God Doesn't Send People to Hell; They Send Themselves

BY SAMUEL SMITH

God does not send people to Hell, rather it is people that have to climb over Jesus to send themselves there, leading evangelist Greg Laurie told over 37,000 attendees of the 27th annual SoCal Harvest at Angel Stadium and thousands more watching online Saturday Night

...However, Laurie warned that those who have not surrendered their lives to Christ will suffer a much worse fate.

"They go to Hell. Some of you are saying, 'Man, I was digging your sermon until you said that.' Sorry, I am just the delivery boy," Laurie contended. "I don't write the script, but I have to deliver it faithfully."

Laurie said that He is simply delivering the news that Jesus offered.

"Listen to this. Jesus Christ spoke more about Hell than all the other preachers of the Bible put together," Laurie said. "He knows of its reality. Know this: the last thing God wants is for anyone to go to Hell."

As much is said about the mercy of God, people often wonder "How can a God who loves send people to Hell?"

"Newsflash! God doesn't send people to Hell. You send yourself there," Laurie explained. "Hell is not made for people. Hell, according to Jesus, was made for the Devil and his angels. Listen, friend, if you end up in Hell one day, you will have to practically climb over Jesus to get there."

After Laurie told the crowd on Friday night that one sin is all it takes to keep them from reaching Heaven, Laurie again assured the audience on Saturday night that Jesus's death on the cross presents them with the opportunity to save themselves from eternal damnation.

"We are giving you a warning," Laurie asserted. "You don't have to go to this place. You can go to Heaven instead. You can change your eternal address tonight if you will believe in Him."

Laurie cited John 3, where Jesus teaches the pharisee Nicodemus about the concept of being born again.

"Nicodemus, who is probably an old guy at this point says, 'How can a man be born when he is old? How can you be born all over again?'" Laurie said. "Jesus said, 'The wind blows wherever it wills. You can't hear the wind, you can't tell where it's coming from or where it's going, you can't explain it. But that is how people are born in the spirit.'"

"Nicodemus asked, 'How are these things possible.' And Jesus said, 'For God so loved the world, he gave his only begotten son and whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life,'" Laurie continued.

"Jesus is saying to Nicodemus and to us tonight that you can change. You can start all over again. You can be born all over again. You can have your spiritual thirst satisfied if you will believe in Him and find the meaning of life. It can happen for you."

...

After Laurie told the crowd on Friday night that one sin is all it takes to keep them from reaching Heaven, Laurie again assured the audience on Saturday night that Jesus's death on the cross presents them with the opportunity to save themselves from eternal damnation.

"We are giving you a warning," Laurie asserted. "You don't have to go to this place. You can go to Heaven instead. You can change your eternal address tonight if you will believe in Him."

Laurie cited John 3, where Jesus teaches the pharisee Nicodemus about the concept of being born again.

"Nicodemus, who is probably an old guy at this point says, 'How can a man be born when he is old? How can you be born all over again?'" Laurie said. "Jesus said, 'The wind blows wherever it wills. You can't hear the wind, you can't tell where it's coming from or where it's going, you can't explain it. But that is how people are born in the spirit.'"

"Nicodemus asked, 'How are these things possible.' And Jesus said, 'For God so loved the world, he gave his only begotten son and whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life,'" Laurie continued.

"Jesus is saying to Nicodemus and to us tonight that you can change. You can start all over again. You can be born all over again. You can have your spiritual thirst satisfied if you will believe in Him and find the meaning of life. It can happen for you."

Read more at http://www.christianpost.com/news/greg-laurie-god-doesnt-send-people-to-hell-they-send-themselves-168685/#6JEKElf3E4Ay0F2h.99

Read more at http://www.christianpost.com/news/greg-laurie-god-doesnt-send-people-to-hell-they-send-themselves-168685/#bemOkEwl4bdToiDe.99

Read more at http://www.christianpost.com/news/greg-laurie-god-doesnt-send-people-to-hell-they-send-themselves-168685/#46f7aCCmJFdfCEer.99

"Fixing minds not genitalia." by Johns Hopkins Psychiatrists' Report

LGBT Talking Points 'Not Supported by Scientific Evidence,' Report Finds; How Will Gays Respond?

BY MICHAEL BROWN

image: http://images.christianpost.com/full/81522/michael-brown.jpg?w=70&h=56&l=50&t=40

image: http://images.christianpost.com/full/81522/michael-brown.jpg?w=70&h=56&l=50&t=40

The internet has been abuzz with headlines declaring, "Almost Everything the Media Tell You About Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Is Wrong," and "Johns Hopkins Shrinks Warn Against Kids Going Transgender."

Read more at http://www.christianpost.com/#BomOHmmW3BijxMZB.99

Click the link for the whole article.

LGBT Talking Points 'Not Supported by Scientific Evidence,' Report Finds; How Will Gays Respond?

...As reported by Ryan T. Anderson on Monday, "A major new report, published today in the journal The New Atlantis, challenges the leading narratives that the media has pushed regarding sexual orientation and gender identity."

How significant was this report?

"Co-authored by two of the nation's leading scholars on mental health and sexuality, the 143-page report discusses over 200 peer-reviewed studies in the biological, psychological, and social sciences, painstakingly documenting what scientific research shows and does not show about sexuality and gender."

What were the conclusions of this study? "The major takeaway, as the editor of the journal explains, is that 'some of the most frequently heard claims about sexuality and gender are not supported by scientific evidence.'"

How will gay activists respond? They will shoot the messengers. Watch and see.

We've seen the pattern for years.

Gay activists and their allies will discredit an individual or a group, then when that individual or group challenges their position, they reply, "No one listens to him/her/them. They've been totally discredited!"...

...When it comes to Dr. McHugh, he committed the cardinal sin of opposing sex-change surgery during his tenure at Johns Hopkins Hospital, which is why that surgical procedure was dropped under his leadership. But he did this based on years of interaction with those who identified as transgender, interviewing them before and after surgery, ultimately concluding that, "We psychiatrists . . . would do better to concentrate on trying to fix their minds and not their genitalia."

Will Those Who Have Never Heard the Gospel Go to Hell?

Pastor Greg Laurie Answers: Will People Who've Never Heard the Gospel Go to Hell?

BY STOYAN ZAIMOV

Pastor Greg Laurie of Harvest Christian Fellowship church in Riverside, California, assures believers that God will not send someone to Hell if they have never heard the Gospel, adding that people will only be held accountable for what they know.

"You're going to be held accountable for what you know, not what you don't know," the megachurch pastor answered.

"But to the point: the testimony of God is everywhere. It's in nature, it's all around us, the handiwork of God. Then there's the human conscience that tells us what right and wrong really are. God will judge you accordingly," Laurie continued.

He said that this information should make Christians "redouble our efforts to get the Gospel out [to people] so they can respond to the essential Gospel message."

He noted that he will elaborate more during an upcoming sermon at Harvest Orange County.

The question of what happens to people who have never heard the Bible has prompted various responses from evangelical leaders.

J.D. Greear, lead pastor of The Summit Church in Durham, North Carolina, said in a sermon back in 2014 that he believes all people have heard about God. Quoting Romans 1:19, where Paul says that what can be known about God has been made plain to all people, he added that all have been made aware of God in two ways: creation and conscience.

According to Romans 1:21–25, all of us have rejected the glory of God. We don't seek God's glory above all things; we seek our own glory and our own pleasure. And even those who believe in God don't pay as much attention to Him as they do their jobs or what others think of them, Greear said.

"Our hearts naturally hate God and reject His rule, a rejection that culminated in the murder of God's Son. We hate God so badly that we put Him on a cross and say, 'Go to hell, God.' Because of this, is it any surprise that we deserve His wrath?" he added.

Laurie has spoken out on the questions of Hell and unforgivable sins on a number of occasions. Back in April, he explained that the "worst conceivable sin ever" was to kill God's only Son, Jesus, yet Christ asked God to forgive even those who crucified Him.

"I don't care what you've done. God can and will forgive it. All sin is forgivable — lying, cheating, stealing, drunkenness, immorality it doesn't matter," Laurie said at the time.

"The only sin God will not forgive is the sin we will not confess. … But there is one exception. There is one sin that God will not forgive, and that's called the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit," he told his congregation.

Read more at http://www.christianpost.com/news/pastor-greg-laurie-answers-will-people-whove-never-heard-the-gospel-go-to-hell-168178/#pOfVPlc8GAyvSqQm.99

God of Gaps 2-Some Gaps Have Been More Opening

http://www.evidenceunseen.com/articles/science-and-scripture/what-about-the-god-of-the-gaps/

To a large degree, Boghossian is right: Science has disproven various supernatural claims throughout the centuries. For instance, the ancient Canaanites believed that rain came from Baal—the fertility god—and they would sacrifice their children in order to make it rain on their crops. However, scientific progress has closed this “gap” in our understanding. The formation of a rain cloud in the sky is not causally linked with how many children we can sacrifice to Baal. Rain clouds arise by the natural processes of atmospheric pressure and precipitation. Since more and more supposedly “supernatural” events are being explained away as purely natural, atheists claim that it’s just a matter of time before all scientific evidence for God is explained. The gaps will close indefinitely, and eventually, God will disappear in the process.

Some gaps have been opening—not closing

Scientific progress has surely closed many gaps in our understanding. And yet, some gaps have not been closing, but opening, with the progress of scientific exploration. We might say that scientific experimentation has grown, but in some fields of study, scientific explanations have shrunk.

Consider the origin of life. Scientifically, we know more about life’s origin than ever before. In this sense, our scientific experimentation has increased, but in another sense, our scientific explanations have only decreased with time. In 2010, agnostic Paul Davies explained, “All that can be said at this time is that the problem of life’s origin is very far from being clearly formulated, and nowhere near being solved.”[2] In preparation for a 2014 conference in Japan (called “Open Questions on the Origin of Life”), research biologist P. L. Luisi writes:

The scientific question about the origin of life is still unanswered: it is still one of the great mysteries that science is facing… Which conceptual progress have we made…? It is [sic] too much to say that we didn’t really make any, if we look at data under really and honest prebiotic conditions? Adding that this situation is not due to shortage of means and finances in the field—but to a real lack of difficulty to conceive conceptually how this nonliving-living passage really took place?[3]

Naturalistic scientists are just as far from explaining the origin of life as they have ever been. In fact, the more they learn about this subject, the less they are able to explain it. In fact, this scientific lacuna raised doubts in the mind of the late atheist Antony Flew, causing him to come to faith in God.[4] Flew claimed that his other atheistic colleagues—like Bertrand Russell and J.L. Mackie—would have been “impressed” with this “evidence,”[5] if it had been discovered earlier.

Yes, science has falsified the claims of various religious systems. For instance, comparative religion scholars Carmody and Carmody write, “In Hindu cosmology the universe… has always existed and always will… The Hindu explanation of creation involves gods molding the world from preexisting stuff.”[6] However, this claim has been disproven by modern cosmology. The universe had a space-time beginning at the big bang. Since the discovery of the big bang in the 20th century, we have learned that the Judeo-Christian tradition had been right all along, while other worldviews were proven false. The Judeo-Christian worldview has always held to an ex nihilo creation (Gen. 1:1; Ps. 33:6, 9; cf. Jn. 1:1-3; Heb. 11:3), which comports nicely with the current consensus in cosmology today.

What a stark difference from worldviews like Hinduism or even naturalism! Who would’ve expected that the biblical view had been correct for thousands of years, while Hindus and naturalists alike were in the wrong?

I gave a lecture this year on the cosmological argument, and as part of my presentation, I appealed to big bang cosmology. Afterwards, during the Q & A portion of the talk, a student asked me, “So, what happens when science eventually disproves that God caused the big bang? What will you say then?” Politely, I told the student, “Imagine if I showed up tonight to teach, and I said, ‘There is a lot of scientific evidence for God…But we just haven’t discovered it yet! Give me a hundred years, and I promise that there will be a lot of evidence for theism!’” Of course, I told the student that if I had made such an “argument,” the audience would have (rightly) laughed me off of the stage!

We cannot base our rational conclusions on what could be discovered in the future, but based on what has been discovered. Of course, atheists see no problem appealing to scientific evidence to prove the non-existence of God. Why can’t theists appeal to current scientific evidence in favor of his existence? Atheist Bradley Monton concurs, when he writes, “Just because gaps in the past were filled in with further naturalistic scientific investigation, it doesn’t follow that every gap in the future will be similarly filled… To see this, consider an analogous argument. If one looks at the history of science, one sees that all scientific theories before the ones that we currently favor have been shown to be false. Does it follow that the scientific theories we currently favor will be shown to be false too?”[7]

Heads “I win” and tails “you lose”

As a child, my father would play a game with me to see if I had to do my chores. He would flip a coin and say, “If it lands on heads, then I win… But if it lands on tails, then you lose.” It shouldn’t be a surprise to discover that this was a “no win” scenario. With the rules of the game set up against me, I didn’t stand a chance.

Michael Phelps Says Rick Warren's Purpose Driven Life Saved Him

Olympic Swimming Star Michael Phelps Says Rick Warren's Purpose Driven Life Save




Olympic Swimming Star Michael Phelps Says Rick Warren's Purpose Driven Life Saved Him 

BY STOYAN ZAIMOV , CHRISTIAN POST REPORTER

August 5, 2016|4:30 am

American swimmer Michael Phelps, the most decorated Olympian of all time, revealed that he suffered a crisis of identity two years ago, which led him to consider ending his life, but it was Saddleback Church Pastor Rick Warren's book The Purpose Driven Life that gave him hope.

ESPN reported that Phelps was "struggling to figure out who he was outside the pool" in 2014, which led him to heavy drinking and wondering whether his life was worth living.

"I thought the world would just be better off without me," Phelps admitted. "I figured that was the best thing to do — just end my life."

The 22-time medal winner, who is also set to compete at the Summer games in Rio, said in a seperate interview with NBC's "Today" that his DUI arrest in 2014 led to a "downward spiral" that left him feeling the lowest he had ever been.

It was the Olympic swimmer's second DUI arrest in 10 years, which along with his numerous splintered relationships, prompted him to seek outside help.

Phelps found hope in October 2015 when he entered The Meadows, a psychological trauma and addiction treatment center in Arizona.

There, Phelps turned to Warren's bestseller The Purpose Driven Life, which uplifted him so much so that he was nicknamed "Preacher Mike" by fellow patients, since he would often read to them from the book.

Looking back at his troubles, Phelps told "Today:"

"I don't know if it was, like, afraid of just letting go and showing who I am or what it was. And, and I finally was just, like, 'You know what? Screw this. I'm not, I'm not hiding behind anything anymore. I am who I am. And, and you don't like it, it's really not my issue and it's not my problem.'"

Responding to Phelp's comments about The Purpose Driven Life, Warren wrote in a short message on Facebook Thursday:

"I'm proud of @MichaelPhelps for his victories even before the Olympics begin. Excited he'll be carrying the flag for the US."

Phelps said in his "Today" interview that he is looking forward to finally giving 100 percent of himself at the Rio games, which open on Friday.

"I'm happy to turn the page to the next chapter. I'm happy to move on from my swimming career and go out how I wanted to," he added.

The Purpose Driven Life, which was released in 2002, went on to sell over 30 million copies worldwide, and is till one of the highest Christian best-sellers, as well as one of the most translated books after the Bible.

The book was redesigned for millennials in a 10th anniversary edition in 2012 and titled What on Earth Am I Here For? The Purpose Driven Life, aimed at appealing to the younger generation.

The Atheist’s God of the Gaps

Dear friends:

Long time ago, an accomplished scientist argued with me and said " In ancient time, people were ignorant about many natural phenomena, therefore they thought God had caused those phenomena to happen. namely, people subscribed whatever they didn't understand to God of gaps, 

But now science has advanced so much, 

the gaps have become fewer and fewer, so gradually, 

there are fewer gaps to give God credits or to let Him hide. It is
as if God used to be very important and near highway, but 
nowadays, God has to hide in far far away places where 
people are still ignorant about science. 

After I thought carefully, I countered him and said:" Well, you

think nowadays, science almost has solved all the mysteries of the universe?

Contrarily, just the opposite, every time scientists solve one mystery of the 

universe, more unsolved problems are discovered and the increasing problems

increase exponentially. And scientists today only know 10% or less of our

gigantic universe, the rest are unknown, right?

 For example, after black holes were discovered, more questions and mysteries

 popped up, right? Therefore, it is hopeless that science will ever have had all the 

 answers to our universe, since the mysteries of our universe are increasing 

 exponentially, not decreasing. Agree? So actually, the natural/scientific god of 

 the gaps will dwindle and fade away instead.

 Though we are able to have more powerful telescopes and microscopes , as science advances nowadays; under those more advanced and powerful tele- & microscopes, actually, scientists have to face an explosion of more puzzles and mysteries of life & our universe. Our human dream to solve all the mysteries of our universe will remain just a dream forever.

Thus, Atheists do have a strong faith in their own natural/scientific god of gaps to assume that there is a naturalistic explanation for everything. That is a large assumption that is on very shaky philosophical ground.

For one thing, it implies omniscience. In order to know that there will be a naturalistic explanation for everything in the universe, you must have knowledge of everything in the universe. By admitting that there are still gaps, this argument undercuts itself.

It also presupposes that the scientific method itself is the only valid way to discern truth about the physical world... 

Here below is an article worthy to explore further on this topic.

The Atheist's God of the Gaps - The Christian Apologetics Alliance

The Atheist’s God of the Gaps

September 29, 2013 by Zak Schmoll 

I want to present you with a hypothetical conversation between your everyday Christian and your everyday atheist.

Christian: “I believe that God is the ultimate cause of the universe.”

Atheist: “Why would you believe that?”

Christian: “I believe that there are certain things that science can’t explain, and God is the most reasonable explanation for those things such as the ultimate origin of life.”

Atheist: “Hold on a minute. That is simply the God of the gaps. You don’t have an explanation, so you simply plug God in. I believe in science. One day there will be no more gaps and you will not have any more reason to plug in God.”

This may seem to be rather simplistic, but you’d be amazed at how many times this general line of reasoning comes up even from such prominent speakers as Richard Dawkins.

In a sense, the atheist is right. There are certain things that we do not understand, and we do take it by faith. For example, we believe that God is the uncreated Creator. It is technically impossible to prove that scientifically, and it is equally as impossible to disprove that statement.

However, there is a very interesting presupposition made by the atheist that needs to be taken into account.

The atheist is making the claim that there is a naturalistic explanation for everything. That is a large assumption that is on very shaky philosophical ground.

For one thing, it implies omniscience. In order to know that there will be a naturalistic explanation for everything in the universe, you must have knowledge of everything in the universe. By admitting that there are still gaps, this argument undercuts itself.

It also presupposes that the scientific method itself is the only valid way to discern truth about the physical world. However, how do we even know that? We can’t test the validity of the scientific method by testing it using the scientific method. However, if the scientific method is the only way to discern truth, then we cannot prove that the scientific method is true. That is absurd and circular, but it is the logical conclusion of making that type of absolute statement. Science cannot be the only way of determining truth.

However, the largest issue here is that even though the accusation of the God of the gaps is being thrown at the Christian, the atheist is actually committing that fallacy. Because we do not know exactly what happens, we believe that there will be a naturalistic explanation for it. Any gap in knowledge must be filled by science and there cannot be any supernatural. There is no way to prove that science fills every gap as has already been established, but for the naturalist, that must be the inevitable yet problematic assumption. If there is nothing outside of the natural, then the natural must explain itself rather than believe that there was outside intervention from the supernatural.

As much as atheists want to say that they go wherever the evidence takes them, by presupposing that everything needs to have a naturalistic explanation and eliminating the supernatural, they are committing the argument from ignorance also known as the god of the gaps. Why can they make claims about things that they truly do not know yet assume to be true without being accused of that fallacy?

That is not the pursuit of knowledge but rather the defense of a belief system that doesn’t want to answer questions.