The Ace Theological Company’s95 Theses #49

DIDN’T JESUS SAY “FEAR NOT” —
WHAT IF “HELL” IS REAL?

Saturday, Feb 12th. (Can you believe it? Didn’t we just have Christmas and News Years Day, recently?)

2022. 
      6:30 a.m.
      27º out, high of 50º expected.

Lots of people “SAY” they believe in Jesus and His “teachings” Dear Saint of God….

But parrots can talk. But their understanding is limited.
It seems to me, that a large number of people who SAY they believe in Jesus, also “believe” in all that “hell” mythology. But, this morning I wanted to take a spin around the idea that Jesus said “FEAR NOT”…
Keep in mind, I have not read Matthew, Mark, Luke or John, in quite a while… so, I don’t remember where this FEAR NOT business is… nor do I remember the context of Jesus’ two word quip.
But here’s the deal — if this hell mythology is true… it’s sounds awful… so awful that it should be “top of mind” for the Son of God… it should be that He’d be yakking about it day and night… to save as many folks from hell as possible. Right?
Now, He did give a threat of Gehenna to some self-righteous, meddlesome, a-holes… but it sure wasn’t very clear, and He sure did not go on about this “hell” thing (as if “Gehenna” and “hell” are the same thing). So… what is Jesus’ problem? He had an audience of 3,000 people on one occasion and 5,000 on another… feeding them rather miraculously… and I don’t think He mentioned ENDLESS CONSCIOUS PUNISHMENT in this hell thing. — 8,000 opportunities missed, right?
And on another occasion, (don’t know the context) but He tells someone, somewhere “FEAR NOT”… Has He lost is ever-loving-living mind?
Fear not, indeed. If hell is EVERLASTING, it should be the hottest topic of Jesus’ life. I mean we’re talking “EVERLASTING” here.

Brother o EMC o says —“ How is it that the saints can have true peace and joy knowing that the majority of those they have been called to love are being eternally tormented in literal fire by Love?”

It’s so easy to just buy into spoon-feed tradition. Most of us don’t challenge very many ideas that come along… it’s hard work to say ‘WTF’ … and to think a NEW THOUGHT.
So Jesus says “FEAR NOT”… How dare He?
(Now keep in mind that we humans seem to love a little “fear” now and then. We all ride the roller coaster, and we all go see horror movies, and we kind of like it when someone scares us as we walk out of the bathroom.)
So, maybe this HELL thing feeds our addiction and need of fear. Maybe.
But when it comes to LOVING God as our Father, and Savior… we’ve got to shed some of that cloudy thinking.
I’m quite sure most christians don’t “love” God.
They will say they do. But mostly they love their comfortableness … their cookies… their TV shows… their stuff. They don’t “love” God enough to explore wisdom and revelation in realization of Him.
So… you have to deal with these people with kid gloves. “Pass the potatoes and gravy” kind of thing. Don’t rock the boat. They will turn on you.

6:55 A.M. — COFFEE REFILL TIME.
6:59 A.M. I’M BACK.

HERE ANOTHER ONE FROM BROTHER EMC:
… “And when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did?
But he turned, and rebuked them, and said Ye (you all) know not what manner of spirit ye are of.
For the Son of man is not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them. And they went to another village.” Luke 9:54-56

Man, oh man… that is a lovely little passage, EMC… thanks for pointing that out.
Now the question is… why, oh, why… do regular ole “christians” tend to exaggerate all the bad news verses but they minimize and marginalize all the good news verses.???????????????
Now if I were just a run of the mill psychologist, I might answer that question by saying “They do so because they have low-self esteem.”
So christians come along, and condemn everyone but themselves to hell… and they don’t see a problem with it all. It’s not like they are any better in any measurable way to those whom they condemn to hell. No sir reeeee.

They condemn people to hell… and they threaten with hell. And of course, they’re not going there. And get this… no one they love is really going there either.
So Jesus drops this bomb shell: FEAR NOT… I’m telling you, boys and girls… this is big… for Jesus to say in ANY context, FEAR NOT… shows that eternal, hell fire, is not as big a threat as the dull witted religious folks would have you believe.
It’s not like I’m making an argument for being “intellectual”… Heck… the “dull-witted” religious folks have something (more enjoyable) than the high-brows. And as long as you don’t piss off the religious, you can almost have some good fellowship.
But hanging out with high-brows… from my experience is way too shallow. “Oh, where did you get that shirt, look at those buttons, the fabric is sooooo nice. You really must try this bisque.” etc.
Keep in mind, we’re basing this show on the idea that our Lord dropped these mystical words: FEAR NOT.
And guess what… EMC found another good one:
John 14:27 “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled; do not be afraid.”
And again… if hell were a thing, a real thing, a threatening thing that threatens most of God’s creation… Jesus should be punished for ignoring this thing and going on about “fear not” crap.
Alright… now get this… If Jesus does not see this HELL thing as a big deal… then can we ask… WHAT IS A BIG DEAL to Him?
My morning head is foggy, as I’ve only had a cup and a half of coffee… but I think we can say, from many evidences… that ISRAEL is a big deal to Him.
And if we’re going to follow the advice of our HELL-FIRE brothers and sisters who say to us… “you’re taking that out of context”… (I TIM 4:10, Eph 1:10, Col 1:20, Romans 8:20-21, I COR 15:20-28 etc.) then… when we look at “FEAR NOT”… can we say that He only spoke it to ISRAEL?
I’ve been told by Stacy and others, when I quote something like Colossians 1:20 (All to be reconciled by the blood of the cross.) – that “You’re taking that out of context, he was talking to the church in Colossae, so only the church in Colossae will be reconciled” something like that… you know… all the GOOD NEWS must be smashed… and all the BAD NEWS must be exaggerated.
So, maybe FEAR NOT — is to be smashed as well. And maybe FEAR NOT is an Israel thing. Who knows… but what if you have some fun by asking questions… questions that making you see God in a bigger light.
Will I go to hell if I open my arms to FEAR NOT???
Do you avoid HELL by believing in HELL?
Those guys seem to think so.
They don’t go out of their way to “BELIEVE” any real, serious, long-range “news” about Christ work on the cross… but they will insist that you BELIEVE in everlasting HELL. Insist. Insist and insist again.
It’s like they love HELL.
OK… let’s forget those guys for now.
Let’s explore something more exciting…
How about OUR EXPECTATION?
How about OUR STANDING in Him?
How about THE SECRET OF THE EVANGEL?
How about THE SECRET OF CHRIST?
How about what was going on “BEFORE”… BEFORE THE EONS?
How about OUR CALLING?
How about being JOINT ENJOYERS?
How about THE GIVE-GUSH (English: “lavish”) OF GRACE.
How about how “THE CONSUMMATIONS OF THE EONS ATTAINING TO US” (I COR 10:11)?
Listen, there are plenty of things in the sacred scriptures that go FAR BEYOND our cloudy understanding of HELL and any version of a terrible human destiny.
We know we’re here “now” — we speculate about our origin. And we speculate about our destiny. And we claim to know God and perhaps even “the mind of God”… but it’s just crazy to suggest that there is a God of heaven and Earth and yet suggest He’s about as smart as a 5-year old in a sandbox building sand castles, with no idea of what he’s doing and no consequence if he smashes the sand castle and starts over.
Will I go to HELL if I assign wisdom to God?
Will I go to HELL if I see goodness and depth and ultimate loving kindness in Him?
Speaking of WISDOM… Drew has a new article about THE PROBLEM OF EVIL… I think you guys will get a kick out of it. I’ll post a link in the side chat, and then hop over there, and copy and past some of it here. Hang on…

DREW’S article is several ways we can look at evil… and he’s thinking aloud about the matter. The title is:
Unmerited suffering and God
Now, keep in mind… I’m only going to quote the 7 ways you can look at this topic (from Drew) you’ll have to hop over there to see his answers to each query.
Wait… before I drop the 7 here… let me give you the link: https://www.concordantgospel.com/suffering/
OK… let’s here the 7 ways to look at it… Drew says:
1. God doesn’t want this suffering to occur (meaning He doesn’t actually enjoy witnessing it happen), but it all happens against His will because He’s powerless to stop it.
2. God doesn’t want this suffering to occur (meaning He doesn’t actually enjoy witnessing it happen), nor does He will it to occur (meaning He isn’t actively behind it in any way), and there’s no ultimate greater good that comes out of the suffering, but while He has the power to stop it, He decides to just sit back and let it occur anyway.
3. God doesn’t want this suffering to occur (meaning He doesn’t actually enjoy witnessing it happen), nor does He will it to occur (meaning He isn’t actively behind it in any way), but while it would be within His power to stop it, the suffering somehow magically does work out for the greater good, so He simply sits back and lets it happen.
4. God wants this suffering to occur (meaning He enjoys witnessing the suffering), and although He doesn’t will it to occur (meaning He isn’t actively behind it in any way), because the suffering somehow magically does work out for the greater good, and because He enjoys watching us suffer, He sits back and lets it occur.
5. God wants this suffering to occur (meaning He enjoys witnessing the suffering), although He doesn’t will it to occur (meaning He isn’t actively behind it in any way), and while there’s no ultimate greater good that comes out of the suffering (other than God getting what He wants), and while He could stop it at any time, He sits back and lets it occur because He enjoys it.
6. God wants, and even wills, this suffering to occur (meaning He enjoys witnessing the suffering, and is even actively behind much, if not all, of it in some way), and while there’s no ultimate greater good that comes out of the suffering (other than God getting what He wants), He actively makes sure that much of it occurs because He enjoys it (I say “much of it” because some of it might also be incidental to His actively making it happen, but He presumably enjoys that suffering too or it’s likely He wouldn’t let that particular suffering that He didn’t cause happen as well).
7. God doesn’t want this suffering to occur (meaning He doesn’t actually enjoy witnessing it happen), but He does will it to occur (meaning He’s actively behind it in some way), because He knows there’s ultimately a greater good for all of us that will come out of the suffering.

Listen… Drew is a good thinker. Hop over to his site and go over his article. And leave a comment back here on this show, we we know what you think.
Thanks you guys for peeking over my shoulder.
Maybe we can get together later today.

Grace to you. (“Give-Gush”)
Ace.
8:08 a.m.
end.