October 2009
Dear Friends,
Listen to this:
“I died today. It’s a lot different than I expected. You see, I always thought that dying would bring me to a world that is foggy and hazy. But this place is crystal clear. It’s even more real than my life on earth. I can think. I can talk. I can even feel. And I’m scared!”
Those lines are from “A Letter from Hell” – a five-minute video that has been viewed over three-quarters of a million times on YouTube. It started out on GodTube in October of 2007, where it ranked number ten with over 135,000 views in a single week.
“A Letter from Hell” hit the big time when the ABC television network spotlighted the video on its Nightline news-magazine show.
I’ve watched it on my computer, and I can tell you that it packs a powerful punch! It’s about death and judgment and eternal torment – and why the writer of the letter ended up in hell in spite of the fact that he had a Christian friend who could have led him to Christ.
The video majors in guilt, dread, fright and horrible foreboding. Maybe that’s why it disappeared from the GodTube website. But it still plays on at least four different sites on YouTube, the massively popular Internet site that invites users to share their short videos with the cyber world.
I bring this up for a couple of reasons. First of all, “A Letter from Hell” is another example of how the enemy of souls is using media – all kinds of media – to propagate his lies about God and how He will ultimately deal with the lost; lies about the beautiful, righteous character of God and His unyielding love for even those who reject Him.
The other reason is this: In spite of its unbiblical view of the eventual fate of the lost, it carries a strong appeal for Christians to share their faith and not let their friends go to their graves without Christ.
This appeal strikes home for us. How can we rest easy while millions are rejecting their salvation because they cannot accept a God who damns the lost to unending, unremitting, unmerciful torture?
The false doctrine of “immediate unending physical torment” was formalized by the Fourth Lateran Council back in 1215 AD. By the time of the Protestant Reformation three hundred years later this vile fruit of satanic deception was universally entrenched within Christendom.
Today it has become more than a doctrine. It is embedded in our culture, merged into popular superstition, and part of a deeply rooted folk religion.
Among secular, irreligious people, belief in hell has become a target of ridicule. Satan and his cohorts are cartoon characters and comedic caricatures. God Himself is portrayed as a silly jokester or a frivolous sage.
All this is part of Satan’s Plan B: Present the whole idea of death, judgment and hell as so far-fetched as to make it unworthy of serious attention.
But, friends, you and I know that everlasting life and everlasting death are the only eternal alternatives for the human family. We cannot leave Satan’s deceptions uncontested.
In The Great Controversy Between Christ and Satan, Ellen G. White wrote:
“It is beyond the power of the human mind to estimate the evil which has been wrought by the heresy of eternal torment. The religion of the Bible, full of love and goodness, and abounding in compassion, is darkened by superstition and clothed with terror.
“When we consider in what false colors Satan has painted the character of God, can we wonder that our merciful Creator is feared, dreaded, and even hated? The appalling views of God which have spread over the world from the teachings of the pulpit have made thousands, yes, millions, of skeptics and infidels.”
Perhaps you have family members, neighbors and coworkers who are caught in the snares of deceit; friends and loved ones whose views of God and the hereafter have been warped and twisted so badly that they are afraid of their heavenly Father and want nothing to do with Him or His plan for their lives.
I hope that you can find ways to help them see through the deception and discover the truth before it is forever too late.
Here at LLT we are committed to challenging Satan’s false doctrine of eternal torment. As funds become available we will produce videos that will confront error with truth. Our work has already begun, with several hours of interviews with guest theologians awaiting the editing process.
With your support we will have videos that are suitable for the Internet, for television, and for personal sharing. We will maintain our high standards of production quality and authoritative content. We want to meet the enemy wherever he is, whether on the airwaves or in cyberspace.
Please pray for us as we do this work. And please continue your financial support as God directs.
Many blessings,
Pat Arrabito
PS: See our new websites at www.sabbathhistory.com and www.sabbathintersections.com.
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