------------News-----------

Recently, Hal Lindsay aired a show debunking the top 10 reasons why people refuse to come to Christ. I will list one reason each issue and expound on them.

Have you ever heard, "I am not a Christian because seeing is believing and I've never seen God, so how do I know He exists?"

Jesus had appeared to all of his disciples but Thomas. When they informed Thomas of the really good news, Thomas refused to believe his fellow disciples. He told them he would not believe unless he could touch the wound that Jesus bore on the cross. Jesus appeared to the disciples one week later (they were inside a locked room) and Thomas did indeed touch the wounds of Christ.

Jesus told Thomas that he believed because he had seen and went on to say blessed are those that believe but have not seen.

Why would someone have to see God before they believed in him? I believe in electricity but I've never seen it unless you want to count lightning. Can you see electricity flowing through a wire? The only way I would know that a wire was live or not would be to touch it with something. Touch a live wire with your finger and you will know immediately whether it's live or not.

Have you ever seen the wind? Duh...I saw a tornado once, isn't that wind? You are not seeing the wind when you are viewing a tornado, you are seeing the dust and debris that was picked by the rotating winds. You can't see wind, but you can feel wind. You can see the results of a wind storm.

Can you see your mind? I've never seen anyone's mind, but I know that they have one (there may be a few exceptions here).

Why can't we see God? The answer is that God is spirit and we are not. He does not exist on the same level of reality that we do. Can you feel God? There are certain periods in everyone's life in which God's presence can be felt. Can you see the results of God? Only a blind, deaf, and dumb person couldn't.

------------Emails From The Dead---------

Can the dead really make contact with the living via the Internet?

I got this email the other day in answer to the question: Have you had an UFO encounter? The answer: I was high under a bridge and I saw this light and it was very quiet. and It just sat there looking at me and then I noticed that it was on a silver stick and there were about ten of them for each side of the bridge and they were sitting on top of silver sticks too, and then I saw two mother ships, they flashed pretty colored lights like they were communicating with these other ships and it was scary.

I guess getting email from those who are brain dead isn't the same as getting an email from Alfred Hitchcock.

Brad Steiger, who is an author who has written more than 150 books on the paranormal, believes that sometimes the dead have unfinished business on earth and so they make phone calls and send emails in an effort to complete their business.

What if I want to send an email back? Do these emails have no email address of the sender on them? I guess you could write to JohnDoe@hell.net or JaneDoe@heaven.org. More than likely, if you are in heaven or hell then you are not sending any email. So if the spirits are sending high tech messages, they must be in limbo or purgatory (which is not a sound biblical concept).

There is a little problem with that. There is no such thing as purgatory because it is an invention of the Catholic Church introduced in the year 1439. Since purgatory did not exist before then, where did the souls of the dead go? Did they wander the earth moaning and groaning that they had no place to dwell and end up in heartbreak hotel?

What does the Bible say? Heb. 9:27 states: And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment,

Judgment occurs for those who die. They are either condemned or comforted after death. He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him." The wrath of God is hell, plain and simple. If you don't believe in the Son of God (we call him Jesus Christ) at the time of your death, then hell is your destination. The definition of hell is separation from God.

If you have placed your trust in the finished work of the cross (the Son), then the wrath of God is removed and when you die, your spirit goes to heaven. There is no in between place like many believe today.

I have never received or gotten an email or a phone call from someone who has stepped out of this reality into eternity. What's more, I never will. There is a spirit world. It's full of angels and demons. If someone is getting messages from beyond the grave, then they (especially the demons) are the most likely source since the primary tool of the evil spirit world is deception.

Have a question or comment? Then send an email to: God@reality.univ

Copyright 2005 by Gary Goodworth