Random Thoughts on the Really Good News

“…be filled with the knowledge of His will…” (Colossians 1:10) 19 years ago I began to pray the above prayer for myself. Soon thereafter I began to examine my doctrinal positions.  In doing so I had to face squarely a question I had avoided for the most part - Is it really God’s WILL to separate Himself from unbelievers, keeping them alive eternally to punish and torment them?  I was determined to be "filled with the knowledge of His will"  even if it meant to embrace this doctrine which seemed to me to contradict the love of God. And for 5 years I studied Scripture, and the more I studied, the more it became obvious that this doctrine was not in the original language of His Word. When the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar wanted to punish the people of God who had refused to worship him, he had them thrown into a furnace of fire... “But whoever does not fall down and worship shall immediately be cast into the midst of a furnace of blazing fire.” (Daniel 3:6) Is o...

"The soul who sins shall die...." (Ezekiel 18:4) "The wages of sin is death..." (Romans 3:23) "All have sinned..." (Romans 6:230 “So then each one of us will give an account of himself to God" (Romans 14:12) Sin has consequences, both in this life and the next, which a wise person will seek to avoid by making good choices now. Excessive drinking, drug use, eating habits and stress result in serious health problems. Refusing to forgive others for wrongs committed results in hate, which is a miserable and depressing way to go through life. Violating the laws of the land have legal consequences. And death eventually finds us all, f or... "it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment." (Hebrews 9:27) This "judgment" simply means a decision is made as to whether the things we have done in this life were "good or bad" . "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so th...