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Reality of Hell

False Salvation

                Sacrament – a divine promise, authorization from Jesus Christ and a physical sign, said the sixteenth century priest, monk and teacher, Martin Luther. However, is baptism nothing more but a declaration of where you stand as a believer, a confirmation to the world that you follow Jesus Christ and not the world?

                Placing the fundamental law of God in place which is separation from him because of his divine perfection and our rebellion, we see that our salvation isn’t granted to us until we are judged. Do Christians stop sinning once they are baptized?

Reality of Hell            

                John Edwards thought that God was like a friend. The first time you ditched this friend, you felt bad and feared their reaction but as soon as they showed grace you repeatedly took their love for granted and continued to ditch them. Similarly, once Christians figured out that God loved them, they took his love, put it in their back pocket and continued living to please themselves and the world. 

               Jonathan Edwards's sermon, "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" was originally preached to scare his audience in to repentance. The sermon starts by stating God’s strength, power and dominion over mankind and the only reason why he doesn’t send the “wicked” into hell is merely because his will doesn’t care to do so. “Men’s hands cannot be strong when God rises up… He is not only able to cast wicked men into hell, but he can most easily do it.”   

                Edward’s then states that man is a petty thing, a pile of dirt, compared to God’s righteousness and that because of God’s divine law of justice men is deserving of death (hell). “They deserve to be cast into hell; so that divine justice never stands in the way, it makes no objection against God’s using his power at any moment to destroy them… justice calls aloud for an infinite punishment of their sins.” Which I believe is correct. The punishment for sin is death. Edward’s called it a “sentence of condemnation to hell.” Which is absolutely true, you are born to sin so there is no way of avoiding eternal damnation outside of Christ. “God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.” What we see from scripture mirrors Edward’s statement that we are born to death, “whoever does not believe is condemned already.” Every time a child is born, they are not born innocent but are rather born prisoners… chained to misery… slaves to sin. John 8:34-35, “…everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be freed.” Romans 6:20-23, “For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

                Edward’s follows his fear igniting statements by writing that Hell holds the wrath of the universe’s most dominant being, God. “They are now the objects of that very same anger and wrath of God, that is expressed in the torments of hell. And the reason why they do not go down to hell at each moment, is not because God, in whose power they are, is not then very angry with them; as he is with many miserable creatures now in hell, who there feel and bear the fierceness of his wrath.” Edwards also makes a brilliant statement of the longevity of Hell and that the reason why God doesn’t just strike down wicked beings is because Hell is eternal. “So that is not because God is unmindful of their wickedness, and does not resent it, that he does not let loose his hand and cut them off. God is not altogether such an one as themselves, though they may imagine him to be so. The wrath of God burns against them, their damnation does not slumber; the pit is prepared, the fire is made ready, the furnace is now hot, ready to receive them; the flames do now rage and glow.” Hell is real; it exists and has been in service since God invented it.

                The next paragraph in the sermon is extraordinary… remarkable. The way he uses the devil in his speech only makes you wonder where the devil is right now, what he is doing and if he stares at you at night. “The devil stands ready to fall upon them, and seize the as his own, at what moment God shall permit him. They belong to him; he has their souls in his possession, and under his dominion… the devils watch them; they are ever by them at their right hand; they stand waiting for them, like greedy hungry lions that see their prey, and expect to have it, but are for the present kept back. If God should withdraw his hand, by which they are restrained, they would in one moment fly upon their poor souls. The old serpent is gaping for them; hell opens its mouth wide to receive them; and if God should permit it, they would be hastily swallowed up and lost.” He notes that the devil is under God’s authority… therefore not at war against one another which kills the notion of God wanting us to love him and the devil wanting us to fall so he can devour us.

                 The last section of the sermon is about mankind trying to escape hell either by their “good works” or by being over confident fools in believing that they can cheat God’s divine laws. “Almost every natural man that hears of hell, flatters himself that he shall escape it; he depends upon himself for his own security; he flatters himself in what he has done, in what he is now doing, or what he intends to do. Every one lays out matters in his own mind how he shall avoid damnation, and flatters himself that he contrives well for himself, and that his schemes will not fail. They hear indeed that there are but few saved, and that the greater part of men that have died heretofore are gone to hell; but each one imagines that he lays out matters better for his own escape that others have done. He does not intend to come to that place of torment; he says within himself, that he intends to take effectual care, and to order matters so for himself as not to fail. But the foolish children of men miserably delude themselves in their own schemes, and in confidence in their own strength and wisdom.”

RESPECT

Ephesians 5:17-33

Contemporary English Version (CEV)

¹⁷ Don’t be stupid. Instead, find out what the Lord wants you to do. ¹⁸ Don’t destroy yourself by getting drunk, but let the Spirit fill your life. ¹⁹ When you meet together, sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, as you praise the Lord with all your heart. ²⁰ Always use the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to thank God the Father for everything.

Wives and Husbands

²¹ Honor Christ and put others first. ²² A wife should put her husband first, as she does the Lord. ²³ A husband is the head of his wife, as Christ is the head and the Savior of the church, which is his own body. ²⁴ Wives should always put their husbands first, as the church puts Christ first.
²⁵ A husband should love his wife as much as Christ loved the church and gave his life for it.²⁶ He made the church holy by the power of his word, and he made it pure by washing it with water. ²⁷ Christ did this, so that he would have a glorious and holy church, without faults or spots or wrinkles or any other flaws.
²⁸ In the same way, a husband should love his wife as much as he loves himself. A husband who loves his wife shows that he loves himself. ²⁹ None of us hate our own bodies. We provide for them and take good care of them, just as Christ does for the church, ³⁰ because we are each part of his body. ³¹ As the Scriptures say, “A man leaves his father and mother to get married, and he becomes like one person with his wife.” ³² This is a great mystery, but I understand it to mean Christ and his church. ³³ So each husband should love his wife as much as he loves himself, and each wife should respect her husband.








I read this when I got out of class.
Lord knows why...

Our God... who is love, order, creator etc... perfectly gives us instructions. Husbands, love your wives. Wives, respect your husbands.

Be an example for your kids. Project Christ through your marriage. 

close your mouth

While I jogged at the park on Tuesday night I inhaled odors of a decaying animal and swallowed a spider when I jogged past its web with my mouth open.

U.S. Border Patrol

not a fan of jesus

Monday Night at Destino we were asked, "What have you learned from Not a Fan?"
I answered, "I think I am more reflective of my actions."
I always have been but I have been catching myself while I'm being a brat and immediately stab my stupid fits.

For example, Sunday night I bought myself some steak because I have been feeling pretty crappy physically. I wake up and feel knots in my throat... I feel every ounce of starch hugging everything I eat and keeping it there with it. Anyway...

I go home on Monday and see that most of it was gone.
They cooked my meat.
They didn't ask me.
They didn't cook any for me.

There I was at home also thinking to myself, "I bought these stupid expensive bowls and they're using them as damn waste baskets?" So I grab my bowl and dump everything in it onto the sink.

Wait... I'm an adult... I can cook for myself. They're my family... they shouldn't have to ask... and it is just meat... it is just food...

Fighting against my pride... against my inner selfish brat... I grabbed the pineapple from the sink... every soggy cinnamon toast crunch and put it back... I washed the dishes everyone ate from. I washed the pan they cooked my meat in... and it made me happy.

I shouldn't expect my mom to cook for me... I should be cooking for my mom.

I've learned something from Not a Fan.
I learned that love defeats everything.
I learned that God blesses us and it is up to us to use those blessings to bless other people.

I learned that I need to stop feeling like I am deserving.
I learned that I need to stop feeling entitled to His gifts and share.

______________________

Really tired of school.
Tired of not understanding.
Tired of feeling defeated.

I have two exams tomorrow and I haven't started on my study guide that consists of over 200 historic terms of John Milton's life because I have been working my butt off to try and understand logic... but as of now, it seems like I have been wasting my time because

I don't understand.

I hate being worked up over school because at the end of the day.... it is just school.

Exams determine where you are... what you need to work on... I'm going to remember that... these moments or days before the exam, that make everyone nervous, are just a time for preparation... training to kick ass at your competition... practice to be prepared when you're out on the hardwood.

I want to get this over with.

learning

I used to think that I didn't have to listen... take in lessons from bad teachers... but 

then I would convince myself that they were older... that they were wiser 

and that pride was preventing me from learning... 

It's a bit vague but I can apply it in every aspect of my life. From church to basketball... I don't know when that changed though. Because it did... I talked about not being able to learn from people I didn't have faith in. I can't learn from people who seem intellectually parallel to me. 

On Friday the 13th, I sat in class with all of my fellow classmates while we went over our logic homework. I stormed out of class because I was upset... upset that I didn't know what was going on because the professor was allowing students to be wrong... I don't like that. I HATE THAT. I don't want to be someone else's guinea pig... a tool for someone else's benefit... I don't want to be a student who sits down and is fed a bunch of bull until the one trying to teach, figures out a way to succeed... my reason for that is because I get so damn confused and I am trying to learn too.

This came from my Professor saying that we will learn when we try to teach one another... WHAT THE... I thought that was a great idea until I figured out that I can't sit down and let someone try to teach me if they aren't sure they know what they're teaching... 

But I don't want to say I'm not teachable... I don't want to say I am not coachable... because I am... my "teacher" has to establish some sort of credibility in my mind before though.