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(Thread title : Why does God keep waiting to come get us?)

If the Lord had not waited, my cousin woudn't have died in a single car accident in August 2001...

She was on her way home after giving a concert at a church. She had just finished her first Gospel album at our cousins husband's studio in Lyndale Tx.

What the news account does not mention is that the witnesses (the full account is in the police record) saw another person in the car with Wendy just as she rounded a curve in the road. The car went over the shoulder and came back and rolled. The witnesses saw my cousin in the drivers seat, seatbelt on, with a gash on her head, and they asscertained that she was dead. The witnesses then tried to find the other occupant of the car, searching the nearby area. When the police arrived, they told the officers that the "other" person must be under the vehicle, since they couldn't find this person in the nearby ditch. The vehicle was rolled over and there was no one under the vehicle.

Our familly knows that she was taken to be with the Lord by the Angel in the car with her before the crash. This has been a great comfort to all in my family and has been a source of strenght and a reminder that God will not forsake those who belong to Him.

If the Lord had not waited, my mother wouldn't have died from Leukeima and an apparent mistake on the part of her Oncologist in 2004. I was with her when she died. Just before she passed, she came out of her apparent coma, looked at one corner of the hosptal room and said, "Lord, Lord . . . " and then died. The curtains around the room started to move and then were still - like a Hand stopped them from moving within about 5 seconds.

If the Lord had come before these things, our family wouldn't be what they are today, more grounded in the promises of the Lord, more "heavenly minded" and not so wrapped up in "this world" and what this world has to offer.

I say all this to say one thing . . . if the reason the Lord tarries is to bring every last person in as possible, I am willing to see any death of my family (those who know the salvation of our Jesus The Christ) and to face my own death . . . if it means others will be there with us at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.

Vacation Bible School (VBS) was nearly upon us, and the children's ministry workers had gathered for a final preparatory meeting. Anticipation filled the room as we eagerly awaited the opportunity to minister to the precious little souls that the Lord would send our way. Thankfully, we would be using curriculum that faithfully proclaimed the Gospel.

The meeting was progressing well until a "pillar" in the church suggested that we "avoid speaking about hell and judgment and those types of things and instead focus on the love of God." This is a common sentiment and desire in the church these days, which is only heightened when the audience is primarily children. "We don't want to frighten the children with such a scary subject as hell, do we?" Actually, yes, we do. I'm not suggesting that you turn your VBS into a haunted house. I am pleading with you, though, not to shy away from teaching children the whole counsel of God, including the Bible's teaching on sin and eternal condemnation.

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When talking about hell, use the same imagery as Jesus (cf. Matt. 13:40-42; Mark 9:43-48). Let me illustrate: Recently, my daughter asked, "Daddy, what's hell?" I said something like this:

Katie, that is a wonderful question! Hell is a place where people go forever and ever once they die if they did not turn away from their sins and trust in Jesus Christ. Hell is a place where people will be "away from the presence of the Lord" (2 Thess. 1:9), only experiencing God's wrath and never His Love. Jesus said there will be weeping in hell, which means it will be a place of sadness at all times. There will be no laughter in hell, no giggles, no dads tickling their little girls. Jesus also described hell as a place where people will "gnash their teeth," meaning it will be a place of anger. There will be no friends in hell.

I went on to explain how glorious Jesus is because He took the wrath of God in the place of every sinner who will trust in Him.

Do you want the children God has put into your life to trust in and love Jesus Christ? Then warn them often about hell. This vital doctrine is one that will drive children to the Savior, and therefore, one we would be foolish to avoid.