“Hell” Yes

“It’s not what I don’t understand about the Bible that bothers me, it’s what I do understand.” Mark Twain

This excellent quote by one of America’s greatest minds should be true for all people and all times, but especially for us in our humanistic, materialistic day. 

That’s the importance of this discussion at this time. It’s not “What is the exact truth about hell from the Bible?” although that would be good to know. It’s this:  is the Bible relevant to your life? Is God relevant? What he says? What he has done and shown us historically? What he says about the afterlife? Eternity? How relevant is all that to your thinking? And consequently, to how you live your life?

Or has life’s pace and our materialistic culture caused all of that in fact to be removed from your focus? Does it have any practical bearing on your life and actions? Stated another way,  “Are you living like here and now is all there is?”

If that is the case, whether you’ve chosen that path intentionally or been duped into it by our culture and the spirit of our age, like a frog coming to a boil in water,  consider this statement by a young agnostic friend of mine, Michael: “If I’m wrong, the consequences are significant.”

After we have a look at what the Bible says about hell, I don’t really care which view you hold. It’s enough that you know there are two views, both differently held by very bright, truth-seeking theologians through 2000 years of church history. And that you examine the evidence for yourself, along the way learning a little bit about how we study our Bibles to learn truth. And about the God Who reveals truth.

The most important outcome of our look at this is our focus on eternity, the Bible, and Jesus.

If we approach it humbly as I believe Edward Fudge has done, it will make us better witnesses of Christ and his kingdom, as we share our faith and knowledge of truth from the Bible with others.

We will know Jesus better. We will know Christ better. He will be more completely formed in us. And it’s “Christ in you the hope of glory.” Colossians 1:27

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                   Look forward to seeing you at Life Group this Wednesday, Sep 30, 6:30 pm at 1108 Adelaide, Fort Smith... Bring your questions, thoughts, yourselves, and a friend if you like! :) 

                   Our topic for discussion will be "What does the Bible teach about hell?" Focusing on the movie we saw last week, "Hell & Mr. Fudge" Should be interesting!

[Photos taken as I drove across town from men's meeting this morning. :) Seemed apropos :)]