> It's what God has provided. Read Romans 1 and see what I mean
>
>I just did - and I still don't understand. If your game is "because God said so", that's pretty much the end of this debate.
>

Okay - that's the end then...well maybe a little more below - but then that's it.

>
>If you are trusting in anything other than the work of Jesus Christ on the cross to save you, yes you will burn forever - no matter what your religion or intent was. The Bible is very clear about this. Jesus says "I am the way the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except by me."
>
>Let me get this straight - Christ represented the ideal, that which man should strive to emulate. Yet he gave his life for sinners, which included people who kill, steal, etc. The entire model is based on the sacrifice of the ideal for the non-ideal. If I were Christian, I can think of few things that would make me more indignant.
>

That pretty much sums it up. The reason I'm not indignant is that I'm so grateful. You don't understand that we are ALL as guilty as people who kill, steal, etc. Without Christ's subtitutionary death, we'd all have no choice by to spend eternity in Hell. Thanks be to God for His indescribbable gift!!!

>This is no different than the grade-school teacher who told my wife at age 10 that she'd burn in hell because she was Jewish. You cannot possibly comprehend the type of emotional damage that kind of garbage can inflict.
>

The Gospel is intended to cause division. It is there to seperate the Christians from the world. Christ even says he did not come to bring peace but a sword. People need to be aware that this is no game! If they want to believe the foolish wisdom of men, so be it. God's way is trust in His saving grace for their salvation ANY OTHER WAY leads to destruction. I don't mean to cause any emotional damage - but - if God can use that to open someone's eyes to the truth, then in the end it would be worth it.

>When I was in my teens and 20's, my response to "you'll burn in hell forever" was "Hey, great! I'll get to see my favorite heavy metal bands!" In my 30's my angry response was tell people to go pound sand. Well, I just turned 40, and have no doubt lived more than half my life - my viewpoint is a little different. I don't get angry at this stuff anymore, because it just doesn't matter, not compared to all the other things we should worry about - and I pity individuals who think this way. And remember...pity is really the lowest form of contempt.
>
>Kevin

This "stuff" matters far more than anything else. God's grace does not extend forever. The sooner you begin to take this seriously, the better off you'll be.

Okay - that's it (unless you want to continue...)