Of Pastor Kong Hee and His Defenders

Hypocrisy In Christianity

Related Posts:

1. Of Pastor Kong Hee And His Defenders
2. Guilty CHC Six - Jail Sentences
3. Guilty!! Howso The Judge Saith It
4. Hypocrite Churches - Restore The Criminal But Forget The Victim
5. Of Corrupted Churches And The Power Of Mind Control

Kong Hee Being Led Into Court

Some 3 weeks have passed by since the arrest of the above well-known pastor of a 30,000-members church and his team on 26 Jun 2012.  I have waited that long before writing about this case.  Well, more on the fallacious behavior of churches and their leaders against unrighteous acts among their own, and the idol-worshiping followers of that now infamous name.  I have waited that long to see if they would behave the way I had expected them to and sure as the sun rises in the East, they did.

Now, first of all let it be known that the bible has plenty of warnings against the popping up of wolves within the sheepfold.

Act 20:29  For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock.

Bible warns that some will bring in false teachings and prophecies.  Others will make merchandise out of the believers ( i.e. make profit out of them). And some will do both, i.e make profit out of gullible believers by teaching falsely to scratch itching ears and superstitious followers by their false prophecies designed to excite and cause fear, so that the fool and his money can be early parted from him.

2Pe 2:1  But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.  2Pe 2:2  And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.

2Pe 2:3  And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not.

For this, you only have to look at people like Creflo Dollar ( the name itself is so telling ), Benny Hinn, Joel Osteen, TD Jakes, and the list goes on. Not all people come to church to seek God, but on the pretext of seeking God, they come for all kinds of other worldly things like worldly riches and blessings, girlfriends, business networking, motivational adrenaline flow, etc.  Many worship the leader with charisma and showmanship and obey that leader more than they obey God, for they believe the pastor more than the bible.  That, is the condition of the institutionalized church today.  I always make a distinction between that institution that usurped the name “church” from the body of believers.

Kong Hee’s Gifts and Fruits of the Spirit

Now, Kong Hee does have very good teachings.  I do not fault him on this, for in this he puts Joseph Prince to shame.  But the ability to teach is not all Christians are supposed to look for in a leader, or any other believer.  We are supposed to look for the fruits of the Spirit.  But Christians easily idol-worship any charismatic speaker and especially one with showmanship.  Many come to the church to entertain themselves under the pretext of seeking God and the pulpit is also turned into a comedian stand and a motivational podium.  My former church mate, an Uncle Lim is one of them and not the only one. And Kong Hee has charisma and some level of showmanship to go with his teaching.  And so, he has become ‘god’ to be idolized by many of his followers.

Should a Pastor Live Luxuriously To Be Effective?

And on what he did, or rather been alleged to have done.  Let me first say this.  I have no grudge against a pastor driving a luxurious car or living in a mansion.  He could have inherited it, earned his money in investments before or even during his time as a pastor; or he might even have received it as a gift from his followers.  I only question the necessity of showing off.  I have heard one lady “pastor” by the name of Christina who once told me that a pastor needs to wear expensive clothes in order to be able to impress others and get their attention so that when he preaches the gospel it can be believed.  You go figure what’s right or wrong with this logic.  To me, being well-groomed does not equate to expensive clothings.  And I can preach the gospel as long as I am decently dressed. 

What He Did, And How The Church Responded

Now, back to Kong Hee.  The Singapore authorities took 2 years to complete the investigations and found enough evidence to execute the arrest and to charge the whole bunch in court for Criminal Breach of Trust of S$23million.  And the authorities revealed that there were clear evidence of manipulation to conceal the movement of the money from one account into another, until it reaches the final “Multi-purpose Account”, which then uses the money to fund his wife’s secular career activities. Now, what is the best thing for Christians to to do in the circumstances?  I would say that we wait for the evidence to be presented in court to see if Kong Hee is actually found guilty.  But whether or not he is found guilty, that should not prevent us from making a stand against any criminal act, lying and cheating per se.  But this was not done.  What was done were: -

1)      Immediate chorus of support for the pastor and his team with statements made as if he and his team is not capable of committing those acts.  Do you not think those who cry do not judge has already judged before the court judges? What hypocrisy!  14000 members, it seems got together to do this.

2)      Cries were issued to pray to God that the court will find him innocent.  It does not matter if he is actually guilty, but the prayer should be that God should ( blind the eyes of the judge?) set him free whatever he has done, so that the “honor” of Christianity be upheld.  I would not think my righteous God would do that.  Would yours?

3)      Various Christian leaders from other churches immediately expressed concern over the “talks” circulating around, and urge believers to exercise restrain.  Only one man Dr. Daniel Koh had the balanced wisdom to express along the lines that, “some of the comments are negative and unkind. Yet unkind responses, as well as those that seem to offer blind support of pastors and leaders, are 'unhelpful'”. Others, immediately jump up to urge Christians “not to judge”.  Now, the question is, “Are Christians supposed to judge or not to judge”?

4)      The Regional Pastor of Hope International Ministries Benjamin Lee exhibited the standard hypocrisy of self-righteous non-judging Christian by urging Christians to "watch out for negative and sinful dynamics in our own life" and to "avoid the judgmental spirit and self-righteousness."  What hypocrisy!  Crying out against self-righteousness by practicing self-righteous restraint that is in contravention to bible teachings.

To Judge Or Not To Judge, That Is The Question

For my firm answer to that, I simply quote :

1Co 5:9  I wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with fornicators: 1Co 5:10  Yet not altogether with the fornicators of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or with idolaters; for then must ye needs go out of the world. 1Co 5:11  But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat. 1Co 5:12  For what have I to do to judge them also that are without? do not ye judge them that are within? 1Co 5:13  But them that are without God judgeth. Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person.

It is so simple to understand.  I am supposed to keep company with fornicators of the world, with the covetous, idolators of the world.  But I am not supposed not keep company with a “brother”, i.e. a Christian who is covetous or a fornicator or extortioner, a drunkard, etc, etc.  I am not supposed to judge the sinners who are outside of the church, for it is for God to judge them.  But I am supposed to judge those who are within ( the church ), and I am supposed to put away from me that wicked person ( who is a Christian ).

Now, tell me.  Does any church seriously preach the above? NO!! But I have the cults ( surprisingly ) being more serious about this than the regular churches.  In churchy hypocrisy, they tell believers not to be self-righteous by judging others, while they themselves become self-righteous by practicing “self-restraint” in a manner which is against the bible teaching.  Can anyone tell me 1Co 5:9 is to be understood in any other way?

And by the way, what about those pastors on this side of the border with Singapore who connived with them to receive the huge sums of money as "love offering" and then quickly re-transferred the monies into the Multi-purpose Account?  Are they not guilty of collaborating to deceive?  Is any of them owning up?

But The Bible Says Judge Not! ??

Dressed for Evangelism?  To Judge or Not To Judge

The bible does say:

Mat 7:1  Judge not, that ye be not judged.

but if you care to read on further, you will find the clear message that you should not judge without first judging yourself.  If does not say do not judge.  It says judge yourself first and then go on to judge others.  And by what standard should a person judge?  By the standards set in the bible, of course for you are going to be judged by these standards even if you do not judge others.  This is what the pastors and church leaders do not explain.  They just stop at verse 1.  Maybe they don’t understand the bible despite their training.  Maybe they are just being deceitful and hopes that by teaching out of context, their wrongs will not be revealed by their followers.

 

Image of Holiness or Harlotry?

  

The bible teaching on judging others is so clear.  Just this verse:            Joh 7:24  Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment. 

Let’s look at another verse commonly used to scare Christians away from judging:

Rom 2:1  Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things.

False preachers commonly stop expounding at “thou condemnest thyself”. They would not go on to the last limb that says “for thou that judgest doest the same things”.  So the truth is, if we condemn others while we are doing the same things, then we are condemned for we do the same things.  So, am I not allowed to judge if I am not doing the evil they are doing?  See how easily Christians are deceived by incomplete teaching and preaching.

My take is, we are supposed to judge.  I will judge, and I will judge by the standards of the bible. And I shall make sure that I do not the things that the bible condemns, and when I do, I know I have sinned and shall confess to the Lord and ask for forgiveness. 

Naughty Girl Evangelism - City of Sin or City of Sun

The "Cross-over Project"  And finally, about this thing called the “Cross-over Project”.  I suppose the title refers to an intention of the “good” pastor and his hand-picked team to “use” the worldly, material-girl image of the wife to draw in worldly material-life chasing members from within her fan club to cross over into the church. This sounds like a fantabulous idea until you start asking questions.  And one question is “cross over into the church for what purpose”?  To change these people into holy living Christians?  Surely CHC cannot succeed in that when the pastor cannot get his wife to dress more decently on stage.  Another question is "What kind of image does she project upon Christianity with skimpy dressing and abundant exposed flesh on stage, couple with hips jerking forth antics on stage?".  No wonder the Muslims have such a cockeyed view of Christianity as a decadent religion! Maybe his intention is merely to get the fans to cross-over to fill up the membership rolls and collect more money in tithes and offerings?  Numbers attract numbers, and numbers = $$$$!  That would sound like a more plausible motive, but that would be the wrong motive for converting people to Christianity. But the idol speaks, and his handpicked leaders obligingly agree ( probably with due benefits for agreeing ) and connived to use church funds to “sponsor” the pastor’s wife’s career in order to bring in more members.  Is that not a devious method of “evangelism” on behalf of a fully righteous God? But though we call a collection of sheep a flock, they actually behave like a herd.  Their eyes being blurred by the charisma of the leader, they become incapable of making the right judgment.  Even when the matter is exposed, they continue to blindly cry for him and to support him, and even pray to a holy God to help get him off the hook, whether he is guilty or not.  One lady supporter of his even remarked "Why are you people outside of CHC complaining about the money when we who are inside are not?" This kind of blind support is pathetic.  They fail to look beyond at the damage to the public's impression of Christianity caused by the allegations against a Christian leader's criminal behavior, and the half-naked evangelism.   I am inclined to think that maybe they are acting out of need to defend their hurt pride, for they cannot admit that they have had wool pulled over their eyes.  Kind of reminds me of Joseph Prince’s supporters and the way they defend him even when Joseph Prince is caught outright teaching wrongly.

Will I pray for Kong Hee?   I will pray, for I have prayed for Kong Hee that God’s will be done, and that if he is truly guilty but found not guilty by the court for any reason whatsoever, God’s grace be upon him to come before Him to confess and repent, and that the Lord will forgive him.  For in the end, it is not the court of man that condemns us in eternity, but the righteousness of God.

 Jesus said "Joh 8:32  And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. "  but many would not know the truth.

YOGA - ANOTHER CHRISTIAN SUPERSTITION

Christians In Bondage

Christian Taboos Driven By Superstition

Christians are not supposed to be superstitious.  In reality, it is not so.  Today, on the Facebook I happened to read a posting from friend that asked whether Christians should practice yoga?  Many Christian taboos are driven by superstition and legalism, and rather than fear of God.  This is one of them.

This question about yoga is not something new.  As a young Christian, I was warned against getting into yoga, martial arts and acupuncture.   Interestingly, sometime in 2008 the government  of Malaysia raised a hue and cry against Muslims being involved in yoga and made a laughing stock of itself.

I venture to elaborate on my views.  Everything in our body is created by God, not only the muscles, but including the chakras and all their wonderful hidden functions.   The body functions can be activated and exercised physically to make the body perform better.  Stretching, rubbing, massaging and stimulation with the needle or electrical pulses do this work.  Nothing spiritual needs to be involved.

However, some people have used spiritual  stimulation of the body through Yoga, Karate or Tai Chi, or acupressure or acupuncture. 

What is Yoga, Tai Chi, Karate?

Now, what is Karate or Tai Chi? Speaking as a past exponent of these arts, they are nothing more than physical regimentation of the body to perform certain reflexes.  In the course of the regimentation, joints, sinews and muscles are stretched.  Nerves are trained to react and respond rapidly.  This is basically the same with yoga.  Acupressure and acupuncture are nothing more than physical stimulation of certain central nervous gateways.  But Yoga is stretching exercises imbued with spiritualism.  Without the spiritualism, it is just an exercise of the muscles, joints and sinews.  There is also some form of meditation in Karate and Tai Chi, but usually only at the advanced stages of these practices.  Most of the practitioners of Karate or Tai Chi who do meditate do not really identify their acts of meditation as anything spiritual, mostly that is.  To them, it is mainly a cultural thing.  But I do remember 2 of my past teachers warning me that if I am not careful during the meditation sessions, I could suffer spiritual attack and can lose my mind.  This is for those who know.

Exercising Without Spiritual Involvement

Let me point this out.  It is possible to perform Karate, Tai Chi, acupressure and even Yoga without the involvement of the spiritual dimension at all.  Yes, people can be drawn into the spiritual dimension of these arts if they are ignorant of its existence.  This was so with me in the past.  Yoga can be practiced as a body stretching exercise by dispensing with all the symbolic hand signs, meditation and chanting. For example, the sound "Om" is spiritual salutation of sorts.  Certain body stances are stances of worship.  Just don't do these.  Karate and Tai Chi can be practiced without meditation.  Acupressure can be done by simple massaging or even an Osim Japanese electrical massager.   As one Pastor Shibu Peediakal very aptly quoted Titus 1: 15. ”all things are pure to the pure”.   If say exercising with Hindu-based yoga-like stretching is disallowed, then to be consistent, is not cremation also to be disallowed since the concept in Hinduism is the sacrifice of the body to Agni?  `

“All Things Are Pure”  When The Heart is Pure

“All things are pure” however does not apply to an act like pornography, or robbery for that matter. Sex is not the same as pornography.  Sex is a reproductive function to be performed with one’s life-long partner, and it comes together with bodily pleasure, by the grace of the Lord.  Watching pornography for pleasure is an act which stems out of lust of the flesh.  “ Pornography”  comes of out of the word “porneia” ( meaning fornication).  It is engaging in sex outside of marriage in the pursuit of lust of the flesh.  Lusting after the flesh is a sin.  But the act of sex with one’s mate is pure, and does not defile.  The lust for sex outside of marriage defiles.  Love for pornographic material is after the manner of lusting after the flesh.  Watching pornography with lust in the heart defiles.  But if I chanced upon a pornographic scene in a movie, which I happen to be  watching, and I do not lust but in fact watch it with disdain, do I sin?  Surely not.   So it is not seeing that is sin, but what is in the heart.    Robbery is not pure because I cannot commit a robbery without premeditating it as an evil.  

Sex in itself is not evil or impure.  Similarly meat ( food ) in itself is pure, having been  created for food.  But somebody thought it right to offer food to his idols and added a spiritual dimension to that food.  However, the fact that the food was offered to idols does not make the food impure for consumption.  But it is reverence in the heart for that food for the fact that it has tasted by idols, or is blessed for being so, makes the person sin.  The food remains “pure” .

Conclusion

If you want to do stretching exercises, go ahead and stretch. You can stretch doing yoga-like actions,  Tai Chi like motions or torture yourself with Karate leg-pulling and kicking, bending and pounding with the fists.  Just don’t get into the meditation stage or “stilling” the mind.  Do the exercises while filling your mind with Psalms and praising God that He gave you the ability to do so.  If you want to massage a nervous system median here and there, go ahead.  And if you are so sensitive to being in advertently drawn into idolatry, then don’t call it yoga or chakra.   But really, the fact that you continue to call the stretching movements "yoga" or the median points "chakra" does not make the activity spiritual.  If you feel uncomfortable, then invent your own terminology by all means.    The median points were there in Adam before the term "chakra" was invented.  Adam had muscles and joints long before the first idols appeared.  You don't have to do Yoga.  You just do stretching exercises.  

But when churches ( in USA ) bring Yoga as Yoga into the church together with its meditation or chanting, then they are also bringing in idolatry into the church.  But if these (not so) smart churches had just bring in exercises for loosening muscles, joint and sinews, there would not have been a problem.  What is crucial is not to get involved with making their spiritual sounds, chantings or meditation, for it is the meditation and chanting rather than the form that makes Yoga to be Yoga.  Yoga without the chanting and meditation is just stretching exercise, even if you still want to call it Yoga.

What I love about Jesus is that His teachings go straight to the heart.  God searches the heart.  Jesus is never interested in people going through the motions of trying to appear holy.  Holiness is in the heart.

If you choose to be superstitious and live a Christian life under bondage, it is your choice.  Who can stop you?

Jesus says in John 8:32, "And ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free."

Will A Loving God Send Man To Eternal Hell?

IS GOD CRUEL?

No, He is not. A most loving God has done the unthinkable thing to ensure you don't go to hell.  It is just that you choose to mock at His offer of eternal life to you.

Related Reading:

Will God Be Angry Enough?

(1) The Deceived Shall Stay Deceived 

(2）Is Hell Eternal?   

(3）Is Jesus Also The Father? Part 1

(4） Is Jesus Also The Father ?Part 2

The white man brought Christianity to the East, and because of it, today I am able to know the one God, the One who created all things seen and unseen.  For that I am thankful.  But on the other hand, I also realize that the white man that brought God into my Eastern culture has used their God-given wisdom to reason same God out of their own culture!   Such is the folly of human wisdom.  The churches in the western hemisphere that preach holy living and obedience to God’s commandments on holy living are scarce and few.  Wicked churches emphasize only obedience of believers in terms of paying money into their coffers.

What is the cause of this folly?  The bible tells us it is the lust of the heart.

Jas 1:14  But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.

 That great desire springing from the seed of the devil inside man to sin against God, coupled with the innate knowledge, and fear of the coming wrath of God against unrepentant sinners.  They want desperately to sin and continue sinning, yet they fear the judgment and wrath of God. 

The saddest thing I see is that many Asians look up to white man so highly that they have simply accepted the teachings of ungodly white men who had created them so that they can justify their love for adultery, fornication and sodomy. Very often, these Asians call themselves Bible Students.  What have they learned?

Atheism -The Solution of The Wicked

How can one freely sin without having to fear?  He reasons, “Oh, if only there is no God, then there is no judgment! ”  And thus some have reasoned God out of their lives by inventing the idea of atheism.  Such is the folly of their wisdom.  “Since there is no God, there will be no punishment.  Since there is no punishment, we can do as we please.”

But then, not every lusting sinner buys into the idea of atheism.  There is this inborn and deep-seated knowledge in most people that God does exists,

Rom 1:20  For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:

and He is going to judge. 

Eze 33:9  Nevertheless, if thou warn the wicked of his way to turn from it; if he do not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity;

And not everyone of them can numb this knowledge.  The lust to continue sinning brings them to find, or rather twist out meanings in the scriptures which are not there, such as: “Maybe God is not angry with that sin after all” , or “Hell is really not what the bible says it is.”  Here is an illustration of this approach.  The homosexuals or habitual adulterer may well reason that since God is love, surely that love extends also to the homosexuals as well.  “Didn’t the scriptures say that God loves the sinners?  Are not homosexuals also sinners?” or “Didn’t the scriptures say that Jonathan the son of King Saul said that he loves David ? ( They interpret 1Sa18:1  out of its context, for the verse actually says Jonathan loves David as his own soul, and not as his lover)  Ahhh!  That means Jonathan and David were having a homosexual affair!  Yet David is the king that God loves the most.  Therefore God loves homosexuals and it is okay to be a homosexual!”   Sorry, no.  The bible says homosexuals and all sinners for that matter, who do not cease and desist, and repent from whatever they are doing are all going into hell!

Reasoning Hell Out of Their Minds

Well then, since that does not work, the homosexuals would start reasoning ( it is their own reasoning, mind you.  There is no bible verse to support it )  that,  “Surely it is against the nature of a merciful, gracious and loving God to torment people in hell permanently and endlessly.  If He does that, He is no longer God, at least not one worthy of worship.  Therefore the fires of hell will surely annihilate the sinners after some intense burning …. and then poof! every essence of sinner vanishes for good!”   Now, that sounds something like the ultimate state of nirvana which a Buddhist tries to achieve through perfection in living.  These evil-minded people should try selling their idea to the Buddhists.  “Why strive so hard trying to live a perfect life in order to achieve nirvana? We can sin all we want  and end up as nothingness after a while in hell anyway!”   No, the bible says that the fire in the Lake of Fire is permanent.  Jesus Himself says so in Matthew 25:41 that the fire is everlasting. 

Mat 25:41  Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:

Do they think that Jesus doesn’t know the meaning of everlasting?  Do they think Jesus is stupid like they are?  Not only will hell fire be everlasting, the bible also says that torment from the fire is for ever and ever. 

Rev 14:11  And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.

Rev 20:10  And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.

No matter how one twists and turns, and contorts his perverted mind,  “for ever and ever” means just that – for ever and ever.  If anyone sincerely thinks “for ever and ever” does not mean for ever and ever, he must be real stupid.

Some try to justify their idea of annihilation of the soul by referring to what Jesus says in this verse.

Mat 10:28  And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

 “Ahh!, they say, “See what Jesus says?  The soul can be destroyed in hell.  Destroyed!  You know what destroyed means?  It means totally gone!  Vanished!”.  Really?  Does being destroyed mean being annihilated? No traces left?  Check the bible.  Was not Babylon destroyed?  Do we not see the ruins of Babylon today?  No, “to destroy” does not mean to annihilate.  What more, they have failed to understand the meaning of destroying the soul in terms of the second death, which is to be cast into the lake of fire!  Satan does not have the power to cast anyone into the lake of fire.  God has.  That is what Mat 10:28 is referring to!

Rev 20:14  And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.

Tormented for ever and ever

Will a Loving, Merciful and Gracious God Put People Into Permanent Torment in Hell?

Let’s get the 3 facts right first.

Fact 1: The bible clearly says that hell was meant for the devil and his angels.  It was not meant for humans.  But if a man chooses to obey the devil to follow the lusts of his heart, he has chosen to become a follower of the devil.  God is not putting him into hell.  He has chosen to follow the devil into hell.  Why blame God? Is God putting him there?  No. He chose to go there.  It is not even like God is putting a surprise decision that any sinner is going to hell. God has given clear warnings, 1000’s of years of warning.

Fact 2: The first immutable nature of God is holiness.  He is absolutely pure, clean if you will.  If God is unholy, He is not God.  And because of His holiness, God cannot stand sin.  Big sin or small sin does not matter.  Whatever He has revealed to us is a sin is a sin which He will not stand for.

Fact 3: The second immutable nature of God is righteousness.  He is just.  In His righteousness, any transgression is to be punished.  If He does not punish, He is no longer righteous.  He is no longer just. All sins must be punished, to be paid for, so to speak.

Would A Loving God Not Punish?

The fact that God loves does not mean that God does not punish those whom He loves.  If God does not punish, then God is not righteous.  God loves man who is His creation.  Yet God has set the law that the wages of sin is death, the penalty of 2^nd death which is in the lake of fire – the destination meant not for man but for the devil and his angels.  And a man who sins shall surely go into the lake of fire together with the devil.  It is God's love for man that makes God warn man what he should not do to avoid going there.  God chides those whom He loves.  It is the love of God that resulted in Him coming into the world as a man to die for His creation; to take the punishment upon Himself so that man whom He loves can be saved.  And if a man chooses ( indeed man chooses ) not to be saved, either out of wickedness or unbelief, it is then not the love of God that sends him there.  God has made a way out for him yet he chooses not to take it.  God has no pleasure in the soul of the wicked that dies.

Eze 18:32  For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord GOD: wherefore turn yourselves, and live ye. Eze 33:11  Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked;

The Mercifulness of God

Let us now put to rest the contorted meaning of mercifulness put forward by lustful perverts to convince themselves that a merciful God would not punish.  Mercifulness does not exclude punishment.  Mercifulness softens the impact of the punishment on the offender.  God in His mercy for humans, came into the world Himself and took the punishment for the sins of all men.  God as a man took the stripes of the lashes on His back for sins He did not commit.  God as a man who committed no sin died on the cross on behalf of all sinful men through the ages.  For if God as a man had sinned, He would have died for His own sin only.  God in His mercy paid the penalty, the fine if you will for the transgressions of man.  The punishment has been exacted on Him and God in His mercy extend that gift of carrying your sins and paying for them.  Is that not incomparable mercy?

The Graciousness of God

Do not mistake the graciousness of God to mean that God can ever be unrighteous, unjust and unholy.  The graciousness of God is manifested through His willingness to forgive all and sundry ( regardless of how grave, abominable or disgusting the sin is, not matter how voluminous ) who accept that gift by confessing the sins, asking for His forgiveness and repenting from sinning again.  Is not that graciousness awesome?  All one has to do is to confess and repent and every he is forgiven …. no penalties ( for the penalty has been paid by Jesus Christ ), no fines. All paid for. 

Conclusion

And so, a loving, gracious and merciful God has done everything for the sinning man to NOT go into hell.  All the sinning man has to do is to turn away from his sinning ways and repent and accept the gift of Jesus paying that penalty on his behalf.  Simple.

And scripture confirms that hell fire is everlasting.  You must either find a verse to prove that it is not, or you disbelieve it either because you in your wickedness you think that by not believing it, it will not be everlasting. Either that, or you have been deceived so badly that you cannot comprehend what you read.

And the torment in hell fire is for ever and ever.  You must again prove that it is not by pointing to a verse that says so.  And I will surely say that you cannot find it.

And God is not cruel because God is not sending any human being to hell.  He chooses to follow the devil there.  God is not cruel because God says to the stiff-necked hell-bent sinner that He has no pleasure in the death of the wicked.  He has allowed you free will and a way out of hell.  You chose not to accept it. 

And if you do go into hell for eternal torment, blame yourself and your hell-bent desire to go there.

Jesus says in John 8:32, "And ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free."