Hope for Life Blog

Have you ever wondered how he can stand it? Isn’t there some point when He says “Enough is enough”? Don’t you think He must retch when we curse Him, use His name to curse others, justify killing men, women, children, because He is “on our side”?

When does He draw the line and say “The horrid things you do to yourselves and the planet you live on is more than I can stomach. Go to Ghennal!” Ghenna is used only twelve times in the New Testament, 11 by Jesus Himself as He talks about the place separated from God. The place that Revelation calls “the second death..” The place where there is eternal damnation and suffering.

The question remains, after consistent disappointment and disregard for His love, when does the Creator tell his creation to Go To Hell?

He Didn’t.

He Doesn’t.

Since before the world was formed, God hasn’t given up on his children. He offers them, you by name, a way to live with Him forever.

God Almighty offers you that hope:
Unearned, undeserved, unexplainable

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that
whosoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.”

God allowed His son to pay the debt of our sins that we were/are incapable of satisfying. And Jesus gives us the receipt that simply says redeemed.

And yet do you think God’s told you to go to hell? One of the nagging questions that we as his creations have is: How, after all that I’ve done, can He forgive me? So what do you think?

~Bill Brant

“Over the river and through the woods to ‘Aunt Patty’s’ house we go.” Well, that’s how it would be sung at my house. For 38 years they ALL have come to Aunt Patty’s house for Thanksgiving, not Aunt Patty and Uncle Bill’s house, just Aunt Patty’s house.

There have always been three generations who gather, including in-laws and out-laws. I’m not sure some of the attendees would know how to cook turkey, prepare stuffing or get enough ice unless my wife, the aforementioned Aunt Patty, didn’t do it.

Thanksgiving dinner takes place around 1 pm with the adult table and the kid’s table. Then the late afternoon has football games or my nap. Leftovers are available from 6 pm to bedtime with the evening centered around some games that most of the family participates in while coordinating the strategy for who is to be at which store before the sun rises and the world starts to turn the next morning.

Each year the faces change, depending on whose family gets the kids for the holiday this year, but even for an old codger like me, what I enjoy most is simply having my family close enough to hear their laughter, see their smile, feel their warmth.

I envision heaven being something like Thanksgiving at Aunt Patty’s house.

All of the “relatives” gathering in one place, telling stories of the way things used to be, new faces each year, hearing the laughter, seeing the smiles, feeling the warmth. ALL of us in the presence of God- Almighty, His Son- Emanuel, His Spirit- the Comforter. But no one goes home, Thanksgiving never stops.

Yep, just like at Aunt Patty’s house, because they’ll all be back for Christmas!

Who will be at your Thanksgiving dinner this year or what is keeping you from having that dinner? If you get to heaven, for some don’t think they will get there, who would be at your gathering there?

~Bill Brant

It’s called [i]The Bucket List[/i], a movie about two men who endured treatment for cancer only to be told they had months to live. Together they compile a list of things they want to do before they “kick the bucket”. Thus begins a hilarious and poignant journey to discover what is important when life is short.

There is a real life equivalent. On September 18, 2007 at Carnegie Mellon University, a computer professor delivered a lecture entitled “Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams,” a hopeful and ironic marquee, considering that cancer was already devouring his pancreas.

Two presentations: one imagined, one all too real, for Randy Pauch died from pancreatic cancer on July 25, 2008, 10 months after his “Last Lecture.” Both stories reflect the sense of urgency as time is running out and the need to cut all extraneous things of life to focus on what is really important.

These same motivations are seen and felt in The Last Letter. Written by an old man on death row, written in a dark, dank, cell. Written knowing he will not escape the executioner by a last minute reprieve or by a technicality. Written knowing that his end is quickly approaching.

He writes with the urgency of a condemned man and tells his only relative, his adopted son, the most important things to remember. This is what he wrote:

For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.

The prisoner is the Apostle Paul. The adopted son is Timothy and the Last Letter is the New Testament book of II Timothy, written shortly before Paul’s execution around 67 AD.

Today, now, as our world continues to spiral from disaster to warfare, to inhumanity, we must also proclaim the Urgently Important: that our Savior, Jesus Christ, has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel.

If you had the chance to write your Last Letter, who would you address it to? What would you tell them?

~Bill Brant

When in the course of human events it becomes necessary to state deliberately and unequivocally the basis for one’s belief, a person, an organization, a nation, or people must make a Declaration. Thus, all people know exactly where we stand in relation to all others. In doing so, it must be acknowledges and accepted that some will offer affirmation and others will find fault that cause them offense.

American history is anchored with such an event that took place on July 4, 1776.

Today I make my personal Declaration of Dependence.

I believe in one God, His son Jesus, and His Holy Spirit. Who since before time began, offered His creation an avenue to be made worthy to be with Him forever.

I believe that God is creator and we are His creations; that Jesus is Messiah, our Savior; and our dependence is completely upon them.

I believe that it is God’s task to add to His church and determine who goes to Heaven or Hell, not mine.

I believe that God’s directions are in His Word and the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

I Believe that being Christ-like begins with understanding that by ourselves we are unworthy; that repenting of our sin is both attitude and action; that baptism is the acknowledgement of obedience to Jehovah and telling others of Jesus is an opportunity and responsibility.

This Declaration of Dependence is the continuation of my journey and not the end.

Most of us are hesitant to make a public statement of faith, but isn’t about time that some of us do? What would you include in your Declaration of Dependence? Why?

-Bill Brant

It was a haunting sound, carried by the wind and seemed to float around those of us gathered there. The lone bugler sounding Taps has been the aural recognition for a person’s military service from a grateful nation.

At age 88, he had led a good life by earthly standards. His three year, all expenses paid excursion to Europe, as a Captain in the United States army earned him the right of this honor.

I have heard the mournful melody many times, including at the burial of my own parents, both of whom were veterans. Since the Civil War, that sound has marked the end of person’s physical existence. And every time I hear it, I cry. I cannot explain it, other than to say it stirs my heart, and I acknowledge that one who served to protect me has died.

Today men and women still choose to safeguard this country, fight its wars, and die in its service. And Taps will mark the occasion of their burial and the final honor from a grateful country.

I am also reminded that there is one who chose to come to an earthly world, fight the ultimate enemy and die for me. And now He sits at God’s right hand claiming me as His! Protecting me from the evil one.

This Memorial Day, we acknowledge those who served to our country and over whom Taps has been played. So also should we honor the One whose death allows us to claim victory over our enemy.

The place to start our recognition is knowing who that ultimate enemy is. It’s Satan. Isn’t it time we fight the enemy and stop sniping at our brothers? Isn’t it time to aim at the one whose intentions are to kill us. Instead of being consumed about those who may disagree with us?

What do you think?

Bill Brant