, but if He unconditionally choses who will be saved- sinners who deserve to go to hell- then why not choose everyone.

It almost could give those who believe to be elect a superiority complex- “God chose us and not you!” Then the question is why. We know our salvation is not based on merit/ good works, so those who are ‘elect’ are not so because of anything they have done or because of what kind of person they are- but it would sure be easy for them to conclude that.

3. If you believe that you have been unconditionally elected to be saved, then why would you need to/want to share the Gospel with others- since in your mind they have alreafy been predestined to be saved, or damned? My Calvinist friends call this paradox the ‘Frozen Chosen’.

I know that this post is not put together very well, but it’s only because my mind has not been 100% made up on this issue.

Conclusion: I love the Soveriegnty of God! I think man is totally incapable of saving himself. I know that God knows the future. I just believe that God demands us to make a decision to follow Him- which I guess takes a little bit of free will.

Ok, so this one’s been a long time coming. I am just totally sick of hearing about Todd Bentley and the Lakeland Revival. I am also sick of people falling for it hook, line, and sinker- and for that, I will continue- to expose the Truth so that people would ask the Lord for discernment and begin to look to the Word of God before diving in head first into the looney bin.

My disclaimers are as they were before:

1.] I do believe in the precense of the supernatural gifts of the Spirit in the world today and that they can be used however the Lord wills. and…

2.] I do not believe that Todd Bentley means for the people he “ministers to” to be led astray. I believe Mr. Bentley has good intentions, but is being decieved by the devil in order to lead people away from Christ. His own statements have made that very clear- more on that another time.

My first post on this issue pertained to the whole locallity issue- that you have to go “there” (Florida) to get “some” (drunk off the Holy ghost). Today’s post will be discussing the problem of “evangelists” and their followers trying to Control God in their ministries.

God is soveriegn and He acts how he pleases to bring Himself glory- we cannot lead God around on a leash. We cannot put God in a box. And we cannot saddle up the Holy Spirit and direct Him wherever we want.

Sadly, many people are heading down to Lakeland becasuse they expect God to do a specific thing for them. They want to be slain in the Spirit, they want to speak in tongues, they want some holy laughter, they want to be drunk in the Spirit , they want to be healed, etc…

What about wanting to worship God simply for who He is? What about bringing glory to God and expecting nothing out of it? What about realizing that we are totally lost people incapable of restoring our relationship with God without Christ? What about telling the lost about Jesus and doing whatever possible to invite them into His Kingdom?

Sadly, this Lakeland Revival tends to be simply a Holy Huddle- a feeding frenzy of Christians out to “Get Some” of God instead of giving something back to Him.

What if God doesn’t give them what they selfishly expecte? Will they still follow Him or will they go to the next ‘thing’ that can make them feel good?

Sadly, many Christians base their Christianity on a feeling or an experience instead of on the person of Jesus Christ. You see, my relationship with Jesus is not based off of a time when I spoke in tongues. My relationship with Jesus is not based off of a time when he made me fall backwards into a ‘catchers’ arms. My relationship with Jesus is not based off of a time when shivers went up my back or when times were good in my life.

My relationship with Jesus is based on the biggest miracle of all time- that God loved me, despite my sin, so much that He would send His Son Jesus to live a life I could not live, die a death I deserve to die, raise from the grave three days later, ascend into heaven where He sits at the right hand of God the Father, who imparted to me Christ’s righteousness as a sovereign gift of grace that I recieved through faith, as my High Priest, Savior, and Lord and through His Holy Spirit is making me more and more like Him as I approach the day that I see Him face to face.

That’s it- Christ alone and Him crucified. Nothing more. Nothing less. Do I expect that God will bless me in ways I can’t imagine? Yes. Do I rejoice when times are good? Yes! Do I rejoice when God reveals to me His power through a supernatural act of the Holy Spirit? Yes! Do I rest my relationship in Him on those things? No!

Jesus told the story of a wise man who built his house upon a rock. My faith is built on the Rock of my salvation- Jesus Christ. So when the wind comes, the rain falls, and the earth quakes, I will stand firm in Christ.

Jesus also told of the story of the foolish man who built his house upon the sand. And when the forces of nature came up against it, it crumbled. Sadly, the faith of many will crumble when hard times come because their foundation has been a state of euphoria instead of Christ.

So, unlike those who rush to Utopia in Lakeland, I do not put expectations on God of what he should do in my life. I leave it to Him. I heard someone say once that God is the most untameable Creature on earth and they are so right!

The Newsboys said it best with their song Who:

“And there’s no use explaining what can’t be contained

[Chours 1:]
I’m not following a God I can lead around
I Can’t tame this deity
That’s why Jesus is the final answer
to Who I want my God to be!
He’s Who [I want my God to be...]”

Coming up next: Supernatural Doesn’t Mean Godly

Salvation belongs to God (Revelation 7:10), and is solely a gift of grace for Him to give (Romans 5:15; Romans 6:23; Ephesians 2:8) to sinful man. It is received by faith alone in the Lord Jesus Christ (John 1:12; Ephesians 2:8-10); whose holy life, substitutionary death, and glorious resurrection made it possible for our sins to be forgiven, our punishment to be taken away, and for His righteousness to be imputed to us (Ephesians 1:7; 1 Peter 1:18-19; see notes on The Person and Work of Jesus).

This faith in Jesus is received by hearing His Word (Romans 10:17). The Holy Spirit draws us into this faith in Jesus by convicting us of our sins, righteousness, and judgment (John 16:8-11); thus revealing our need for Him.

Jesus Christ is the only way to salvation (John 14:6).

We are not saved by good works, but rather to do good works (Ephesians 2:10).

The Bible says in Romans 10:9, “that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” This is an act of faith. It’s simply acknowledging that you are a sinner who needs the forgiveness of God in your life so that you can be restored in Him, and that the only way for that to happen is to ‘fully rest in the fact that what Jesus did for you took care of everything’ and ‘begin to follow Him’.

Once saved; the Holy Spirit baptizes the Christian into the Body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:12-15), dwells within them from the moment of salvation (Acts 2:38; Romans 8:9; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20), and seals them until the Day of Redemption (John 6:37-40; John 10;27-30; Romans 8:38-39; 1 Corinthians 1:4-8; 2 Corinthians 1:22; Ephesians 1:13; Ephesians 4:30; Philippians 1:4; 1 Peter 1:5).

The Holy Spirit sanctifies the believer-making them more like Jesus- (John 14:26; Romans 8:9), thus regenerating the believer and giving them a new life (2 Corinthians 5:17).

Those who are saved- Christians/ believers- will be known by their love for one another (John 13:35) and by the Spiritual Fruit- or good works- that they produce (Matthew 7:15-23; Ephesians 2:10).

It is a Christian’s desire to please God and abstain from sin (Romans 7:7-25); so they must not take advantage of God’s grace and the freedom it gives to indulge in sinful activity (Romans 6; 1 Corinthians 8:9-13; Galatians 5:13; Titus 2:11-15; Hebrews 10:26).

As mentioned earlier (in God), there is only one god who exists co-equally and eternally as three persons: God the Father, God the Son Jesus Christ, and God the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is one of those three persons of the Godhead or Trinity.

He is equal and One with God the Father and God the Son as referenced by His power (Micah 3:8; Acts 1:8; 1 Corinthians 2:10), His work in creation (Genesis 1:2; Psalm 104:30), and His omnipresence (Psalm 139:7).  In the New Testament of the Bible the Holy Spirit is clearly called “God” (Acts 5:3-4; John 14:16; 2 Corinthians 3:16-18).

The Holy Spirit is not merely an impersonal force or just an extension of God, but a unique individual that is equally a part of the Godhead or Trinity, shown by His ability to be grieved (Ephesians 4:30), resisted (Acts 7:51), and insulted (Hebrews 10:29).

Before Jesus’ ascension into heaven, He promised that the Holy Spirit would be sent to His followers (John 14:15-17; Acts 1:4-8). On the Day of Pentecost this promise was fulfilled as the Holy Spirit did descend upon the Followers of Jesus (Acts 2:1-40)  and continues to be fulfilled today as the Holy Spirit is active in the world.

The Holy Spirit is active today in convicting the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment (John 16:8-11); thus having an active part in God’s gift of salvation through Jesus(John 6:63; John 3:5-7).

The Holy Spirit baptizes the believer into the Body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:12-15), dwells within every believer from the moment of salvation (Acts 2:38; Romans 8:9; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20), and seals the believer until the Day of Redemption (2 Corinthians 1:22; Ephesians 1:13; Ephesians 4:30).

The Holy Spirit sanctifies the believer-making them more like Jesus- (John 14:26; Romans 8:9), thus regenerating the believer and giving them a new life (2 Corinthians 5:17).

The Holy Spirit comfort us in times of trouble (Acts 9:31), even giving us words to say when we know not what to (Matthew 10:19-20).

The Holy Spirit helps us and empowers us to do God’s work and spread the Good News of Jesus to all men (John 3:34; John 7:38-39; John 15:25-27; Acts 1:8; Acts 9:31). The Holy Spirit gives every believer a Spiritual Gift (or Gifts) to accomplish His work on earth (Romans 12:6-8; 1 Corinthians 12:7-11; Ephesians 4:11-12).