Why we need a hell

The last few weeks have been hectic. The "Boston or bust" campaign is energy sapping, leaving little left for blogging.

I've had thoughts on why Lance Armstong shouldn't return to competitive cycling, "Don't do it Lance! The magic of seven in a row will be soured by the words 'Lance has cracked!' coming from Phil Liggetts lips."

I have also been amazed at the irony of the Hadron accelerator, especially when the scientists attempting to reduce God to a particle "pray" that their very expensive experiment works.

Today I was burning some information sensitive documents when the fire grew especially fierce. My face reddened and I felt dehydrated as I stoked away. I thought about hell. I imagined standing next to a lake of fire waiting to be thrown into it's relentless fury. I was deeply thankful that salvation expressly promises that hell won't happen to a true believer.

Then I was reminded of how little we talk about hell. Hell has become clumsy talk, the scare tactic of outdated evangelists. Emergent leaders are steering us away from the strict heaven/hell, saved/unsaved catagorisation of all humanity. Admittedly, the latter is a drastic reduction of the meaning of life and the purpose of God. Even a fireman believes that there is more to life than getting people saved.

However, we are cultivating a contemporary faith that skillfully avoids the "H" word as condemnatory and manipulative and these days, preachers prefer motivational talks.

As I gazed at the burning bank statements, I recalled a recent broadcast of an investigative TV journal on child porn. There are many reasons why people do evil: indoctrination, poverty, fear, intoxication.... and I try to see through the act to see the redemptive potential of an evildoer. But anybody who abuses kids and seeks to earn renown by broadcasting the abuse online....makes hell seem like a heluva good idea.

My bewilderment of spirit at the depravity of such people finally finds a counterbalance in the thought of them being tossed into the consuming, devouring fires of hell.

I know that the bible teaches that the list of the damned at the final judgement will offer some surprises. Hell isn't just for the repulsively sinful. But child molestors convince me that a hell should and does exist.

Pursuing a Post-modern paradigm

The O'Brien family has been on a protracted search for ministry destiny since October last year. On September 24 we will board a flight to Boston, MA. to take what we trust is a huge step forward towards our destiny. I will be probationally joining an ex-South African pastor's team in the Southern Suburbs of Boston. As a family we hold onto a sense of God's promise as we step into many unknown factors in the months ahead.

The move to the East coast of America is in keeping with a prophetic sense I felt in 1997 and a passion to become a voice for God in a post-modern context similar to that of Europe. However it is exciting to consider the times we live in. Global influence is the order of the day so we needn't leave Africa behind.

During the last few years at Urban edge I became convinced that God wanted a church in Durbanville that was like the biblical picture of "A City on a Hill". A place that was much more than a venue where services were conducted. A few of us dreamed of a community hub where biblical holistic healing and development took place. At my departure from Urban edge I was confused as to why I had not remained to see the vision begin to take shape....

Check out this content from Wikipedia:

"The city of Boston, Massachusetts, USA, has many nicknames due to historical context. They include:
The City on a Hill came from original Massachusetts Bay Colony's governor John Winthrop's goal to create the biblical "City on a Hill."

Sometimes we hear from God. but what we hear only makes sense later in time. I look forward to moving forward through time and making sense of God's destiny for our lives.

Blue like lint

I have been given an ample portion of body hair. I think it is from my maternal grandfather's Welsh side. So when I opened that "Have you ever wondered.." email that asked "Have you ever wondered why navel lint is always blue?" it was a lucid moment of realisation for me. You see, my "chest wig" is the ideal harvester of loose fluff. So I have regular specimens of navel lint to subject to scrutiny, and yes, navel lint IS always blue! It's one of those common human experiences that we share but find difficult to explain.


I was given a copy of "Blue like Jazz", by Donald Miller, as a birthday present. I am a few chapters from the end. (Finishing a book is a huge personal victory for me, but believe me, this one was easier to get through than most others I've tried). Donald Miller describes his book as "non-religious thoughts on Christian spirituality". I loved it. I connected with the author in almost every chapter.


The book makes you feel OK with the fact that you don't have it all together as a "Christian". He writes about the embarassing and underwhelming stuff that is common to everybody who is honest enough to admit it. Like blue navel lint.


He liberates the "Christian" from having to know all the answers in life. I admit, I don't know why navel lint is blue.


Are guys like Donald part of a new generation of believers that are so uncertain, so watered down, that they will become the weak link in the Christian legacy? I prefer to think of them as Western Christianity's only hope. Salvaging respectability for believers from the wreckage left behind by a preachy, smug, insensitive generation of delusionally "grand" church leaders.