PASTOR JOHN COLLINS: HELL IS FOR REAL

From Pastor John Collins:

“If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed, rather than having two hands, to be cast into hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched-where ‘their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.’” Mark 9:43-44 (NKJV).

Mark 9:43 Jesus preaches Hell

Jesus goes on to say the same of your foot and your eye, which if it were to cause you to sin, you should cut it off or pluck it out. That is a brutal truth that is said in order to make the hearer and the reader realize just how important it is for a person to seek to be obedient to God in this life and to not sin. It is also very important for every person living to realize the absolute truth of hell, that it is a place of torment and those that are judged worthy of deserving hell, do indeed go there and everyone who does go there will be there for eternity and the suffering will never stop.

That is not what people want to hear. It is fire and brimstone preaching that our grandparents listened to but we don’t want to hear it, right? There are even many so-called Christians who refuse to accept that existence of hell and have chosen instead to delude themselves and say that “their God” would never create a place of eternal torment and that “their God” is a loving God who would never hurt His children and that means that hell is just being separate from the presence of God, or it is just a metaphor, or it is symbolic of some other state in which we may find ourselves during life or temporarily after death but it is not eternal nor is it a final judgment of torture. That is just wrong thinking and as much as people do not want to hear it or accept the truth of it, hell is real, just as heaven is real.

A choice of good and bad since the beginning

You cannot have one without the other. There was the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the Garden of Eden and that means that there has been the choice of good and bad since the beginning. Yes, all that we do in life is a choice and it all leads to the ultimate day of reckoning for everyone. There will be a time in which all will matter and will determine where you spend eternity. Are you going to be forever in heaven or in hell? Are your choices selfish ones, are your choices made with God and His will in mind and do you believe in the truth of the righteousness and truth of God, in the sacrifice of Jesus and in the available to you, through faith? These are things that you need to be aware of as you go through the day to day activities of your life, as you grow up, get a job, get married, have and raise children and do your best to be a person that can look yourself in the mirror in the morning and feel good about. Could you sit down with God and have a conversation knowing that He knows every single thought and feeling you have ever had and knows every single thing you have ever done alone and with every single person you have ever come into contact with? Could you honestly sit down with God and trust that you have done all that you could to obey Him and not sit there justifying your life?

Don’t waste what time you have been given with denials that are only good to serve your own disobedience. God will not give up on you and you should not give up on you but you must know that you are only given a very limited amount of time here on earth.  You should live that life with purpose knowing that your priorities will indeed have you sitting down with God one day so that you don’t have to live with regret while suffering the torments of the damned for all eternity.

“For everyone will be seasoned with fire, and every sacrifice will be seasoned with salt. Salt is good, but if the salt loses its flavor, how will you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace with one another.” Mark 9:49-50 (NKJV).

LOVE THAT CROSS, PASTOR JOHN

Read more about JOHN COLLINS MINISTRIES or reach me, Pastor John, personally through JOHN COLLINS MINISTRIES at www.johncollinsministries.com. 

PASTOR JOHN COLLINS: THE CYCLE

From Pastor John Collins:

“Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” Galatians 5:19-21 (NKJV).

Reading through the descriptions in that scripture is to describe most schools, workplaces, social gathering spot, homes and churches in today’s society. That list is commonplace for people. That list describes most of the people we know, whether we want to admit it or not and whether they admit it themselves or not. That list states that most everyone is not going to heaven.

At some point we have got to wake up to the reality of this truth and do something about it. It is not okay that people just go about their lives eating, drinking, playing and having children only to continue the cycle while the outcome of their eternity is being ignored. Just because you ignore a problem does not mean that it will change or go away. You must face problems head on and the problem of rebelling against God is a choice and believe me, ignoring God is choosing to rebel against Him.

We can do better as a nation, as a state, a city, a community, a church, a household and an individual. We can care more about our eternal souls and begin to obey God more and more each day until it is constant and we are consistently acting as Christ would have us act and we can show our children what it means to put God first so that we can meet up in heaven one day.

Life is precious and it is up to us what we do with it. Just remember that God has a pretty amazing and huge reward for those who choose to follow His Son in this life and who choose to obey His will every minute of every day in this life.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.” Galatians 5:22-26 (NKJV).

LOVE THAT CROSS, PASTOR JOHN COLLINS

PASTOR JOHN COLLINS: CHOICES

From Pastor John Collins:

“A man’s heart plans his way, But the Lord directs his steps.” Proverbs 16:9 (NKJV).

“The way of life winds upward for the wise, That he may turn away from hell below.” Proverbs 15:24 (NKJV).

There is a process to growing up, claiming adulthood and proceeding to live your life. There are choices that you make and each one of those choices determines who you are and who you will become. Those that are aware of their eternal soul and want to go to heaven learn to make those choices by determining the good will of the Lord and choosing to do His will.

You may not think that it is any big deal to tell a lie, omit the truth or to be selfish in this one small matter. You may think nothing of passing up an opportunity to be kind and compassionate just this once. You may think that work is more important than that baseball game or that home cooked meal. You may think that you can make it up to them at another time. You may think that you deserve to let loose and finally have some fun so who will it hurt if you have that fling, you deserve it. You may think that there is plenty of time in the future for you to settle down and be boring and do what the Lord expects of you but He knows your motives and intentions and all of those things will be taken into account.

Each day you will make choices that will lead you toward righteousness or toward wickedness. Each day will determine your character and where your eternal resting place will be. Each little choice that you make adds up to the totality of your life. Choose Jesus and choose to live.

“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.” 2 Corinthians 5:10 (NKJV).

LOVE THAT CROSS, PASTOR JOHN COLLINS