Whatever Road One Follows Will Lead to God … Eventually!

Remember: it is never about from where we have come but where we are going.

You have the co-exist crowd, Oprah Winfrey, Joel Osteen and the like preaching and teaching that everyone can serve God and get to Him (or Her or It) in their own fashion. While this is partially true; the path, the timing and the arrival place will be greatly disappointing to the masses.

The Path: if it is not directly into the presence of God upon one’s death, there is a terrible detour via hell. Now, one does not need to believe in hell should they so choose. One could also choose not to believe in gravity, but I guarantee that you will not find many that would put gravity to the test (i.e. – stepping off the top of a tall building) to see if it was real. Funny thing; the only way to test to see if hell is real, is to die; something most people avoid with every fiber of their being. Sadly, this is what the majority of mankind is doing; waiting until they die to see if it really exists.

The Timing: the side-effect of this path is that it lasts a long time and you have nowhere to go. If one died today, it would be a few years before the beginning of the millennium which adds another one thousand years to the temporary sentence. Many religious types are already there (i.e. – “…many shall say Lord, Lord…”) and they will spend every moment hoping beyond hope, that they will be able to talk their way out of judgment. You see, no one has been judged as yet; they are in sort of a purgatory without hope. All they can do is wait, knowing that it is only going to get worse.

The Arrival Place: the Great White Throne. The crowds from hell will find themselves on the wrong side of the bar. This is not a happy place, for the vast majority of mankind is facing God and He is not wearing His happy face. The weeping and wailing will be deafening as the books are opened and each one’s personal judgment is decreed. There will be no cheering from the heavenly crowd for this is a solemn event…but everyone judged will bend their knee and give glory to the King of Kings.

Once I was blind but now I see has been the basis of my testimony for over 50 years. My problem was that I was trying so many different things to make me happy when the Truth had been staring me in the face for years. The church I attended as a kid I coined the term "amalgamatedmethalbapterian"; a church that believes nothing and preaches nothing. I remember discussing in the youth group what it meant to be a Christian. Answers like: believe there is a God, born in America, not Jewish or one of those Asian religions. We, as a group, never came to the Truth and went back to discussing the morality of the latest movie or TV show. Weirdly though, it seemed like every girl I found attractive turned out to be prudish Christians, with families that were really nice. As I look back now, I wonder why any of them allowed me to date their daughters, being that I was ignorant towards everything Christian. This continued into college, where I also ran into Campus Crusade for Christ; I could never shake those guys. I dropped out of school after the first year and joined the Marines in 1967; a very tumultuous time in America's history.

Long story, short: by September 1968, while recovering from injuries and a lost love; a deep, dark depression consumed me. I took leave to go home and see if there was something in life to make it worth living. I had enough prescription drugs in my possession to make my pain go away permanently. On the 19th, with hope running out, strangely I went to visit the father of my lost love. That night I found myself on my knees asking for mercy and forgiveness. The burdens of my soul disappeared in the twinkling of an eye; joy and peace filled every part of my being. I had found the Path and by my Lord's grace and keeping, I am on the Way.

While the lost stumble around, trying to find the meaning of life or attempting to stay alive for one more day, I long to be with my Savior and Lord. I cannot comprehend how quickly these fifty years have passed, but I feel like a kid waiting for Christmas to come as I wait for Christ's return or my home going. Though the years have flown by, they carry with them the scars of battles fought and the joys of victories won.

A child of mine asked me one day: wouldn't I like to be twenty again? My answer was quick, Lord have mercy..NO! The years have been filled with trials and tribulations, such as the deaths of an infant daughter, my parents and all of my siblings, along with dear friends. I have learned some very hard lessons along the way: being betrayed by someone I unwisely trusted, the unfaithfulness of supposed brothers and sisters in Christ and too many situations of my own making. There is no way I want to go through all of that ever again. I know that other trials await me, such as those that accompany aging. I once believed that the older I got, the easier it would be to live a righteous life...wrong. God is still working on this old wretched sinner: He seems to be able to expose areas of my life that need improvement that I either didn't know existed or I hoped He didn't notice. If this is the worst I have to suffer this side of heaven; I am blessed beyond measure.

As the Word states, hell is never satisfied and neither are those who abide or should I say are imprisoned there. Satisfaction and hope no longer exist and are only a distant memory to those awaiting their judgment. God in His grace has erased my memory of the pain of those days when I wandered without hope. I have suffered some very dark days but I have never been without Hope since the day He saved me.

As First John 3:2 states, "...it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him...". This is comfort to my soul, for how could I be able to stand and watch judgment pronounced on those I once knew and loved in my present condition. Every person will be resurrected, some to everlasting life and many to eternal damnation. As I cannot imagine what heaven will be like, neither can those souls who are destined for the Lake of Fire comprehend what awaits them, including those currently in hell.

God has set me on my current path, my time is eternally in His hands and He has prepared a place for me. My prayer is that the reader knows this to be true in their life as well. May God bless.