The Tortoise and the Hare

The Tortoise and the Hare

Have you ever read the fable of the Tortoise and the Hare. The Hare challenged the tortoise to a race and was so confident he would win he failed to take the Tortoise seriously. He is so arrogant and cocky he stops to eat and sleep for awhile. When he awakens he finds that the tortoise has crossed the finish line ahead of him. The situation is similar between science and the Bible. Some scientists are very arrogant and cocky. They deceive themselves into thinking they've won the race to find truth only to find the truth they discovered was already in the Bible.

They were so proud to discover that the earth was round. The flat earth myth could be put to rest once and for all. Copernicus stood up to the Catholic Church and found himself under house arrest for ten years. But, they were too late. The Bible has taught for thousands of years that the earth was round: Isaiah 40:22 – “He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth.”

The telescope was invented in the 17th century. Prominant scientists announced they had counted over 1,000 stars in the sky! Today scientists estimate there are 10 million billion billion stars in the sky. They believe that vast array of shining, revolving and rotating spheres all emerged from nothingness. Too late: Jeremiah 33:22 “As the host of heaven cannot be numbered, neither the sand of the sea measured, so will I multiply the seed of David….” How can anyone believe that vast array of shining, revolving and rotating spheres all emerged from nothingness.

Scientists eventually discovered the great variety of the heavens. All of the stars were not the same. Some were big, some small, some bright and some dull. Too late again: 1 Cor. 15:41 “There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for one star differeth from another star in glory.”

Scientists used to laugh at Christians over a verse found in Psalm 19. Verse 6 refers to the sun, "His going forth is from the end of the heaven, and his circuit unto the ends of it…” Everyone knows the sun stands still. It has no revolution. They are no longer mocking that verse since they discovered our solar system is being dragged through the universe by the sun in an orbit going almost 72,000 miles/hour that would take 2 million centuries to complete.

How long did it take scientists to discover that our moon is not a luminous body, it doesn't produce its own light, it reflects light. In the race for that truth, the Bible wins again. "Job 25:5 “Behold even to the moon, and it shineth not…”Jesus declared, "Your word is truth" and science certainly does verify it!!

The Case Against Theistic Evolution

The Case Against Theistic Evolution

Many creationists would like to compromise with the evolutionists. They are the Theistic Evolutionists. Their cry is, "Can't we just get along?" They recognize a marriage between evolution and creation, a compromise. Evolution is true. Creation is true. God used evolution as a means of creating the earth. Now, we can all be happy. Unfortunately, compromise trumps truth.

For those who believe in evolution and in God there is an irreconcilable contradiction that must be addressed. Evolution is an ongoing process taking millions and millions of years. In fact, this process continues through the present. But God's word says, "Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God ended his work? It was done, finished, completed!

Which belief system is most beneficial to society? Evolution is about elimination of the weak, it is survival of the fittest, it is death and struggle. Blood, guts and gore. It is the foundation belief system that promotes euthanasia, homosexuality, abortion, racism and social decline. Would God have used such a brutal method to bring about his creation? Of course not. It contradicts his nature. After God created he looked at his creation and declared that it was "very good". Had he used evolution to create, by the time he had finished the sixth day of creation millions of years would have passed. During those millions of years, billions of fossils accumulated in the layers of the earth? Would God have looked at all that death and declared that it was all "very good"? Death didn't enter scene until Adam sinned after the completion of creation on the sixth day.

Atheistic evolution involves matter, chance and necessity, mutations, selection, death and very, very long periods of time. Theistic evolution involves matter, chance and necessity, mutations, selection, death and very, very long periods of time, just add God. Its still evolution and its not creation.

C.S. Lewis said, "There is a fine line between science and magic because both are attempts to control nature." When God is removed from science it becomes superstition.

Scientists listen constantly for sound patterns from space that may indicate life. The proof of life would be if these sound patterns have a pattern to them. Yet, these same scientists will look at the pattern of organized information on a strand of DNA that would fill an entire library and declare that it was a freak accident of nature. Absurd! It was organized by intelligence and the intelligent mind that put DNA together was God himself.

DNA = Definitely Not an Accident

"We believe God created the world instantly, completely and recently" - John Barnett

"Where were you when I laid the earth's foundation?" Job 38:4

The evolutionist has plenty of evidence to believe, he simply chooses not to. It is a demonstration of man's arrogant refusal to bow to the Son of God, to declare Christ the Lord!"It is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God."

The Arrogance of Man

Arrogance of Man

God punished man at the Tower of Babel for his arrogance. We are once again very arrogant and we are positioning ourselves to be judged by the Almighty. We've excluded God from our schools, our homes, our culture. We've excluded him from creation and substituted our own idea of how it all may have happened so he wouldn't have to be included: this is arrogant.

We are proud of all our human accomplishments. We celebrated going to the moon this past week. Somehow we think we have done all those things without God. How foolish is the heart of man.

1. We are very proud to be able to control our environment.

Do you know what those who raise bees know? The temperature of a beehive must be a constant 94 degrees. In the winter the bees gorge themselves with honey and their overactive metabolism keeps the hive warm. In the summer thousands of workers beat their wings furiously and air condition the hive so it stays at exactly 94 degrees.

Ecc. 1:9 “…there is no new thing under the sun.”



2. We are very proud of the mechanical pumps we have created.

But none has been able to produce a pump like God did. The human heart pumps 100,000 times every day and has a work expectancy of over 70 years without shutdown for maintenance or repair? Strange how man looks at the great pumps that pumped water out of New Orleans and wondered at the mind of man to create such a machine. But man looks at the pump in the chest of every human and denies there is any intelligence involved in its existence!!



3. We are so proud to use our sonar systems to find black boxes and Titanics under the ocean.

Already been done.The bat has such a sensitive sonar system that it can avoid obstacles and catch flying insects on the darkest nights. Where did the bat learn sonar? 4. We have created computers that can do almost anything.God can say, "Been there, done that." Your brain is more impressive than any computer ever made. The nerve lines in your brain are more than all the telephone lines of the world put together. Your brain can decipher millions of impulses instantaneously.

4. We have created computers that can do almost anything.

God can say "Been there, done that. " Your brain is more impressive than any computer ever made. The nerve lines in your brain are more than all the telephone lines of the world put together. Your brain can decipher millions of impulses instantaneously.

Its time for a little humililty. Its time to contemplate the fact that Isaiah "...as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts" - Isaiah 55:9

Hoodwinked

Bait and Switch is a common type of fraud in which a customer is lured to a product advertised at a cheap rate and then redirected to a more expensive substitute product. A local car dealer used to lure customers from three and four hundred miles using this technique.We Americans have just experienced the greatest bait and switch in the history of economics. Last fall the Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson used terror techniques to dupe Congress and the American people into accepting his bailout proposal.

One day our history books will record this as one of the greatest frauds in history. Mr. Paulson declared to gullible congressmen that if they failed to vote for the proposal the sky would surely fall. The market would drop two to three thousand points on a day that would be followed by another day of a couple thousands points come crashing down in a matter of days. If the bill was rejected another great depression would occur.

The Bush administration was so concerned by Paulson's ploy that they discussed the possibility of instituting marshall law in order to control hungry and unruly citizens. The bait was described as absolutely crucial to avoid a total collapse of the economy. The vast some of money would be applied to paying off "Toxic debt". On October 1, 2008 the bill was rushed through Congress and many congressmen voted for the bill even though they had no time to read it in its entirety. After the money was secured the switch took place. No one seems to be sure just where the money went but all are certain it wasn't used to buy toxic debt. Instead, it seems most was injected directly into the troubled banks. Some financial organizations tried to refuse the TARP (Total Asset Relief Program) funds but subsequently they were forced to accept them.

The massive fraud they were trying to cover up was a system in which loan institutions could receive high ratings for "liar's loans', loans that the recipients were unqualified to receive. Who was suppose to be regulating these institutions? The Ponzi-like scheme was based on the idea that bad loans pay better, they grow faster. Borrowing grew out of control. The loan was toxic because an illusion was created that it was a zero credit risk. The Bush administration simply turned their heads, either ignorant or fearful of the consequences of what they might find.

It seems that some of our greatest and most respected financial institutions were participating in fraud. Sadly, it looks like not only will they get away with it, they will actually get rewarded for it by the people we voted to represent us in Washington, D.C.!!!

What is your child learning in science class?

What is your child learning in science class?

88% of Americans send their children to public schools where they are taught a philosophy of naturalism. Mass and energy are all that exist and a Creator God is unnecessary. Consider this statement of the National Association of Biology Teachers, (NABT), 1995. "“The diversity of life on earth is the outcome of evolution: an unsupervised, impersonal, unpredictable and natural process of temporal descent with genetic modification that is affected by natural selection, chance, historical contingencies and changing environments.”

"Unsupervised" means no Creator God.

"Impersonal" means life has no special meaning.

"Unpredictable" means we are a product of mere chance.

Consider some of the controversial claims in modern science textbooks:

1. All Scientists Agree: “Virtually all biologists consider evolution to be a fact” (Campbell and Reece, AP Edition Biology, 2005, p. 272). This statement is misguiding. There are a growing number of scientists questioning the absurd claims of evolutionists when they apply their theory to various aspects of life.

2. Dinosaurs Evolved: “For roughly 150 million years, dinosaurs dominated life on land. They evolved from the thecodonts, an extinct group of crocodile-like reptiles” (Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, Biology: Principles & Explorations, 2001, p. 740). This statement contradicts scripture which claims all land animals were created on the same day as the first humans, and so they shared the same world only a few thousand years ago.

3. Birds evolved from reptiles; “By 150 million years ago, feathered theropods [dinosaurs] had evolved into birds” (AP Edition Biology, 2005, p. 693). God was the only eyewitness to creation and he recorded in Genesis that He created flying creatures before He created land animals.

This godless, human centered worldview has been anchored in our society because the students who learned this apostasy at Harvard and Yale he ‘60’s and '70's are now running the country. Abraham Lincoln recognized the power of secular schools in shaping the minds of our youth and influencing our culture, "“The philosophy of the classroom in this generation will be the philosophy of politics, government and life in the next."

As Christian parents, teachers and ministers we've done an inadequate job of defending Christianity from the cultural assault of humanism. We tend to use the word of God as a shield rather than a sword. We need to reclaim the high ground. Humanism can be refuted intellectually and rationally as well as scripturally.

One of my favorite movie scenes: Sam Elliot plays Union General John Buford. He pulls out his binoculars and looks out over the terrain of Gettysburg and makes a dire prediction: “You know what’s going to happen here in the morning? The whole Reb army is going to be here. They’ll move through this town, occupy these hills on the other side and when our people get here Lee will have the high ground. There will be the devil to pay!...Meade will finally attack…Straight up the hillside, out in the open, in that gorgeous field of fire. We will charge valiantly…and be butchered valiantly!...Devin, I’ve led a soldier’s life, and I’ve never seen anything as brutally clear as this.”

We need to reclaim the high ground.

"In the beginning, God...."

"In the Beginning, God..."

Apollo 8 was the first manned mission to the moon. As they entered the orbit they conducted a live broadcast back to earth. Jim Lovell had this to say, "“The vast loneliness is awe-inspiring and it makes you realize just what you have back there on Earth.” The astronauts then read to those on planet earth from the word of God, "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth...." There belief in God as creator was unquestioned. For them, seeing was believing!

The basic premise of evolution is that this all happened by chance.

Chance – is something that is irregular and very erratic. Winning the lottery would not be something you regularly do.

Design – is something that is highly specified yet unpredictable. When I was a child I owned a bb gun. I shot the tin roofs on barns, old bottles, pine cones and especially little frogs who emerged from green ponds for a breath of air.

I was fortunate enought to see The Old Man in the Mountains in New Hampshire before the natural structure collapsed in May of 2003. What a great loss for the state of N.H. Wind and rain and the forces of nature formed this rock to look like the face of an old man. It was a coincidence, it was chance.

As a very young child I visited Mount Rushmore. If you saw this mountain you wouldn’t possibly look at it and think it was created by chance. You would think that someone with intelligence designed those faces. It took a complex mind, unlimited talent and great courage to form Mount Rushmore.Natural forces formed the Old Man in the Mountains. Natural forces certainly didn’t form Mount Rushmore.

It's astounding that a scientist finds an arrowhead and he says, “Intelligent life must have existed here.” But he looks out at the marvelous order and complexity of the universe and he says it is a product of chance. No intelligent life here. This is absurd!!

Consider the earth.

1. Its orbit – if it were slightly closer to the sun the water would boil and evaporate. If it were slightly further from the sun the water would freeze. The earth must remain the same distance from the sun. It must spin at exactly the right speed and it must stay in this circular orbit in order for life to survive. The earth is not an accident, it was designed!

2. Water – is the only know substance whose solid phase (ice) is less dense than its liquid phase (water). If it wasn’t designed like this the creatures of the sea would die. But our Creator takes care of the birds in the air and the fish in the sea.

Famous astronomer Sir Fred Hyde compares the chance of evolution to lining up fifty zeros behind a ten. Give this number of blind men a Rubic’s Cube and ask them to solve the puzzle. All of them solve the puzzle at the same time. All of this happened by chance: Impossible and absurd!!

Astronaut Jim Lovell saw it in a way none of us have seen it. What he saw thoroughly convinced him that "God created the heavens and the earth..."

Humanism vs. Christianity: Which Worldview Brings Meaning to Life?

Humanism vs. Christianity. Which worldview brings meaning to life?

Humanism vs. Christianity. Which worldview brings meaning to life?The humanist says man is no more than an animal. His life has little value. Life has no sanctity. We are simply descendents of swamp cells, pollywogs and monkeys. How can humanity embrace such a lie?

Adolf Hitler had his own ideas about lying, “Make the lie big, make it simple, keep saying it, and eventually they will believe it.” Romans 1:25 says that men have “exchanged the truth of God for a lie”.

So, the humanist has no problem killing 40 million unborn babies in the last 3 decades. Dr. Kevorkian, (Dr. Death) has no problem participating in assisted suicides. Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold had no problem walking into Columbine High School and killing twelve fellow students? Edward and Joan Downes had no problem walking into a suicide clinic in Zurich, Switzerland, recently, holding hands and lying down together to end their lives. 80% of women who discover they are carrying a Down’s Syndrome baby choose to kill it! Why? It’s because humanity is embracing a philosophy that gives life little or no value.

It all begins with the creation. If God was not a part of creation then life has no value and Adam and Eve never lived in the garden. If they never lived they never sinned. If they never sinned there is no such thing as sin. The evil present in this world is due to the environment in which we live and not the sin dwelling within our hearts. If there is no such thing as sin there is no need for redemption. If there is no need for redemption then there never was a God, nor a son of God named Jesus who was dispatched to this lost and dying world to redeem our souls. How many souls have been damned to hell because they have embraced the false doctrine of evolution.

Years ago there was a group of misguided radicals who belonged to a group called Heaven’s Gate. Thirty-nine of their members took their own lives. Georgia’s own Ted Turner had this to say, “It’s a good way to get rid of a few nuts. There’s too many people anyway.” People have become like flies in the kitchen. Kill them at your own convenience. They are but a nuisance.

The students at Columbine, the Downes, the members of Heaven’s Gage were lives precious in the eyes of Jesus. All of these people were CREATED in the image of God. This gives them great value, unspeakable value. God sent his only son, Jesus Christ, to suffer, to shed his blood and die for their lives. We can’t comprehend the true value of one human soul. Perhaps the first ten words of the Bible are the most important words: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”

Trig Palin (Down's Syndrome) with his parents

Talented, yes, but no hero.

Chet Atkins stood up at Elvis Presley's funeral and made a statement for the world to hear, "We want to celebrate this white man - he belongs to us - and we shared him." If it sounds ridiculous its because it is. It never happened.But, Jamie Foxx did stand up at Michael Jackson's funeral and make this statement to the watching world, "We want to celebrate this black man - he belongs to us - and we shared him." Does it sound ridiculous. It should. Does it sound racist? It does to me.

The Jackson family chose Al Sharpton, known race hustler, to be their spokesman. This man makes a living fanning the flames of racism. It seems so ironic that Sharpton, Foxx and others want to capitalize on Michael's race when Michael did everything he could to disfigure himself and cover his African-American lineage. As usual, Al Sharpton is not about Michael Jackson, he is about Al Sharpton. There's money to be made if he can play his cards right and stir up enough racism. While we count daily real heroes who die in Iraq and Afghanistan, Sharpton has suggested we commemorate MJ by putting his face on a postage stamp!

Sharpton addressed Michael Jackson's children at the funeral, "Michael taught the world how to love. There wasn't nothin' strange about your daddy, it was strange what your daddy had to deal with." He didn't put in in exact words but I'm sure he was referring to some sort of covert racism.

Michael Jackson was a man of phenomal talent that deserves recognition. But he was no hero. I don't want a man who revealed in a British interview that he thought there was nothing wrong with sleeping in the same bed with children to be hero to my child. I don't want a man who was accused of child sexual abuse by one family and who bought off another family to be hero to my child. I don't want a man who had an unnatural public obsession with his groin to be hero to my child. I don't want my son to have worshipful admiration for a man so troubled he committed himself to self-mutulation, so troubled he dangled his infant child from a Berlin balcony.

How unnatural and troubling that Michael Jackson would choose attractive white men as sperm donors and a white female to produce children for himself. Is that a biological, psychological or spiritual problem??This is the man Sheila Jackson, Democratic representative from Texas, wants to officailly proclaim "an American legend, musical icon, and world humanitarian...someone who will be honoered forever, forever, forever....and ever.

American's who have chosen Michael Jackson as a hero are hiding everything about what was wrong with Michael but they reveal a whole lot about what's wrong with America.

The Big Bang

The Big Bang

I don't know if God used the Big Bang to create the universe or not. What I do know is the discovery by Edwin Hubble in 1929 that the universe is expanding has caused all kinds of problems for scientists who thought the universe was eternal. My Bible tells me that God alone is eternal and all other things and creatures had a definite beginning. As the universe expands, it becomes less and less dense as its objects move further and further apart. If you reverse the process the objects would become more and more dense until finally they would merge into non-existence. The universe would become small without limit. If you go back far enought there would be no physical space. The universe would not exist.

The evolutionist's argument that the earth is eternal and so we had no need of a Creator is absurd. The 2nd law of thermodynamics, the law of entropy, states that the substance and energy in the universe is winding down, it is deteriorating. The sun and stars will eventually extinguish without divine intervention. The evolutionary idea that life can emerge from non-life, existence from non-existence is laughable. I think God has a question for the evolutionist: "Where were you when I formed the foundations of the earth?" - Job 38:4.

The Big Bang has thrown evolutionists for a loop. If true, it means the universe had a beginning, and has a middle and a future. So, the evolutionist can no longer hide behind the idea of an 'eternal universe' in an attempt to avoid explaining the beginning of all things. While the creationist simply embraces Genesis 1:1 "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth", the evolutionist is left scratching his 'evolved from a monkey' head!!

I like what Robert Jastrow (an agnostic) wrote in his book “God and the Astronomers” – “For the scientist who has lived by his faith in the power of reason, the story ends like a bad dream. He has scaled the mountains of ignorance; he is about to conquer the highest peak; as he pulls himself over the final rock, he is greeted by a band of theologians who have been sitting there for centuries.”

If the Big Bang Theory holds water, there must be intelligence behind it. Explosions don't lead to order, they lead to chaos. Something cannot emerge from nothing without intelligent intervention! Imagine your home exploding and resulting in two or three homes. Imagine the explosion of the Federal Building in Oklahoma City resulting in a half dozen more Federal Buildings. Absurd. Imagine a tornado rushing through a junkyard and the result is a Boeing 747! If the Big Bang happened it was caused. If it was caused someone preexisted it. Must have been God.

Someone said, "When a frog turns into a prince it is called a fairy tale. When a frog turns into a prince over a period of millions of years its called good science." No, its still a fairy tale.

Out of the Ashes

Out of the Ashes

Reparation is making amends for a wrong done. As I write this I know I may very well be misinterpreted and most probably be labeled a racist. I am no racist. I believe slavery was a horrible injustice and my family paid dearly to free American slaves. There is a gravestone in western Pennsylvania just a few rows from where my parents are buried that is a testament to my family’s opposition to slavery. Our ancestor died of wounds he received at Gettysburg attempting to reverse a horrible injustice done to a segment of our American population.

This thing I know, there is no injustice done on this earth that will not one day be made right. In the final judgment of all things, the all-just God will reign with perfect justice and all wrongs will be made right. Reparations are a veiled attempt to satisfy an injustice in our past history. More accurately, it is an attempt to redistribute wealth.Expect reparations to make a mystical rise from the ashes. Barack Obama is all about Europeanizing our economy. He is also all about redistribution of the wealth. I hardly think he would allow such a handy tool for redistribution go unused.

Obama tried to play himself off during the election as a common black person. Most commoners of any color don’t find themselves at Harvard. Certain liberal Democrats would like to flay the opposing party with accusations that they fail to support civil liberties. Expect feathers to fly if Republicans do not support reparations. But, isn’t it time we look at the true historical facts. The burden of slavery has rested squarely and exclusively on the shoulders of white European males. It is a historical fact that the African Igbos sent millions of slaves to America during the 1800’s. Slavery is not an ethnic problem, it’s a sin problem and greedy people of all colors sold other human beings to satisfy their sin of greed.

Obama attended the Trinity United Church in Chicago for many, many years. He contributed tens of thousands of dollars to his church. He had an unmistakable loyalty to his pastor, Jeremiah Wright. Yet, Obama will deny that he knew about or supported his church’s campaign for reparations. The resolutions of Trinity United Church (2001) are as follows:

WHEREAS: The institution of Slavery is internationally recognized as crime for which there is not statute of limitations,

AND WHEREAS: Uncompensated labor was demanded from enslaved Africans and their descendents for more than two centuries on U.S. soil:

AND WHEREAS: The principle that reparations is the appropriate remedy whenever government unjustly abrogates the rights of a domestic group or foreign people whose rights such government is obligated to protect or uphold has been internationally recognized….

Obama’s pastor and church saw reparations as the only available option to make right the wrongs of slavery. Beware, up out of the ashes will come the conversation about reparations. Don’t be deceived into thinking its about the injustices of our past, its about redistributing the wealth from one class of people to another.

"I have made my bed in darkness..."

"I have made my bed in darkness..."

The first step to protecting yourself or your family from danger is to recognize that a danger exists. That's why people fasten seat belts and put fences around their swimming pools. A local two year old child was recently bitten by a Copperhead. He may have been surprised by the snake or he may have simply been unaware that the sliver was so deadly.

There is a deadly enemy permeating American culture. It is our failure to recognize the serpent who lurks within the deep crevices of our culture. He is a deception, a darkness that is slowly overtaking us without us even realizing it."Wisdom will save you from the ways of wicked men, from men whose words are perverse, who leave the straight paths to walk in dark ways, who delight in doing wrong and rejoice in the perverseness of evil." Proverbs 2:12

Bishop Joseph W. Walker III made this comment at Steve McNair's funeral, ""What I do know about this man (referring to McNair) was that he loved God though he was just like us: imperfect, but he knew God." Is Bishop Walker excusing Mr. McNair's behavior? Is he inferring that one can know God, go to heaven and still have an ongoing six year intimate and extramarital affair with an exotic dancer.

Jesus said, "If you love me you will keep my commandments." I pray sincerely that God will have mercy on the soul of Steve McNair but I also pray our youth will not be taken in by the deception that there is no penalty or eternal consequences for sin.

The Episcopalians are meeting in California. These are the words of Episcopalian Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori "It's "heresy" to believe that an individual can be saved through a sinner's prayer of repentance. The great Western heresy: that we can be saved as individuals, that any of us alone can be in right relationship with God."Ms. Shori evidently doesn't know the same Jesus I know who repeatedly preached this message, "Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand". 1 John 1:9 says "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." Sounds like a personal, saving relationship to me!!We are in darkness because we have made a pact with sin. We no longer fear of sin nor do we even recognize sin because we no longer know God. We understand what cold is because we know hot. We recognize light because we can compare it to darkness. We cannot recognize sin because we have no knowledge anymore of the true holiness of God. God have mercy on us!!

Are We All Going To Heaven?

Are We All Going to Heaven???

When was the last time you heard a preacher preach a sermon about hell? We have a nation of shepherds who are giving their sheep what they want instead of what they need. I don't think it should always be fire and brimstone but I've taken notice that Jesus spoke far more about hell in the gospels than he did heaven.

The very thought of hell has been so far removed from our churches and our culture that the belief is now prevalent that no one, absolutely no one goes to hell. I wish it were so and I certainly understand why people would like to believe that but its not what my Bible teaches. Listen to what Jesus had to say about people going to heaven or hell... "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it." - Matt. 7:13-14

In the very same chapter Christ admonishes us to "Judge not that you be not judged." It is He and He alone who can determine who goes to heaven or who goes to hell. With that in mind, I have no opinion about the destination of the many celebrities and famous people who have passed away recently. Where is Ed McMahon, Steve McNair, Billy Mays, Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson now? Only God knows. This one thing we do know: Being nice, being charitable, being kind or being good doesn't get us to heaven. Hell is full of nice, charitable, church-going, good people. What gets us to heaven is a sincere confession of our sins and acceptance of Jesus Christ as Savior of our soul. If those who have recently passed were truly converted they are surely in heaven today.

A quick review of the political cartoonists reveal a worldview that indicates a belief that everyone goes to heaven. But Jesus said, "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven" Matthew 7:21