"Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?"

"...For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother" (Matthew 12:50).




            I first started talking about this topic on my 23rd birthday morning to my best friend who was also saved through faith by grace - and this is not our own doing, it is the gift of God (Ephesians 2:8) :) I want to have the realization that all who follow Christ are my brothers and sisters and mothers. "Let him who hath understanding reckon" the Kingdom to come (Rev 13:18). Let us gaze into the eternity that is the Kingdom and also the everlasting punishment in the lake of fire (Mat 19:29 & Rev 20:14). Those who do the will of the Father are our brothers and sisters and mothers - for eternity. Never will we see those who do not do the will of the Father. The fact is that this life is but a vapor and that we are headed for eternity (James 4:14). This is all that matters! If we see our flesh as a priority, then let us especially see those in the Spirit as our family (Gal 6:10 & 1 Cor 12:27).


Romans 9:6-8

 For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, ⁷and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but "Through Isaac shall your offspring be named." ⁸This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring. 

Luke 9:57-60

⁵⁷As they were going along the road, someone said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go." ⁵⁸And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head." ⁵⁹To another he said, "Follow me." But he said, "Lord, let me first go and bury my father." ⁶⁰And Jesus^[g] said to him, "Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God." 

Hell

Ssssup,

          Today I received Francis Chan's new book called, Erasing Hell. It takes you through what the bible says about Hell. It also takes you through what [false] beliefs people have created and hold on to in light of the truth. Jews of the time of Jesus knew that Hell is everlasting and that unbelievers go there along with the Devil and his angels (Matthew 25:41). If this was wrong, Jesus would have rebuked them without hesitation as He did with their other issues. This contrasts very well with America's "Disneyland Christianity" that says  Hell doesn't exist, or Hell is not everlasting, or literally every single soul will be saved. These views are known under the title of, "Universalism".
         The truth about Hell is essential to our walk with Jesus. Besides, how can we say to Jesus, "You know what you said about everlasting torment? Well that doesn't really matter...in fact, not everything you say matters 100%. So, I'm just going to pretend you didn't say that." Knowing the truth will determine how we live our lives (and how we care about other people's destinies). If we believe there is not a Hell or that no one goes to Hell despite all of Jesus' words on it, then what is there to fear? The reality is that God said to fear Him who can kill the body and then cast your soul into Hell (Matthew 10:28).

        Let us look at some contexts.

1 Cor. 15:22 says, "For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive". What does the 2nd "all" mean? It means all who are in Christ [shall be made alive]. In fact, following this verse is a whole lot of destruction of everything that opposes God in this life.

When Mark said that "all the country of Judea" and "all the people of Jerusalem" were going out to be baptized by John (Mark 1:5), he certainly didn't mean every single individual in Judea. "All" here simply means a large number of people. Let us not act like this is a foreign concept - we use words like this and "everyone" and "everybody" everyday. And by "everyday" I do not mean literally every single day of our lives.

1 Timothy 2:4 says that God wants all people to be saved. Or that it is His will that all be saved. There are two (or three) different "wills": God's moral will and God's decreed will. His moral will (all to be saved) includes things like God doesn't want you to murder; He wants you to love. But do we break that will? Yes. Then there is God's decreed will. For example, for Him to sacrifice His son by the Jews. Jesus even asked if there was another way yet the Father's will was done for "none can stay His hand" (Daniel 4:35).

Revelation 20 & 21 describe the lake of fire as the final destiny of those who don't follow Jesus in this life. Hell is not corrective; it is retributive - it is punishment forever and ever.

It is important to read the Bible with exegetical eyes and not eisegetical.

- Ona

(with excerpts from Erasing Hell)

Also, the book is titled this way because Pastor Chan would love to erase Hell from the Bible and so would I. Francis' Grandmother died rejecting Jesus about 25 years ago. It hurts me so much to think about where the people I love could possibly end up. I never want to think about it.  So let us keep our eyes on the Lord and finish this race.

Prayer brings us closer to God

     Sup,


Romans 12:2 says, "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect."


     I used to think that prayer was the tool to get my way. After all, John 16:24 says, "Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full." I didn't want to accept that prayer's main effects was getting closer to God. Let's turn this into something positive. How do our minds get renewed? By God's mercy and grace. All over the bible God shows that we need Him and that we cannot do it ourselves. So let us pray at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication (Eph 6:18). After all, "how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!" (Luke 11:13). 


    Ok, I admit that this post wasn't very good. I just wanted to put something up. So, just let the scriptures speak for themselves.

- Ona