Intolerance, stress and hell - nice and light!

Well it was over a year ago that I last wrote...well ok a few days! I had a mixed Christmas, always feel a bit greedy and self-indulgent over Christmas.
I did hear a couple of funny comments over the festive period though. Two people I know said different comments although amounting to the same thing -
"Life is all about avoiding stress" said one friend...
"I like Christianity that makes me feel good, I don't like all this talk of hell.." (paraphrased from another friend)
So why do I find these interesting, I think because they both sum up the culture we live in in many ways. The first comment says the best life is the most comfortable stress free life, don't bother me, let me do exactly what I want to do, me me me.
The second comment in many ways is the same, I don't want to feel stress, I don't want to think about things that are uncomfortable, make me feel good, I want to be comfortable. Our society says that you cannot say somebody else is wrong, we will tolerate anything but that. The question has to be asked how is that tolerant, the old way of doing things was to say you can say anything you like and I will defend your right to say it although I may bitterly disagree with it. Now we say you can't say something that disagrees with other people, that is not PC - this is bizarre. In order to tolerate something you need to let it happen, you can't tolerate something that hasn't happened. This is the intolerance of todays tolerance! Rant over.
I would like to address the hell issue however, it is one that makes many uncomfortable. How can a loving God send people to hell, if God is love how can he hate people by sending them to hell, isn't hell just a bit harsh? There are a few questions there but I would like to try and answer them, with the awareness that this blog and little George (ok not so little) cannot adequately answer them, but here goes...
How can a loving God send people to hell - unfortunately we are all moral criminals, by that I mean we have broken God's law. We have all lied, taken God's name in vain, taken something that doesn't belong to us. God even says our thought life will be judged!! Imagine putting all your thoughts on public display for 24 hours eeek! Now I want you to imagine for a moment that someone you love is shot and murdered (heaven forbid) and they catch the criminal bring him to court and the judge says "because I am a loving guy, I am going to let you off you are free to go" you would be fuming, the reason is for the sake of justice that man must be punished. Now I want you to imagine that you are in the courtroom at the end of your life, God is bound by the same justice he cannot sweep your breaking of the moral law under the carpet, he must punish sin to remain just. Your good deeds do not make up for your crimes either, in the same way they don't in our courts. So there is a hell because God must be just, imagine also if God let liars, thieves and so on into heaven, it wouldn't be heaven it wouldn't be perfect. Now God has done the most amazing thing, he sent his son to die in your place, you're in that court of law and Jesus has paid your fine, God can legally dismiss your case! You must turn away from your sin (breaking the law) and make Jesus number 1 and he forgives you. Awesome, anyway getting sidetracked.
If God is love how can he hate people and send them to hell - hopefully the above has helped answer this question. However another illustration that helps show other situations where our love means we hate. You may love children and therefore hate abortion, you may love people and therefore hate murder. It is exactly because of his love why he must punish sin. In punishing sin it also shows God's worth, he is protecting his value. If he says it doesn't really matter if you ignore me or use my name as a cuss word or abuse people, he is then saying that he is not of value, he is not worth anything. Another illustration - let's imagine a stood on an ant and killed it, would I go to prison or be punished in anyway? No way, what about if I stood on a dog? I would probably get a few words from someone but no prison. What about if I killed a small child? I would definitely go to jail, be treated as scum by all of society. Why? Becuase that child is worth so much more than the ant and the dog, so the punishment shows the value we put on the victim or the crime. Which probably goes onto the next question...
Isn't hell a bit harsh - Above I have discussed that the punishment shows the value. This is really hard to put across in words. But the value of God is infinite, he is the highest being in the whole universe, he created all things, all the galaxies, the electrons, protons, sunsets, relationships, sex, laughter, we could go on and on...this is the complex bit, if you offend an infinite being we therefore deserve an infinite punishment. That's why say spending a 100 years in hell and then going to heaven simply wont cut the mustard. That's why offering GOd some good deed is such an insult to him, he is infinite, begining and the end, alpha and omega. If I said that the person who murdered the little girl gets 1 year in prison, you would be outraged and angry, now ask yourself why? She is worth more than that, insulting God or committing a crime against him personally (which is what our sin is) is of more offence than killing a million million little children. He is the most valuable thing in the whole universe! Does this help or not at all? georgeosborn@hotmail.com