You know it is always amusing and aggravating at the same time whenever I mention that someone has possibly entered hell. The religious hate it, the grace-mongers who don’t really believe that God would send anyone to hell, and anyone whose conscious is pricked by the awful reality all feel like they need to write in comments to correct and rebuke “mean ol Joel”. (That has a nice ring to it doesn’t it?) It doesn’t matter if I predicate my assumption with a disclaimer like “yet without some supernatural intervention not known by the world” that clearly says it was possible that someone ministered the truth to him and he received without us knowing it publicly, people read what they want and assume that I have acted with God-like authority and doomed him to hell. All I can do is what Jesus said to do and look at the fruit of his life and learn from what could have been.
Is constant suspicion of homosexuality and pedophilia a fruit of righteousness? Is allowing people to worship you and receive glory from man a work of the Cross? Is living in sin and blatant blaspheme of the Lord Jesus a sign of a person redeemed? Let’s get even simpler…is someone who did not profess Jesus as His Lord & Savior and the Bible the Word of God a believer going to heaven? Is a man who is known for his breakout video (Thriller) that portrays him as a demon possessed maniac from hell someone who Jesus was waiting for at the gates of heaven? I not only think not, I KNOW not!
Don’t get me wrong, if he repented and called on the name of Jesus at any time the Lord would be faithful and just to forgive him. I don’t think you can do anything in this earth but NOT call on Jesus that would keep you from the loving arms of God. But you know what? I can say these statements of faith and Biblical foundation all day and people just can’t handle the truth and reality that people are dying and going to hell by the thousands and millions every week and yet many (not everyone) are more passionate about correcting me on a silly blog than going out and saving the lost from that awful reality of hell.
Like it or not, the whole hell thing was God’s idea and not mine. He promised it in His Book, not mine. We need to make sure that we don’t go there and do all we can to reach out to others headed there. And assuming all are not going there just means we shirk our responsibility of reaching out and helping them avoid that terrible place.
My purpose in this blog as a whole and this article is to be a prophetic voice of warning to young people who could easily be deceived or drawn into the cesspool of sin without clear direction and warning from a trumpet being sounded of righteousness and standard. I leave you with a verse from Jesus, the Judge of all mankind.
Matt. 24:9-14- Then you will be arrested, persecuted, and killed. You will be HATED all over the world because you are My followers. And many will turn away from Me and betray and hate each other. And many false prophets will appear and will DECEIVE many people. SIN WILL BE RAMPANT everywhere, and the love of many will grow cold. But the one who ENDURES to the end will be saved. And the Good News about the Kingdom WILL BE PREACHED throughout the whole world, so that all nations WILL hear it: and then the END will come.
Tolerance is the convenience of those without convictions. We all know that the blood of Jesus covers any and all sin, but you have to ask for it in order to receive! God is a good God, and a just God! Thanks for the blog!
So true. I’m not young, but I love your blog & am glad you say it loud & clear. Bold words full of conviction attract a wide audiance.
AMEN!!! That is so true!! This is a slap in the face for the religious. I love this blog because You are not afraid to speak the truth! Thanks for the hard truth Pastor Joel!
Brad B.
Pastor Joel,
When I read your earlier post, I quickly posted on my facebook page. It seems today, so many rather sugar coat the word and what Jesus said. Many are so afraid of public opinon rather than the gospel of Jesus Christ. I thank the Lord for you being that prophetic voice in our generation and not being swayed by the court of public opinion.
I am so thankful for you, Pastor Joel! That you speak the truth and sound the alarm to young and old alike! The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Truth. Thank you that you are as bold as a lion! Our young people will be saved from a lot of heartache and sorrow by following what you say about Jesus! I pray that God will keep them pure!
Awesome word!!
P. Joel, I stand with you on the truth. Just want to encourage u to continue speaking the truth of God’s Word and pray for hardened, rebellious hearts to soften. I support u bro. Your Korean Brother, John Kim
Thanks Pastor Joel! Keep preaching about the true grace of God! The kind that “teaches us to DENY ungodliness and worldy lusts!” (Tit 2:11-12). Stay bold! Never back down!
Thank you Pastor for showing a generation the TRUTH !!!!!!!!!
Thats a good word, I pray that God would open people’s eyes and ears!
which He does but they keep closing them because they don’t want to accept the truth that God is Sovereign. I thank God that He is rising Christians around the world that have no standard but God’s. Christians that commune with the Holy Spirit and read the Word more than they watch television, get on computers, play on phones etc. and walk in the grace and strength of God rather then their own.
It’s awesome to see what God’s doing ‘behind the scenes’ of “today’s reality”.
P.S. missed the Unshakeable Conference but was at the Royal Ranger Academy where I was priveledged to be a Pathfinder and was able to pray for some young men of God each night! I loved it being used by God is awesome!
Thank you so much for speaking truth, Pastor Joel.
Great word, Joel. Keep the fire hot. This generation needs alot of wisdom, truth, and leadership. Thanks for being such a godly example!
For those of you who continue to say he was homosexual and a pedophile, the young man who accused Michael in 1993 recently admitted his father pushed him to lie to police for money. And in 2005 he was acquitted because again, the mother and child were found to be given false statements.
Awesome and keep it up!! It’s not about judging – its about truth. How about, all you naysayers and screamers at Joel, we all sit and JUDGE our own heart in light of who Jesus was and is. I’m not judging Michael as a performer, father or man. It does not matter if a court worldwide convened and called him innocent of all charges. It matters what he did with Jesus. Perhaps if we spent more time examining our own hearts we would have less time to worry about judging preachers who are called to bring forth a prophetic word and uses anything that is prevalent in the day of the preaching. Keep it up brother!!
Joel, like your grandfather Roy (who I worked for for many years) and your dad, Larry,(who I watched grow up since the age of 10), You are annointed of God to preach and teach His word.
Your “mimi” was the best friend I ever had and I miss her. She was so proud of you as a man of God and may I say, I am also.
She went home to be with Jesus on Mine and Tom’s anniversary.
Keep on preaching the trruth about that awful place called hell. SOME WILL BELIEVE!
I few years back while visiting Bethany, in the middle of the service I saw a new pink kidney. I thought it was for my daughter who has kidney stones but God spoke to me nd said, NO, THIS IS FOR JOEL. So keep the faith little brother. It’s coming. I told your dad about this and tears welled up in his eyes.
Always give GOD the glory, little brother., for anything He accomplishes through you. That is something He will not share! Isaiah 42:10
In Christian love and grace,
Sarah Longino
Isaiah 42:8
AWESOME blog post! This might be my favorite ever. I want to frame it. Or maybe quote it and have people think I said it. haha!
Amen!!!
Pastor Joel You are Hardcore my brother…I love it!! With the life of Michael Jackson it shows us that a man could have everything this world has to offer, Fame, fortune, and talent and still live a miserable life void of any wholeness, MJ struck me as a man searching for wholeness, but could never truly find it, but he is in eternity now….”The king of pop” is now face to face with THE KING OF KINGS!!
Keep preaching it Pastor Joel you are a voice to the nations.
Rock the world Pastor Joel with the Truth. Sounds like folks need it.
Speak the truth Pastor Joel! I actually heard that Michael Jackson became a muslim shortly before his death – therefore we know what he believed before he died.
That’s RIGHT!!!!!
Thanks for preaching the truth, not sugar coating it, and not worrying about who might find it offensive. Thanks so much again, may God continue to bless. I am looking forward to future posts.
Hey Pastor Joel.. I was at the unshakable conference & received a powerful annointing.. cant wait for next year!! umm.. i love how you preach! it’s all about speaking the truth! it’s funny how the world thinks MJ is in paradise and living in peace. Now, im not judging him (because im no one to judge) but if you look at his life and how he lived… ya, all the proof is their! Well anyways.. May the Lord Bless You!!
Crystal =]
PLEASE LETS ALL KNOW WE ARE NOT SUPPOSE TO BE AGAINST ONE ANOTHER. JESUS WASNT THAT WAY…. DONT GET ANGRY, GOD WILL JUDGE ALL AND HE KNOWS WHO HAD A RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM AND KNOWS THEIR SINS. NOT US. I JUST FEEL FOR HIM IF HE DIDNT MAKE IT RIGHT WITH GOD AND HE JESUS DOES SAY LOOK AT THEIR FRUIT… BUT I AM NOT GONNA JUDGE HIM. PEOPLE WE ALL NEED TO BE LIKE CHRIST…LOVING AND SHOWING COMPASSION FOR OTHERS.ESPICALLY IN TIME OF PAIN. NO NAME CALLING , REMEMBER HOW YOU WOULD FEEL IF SOMEONE DID THAT TO YOU , IF YOU LOST SOMEONE YOU WOULDNT WANT PEOPLE JUDGING THAT PERSON. LETS JUST ALL KNOW THAT JESUS IS THE ANSWER AND WE ARE TREAT OTHERS THE WAY HE WOULD. YOU KNOW WHAT WOULD JESUS DO?? BASICALLY. LOVE YOU ALL
Thank you Joel for your unwavering stand for the truth. If I want sweet, I go to the candy store! The word of God is sharper than any two edged sword, which means when it is cutting you, it doesn’t feel good! Thank God for His grace and mercy and lovingkindness in dealing with us sinners.
Wow…really. This almost scares me. I’ve sat under this ministry for nearly 2 years now and one of the things that I loved about it was the “PASSION FOR GOD, COMPASSION FOR PEOPLE” that was the the churches theme…What happend to it? We can sit here until our faces are as blue as this screen and dedate the ins and outs of his salvation but how many of us made an attempt to witness to him? Well… did u, I havent heard anyone say that they did. If u havent….then I think its best to keep ur comments as to where he is or isnt to urselves. It boggles my mind to think that this even being debated or discussed… but the sadest part of this is the reaction effect this will have on those who are not saved. To be honest, If I wasnt this type of ministry wouldn’t be one that I would consider. Yes, M.J. has enterd eternity and will be judged by God and him alone but there is still a harvest out there. So, if u made an attempt to witness to M.J. then I thank God for you but if u havent lets make this an opportunity to work even harder to minister to others. Lets allow God to do his job sending M.J. to his eternal destination while we make every attempt to increase the number of those who along with ourselves who will here him say WELL DONE instead of just..WELL UR DONE. So with that being said, now 1…2….3….GO!!
I appreciate your boldness! There’s enough tolerance and political correctness out there; the world doesn’t need another powerless bleeding heart. It was CLEAR that you put a disclaimer on any assumption. If the “grace-mongers” believe that telling the truth and warning the wicked is the same as judging, they would be well advised to close their MOUTHS and open the WORD before they make assumptions of their own…or to rebuke a leader for doing & saying what he knows is right.
I would like to apologize for my response on the previous entry. I overlooked the “not known by the world” part at the beginning. I think Joel was simply making the point here that judging by appearances, based on the facts we think we have about this person’s life, barring unknown circumstances, he’s burning in the lake of fire.
But can’t this be said of anyone? When Jimmy Swaggart was enjoying the peak of his career didn’t christendom see him as a righteous man?
Here’s an except from C.S. Lewis’ “Mere Christianity”
“Some of us who seem quite nice people may, in fact, have made so little use of a good heredity and a good upbringing that we are really worse than those whom we regard as friends. Can we be quite certain how we should have behaved if we had been saddled with the psychological outfit, and then with the bad upbringing, and then with the power, say, of Himmler? That is why Christians are told not to judge. We see only the results which a man’s choices make out of his raw material. But god does not judge him on the raw material at all, but on what he has done with it. Most of the man’s psychological make-up is probably due to his body: when his body dies all that will fall off him, and the real central man, the thing that chose, that made the best or worst of this material, will stand naked. All sorts of nice things which we thought our own, but which were really due to good digestion, will fall off some of us: all sorts of nasty things which were due to complexes or bad health will fall off others. We shall then, for the first time, see every one as he really was. There will be surprises.”
Pastor Joel, I am a member of Bethany and I am a servant of God. I agree with you that hell should be preached and that people need to know about it. However, I DON’T think that we should, nor do we have the right, to scare people into following Christ. As far as Michael Jackson is concerned, I do agree that unless he secretly gave his life to Christ, that he did in fact go to hell, but I don’t think that preaching hell constantly is going to bring people to God. If anything, it’s going to push them away from Him. I was pushed away because all I ever heard was that I’m gonna go to hell if I don’t get my act together. It took God bringing someone into my life that showed me the love of Christ and telling me that God loved me no matter what I did, to bring me back to Him. By the way, I am in no way, shape or form correcting you on what you said. I just wish that the messages focused on both sides of God; Hiswrath and His love. You are doing a great job, though. I thank God for you and I am praying for you and for a kidney to come in. Love ya.