HELL? WHAT HELL?

Do you mean GeHenna, the word Jesus used which literally means the Valley of Hinnom. Jesus warned his generation of the danger there and hundreds of thousands of bodies after being burned in the city in AD 70 were thrown into that valley where they rotted and were eaten with worms.

Do you mean Sheol? That place in the OT that simply meant the place of the dead that had no “hell” meaning?

Do you mean Hades? Are you thinking of the Greek god who ruled the underworld, had a hat that made him invisible and a three headed dog that wouldn’t let people go from his death-underworld that Jesus was said to have figuratively conquered?

Or did you mean Tartarus, the word that is used by Peter once and is only used once in the Bible not as a place to send people, but as a mythological place that Peter used as an illustration of judgment.

Wait, you must be thinking of the Lake of Fire, that place that is mentioned only in the book of Revelation and never anywhere else in the Bible. That book that is filled with apocalyptic, non-literal images to communicate about the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70?

Sorry, the mythical place where satan rules and people are tormented for eternity doesn’t exist. It really was imposed over the Bible by those who wanted to control the people by fear. I used to think that was silly, but there are documented quotes by early church fathers and others who held the “doctrine of reserve”, ie the idea that they needed to reserve the truth otherwise people may live immoral and would endanger the order of society..

Chuck Crisco

Where in the world do people get the idea I hate the Bible?
The Bible is just a tool, people either use for religious/spiritual growth or control.
It tells the evolving story of the Jewish history, but only up to the destruction of Jerusalem in 70ad.
The Bible tells the story of a segment of humanity’s attempt to define themselves, and attempts to understand God.
But this is only Christianity’s story of Judaism.
The Bible is not even the Jewish story of Judaism.
The Bible is not your story, nor is it mine.
Our story is written on our hearts, our story is God’s kingdom within.
Forever uniting us with our creator and creation.
This was also Jesus’s story.

The Bible is a story closing the chapter on 4000 Jewish years of history’s religious successes and failures.
You can have the mosiac laws, the rituals, the guilt, suppression and oppression and everything else religion offers.
I will simply take Jesus’s story of love and acceptance from our Father, with No stipulations or demands.

Dan Shaffer

Religion – damned religion – is the culprit. It creeps into otherwise benign aspects of connecting with one’s Source. “Christianity”, “Bible”, “prayer”, “communion”, “meditation”, “God”, “worship”, “grace”, “praise”, “faith” all come under the rubric of ‘no longer entirely agreeable terminology’. The real bugaboo is religion, religion, religion. This organized control seeps into every misguided effort to guide and direct people’s thinking on such a profoundly intimate and personal topic.

RJS

HONEST INQUIRY
….
If you’re a Mr. Popular,
a veritable people-person,
with all your sycophants in tow
ready to “support” your every utterance,
but you’re unable to give
adequate credit where it’s due,
you ought to take stock coz that is
NOT HONEST INQUIRY !!

While you were occupied on one
path of discovery, others were
plunging the depths of another.
You’ve just discovered it and now –
somehow – you’re the free-thinking
leader in that arena too,
NEVER HAVING INVESTIGATED
the full gamut of its ramifications!

You realize the NT doesn’t say you must be forgiven in order to go to heaven right?

Nor does it say confess your sins so you can go to heaven.

Nor does it say believe in Jesus so that you can go to heaven.

Nor does it say ask Jesus in your heart so you can go to heaven.

Nor does it say repent so you can go to heaven.

Now before you start throwing John 3:16 and 1 John 1:9 or Romans 10… look at it closely. They say nothing of heaven.

You are reading into the Bible what you were told to see. It isn’t there.

What are the implications of this reality?

Chuck Crisco

His Name is Jesus
In Genesis – the seed of the woman,
Exodus – the Passover Lamb,
Leviticus – atoning sacrifice,
Numbers – the smitten rock,
Deuteronomy – the prophet,
Joshua – the captain,
Judges – the deliverer,
Ruth – the kinsman,
Kings – the ruler,
Nehemiah – the restorer,
Esther – the advocate,
Job – the redeemer,
Psalms – the shepherd,
Proverbs – wisdom,
Ecclesiastes – the goal,
Song of Solomon – the groom,
Prophets – coming one,
Gospels – the God-man,
Acts-the risen one,
Epistles – head of the Church,
Revelation – the WORTHY ONE

I get such a thrill out of seeing Joel’s and Herb’s teaching coming through current teachers, myself, and many more! I like to go to the source and have Spirit interpret and teach me, directly. I find great NEW inspiration that way, but then I go way back to Joel’s time.

JUST TO BE CLEAR we’re all teachers in our own ways. Some choose to be known as pastor, minister, preacher, etc., while others of us prefer to be a bit quieter about the nature of our work, opting to impart by sharing, but still remaining fully qualified to distill the precious message of God’s allness.

IF YOU WOULiD LIKE TO GROW in your Spiritual apprehension and it doesn’t seem to be happening, here’s one possible reason: maybe – for your particular goal – a passive approach is inadequate.
You want to do more but people keep telling you to ‘rest’. You may not even be sufficiently aware of the spiritual significance of such expressions. Perhaps you’re constantly encountering terminology that you’re not quite sure you’ve fully grasped. You want to protest vehemently from time to time but are beginning to sense that you don’t really know what you’re disagreeing with!
If you can relate to any of the above, well, it seems to me that you’re a great candidate for a much more rigorous plan of study.
I personally have more than 50 years of the teachings of Joel S. Goldsmith under my belt. Being free of the crippling constraints of religion, I was also able to do a very in-depth study of A Course in Miracles where I made it my business to meditate and apply all the Principles – 365 of them – many, many times!
Then I began to consume everything Andrew Wommack ever said about anything. What a pure, fresh treatment of everything biblical!
And now, try as I do, I just can’t get enough of Herb Fitch (Joel Goldsmith’s adoring student). I never thought anyone could be more audacious than Joel, but Herb proved me wrong. Herb will not let you escape with a half-hearted effort at anything. If you want healing and you have a lovely mixture of Truth and error, you can expect not to succeed. There are no brownie points for partial practice! You finally come to realize that you are accountable. You can have/do whatever you want if you apply spiritual principles; but, alas, you can not if you do not.

Speaking historically or speaking from the standpoint of mortal man on earth looking up, a literal rendition of the Bible is the best we can hope for. But starting with Spirit, God, as Jesus always did, we can see as Jesus did or does. God is pure Spirit and has so much more to reveal when we’re ready. What “will happen” to mortal man’s limited view is forever in the future. But from God’s standpoint it is and always was done.

Can anyone tell me if there’s another term for the Exercise known as “Devil’s Advocate”? It’s such a misnomer. We challenge a statement by deliberately taking the opposing side which most likely we don’t believe. It’s a valuable tool in philosophical inquiry.

I just had a fantasy interview in my mind. A big shot TV personality wants to question me:

BigShot: So, lemme see if I got this straight. Yer sayin’ . . .
theRobin: Lemme stop you right there. I DO NOT answer questions about Spirit in the material realm. I’ll give you three chances.
BigShot: Why don’t you …?
theRobin: Coz He ain’t there. Strike One.
BigShot: I thought you claimed …
theRobin: “I” didn’t “claim” anything. Strike Two.
BigShot: Wait a minute! I’m gonna mess up this whole interview just because I didn’t do a little due diligence. What can we tell our viewers that will open their eyes to the spiritual realm and enable them to glean its beneficence?
theRobin: YOU have just arrived!