Control

Sunday,  December 9, 2012

Luke 1: 68-79
“Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel,
    because he has come to his people and redeemed them.
He has raised up a horn of salvation for us
    in the house of his servant David
(as he has said through his holy prophets of long ago),
salvation from our enemies
    and from the hand of all those who hate us--
to show mercy to our ancestors
    and to remember his holy covenant,
    the oath he swore to our father Abraham:
to rescue us from the hand of our enemies,
    and to enable us to serve him without fear
    in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.

And you my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High;
  for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him,
to give his people the knowledge of salvation
  through the forgiveness of sins,
because of the tender mercy of our God,
  by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven
to shine on those living in darkness
  and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the path of peace.”

Luke  3: 1-6
In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar-- when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and Traconitis and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene-- during the high-priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zachariah in the wilderness.  He went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.  As it is written in the book of Isaiah the prophet:
              “A voice of one calling in the wilderness,
              Prepare the way of the Lord,
                make straight paths for him.
              Every valley shall be filled in,
                every mountain and hill made low.
              The crooked roads shall become straight,
                The rough ways smooth,
              And all people will see God’s salvation.”

The Scriptures this week are an interesting mix of prophesy and facts.   St. Luke was a doctor who made a diagnosis based on observable facts that his patients present to him.  He was not a spiritual theorist and philosopher who found a new way of explaining the divine, he was a reporter of the facts.  Luke probably wrote this book about 30 years after the resurrection of Jesus, which meant he was able to draw from first hand testimony if he, himself, was not a witness.  A sidekick of the Apostle Paul, these friends spread the word of the importance of Jesus to all peoples beyond the local Jewish experience.

The facts of the good news happened in the historical setting documented by Luke in Chapter 3.  At this moment in time, through the life, death and resurrection of the man Jesus, God took further action to prove to all of us his heart of concern.  Zachariah’s song of praise recounts the past actions of God on behalf of the Jewish people but also anticipates the coming new divine happening.  Holding his promised new born son, he rejoices with the inspired knowledge that this man, soon to be called John the Baptist, would introduce God’s new action plan in the person of Jesus.

Christian theologians through the centuries have muddied the waters of this divine action plan.  Some would say that the Jesus happening is the ground of our salvation but it is up to the individual to do the right things or say the right words or hang with the right crowd to gain the concern of God.  They reason, if you choose not to be in the right then God is not responsible for your eternal damnation.  Could not this limited atonement yet majority opinion among Christian theologians make the God of the universe out to be a mere family pet?  This understanding of divine grace is nieve and simplistic, as well as just plain bad reading of the Word.  There is no all powerful God if salvation is only for the few for any reason.

All of humanity has been gifted with relief from the empty nothingness that so clouds and distorts our human existence. In sharp contrast is a loving God who is for us. As Jesus moaned from the cross with his dying breath, “it is done”.  A done salvation blesses everyone who has ever lived and possibly even their pets.  Those who died and never heard or believed in a loving God have been blessed.  The atheist, the hypocrite, the homeless, the criminal, the respected, the thief, the politician, the royalty, the workaholic, the killers in the name of God, the responsible, the diseased, the vile, the perverts and those who have disrespected others are blessed.  Those of us who have turned our backs to God, as we all have done, have assuredly been blessed from above.

We just may not know it yet!

G.Goslaw
Landers, CA

Looking Up

Sunday,  December 2, 2012

1 Thessalonians  3: 9-13
How can we thank God enough for you in return for all the joy we have in the presence of our God because of you?  Night and day we pray most earnestly that we may see you again and supply what is lacking in your faith.
Now may our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus clear the way for us to come to you.  May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you.  May he strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his holy ones.

Luke  21: 25-36  (Jesus is teaching)
“There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars.  On the earth nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea.  People will faint with terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken.  At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.  When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”
He told them this parable: “Look at the fig tree and all the trees.  When they sprout leaves, you can see for yourselves and know that summer is near.  Even so when you see these things happening, you know that the kingdom of God is near.
Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened.  Heaven and earth will pass away but my words will never pass away.
Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with dissipation, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you suddenly like a trap. For it will come on all those who live on the face of the earth.  Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man.”

Some of us who explore the Bible for answers get off on Biblical prophecy.  It is easy to get caught up in a “Star Trek” like understanding of predicted future events.  Jesus himself instructs his disciples to look up to the sun, moon and stars in order to read the divine plan and times.  Every human culture has recorded these end time stories which predict an impending catastrophe that would mark the end of history.  In a few short days, the calendar for the Mayan culture will end, will we wake to another reality on December 23, if we wake at all?

In the words of St. Paul and Jesus, the end of human history as we know it, is all about the second coming of the risen Christ to this earth.  Paul says that the Lord Jesus will return with all his holy ones.  Jesus links disturbing earthly signs with the return of the Son of Man coming in a cloud.  The Son of Man is a self descriptive term for his second ministry to earth, not in his Christmas appearance, but in his second, yet to happen, appearance as the risen Christ.  The change foretold is the coming kingdom of God to earth when this Son of Man will bring full redemption and judgment upon the earth.

The time and place of this second coming will always be open to conjecture for every generation has experienced terrible times that may be likened to the prophesy of Jesus.  The word used by Jesus for generation means both the generation that heard his words and every succeeding generation throughout history.  The prophesy was fulfilled in A.D. 70 when Jerusalem was destroyed but is yet to be fulfilled as humanity awaits surrounded by recurring ominous circumstances.  Look around you in our time, would not the words of Jesus apply to our circumstances?  Are there not wars, anguish, perplexity and fear of terrorists?  Does our world not appear to be turned upside down?  Could the Son of Man return in 2012?

The answer is that God may schedule earth for the terminal event at any moment into the future, possibly in the next hour.  These biblical speakers, however, are equally concerned with the faith circumstances of believers as they wait for God’s timing.  The Thessalonians had been gifted with a slight taste of the other side and were awaiting the full Monty of God’s grace and loving acceptance.  Paul, despite multiple negative circumstances in his life, was encouraging the Thessalonians because of their shared joy of this present salvation and the salvation to come for which their wait anticipates.

St. Luke shares a warning about a negative wait for eternity.  Speaking to believers he warns, “Be careful” as you live life, not to become weighed down or  robbed of the only real joy in life by dissipation, drunkenness and the anxieties of life.  Dissipation is a fancy word for self indulgent behavior and has been translated careless ease.  Drunkenness is self medication with alcohol but today we have many other more sophisticated selfish life and joy avoidance techniques.  All of us are influenced by the anxieties of life regarding food, shelter, a career, marriage, family, social acceptance or spare time.  The list can include anything and everything when legitimate concerns turn inward and downward.

Instead, with the love and assistance of the risen Christ, let us stand up, lift up our heads and rejoice with the soon coming Kingdom of God's full redemption.

G.Goslaw
Landers, Ca

War

The Israeli nation is at war.  Rockets raining down from it’s neighbors can only mean war.  If America was besieged under the same circumstances, would we remain passively defensive?  It is time for the little strip of land, a democratic oasis surrounded by homicidal adversaries, to conquer Hamas in the Gaza.  These terrorists have no regard for the value of life, either that of the Jew or that of the people of Gaza.  What would be an appropriate response under these circumstances?

Why not try my way?  Give the people of the Gaza notice that 20% of their territory will be leveled on such and such a date, at such and such an hour.  There will be no invasion, risking the lives of Israeli troops, but  not one stone will be left upon another within that death zone.  If that fails to change the Hamas agenda, then the next round of bombings should be upon 50% of the territory, then the entire Gaza should be saturated.  At this point, it would be time for Israel to invade and make the Gaza their own once more.  

G.Goslaw
Landers, Ca

Fences

The failure of the Hispanic vote in 2012 to choose their own best economic self interest was a major factor in the Democratic victory.  This sensitive constituency, again, has proved itself gullible to the max when it swallowed the O’bama rhetoric and illegal actions about immigration policy.  As the Democrats have always done, Hispanics will continue to be played for political purposes.  In 2008 when O’bama had political control in Washington and could have accomplished immigration reform, he chose Healthcare and neglected the doable and needed reform legislation.  The obvious question was, why?  It was and is because political gamesmanship, for Democrats,  is more important than a real solution that is fair to all Americans.

Fairness begins with border enforcement.  This has been the failure of both political parties for the last thirty years.  President Reagan did immigration reform but did nothing to enforce the border, resulting in still more illegal immigration.  The Democrats have avoided fairness for political games and capital, enabling even greater illegal immigration.  The Bush’s and their moderate Republican allies want reform for political expediency but enforcement is politically incorrect.  Any possible solution from this quarter will also result in still more illegal immigration.  Anyone who calls for real enforcement is demonized by both political parties.

In the present political climate, post election, any talk of a border fence and employer sanctions for illegal hires have become foul language.  The fence have become a dirty word not to be spoken.  This may be the political reality but the reality on the border is that the fence is the only way to secure the border short of militarizing the border patrol.  Either option would be preferable to the inevitable result of an eternally porous border.  Someone, anyone, needs to have the gumption to look beyond the next election, the courage to tell the truth, what is our American future if we continue the political stalemate on immigration reform?

The continued dangling of free benefits and goodies will sooner or later make the dollar worth less than the Mexican peso, is that the economic future that we all want?  Do we want to be just like Mexico with a few elitist rich folk and the rest of us in abject poverty?  That is the America around the next corner.  Are we so arrogant to believe that couldn’t happen here?   Does the American Hispanic community want that reality for their children and their grandchildren?  We may argue with this outcome by assuming that the government will always be there to bail us out of such dire circumstances, but will it?  Could it be that the government, that means politicians, may want to control us by controlling our economic circumstances?

That conclusion may sound unduly harsh but judging from past performances by our politicians, it is difficult to make any other assumption.  The truth is that everything negative could happen here, as a country we are not so special that we are immune from tragedy.  It should be the hope of America that all vested interests in a fair immigration policy would someday vote in favor of fairness.  The promise of hope, a trite entity, will regrettably avoid a practical and fair outcome by remaining just a promise.

G.Goslaw
Landers, Ca

Answers

Sunday, November 25, 2012

Revelations  1 : 4b-8
John,
To the seven churches in the province of Asia.  Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits before his throne, and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the first born from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.
To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father--- to him be glory and power forever and ever!  Amen.

“Look , he is coming in the clouds”,
      and “every eye will see him,
even those who pierced him”;
     And all people on earth will mourn because of him.”
                                                                        So shall it be!  Amen.
“I am the Alpha and the Omega”, says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty”.

St. John  18 : 33-37
Pilate then went back inside the palace, summoned Jesus and asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?”
“Is that your idea,” Jesus asked, “or did others talk to you about me?”
“Am I a Jew?”  Pilate replied. “Your own people and chief priests handed you over to me.  What is it you have done?”
Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world.  If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders.  But now my kingdom is from another place.”
“You are a king , then!”  said Pilate.
Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king.  In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth.  Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.”

How does anyone communicate the unknowable?  This is the quandary of the biblical writers, they write to communicate their limited understanding of the divine as they record and respond to the events of history.  They write in the moment of the events and whatever or whomever God may or may not be, is largely hidden from them and from us, behind the veil of death.  Is God an idea, a convenient myth, is he or she a person or some kind of paranormal entity?  We are deluged with questions that only seem to lead to other questions.   What we all would like are some answers.

One may open the Bible because the biblical documents record the interaction of men and a very hesitant self revealing God through two millennia.  If anything is relevant to our quest for answers it is the Bible.  The writings are opinions, hopefully blessed opinions, that require an investigation of the writers and their motives.  We should question how one writer’s opinion compares to other biblical and extra biblical sources.  The reader that is only casually interested in answers or wishes to know little more than the obvious, need not explore the Bible for answers.  The Bible is, however, by far the best context to start asking the big questions.

As a disciple, friend and eyewitness to Jesus, John gave us the fourth gospel of St. John.  In his old age he shares his love for the church and a number of visions he received from the other side in the book of Revelations.  Considering his proximity to the events in question, one may want to ask of him, who was this Jesus, according to John?  In both of these passages for this Sunday, John answers.

The man before Pilate was subject to the same human vicissitudes of life as any other man but this man was also totally unique to this world.  He confesses to being a king but a king from another place.  He somehow controls all earthly things which appear to us as uncontrollable, both from the past, to the present and into the future, he is the Alpha and the Omega.  Through the lens of the post resurrection Jesus, we can best understand ourselves, all of history and the future of men on earth and into eternity.

The question is, do we really want the answers?

G.Goslaw
Landers, Ca

   

Normal Is?

The election hangover of 2012 is particularly severe.  All hope is gone for the preservation of the America of our generation and our parents generations, the America we have lived and loved.  Our time has passed, Barack Obama’s America is the new normal.  As of this moment, the new normal will dictate our futures.   The train has pulled into the station to turn the children loose to suffer or not to suffer the consequences of their decisions.  Like so many of us, learning about life or the economy is about having your face stuck in the mud.  Republicans, you have failed to govern for the people and you have failed to communicate the awaiting danger by effective opposition to the new normal.  It is time to let go.

G.Goslaw
Landers, CA  

The Wait

Sunday, November  18, 2012

Hebrews  10: 11-14 (15-18), 19-25
Day after day every priest stands and performs his duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins.  But when this priest (Jesus the Christ) had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, and since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool.  For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.

Mark  13: 1-8
As Jesus was leaving the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher!  What massive stones!  What magnificent buildings!”  “Do you see all these great buildings?”  replied Jesus.  “Not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”  As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John and Andrew asked him privately, “Tell us, when will these things happen?  And what will be the sign that they are all about to be fulfilled?”

Jesus said to them: “Watch out that no one deceives you.  Many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am he’ and will deceive many.  When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed.  Such things must happen, but the end is still to come.  Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.  There will be earthquakes in various places, and famines.  These are the beginnings of birth pains.                                                                                                                                                              



The pivotal wait of 2012 has finally arrived on this day, November 6th.  The consequences of this election will resound well into the future centuries of American political life.  A decision will have been made that cannot and will not be expunged by any other future election.  The disciples that followed Jesus sensed that they were living in just such a time of consequence over two thousand years ago.  They did not understand the cosmic gyrations of their happening but they knew that their lives and the lives of future generations of their countrymen would somehow be different.

The religion of Israel had become exclusive and distant from the spiritual needs of most of the everyday folk.  These people, including Peter, James, John and Andrew followed Jesus throughout the countryside.  This Jesus spoke to them of spiritual things, things about the God of the universe who was about to bring big changes on their behalf because he noticed them and cared for them. These kingdom tidings were conveyed with an intensity that captured the spiritual longings of their hearts and they, the first disciples of the new kingdom, began to ask questions.

In Mark 13 the disciples praised the great stone buildings of their religion.  Jesus countered with an alarming prophesy of the coming demise of these great buildings and the religion that placed these stones one upon the other.  We can imagine that these men were fearful of such cataclysmic language but they managed to ask of Jesus, when will this happen?  The answer of the teacher was confusing, he, Jesus is somehow the focus of the coming change?  This man has the wisdom of the ages, spiritual integrity and can do miracles, but how can he tear down these stone buildings?  Something more must be going on here.

The more is explained by the writer of Hebrews in this passage from chapter 10.  Jesus is more than a man, a prophet, a teacher or a political leader, he is the Christ, the Great High Priest, the promised Messiah, the "I am he” of all Scripture, the risen from the grave extension of God himself who has come into the world to make a forever change in the spiritual fortunes of human kind.  Following the final forever sacrifice of God himself upon the cross, on a hill outside Jerusalem, the reunified Godhead waits forever until each of us surrender to the will of God.  In this world or the next, he is the waiting Father.

G.Goslaw
Landers, Ca

The Stones

Sunday,  November 11, 2012

Hebrews  9:24-28
For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made with human hands that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God’s presence.  Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own.  Otherwise Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world.  But he has appeared once for all at the culmination of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself.  Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.

Mark  12: 38-44
As he taught, Jesus said, “Watch out for the teachers of the law.  They like to walk around in flowing robes and be greeted with respect in the marketplaces, and have the most important seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at the banquets.  They devour widows houses and for a show make lengthy prayers.  These men will be punished most severely”

In our struggle for spiritual truth there has always been a gross disconnect.  The Scriptures everywhere declare that salvation is God’s action on behalf of his creation but we humans would rather the saving be humanly controlled and authenticated.  In this passage from Hebrews, the faith of Israel had evolved into magnificent stone buildings with repeated blood ritual presided over by a priesthood that paraded it’s supposed credibility with God.  The stone buildings became a substitute for spiritual authority and authenticity.  Jesus did not speak well of these stones.    

The faith of Israel was to point to the coming Messiah and his pivotal first redemptive visit amongst us.  The religion of Israel, rather than the faith of Israel, made the horror of the cross inevitable as the religion high jacked the Messianic hope in favor of a human scheme.  One would suppose that believers in the Christ would not make the same error.  Sadly, the atonement rendered by the Christ, the full and final salvation of all mankind, again and again becomes a spiritual club for the few.

Generation after generation has piled up stones declaring salvation for the few.  To some of the few it is flowing robes, to some it is lengthy public prayers, to some it is list of rules, to some it is respect in the marketplace or at a banquet.  At times it has been magnificent cathedrals or mega churches, a few recluse spiritualist making sacrifice to gain God’s attention and blessing.  To some it has been self mutilation or the speaking of required words or a narrow form of worship.  To some it has been a supposed distinctive doctrine and to others it is speaking in tongues as a proof of the blessing of God upon the few true believers.

What would the message of a fully incarnated Christ centered revival meeting sound like?  The preacher might charge his audience, “whomever you are, no matter your sin and failures, if you are a member of the human race, the Christ has made eternal provision for you, now or on the other side of death.  Lessen the post death pain of judgment, ask for His leadership in your life and walk blessed of God into eternity.  Ask and choose now the path of the saints!”

G.Goslaw
Landers, Ca

The Stupid

Is the American voter stupidly selfish?  In three days we shall know the answer to that question as we vote for our preferred national leadership.  Two years ago California faced just such an election with the selfish interests of big government, governmental unions, those on the governmental dole and the ethnically sensitive warring with the politics of personal responsibility.  We know who won in California and it is a hope that America will not be like minded.  To do so would ensure a stagnant economy, no jobs, declining incomes and national insolvency.  How has this coalition worked out for you, California?

President Obama is banking on the stupid folk for he has accomplished nothing except pandering to these interests for the last two years.  He has gone to court, made bureaucratic decisions, changed the social order, selectively enforced the law and constantly campaigned with these interests in mind, blaming all national negatives on someone or something else.

Surely there is a majority of American voters intelligent enough to see through the sham?  We can only hope!

G.Goslaw
Landers, Ca

Polls

We are five days away from the election of 2012.  The polls are telling us that the winner will be decide by the thinnest of margins, possibly as little as one per cent in some battleground states.  The Republicans are maintaining that most of the pollsters have skewed their results in favor of the Democrats.  This may be true but something else may be at play in this election.

Voters may not be totally honest when the pollsters ask about their intentions.  The Obama administration has played the race card at the drop of a hat.  It may be preferable for some voters to hide their negativity until election day for fear of the racist label.  Disappointed Democrats, that is economically challenged and disappointed Democrats, may abandon their party in the privacy of the voting booth.  There they can be honest without the fear of a racial slur.

G.Goslaw
Landers, CA  

The Lake of Fire

Sunday, November 4, 2012

Revelations 21: 1-6a

Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth”, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea.  I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look!  God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them.  They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.  ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes.  There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!”  Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”

He said to me: “It is done.   I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End.  To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life.  Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children.  But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars-- they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur.  This is the second death.


 
Revelations is a grand vision given to the elderly Apostle John, exiled on the island of Patmos.  It is a vision of the future for believers as they stood against the threats of death from the politics of the day.  The choice was real for one must ask, is my belief and dependence upon the Christ more important than the approval of men?  Is it more important than life itself?  In John’s day the choice to stand up against the persecution by the Roman supposed divinity was practical and in your face.  This same choice remains for believers to this day, the politics may be different but the same life choice is required of all believers.  In this world, on this earth, in this order of things, there will be recurring and misdirected attempts to cleanse the hope of God from all human consciousness.  

Today it may be a cross on a hilltop or a terrorist scourge.  Generally it is the secular Godless philosophy of humanism and social order that is actively replacing the hope of God.  The Church has been winning and losing a very long string of battles but the war goes on.  All of us will die fighting or ignoring this war but the hope for John was that his people die well, believing in the Christ and heirs to the New Jerusalem.  In this new reality of the new Jerusalem God will be immediately accessible 24/7.  Believers shall experience the knowledge of God without the earthly distortions of death, regret, or constant pain to be endured.  What a tent meeting that will be!

To this point there is no dispute amongst the community of believers but some of us would like to ask Saint John, is this glorious future of a new Jerusalem only for the few?  Is there no consideration beyond death for the majority who are not victorious, the non believers, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars?   Will God assign these close relatives of ours to eternal damnation and in so doing cry uncle!  Some of us believe that it is not within the character of the God of the universes to ever give up on anyone as a promised inhabitant of the new reality. In the few scriptural references to the concept of hell, some of us believe that this term must be understood in time sensitive context.  The word hell is a temporary description of the great gulf between what God expects of men and the fact of man’s spiritual condition.

What is not time sensitive is the redemptive, saving, loving heart and motivation of the eternal true Divine Presence.  You may ask, what about the fiery lake of burning sulfur and the second death in John’s vision?  Is not such a destination final judgment?  Maybe or maybe not.  Revelations  2: 11 tells us that the Spirit of God broadcasts, “Whoever has ears, let him hear what the spirit says to the churches.  Those who are victorious will not be hurt at all by the second death.”  The obvious assumption is that all who experience death will wind up in the lake of fire, a very unpleasant place, and experience the second death.  However, the truly victorious, the spiritually ready to inhabit the new reality will not be hurt by the fire.  What does hurt mean?  Can we not think of the fire as a purifier for all instead of a final judgment for the majority?

G.Goslaw
Landers, Ca