“Through love and faithfulness sin is atoned for.”  Proverbs 16:6

This is so much better than having to kill an animal, or even the innocent Son of God.  It’s in the Bible, right?  So, doesn’t it have to be true?  Am I picking and choosing verses I like?  Maybe.  But, let me be clear.  I am choosing based upon rational thought and understanding.  I believe the Holy Spirit is leading me in that.

Am I rejecting verses that don’t make sense?  No.  I’m merely holding them up in question, in the hope that one day they will make sense.  By not choosing the obscure verses, am I rejecting Christ? Absolutely not.  I am open to His leading.  I am not prepared to accept any teaching that doesn’t make sense. Perhaps that is based upon my sinful condition, because of my lack of “faith,” but I don’t think so.

Again, I have asked God to show me the way.  I honestly don’t think that I will get the Vacation to Hell prize for wrong answers.  Discipline?  Yes.  Hell?  No, at least not the burning torture for ever and ever thing, with no hope.

Love and faithfulness.  Now that makes sense.

He created everyone.  So why did he pick the Jews?  He decided to send his son (or himself, depending on what you believe) to earth to die for us.  So why wasn’t Jesus African or Japanese?  He promised that all believers (at least those who trust in Jesus’s atonement, depending on what you believe) would spend eternity with him in heaven.  So why would he roast billions and billions and billions of people in hell just because they didn’t say the right words on salvation or agree with the accepted plan?

Red and yellow, black and white, how many are precious in his sight?  Where does God’s love end?

I asked a fellow the other day if he had ever considered the fact that everything we believe is totally dependent on our trust of the people who taught us.  Obviously, we can’t prove any of the ancient positions on religion to be true, so sincere belief is necessary.  An assurance in your heart, so to speak. But aren’t we obligated to challenge those same teachers on the reasonableness of their statements?

My friend replied that, if we start challenging what we believe, we open ourselves to the temptation of Satan and will soon fall into serious sin.  Say what?  Is this guy one of God’s favorites?

I think we need to back the doctrinal bus up a bit and reconsider it.

How true. But as I drove past that particular church, seeing the sign, and knowing something of the doctrine of that particular denomination, I could only shake my head and say, “But they don’t really believe it.”

How could I possibly make that claim? Because their reference to “no one” is, at best, limited, and, at worst, conditional. No one applies only to those who are living in this world. Does God still love any who have rejected him? Sure, they say; God will continue to love them, up until they draw their last breath. But, what happens when they die with rejection still on their lips and unbelief still in their hearts?

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I’m using my imagination here.  So if you expect me to prove my points with scriptural references or quotes from respected Bible scholars, you will be disappointed.  If, however, you will join me in speculating on what might happen after death, you may be surprised how much God will use your own imagination as you focus on his love and your sanctification.

Rather than asking what happens after death, what if we considered what should happen after death.  I know, we must be careful not to act like little gods.  One ground rule should be that we are ever conscious of the fact that God is always present; therefore, we are imagining how He would orchestrate this journey that we’re on, especially that portion of the journey following our last breath in this mortal existence.

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I was on my way to work and listening to the radio.  I like to spin the dial, give each station a few minutes, regardless of whether it’s music, news or talk radio.  Or preaching.  If something in my variety show keeps my attention, I’ll stay with it until a station break, or until my attention dwindles.  Today it was preaching.

I don’t remember the speaker’s name, but he was one of the more popular ones, like Swindoll or Stanley.  I also noted that he was one of the more educated ones, a proven Biblical scholar, it seemed.  He was outlining the afterlife, heaven or hell, based upon one’s decision for Christ.  From my church background I know this means accepting God’s son as your personal savior, realizing that he died for our sins, and has gone before us to heaven to prepare a place for us.  Non-believers are destined for an eternity in hell.

That’s when it hit me.  How could intelligent men accept such statements, let alone teach them!

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