How Can A Loving God Send Anyone to Hell?

This is an interesting question, and one that is often not met with an answer that is true to God's revelation of himself in Scripture. The reality is that many preachers don't touch this question or even hell as a topic. They don't preach it, for it is politically incorrect and controversial, negative and not uplifting. "Preachers today try to air-condition hell," said Al Mohler. The reality is that the God of the Bible does warn us of the reality of hell; in fact, Jesus spoke often about hell and in specific terms. One of the big problems that exist today is the reality that man insists on ignoring what God has said regarding hell; they try to explain it away or downplay its reality, insisting that it can't be a real place or an eternal place or a place of torment. Well, according to the Bible and the teaching of Jesus it is a real place, an eternal place for those who are thrown into it, and it is a place of torment.

This brings us back to the question at hand, and for that I appeal to the character of God and not man. Again, the problem is that we humans insist on judging ourselves against ourselves. In other words, when compared to many in the world we are "good." We can easily point to evil people such as Hitler or some mass murderer or terrorist and claim that we aren't that bad! In fact, compared to them we are good; plus, we are generally moral and law abiding. We must break the habit of judging "good" from a human standard and start judging it from God's. God's standard is perfection; He is perfectly holy. The mark we are to hit is His standard, and we all fall short of that mark. We all fail to achieve that standard and level, which is His perfection. The sad reality is that we all deserve hell when viewed from God's standard. And as a just and righteous God our sin can't simply be overlooked or brushed under the proverbial rug. God would not be loving if He did not uphold and remain true to His holiness, righteousness, and justice.

In His love He provided one to bear our sin and its curse- one who met His righteous requirements and standard of holy perfection. He sent His own Son Jesus Christ who lived a life of perfection and died in the place of sinners.

For more information on this topic and the question at hand I would refer you to www.albertmohler.com He posted a video of a sermon he gave dealing with this issue on his blog. I would recommend it; it is well worth a listen. And may I never shrink away from the doctrine of hell in my own preaching and teaching; I encourage any other pastor or teacher that might happen upon this to be true to the Word of God in this as well.

Men and the Sea- a story of sabbath

I was reminded of one of my favorite literary works this past week while fishing on the Chesapeake Bay. I felt a little like Manolin, the young understudy to Santiago, in Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea. Just like Santiago, the gentleman with whom I fished was a man of methodology; he has fishing down to a science. He knows exactly how to fish for certain fish, and he sticks to his plan. Hemingway's character had not caught a fish in several weeks before his epic battle with the marlin, but the old man of my experience is generally successful in his fishing endeavors. He is consistent and steady, the model of patience as he fishes. Like Santiago, his body is wearing down, but he still has a fire in his soul, a love for the sea and fishing. There is a quote from the aforementioned work, which won Hemingway the Nobel Prize in literature, that reminds me of my captain: "Everything about him was old except his eyes and they were the same color as the sea and were cheerful and undefeated." This description fits my fishing partner who is battling cancer yet again.



What a great day! Not only did I get the privilege of fishing with an 87 year old man who knows what he is doing but I was able to experience the bay on a hot, glorious, summer day. Those of us who live in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia are privileged to have access to some great bodies of water. From the marina in Hampton where we started the Chesapeake Bay was only minutes away, and the Atlantic Ocean was within reach as well. It was a beautiful setting for relaxation and sport; one that I probably take for granted. There was something therapeutic about fishing on the bay; perhaps the reality that no matter what I needed to be doing I wasn't going to get to it while out there was the main reason. But no matter the reason, I am convinced that I don't take advantage of opportunities to take a Sabbatical- a sabbath, a time to cease from normal activities and rest often enough. I hope that we all will learn to make time to cease from our normal activities on a regular basis. We need it- no matter how dedicated, talented, or indispensable we may feel.