Hell is a Wonderful Place

Great and wonderful things are about to happen on this earth. According to many of the televangelists and prophecy teachers we of course won’t be here to see it. Although the days ahead may be somewhat frightening to the unprepared, the Lord would not have us to be unprepared for He has already warned us sufficiently as to what will soon come to pass. Many are encouraged to pray that the Lord would not display His judgment but return us to our formally indifferent American Christian lifestyle, holding back the inevitable for our children I suppose? But what could be greater or more wonderful than to know the Lord, be delivered from His wrath and live like we know what we believe and why we believe it? When we understand by the Spirit what the scripture explains, we shall see Him as He is and be conformed to that image in everyday practice. Those of us who are His now, the sealed the elect if you will; are so brought down, undone and worn out from our past sin that we find little interest in this world or its temporary benefits. Although we may not be where we should be, we are probably sensing that sin is finishing its course as we get closer to His return. My prayer is that we be no longer distracted by the deeds of the flesh and that we also abandon the memories and imaginations that keep us from our Sabbath rest. We sing; Open the Eyes of My Heart Lord, a worship song made famous in the Vineyard churches. Oh really? Why don’t we open our own eyes to the Word of life that is already revealed to those who with a curious and eager heart are seeing the Lord just fine? Those who are seeing Him by asking in prayer, seeking and knocking daily in the scripture and refuse to be satisfied with last Sunday’s bread. The Word is now being understood and when it is put into practice others see Jesus in us and are drawn to Him. It has been said that we are the only Bible that some people will ever read. What kind of a read will it be when people watch your belief system in action? Perhaps it’s a novel, a how to book or a historical pamphlet. For some it may read like a Face Book posting or a blog article with a strange title like; Hell is a Wonderful Place. Well, it is! People who go there will wonder how they could have been so blind as to accept just any flavor of the day religion. They will wonder why they gave their time, money and attention to false prophets, popes, pastors and televangelists who lead them into grave error. They will wonder about many other things also. Those who miss seeing the Lord for who He really is will have all of eternity to be full of wonder. They that stay the course in Christ Jesus and endure until the end will be saved in spite of the future hell on earth. His Name shall be called Wonderful according to a passage in Isaiah and whosoever calleth upon the Name of the Lord shall be saved and we all know who that is; don’t we?

But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. 1 Cor 2: 9-12



Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure. 1 John 3:1-3

Until the end of all things that are to be finished in us, through Him in who we have believed..
Blessings, T. LaVigne

The Evangelical Subculture by Jim Baumgaertel

Two Different Conversions
When I became a follower of Jesus Christ I underwent two different conversions, although I didn't realize it at the time. First, I was converted from my old life into the Body of Christ by reconciliation with God through Jesus. Hallelujah! At about the same time I bought into the Evangelical Subculture under the false impression that it WAS the Body of Christ. It took me years to realize the difference between the two.
I had been aware of "Christendom": that worldly religious structure consisting of political and economic empires and bureaucracies, both Protestant and Catholic, that had fought religious wars and undertaken crusades to retake the "Holy Land", that had burned people at the stake, that continued to preach false Christ's and false gospels of works, and that continues to talk about the counterfeit unity called Ecumenicalism.
But I had not understood the nature of the Evangelical Subculture, that is a part of the worldly structure of "Christendom". This subculture has its own organizations and institutions, denominations, para-church organizations; its own magazines and radio stations and TV networks; its own schools and colleges and universities; its own celebrities; its own music industry and book stores; its own marketing and advertising worlds.

Like Joining a Club
The tragedy of the Evangelical Subculture is that people who have a sincere desire to follow Jesus get side tracked into a zeal for being a part of this worldly system. It is like joining a club. The club member begins to wear the clothes and trinkets bought at the "Christian" book stores; watch "Christian" TV and listen to "Christian" radio; buy the latest fad books that sweep the "Christian media"; subscribe to the "Christian" magazines; worship the "Christian" celebrities; use all the latest jargon promoted in the latest books by the celebrity authors. A cult-like mentality develops among people who see this Evangelical system as identical to the Body of Christ. Their zeal is for the trappings of the subculture. It is its own religion. If someone tries to point out the unbiblical nature of some aspect of this subculture people will take offense because you are criticizing their religion. The subculture becomes the message. The "gospel" that people preach is for conversion to the system, not really to Jesus Christ.

The Subculture, Institutionalism, and Deception
The pop culture of Evangelicalism feeds on institutionalism, denominationalism, "non-denominational" institutional church organizations, and the professional clergy system. The professional clergy and their church organizations, in turn, find an indoctrinated constituency to fill their pews and programs. Both the subculture and the institutional churches turn a relationship with Jesus and his people into a participation in a religion and a lifestyle. This Evangelical Subculture has played a major role in setting professing Christians up for deception. It seduces people to think and act like the subculture instead of reading the Bible for themselves and deriving their understanding from the Bible. It has been this subculture that has infected the Evangelicals with psychology, self-esteem, political action and social activism, unity at the expense of sound doctrine, mysticism, and cult attachments to gurus, movements, and organizations. Ultimately, the end of this deception is a merging of the Evangelical Subculture with the global counterfeit religious vision.
We ought to be content with the simplicity of following Jesus and being the Body of Christ together with those the Lord provides for fellowship, according to the teachings of the Apostles in the New Testament.

By Jim Baumgaertel
http://procinwarn.com/

If A Frog Had Wings

I’ve heard it said that if a frog had wings he wouldn’t bang his sphincter when he hopped. I’ve come to understand that “if” is a pretty big word for having only two letters. I’ll call you if I remember and if everything goes well. The word if is used in many of our conversations and is a convenient link that leaves plenty of room for doubt. It’s in the same class of vocabulary as but or maybe; along with a fifty-fifty chance and whatever. I’m not an English Major but I play with words in my spare time and if I quit my day job to write full time I’d be broke in a timely manner; if time permitted. I will only examine the word from what I’ve come to see in the scripture. Search it out for yourself if you have the inclination and especially if I have upset your dogma.

It all started with an encounter that God had with Cain prior to the result of Cain’s bad attitude and impending crime. If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? And if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door… Gen 4:7. The first coin toss was instigated by none other than the God we serve. Could it have turned out differently? Yes it could have; based on the choice that Cain would make. Did God know the outcome? Certainly; was it predestined? No. Cain had a free will in this matter. God used if twice and Cain had two choices. As we know, it didn’t go well.

Pharaoh got the if treatment from Moses and when Moses was handed the law it had more if’s than I can keep up with. Exodus to Deuteronomy contains many of these little gems. One that stands out in the crowd is found in Leviticus 26 and two big IF’s sum up the whole of this investigation at Mount Sinai. The good side of if starts in verse 3 and goes to verse 14. Then IF gets ugly for a long time. There’s a tasty example of the bad side of if in verse 29. At verse 40, 26 verses later, an if shows up that saves the day. If we repent of our sins God will remember His promise.

We hear 1 Chronicles 7:14 quoted to no end when it comes to retrieving a blessing from the Lord. We milk it for all that it’s worth and the plaque and tee-shirt industry has made a killing on the phrase; If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. What we can’t seem to get past is the very first word; IF! It’s not the world that this refers to, or their sins or their wickedness. It refers to the Christian’s who have an iffy nominal life in Christ. It comes down to a pro-choice view. God is very much pro-choice. He says; choose you this day who “you” will serve. Choice divided by two equals IF. IF hasn’t changed in 6000 years. So much for the; God is pro-life bumper sticker philosophy. The scriptures seem to prove otherwise.

Allow me briefly ( as there are too many examples to digest in one sitting ) to go to the Gospels. I’ve heard it said that Jesus said that the truth will set you free. I find in the scripture that Jesus didn’t say that at all. 2+2=4, the sky is blue, and we all have opinions. Somehow those truths don’t do that much for me. There is truth about 911 and the Apollo moon project that will never be known but if it was it wouldn’t set anyone free. Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. John 8:31-32. The recipe calls for three key ingredients. 1. IF 2. You continue and 3. In His word; then and only then will you be a disciple with the end result being that you will know the truth. That truth and that freedom is a direct reflection of being alive in Him and remaining in Him until He comes again; if you live that long.

There is much more that could be said and I will hazard a guess that I’ll be misinterpreted if I take a stand for or against Calvinism. What I have learned about predestination I have retained little of and what there is to learn I do not care for but I do know that if you endure to the end you will be once saved always saved.

If any man have ears to hear, let him hear. Mark 4:23

T. LaVigne