There Really is a Hell - Intro

There really is a hell. And there really are people going there. How does that strike you?
I will tell you, I heard a pastor say those words and it kind of hit me in a way that it hadn't before.
Hell is a weird topic. It has this dual nature about it in today's world:

- It can be completely uncomfortable when you get into it and call it out as an eternal place of damnation; It can be shrugged off as just another curse word...and not even one of the bad ones at that.

- It can be universally agreed to that it is a terrible place and yet not universally agreed to that it even exists...

- It is a source of some of the highest intellectually interesting debate as people grapple with the goodness of God and eternal punishment but it can also be the most basic feeling that wells up inside you as you go through something terrible...

But, with this duality it has lost its potency in our lives.

We have diverted ourselves from an element of truth that God gave us...that there is a Hell and the decisions we make now have eternal consequences.

We like to think only of God's grace, His love, His forgiveness...but as you work through the Bible, you understand that God has His wrath, His Holiness, His Justice. In fact, if He didn't have those things, we wouldn't have needed Jesus' sacrifice.

Now, I am by no means an expert on this topic...I have been learning even this week as I went over these verses and was thinking about this talk...this is simply a few things that I felt that God laid on my heart as I thought about this topic over the last couple weeks.

H - Hell is real & there are people going there
E - Eternity is at stake
L - Live the Great Commission NOW
L - Live faithfully

My third talk

I recently spoke at the men's breakfast. It was the third time I had spoken, though it was the first time that I spoke on material that I came up with. The previous two times I had essentially developed my discussions off of books that I had read. I encapsulated the discussion points I wanted to make and did my best to be true to what the author stated and add some color on how that impacted me, or how it could impact others....

This time, I came up with everything on my own based upon a line that I heard in a sermon that grabbed me..."There really is a Hell. And there really are people going there."

The line grabbed me regarding the implications for my behavior, how I engage the world as well as the theological truth that a place called Hell exists.

I will post the four points I made in separate posts...but, I am interested to see how people react to my talk. I did not get a feeling for it directly after it that morning and I am doubly interested because I received an message today from another person who attends who will be speaking in a couple weeks...who said he will be speaking with a alternate position...

Makes me interested to hear his take and to see if it generates some interesting discussion at the men's breakfast.

Racing with the boys

I spent about 40 minutes driving with the boys, a friend and his kids to an indoor go kart facility on Saturday so that the kids would have a fun time. It wasn't too expensive and the kids had a great time with the go karts, the arcade, the lunch out and the time with friends. I will post some pictures on Facebook when I get them.

It was time well spent, even though Mom didn't get to join us.

Jaden, the Paul Bunyan of our family

Jaden had an interesting week of school this week. Each day was a theme and we rushed around each day to try to fulfill his ability to participate in the theme...
Thursday was Fairy Tale day. As we scrambled to figure out something other than a standard "prince", we thought that he could be Paul Bunyan...
Kristen will post the pictures, but...boy did we have fun trying to get that done real quickly that morning :)
I think it turned out well, but the ax was an interesting challenge...I did not really think about the whole "weapons in school" angle and went about using a bat as the handle of the ax. Kristen quickly discouraged that idea... :)
well, I was able to change it over to a construction paper handle and I really think that it did turn out well.
I think God gave me Kristen specifically for us to balance each other out that way...I was able to make the ax, she was able to keep me in line, and meanwhile, she made Jaden into one awesome looking lumberjack :)

I am a dork

I have told Kristen and people that I work with that I am excited by the fact that I bought my wife, and by extension myself, Office 2007. I am actually excited that I have a spreadsheet program that allows me a million lines of data....

Yes, I truly am a dork.

Devotionals with the boys

I was watching YouTube clips...which I think is just kind of interesting all by itself...but, one of the things that a pastor talked about was that his daughter was 10 months old and he said "she wins....I get home for dinner....that is a year that if I wasn't there...I don't get it back, she wins....I can find another church, I can't find another wife or daughter." This was quoted paraphrase, but anyway, do my kids "WIN"? I hope so. I know that I have, at times, been a workaholic...driven to success...and I say I want it, for my kids...I certainly want to provide, but, is that just an excuse? I have to be honest and say that it is not always...for my kids...they want me to play...Kristen wants me to go on walks...I am not always thinking about them. Now, I have to do the work, keep my job and give to Caesar what is Caesar's...but, what about the rest? I don't want to look back on Jaden, Jacob and Jude's childhood and say...I can't get that back. I wish I would have....
I don't want to look back on my marriage and say, "I wish I would have...."
And to that end, it has been really neat to spend time with the boys in devotionals over the last week. Kristen and I bought the boys their own devotionals that we are doing with them at night on our date night. The boys have done incredibly well! They are attentive and insightful and it really is enjoyable to spend those precious minutes with them in study and in prayer.
I know that I will hold on to these times and hopefully, I will remember that I don't get these times back and therefore allot my time and energy appropriately.

No reading, no activities, no blogging

I don't have anything to say...I haven't been reading much lately, and I haven't been writing any blog posts for the last week.

When you are basically on the hampster wheel every day for a week, what piques your interest enough to share with everyone...how many spokes you counted?

I don't know...but I do notice that the reading of magazine articles, books and blogs really gets my mind fired up and then, I have things to write about. Over the last week...I have been a bit preoccupied with work and just getting through the day. So, I am going to get back to my reading and pay more attention to things around me that capture my attention so that I can get back to blogging here.

Stay tuned.

Lost again

One of the interesting things about living in Mass is that the roads are not on a grid...they meander, change names, etc...it is very confusing. Now, Kristen and I are not particularly good with directions anyway, so out here...forget about it. We are lost constantly...even sometimes with a GPS system.
Today was no different...though I brought a new friend along for the ride. Trying to pick up pizza and we ended up in the wrong town and ended up taking a lot longer than we should have to get to the pizza joint after calling and getting more information from the manager. I certainly provided him a good time as he got to appreciate my driving skills and directional sensibilities first hand...
But it did get me thinking...I was lost today because everything worked exactly as it was supposed to...I just had the wrong information. The wrong town was listed on the address...so, the GPS worked, I followed it...but I ended up in the wrong location. You have to have the right information, the right rules to follow, the truth...otherwise, you may think you are doing the right thing and still end up in a bad place.

A Cold Easter Egg Hunt

The boys and I went to an Easter Egg hunt put on by a friend's church today. IT WAS COLD OUTSIDE...but, we had a good time anyway. It was really nice to see our boys exhibiting some great behaviors today as well.
The result of the egg hunt was that a bunch of older children that started out very quickly had way too many eggs and my boys and their friends were left scavenging...and with not too much luck. Jaden had maybe 8, Jacob got 3, and their friends were around 3 I think as well. Jaden decided to split his up with everyone else so that they each had a couple more and then all of them gave up some of their total take to another person who said that they got no eggs. It was really neat to watch them be selfless and share like that :)
I love my boys and it makes me especially proud in those moments where I see their wonderful character shine through.

Inertia

Was thinking about inertia today as I looked at my goals for the year and the small progress that I have made thus far. Inertia is almost always regarded as a negative thing. And that is generally because we are talking about those things that are not yet started...
I looked up inertia on dictionary.com and cut this out:
inertia is..."the property of matter by which it retains its state of rest or its velocity along a straight line so long as it is not acted upon by an external force."
I know it is hard to be that external force pushing up against something to get it started. I have started my P90X routine and had some set-backs...
I have read a few books..but I am a little behind pace to hit my goal.
Kristen and I have gone out a couple times, but missed an event due to sickness...
I have made it to almost all of my Bethel classes and we are only a short bit away from completing the Old Testament...

I guess what I am thinking about is that I want to look at inertia as a positive and only a positive. I want to get past my laziness that I have at times and put in the energy and effort so that these things have velocity and it won't take me acting upon them with so much effort to have them go...they just will...I just will.

So, here's to all of you having some positive inertia in your lives right now.