A Lesson...

Gehenna-- what is it? It is Hell. This is where there will be gnashing of teeth, this is the eternal fire, this is Hell.

Gehenna is a place that, in the first century, everyone throw away their trash and they burnt their trash to get ride of it. When Jesus spoke about an eternal fire, hell, or where there would be gnashing of teeth He was speaking of Gehenna. So, if Gehenna/ Hell is a place on Earth, what does it really mean?

When Gehenna is translated into Hell in the Bible, Jesus was always reference one of the the bellow sins:

Hatred or contempt, lust, fear, making fellow follower stumble, or hypocrisy.

• When one would hate someone or have contempt against them, they would say "raca" or worthless. To tell someone they are worthless is telling them that they are dehumanized and that they are like trash.You are telling them that they can go into the eternal fire as they have no worth on Earth.
  
• Lust isn't just about sex, it is about stepping on someone to get what you want from them. To use a relationship for the good of you only.
  
• To make another stumble is self explanatory; nevertheless, it is doing anything that would hinder another persons relationship with God.
  
• Hypocrisy- Everyone is a hypocrite sometime. Just realize as it is worthless and does nothing for your character except make you worthless to everyone as they cannot trust what you say.
  

These things I need to work on. I say I hate things in fun like "I hate the Steelers" during a football game. I want a lot of things in this life, while I'm thankful for what I have, I realize that I take most of it for granted. I make myself stumble, so I know that I make others stumble. My life is one hypocrisy after another... These things I need to work on as I am living through the eternal fire that is Gehenna.

I need to remember what God gave me, and all of us, breathe. He breathed his breathe into me so that I could live. He saved me from Gehenna. I need to remember what I have and be ever thankful as I am very fortunate. While I complain that the world is collapsing around me, that I have to hold up everything on my shoulders, I fail constantly to remember what God has done for me and continues to do. While many people in my life don't believe or have a different religion than I do, this only brings me closer to God. I realize that just because they don't believe as I believe doesn't make them wrong. In fact, I can learn something about their religion, faith, or belief that can help me grow in my own or bring to light something that I didn't know. I have been to a Catholic Church, Nondenominational, spoken with Jehovah's Witnesses, learned how the ancient Hebrews and Greeks lived, etc. I haven't learned so many things from each of these religions, faiths, and people. It is amazing how much I thought I knew, but had no idea about. So, I know that the last two posts have been about self improvement, but this is something that I know that I need to do. Before I move to Tennessee, I need to be the person that I want to be or I will be changing when I need to be who I am.

To learn more on this subject go to theparadoxchurch.org or listen to the podcast from The Paradox Church.

"Driving Nails" - Demon Hunter

I was the light
I was the quiet heart
I was the place we used to dwell
And when the cold would tear your life apart,
I was the warmth that you had felt

What have I become?
Thoughts like shadows swelling through my mind
What have I become?
Something else inside

Is driving nails into my soul
Angels from my door
Driving nails into my soul
Something inside

I was the blood inside you broken heart
I was the stone that you had held

I close my eyes
Search for you
Retracing every step