An Arsonist in a Flammable World

There’s fire in His eyes, and I’m not using some cheap cliché either.  There is literally fire in His eyes.  The Arsonist’s gaze turns my way, and I can tell He’s looking to light the match in me too.  It won’t take much; I can feel these dry bones aching to combust.

Still, I resist.  I am afraid.  I turn to run, but where can I go.  He’s everywhere I look.  His fire calls to me; it beckons: “Come and die that you might truly live.”

“I am alive,” I retort, but it’s a lie.  I’m not even sure what “life” is, but I know I haven’t got one.

I am alone yet surrounded by others fleeing the flame. It’s hard to tell where we’re running in the darkness, but we can’t stop lest we be consumed. Some have surrendered to His fire, and from the depths of the inferno, they plead with us who run: “Turn back! Turn back!  That’s the road to destruction. Turn back!”

I laugh.  How can I not?  They’ve given up everything to the Arsonist, and they have the audacity to lecture me for running?  I call them names.  I tell them to put out the flames.  I tell them to run with me, with us.  We can outrun the fire in His eyes. It’s easy, way more easy than confronting Him.

I don’t know how it happens exactly. I’m sure if I look back at the path I’ve taken it would make sense, but somehow I . . .

I fall.

Lying on the ground, I know I’m broken.  There’s no coming back from this one.  I’ve done too much damage.  I look up and see two feet like molten bronze in front of me.  It’s the Arsonist.  He’s finally caught up with me. 

“I’ve never left you,” He says. His voice is like leaves in the breeze.  He reaches down and pulls me to my feet.  And for the first time, I pause and look deep into the fire in His eyes. 

It’s love.  Burning.  Passionate.  Zealous. Obsessive. Love.

The fire burns for me. 

It burns in me. 

I’m baptized in it. 

And then the water comes.  It’s alive, pouring out of the Arsonist like a flood, but it doesn’t douse the flames; it fans them.  Suddenly, I’m ablaze in love.  I can’t contain it; it’s bubbling over like a volcano ready to blow.

The Arsonist turns me toward the runners, and I’m horrified by what I see.  The runners are dry, hollow, just kindling ready to spark.  They’re running toward a chasm of flame, but it’s not the same as the Arsonist’s.  It’s dark.  Flame without light, without love.  He points toward them, and tears fall from the fire in His eyes as He says, “Go, tell them to turn back to Me.”

So, I go.  I tell them about Jesus.  I tell them how He wants to set their world on fire, so they don’t burn it down.  Some turn. Others do not.  And my tears mingle with the Arsonist’s.  Oh how I wish they could know the heights and depths of the flames of His love.

For our God is a consuming fire. (Hebrews 12:29)

Erasing Hell

Does hell exist?  Are biblical references to it just metaphoric?  And if it does exist, what are the implications for our everyday life? 

Francis Chan addresses these issues in his new book: Erasing Hell.  He co-wrote the book with Dr. Preston Sprinkle (best name ever!)  I love Francis Chan’s writing mostly because of the zeal that He has for God, not just in the things he says, but in the way that he lives his life.  He is not afraid to live out the things he teaches; in fact I dare say, he is afraid not to. 

Erasing Hell is only an exception to this in the sections that Dr. Sprinkle (still the best name ever!) helped write, and it’s fairly easy to tell where he jumps in because instead of focusing on God and how we should live for God in light of the issue of hell, he focuses on history and context. 

These things aren’t bad, and I learned some things for them. For instance there is no record of the Gehanna Valley being a city dump for trash and corpses with fires that burned continuously.  That idea doesn’t even appear until the 13^th century from a European rabbi trying to dispel Christian thought on the idea of hell. The references Jesus makes to Gehanna is in reference to the Jewish 1^st century understanding of hell as punishment after judgment, which is evidenced in other Jewish writing of the time.

And that’s a good thing to know.  Jesus is talking about a real, honest to goodness, fire and brimstone, hell.  Nothing else.  But it’s Francis’ parts of the book that make the idea of hell less abstract. 

He talks about how sometimes he thinks about his grandmother who denied Christ until her death and how much sorrow he feels knowing that she is probably spending eternity in hell.  He talks about how he was sitting in a coffee shop writing this book, and when he looked up and saw all the people sitting in front of him, he realized they might all be going to hell too.  And how he had to stop writing and talk to them about Jesus.

This is the rub isn’t it? 

If you believe there is a hell, and that your friends and family, coworkers, peers at school, teachers, your boss, the wait staff at the restaurant, the guy on the street corner, anyone who doesn’t know Christ may be heading there, how can you go on with life as usual.  The only way to do it is to push thoughts of hell out of your mind, and just send all those people on to their eternity. 

Is that loving others as you love yourself?  Is that loving God with all your heart, soul, and strength? 

I recommend the book, but don’t get if you’re just looking for some more knowledge about the subject.  Get it if you want to gain the heart of Christ when it comes to hell and the multitudes trekking blindly towards it everyday. 

Buy it now for $8.46

I Don’t Want to Be Offended (Re: Love Wins)

There’s a lot of controversy in evangelical circles right now over Rob Bell's new book Love Wins.  I’m going to admit right up front that I’ve never read the book.  I read his book Velvet Elvis and watched some of his Nooma videos back in the day, but nothing of his since then.

That said, I can’t really discuss Love Wins in any detail.  I don’t think Bell is saying what people think he is saying.  He comes right out and says what he believes in.  Watch the video and see for yourself:

All that said, the controversy that the book spawned is a little more concerning than the book itself.

I’m going to layout what I believe before getting too deep into this.  I believe what the Bible says, “it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment” (Hebrews 9:27).  That judgment leads to eternal life or eternal hell.  Eternal life is knowing the Father and Jesus Christ whom He sent (John 17:3).  Jesus made it possible to know the Father by removing our sins at Calvary, and if you choose to accept this gift, it’s yours.  You’ll be transformed, and you’ll stop doing those things that separate you from God.  If you choose to reject it, you’re damned already.  Damnation means hell for eternity.

To sum up: Hell is real. Everyone does not get a trophy for participation.

Now, let me add some more controversy to the controversy about Rob Bell and whether this salvation can occur post-mortem:

We tend to get riled up at the thought of someone who did not accept Christ in this life getting into heaven anyway.  But let me ask you this: if He chose to extend mercy to someone after death during judgment, would you really be that person who says to God, “It’s not fair.  I spent years on earth serving You, and this person is getting the same thing I am” like the bitter workers in Matthew 20:12? Would it not be better to rejoice in such a case that your brother or sister who was lost is found?

Again I want to be clear that I think in order to be saved in the next life, you need to be saved in this one.  But it’s one of those things that I wouldn’t be upset about if I were wrong.  Jesus was very clear that many who think they’re saved will not be, and many who we might not think ought to be saved will be.  He’s the One who sorts the wheat and chaff, not us.  Let us rejoice with Him in the salvation of any sinner whenever it may happen, and grieve with Him in the destruction of any sinner whenever it may happen.  And rather than worrying about who's going where all the time, let's spend more time pointing everyone to Jesus, most importantly ourselves since He's the only one who can change our destination plans anyway.

Solo Deo Gloria