It was hot today, and I guess because it as so hot I started to think about hell. What it is like, how hot is it really in hell, what does a person do who is in hell, just stand there forever, is there conversation with others, what would they talk about, do those in hell feel any remorse, I wonder what the first thought is of a person the moment they enter hell, maybe, “oh oh, I was wrong”, does a person get used to the agony, will those in hell have any idea what heaven is like, and on my mind wandered through the questions and mysteries of hell. There are many descriptions and comments about hell in the Bible. One of the more interesting is in the Gospel of Luke as Jesus describes this place of torment.

Luke 16:23-24. In Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried out and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus so that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue, for I am in agony in this flame.

The Bible clearly teaches that every person who dies enters either heaven or hell. Very few people are anxious about that fact, in fact most have denied the reality and existence of hell either consciously or subconsciously. It is funny that people think they can decide what is true and real, simply on the basis of “that is what I believe”.

God created the beauty and glory and joy of heaven, and He created the agony of hell. He also is the one who makes the rules, and He is the one who decides as we stand before Almighty God at the end of our life. There won’t be any arguing or defense by those who are condemned to the fire.

If I didn’t already, I would want to know for sure, without any doubts, where I was headed and how I could be transferred to heaven if I discovered I was headed for hell. There is simple naive, and then there is stupid naive. Forever is a really, long time.

The mind-set all around us is relentlessly focused on the here and now. Are we happy right now? Are we comfortable right now? Are things going our way right this minute? If not, let’s quit what we’re doing and find something that feels better. This mind set is in my observation, the number one reason for bad choices that don’t result in the happiness so desperately sought, but just the opposite, it results in failure, irresponsible behavior, growing unhappiness, depression, and misery. The character trait of endurance is the ability to remain faithful, responsible, and positive in spite of bad times, knowing that things will change for us as God guides and blesses, because of our endurance.

When I was in the 6th grade, I had a life defining and value shaping experience. It was in health class, taught by the same man who taught PE, and he also was the track coach, I don’t remember his name. He had a Snickers candy bar, my favorite, and a $10 bill in his hand. He said, “I can give you the Snickers now or the $10 bill in one month”, “which one will you choose”? Back when I was in the 6th grade I could buy a Snickers for 5 cents, so the choice was one Snickers now or 20 in one month. He then went on to say, “A little kid will take the Snickers every time because they can’t “see” a month away”. He went on to say, “At some point in their growing up they will be able to see that far, and then they will make the wise choice, that is called ‘Maturity’, but the sad thing is many never grow up and become mature, and they keep living for the now instead of the future, and keep making low value and unwise choices in life”. As my PE teacher taught this lesson to a room of a dozen 12 year old boys I clearly remember thinking to myself and making a personal resolve, that I wouldn’t think, act, and choose like a kid, I would “delay gratification” for the wise choice, the choice with true and lasting value. I made that resolve the best a young boy can, but I have remade that same commitment over and over again in my 58 years of living since that time. That lesson pops into my head regularly as I choose whether I am going to read my Bible now or tomorrow, give money to God or spend it on myself, and this principle is very powerful in maintaining moral purity, so many choices seem nice now, but they have a huge price tag in the future. The problem is many can’t “see” that far.

I talk and teach a lot about the “Judgment Seat of Christ”, that event that occurs at the end of our life when we enter heaven and stand before Jesus and are rewarded for the works we have done in this life. These rewards are significant and eternal, their value is 100 fold greater than any reward on earth. As I teach this truth to a room of people, I often think, there are many hearing this who can’t “see” that far, it doesn’t compute, they will continue to make choices based on the “now” instead of the “then”. Thank You, Lord, for a PE teacher that You used in my life, so that I can now “see”.

We all took tests in school. We take driving tests, medical tests, tests at work, and on the last list goes. Sometimes we do well on the tests, and sometimes we flunk them. In Revelation 2:10 it says that the devil tests us, “Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to cast some of you into prison, so that you will be tested, and you will have tribulation for ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.” It is really God who is doing the testing, but He is using the devil to do it. The testing involves suffering, and to pass the test is to be unafraid and faithful to the end. The word faithful in this context would have some synonyms such as “strong”; be strong until the end, also “endurance”, endure to the end. Why? What motivation is there to be faithful, be strong, and endure to the end? The “Crown of life”, God says that if we are faithful until the end He will give us the “crown of life”, that sounds like a time of great honor and glory to be received right from Almighty God.

While fishing for Sockeye salmon in Soldotna, Alaska last night I snagged up on a rock and broke off all my fishing tackle, so I had to rerig. This is a regular occurrence when fishing in a river using lead in order to fish the bottom of the river where the fish are.  When I had finished rerigging I noticed I had forgotten to put the fishing line through the little hole in my level wind reel, so I cut it off and rerigged again. This time I noticed I had not put the line through several of the Ferrell’s on my rod, so I cut it off and rerigged once more. Those kinds of mistakes happen in life, where we say or do something in the business of life that is dumb, bad, hurtful, and sometimes costly. We didn’t premeditate the act, word, or decision, it just sort of happened. It would be so nice to eliminate those blunders of life from our life, and one of my strategies for doing so is to memorize and meditate on and pray the words of Psalms 19:12-14, “Who can discern his errors? Acquit me of hidden faults. Also keep back Your servant from presumptuous sins; Let them not rule over me; Then I will be blameless, And I shall be acquitted of great transgression.Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my rock and my Redeemer.”

I am sorry about no blogs of late. I have been fishing most of my waking hours. We fished all night last night from 7:00 pm to 11:00 pm and then from midnight until 8:00 am this morning. The fish have finally come in and I wanted to take advantage of the opportunity. I will fish tonight from 7:00 pm until the morning at 7:00 am, and should catch 2 limits, one before midnight and one after. Saturday I am going out in the ocean with my boat Halibut fishing. I am getting in an hour each day for Bible reading, scripture memory, and prayer, but not much more. We are planning on attending a local church on Sunday.

The main run of sockeye salmon haven’t come in yet, but have still managed to catch some fish. I am looking forward to the next couple of days when the fishing gets better and better.

It took us 63 hours to drive straight through to Soldotna, 2,846 miles, from our house in Jefferson. The car ran great, no flats on the boat trailer, the trailer pulled great, and the passengers got along great. We got pretty tired sleeping in the car, but kept rotating drivers and managed. The biggest problem was the last 200 miles was very bad road because of thermal frost heaving, which made it very hard to sleep when you bounced out out of your seat every few minutes. But we are now at “Tim’s Place” now waiting for the fish to come in. I am working on the boat getting it ready to take out in the ocean. I am hoping to take it out tomorrow and catch a bunch of halibut. We drove to Ninilchik where they back your boat in the surf with a big skidder and checked it out. It looks like it will be an adventure for sure. We went into local “Sportsman’s” store in Soldotna to buy gear to fish Halibut with. I decided to ask one of the salespeople how to fish for Halibut in Cook Inlet. I walked in and started looking at the gear for Halibut fishing and a young man walked up behind me and asked me if I was going Halibut fishing. I responded “yes”, and I am from Oregon and don’t have a clue what I am doing. He said, ” wow, I am moving to Oregon to go to Western Oregon University, and I have been a Halibut guide for the last 4 years. He proceeded to show me exactly what I needed to buy and what to do. He said he really wanted to go bass fishing when he got to Oregon so I told him I would take him when he got to Oregon and to come to Jefferson to Jefferson Baptist Church and ask for me. He then told me what church he went to and that he was a Christian. It was a great divine appointment.

We have been driving about 5 1/2 hours, and it is just about midnight. Only 45 more hours to go or thereabouts. So far everything is going good, car running good, boat towing good, and passengers being good. I drove the first 3 hours and have been sleeping very sound for the last 2 hours and intend to go back to sleep as soon as I finish this blog. The most beautiful drive in the world is the Alaskan Highway, and we will get into some of the really pretty scenery about the time it gets light. I intend to memorize a bunch of Bible verses and watch you tube video’s on how to catch halibut in Alaska with the time I will have while riding. Well, I am going back to sleep!