nakapagblog din sa wakas.. it's been a long time.. ayun, wala pa ring nagcocomment. pero ok lang it's my hobby by the way. i'm enjoying expressing myself anyways. wala naman akong pake kung mayroong nakikialam sa buhay ko. pro kung meron then pabor. salamat.

and the reason why my enjoyment had been interfered at so much time because of the damn THESIS! ang hirap kaya, sangkatutak na oras ang nasayang sa kakaisip ng proposal, paggawa ng rough drafts at i-encode to be our thesis documents, pagdrawing ng mga diagrams at flowcharts, pag-kalkula ng mga dapat ikalkula, at ang higit sa lahat ang paggawa ng SYSTEM PROGRAM!. ikaw ba namang gagawa ng sistemang babago sa kinagisnang sistema na ginagamit sa pangkasalukuyan, haayy ang lalim, in short, its a NIGHTMARE.

may mga pagkakataong natatagpuan namin ang aming mga sarili sa bahay nila RAYMOND VINCENT D. TAN at kumakain ng masarap na ulam, delisciouso!. may mga pagkakataong nakaratay lang kami sa bahay nila, nakatunganga, magdodota na lang habang may ka-chat sa Camfrog. may mga pagkakataong nahuhuli sa pasahan ng mga programs at documents, mas madalas ang pagakakataong naiinggit kami sa ganda ng mga gawa ng iba. how envious of me ^^. mas maraming pagkaktaon pa na nagdodota lang kaming magkakasama, haay, dota, di ka matiis. at etong malupet, sa gitna ng aming masusing paggawa ay nagkaroon pa ng hindi ko malaman kung hidwaan ba o isyu lang, may paki ako kasi involved kami. may lumipat sa grupo namin para saluhan kami sa iniinom naming lason. itago na lang natin siya sa pangalang JAYSON A. GONZALES. tinanggap namin siya sa grupo namin, di  ko alam pero binubugaw nanaman kami ng isyu dahil doon. haay, bahala na, siya ang lumapit, wala kaming dahilang tumanggi at okey naman daw sa pinanggalingan niya.(i hope so..)

sa kabilang bansa, ang laking adjustment para sa amin yung ginagawa namin ngayon. syempre, mga isip bata pa kami nung panahon na yun tapos bigla na lang na inenroll namin ang subject na Thesis1 mula sa kawalan at tapos nun parang wala lang sa amin tapos pa-lie low, lie low pang nalalaman, di gaya ng mga nauna naming subjects na kahit di ka pumasok sa subject ay oks lang kasi makakbawi ka naman agad, magmula non. HELL pare, HELL! pero , dito nagsimula ang pagkusa namin, naging initiative tapos naging straightforward pa ang mga ginagawa namin. today, we're aiming to  the true goal of passing this course.

sa ngayon, ang paglalakbay at pakikibaka namin sa pangarap namin (naks, senti) ay di pa matatapos sa ganitong kabilis na panahon lamang. hanggang susunod na semester pa kami maghihirap, mag-iisip, magsisikap, magdodrowing, magpupuyat, magpoprogram, magdodota at mag-cacamfrog. haha!

geh im outta here..

If any of you should ask me for an epitome of the Christian religion, I should say that it is in one word -- prayer.  Live and die without prayer, and you will pray long enough when you get to hell.

- Charles Spurgeon

Title: Eyes to See, Ears to Hear
Text: Mark 8:14-21

Teaching Synopsis
We kick off our new series by looking at how we determine reality and the impact that can have on our relationship with God.  There are two ways in which we measure reality:

1. The Physical World understood by Science
2. The Spiritual World understood by Religion

In this teaching we looked at three examples that illustrate the collision of these two ways of understanding:

1. Example 1: Physical Health & Illness (Luke 13:10-12)
2. Example 2: Personal Economy & Finances (Matthew 17:27)
3. Example 3: Personal Ambition (Matthew 6:24)

For more information about Pathway visit www.pathway-church.org

Download this Podcast: Eyes to See, Ears to Hear

• Can't Hardly Wait - Me and some friends at school decided to skip some assembly and walk down the street to the local multiplex. One friend said that this movie was supposed to be amazing. I had never heard of it. I agreed and we all found a nice spot in the middle and watched a movie. This was an awful piece of crap. The movie wasn't funny when it was trying to be funny; the love story was completely unbelievable and the characters were just plain annoying.
• Men in Black - My brother asked me if I wanted to see a movie with him. I said sure. Turns out it was him, his ladyfriend at the time and her younger sister. I caught on to the plan pretty quickly. I don't know how the film was decided, but we all sat down, popcorn in hand for what looked like a funny movie. Well, the movie wasn't funny at all. But don't try and tell that to the guy behind me. He laughed at everything Will Smith said.
• A History of Violence - Everybody tells me this was a great movie, but nobody can explain to me why. The acting was subpar, the story was awful and the ending was not satisfying in the least.
• Men with Brooms - Canadian literature professor in college suggest we all go watch this movie and discuss it later in class. I actually took a pen and paper into the theatre to make notes on this film so I could add something in that discussion. I no longer have that note paper, but the jist of it was "This movie blows HARD!" Frankly, I'm baffled as to how, even in Canada, Paul Gross finds work. He can't act to save his life. His direction, almost as bad as Kevin Smith's in Chasing Amy.

So, what awful movies did you manage to sit through?

A thought provoking short film from Dark Heart Productions that has won all sorts of accolades on YouTube. It begs the inevitable question: What would you do?

Yamraj was waiting for this moment at the doorsteps of death. He asks PVNR and Advani to go to HEAVEN. But, for Laloo, Yamraj had already decided that he should be sent to the HELL.

Laloo is not at all happy with this decision. He asks Yamraj as to why this discrimination is being made. All the three of them had served the public. Similarly all misused public positions, etc. Then why the differential treatment? It's famous on the earth.

He felt that there should be a formal test or an objective evaluation before a decision is finally made; and should not be just assessed on opinion or pre conceived notions. Yamraj joyfully agrees to this and asks all the three of them to appear for an English test.

PVNR is asked to spell "INDIA" and he does it correctly. Advani is asked to spell "ENGLAND" and he too passes. It is Laloo's turn and he is asked to spell "CZECHOSLOVAKIA".

Laloo protests that he doesn't know English. He says this is not fair and that he was given a tough question and thus forced to fail with false intent. Yamraj then agrees to conduct a written test in Hindi (to give another chance assuming that Laloo should at least feel that Hindi would provide an equal platform for all three).

PVNR is asked to write "KUTTA BOLA BHOW BHOW". He writes it easily and passes. Advani is asked to write "BILLY BOLI MYAUN MYAUN". He too passes.

Laloo is asked to write "BANDAR BOLA GURRRRRR....." Tough one. He fails again.

Laloo is extremely unhappy & annoyed. Having been a student of history (which the other two weren't), he now requested for all the three to be subjected to a test in history.Yamraj says OKAY! but this would be the last chance and that he would not take any more tests thereafter.

PVNR is asked: "When did India get Independence? " He replied "1947" and passed.
Advani is asked "How many people died during the independence struggle?" He gets nervous. Yamraj asked him to choose from 3 options: 1,00,000 or 2,00,000 or 3,00,000. Advani catches it & says 200,000 and passes.

It's Laloo's turn now. Yamraj asks him to give the Name and Address of each of the 2,00,000 who died in the freedom struggle of India. Laloo accepts defeat and agrees to go to HELL.

Moral:
IF YOUR MANAGEMENT HAS DECIDED TO MESS UP YOUR LIFE, THERE IS NO ESCAPE WHAT SO EVER...

When I think about the inward condition of my heart….
…I want to Fast and Pray!!

When I think about the condition of the American Church today…
…I want to Fast and Pray!!

When I think about the plastic TMZ society that glorifies fame and sin….
…I want to Fast and Pray!!

When I think about the Youth who are going thru so many problems….
…I want to Fast and Pray!!

When I think about the strategic efforts of Gangs to recruit….
…I want to Fast and Pray!!

When I think about bubble-gum chewing, yawning “Christians”….
…I want to Fast and Pray!!

When I think about the Power that’s available to bring Salvation and do miracles….
…I want to Fast and Pray!!

When I think about the lost who are still waiting to hear the Gospel….
…I want to Fast and Pray!!

When I think about the Judgment Seat of Christ….
…I want to Fast and Pray!!

When I think of the torment of souls crying in Hell….
…I want to Fast and Pray!!

I WANT TO FAST AND PRAY!!

I. What is hell?
Most simply, hell is existence without God.

Jesus spoke more about hell than anyone else in the Bible, and the New Testament gives a clearer picture of the fate of the dead than does the Old. Many parables Jesus told about the Kingdom of God also mention the fate those who were rejected from it. The descriptions of and about it include: torment [1]; fire [2]; darkness [3]; worms [4]; weeping and gnashing of teeth [5]; soul and body are destroyed in it [6]; and it is better to lose a part of your body and be in heaven than be whole and in hell [7].

II. The language of hell.
There are several words in the Bible translated “hell”. The most common are the Hebrew “Sheol”, translated metonymously as “the grave”, and the Greek “Hades”. Both Sheol and Hades denote the realm of all the dead, whether they were righteous or evil in life. Nevertheless, there are indications that the final state of the righteous will be better than that of those who live their own way. Jesus’ tale of the rich man and Lazarus pictures Hades as an existence of torment in fire, while Lazarus is in paradise with Abraham [8]. As far as they are synonymous, Sheol and Hades seem to be temporary: divided and unbridgeable waiting rooms for all people until the final judgment, when death and Hades will be thrown into a lake of fire [9].

Another word used to denote hell is “Gehenna”, which Jesus used as a picture of judgment. The word apparently referred to the “valley of (the sons of) Hinnom”, just outside Jerusalem. This valley was the city’s rubbish dump, where a fire constantly burned; destroying everything thrown into it. Unlike Hades, what is said about Gehenna, although as description and not definition, indicates that it is the final domicile of humans who reject God.

As for the rebellious angels, some of them at least are kept in gloomy dungeons; the sentence of God called tartaroō (ō pronounced oh), translated “sent ... to hell” [10]. The word implies a connection with Tartarus, which in Greek mythology is analogous to hell. 2 Peter is the only place in the Bible that uses the word, and there is no explicit indication how Tartarus compares to Hades or Gehenna except that, like Hades, it is a temporary holding place for the dead. Then, at the final judgment the devil, his followers, and all who reject God’s self-testimony will be thrown into a lake of fire, where they “will be tormented night and day for ever and ever” [11].

Hades; Gehenna; Tartarus; the lake of fire: none of them promise anything pleasant for those who dwell in them.

III. Who rules in hell?
There is a belief that if you were bad, you would go to hell and be tortured by demons. It may have arisen from well-meaning people, or possibly by exasperated parents, using the stick-and-carrot method (or rather, the stick-and-stick-and-more-stick method) to improve others’ behaviour. In any case, the misconception is popular in movies and TV shows about hell: Little Nicky, Ghost, Charmed and so on. Demons are fallen angels, so it seems reasonable that if they oppose God, and God is in heaven, then they will be in hell. The Bible says that angels are more powerful than humans, so demons would be higher in the infernal hierarchy [12].

The misconception is that anyone in hell has power over anyone else. The Bible nowhere says that demons control hell and have the power to determine how a person is punished. On the contrary it is Jesus who holds the keys to death and hell [13]. When Jesus was confronted by a legion of demons who possessed the man from Gadara (or Gerasa), they begged Jesus not to torture them before the appointed time [14]. Revelation 20 says that Satan was bound, and thrown into the abyss, which was then locked and sealed [15]. After that, at the final judgment the devil and his followers will be thrown into a lake of fire, where they “will be tormented night and day for ever and ever” [16]. Does this sound like demons are in control of hell? Perhaps, from the use of the passive voice (“they will be”), people inferred that someone inflicts the torment but would burning in eternal fire not be torment enough?

Maybe the idea that the devil controls hell arose from several reasons: first, passages such as those in Ephesians 2, that we once “followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient”, and Colossians 1, that God “rescued us from the dominion of darkness” [17]. Second, as people tried to following God’s reasoning that led to the Cross they asked, Who required payment for our sins? Why could God not just forgive without a sacrifice? One of the answers was that we belonged to Satan’s kingdom, so the devil required payment. The logic behind this theory is flawed: it is God who we have wronged, not Satan; and although that ancient dragon is more powerful than any other created being, he has no power to hold us if God has chosen to set us free.

There are other reasons, albeit inferential and less convincing (to me), to think that the devil doesn’t rule hell, or will have any control over us. By its nature hell is a state of existence where God is not. His gifts to us – thought, feeling and so on – are not taken from us in as far as they are an essential part of human nature. We will retain these abilities, but there will be nothing on which we can use them except ourselves because one of the chief gifts from God is the ability to relate to others and to the world, being able to affect one another by sharing thoughts and feelings. This ability to relate includes being able to govern: in Genesis, God commanded the man and woman to rule over the Earth as His caretakers. In hell, our ability to relate will not be taken away but anything with which we can relate will be: the Earth, other sentient creatures like people and angels, even fallen ones. To torment and be tormented are kinds of rule and relationship and no doubt, it would give Satan pleasure to do so. But pleasure and hell cannot coexist in the same universe.

IV. Do people stay in hell forever or just for a time?
Some Christians do not believe that the experience of hell lasts forever but for a limited length of time. They might appeal to the fact that only God alone is immortal by nature, so people won’t exist forever in hell [18]. But how can people then live forever in heaven if we aren’t immortal? The logical answer is that God enables us to [19]. Fair enough; even so, on what basis does God decide how much or how long people are to suffer in hell before being annihilated? (They will not be permitted to enter heaven, because Hebrews points out that it is “today” we are given to turn to God. “Today”, the time we have to accept God’s offer of forgiveness, will end when we die or God ends this world. If we have not committed ourselves to God by then, it will be too late.)

The Bible says that people will be destroyed, not annihilated, which means to cease to exist. It might be argued that anything kept in a fire for long enough will be as close to annihilation as it can get but this proposition has flaws; firstly, the debatable validity of the natural-otherworldly analogy; secondly, it is an argument from silence; and thirdly, the definition of “annihilate”. Walter Martin pointed out that “annihilate” and “destroy” aren’t synonyms: a car can be destroyed – it can no longer function as a car – but it still exists, warped and crushed and in pieces perhaps. It is not annihilated, which means to not exist; to not be. So in hell, people are not annihilated but destroyed: all that they might have achieved and been will be lost. There will be no relationship, no comfort, no hope, no joy.

This distinction between “destroy” and “annihilate” may be valid for us who speak English but I don’t know if the Greek has a word for “annihilate”, although it can say that something is not: the words are pronounced “ook ohn”. What the Bible does say is that the fire of final judgment is eternal, unquenchable and it never goes out [20]: the focus is on the fire, rather than how long people live in it. We might infer from this that hell does last forever: if people were punished in it for a while and then annihilated or otherwise removed, there would be no need for hell to exist. But if the fire never goes out, it isn’t a huge leap of logic to conclude that it therefore lasts forever.

Another point raised in favour of the eternity of hell is that God is infinite, so sin against Him carries infinite consequences. The sin that keeps us hell-bound is rejection of Christ’s sacrifice for us, so there is no other place for us to go. It is either heaven or hell. Rejection of Christ will never become acceptable after a time. Someone once suggested that in the descriptions of hell, there is wailing and gnashing of teeth – in regret? anger? frustration? – but not repentance. (This is an argument from silence, and could be true or false.) Philippians 2 says that every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, but confession is not repentance. A person can agree to the truth of what they Bible says and yet not honour God as He deserves. As James notes, even the demons believe that there is one God – and shudder. They know the truth but don’t repent; assuming they can.

Some people have suggested it’s unhelpful to think of eternity in terms of time. God is infinite and beyond time, and at the end of the world and the beginning of eternity, we will enter God’s realm where time will no longer exist. On the other hand, the idea that there will be no time after the end of the world seems nonsensical if we think of the new heavens and new earth as places beginning to exist after the old are destroyed. Time is relative so we can only speak of “before” and “after” when we have a point of reference. The end of the world is a point of reference – the end of the old and the start of the new – so we can speak of “before” and “after”: five thousand years after the apocalypse, ten billion, fifty quadrillion ... The thought of periods of time of this magnitude is staggers the imagination but that is no reason to reject it. Nevertheless, the idea of existing outside time is not logically impossible. Human minds cannot compass the infinite, so God babbles – speaks baby talk – to us (balbutio as John Calvin said), teaching us great concepts in language we can understand.

Another point in favour of the argument that eternity refers to unending time is the Bible’s statement that all people will be resurrected for the final judgment. Resurrection requires a physical body. Bodies are matter and take up space; therefore there must be space for these physical bodies to exist; therefore the new heavens and earth – and hell – must be places, as far as we understand the concept. This could include other dimensions but as God is omnipresent He would be in those places as well. The existence of a place, as an entity separate from God and therefore created by Him, carries the necessary corollary of time. The new heavens and earth will come after the old is destroyed; we therefore have a point of reference, which enables us to speak of time, albeit unending time.

Moreover, Jesus as the God-human voluntarily restricted the use of His divine attributes, such as omniscience (this is how we can understand Jesus not knowing the day or the hour of the apocalypse while still being full deity), could there not likewise be a place or dimension God withdraws Himself from? This place would be hell.

Whether people experience hell for eternity or only for a limited time, we must recognise the possibility that the Bible is describing what hell is like, rather than defining what it is. The difference is analogous to telling someone what a lamington tastes like versus telling them how to make it. I think the former is more likely to be the primary intent, as the Bible was written for a purpose: to bring people to face God in repentance now rather than in condemnation after we die. So “eternal” could describe the type of existence – as from God, rather than mortal, human, of the world – rather than the length of it, but it could just as easily combine the two possibilities; that is, “eternal” can refer to both the kind and length of something: life or death or fire or darkness.

After reaching no definite conclusion, I don’t doubt that this section isn’t even scratching the surface of the issue. I cannot help but suspect that the reality will be beyond what we can presently imagine or can think. This talk of “unending time or no time at all” seems somehow too narrow and limited; nevertheless, I can’t think of any other possibility. The human inability to comprehend the divine means that the horizons of our understanding are fuzzy; nonetheless, like the subject of the Trinity, although the topic of Hell is beyond human comprehension it is not contrary to reason.

V. Why hell?
The Bible indicates that hell (Gehenna/ the lake of fire) is the final destination of those who rebel against God. It is both God’s punishment of us for our rejection of His word, and a necessary result of rejecting His love.

V.a. Punishment
Hell is a punishment from God for the unforgivable sin, which Jesus says is to blaspheme the Holy Spirit [21]. The work of the Spirit is to bring people to trust God’s word, and more specifically that Jesus is the only way by which people can be saved. Thus the unforgivable sin is unbelief: refusing to trust God’s word.

To sin means to do what we think is right, irrespective of what God says. We might expect atheists to be supercilious, self-centred, amoral, and malicious, while supposing theists of any variety to be humble, respectful, generous and forgiving. But this deduction is flawed: a person who rejects God’s word doesn’t necessarily become evil or even a garden-variety blackguard, nor does a person who trusts God’s word become a clone of Ned Flanders. The essence of sin, of rebellion against God, is to decide for ourselves what’s right and wrong, rather than fall into line with what God says.

We may be good people by human moral standards but God’s standard isn’t morality. He judges us primarily (that is, whether we go to heaven or hell) by our allegiance, not our actions. Let’s use the United States’ Civil War as a hypothetical example: imagine that God said that Federal rights took precedence over those of the individual states. This would have meant that no matter how kind or noble or generous or self-sacrificing any individual Confederate was, all of them had set themselves against God’s word. More specifically, Robert E. Lee disapproved of secession and of slavery but his highest allegiance was to his state: Virginia. He was a superb soldier, a bold tactician, was just, merciful, and was respected and admired by people on both sides; nevertheless, Lee chose to ally himself with the Confederates – the enemy.

We might live a good life because God says (which is righteous) or because we decide to (which is sin). The act itself is still good but the crucial difference between heaven and hell is: who rules your life - you or God?

If God sent us to heaven or hell based on what we did, no doubt there are atheists and Muslims and Buddhists and (people who call themselves) Christians who would end up in both places. But on what side of the eternal divide we land depends not on what we do but on who God is to us. Does He determine what we do; or do we? This isn’t to say we can say “I trust God” but continue to live immorally: if we really do trust God, we will seek to live a good, or moral, life: giving to the poor and so on. If we fall and fail, we will get up and try again.

V.a.i. Does hell mean God is unjust or cruel?
In other words, couldn’t God just forgive without requiring a penalty? For example, if your child puts a pop tart in the DVD player and ruins it, you don’t require them to pay for it; you forgive them. True, but if you want the DVD player to be repaired or replaced, someone has to pay for it. If you forgive the child, you can’t require them to pay. You yourself have to pay the cost.

Even the smallest sin is committed against God not as a private individual but as the ruler of the universe, who is responsible for order and justice. Any infraction of that order must be punished because God is just: to not punish sin, no matter how seemingly insignificant, would mean that God is not just. And if God the judge and ruler is not just, how can he then punish anyone for their injustice? That would be hypocritical. You might object that human judges are imperfect yet they punish others. True, but they do so according to external laws: their authority is not dependent on their own behaviour. Moreover, they themselves are bound by the same laws. But if God judges people by His own innate standards, how much more must He be just? He cannot demand perfection of us if He is not perfect. God is bound by His own justice, because justice is an essential part of who He is.

The Bible states unequivocally that God is both just and forgiving. Contrary to what some people believe, many of whom haven’t read the Bible but rely on what others say, God’s justice and mercy are demonstrated throughout both the Old and New Testaments, reaching their acme at the Cross, when God paid the cost of our rebellion and evil.

But people do question the justice and mercy of God on the issue of hell. How can it be fair to send someone to hell forever just for lying or stealing? We can understand someone like Joseph Stalin, Mao Tse-tung, or Pol Pot going to hell forever, but normal people like us? It doesn’t seem right [22]. I would agree if people went to hell because of the bad acts they did and the good ones they didn’t do. But what we do is secondary to our allegiance, which we looked at in the previous section. Moreover, it is a mistake to think that we are born morally neutral and become good or evil – from the divine perspective at least. The Bible states that we are born dead to God: this means we can’t get to heaven by doing good – but neither do we go to hell for being bad. We are born rebels, and the bad things we do are demonstrations of the realm we belong to: bad thoughts, words and acts are natural to rebels.

Punishment is based on the quality of the crime and the value of that which is destroyed. But how can we quantify the worth of someone’s life or suffering and translate that into a period of time? Human courts do it but it is an arbitrary measure. The time it takes to commit a crime, or a sin, should not determine time in gaol or in hell: rape can take only a few minutes but does this mean the rapist should spend that same amount of time in gaol? Of course not.

You might question whether being in hell forever is overkill: there aren’t many crimes that would seem to deserve the punishment. But again, this is based on the assumption that we are sent to hell for the bad things we do, which we aren’t. The Bible indicates that people receive differing degrees of reward in heaven – although even that is the gift of God – so we might extrapolate that to conclude that there are different levels of punishment in hell, although the Bible doesn’t state this explicitly.

If being in hell forever is unfair, think about the flip side: is it fair that a perfect, righteous God allows born rebels into heaven? And on what basis: their admission that they deserve to go to hell; that they can only get to heaven because Jesus died in their place? Is that fair? It isn’t fair to us; it is merciful. Yet we can only experience God’s mercy because Jesus experienced His justice.

It is on the same basis that people end up in hell: they refuse to accept God’s only way out. If after God’s own courage and sacrifice we then refuse to take that way, to accept God at His word, we have no one but ourselves to blame.

But hell forever? We’ve already looked at the question in section four – and came up with no definite answer. Some more information that might either clarify or obscure the topic relates to what we’ve already said: that punishment should relate to the quality of what is destroyed or disrespected. What price the life of the eternal, self-sacrificing deity?

There is a second reason that hell exists: God loves us.

V.b. A necessary result of love.
Love is a choice, not a feeling [23]: love seeks what is best for the one who is loved. Likewise, whether to receive someone’s love or not is a choice: love can be received or spurned. God wants the best for all of us; but if we refuse to accept what He says is best for us, even God cannot make us accept His love, or make us love Him. Love is voluntary on both sides, and even God cannot do what is logically impossible.

So what happens to people who refuse to accept God’s love? He will not continue to offer it forever; if for no other reason than we die and can no longer receive it. God rules everything, everywhere but hell – in as far as hell is a place; it seems to be more a type of existence than a place – and accepting this is a necessary part of relationship with Him. He, not us, is God. So those who reject God’s rule must finally dwell where God is not: hell. To make people who reject Him live where He is control, where He is the centre of all attention and celebration and joy, would be to force them to accept what they do not want to accept; but love does not force anyone.

Those who reject God have only one path to take: total independence. In hell, people have the freedom to make life as they want it to be; to be master of their own world. In Genesis, God created the world with everything we would need: shelter – wood, rock and metal; food – earth, water, sunshine, plants; companionship – other people; and the ability to relate to all of those things – our senses, our ability to think and feel and communicate. God gave us all of these things: do we have the ability to make them ourselves, ex nihilo [24]? No, but hell allows us to try.

People got together and told God, “We can create life ourselves, so we don’t need you any longer. So we want you to stop telling us how we should live.”
God replied, “Okay, if you can create life from the beginning, you have a deal.”
The people set about their task. They began mining all the minerals they would need. God said to them, “Whoa! I said ‘from the beginning’; so create your own elements!”

VI. Finally ...
The purpose of the Bible’s description of Hell is to exhort us to avoid it, rather than give a schematic diagram of it. Of course, there is not necessarily a conflict: one can serve the purpose of the other. We must be careful not to assume that all we read is all there is to know, and that our interpretation is the correct one. Undoubtedly there is a correct understanding and maybe we have it – and all of us would like to think that we do – but logic (and in my case, past experience) should prevent us from presuming that we do.

___________________
Footnotes

[1] Luke 16:23
[2] Matthew 5:22
[3] Matthew 22:13; Jude :13
[4] Mark 9:47-48
[5] Luke 13:28
[6] Matthew 10:28
[7] Mark 9:43-48
[8] Luke 16
[9] Revelation 20:14. This personification indicates that nevermore will we be separated from one another by death.
[10] 2 Peter 2:4
[11] Revelation 20:10-15; cp Matthew 25:41.
[12] Psalm 8. Possibly this idea is supported through the Eastern idea of a natural balance: yin and yang oppose and complement each other; so good and bad, heaven and hell, balance each other.
[13] Revelation 1:18. In Revelation 20 the angel holds the key to the Abyss – probably a synonym for hell. Angels are God’s messengers (“messenger” is what the Greek word, translated “angel”, means); so this angel was apparently delegated by Christ to imprison the devil.
[14] Matthew 8:29
[15] I interpret this imprisonment of the devil as meaning that his time and power are limited. It might be an allusion to Genesis 3:17, where the dragon, accused of deceiving Eve, ends up without a leg to stand on. Compare this with Revelation 20:2, and see the misconception about the serpent being a snake.
[16] Revelation 20:10-15
[17] Ephesians 2:2; Colossians 1:13.
[18] 1 Timothy 6:16
[19] “Jesus Christ ... has brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel.” (2 Timothy 1:10)
[20] Matthew 3:12; Mark 9:43, 48
[21] Chapter 12 of Matthew, Mark and Luke.
[22] Joseph Stalin, absolute ruler of Russia (and later of the USSR) from 1928 to 1953, is responsible for the murder of about 20 million Russians. Mao Zedong, the ruler of the Peoples’ Republic of China (as China is a Communist dictatorship, this name is a bitter misnomer) is responsible for the deaths of at least 38 million Chinese people. Pol Pot, ruler of Cambodia between 1975 and 1979, is responsible for the murder of approximately 1.7 million Cambodians. Of a population of eight million, that’s almost 1 in every 4 people. Remember, these were their own people.
[23] Being in love is a feeling. See Relationship misconception 1: Love and being in love.
[24] It has to be from nothing because all that is belongs to God.

"there is a place in hell for women who don't support other women" - Sarah Palin, October 4, 2008.

Imagine my anger when I saw and heard this statement. It seems, there's a video circulating on YouTube that shows Palin at a rally making this asinine statement. Well, have I got some words for Palin. First of all, I'm a woman. As Chaka Khan would say, I'm Every Woman! However, I'm a woman that doesn't support other women all the time, especially when they're wrong. I believe its wrong to support a candidate strictly based on superficial things such as race and gender. While I rejoice in the fact Palin has made more strides for women in politics over the last few years, I'm not going to support her because we happened to be the same gender.

First, how can I support a candidate who condones ignorance? As I blogged a few months ago, this woman supports teenage pregnancy. I cannot support that. If I were a parent, I wouldn't want a politician like her in the White House lighting the torch to show millions of teenagers the way toward oblivion and ruin. Secondly, how can I support a candidate who is so blind towards pro-life that she doesn't even know about other Supreme Court decisions. During an interview recently, Palin admitted when it comes to Supreme Court cases and their outcomes, the only case she knows is Roe Vs. Wade. Finally, she recently made a statement in which she accuses Obama of "palling around with terrorists" (AP 10/04/08).  The terrorist in question is Bill Ayers, who was associated with a 60's radical group called The Weather Underground. Ayers hasn't had any contact with this group in more than 30 years according to those firmiliar with him. In addition, when he was with the group, Obama was 8 years old!  While the two men live in the same neighborhood and their children attend the same schools, Ayers and Obama are hardly buddies. Yet, Palin wants to continue to spread fear among the voters. How can I support that?

In a twist of irony, here's Palin's words back at her regarding the supporting of women.  Its my understanding that she's against abortion now matter what. She doesn't support a woman's right to choose even in matters of rape or incest. As a mayor, she's supported legislation that makes women pay out large sums of money if they want to take a rape kit test to prosecute their attackers in cases of rape (CNN 9/22/08). Not to mention, according to this video, she also supports her own teenager if she gets pregnant due to rape. She said would prefer her "own daughter to support life."  In essence, Palin just doesn't support women at all.

Palin says there's a place in hell for women who don't support other women? I'm inclined to agree...

As we were wrapping up, young William asked about the people who don't ever hear about Jesus.  I explained to him that the only way to be Saved is by believing in Jesus Christ, and you can't do this if you've never heard of Him.  I had him turn to Romans chapter 10, beginning in verse 14.  People can't be saved if they don't hear and they can't hear if no one tells them and no one will tell them if we don't get out of our churches and into the streets, alleys,  and playgrounds.  And this really bothered William, and I'm glad it did.  He said, "That's not fair!"  God doesn't have to be fair, but He is Just.  Big difference, figure it out.

You see, it should bother every one of us who claim to be followers of Jesus Christ.  We have to tell people if they are living a life outside of Jesus Christ, then they are destined for Hell.  But, if they will turn away from that life and toward Jesus, they will be saved.  Over a billion people in the world have never even heard the Name of Jesus.  Will you do something about that?

Thank you for checking.

Welcome to my world.  This blog is dedicated to all of you like me, which I don't know are like me because well, I'm too ashamed half the time to admit how badly I really really really want those Best Buy tvs.  The other half of the time, I'm trying to figure out how the hell I act like a Christian while living in America.  These are my honest thoughts, so if you don't like it, don't read, life's simple!

So... where was I?  Oh yeah, things.  Stuff.  TVs.  Computers.  Nice couches.  Pretty pictures.  A house.  See, I gave up working to come home and I don't regret it.  We chose to live with less because we both felt that having a full time parent was what our son needed.  Right now we live in a one bedroom apartment for free by doing maintenance, most of what we have is used - second and even third hand.  I shop at thrift stores and clip coupons.  I run our house on a strict budget to keep us out of debt (which we incur every now and again, but we work hard to pay off quickly).  I make do with a handful of shirts and wear my shoes til they've got holes.  My husband does the same.  Some see virtue in this, and maybe there is, but I think the real virtue would exist if I didn't envy everyone else so much.  iPhones, flat screen tvs (am I talking too much about this tv...??), PS3s, new cars, KitchenAid Stand Mixers... nice clothes... the list goes on for me.

It's stupid, you know?  That's what makes me the most frustrated.  It's complete stupidity to want these things as bad as I want them.  I sit in front of my Bible and I hear God saying "Me, I'm more valuable.  ME!  I'm more beautiful!  ME!" and I don't get it.  So what if I get my spiffy tv?  What then?  What will I be discontent with then?  See, it's always going to be something, if not the tv, then my couch or my bed or the place that I'm living, and what if I have all the money in the world to replace those things?  Then it'll be my husband or my child or my life and then I'll throw everything away in pursuit of this vague thing called "bliss" that everyone romanticizes.  Eh.

So, I'm going to go watch a dvd on my drab 1980s tv... and maybe I'll start saving for a new one... but I'm going to pray tonight that God slaps me squarely on the head.  I'm an idiot, you know?  And if you don't, well, keep reading and you'll figure it out fast.  For all my theologizing, I still want the shiny, glittery, pretty things this world tells me matters so much.  And that breaks my heart more than I think I even know how to express in words

The Titans are the weakest 5-0 team I have seen in my life. They are not that good and are way overrated. Kerry Collins is nothing special and neither is their running game. Their defense is good but there is no way they should be 5-0 right now. The Ravens should have won this game, hands down. They let it slip away from them, when they had the Titans where they wanted them. I see the Titans as an average .500 team still, despite their record.

Atlanta 27 Green Bay 24

I hate Matt Ryan. Let me get that statement out of the way first. The Packers defense has reverted back to the old days of letting people score all over them. Al Harris' injury has been big and Charles Woodson has not been 100% either. The Pack must get Ryan Grant more involved. As soon as they get behind, it is all put on Aaron Rodgers. Stick with Ryan Grant. It works when he gets the ball. The Packers are still 2-0 in the NFC North, which is important, but if they cannot beat teams like Tampa and Atlanta, I am going to have to start picking against them.

Indianapolis 31 Houston 27

I had this game picked! Sage Rosenfels decided he wanted to blow a 17 point lead with 5 freakin' minutes left. Turnovers, turnovers, turnovers. Houston has got to learn how to seal a deal. I realize they are winless but come on, every team needs to have some sort of victory escape plan. The Colts have cemented the fact that they are average. This win proves nothing about them, besides that they are terrible. Peyton looks mediocre, as does Addai. They better pick it up if they want to even MAKE the playoffs.

Washington 23 Philadelphia 17

I am not ready to concede that Washington is a good team. I just can't seem to fit them in with the elite teams in the NFL (there really aren't any though). The defense is pretty good, but nothing spectacular. Clinton Portis is a solid back, but can be fairly inconsistent. Jason Campbell is improving but when the big game comes around in December and January, I think he will crack. Get on me all you want Skins fans, your team is not as good as you think. It is all one, big mirage.

Jesus is coming soon. Will you be ready? Many will come in his name pretending to be him. Don't be deceived. When he comes he will be visible to all the world.
There will be wars famines and natural disasters.
A world leader will emerge claiming to have all the answers. He will try to unite the world. Everybody will have to pledge allegiance to him and nobody will be able to trade without his mark. Eventually he will proclaim himself to be God and will kill anybody who does not worship him.
Christians will be persecuted and put to death. When the power of the Holy people has been broken, Christ will return and rapture the Church. He will then pour out his wrath on the Nations who have been left behind.

http://truthinlove.com/analogies/last_days.htm

The Nations are those who have not accepted the Gospel of Christ.
This video describes what will happen to them on the Day of the Lord and at the Great White Throne.
The nations will be left behind to suffer God's wrath after the church has raptured after being persecuted for 1260 days.
On the Day of the Lord, they will be separated in to the Sheep and the Goats according to how they have treated God's people.
At the end of the Millennium, those who rejected the Gospel will be raised for Judgment at the Great White Throne.
If their names are not in the Lamb's book of Life, they will be thrown into the Lake of fire which is the second death.
If they are in the Lambs book of Life, they will live as the Nations for all eternity in the Light of the New Jerusalem where those who have been born again live with God.

http://truthinlove.com/analogies/last_days.htm

This video describes what will happen to the Church in the End Times.
The Church will be persecuted by the Beast for times time and time and a half but will be saved by the return of Christ when he comes unexpectedly at the end of the Great Tribulation.
A small number of Christians who have kept themselves pure will be spared from the hour of trial - they are said to number 144000.
The rest of the Church will be persecuted by the Beast for 1260 days.
After this the Church will be harvested by angel like the son of man and by another angel who is in charge of the fire. The true believers will meet with Christ in the clouds along with the 'sleeping' believers who will be raised from the dead. (This is the First Resurrection) False Christians will go to hades to wait for judgement at the Great White Throne.
All believers will reign with Christ during the Millennium in Heaven where they will be rewarded for the things that they have done in the Body.
After the Millennium is over, those who took part in the first resurrection will decend from Heaven as a bride beautifully adorned for her husband to become the New Jerusalem where God will dwell with Man for all eternity.

But second choice would certainly be Iceland. I've been in love with Iceland ever since I saw the Northern Lights on a documentary almost a hundred years ago. Nearly.

And the scenery in the Icelandic photos on Flickr just makes it even worse. One day, before I die, I'll spend a week in Iceland.

According to an article in the Guardian, Iceland has hit some hard times because of the mostly-misunderstood credit crunch. Like most people, I have no idea what the financial meltdown that seems to be sweeping the industrial world actually means - if it ruins Iceland, though, it'll be a significant tragedy among many predicted similar stories.

If there's anything we can do except cross our fingers are hide our money under mattresses, I'd appreciate the advice.

Anyway, also from that article, some Interesting Facts about Iceland...

• Iceland is known as the Land of the Midnight Sun because in summer there are almost 24 hours of daylight.

• There are 15 active volcanoes in Iceland, including Mount Hekla, long believed to be the entrance to Hell.

• More books are published per capita in Iceland than in any other country.

• Many Icelanders still practise the old Viking religion of Norse mythology.

• Icelanders drink more Coca-Cola than anyone else in the world.

Here in the second video clip, Barack Hussein Obama slips up and, quite comfortably, says, "my Muslim faith." Only when the guy interviewing Barack corrects him, does Mr. H. Obama try to salvage the slip.

In this third video, it starts off with Barack Hussein Obama's admition that his Christian church is ok. Then his pastor says "God damn America" There are a lot of YouTube videos about his pastor's racist & anti-America comments. feel free to search. Then Barack Hussein Obama says he's been to 57 states, (with 1 to go, Alaska & Hawaii). Theres only 50 US states, but there ARE 57 Islamic states of the Organization of the Islamic Conference. Hmmm..... There are a lot of pictures that would seem to suggest nothhing but the fact that Barack Hussein Obama has a Muslim background. Whether or not he is now a Muslim is not the issue. The issue is lying to the US people. Also, he lied on the state bar exam in Chicago, saying he'd never been know by any other names, but he was registered at his Indonesian School (as a Muslim) by the name of Barry Soetoro. The lady in the video doesn't quite read along with the words well, but thats why there's a pause button.

Among the myths the article countered were:

• "There are pressing needs right here."
• "Short-termers can do it."
• "Let the nationals do it."
• "The task has been completed."
• "Maybe there are other ways to God."
• "Missionaries have been poor witnesses of the gospel."
  

The statement that caused me to pause was this:

…there are still 6,700 ethnic groups without a viable gospel witness. According to the International Bulletin of Missionary Research, approximately 1.8 billion souls still have not heard the gospel. And many more need to rehear it, particularly in secularized places such as Europe.

We are prone to thinking that evangelism is largely accomplished.  Something on the order of 25% of the world's population has never heard the gospel.  One of every four people know nothing of the redeeming work of Christ.  And many who know something of Christ do not care about Christ and dismiss their need for Christ and salvation.  And they all — each individual person — will spend eternity in hell apart from the movement of God's grace in their hearts and the preaching of a preacher to their hearing ears.

Heaven no “skid row.”    - 9/78