Hello friends. It’s a new year and many churches are starting a Bible reading plan to read through the Bible together in a year. I know that my church has started theirs. If you have never read through the entire Bible before, please jump in with a group and do it together with them. I suggest you have one accountability partner too. There are 66 books in the Bible. I’ve been studying the holy scripture nonstop for the last 13 years. I am convinced more than ever that this is the word of God for humanity. It’s truly a holy book and it’s “Basic Information Before Leaving Earth”.
Without a plan and great discipline, you will not read through the Bible or even study it diligently after you have finished reading it once. I highly recommend that you join a Bible study group in your local church or a virtual group that meets regularly. You must prioritize this meeting and put it on your calendar. Why? Because the enemy will do everything to distract you from attending unless you prioritize it.
One of my ministry friend is a group leader in this online Bible study group called the YadaFactor. Here is their website, http://www.yadafactor.com
One fruit that develops when you study the Bible daily and diligently is a healthy fear of God. I’ve discovered that the gospel that has been preached in many churches and by televangelists are too often focused only on the love and grace of God. Perhaps this is why nearly 70% of children raised in a Christian household leave their faith once they are young adults in the USA. I’m sure they eventually come back because of their parents’ persistent prayers but it’s a shame that they lose out on many years of walking through life without Jesus Christ as their guide. As a church, we also miss out on their talents and services too.
Newsboys is a Christian musical group that has been around for decades. In this article the lead singer shared that hearing a message about hell is what made him commit fully to Jesus Christ as a young person. He is a pastor’s son. I know that the topic of hell is rarely discussed and preached these days in the USA churches. But learning about the realities of hell is what made me obedient and loyal to God. Folks like me and this gifted musician need to hear this. Life of faith and obedience to Jesus is too hard otherwise.
I’ve shared my testimony before but to recap it – I was powerfully touched by the Holy Spirit in a middle school summer retreat. A handsome high school leader, Steve came inches to my face and told me that I needed to get saved. I repeated the salvation prayer that he told me to say. I had no idea what any of this meant. I simply followed his lead because he was cute. Even if I didn’t know what I was doing; I realize now that my citizenship paper was being transferred from hell to heaven. I really wish that I was informed by Steve or the pastors there what happened to me. Or at least given a heads up that now I have a big target on my back from the enemy (aka Satan and the demons).
It’s been a long and winding road of few detours to get me back to my faith journey and to the church 13 years ago. This time around the main reason why I have not aborted my commitment to follow and serve Jesus Christ and his church is because of my study on hell. Jesus talked about hell frequently and his teachings are recorded in the gospel books of Matthew, Mark, John and Luke. My study group just finished the book of Matthew and it was great to have discussions as we were reading together. Perhaps you could join a group that studies a gospel book together.
What about following God because of love? Well for me, I have experienced God’s love in supernatural ways a few times in my lifetime. But it’s not enough experiences for me to tell you or anyone else about God’s love in a very convincing way. But I’ve heard testimonies of Christians who had near death experiences and visited heaven. They all talk about the most incredible love that they received from Jesus when they met him. I look forward to this day when I meet Jesus face-to-face.
Because of my knowledge and belief in hell, I pray often for the salvation and protection of my family members. It’s very difficult for them to believe in hell if they haven’t experienced any supernatural touch of God the way I have. That’s why I also pray for revival in the church too.
One thing that you could inform your unsaved family members is that if they are ever in danger to call out on the name of “Jesus”. His name is very powerful.
Several years ago, I read a testimony of an art history professor who was an atheist. He was in the hospital for a life threatening injury. He died and was being taken to hell by two demons. He called out the name “Jesus”. Immediately a bright light came to rescue him and his soul came back to his body. After his recovery, he left his tenured position at the university, enrolled in a seminary school and became a pastor of a small county church. I wish I had saved this article to share with you.
I haven’t seen this movie but Angel Studio just made a movie about near death experiences. I heard that it’s mainly about the love experiences of God in heaven. But there are also few people who experienced hell and encountered demons. Here is the movie link:
https://www.angel.com/watch/after-death?utm_medium=web&utm_source=past-release
Here is a testimony of a man that went to hell after harming himself when he was in a drugged state. Miraculously, he survived because of the prayers of his mom’s church friends. Now he’s a pastor of a Korean church in California. Hmm, there’s a theme of going to seminary school and becoming a pastor after a short visit to hell…
https://www.youtube.com/live/FnmUbPouvHk?si=DDnyOSM7jQJOQkkn
I recently discovered this podcast called “Candid Conservations”. His guest talked about how to read the Bible. It was excellent. Please hear this interview and maybe get his book too. He talked about how many western churches have been feeding their people with a wrong diet of the Bible and therefore, they won’t make it when trouble and trials come. I agree since I didn’t make it as a young adult after five years of commitment to Jesus and the church.
My family members don’t want to hear when I try to explain the gospel and the theology of heaven and hell. One thing that I know for certain is that no one is presentable to a Holy God. God has made it super easy to receive a free ticket to heaven by believing in His Son, Jesus Christ. I find that the most difficult part is living life in obedience to the principles in the Holy Bible and in submission to Jesus Christ. This is where many Christians struggle and even abandon their faith and calling when trouble and trials comes.
The analogy that I like to use about following Jesus is that you are joining an army. He is the Commander-in-Chief and you are not. You just show up for duty. I really appreciate the messages from Times Square church because they always make sense to me and resonates with my experiences too.
http://sermons.tsc.nyc/blessings-battles-all-at-the-same-time/
Please pray about my sharing and resources.
“Most Christians would like to send their recruits to Bible college for five years. I would like to send them to hell for five minutes. That would do more than anything else to prepare them for a lifetime of compassionate ministry.” – William Booth, founder of the Salvation Army
“Don’t bother to give God instructions, just report for duty.” – Corrie ten Boom
Journal of Faith 