Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Serious Business

I was listening to Chip Ingram (Living On The Edge Ministries http://www.lote.org) give a talk called "Why I Believe in Life After Death" yesterday. I thought it was intriguing for a variety of reasons. Here are the ones I can remember:
  • It spoke to a broad audience including non-Christians about what proves there is life after death (cycle of new life, near-death experiences, majority of religions believe this, etc.)
  • It told how Jesus was the only prophet to have made the claim to have risen from the dead
  • It told about how Jesus talked about hell more than any other figure in the Bible
  • It talked about that the reason there is a hell, because God is a loving God who demands justice for evildoers, but also loved all of us so much He sent Jesus to pay the penalties of sin for us so we could be with Him in eternity
  • It said hell is not a "good ole boys" club with beer, it is more like solitary confinement, and that the gnashing of teeth is the regret those have for not choosing to be with God
  • It said that upon death, there is a judgement before God, in which, we get the chance to extend the deepest desires of our heart
  • It said after the judgement, with a tear in God's eye, He lets those go that have been ignoring His nudges for a lifetime
Someone said to me recently, "you take your religion very seriously", to which I would have to respond.....life after death is serious business.

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