5 minutes in heaven and 5 seconds in hell

Earlier this week, a major study was released that shows that while 92% of Americans believe in God (whoever he, she or it may be), 70% of those people also believe that many religions can lead to eternal life, including 57% of evangelical Christians.

?????   Don’t these people know what their churches teach?  Did they miss John 3:16?  Did they forget “I am the Way and the Truth and the Life: No one comes to the Father except through me”?  Is it easier to believe that God is a slightly dopey Santa Claus rather than believe him the Creator of the universe, Savior of mankind and Lord of … everything?  Are we too worried about hurting someone else’s feelings to worry about them spending eternity in hell?  Have we become so focused on tolerance as a virtue that people don’t see distinctions between religions as important anymore?

JJ said something interesting regarding this topic.  He said, “If everyone had the chance to spend 5 minutes in heaven and 5 seconds in hell, we’d see a big turn-around in that statistic.”  When I ponder the fact that many of the people around me, including many people that I know and care about, are likely headed for hell, it literally puts the Fear of God into me, and makes me much more willing to talk about Jesus to the people in my life.  Does it really matter what they might think of me?  Not a bit.  Today is not forever, but eternity never ends.

The devil is alive and well in our world today.  Come quickly, Lord Jesus!