Is there a heaven and hell?

I read an article today (http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/) . The headline on the MSNBC home page immediately caught my attention and stirred my curiosity. It was actually a question posed to readers. So, without delay, I quickly began reading comments posted by hundreds of people. Almost instantly, it became very disturbing to me. Why? I couldn't count how many paragraphs, readers, and pages it took to finally scroll to someone who actually believed in God let alone a superior being. The seemingly endless column of posts was littered with arguments from people who simply wanted to live the way they want to: free from the "oppression" that Christians live under. The comments quickly changed from answering the initial question to belittling all who believe in God or Jesus Christ. The list of reasons only grew as I read on, and I am sure it continues to grow.

It would have been really easy, at that point, to post a comment firing back at those who disagree with anyone believing in heaven, hell, God, or any god(s) for that matter. Some people did, and I admire them for trying to educate others and attempting to bring someone if anyone to know Jesus. Rather than posting a comment of my own, which I believe would have been quite ignorant of me at that time, I challenged myself to suppress any anger which the article may have aroused within me. Instead, I chose to pray. I choose to pray for all those who do not believe, will not believe, and perhaps cannot believe for any reason that we were created by God and saved by his only son. Also, I plan to pray in the future rather than contribute to an argument already out of hand. I am not condoning indifference or passivity, and I don't believe that we should always hold our tongues. I am simply calling upon the One through whom all things are possible.

As wonderful as this past weekend was for me as a Christian (attending church, etc.), today has given me a strong dose of reality. I challenge you to also pray for others so they may come to believe. Difficult? You bet. No one said it would be easy. They don't call it "faith" for no reason.