Category: God’s wrath and hell

  • The Walking Dead

    zombies

    Our society is fascinated with the idea of zombies, the so-called  “walking dead”. Your local bookstore probably has all kinds of zombie stories. Numerous television shows and movies feature battles against the living dead as a central theme.

    I believe that the walking dead are all around us, but they aren’t anything like the media portrays them. These people seem perfectly normal, even happy in many ways. Their faces are not grotesque masks, and their body parts are not falling off. These dead are ordinary in every way.

    All people are dead in their sin and trespass. All of us start as walking dead and continue unless God releases us.

    “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” Romans 3:23 ESV

    Our sin destines us for eternal living torment. Unless we are born again of the Spirit, we never truly experience living.

    “Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’” John 3:4-7 ESV

    It is no exaggeration to say that the vast majority of people you see around you daily are dead in their sins. They are the walking dead.

    The dead cannot seek God. The dead cannot choose God. We must take the gospel to them and allow the Spirit to do the work of bringing them back from among the vast hordes of the dead.

    The cure for the actual walking dead isn’t to shoot or stab them in the head. It is to bring Jesus to them.

    Many Christians are hesitant to share the truth of Jesus. It is often fear that holds us back. Fear of rejection or of messing up the message, and more, can inhibit us. Yet, our message is the only hope these people have. All other ways leave them on the path of destruction.

    How significant is the need? Next time you’re out and about, take a look around. Most people you encounter are walking dead in their sin and have no way to rescue themselves.

    Unlike the zombies of fiction, these people cannot bring you into their realm. They cannot undo the work of Christ. We might stumble over them for a while, but we are secure in Christ, so there is no reason to fear them.

    Death has no hold on the believer; it has lost its sting. We will physically die, but our future is a berth in glory. The devil may accuse us, and our stumbles mark us as guilty, but the righteousness of Christ Himself redeems us.

    I urge you to look around with open eyes to see how big the harvest field truly is. Then, may you share the truth of freedom and life.

    Be blessed

    Hallelu Yah / Praise God 

    Kevin

    Are you truly alive
    The Gospel – the best news you will ever hear

  • Fear Factor and the forbidden fruit

    Warnings against sexual sin

    Four of us sat around the campfire talking about skydiving and  bungee jumping. Two of the four of us have jumped out of a perfectly good aircraft, but none of us had been brave (foolish?) enough to jump off of a perfectly good structure while tied to a rubber band. 

    Neither of the two skydivers was particularly experienced. My friend had jumped once, and I have two jumps to my credit (one with a problem chute and the other a crash landing). We are far from experts.

    Of the two non-jumpers, one has taken advanced helicopter survival training, which involves jumping from a substantial height into the water while wearing a specially designed flotation suit. My friend is a non-swimmer, so this literally involved a great leap of faith. It was an experience that he will never forget, but prays he will never have to repeat.

    All of us agreed that there is a critical moment of no return. You realize, if only for a second, that you have crossed a fine line and there is no going back. You have up to that exact moment to say no. Afterwards, it is too late.

    The four of us “got to pontificating” about the myriad of ways that people seek to find that adrenaline rush that pushes you to the enjoyable edge of fear. Insert too much fear, and the experience becomes simply frightening. Not enough adrenaline, and it is a waste of time.

    Some people have pushed themselves so far and so often that they have become adrenaline junkies. They seek the rush no matter what the cost. Many have died in the pursuit of it. They keep pushing the fear factor, seeking more thrills. Like any other addiction, it soon takes more and more to satisfy the “need” for adrenaline.

    I will probably never again jump out of a perfectly serviceable aircraft. Yet, the adrenaline rush was enough that just seeing someone do it actually makes my heart race a little faster, and the adrenaline kicks in. It would not have taken much more to “hook me” into the “need for the rush”. I think that sin often functions the same way.

    Many things seem all the more exciting and inviting just because they are “forbidden” or there is a risk of some form involved in getting caught. Once a person falls into the trap, they keep going back again and again. It is no wonder that the writer of Proverbs tells us to exercise godly wisdom over sin.

    The verses I have chosen to illustrate this point deal specifically with the sin of adultery, but the precepts can be applied to any sinful temptation.

    My son, be attentive to my wisdom; incline your ear to my understanding,that you may keep discretion, and your lips may guard knowledge.For the lips of a forbiddenwoman drip honey, and her speech is smoother than oil,but in the end she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword.Her feet go down to death; her steps follow the path to Sheol;she does not ponder the path of life; her ways wander, and she does not know it. And now, O sons, listen to me, and do not depart from the words of my mouth.Keep your way far from her, and do not go near the door of her house,lest you give your honor to others and your years to the merciless,lest strangers take their fill of your strength, and your labors go to the house of a foreigner,and at the end of your life you groan, when your flesh and body are consumed,and you say, “How I hated discipline, and my heart despised reproof!I did not listen to the voice of my teachers or incline my ear to my instructors.I am at the brink of utter ruin in the assembled congregation.” Proverbs 5:1-14 ESV

    Run away! Take off! Remove yourself from temptation.

    If you have fallen, Christ will forgive you, but you will always carry the scarring. All sin creates scars. It wounds relationships, destroys trust, and brings consequences that will follow you. 

    Perhaps in the end, you will be able to keep it secret from everyone except God, but even that secrecy will have cost you something.

    You are far better off to have run away in the first place.

    Until next time, resist the temptation to look over the precipice into sin. You never know when the ground will collapse and suddenly find yourself someplace that you will forever regret going.

    Be blessed

    Hallelu Yah / Praise God 

    Kevin

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