August 28, 2008:New Orleans and the Hand of God	Just a few more weary days and then... I'll fly away... And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.
	August 10, 2008:NCHS Class of 1978 Revisited
	March 20, 2008:Traditions
	December 29, 2007:New Year's 2008

Is God a God of Vengeance? William H. Haller

I read an interview in the Reader's Digest with Christopher Reeve, an actor, now deceased, who had been badly injured some years ago. In it he makes a couple of interesting comments that were worth commenting on.

"I think we all have a little voice inside us that will guide us. It may be God, I don't know. But I think that if we shut out all the noise and clutter from our lives and listen to that voice, it will tell us the right thing to do."

Well. He is certainly correct that we all have a conscience - the witness of the Holy Spirit that tries to lead us to repent of our sins and take Jesus Christ as our Saviour and do right. And he is also right that that voice can be drowned out easily by the clutter from our lives. But more frequently, it is simply shouted down by the competing voices in our brain fed from the seed of sin from Adam that tells us to do wrong. It is dangerous to listen to just any little voice. We can grieve the Holy Spirit by continually shutting Him out of our decision making process. He is a gentleman. He usually doesn't shout very loud. We are given a free choice to make right or wrong decisions. Other voices aren't gentlemen and frequently can shout more persistently. Make sure that you have a basic knowledge of right and wrong from the Bible before following just any voice you hear. The Holy Spirit won't be telling you to do things that violate the principles of the Bible. You won't get in eternal trouble following that voice. But following any voice is dangerous.

The Unitarian believes that God is good and believes that man is good. Inherently. The Unitarian God is not a God of vengeance. And that is something I can appreciate.

Sorry. But this is a case of listening to the wrong little voice. And if it is a prevalent voice in those who attend the Unitarian Church, then I'd cross that denomination off my list if I was looking for a new church home. Read the Bible folks! Do a word search for wicked in the Authorized Bible. Read the Old Testament! Read how Jesus drove the moneychangers out of the Temple! Read Revelation!

Yes, without question God loves all of His creation and the evil that man causes and allows to take control of the world breaks His heart. Yes, Jesus (God incarnate) came to Earth to die on the cross for our sins. No greater love has any man for others than to lay down his life for them. This is also true of God. He paid the ultimate sacrifice to save each and every one of us. It is His desire that none should go to hell to live eternally in a place originally prepared for the punishment of rebellious angels. He wants all to be saved and go to live in heaven with Him.

But it is exactly because He paid that ultimate price for us that He will judge the world with vengeance. Those who are ready and remain His at the time of His return will be taken out of the path of His wrath. But once His followers are taken out of harm's way, vengeance and wrath of a like only glimpsed in Sodom and Gomorrah's day, in Noah's day, and when the original pre-Adamite creation was obliterated will once again be visited upon the Earth. Why? Because they have rejected the sacrifice He made for them!

Will He still save people during the seven year tribulation? Yes. Any who call on His name and have not taken the mark of the beast can still be saved. But it will be so, so much harder then. Whatever lukewarm institutional church that is left will be warped by Satan into something that will serve to worship Satan. The Jewish faith took a tremendous hit when Christ was crucified. Don't expect anything less for the Christian faith after the rapture of the church.

The only hope is likely to be those few who were almost ready before the rapture and who can band together and study Bibles and books to see what is coming up. Satan will be against them as never before. So don't put off making your decision for another day. Read the Gospel message and be ready for His return.