Burning Passion

Perspective.

The way one looks at a particular situation, how a scene is viewed through the eyes of an individual. Passive. Slow motion. No matter what the circumstance, someone is always taking away something different than you, in a different way than you. Our worldviews are not to be taken lightly. Just as someone is right, someone is also wrong. There will always be 16 ounces in a pound and 2 cups in a pint. Being wrong in those measurements might make you pay a little more or less than you expected or your perhaps your cookie dough may be a little runny when you put in 3 cups of milk instead of 2. Sometimes being wrong is nothing more than a situation to laugh at later on down the road.

When I was younger, I wanted to make my dad heart shaped cookies for Father's Day (or Valentine's Day...one or the other). I was maybe 10 or so and I wanted to make them all by myself. I wanted to be able to see Dad be so proud that I made these peanut butter cookies without the aid of my mother. So I pushed Mom out of the kitchen and went to work. I cracked the eggs and measured the milk and slopped in the peanut butter with child-like perfection. I carefully rolled out the dough and punched out delicate hearts to place on the cookie sheets. (I did let Mom handle the oven.) I wouldn't let anyone touch them until they were all done and cooling on the kitchen table.

Then we tried one.

They were the saltiest cookies I hope you never have to taste the likes of in your life! I couldn't understand what had gone wrong! I was so upset. I racked my brain and studied the recipe. I had followed all of the instructions!...as I had read them. To my dismay, I saw that the milk was listed directly above the salt, and (silly me!) I had read the milk measurements and finished it with the work "salt" beneath it.

My mistake cost us a big batch of peanut buttery goodness. Dad was still proud that I'd tried, and we all were able to laugh about it. Being wrong had, essentially, done very little harm. After throwing out the vile and offensive cookies, the accident was but a mere memory.

But what if being wrong cost someone their life? Putting a cup of salt into peanut butter cookie batter results in unbearably salty cookies that can be thrown away. Rejecting the gift of salvation offered to us through Jesus Christ, however, results in the permanent, inescapable torment of one's soul for an eternity.

Perspective. Acceptance. It makes all the difference.

If you haven't read the book 23 Minutes in Hell by Bill Wiese, I strongly encourage you to do so. It really brings the words of Charles Spurgeon to life:

The saving of souls, if a man has once gained love to perishing sinners and his
blessed master, will be an all-absorbing passion to him. It will so carry him
away, that he will almost forget himself in the saving of others. He will be like
the brave fireman, who cares not for the scorch or the heat, so that he
may rescure the poor creature on whom true humanity has set its heart. If
sinners will be damned, at least let them leap to hell over our bodies. And if
they will perish, let them perish with our arms about their knees, imploring
them to stay. If hell must be filled, at least let it be filled with the teeth
of our exertions, and let not one go there unwarned and unprayed for.

I cannot begin to describe the horror that gripped my heart as Bill Wiese described his experience in the Pit. Even trying to grasp his words when he said that each soul had a small pit of fire, 3-5 feet across in which their body was thrown to burn and not die, surrounding a massive, mile wide inferno was beyond my imagination. The demons, stronger than man, ripping apart the bodies of God's precious creation, because they hate God and we are made in his image, was almost more than I could bear. The hopelessness that gripped him, the absolute isolation, it is all against how we were designed...

I thought of all those who have said "Yeah, I'm going to Hell; but at least all my friends'll be there" and my heart broke. People were "together" as the Jews were "together" as they were forced into gas chambers to die.

Forever alone.

Forever hopeless.

Forever in agony and torment.

How's your neighbor? How are your co-workers? How are your friends? You know that guy in Wal-Mart who scowls at you for putting up with the lady in front of you in line who's taking forever? What about the happy, carefree child you see playing in the yard while out jogging or walking the dog? Ever thought beyond "get a life", "patience is a virtue", and "aw how sweet"? Ever made it to "I wonder if you've heard about my friend Jesus"?

We run around through daily life, in a hurry to get to work, late for dinner, making appointments, missing those appointments, getting Johnny new shoes because he's complaining...again, making sure the kids are happy, healthy, and home on time. Not too often do we pause to consider the eternal destiny of those we're running around and honking at to get to where we need to go, when we need to get there. But there's not second chances. Wiese tells us there is no mercy in Hell because mercy is a thing of God. How are you reflecting God?

Experiencing even a fraction of the love of Christ for his children, and his agonizing sorrow for those who are hurtling into the blazing fires of Hell was far too much for Wiese to bear. He begged the Lord for it to stop.

There is a small pit of fire being dug for every man, woman, and child who is lost. And it has their name written aaaaall over it. What are we doing to keep that hole empty for eternity? Empty because they have been saved by the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ. We have a mission. We have a goal. We have a road paved beneath our feet. We have been equipped with the Armor of God and it's fireproof. So let's use it and use it well. Because there is no going back. There is no "oops". As the woman I introduced you to a few weeks ago said, "Hell's real. Sad as it is, it's real."

Yes it's real. Yes it's buring. Yes Jesus is coming very, very soon. And yes, time is running out.

I've been walking around in a bit of a shocked stupor all day, trying to grasp Bill Wiese's words. I see flames engulfing those we're trying to reach and it scares me.

A knight on a mount moves faster and more efficiently than a knight on foot. So may the knowledge of Bill Wiese be the horse you ride and fly upon. If hell is to be filled with the beautiful creation of God, may humanity chose and even fight to fill it, and jump into the flames of its own accord, dragging us to the edge of the Pit as we hang from its ankles, begging and pleading for it to choose life.

Perspective.

How will you choose to view the value of your interactions?