Eeyores news and view

Is Hell Real?
By Radio Pastor Perry F. Rockwood
Published by The Peoples Gospel Hour
1. Hell is Today’s World
An evangelist once encountered a sceptic who, when asked to receive Christ, said, "I'm not afraid of Hell - all the Hell we will ever get is right here on earth!" The preacher's reply was quick and devastating, "I'll give you three reasons why this cannot be Hell. First, I am a Christian, and there are no Christians in Hell! Secondly, there is a place just around the corner where you can slake your thirst, but there is no water in Hell! Thirdly, I have been preaching Christ to you, and there is no Gospel in Hell!"
Dr. R.A. Torrey, who succeeded D.L. Moody, believed in the plain Bible teaching on Hell. He said, "We know absolutely nothing about future punishment but what God has been pleased to tell us in the Book; just as we know absolutely nothing about the future blessedness of the saved except what God has been pleased to tell us in this Book. If you are truly logical and not merely sentimental, if you give up what the Bible teaches on one subject, you will give up what it teaches on the other. If a man will believe that part of the Bible that he desires to believe and rejects that part of the bible that he does not desire to believe, in plain unvarnished English, he is a fool."
If the Bible is not true, we have no real proof that there is either a Heaven or a Hell. If the Bible is true about Heaven, it is also true about Hell.
Whenever I speak on this subject of Hell there are those who are bound to write and ask, "How do you reconcile the doctrine of Hell with the fact that God is a God of love?" I answer with this question, "How do we know that God is love?" We know this only from the Bible. If the Bible is not true we have no proof that God is love. Friend, if you reject what the Bible says about Hell you must in simple logic give up your belief that God is love.
Of course today the words "Hell" and "damn" are a part of the everyday language of most people- including our politicians, radio announcers and TV personalities. The use of such four-letter words portrays their lack of education and inability to express themselves forcefully in the English language. Such conversation surely reveals a mental vacuum.
"See you in Hell tonight!" cried one friend to another. They planned to meet in a night club which chose this name for the sake of publicity. Hell is fast becoming a joke word and people are laughing at the very idea of such a place. They scoff at the Word of God which teaches the eternal punishment of all who reject the Lord Jesus Christ as Saviour.
"Why, man, I'm getting my Hell here upon the earth!" This is what a business man said to me recently. I replied, "Sir, the Hell you are getting upon earth is but a Sunday school picnic compared to the eternal torments you will suffer unless you repent of sin and turn to the Lord."
A young man carelessly boasted, "Well, if I go to Hell think of all the company I'll have." I said to him, "Don't deceive yourself. There is no company in Hell. It is a place of total separation from everyone. Although there may be many famous people there, they will give you neither joy nor pleasure. Hell is a place of suffering and there will be no companionship whatever to help relieve the agony."
A common expression used by many people who are rude in their speech is, "Go to Hell." The same ones, however, say they are not sure there is a Hell. They live and act as though death ends all or as though they can get by without meeting God. The very fact that they tell people to go to Hell shows an inner conviction that those who do wrong should be punished.
Perhaps you are thinking, "But Pastor, you do not understand my situation. My life is truly a Hell on earth." Oh, but I do try to understand. The mental anguish and heartache caused by unhappy circumstances is very painful. Many are constantly struggling with difficult situations. Life is hard. Yet, there is some relief here upon the earth. There is some charity, some mercy, some easing of pain by drugs and sleep - and there is always hope. But in Hell there is only suffering - absolute physical and mental torment - and there is no hope.
Most seminaries and theological colleges either play down the Bible teaching on Hell or do away with it altogether. This has resulted in the subject hardly ever being mentioned from our modern-day pulpits. When was the last time you heard such a message in your church?
Today we have a movement called Neo-Evangelicalism or New Evangelicalism which teaches that the Bible is not the literal, verbally inspired Word of God but that it contains the Word of God. If you will look at the proclamations issued by various Evangelical groups over the past fifteen years, you will see that the majority make no mention of the plenary inspiration of the Scriptures, or of the inerrancy of the Bible, or of its preservation.
The late Bishop J.C. Ryle, who died in 1900, said:
"If you would promote faith, defeat the devil and save souls, preach Hell!"
"The conscience of man cries out of Hell. Go to the bedside of some dying child of the world and fear not to talk to him of God's judgment upon sin and wrath upon the sinner. Preach to him of a Saviour who went into the yawning jaws of Hell that forgiveness might be purchased at great price - His own shed blood - and offer him mercy but only by faith in that blood; and watch his restless anxiety about the future turn to calmness, and marvel as he departs in peace.
"The interests of holiness and morality cry out of Hell. Tell men it matters how they conduct themselves, that there is an eternal difference between Abraham and the Sodomites, between Paul and Nero, between the drunkard who dies unrepentant and a Baxter, a Wilberforce, or a McCheyne. Preach Hell as the final end of men who will not have the Christian whom they may 'live soberly, righteously, and godly.'
"The Bible speaks of Hell from beginning to end. Hundreds of texts in God's Word remind us of the wages of sin, the end of the flesh and the reward of ungodliness. Jesus cried that the gate to Hell is wide, the road is broad and well travelled. When you stand before the people, preach that!"
Thank God for those who have stood for Biblical inspiration among the scholars and believed in Hell. I think of Dr. R.A. Torrey who said, "I claim to be a scholarly preacher. I have a right to so claim. I have taken two degrees, specializing in Greek
in one of the most highly esteemed universities in America. I have also studied in two German universities. I have read the Bible in three languages every day of my life for many years. I have studied a large share of what has been written on both sides of the question in English and in German. I have written thirty or forty different books which have been translated into many languages. Yes, I believe in scholarship and I believe in the old-fashioned doctrine regarding Hell."
Yes, and we could mention other men, greatly used of God, who believed in Hell. D.L. Moody, "The same Christ that tells us of Heaven with all its glories, tells us of Hell with all its horrors." Henry Ward Beecher, "The thought of future punishment for
sinners which the Bible reveals is enough to make an earthquake of terror in every man's soul. "Dr. W.N. Clarke, "The principle of retribution is right because good ought to work good and evil ought to work evil." Billy Sunday, "You will not be in Hell five minutes until you believe there is one."
But hear now the voice of Christ: "Then shall He say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: ... And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal" (Matthew 25:41,46).
There is a real Hell for everyone who rejects the salvation offered in the Cross-work of Christ.
2. What the Bible Teaches
It is not easy to be a Bible preacher in these days of compromise and anti-Bible preaching. But we have the plain command in Ezekiel 3:17,18: "Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me. When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand."
Dr. Charles J. Woodbridge, author of the book, THE NEW EVANGELICALISM, speaks concerning the compromises of our day: "The very existence of this so-called 'neo-evangelicalism' implies a discontent with and disapproval of the old-fashioned approach. It is felt that there must be a new, more moderate definition of orthodoxy, a milder view of the inerrancy of Scripture, less contending for the faith and more friendly give-and-take with modernists. The 'neo-evangelicals' desire seems to be to make as much common cause as possible with the enemies of the cross, to regard ministers who deny the Bible as 'fringe-friends', to fraternize with believers as though we were all the family of God, and to do theological evil in order that good might result. This Jesuit attitude is not advocated in the Bible. Indeed, it runs counter to the plain commandments of the Word of God. The true believer is to have no spiritual traffic with sin or error" (from The King's Business, p.14, may 1958).
Irrespective of what modernists and modern-day appeasers teach, the Bible declares there is a Hell.
HELL! the prison house of despair,
Here are some things that won't be there:
No flowers will bloom on the banks of Hell,
No beauties of nature we love so well;
No comforts of home, music and song,
No friendship of joy will be found in that throng;
No children to brighten the long, weary night,
No love nor peace, nor one ray of light;
No blood washed soul with face beaming bright,
No loving smile in that region of night;
No mercy, no pity, pardon nor grace,
No water; O God, what a terrible place!
The pangs of the lost no human can tell,
Not one moment's peace - there is no rest in HELL.

HELL! the prison house of despair,
Here are some things that will be there:
Fire and brimstone are there, we know,
For God in His Word hath told us so;
Memory, remorse, suffering and pain,
Weeping and wailing, but all in vain;
Blasphemers, swearers, haters of God,
Christ-rejectors while here on earth trod;
Murderers, gamblers, drunkards and liars,
Will have their part in the lake of fire;
The filthy, the vile, the cruel and mean,
What a horrible mob in Hell will be seen!
Yes, more than humans on earth can tell,
Are torments and woes of eternal HELL!
-Catherine Dangell

JESUS ON HELL
Any child reading the Bible will understand that Jesus spoke time and again about a place of eternal punishment. This is the same Lord Jesus who spoke words of comfort to those in trouble, who healed diseases, who raised the dead, and who went
to the Cross.
Here are some of the passages of Scripture that record our Lord's teaching on Hell (Gehenna).
"But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of
hell fire" (Matthew 5:22).
"And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell" (Matthew 5:29).
"And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear Him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell" (Matthew 10:28).
"And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire" (Matthew 18:9).
"Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves" (Matthew 23:15).
"Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?" (Matthew 23:33).
These are sober words coming from the lips of the Lord Jesus Christ. If He believed in a place called Hell, I do; and since He preached on it, certainly all Bible preachers must do likewise.
I am thinking today of so many of you who have loved ones not saved. They are without hope. When members of our families are ill or in trouble of some kind, it is easy for us to be concerned and to weep for them. How much greater our concern ought to be if they are not saved and on the way to a Christless eternity. Jesus wept for lost souls. He had compassion on the unsaved multitudes. Yet we have ceased our weeping. We have lost our compassion.

THE OLD TESTAMENT
Not only do we have the words of Jesus, but we have the simple, plain Bible teaching on Hell from cover to cover. In Jeremiah 23:12 we read of the peril facing every unsaved person each hour he lives: "Wherefore their way shall be unto them as
slippery ways in the darkness: they shall be driven on, and fall therein: for I will bring evil upon them, even the year of their visitation, saith the Lord." Just think seriously of the peril of standing on slippery grass in the darkness facing the judgment of Hell.
Isaiah 14:9: "Hell from beneath is moved for thee to meet thee at thy coming ..."
Job 21:29,30: "...do ye not know ... That the wicked is reserved to the day of destruction? they shall be brought forth to the day of wrath."
Psalm 9:17: "The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God."
What we have learned today from the Word of God is that there is a place called Hell. In the New Testament alone there are 264 chapters and 27 books. 234 times God speaks of a place of judgment and eternal punishment. If you were travelling along
life's road and saw 234 signboards within 27 miles with the warning, "THIS ROAD LEADS TO DESTRUCTION", I am sure you would turn around and get on another road. Yet, how careless the multitudes are concerning their eternal destiny. God's warnings go unheeded, but at death it will be too late to change directions. The following poem reiterates this solemn fact:

FIVE MINUTES AFTER I DIE
Loved ones will weep o'er my silent face,
Dear ones will clasp me in sad embrace,
Shadows and darkness will fill the place,
Five minutes after I die.
Faces that sorrow I will not see,
Voices that murmur will not reach me,
But where, oh, where will my spirit be,
Five minutes after I die.
Quickly the years of my life have flown,
Gathering treasures I thought my own,
There I must reap from the see I have sown
Five minutes after I die.
Naught to repair the good I lack,
Fixed to the goal of my chosen track,
No room to repent, no turning back,
Five minutes after I die.
Now I can stifle convictions stirred,
Now I can silence the Voice oft heard,
Then the fulfilment of God's sure Word,
Five minutes after I die.
Mated for aye with my chosen throng,
Long is eternity, O, so long,
Then woe is me if my soul be wrong,
Five minutes after I die.
O, what a fool- hard the word, but true,
Passing the Saviour with death in view,
Doing a deed I can ne'er undo
Five minutes after I die.
If I am flinging a fortune away,
If I am wasting salvation's day
"Just is my sentence", my soul shall say
Five minutes after I die.
God help you to choose! Your eternal state
Depends on your choice, you dare not wait;
You must choose now; it will be too late
Five minutes after you die.
(You can get the rest at)
http://www.tpgh.org/IHR.htm

A FROG that constantly changes colour is being worshipped as a GOD in India.
Hundreds of curious followers flock to Reji Kumar’s home every day to pray and ask for miracles.
Now one of the country’s top zoologists plans to study the rainbow frog. But Reji, 35, who keeps the creature in a glass bottle after finding it while out watering plants, is afraid it might CROAK first.
He said: “My one problem is that this frog does not appear to eat. I keep trying to feed it but it doesn’t eat anything. I don’t know what else to give it.”
The frog was a dazzling WHITE colour when Reji, from Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, first spotted it.
Then it changed to YELLOW and had gone GREY by the time he got it home.
Lift worker Reji added: “By night the frog was dark yellow, and then it became transparent so you could see its internal organs.
"It seemed like a miracle to me that this frog had so many different coats. So now people come to see him and pray to him.”
Professor Oommen V. Oommen from India’s Kerala University, said it was not uncommon for animals to change colour.
He explained: “Frogs do change colour to scare away predators.
“But from what I have heard, the frog at Kumar’s place changes colour so frequently it is a bit unusual. I will collect it for study.”
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/2469396/Frog-that-changes-colour-worshipped-in-India-as-a-god.html

Man never seems to lose his lust to build the Tower of Babel
Inflatable tower could climb to the edge of space
A GIANT inflatable tower could carry people to the edge of space without the need for a rocket, and could be completed much sooner than a cable-based space elevator, its proponents claim.
Inflatable pneumatic modules already used in some spacecraft could be assembled into a 15-kilometre-high tower, say Brendan Quine, Raj Seth and George Zhu at York University in Toronto, Canada, writing in Acta Astronautica (DOI: 10.1016/j.actaastro.2009.02.018). If built from a suitable mountain top it could reach an altitude of around 20 kilometres, where it could be used for atmospheric research, tourism, telecoms or launching spacecraft.
Pneumatic modules already used in some spacecraft could be assembled into a 15-kilometre-high tower
The team envisages assembling the structure from a series of modules constructed from Kevlar-polyethylene composite tubes made rigid by inflating them with a lightweight gas such as helium. To test the idea, they built a 7-metre scale model made up of six modules (see image). Each module was built out of three laminated polyethylene tubes 8 centimetres in diameter, mounted around circular spacers and inflated with air.
To stay upright and withstand winds, full-scale structures would require gyroscopes and active stabilisation systems in each module. The team modelled a 15-kilometre tower made up of 100 modules, each one 150 metres tall and 230 metres in diameter, built from inflatable tubes 2 metres across. Quine estimates it would weigh about 800,000 tonnes when pressurised - around twice the weight of the world's largest supertanker.
"Twenty kilometres up is about as dark as outer space. You can see about 600 kilometres in any direction," Quine says. Tourists could get a view almost like that from space, but without the difficulties of coping with zero gravity. He calculates the tower could be extended up to low Earth orbit at 200 kilometres.
The tower does a similar job to the much-vaunted space elevator. But while the elevator envisages using ribbons woven from superstrong nanotubes - a material that is as yet non-existent - the tower would use materials that are already available. And should something go wrong with the tower, failure of a few modules would not cause the whole structure to collapse.
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20227117.000-inflatable-tower-could-climb-to-the-edge-of-space.html

'Hate crimes' called a reason 'to rumble'
'I think that for too long we have misinterpreted Jesus' statement to turn the other cheek' Posted: June 11, 2009 11:45 pm Eastern © 2009 WorldNetDaily
Charlie Daniels
A longtime popular country music star says the "hate crimes" plan in Washington, dubbed by critics as the "The Pedophile Protection Act," is an issue that Americans should be ready to "rumble" over.
"Now I know it sounds trite and jingoistic to say there's a battle for the heart and soul of America," wrote Charlie Daniels on his website's Soapbox.
"It's not a new phrase and has been used many times to describe many different situations that have come to pass in our history. But the battle I'm describing may well be worthy of the description," he wrote.
Daniels, who has used his "Soapbox" postings to rage about problems in America and praise patriotism, ends each commentary with a "Pray for our troops."
But in this one, posted recently but undated, he said, "Regardless of how liberals try to twist it, the soul of America is based on Judeo-Christian values."
Then he wrote: "There is a bill currently working it's way through [Congress] that purports to be about hate crimes but it is a thinly masked effort by politicians to take away another facet of our freedom and if passed by both houses could well inhibit any minister of the gospel from preaching the word of God as he or she interprets it."
His worry over S. 909, now pending in a U.S. Senate committee, is shared by others. Before it was approved 249-175 in the U.S. House, Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, proposed an amendment, "The term sexual orientation as used in this act or any amendments to this act does not include pedophilia." But majority Democrats refused to go along, sparking its designation as the "Pedophile Protection Act."
Rep. Louis Gohmert, R-Texas, a former judge, explained that statement of intent from representatives would go a long way towards providing pedophiles with the protection they would want from the law for their sexual proclivity.
"Having reviewed cases as an appellate judge, I know that when the legislature has the chance to include a definition and refuses, then what we look at is the plain meaning of those words," explained Gohmert. "The plain meaning of sexual orientation is anything to which someone is orientated. That could include exhibitionism, it could include necrophilia (sexual arousal/activity with a corpse) ... it could include urophilia (sexual arousal associated with urine), voyeurism. You see someone spying on you changing clothes and you hit them, they've committed a misdemeanor, you've committed a federal felony under this bill. It is so wrong."
In fact, one supporter of the "hate crimes," Rep. Alcee Hastings, D-Fla., confirmed that very worry, saying: "This bill addresses our resolve to end violence based on prejudice and to guarantee that all Americans regardless of race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability or all of these 'philias' and fetishes and 'ism's' that were put forward need not live in fear because of who they are."
Daniels warned, "If a preacher preaches against homosexuality that preacher could face time in prison, because under this law it would be considered a hate crime."
Speaking only for himself, he wrote, "I think that for too long we have misinterpreted Jesus' statement to turn the other cheek. I don't believe he meant to let evil seep into every crevice of America because of it.
"I believe that the day of the passive Christian is over if we are to hang on to our faith. I believe that if Christians don't band together and stand up for what we believe in, the current administration and Congress will leech away our right to preach the gospel unimpeded. And then what will be the difference between the old Soviet Union and the United States of America?"
He said what Congress doesn't impose, federal judges will.
"Well I for one will not go down without a fight," he said. "Are you ready to rumble? It's coming."
Just one day earlier, WND reported that three U.S. senators had written constituents opposing the "hate crimes" plan.
Today, a similar letter from Sen. James Inhofe said he shares that opposition.
"H.R. 1913, the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009, defines a hate crime to include a crime in which the perpetrator willfully causes or attempts to cause bodily injury to any person based upon the victim's race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability. On April 29, 2009 the House of Representatives passed H.R. 1913 by a vote of 249 to 175. H.R. 1913 has been referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee along with the Senate version, S.909, the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act," he wrote.
"I am opposed to any sort of violent offense and believe that a crime motivated by prejudice or hate is particularly reprehensible. However, I think that the provisions in H.R. 1913 and S.909 are unnecessary and constitutionally questionable," he said.
He expressed alarm that Democrats working for a "hate crimes" plan voted against an amendment that stated, "No prosecution under this act may be based in whole or in part on religious beliefs quoted from the Bible, the Tanakh, or the Quran."
"Many are concerned that should this legislation pass, it will have a 'chilling effect' on speech based on religious beliefs," he said.
Other opposition has come from Sen. Mel Martinez, R-Fla., and Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga.
As WND reported earlier, Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., also confirmed he will fight the "hate crimes" legislation pending in the U.S. Senate and, if necessary, will launch a filibuster against the "Pedophile Protection Act."
The most recent strategy to push the so-called "hate crimes" plan through the U.S. Senate is to attach it as an amendment to another proposal, according to The Washington Blade, a homosexual publication.
The Blade reported HRC official Trevor Thomas said, "We understand that Senate leadership does not believe a hearing or mark up on the bill is necessary and plans to bring it directly to the floor as an amendment to another moving vehicle."
That is what Senate leaders believe is "the most efficient way" to advance the issue to President Obama, who has expressed strong support, the report said. The Blade cited a Democratic aide who spoke on condition of anonymity saying that has been the plan for some time, specifically to prevent amendments from being attached to the "hate crimes" plan.
The proposal also has been targeted by a letter campaign in which constitutes can send 100 overnight letters to all 100 U.S. senators in protest of "The Pedophile Protection Act" for only $10.95
The protest letters are the result of an effort led by Janet Porter, a WND columnist and head of Faith2Action.
Sources working with senators opposing the legislation say the Fed Ex letter-writing campaign has shaken up the dynamics of the debate.
"This bill was supposed to sail through the Senate, but it suddenly has become much more controversial as a result of all these letters," one source said.
Gohmert and King said the only chance to defeat the legislation was for a massive outpouring of opposition from the American people.
"If you guys don't raise enough stink there's no chance of stopping it," Gohmert said on a radio program with Porter. "It's entirely in the hands of your listeners and people across the country. If you guys put up a strong enough fight, that will give backbone enough to the 41 or 42 in the Senate to say we don't want to have our names on that."
An analysis by Shawn D. Akers, policy analyst with Liberty Counsel said the proposal, formally known as H.R. 1913, the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act bill in the House and S. 909 in the Senate, would create new federal penalties against those whose "victims" were chosen based on an "actual or perceived ... sexual orientation, gender identity." Gohmert warned Porter during the interview that even her introduction of him, and references to the different sexual orientations, could be restricted if the plan becomes law.
"You can't talk like that once this becomes law," he said.
He said the foundational problem with the bill is that it is based on lies: It assumes there's an epidemic of crimes in the United States – especially actions that cross state lines – that is targeting those alternative sexual lifestyles.
"When you base a law on lies, you're going to have a bad law," he said. "This 'Pedophilia Protection Act,' a 'hate crimes' bill, is based on the representation that there's a epidemic of crimes based on bias and prejudice. It turns out there are fewer crimes now than there were 10 years ago."
He said he fought in committee and in the House to correct some of the failings, including his repeated requests for definitions in the bill for terms such as "sexual orientation."
Obama, supported strongly during his campaign by homosexual advocates, appears ready to respond to their desires.
"I urge members on both sides of the aisle to act on this important civil rights issue by passing this legislation to protect all of our citizens from violent acts of intolerance," he said.
But Gohmert pointed out that if an exhibitionist flashes a woman, and she responds by slapping him with her purse, he has probably committed a misdemeanor while she has committed a federal felony hate crime.
"That's how ludicrous this situation is," Gohmert said.
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=100836