Upside Down Kingdom

Resources For Further Study About Hell

 VIDEO 1: Hell, Part 1

DESCRIPTION: Many today believe hell is a "skeleton in God's closet," a tough topic that, if looked at closely, would reveal a cruel, vindictive tyrant rather than a good and loving God. And we aren't comfortable with the answers we've been given.  Portland pastor and author Joshua Ryan Butler stops by to pull these bones out into the open to exchange popular caricatures for the beauty and power of the real thing. We'll discover that hell was never really a skeleton at all but a proclamation of a God who is good "in his very bones," not just in what he does, but in who he is. And we’ll find - by studying the Biblical picture of hell - that God is good and coming to redeem his world.

VIDEO 2: Hell, Part 2

DESCRIPTION: In Part 1 of our set of talks on Hell, we delved into the caricatures of hell that exist in popular culture, and showed how the Biblical narrative gives a much different and much more full picture of what hell is.  In part 2 of our examination of the topic of hell, we examine the terrible necessity of hell.  Because of the gift of free will, humans have the chance to reject God, and hell becomes a symmetrical necessity because of free will and God’s character (which is incompatible with sin).  Lead pastor Steve Clifford dives head-first into a topic that is heart-breaking for many, including apparently God Himself.

BOOK:

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The Skeletons in God's Closet: The Mercy of Hell, the Surprise of Judgment, the Hope of Holy War by Joshua Ryan Butler

LINK: BUY IT HERE

DESCRIPTION:
Is God a sadistic torturer? Coldhearted judge? Genocidal maniac? 
Unfortunately, our popular caricatures often make him out to be. There are some questions no Christian wants to be asked. Many today believe hell, judgment and holy war are "skeletons in God's closet," tough topics that, if looked at closely, would reveal a cruel, vindictive tyrant rather than a good and loving God. And we aren't comfortable with the answers we've been given.

  • "How can a loving God send people to Hell?"

  • "Isn't it arrogant to believe Jesus is the only way to God?"

  • "Why is there so much violence in the Old Testament?"

In this book, we'll pull these bones out into the open to exchange popular caricatures for the beauty and power of the real thing. We'll discover these topics were never really skeletons at all . . . but proclamations of a God who is good "in his very bones," not just in what he does, but in who he is. We'll fling the wide the closet door and sing loudly, boldly and clearly:

God is good and coming to redeem his world.