...wrath.is.bad.marketing

"i will be so pissed if i get to heaven and the same stupid crap that
happens here happens there. i long for the day when it comes to an end--when
there's no more sin, no more sinners... some of you think everyone should get to
go to heaven. you're a hypocrite if you have a door on your house. you think God
should let everyone in his house but you won't let everyone in your house. the
reason you have a door and a lock and a gun and a cop and 911 on speed dial is
because though you're a hypocrite, you're still fairly sharp. you know that not
everyone is good and you don't want to hang out with everyone."

--mark drisoll, the revelation of Jesus' feasts

as i read revelation and see the winepress of God's wrath, the birds feasting on God's enemies, and Jesus Christ watching them burn eternally, i was struck by how different God is from the limp-wristed, richard simmons stand-in Jesus that most preachers are teaching about...

i think most of the time we try to be God's PR agent...

focusing on His love, mercy, and grace, but failing to mention His "unattractive" attributes of justice, holiness, and wrath...

i wonder how offensive this must be to God.

it's like showing up at a party with a friend and they hand you a paper bag before you go in, "here, put this over your face."

"what the-- why?"

"well, they won't like your face. it's offensive. we'll just cover up that part out so people will like you."

i am sometimes tempted to only show a little piece of God... then, after they like the parts that are pretty, i can slowly pull off the paper bag.

the fear of God is the beginning of knowledge (proverbs 1:7).

"yeah, but what does fear mean in the hebrew?"

fear.

we fear bugs.

we fear the dark.

we fear thunderstorms.

we fear terrorists.

we fear uncool.

do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do. but i will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. yes, i tell you, fear him! (luke 12:4-5)

perhaps God intends for us to love Him. completely.

not just the parts of Him that sound like dr. phil.