Judgment House Theology...

This past weekend our youth group wanted to go to a Judgment House... so we went. For those of you who may not be in the "know" on this, a judgment house is basically a haunted house for Christians but with the gospel message.

How are these the alternative for haunted houses? Glad you asked... . First, they're only done in the month of October and are held around the same time as Halloween. Secondly, their intent is to scare the Hell out of us... literally.

Basically Judgment Houses all follow the same M.O. They are a dramatic presentation of what happens in the after life. The groups attending the Judgment House are introduced to a family who you will follow through several scenes of their lives. The members of the family never seem to really have time for church and are all basically "good" people. The one our youth group visited had the mother character volunteering at a local soup kitchen yet she was not a church attending Christian. Then as the scenes go, your group is escorted by a narrator through their lives.

In one scene we are taken to a youth group drama team practice by one of the daughter's friends. At the practice after seeing the gospel performed in a skit she asks her friend how she can accept Christ into her life after her friend witnesses to her in their conversation. The daughter's mother enters the scene to pick her up and the girl excitedly tells her mom that she got saved. The mother is quite turned off and quickly changes the subject about going to get something to eat at a local side walk cafe type of restaurant.

The next scene we are escorted to shows a horrific accident where the daughter and mother are killed by a car jumping the curb onto the restaurant patio where they were eating. We enter the scene just after the accident and bodies are laid all over the place with EMTs attending the scene. The narrator then explains, "This is what happens next...."

At this point, you are escorted typically to a funeral scene where the remaining members of the family contemplate where the others who have died might be. They are all explained to be in Heaven by the father because they were such good people. Then here's where it gets intense...

The next scene is - for some reason - the judgment of the family members who have died. I'm no eschatologist, but what we refer to as the Great White Throne Judgment doesn't happen each time someone dies. This is the judgment that is being depicted but according to scripture is the final judgment after Satan and the demons have been thrown into the Lake of Fire. This judgment also takes place after the Millennial Kingdom is completed (Revelation 20:7-15) not each time someone dies. In the gospel account of the Rich Man, he dies, is buried then lifts up his eyes in torment. No indication that he goes to a preliminary judgment place is indicated. When Lazarus dies he is immediately escorted into Paradise.

Judgment Houses always have the dead family members standing before "the Judge." The daughter - in our case - was brought before the Judge and pronounced righteous and gets to exit the scene into Heaven.

Then the mother is brought forward who is so confident that she is about to get into Heaven as well. She is stopped short by the Judge who looks into the "Lamb's Book of Life" (another clue that we are at the Great White Throne Judgment) and cannot find her name in the book. The Judge pronounces her doom and then very dramatically demons appear from a side door, grab the mother - kicking and screaming violently - and drag her out of the scene and into Hell. Then for dramatic affect the judge begins to call out the actual names of members in your group and brings them forward. He then says something similar to, "Today is not your day, but when you stand here before me will you be ready?" We then exit to Hell... .

At the eventual Great White Throne judgment God will not use demons as his lackeys to take doomed humans to Hell. They will be thrown into the eternal judgment as counterparts in the rebellion. They will not be in a position to gloat over lost humanity.

The next scene is the reason I decided to blog about Judgment Houses and their theology. We then enter into the Hell scene and the room is dark, lighted only with black lights, splattered paint that shows up under the black lights to resemble fire or blood; it's 80 degrees plus in the room to represent the fire in Hell and screams are being pumped through the PA system. The intent, as you can tell, is to try to represent Hell the most horrific way possible to get people to realize the nature of this place.

Then enters Satan... he is dressed in black with a horrific "Satan" mask. Over on the side you can see the mother being whipped and beaten and kicked by demons. Satan begins to get into the face of the crowd screaming and laughing. He grabs the mom and brings her over to the crowd where she begins to plead with us not to ever come to this place and to tell her other family members who were left behind (similar to the Rich Man in the New Testament pleading for a warning for his brothers) about this place.

The problem I had with this scene is that in Hell Satan is not the lord or ruler as some so commonly think. He and his minions don't have thrones in Hell where they rule on beds of lava.

Hell is their judgment just as much as it is any human who dies and goes to that awful place. The old adage, "Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven," can't be further from the truth. Satan is called the god of this world referring to Earthly realms. He was cast down from Heaven onto Earth as Isaiah describes. Hell wasn't designed as an eternal bachelor pad where Satan gets to further torment those created in God's image. Also, at the judgment, demons are not going to be the eternal escorts of those who are given Hell - as their choice in this life - by rejecting Christ. Satan and the rebellious angles aren't the reciprocal expression (mirror image) of God and His kingdom. They are created beings that will also come under the same judgment of God as such - created beings.

Now to wrap this up... are judgment houses bad? I don't necessarily think so. The intent is to answer the questions of what happens after this life and how there is an eternal reward of punishment awaiting. At the end of the drama the groups are escorted into a counseling room where the scenes are explained. Our speaker admitted that the scenes we saw in no way depict an accurate portrayal of what Heaven and Hell look like (glad he clarified that point!). But he then took time to explain the gospel and gave the group an opportunity to pray to receive Christ. Many responded and prayed and considered that day the condition of their heart and what their eternity might look like. This is a good thing!

Do judgment houses give impressionable teens bad doctrine on the nature of Satan, demonology and the end judgment? Yes they do. Is that an irrecoverable sin? Of course not, but we do need to be careful not to embed bad theological thinking as common place.

Teens and adults alike can come away with a further cemented theology that Satan and demons are God's partners in tormenting humans. This taints God's image because that isn't the design He intended nor is it at all consistent with God's loving nature in regards to humans. God has no desire to torment humanity, nor does he delight in the death of the wicked according to Ezekiel.

God has went to amazingly extraordinary lengths to buy humanity back from its separation from Him. A human only goes to Hell after having rejected all attempts by the Holy Spirit to draw humanity to Himself. No one ever goes to Hell with an excuse that they didn't know the Way. No one ever goes to Hell and lifts his eyes in torments without knowing fully why they are there and why they deserve their choice to be there. It's not the ignorant unknowing who go to Hell, but the guilty rejectors of Christ who remain eternally separated from Him. In an act of human will, God gives man to his choice, leaving intact dignity of human choice. He doesn't violate mankind's free will, but desires from that free will those who will choose to die to self in this life and, through Christ, gain eternity with Him.

Happy Fall/Harvest/Festival holiday!

Ezekiel 33:33... They will realize...

I've been staved from writing for some time now. There seems to be no sense of inspiration and the last posting seemed forced. I've contemplated the articles written about the coming judgment that, for some, burn with force and passion only to grow faint and then the fire dies to only a flicker; then becomes only a small pencil-line of smoke. Then the smoke becomes blown by the winds of distraction, forcing our thoughts away from the warnings back to the mentality that brought us to where we are in the first place.

The messages are questioned as is the custom for these things. Judgment on these types of things can falter - as once was the case for me... daily questioning, "Have I heard; have I heard?" These questions have faded into statements, "I have heard; I have heard;" but for most, the questions remain.

I had some inspiration concerning the titled text, Ezekiel 33:33.

The church continues to disembowel itself, cutting from its torso the very "guts" it was formed with. Today in Birmingham, Alabama a preacher stands on the witness stand before judge and jury defending a crooked, wicked politician bought off like Judas only this time it's with 60 new suits fresh for the ministry of the saints. A church in Mobile, Alabama is suing Jefferson county and Birmingham city officials because a judge ruled this week that "charity" bingo is illegal, and this church is upset that its sugar-daddy has been done away with because it receives kick-backs from these establishments. These happen to only be two stories of the day.... One would not be hard-pressed to find further where the church has lost its compass and has bought into the world's way of doing things.

The church is in trouble; we are in trouble and turn a blind eye and deaf ear to the corruption we buy into as well. We're sold out to this planet having revoked our own citizenship to that city not built with human hands. We ignore the warnings of coming judgment because it doesn't fit our popular gospel. We are blind and naked and alone and we cannot see it because part of the package we've bought into is the self-delusions this society (the Enemy) creates in our view of ourselves. We no longer see what is right because we no longer chose to do what is right.

America was built as a bastion of hope to a persecuted people. We framed laws and built a nation based on a moral superseding law that comes from a Divine knowledge that has been shared with us so that there can be unity in diversity... from many people, one. This was based on the knowledge that our government cannot be sustained apart from the Source - God - from which life and justice flow. Now our government seeks to be the Source - god - giving us all that we want and need so as to depend upon it as the all-in-all and the church has jumped on board; Christians have jumped on board with a secular mentality that thinks "the government can take care of the poor, that's not my department."

America has rejected it's partnership with Divinity in being a bastion of hope for the nations, and a friend to sinners - it itself has become the sinner. Judgment therefore is coming and God has warned us so that we would not be caught off our guards and so that those of us who need to repent can and have ample time to do so. God takes no delight from the death of the wicked, but the other side to that coin is that God cannot allow sin to continue unchecked.

Ezekiel 33:33 says, "So when it comes to pass--as surely it will--then they will know that a prophet has been in their midst."

This text isn't so much about the vindication of the prophet than it is about the "they" who will realize that God has moved in justice and mercy. All will realize that He is God when these things come to pass... the key is to realize it and heed the warnings that have been given by His watchmen before they do come to pass. Otherwise one might find themselves the subject of the judgment.

God asks us to turn toward Him, trust in Him, lean on Him and He gives us the power needed to do so completely. He hasn't required something of us that we can not give, however it is often something we won't give... everything. The person who finds his life here loses his life there; the person that loses his life here (giving everything) finds his life there.

To quote the missionary martyr Jim Elliot, "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep, to gain what he can never lose." Some will find this statement to be absolute truth, but only too late.

Soon these things are going to happen - and it's going to happen! Are you prepared? Are you trusting Him?

Freedom of Expression...

Last night at Emerge, our twenty-something / college-and-career coffee shop, we discussed the nature of expression and whether or not it is free.  One of our country's basic freedoms guarantees its people that they have the right to free expression and that right is inalienable to them as being human.  Where might this notion have come from?  This is what we discussed...

First of all, God created us to be expressive.  This is evident by viewing nature.  Take all things that have been created and compare their ability to express themselves.  A hundred chimps on a hundred lap tops clacking away for a hundred years on the keyboards can never compose a sonnet.  Sure they may accidentally hit a word or two by chance but they lack the expressive ability to hammer out a thought provoking piece of prose on their love for bananas.  Even the howling wolves have never scrawled with their paws in the snow a song they bay at the moon.  This is not to say that God didn't design animals to be able to have limited communication.  Fireflies light up the night with yellow-hued love calls to attract a mate; squirrels chatter to one another endlessly, but what animal has ever invented the internet or what bird has ever directed a major motion picture?  Simply none.  Humanity is of a different sort... even when impaired by deafness or muteness we are able to express concepts and ideas through sign language or through brail.

God designed humans to be fully expressive.  Where do we think He got that idea?  In Genesis God has a conversation with Himself and says, - plurally, I might add - "Let us make man in our image."  The first act we see God revealing Himself to humankind is in expressive explosions of creation of worlds with His words.  Mankind took notice and followed suit by equally being creative staying true to his nature.  Ants have been building for millenniums yet they've never constructed mini-malls nor have they grown past their dirt-holed homes.  God's very nature is expressive and we are created in His image.

If then God created us to be fully expressive, then what about the notions of totalitarian governments who won't allow its people to be freely expressive?  In essence, these government entities can be classified as evil empires with anti-Christ attitudes that deny people this freedom that has been created in them in an expressive nature and endowed to them by God.  These governments are Satanic in nature since his desire is to cease people from bringing God glory in their lives, which is the purpose of humanity. They are quelling God's image in humanity in this restriction.

Is then all expression good and acceptable to God's standard of holiness since we can express whatever we choose?

Take for instance what Paul says twice in his first letter to the church at Corinth.  In chapter six (vs. 12) and in chapter ten (vs. 23), Paul says that though all things are lawful, all things are NOT beneficial.  This principal can be applied to expression.  Though we have been given the freedom to express ourselves and the capabilities to express ourselves, not every expression is valuable to us.  Adam and Eve were placed in the garden and given basically one rule, don't eat of that tree.  Yet, God didn't place a force field around the tree preventing them to reach it.  It was completely lawful - or possible - for them to reach the tree, however their reaching the tree wasn't beneficial to themselves nor to the world!  Thus the curse.  Not all things are profitable to us and expressing contempt for God by rejecting Him has a dire alternative... eternal separation from Him in Hell, and this is of our own choosing and the consequence of our expression.

Isaiah in chapter six of his writings describes the vision of God seated on His throne and the train of His robe filling the Temple.  This wasn't a pretty Renaissance painting, but a terrible vision of God in His holiness. Immediately Isaiah expressed his utter sinfulness - though possibly the saintliest man in Israel at the time - with this metaphor, "Woe is me for I am a man of unclean lips and dwell in the middle of a people of unclean lips." Why did Isaiah use 'lips' instead 'hands' or 'eyes'?  It would seem clear that hands do evil by murdering, fornication, stealing, etc., but Isaiah used 'lips'.  Think of this, both Matthew (12:34) and Luke (6:45) record in their accounts of Christ's life that from the abundance of our hearts our mouth speaks.  Isaiah was in the presence of our holy God and in that Light there was no hiding what is in man's heart... sinfulness, not compared to each other but compared to God, and who can ever measure up to that save Christ alone?  Man's heart is utterly wicked and that's what comes to light in the holiness of Christ.  Our 'lips' express what is in our hearts.  It's the tongue - not the eyes - that is the window to the soul.

This is possibly why we can't be fully expressive to the church community at large.  If we admitted to our "brothers and sisters" what is on our heart, or what we struggle with in our lives then the facade that we put up on Sunday mornings would be shattered and our credibility lost as stained glass Christians.  It's too costly to be vulnerable.  There's too much as stake we think.  This drives our community to be not much like a community at all.  To whom can we go to be expressive?  To whom can we be completely vulnerable?  How many friends can you tell your darkest fears and struggles to without fear that you will be the topic of every email and cell phone conversation from now until Sunday?

There's one place where all pretense is lost and all fears are consumed... the metaphorical foot of the cross... literally to Jesus.  We come to Him with no pretense because there can be none.  He knows the deepest struggles we've yet to face and it doesn't change His love toward us one bit.

My pastor, Roger Daniel, said once that the fact that we can't trust the community to express ourselves in our struggles and weaknesses proves that the community is not much like Christ.

This is a problem.  Because when we can't express ourselves and where that freedom doesn't exist God's nature ceases to exist - or ceases to be expressed - there too.  God created us unlike any other organism in this world.  He created us to create.  He created us to paint and sing and to write and to love just as He has painted the worlds into existence with His words; and sings the love song of a savior sent to a people needing rescued from a curse of self-choosing; and to love in fathomless expressions of nearness to a people that hold Him at bay with clinched fists of self-centered-ness.  All the while knowing that He gave us the freedom to express love for Him... or contempt, but hoping for love.