Building on the Foundation

  When you hear someone speak of “hell,” what springs to mind? An image of an underworld cavern blazing with flames? The souls of the damned screaming in agony from the midst of those flames while cackling demons run to and fro, stabbing those tortured souls with pitchforks? Do you picture this scene enduring for all eternity, without a moment of relief for the condemned? That’s the popular concept of hell. A place of endless torture, presided over by Satan and his demons, for whoever rejected Jesus Christ in this life. But that isn’t what the Bible teaches, not even close! It’s all baloney. Fiction. Human imagination. According to etymonline.com , the Old English word hel or helle literally meant “concealed place.” It’s related to the Old Norse word hellir , which means “cave” or “cavern.” This original meaning of the word is closer to the truth of what the Bible teaches, but not quite there. Let’s investigate further! What Happens to the Dead? As we’ve noted before , the Bible ...

Our primary goal and mission as Christians is our service and singular devotion to our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ. That's who and what we are, and it defines everything about our lives. We walk in a manner that reflects glory and honor upon His name, and when there is the darkness of wickedness, His light reflected through us reveals it.  Our highest mission is service to Jesus, who is YHWH. Once a year, however, it becomes abundantly clear that this mission has gotten confused in a lot of Christian's minds. We serve YHWH for 364 days of our lives, but one day a year, it's okay to go out and partake in the works of darkness. It's harmless and fun, so what's the big deal? As representatives of the kingdom, we are children of light. We cannot participate in evil things and expect God to be okay with that. We are to practice what is pleasing to God and do those things which are good, right, and true. That's a pretty good litmus test, and we find it repeated thro...