Jeremiah is known as the weeping prophet. His message was one of condemnation and wrath and it tore him up to have to preach it. He wept as he contemplated the certain end for his people since they were unwilling to repent and change their ways. I felt like weeping at the end of today's sermon. What a terrible topic to have to preach on! I tried to end the sermon on a high note but somehow it didn't feel like we quite made it. It is exceptionally good news that Jesus went through hell so that we could enjoy new life now and eternal life forever! However, the whole message of the cross is entirely unfair. But isn't that the true nature of love? Love doesn't ask what is fair, but what is needed. What a Savior!Several people told me I had succeeded in raising more questions than I answered in the sermon (which I warned you might happen). The best that can be said for the traditional view of hell is that it wraps everything up in a neat package. Biblically, however, the traditional view is full of gaping holes. God simply does not give us enough information to know everything we might want to know. However, if you would like to dig deeper I would recommend Edward Fudge's book, The Fire That Consumes. Edward is an elder at the Bering Drive Church of Christ and has done a great service to the people of God in writing this well researched book. You can read my review of Edward's book by scanning through my brief book reviews. Just follow the link on the left side of my home page.
On another note, this is the 100th blog entry that I have written. It doesn't seem like I've been doing this that long. Also, did anyone notice the picture on last week's blog? It gave a date for Mother's Day in March. I almost changed the picture but decided to leave it to see if anyone noticed.
