Perhaps Hell Ain’t So Bad

I had a good conversation with a couple of friends recently which led to my expressing some of the ideas I have on a topic that I don’t think about very often and express my opinion about it to others even less. For the most part, I don’t express my opinions on this topic because, number one I don’t think it is as important as several more positive things I can think of, and number two I think that there are already too many people expressing too many “worse than true” things about it already.

Here are a couple of links  that I think useful for you to get while I am not ready to swallow that old “everyone is going to burn in hell and die” doctrine. I’m actually more on the side of believing that everyone who lives for the reason that they were created, God’s will, will go onto eternal life. And that otherwise you’ll just simply go on into oblivion. The latter which is no better or no worse than the average agnostic or atheistic belief that you simply become worm food :-)

I don’t follow all of the following two link’s ideas hook line and sinker either. But at least these articles bring up some of the things that I think have been overlooked while that old doctrinal junk is still circulated throughout many cultures, especially the good ol’south. My final opinions on hell?; well I don’t think that I’ve really come to a conclusion which I am ready to stand on. And I don’t think that it’s necessary for me to come to one for me to focus my life on doing what I think God wants of me.

http://www.matthewmcgee.org/helwords.html
http://www.wrestedscriptures.com/b03hell/mark9v43-48.html

A Little Benjamin Franklin Reading

Did a little reading on Benjamin Franklin this morning. I was particularly looking for a quote that a friend gave me a few years ago. This friend wrote it down for me carefully on a piece of paper and it was valuable enough for me to buy a frame for it and post it in my office. I found it again at the website http://www.sfheart.com/FranklinsVirtues.html .

“In reality, there is, perhaps, no one of our natural passions so hard to subdue as pride. Disguise it, struggle with it, beat it down, stifle it, mortify it as much as one pleases, it is still alive, and will every now and then peep out and show itself; you will see it, perhaps, often in this history; for, even if I could conceive that I had compleatly overcome it, I should probably be proud of my humility.” Benjamin Franklin 1741.

Anyhow, in addition to the quote I found a great number of other great things that Benjamin Franklin thought. When I say “great things” I am actually referring to God things (many which are found in the hebrew and greek scriptures). Though this may not be a popular thought in American culture, I find it impossible that anyone can have any greatness without God. And to say “that goes without saying” is to take acknowlegement away from God that should not be taken away.

Godly Ambitions

Taken from the Sunday, July 9, 2006 devotion at http://daybyday.org/

Today’s Devotional Reading
Godly Ambitions

“Delight thyself also in the Lord and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart” (Ps.37:4).

The greatest rewards are those that are often overlooked–and almost always unexpected. Psalms 37:4, at first look, might seem like a statement of cause and effect. A person may read the verse by itself and quickly deduce that if he was to “delight” in God, then he could have what he wants. The problem is that the focus often shifts from the first part of the verse to the second. And so the verse is understood to tell a person that if he wants to get what he wants out of life, then all he need do is delight himself in the Lord. The result is that the person attempts to live a lifestyle that he believes will please God, so that he can have what he wants from this life.

An example might be a person who, knowing that God rewards giving, decides to give twenty percent of his income to the church, feeling certain that God will give more to him than what he had to begin with. The problem with this line of thinking is when the motivation is more focused upon getting a desired reward rather than being a delight to God. But as a person’s focus is directed toward the first part of Psalms 34:7 (”Delight thyeself in the Lord”), then the rest of the verse falls into place. For as we draw near to God and delight to do His will, the desires of our heart are steadily transformed. Our ambitions, goals and aspirations begin to change–in perspective at least, if not also in direction. For what we desire moves away from selfish desire and moves toward godly ambition. We move away from pouring ourselves into doing what will bring us pleasure and seek how we might please God instead. And as we do, God grants us the desires of our heart because our desires have become a smaller reflection of His greater glory.

Jesus told us that “whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for [Jesus'] sake shall find it” (Matthew 16:25). Our greatest rewards will come when we do not seek them. As we seek to “lose” our lives, we open ourselves up to be the instruments of God’s purpose, to accomplish His will on earth. Living this way will bring us great rewards, and that is because we do not seek rewards. We do not seek to store up treasures in heaven and we do not do our righteous acts so that God will reward us–we simply do them because–and we require nothing in return. If our only reason to live the Christian life is to gain better reward then we have missed the point. Following Christ means sacrifice of our wants and giving up of personal desires so that God’s greater good will prevail.

Faith Taken

Written by Malu Bamba

Not having faith in God is the worst thing that could happen to a person. Apart from God, we are nothing. Apart from God, we live a miserable life. When we turn away from that truth it is the enemy that put the scales on our eyes which makes it difficult, but not impossible, to see.

In the retreat I went to this past weekend, one of the stories that I’ve heard is that for every perfect creation that God has made -which refers to man, Satan has created a replica whose qualities are a complete distortion of what God has made. Satan is trying to deceive us to believe we can never be happy, that we can never be contented, that we can never be satisfied, and that we will never be successful to contradict the beautiful plan that God has prepared for all of us.

I feel sad when anyone has been blinded about what Jesus has done for all of us on the cross. Jesus has already bought us from Satan and has redeeemed us from all iniquities. We just have to accept and believe that. Every single drop of blood, every bruise on Jesus’ body represents all past, present and future sins that He has already redeemed us from. Satan has no longer power over us and he can never snatch us away from the Father’s hand. That belief and faith will keep Satan from triumphing over us once again.

Anne Rice Returns

Thought I’d share this rather good news with a few friends that I thought might be able to enjoy it. Anne Rice, the popular Vampire story writer has returned to submission (giving her life) to God. In her own words she has committed “that from now on I would write only for the Lord.”

What’s up with her? “For the last six months,” she says, “people have been sending e-mails saying, ‘What are you doing next?’ And I’ve told them, ‘You may not want what I’m doing next’.” We’ll know soon. In two weeks, Anne Rice, the chronicler of vampires, witches and—under the pseudonym A. N. Roquelaure—of soft-core S&M encounters, will publish “Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt,” a novel about the 7-year-old Jesus, narrated by Christ himself. “I promised,” she says, “that from now on I would write only for the Lord.” It’s the most startling public turnaround since Bob Dylan’s “Slow Train Coming” announced that he’d been born again. Excerpt from this story.

My thoughts? Well, I find this encouraging. Though I don’t want anyone to get caught up in her or anyone elses celebrity status. I would be just as happy about a couple of friends that I can think of turning their lives to God. What makes this exciting for me is that I know enough about her to know the type of turn-around that she had to make to make the decision to give up her life as she had had it before, and then to say here Lord, now I will only write for you.

Don’t Hate Ted

I read this article about a man named Ted Junker of Millard. He has created a memorial to Hitler and I am concerned that the same hate that Hitler is blamed for, will not in
fact be the same hate that others use against someone who doesn’t
believe Hitler was the vile human being that is commonly accepted that
he was.

The ‘lie’ is that somehow and eventually hate will solve the problem
that hate started. What often happens is someone harms those they think
are the problem, and then they do the same thing to the next one that
comes along, and eventually the destroying of others corrupts the
person or the group so they become desensitized to it.

The only thing that I could ever see trumping that is when a truly
loving and gentle person believes that God has led them to stop a
certain opposition. As I write that I don’t want that to say I am a
Bush supporter. Because it sounds like his campaign motto.

I will however say that I would rather someone act in the name of the
creator of everything, than act without any recognition of a creator at
all. Because I don’t think that anything goes unnoticed by God. And
even the killings and other atrocities of the Catholic church did not
go uncorrected eventually. No, I’m not advocating them either :-p

And for those of us that live with God as our hope, when all is said
and done we will be fine. If however a person’s only hope is in
whatever level of prosperity that they will find in this lifetime, then
that person will usually have their hope weakened and disappointed; if
not dashed to pieces. Because a lifetime with everything always “going
your way” simply isn’t going to happen. Not even for the very wealthy.

Brief Idea on Choosing God’s Best

I believe that God’s will is the most important thing when it comes to live and everything. His will ‘is’ the point of everything; friends, family,
relationships, and so much more. Although I believe
that God has taught me many things about this previously over the
years, I have also read a book called
“Choosing God’s Best“.

Now I don’t blindly follow everything in the book, however many of the
things that were written there emphasize things that I believe
that God has been teaching me for years. It just makes a whole lot of
sense. For instance the idea that we should focus on being who we think
God wants us to be and let God match who (if anyone) that we should be
with for the rest of our lives. And also this whole “dating thing” is a
pretty new concept that
has been around for a mere one hundred years or so.

I’ll have
to write more about that book and the impact that thoughts like that have had on my life
another time. However, in sumary what makes the most of my day is what
God wants us to be is the most
important thing. And as far as what happens between my friend Malu and myself simply depends on God’s timing. We are involved in that decision of course. God does want us to use the mind he gave us. It’s our choice to go with God’s plan, or our plan. And the two plans
are more often than not; different. After all, God is a whole lot
smarter than we are.

THE SPARROW AT STARBUCKS

I've copied THE SPARROW AT STARBUCKS below. I don't know the author but I hope to run into them one day. I can relate to their experience, I believe that God operates this way in all of our lives. We just have to "stop and listen". I'll post their story here for now.

……………………

THE SPARROW AT STARBUCKS
by: Winda

It was chilly in Manhattan but warm inside the Starbucks shop on 51st Street and Broadway, just a skip up from Times Square. Early November weather in New York City holds only the slightest hint of the bitter chill of late December and January, but it's enough to send the masses crowding indoors to vie for available space and warmth.

For a musician, it's the most lucrative Starbucks location in the world, I'm told, and consequently, the tips can be substantial if you play your tunes right. Apparently, we were striking all the right chords that night, because our basket was almost overflowing.

Dreams come true in Fayetteville

At 48, Faheem Martin started over.
Copied from United Way’s story (just in case it is ever deleted)

Homeless and a drug addict, Faheem had hit the bottom. Even other addicts knew his life was in danger and took him to the Fulton Drug and Alcohol Center, where he spent 38 days in detox. Faheem was then sent to United Way-funded Trinity Community Ministries. There he was challenged to completely transform his life.

Faheem completed the Trinity House program, learning basic life skills, how to maintain a checking account and how to get a job. He worked at a factory where he was quickly promoted. But the plant closed, and Faheem faced a crisis again. Trinity House alumni helped him see that this was an opportunity to use all that he knew about drug life to become a counselor.

He completed college study he had begun years before, and now Faheem works as a substance abuse counselor for the P.A.C.E.R. (Pre-treatment Addiction Counseling, Education and Referral) program at The Resource Opportunity Center (The ROCK). He also teaches classes on avoiding the risks of returning to drugs and living on the streets. Last year, Faheem helped more than 700 people get into pre-treatment programs.

Terrorism, & Corrupt Leadership

Had a friend of mine email me this morning about the increasing problems in the leadership of the U.S. government, the lack of personal responsibility, political interest and education by the general public, and his views on a few of the current headlines on war and terrorism.

Personally I don’t worry about it; I just act. But I don’t do what makes sense to me, I just do the “good things” I can tell that I’m being led to do. “Talk to the clerk at the counter, tell him about what you do on the streets of Atlanta.”, “Go have your lunch next to that rough looking guy outside. Don’t worry, he’ll start talking first.”, “Say hello to that older woman next to you at the Internet cafe.”, etc etc.

And who knows? When I opened up my mouth did I just say something that changed the course of someone’s life? Did what I say lead to something else “good”? Were they one step closer to deciding that were going to cut off everyone around them?, Did what I say just influence the sister of the best friend of one of our political leaders?, Did this woman just have a ‘really’ bad day and I helped her see something better so she can now help someone else?, Or was this person going to kill themselves today? … I don’t know. But what I ‘do’ know, is that if I follow this idea, that I recognize as good, that whatever happens will be a better plan than what I could have ever come up with. :-)

But if I do ‘nothing’, then I simply become one of the guys that Edmund Burke spoke about when he said, “All it takes for evil to triumph is for good men to stand by and do nothing.” (1) However what I have learned is that if there is anything good in this world, then God came up with it first :-)