We All Know About Hell

Quite a few years ago, I asked my 5 year old daughter a question, “If you believe in Jesus when you die, where do you go?” She answered, “Heaven.” Then I asked her, “if you don’t believe in Jesus when you die, where do you go?” She thought for a moment and then said, “fire!” The amazing thing about her answer was, my wife and I never taught her this, neither had anyone else that we know. So I asked her, “how do you know this?” She said, “I don’t know, I just do.”

Pushed Out of Our Minds

You may recall as a child knowing the truth of heaven and hell, yet for some reason, many people, actually most people, even Christians, put it out of their mind as some childish notion of a bad place that they assume a God of love would not possibly allow. They think it is a fable or a childish, nightmarish bedtime story designed by cruel men to scare, oppress and even suppress the masses into obedience.

Softer Approach Is Not Working

Pastor Neil Ryan of the Unley Park Baptist Church in South Australia said: “You know there is a lot about hell that I don’t understand, but that’s not what worries me. It’s what I do know about hell that worries me...We’ve spent years trying to take a softer approach with a hard truth. Do you know what I think the Holy Spirit is saying to us, “It’s not working.” We’ve tried so hard to make the gospel inoffensive and exciting that there’s no place for fear at all. I would say basically among Gen Y kids today that there is not one skerrick of fear of God.”

Make the Truth About Hell Clear

We must bring the truth about hell out into the open, because to most of humanity today, that is where they will spend their eternities, so it is our responsibilities to warn them now. We can only warn them in one way and that is clearly without holding back a thing. When Jesus spoke about hell, He was deadly serious and very cutting, holding no punches, as you will find out by the scriptures that I quote in future blogs.

Hell is Impeccably Biblical

According to the Bible, Hell is not only a real place of torment and damnation, but that it is scriptural and that it is just and right. The word hell is mentioned 109 times in scripture. References to hell in the bible is 63 times in the New Testament and several hundred times in the Old Testament. Every single book of the bible from Genesis to the revelation mentions hell more than once.

In Christ

Robert Cartledge

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Faith To Become Holy In Christ

In this blog we look at how faith can cause to walk in obedience to Christ.

Faith to Fulfil the Law

“Well then, if we emphasize faith, does this mean that we can forget about the law? Of course not! In fact, only when we have faith do we truly fulfill the law.” (Romans 3:31 NLT) If faith comes from obeying, then this Scripture makes perfect sense. As we obey by faith, the Holy Spirit, who is in us and leads us as we devote ourselves in prayer, guides us in holiness. This holiness comes from Holy Spirit inspired, law abiding lifestyles. When, by faith, we obey the law, it becomes apparent that God enables us to obey it by our faith in the Holy Spirit, we then walk in the righteousness of Christ. We do not steal because God gives us a holy conscience which tells us not to steal. 

Faith By Hearing

Faith, then, is essential to obey the law. This faith comes by hearing the Father by the Holy Spirit, whom the Son gave to us, and by Him we live holy lives. We cannot live a holy life unless we have faith in the Holy Spirit to guide us into holiness. This faith is increased and we become more sensitive to the guidance of the Holy Spirit, as we pray and earnestly seek His face.

Slaves to Righteousness

Romans 6:19 says, “I put this in human terms because you are weak in your natural selves. Just as you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer them in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness.” In the coming move of God, there is going to be a tremendous emphasis upon the people of God being slaves to righteousness. For Romans 6:19 says, that if we offer the parts of our body as slaves to righteousness, that this will lead to holiness. Therefore, this is a secret to living a holy, godly and blameless life in Christ.

Righteousness and His Kingdom

A slave is the legal property of whoever he is enslaved to. In being a slave you are forced to obey. In the Christian life, righteousness is supposed to be our master and we its slave. The true Christian is supposed to listen to and obey this Master, who by the receiving of a holy conscience, will convict us in what we say, do, look at and listen to. If we take heed of this holy conscience that we all as Christians receive, we will walk in holiness. Jesus Himself tells us this same secret, “But seek first his Kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matthew 6:33) There it is, add to seeking righteousness the seeking of God’s Kingdom, the reward for a life of serving God in holiness and never recanting of the faith. This Kingdom promise gives us the added incentive to continually seek righteousness and to be its slave.

Credited as Righteousness

“However, to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness.” (Romans 4:5) Trusting God is credited to us as righteousness. This righteousness by faith in Christ comes alive by the Holy Spirit who is deposited within us by faith when we walk by faith and sin no more by faith. To walk in the holiness of Christ we must walk in repentance and by the faith that we can overcome sin, because, “Greater is He who is in us than he who is in the world.” Without faith no man can please God. In summary; holiness comes by seeking righteousness and becoming its slave by faith in the Holy Spirit to enable us to walk in it.

In Christ

Robert Cartledge

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Response to Richard Dawkins Book 'The God Delusion'

To Richard Dawkins

You said in your book, 'The God Delusion,' "How is it that hardly any major religion has looked at science and concluded, 'This is better than we thought! The Universe is much bigger than our prophets said, grander, more subtle, more elegant'? Instead they say, 'No, no, no! My god is a little god, and I want him to stay that way.' A religion, old or new, that stressed the magnificence of the Universe as revealed by modern science might be able to draw forth reserves of reverence and awe hardly tapped by the conventional faiths."

Awesome Beyond Imagination

Relating to Christian believers as saying that 'my god is a little god,'? When and where has any Christian, who is a true Christian, said, "my God is a little God." This statement is an outright lie. My God is the Life Giving Energy Source of the Universe who began all things and exists and lives outside of the Creation He created. He is so much greater than who we are as an intelligent existence, that men have no power within their minds to grasp or understand who He is or how He operates. He is so superior to us, that our wisdom is as foolishness to Him. 

Better Than We Thought

The reason that major religions have looked at science and not concluded that it's better than we thought is because it's not!!! Science is built around man made hypothesis that are only theories until they are proven wrong and outdated by more modern thought. Science can never replace religion to the true believer. Faith in the God of the Bible has been around since the beginning of human history and has stood the test of time to those who can understand it. 

Wasted Pursuit

You spend your days trying to disprove God's existence and waste your life in a useless vocation. The theory of Atheism has no proof whatsoever that God doesn't exist, and cannot prove that He doesn't. I have watched many debates between Atheists and Christians and are yet to see an Atheist bring forth clear proof that God doesn't exist. Yet the Christian brings forth massive amounts of evidence that God does exist of which the Atheist can only attempt to tear down. Atheism has no substance whatsoever as a belief system, it really should be simply called another 'Anti-Christ Theory.' 

Why Would I Believe You?

Why would I want to give up eternal life with Jesus because some free thinkers like yourself have come along and tried to think better than the God who created them. Your thoughts are futile and rebellious. You are working with darkness in deluding the multitudes into rejecting their God and losing eternal life. I pray that you would one day open your eyes and see that the sheer complexity and design of all existence points to there being a Creator. Romans 1:20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.

Comment Submitted by Stephen on Mon, 06/08/2009

It's so true isn't it - Science is but all theories, and even then, shakey ones. How many times over the course of history has Science's perspectives changed, admitting they're wrong, but insisting that they are right this time. First, they thought the earth was flat, then they figured out it wasn't. They thought that you could cure insanity by bleeding people out, then they discovered that wasn't the case, etc. Science has changed so many times, yet Christianity has not changed its basis once. We still believe in the same God for the same reasons - He is unchanging, and will stay that way, no matter how many times science changes. Science in itself is only a collective mass of theories of different perceived ways of viewing the interactions of different elements of God's universe; a human way to try and explain away the Divinity of Creation, without a lot of basis' behind the different theories that science tries to hold as fact.

Reply Submitted by Rob on Mon, 06/08/2009

That is very true Stephen, reminded me of this quote I transcribed from a Youtube vid of
 William Lane Craig in 'Dr. William Lane Craig humiliates Dr. Peter Atkins' (Youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkBD20edOco&feature=related) said,

“Science cannot account for everything. There are a good number of things that cannot be scientifically proven but they are all rational to accept. 1) Logical and mathematical truths cannot be proven by science, science presupposes logic and math, so that to try to prove them by science would be arguing in a circle. 2) Metaphysical truths like, there are other minds other than my own, or that the external world is real, or that the past was not created 5 minutes ago with an appearance of age, are rational beliefs that cannot be scientifically proven. 3) Ethical beliefs about statements of value are not accessible by the scientific method. You can’t show by science whether the Nazi scientist in the camps did anything evil as opposed to scientists in Western democracy 4) Aesthetic judgments cannot be accessed by the scientific method, because the beautiful like the good cannot be scientifically proven. 5) And finally and most remarkably would be science itself. Science cannot be justified by the scientific method. Science is permeated with un-provable assumptions, for example; in the special theory of relativity, the whole theory hinges on the assumption that the speed of light is constant in a one way direction between any two points a and b, but that strictly cannot be proven, we simply have to assume that in order to uphold to the theory. None of these beliefs can be scientifically proven yet they are accepted by everybody.

Robert Cartledge

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Approaching God Acceptably

Coming before God in prayer should be approached in an acceptable manner. What I mean is this. If we had an appointment to meet the Queen of England, would we not be trained in correct etiquette (the rules and conventions governing polite behaviour) by her entourage before entering her quarters? We would also prepare ourselves in advance with a plan of the reasons for our meeting with her? How much more should we be prepared in etiquette and a plan when approaching God in prayer. This blog is on the scriptural way of coming before God in prayer.

Through Jesus

Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. Noone comes to the Father except through me. (John 14:6) This scripture tells us that to pray to God we must pray through the Lord Jesus. For He is the way to God, the Truth of God and the Life of God.

By the Blood of Jesus

[Read about the Most Holy Place Hebrew 9:1-15 and discuss.]

“Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. (Hebrews 10:19-22) When we pray we enter the Most Holy Place. 

Jesus Christ has opened up a way for us to enter the Most Holy Place by His blood. To enter this place we must be cleansed by His blood, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience. We are told to sprinkle our hearts spiritually with the blood of Christ. We do this by repentance in the name of and by the blood of Jesus.

In the Holy Spirit

We must also pray in the Spirit. “And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.” (Ephesians 6:18) The Holy Spirit is also called the Holy Counsellor (John 14:16-17) and He is our guide when we pray. No-one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit. (1Corinthians 12:3) You cannot believe in Jesus without the Holy Spirit. Therefore, the fact that you believe proves that you have the Holy Spirit.

“Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price.” (1Corinthias 6:19-20) Now that we believe in Christ, we are a temple of the Holy Spirit, therefore the Holy Spirit lives within us. 

Fellowship with the Holy Spirit

“May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.” (2Corinthians 13:14) This tells us we are to have fellowship with the Holy Spirit. Fellowship means to have friendly association with someone. To have friendly associations with the Holy Spirit we pray and communicate with Him. For the Holy Spirit is as God as Jesus is God. 

The early Church did not have a new testament to guide them as we do, they had the Holy Spirit. Jesus had deposited in the early disciples the words of life. The thing to understand here is, the Holy Spirit was given at Pentecost and He directed the prayers and every word and deed of the early Church. 

The Bible and the Spirit

Today we have the New Testament + the Old. The New however is composed of the letters and accounts of Jesus life written by the early disciples and by Christian Historians of the first century. When we combine the Bible and the Holy Spirit we can recognize the work of the Holy Spirit in us and trust Him as He guides us in our life.

The Holy Spirit comes to guide us in all things. He is the perfect companion as we pray before God. “But the Counsellor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” (John 14:26) As we pray with the Holy Spirits guidance, we must trust in Him to give us burdens for souls or places in the world the Lord wants to touch.

THE LORDS PRAYER

“This, then, is how you should pray: `Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.” (Matthew 6:9-13)

In Summary

We come to God in prayer through Jesus Christ, having been cleansed by His blood in repentance. We can believe and we can pray because we have the Holy Spirit within us and the Bible to guide us.

In Christ

Robert Cartledge

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INTELLIGENCE CAN BE A STUMBLING BLOCK TO FAITH

I wrote this blog back on 6/8/2009 and thought it worth being repeated here.

Become Childlike

“O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, thank you for hiding the truth from those who think themselves so wise and clever, and for revealing it to the childlike. Yes, Father, it pleased you to do it this way.” (Matthew 11:25-26)

Stumbling Block to Faith

Great learning and superior Intelligence is one of the greatest stumbling blocks to the salvation of souls. Great Intelligence seems to make them incapable of discerning the simple, as they are always in search of the higher learning. How sad it is that such great minds cannot contain the mustard seeds worth of faith that it takes to believe.

Great Learning

It is surprising to discover how vast unbelief is among the “most educated” men and women in Universities. It is amazing how many professors of theology do not truly believe. Their great learning has confused and deceived them. And these same prominent teachers promulgate their post-modern views upon the receptive and impressionable minds of the students, who unbeknown to them have the views and thoughts of a faithless generation imposed upon them as a result.

Post-Modern Dilemma

Pastor Neil Ryan of the Unley Park Baptist Church in South Australia said,
 'The Post Modernist says, “You can’t be sure of anything you’ve been taught these days...” Can you understand why the world today is leaving the Church in dray loads? Because there’s this suspicion that Christians claim to have the truth. A Post Modern World is very suspicious of anybody who says, “I’ve got the truth.” And so the Church, all of a sudden which for Ni on two thousand years old, look to have something that could offer hope to the world, but now the world is saying, “you know what, you’re arrogant. Give me David Attenborough, give me Philip Adams, give me Richard Dawkins, because at least these people have the humility to talk about the mystery and the wonder and the awesomeness of things they don’t know about. You lot seem to talk about everything you know and give no room for what you don’t know.” And there’s this stark divide between the Church and the rest of the world, because of this whole shift of the way we think today as a Post Modern People. So we come back to the original question, "where does the average person go looking for hope?"'

Hope to No Hope

This really does put into perspective the dilemma the Church is facing in these last days. This deceptive shift in thinking from ‘find the truth and live by it,’ to the ‘believe what you like because there is no absolute truth view,’ is turning out to be the greatest mass shift of thought from having a hope in the reality and truth of Christ, to having no hope at all because you don’t need hope, when you die that’s it, you are no more. This has been the greatest deception satan has ever accomplished on this earth and is probably been his greatest hour thus far in history.

Pride Gets in the Way

The Holy Spirit cannot settle and dwell in the heart of a learned man until they humble themselves and accept that they are a mere creation, and everything that they are, the gifts that they have, was given to them by the Lord. This is very hard for them to swallow. Because of their pride, they believe that their own minds are their gods, and they find it so debasing to bow down to the true one and only God, let alone bowing down to His Son Jesus who was born a man just like them. But we know from Scripture that Jesus was God in man, proven by the virgin birth and His resurrection from the dead. But to the ‘learned,’ this is but a fairy tale. All we can do for these men is pray that they lose faithfulness in themselves, and fall at the foot of their saviour. 

The Unity of the Church

The only way we can prove that Jesus is the Christ is by the churches unity and oneness. “May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. (John 17:23) Our unity will prove to the world that God sent Jesus and that God loves the world just as God loved Jesus. “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:34-35) It is because of this lack of love for one another as a Church and the divisions in the Church, that men don’t believe in Christ or believe that we are sent from God. It is because of the some 45,000 denominations of the Christian Church world-wide that God has not been able to pour out His Spirit upon all flesh, so that we can see the last great world wide revival before the return of Christ. It is because of the unforgiveness among leadership and among Christians in general that satan is overwhelmingly defeating the Christian Church.

Repent Church

We must repent. My first book, God’s Heart Cry Revival, really does make it clear as day what we need to do as a Church to see God’s Holy Spirit poured out over the whole earth. God’s Heart Cry for Revival pleads with God’s people to respond to the call of God to live on His terms and set our hearts upon laying hold of His presence.

In Christ

Robert Cartledge

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Responses to Unbelievers Part 2

In this blog, I am including a response I made to Lisa who commented on a photo that I commented on. I acknowledged God as the Creator of the nature we were appreciating, but Lisa found my comment insulting for some reason.

Lisa January 24, 2011 at 1:04 pm

My birthday is April 1 & I believe in MOTHER NATURE. Why would you take this beautiful site & photos & make your (insulting) posts about God? How about: “Wow, those were beautiful pictures!” That’s my comment. As for the God stuff – how sad that you’d rather believe in a singular entity & forget that you LIVE on THIS earth, so you should take CARE of it – not spend your time financially supporting some Church whose only goal is to gather a bunch of sheep (oh, I mean “followers”) in some belief & processes that someone essentially MADE UP at some point. Yeah, kiss the Pope’s ring – no idolization there. It’ll be a great day when you religious people who believe in God actually love ALL people, not just others who believe in your same religion. Crusades? I think people who feel they have to go to church to worship something are weak & can’t stand on their own, so they must follow. Pathetic.

 

My Reply

Yes, a Christian is a sheep, no offense taken. I am a sheep who knows the voice of the Shepherd my God, Jesus Christ. You cannot believe in God unless He draws you.

You seem to have extremely bitter and hateful views of Christianity. Sure, there has been some bad Christians over time, but these Christians are obviously not of the heart of Christ. No one can say that Jesus was not a good man and a great moral teacher. All accounts of Jesus both biblical and secular (not Gnostic, because these are false texts) talk of the holiness of Jesus. Any Christian who does not reflect these qualities of holiness are not truly Christ like. 

I do not call Catholiscism true Christianity, and the Pope does not speak for God. Your views of God and Christ are obviously based on media representations and atheist opinions upon Him, among other maybe New Age concepts (I don't know, just getting a sense of that from reading your blog). 

We are not weak by going to Church to study the Bible and worship God. We all go to something and follow something. Are you weak because you go to a concert and adore a performer? Are you weak because you go to University and study a field? Well when I go to Church I go to learn and grow in the things of God. My logic is, if God is real and true and His Son Jesus truly did die on a Cross for my sins, rise from the dead and ascend to be with the Father, then this has serious implications on not only my life, but all our lives. If His Words are true then I better listen to Him. To remain ignorant would be detrimental. So over 20 years ago now, in a search for the actual Truth, I put prejudice and opinion aside and studied everything I could about all kinds of religions, and it was not until I picked up the Bible and read the whole thing in 8 weeks, that I found the most absolute faith on this planet. 

Robert Cartledge

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Responses to Unbelievers Part 1

In this blog, I respond to a comment a man by the name of Mike made to a video I put up on Youtube. This comment took place back in January 2011. Hope it blesses you.

Youtube Comment

mike January 24, 2011 at 6:13 am

always one religious idiot.i suppose you believe in the adam and eve theory.if so,then you must belive incest is correct and legal and moral,for incest is THE ONLY way eve could have produced more children.no wonder the religious right(and left)are mocked.their beliefs are as asinine as religion itself

[I left this comment exactly as it appeared on Youtube.]

My Reply

Edmund Spencer said, "There is a principle which is a bar against all information which is proof against all argument and which cannot fail to keep man in everlasting ignorance. That principle is condemnation before investigation." 

 

Too many people today have made there judgments and based their opinions for argument from a documentary or two that they have watched or a couple of books that they haplessly scanned through, and then they act as scholars upon subjects they know little about. With such futile knowledge they debate people who have made scholarly efforts to know a subject. Therefore when these people argue they resort to insults and offense because of their lack of understanding. Learn the subject matter thoroughly before you comment, then you won't resort to using words against perfect strangers like idiot. 

 

As far as Adam and Eve goes here is the explanation if you are sincere in wanting to understand truth. "Many people immediately reject the conclusion that Adam and Eve's sons and daughters married each other by appealing to the law against brother-sister marriage. Some say that you can't marry your relation. This law forbidding close relatives marrying was not given until the time of Moses (Leviticus 18-20). Until the law was given, it was not morally wrong to do so. When Adam and Eve were created, they were perfect. That means their genes were perfect and their environment and food was perfect and pure, therefore the purity of their condition meant that their children would not mutate imperfections for many thousands of years. However, It would not take more than 3 generations before someone would have been marrying their second or third cousin and within a very short time, distant relatives." 

 

Mike, you don't have to accept that explanation, and you more than likely won't, but wisdom is always to keep an open mind about areas of reality, that you may not fully understand. Noone knows everything, actually Einstein and other great minds said one person may not even know 1% of everything that is. Is it possible that in the 99% of what you don't know that God exists?

Robert Cartledge

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