Not to be forgotten

My son tweeted yesterday "Preached outside today. On a day so hot perhaps I should have preached on hell." Then a friend sent me an email of an article he read in which the subject of hell was reiterated. I broke out in a cold sweat as I ... Not really but it did remind me of one of the scariest experiences I ever had.

Fresh out of college I took a position as Youth Pastor in a small church in Connecticut. I'd been there a little more than a year and when my birthday came around the kids decided to surprise me at the Friday night meeting. They ordered a pizza delivery for later in the meeting. The meeting went well and I had a great group of kids that were participating. Steve, a full of life 14 yr old, excused himself and slipped out the back door of the meeting room to sit on the steps in the vestibule to wait for the pizza man. I was coming to the end of the meeting when Steve let out a blood curdling scream. I ran to him and bursting through the back door found him alone on the steps, limp as a noodle, alternately screaming and sobbing. After looking him over to make sure he wasn't injured I began to focus on his sobs. It became clear in short order that Steve was caught up is some sort of dream or vision.

Now, I come from a religious perspective that if the Bible says God gave people dreams and visions THEN then I believe He can and does still do it. I was convinced that Steve was having a vision but it was being played out in 3D right in front of us. He was portraying being cast into hell. He yelled "don't throw me in the fire" and then would scream. I used the term "blood curdling" but that isn't accurate enough. He would sob, scream, cry out as if the act were occurring over and over. When it became obvious that he was "winding down" I picked him up and carried him back into the room with the rest of the group who I had left in the capable hands of another adult coworker who had at the outset called the group to prayer. The "theme" of the vision was obvious to anyone within earshot. The kids all realized that Steve had seen Hell and quickly determined that they wanted nothing to do with it. Steve's brother Kent stood up and gave the most impassioned "altar call" I ever heard which led to many decisions and commitments. In the end, Steve came out of his trance and did NOT remember a thing about the event. Almost 40 years later I consider it the foundation of the old saying; "There's a Heaven to gain and a Hell to shun."

I believe in a wonderful after-life called Heaven made available to me for believing that Jesus is the Son of God who died for my sins. AND I believe there is an equally awful after-life called Hell for those who reject that great gift of salvation. As someone who has had the unique opportunity to "visit" Hell, take it from me, YOU DON'T WANT TO GO!!