Hell

Rob Bell got it wrong.

There is a hell.

My definition:
Hell is: being on call for two different enterprises at once,
- with a separate phone to manage each endeavor.
Oh, and a separate company made each phone, now rather aged, and two other companies manage your calling services.

And the phones have nagging "problems" and you are trying to get tech support.

After a "hold the line, we'll be back soon" and the redefinition of "soon" to be about 15 minutes, a symphonic group labors incessantly to try to make you forget the elapse of time. Not successful.

Tech support is finally live..and they begin with an apology for asking you the "24strictly confidential questions" that make sure you are really you. They need your access information, you know, that wierd word or thing never thought of from birth to the grave...at least you haven't even thought about it since you got the phone.

...eternally they keep saying, "Thank you Mr/s ________, do you have time for a few more questions?"

At times, you are guessing at what they are saying, because the tech support persons speak english as a second language and continually ask you: "Do you understand?" pronounced, "We untertand, eh?"

And your "yeses" said often in faith, come in shorter and shorter clips.

All the calls you need to respond to are "urgent," - some breaking into the connection with frequency, making you think the line has gone dead. (And secretly you wish that it would.)

All of this, while you are standing in a rather slow-moving que at a restaurant..keeping the phones switching off on your left ear to hear over the incessant crowd noise - and often a finger inserted in your right ear...and foreground music playing all the time, keeping the stalled ones happy.

What is crazy, is that some of us have been there lately.

Oh, how much we need to remember Jesus' words:
(John 14:27)
"Peace I leave with you,
My peace I give to you.
Not as the world gives do I give to you.
Do not let your heart be troubled nor let it be afraid."

So, if your days recently have become rather "hellish"...it's time to look up to heaven, get some regular re-stabalizing action going on inside, and slow down.

'Cause, stuff that comes from heaven, just doesn't make for hellish living.

Selah...

Pastor Dave