…Or GRACE and MERCY?
Original post 4/23/2016
Let me start by saying, I love good preaching. The kind where you want to stand up when the preacher says something you like or be able to say a good hearty AMEN in service because the preacher is on! With that said, here are my thoughts on something that’s been on my mind a lot.
Lately, I’ve heard several people say, “I don’t like so and so preacher (I will not name names) because they don’t preach enough hell, fire, and brimstone. I like those types of messages because people need to be condemned for their sins!” They may need to go read John 3:17!
On April 14, 2016, my friends in Wylie, Texas, were slammed with a hail storm that brought hail ranging in size from a pea to the size of a baseball. According to news sources in the area, 80% of homes and businesses suffered extensive damage from the storm. Brett and I have many friends that have been affected. To give you some perspective, below are some pictures of the damage.
This is what happens in the natural when hail stones fall. It took some people two years to get their roofs fixed when this happened! Now, can you imagine the damage if you were to add fire and brimstone?!
All I can picture when someone says, “I like that hell, fire, and brimstone preaching,” is this….hearts being shredded to pieces and condemnation slamming people to the point of causing golf ball-sized holes in their souls.
I grew up under hell, fire, and brimstone preaching. I grew up hearing how women shouldn’t wear makeup because it made them look like a harlot and harlots go to hell. By the way, somebody please tell that to Rahab because I don’t believe she got the message and, oh, by the way, is listed in the lineage of Christ…I’m just saying! They preached not wearing pants to the women but nothing to the men about pornography.
My mother will tell you that the following words are not what the preacher said, however, I will tell you that it is what my 12-year-old ears heard. Once, after track practice, we went by the church and I was still in my running shorts. Sunday the preacher called Mom and me into his office to talk about me wearing shorts. What my ears and my heart heard was this, “You are going to hell because you wear shorts.” As I entered my teen years, that lie was seared in my brain and my thoughts were, “If I’m going to hell for wearing shorts, I may as well bust it wide open.” And so, I made decisions through my teen years, and in my early adult years that caused great heartache to my family.
Hell, fire, and brimstone preaching is wrapped around religion, not a relationship, and because of that, I carried shame around with me for years! But praise God for Jesus! (One of my granddaddy’s favorite sayings!) Amid absolute shame over what I had done, I found God’s GRACE and His MERCY!
I went to a women’s conference and Dr. Fuchsia Pickett, a strong, courageous woman of God, spoke with confidence about her relationship with Jesus. Dr. Pickett spoke of God’s desire to heal us from physical issues as well as soul issues. God’s manifest presence was like a blanket over the entire room. Becky Fender spoke about being healed from your past and that God gave us hope and a future. They both spoke of the love of God and how His desire is for me to know Him, not the Him that religion of hell, fire, and brimstone preaches, but the Him of relationship! Becky Fender sang a song that God used to reach into the very pit of my heart and spoke in words so rich and deep that the world seemed to stand still.
Jesus wrapped me in His arms, took me into the throne room of grace, and laid me gently on the Father’s mercy seat. “This one is mine and she needs healing in her heart.” The Father listened as I wept bitter tears of sorrow for the sin I had committed. He looked to the Son, who said, ”Yes, she did commit them, but I took them on My body. You cannot pour Your wrath on her, for I have already paid the price.” The Father gently lifted me into His arms and said, “This is true my beloved. My wrath is no more, but My grace and My mercy are abundant and are for you always.” With each word that He spoke, He gently wiped away the corresponding tear that flowed. The Holy Spirit then spoke and told me of a great future that is ahead and how He would walk with me on my daily journey, to show me the path of righteousness. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, at once separate and yet, at once, One. Never competing for my attention, but walking in relationship with One another. Tears soon gave way to joy as I stood in the Presence of the Three, yet One, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. That day, after grace and mercy were preached, I was able to lay down my shame.
So! You can have your hell, fire, and brimstone preaching all you want, but for me, I’ll take a relationship with the Father that doesn’t condemn, a relationship with the Son who stands as my advocate, and a relationship with the Holy Spirit who reminds me daily about God’s grace and mercy.
Wendy Roseman 