Captivate: Erasing Hell: The Beginning

Have you ever said that you just couldn't believe something about God?
I just can't believe God lets bad things happen to good people.
I just CAN'T believe an all-loving God would send people to hell.

I know I have. Sometimes the things I "can't" believe about God are so stressful to me I just brush them under the rug and try not to think about them.
Like hell.

But according to Francis Chan, its not really that we "can't" believe these things about our God, its that we just dont want to.

This past Monday, our women's bible study met and discussed the first chapter of Chan's book, Erasing Hell. Our goal is to find out, as the book describes, what God had to say about eternity, and what we as Christians, nonbelievers, sinners and desperate people, have made up.

We shared that as we've grown older and matured, so has our view of what hell is. From a literal lake of fire to the sheer emptiness of a place that is void of God. Although we are still unsure and have much to learn, here is what we have discovered so far:

   1. There are no second chances after death.
     2. God gets what God wants: But, just because it is in God's moral will for everyone to be saved, it may not necessarily be in His decreed will. This is where our free will comes into play.
     3. God is God. His ways are higher, and He knows more than we do. God has the right to do WHATEVER He pleases.
    4. Not everyone will go to heaven.
And last, but not least
     5. We can not afford to be wrong.

People are at stake and even though it is a scary subject, we are determined to understand as best as we can. Chan's introduction afforded us a beautiful prayer that we have decided will be our compass for the next few weeks:

God, I want to know what is true.

I know I have cravings that sway and distort my abilty to reason.

You promise that Your Holy Spirit will guide me into all truth.

I pray that He will now.

I don't want to be wrong.

I don't want to be deceived by others or myself.

You alone possess all truth, and I want to be on Your side.

Give me eyes to see and ears to hear.

Give me courage to live and speak what is right no matter the cost.

I don't want to believe anything about You that is not true.

Amen.

"Then Jesus said to His disciples, 'The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into His harvest field'."

Matthew 9:37-38

<3 Kp

P.S Check out what Chan had to say as he began writing this book, just follow the link and click "watch video". Its worth it I promise!