Yesterday...

Yesterday, 22 Navy Seals were killed as a result of their helicopter being shot down by insurgents. One of those men I knew since high school. His name was Jesse Pittman. It hits so close to home when someone you know dies in war. My heart breaks for the family, for his mom, for his brother, for his un-saved dad. And Jesse? The last time I talked to him he was not saved. I pray to God that he when he died, he met Christ as His child and not His enemy.

Hell is a very real place. It is tangible. It is physical. It is as real as you and me. I think as whole, the church doesn't like to think about hell or to talk about it. It isn't a very fun topic, not exactly encouraging as when you talk about heaven. But that doesn't make it any less real, any less of a reality. And the reality is that a lot of people we know and love are going to hell. They will be eternally separated from God, cast into a lake of fire, and they will live eternity in agony. Eternity is a long, long time and I don't wish the business of hell on anyone. Not even my worst enemy.

I don't think God wants us to focus on hell. In fact, He tells us to look upward, so to speak, towards heaven, our final destination, our goal. But I don't think He wants us to immune ourselves to the reality of hell, to the painful awareness that people we know and love are going there. If we don't understand the horrors of hell, how can we really appreciate and understand the glory of heaven? People need to understand that apart from Christ, they will not be reincarnated, they will not vaporize, they will not reside in the ground. They will go to one of two places: heaven or hell. They need to understand reality. They will die. They will either suffer unspeakable horrors or they will rejoice with Christ. That is the truth. If they reject the truth, pray for them. PRAY FOR THEM! Mourn for their souls! Understand they are going to hell! Don't desensitize yourself from that truth. The Lord wept over Jerusalem. We must weep for ours too. I know many people will reject God's truth. They will reject it to their dying day. But we, as Christians, need to do our part. God said "go" and go we must. God said "speak" and speak we must. God said "obey" and obey we must. It is God who saves, not man. But we need to do our part. We must do our part for we will answer to God as to why we didn't go, why we didn't speak, why we didn't obey.

My brother is currently serving on the front lines in Afghanistan. I do not believe he is saved but I praise God his heart has softened. And I thank God that the letters I wrote to him this past year have been filled with truth and reality. I thank God every day for His grace in perserving my brother's life, for His patience. I don't know what God has planned. I don't know the future. But I know the truth. I know reality. And I weep for my brother. I weep for his soul. And I pray to God he finds peace with his Maker before its too late.

Heaven is real...but hell? Hell seems more real to me than heaven. I'm not running to heaven as much as I'm running from hell.