{"id":1321,"date":"2011-10-09T14:58:50","date_gmt":"2011-10-09T21:58:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thegatheringcincinnati.org\/?p=1321"},"modified":"2011-10-09T14:58:50","modified_gmt":"2011-10-09T21:58:50","slug":"october-9-2011-scary-halloween-things-is-hell-real","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gnhuu.org\/index.php\/2011\/10\/09\/october-9-2011-scary-halloween-things-is-hell-real\/","title":{"rendered":"October 9, 2011, "Scary Halloween Things: Is Hell Real?""},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a9 Doug Slagle, Pastor at the Gathering, All Rights Reserved\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

To listen to the message, click here:<\/p>\n\n

I recently heard about a Pastor who challenged any member of his congregation to come forward and, in return for $100.00, hold one of their fingers in the the heart of a candle flame for a full fifteen seconds. \u00a0As would likely be the case in many congregations, a cocky young man immediately raised his hand and came up to the front of the church. \u00a0He placed his finger into the flame but soon flinched and was only able to keep it there for six seconds. \u00a0The Pastor smiled a satisfied grin and then looked straight into the eyes of the young man, in front of the entire church, and asked him if he could imagine that fiery pain not just in the tip of one finger but over his hand, arm and indeed his whole body. \u00a0He asked him to imagine such pain, over his entire body, lasting not just six seconds, but an hour, a day, a year, ten-thousand years! \u00a0And then in a solemn voice this Pastor told the young man that even after ten-thousand years, it would be just the beginning of eternal burning pain that an unforgiven sinner would experience in hell. \u00a0If the young man wanted to save himself from such a terrible fate, he could repent of his sins and accept Jesus Christ as his savior then and there!<\/p>\n

As much as I disagree with such persuasive tactics, this was simply a demonstration of what many world religions teach about the existence of hell. \u00a0During this month of Halloween, when thoughts turn to scary things as a way to laugh at our fears, the idea that hell exists as a real place is perhaps the ultimate fright we might face. \u00a0What rational person would choose to horribly suffer forever, or wish to think of family and friends experiencing the same? \u00a0Indeed, I have heard many Pastors half jokingly say their real occupation is to sell fire insurance. \u00a0The famed evangelist of the early twentieth century, Billy Sunday, even said that if hell does not exist, then he and many other preachers were taking money under false pretenses. \u00a0And Billy Graham, not to be outdone by any hellfire and brimstone preacher, once shouted that the problem with many churches is that because there is not enough hell preached from the pulpit, there is too much hell in the pews!<\/p>\n

And, so I will take Billy Graham\u2019s advice. \u00a0You will get your fill of hell from me today. \u00a0To be very blunt with you, hell is real.
\nWhile Judaism, Islam and Christianity all have similar beliefs on the existence of hell, such views of divine punishment are seen by some theologians as coming from an ancient view of justice. \u00a0Ideas about second chances, rehabilitation, personal change and mitigating circumstances were unknown in many ancient cultures. \u00a0In a world where only good and evil could exist, there was no room for grey areas. \u00a0Wrongdoing and evil must not only be punished but must be done so with extreme and final measures. \u00a0While we can argue the same notions are true in our own nation, the idea of an eye for an eye, death by stoning for immoral behavior, crucifixion and a sentence to eternal hell were seen as fair and just in past cultures. \u00a0Humans must work to ruthlessly eliminate evil. \u00a0The idea of hell served that purpose.<\/p>\n

Many religious historians believe the fiery image of Hades originated from the Jerusalem trash dump. \u00a0Just over the south wall of that ancient city was a long valley into which all of that city\u2019s waste was dumped. \u00a0The bodies of executed criminals were placed there as fires were kept perpetually lit in order that trash and accumulated filth would be consumed. \u00a0A portion of this area is traditionally held to be the Potter\u2019s field where Judas was hung and buried. \u00a0Ribbons of smoke continuously wafted up from this stinking, fiery valley. \u00a0If there was anywhere on earth that ought to be avoided, it was this spot. \u00a0It was easy to imagine hell as just like that very real place. \u00a0Indeed, writing in the Biblical Book of Revelation, John saw a vision where the dead stand in front of the throne of God as the book of life is opened up and read. \u00a0All who are not written in the Book of Life, the list of persons eligible for Heaven, are cast into the lake of fire, an image perhaps borrowed from the Jerusalem trash heap. \u00a0That is where all evil resides forever.<\/p>\n

Halloween, for us, is a playful holiday to laugh at and even make fun of things that scare us. \u00a0Ghosts and goblins are frightening but to dress up as one is to mock it and reduce it. \u00a0It is interesting to me, however, that many still find the religious concept of hell to be so threatening. \u00a0On the one hand, we are called to worship and honor a gracious and loving God who created us and has our best interests at heart. \u00a0But this same God supposedly uses coercion and threat to bully us into loving him or her. \u00a0\u00a0\u201cBelieve in me, love me and obey me or else I will condemn you to hell. \u00a0My justice cannot be questioned. \u00a0I am God after all.\u201d \u00a0And if we do choose this God, is that really love of such a deity or merely fear of his or her threat?<\/p>\n

Even in the backs of some of the most skeptical of minds, this form of divine justice rings true. \u00a0Evil is bad and so there must be a place where final justice awaits. \u00a0The Hitlers, Ted Bundys and other thoroughly nasty people deserve punishment, we tell ourselves. \u00a0An eternity of burning pain seems fair for someone like Hitler. \u00a0Even if he did make the trains run on time and he was good to his dog, his evil outweighed his good. \u00a0Too often in our own minds we consciously weigh the sum of our own life actions – the good on one side of a scale and the bad on the other. \u00a0Our hope is that good will outweigh the bad and our souls will avoid eternal hell. \u00a0Even as some of us don\u2019t believe in hell, we hedge our bets, we figuratively buy fire insurance by keeping a running balance sheet of our good and bad deeds.<\/p>\n

My problem with this religious approach to eternity is its ultimately selfish outlook. \u00a0Love of truth, justice, compassion and goodness in that perspective is often simply a way to avoid eternal hell. \u00a0Even a belief that Jesus was the Christ and is our Savior is often just a free ticket to avoid hell. \u00a0And such views are myopic as well. \u00a0The same mindset that hopes for the promise of Heaven and fears the horrors of hell, often overlooks the very real horrors of garbage dumps around the world where children and families are forced to live on, and scavenge within, to survive. \u00a0It ignores the tortured life of young gay boy, daily harassed and bullied so that the only way for him to avoid that pain is through suicide. \u00a0Blind eyes are turned away from children in our city who are immigrants or homeless and whose only place of refuge is a clean school with breakfast and lunch. \u00a0We can save the salary of an administrator or cut school budgets if we forget about those children.<\/p>\n

We also know the evils that exist in the minds of many – us included – hatreds, subtle prejudices, violent speech towards those with whom we disagree, anger at loved ones, unforgiving attitudes, selfishness, depressions, arrogance, addictions, etc, etc. \u00a0There are nursing homes full of ignored and dying elderly; orphanages full of unwanted and unloved kids; homeless shelters full of unwashed and untreated men and women; overcrowded jails where there is no hope, rehabilitation or redemption; wartime morgues in which death is simply a daily count of bodies.<\/p>\n

I remember one of my trips to Haiti when I visited even that nation\u2019s most notorious of poor neighborhoods. \u00a0Into \u201cCite Soleil\u201d as it is called, City of the Sun, we ventured. \u00a0I gasped in horror at the actual sight of a bloated, dead human body lying in a gutter, people simply stepping around it. \u00a0Pigs rooted in mounds of garbage, homes were plywood and plastic sheet shacks, endless streams of people wandered with no seeming purpose. \u00a0The streets were hot, narrow, and strewn with trash. \u00a0The gutters were open sewage streams. \u00a0One relatively clean building in this warren of poverty housed young children piled two or three to a crib. \u00a0They suffered from terminal tuberculosis and AIDS. \u00a0Sisters of Charity nuns tended them until they died. \u00a0It might be a cliche to say this, but I\u2019ve seen hell. \u00a0I\u2019ve been to it. \u00a0You have likely visited it too. \u00a0Such a place is found all around the world. \u00a0Oh yes, hell is real.<\/p>\n

Oscar Wilde once said, \u201cWe are each our own devil, and we make this world our hell.\u201d \u00a0Adding to that thought, Tennessee Williams remarked, \u201cHell is yourself and the only redemption is when a person puts himself or herself aside to feel deeply for another person.\u201d \u00a0Hell is all around us and we have each helped to create it.<\/p>\n

My friends you have heard me say before that God is not an outside force controlling our lives and our destiny. \u00a0He or she is us and it is our duty, therefore, to help build heaven on earth. \u00a0That is the only spirituality that has any meaning for me. \u00a0That is the only reason for this church to exist – for all of us to be here today, to volunteer and to give. \u00a0The Gathering does NOT sell fire insurance. \u00a0As long as I am Pastor, it never will. \u00a0We\u2019re here to be fire-FIGHTERS putting out the flames of hell in our own lives and in the lives of those in the community. \u00a0We practice and believe in a spirituality of the here and now. \u00a0Jesus began his public ministry claiming the kingdom of god – heaven – is at hand. \u00a0It is here and available for us right now, he said. \u00a0\u00a0As small \u201cg\u201d gods and goddesses, it is ours to create, build and sustain – in our minds, in our hearts, and in the lives of those who need it the most.<\/p>\n

There are numerous religious and theological reasons for denying the existence of a supernatural hell – the one of eternal suffering and torture. \u00a0Indeed, one of the most compelling arguments against a religious view of hell is that logically it makes the existence of heaven impossible. \u00a0How could heaven be a perfect place of joy, love and eternal happiness if it is populated by persons who know friends and family are burning in a perpetual lake of fire – hell? \u00a0Indeed, that supposedly heavenly existence, for me at least, would be worse than hell. \u00a0I cannot fathom an eternity of knowing that people I love are suffering forever.<\/p>\n

Another compelling argument against a supernatural hell is that it is inconsistent with the loving and all gracious God most religions describe. \u00a0That God is one of mercy and love who would never eternally punish his or her creation for their momentary and weak lapses. \u00a0This loving God would also never stoop to forcing people to love him or her. \u00a0The threat of hell is inconsistent with that God. \u00a0Such a threat does not represent a free will choice on the part of humanity, but a blatant way to coerce belief.<\/p>\n

Whatever ways one might choose to refute the possibility of eternal hell, that is not my primary concern today. \u00a0We confront very real hells that can exist in our own minds and in our world.
\nWe have the power to fight those hells and even defeat them. \u00a0In the hell of our own suffering, our own negative attitudes, our own subtle prejudices and hatreds, we can change. \u00a0Indeed, heaven and hell are often a state of mind. \u00a0John Milton, the author of Paradise Lost, wrote in that book, \u201cThe mind is its own place, and in itself, can make heaven of hell……..and a hell of heaven.\u201d \u00a0Truer words were never spoken.<\/p>\n

With my firm belief in the power of cognitive therapy, the private depressions we experience, the pain of hurt feelings, the stabs of bitterness and the lonely hopelessness we can all feel – these are very real hells in our own psyches that we can defeat. \u00a0Turning our minds toward the blessings we do have, toward the good we can help build in other lives, toward the gifts we receive from friends and family – all these are ways to create heaven in us and in others.<\/p>\n

When we as a congregation work at the Freestore, prepare a meal for Inter-Faith Hospitality families, serve a homeless teen at Anthony House, or work to raise money for them, we are creating a vision of heaven. \u00a0When we think about the words of a Sunday message – as I often do – and then go home and seek to change the way we think and act, we are building heaven. \u00a0Fighting the very real hells in our own lives and in the world is our mission, our passion and our purpose. \u00a0We give money, serve, love one another, show up here on Sundays – all to eliminate the hells of here and now.
\nIn the Book of Revelation, John also wrote of his vision of a new earth where every tear will be wiped away with no more mourning, crying, sickness or pain. \u00a0The streets will be paved with gold and all humanity will share in earth\u2019s bounty. \u00a0It is that vision of heaven on earth that I seek. \u00a0It is not here yet. \u00a0It may never be. \u00a0But we can and must see the beauty that is available to us. \u00a0We must capture the joys and pleasures of life no matter how difficult or hopeless it may sometimes seem. \u00a0We must make it our life purpose to work for that experience and possibility in each and every life. \u00a0Hell is indeed real but it need not be allowed its victory. \u00a0In our own lives, in our own minds, in the lives and minds of those who do hurt and suffer, let us fight hell and build heaven. \u00a0Into whose life will you help build heaven today………tomorrow………and for countless tomorrows ahead?
\nI wish you, one and all, much peace and even more joy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a9 Doug Slagle, Pastor at the Gathering, All Rights Reserved To listen to the message, click here: I recently heard about a Pastor who challenged any member of his congregation to come forward and, in return for $100.00, hold one of their fingers in the the heart of a candle flame for a full fifteen […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1321","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gnhuu.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1321","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gnhuu.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gnhuu.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gnhuu.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gnhuu.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1321"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.gnhuu.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1321\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gnhuu.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1321"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gnhuu.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1321"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gnhuu.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1321"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}