this past Sunday i got the privilege of hearing Bill Wiese speak about his "23 minutes in hell," which has made me see the blessings of my faith and the urgency for non-Christians in a whole new light.
my mom had been trying to get me to read the book for some time and while i have a stack of books i want to read and my attention span isn't terribly great, it was not on the top of my list. i know hell is real, i know it's a bad place, i know i don't want to go there...i'm good. but the way Bill spoke and the things he shared completely opened my eyes to a whole new realm of faith and what is truly waiting for us after this life.
basically, God granted Bill a vision of hell. in visions, you are fully able to travel and experience the things that God is showing you as if you are actually there. he said he has been a Christian for years, but when God put him in this scenario, He took away Bill's knowledge of that. He was sent to hell with the mindset of every other unbeliever that has gone and will go there.
he went downstairs to get a glass of water at 3am, and 3:23am was when his wife found Bill downstairs in a traumatic state, screaming for her to pray for him. that is where the "23 minutes in hell" came from.
i won't explain to you his whole story as i know i cannot do it justice, but the place he described was different than i expected.
hell is completely absent of God. while i have known this, trying to comprehend it took hell to a completely new level for me. i pulled some quotes from different websites that are similar to what he described to us.
"I was lying on the floor in this cell and I had absolutely no strength in my body. I wondered, "Why can I hardly move, what is wrong with me?" I was just aware of no strength, and I was helplessly lying there. One Demon just grabbed me and picked me up, and threw me into the wall like a glass. That was how light I was, or how strong he was. And threw me into the wall, and every bone in my body just broke. And I felt pain. I just began to lie on the floor there, crying out for mercy...
The one picked me up, and the other one, with his razor-sharp claws; he just shredded my flesh right off. He just tore it off, and had absolutely no care what so ever for this body that God so wonderfully made. It had a hatred that was so intense against me. I wondered, "Why am I alive, why am I living through this? I don't understand why I am not dead." My flesh just hung there in ribbons. And there was no blood, just flesh hanging, because life is in the blood, and there is no life in Hell. And there is no water in Hell.
The smell of these demons and the smell in Hell were so atrocious; I can't even describe it to you. There was a smell of burning flesh, of sulfur. The smell of these demons was like an open sewer, putrid, rotten meat, bad eggs, sour milk and everything you can imagine. Take it in, times 1000, and put it up to your nose. And you just breathe it in. It was so toxic, that it would kill you, if you were here in this body, you would die. And I wondered, "Why am I living through this smell, it is so horrendous?" But again you don't die, you have to endure it.
I was lying in the cell and it went dark, pitch, pitch black. There was a blackness that you couldn't even imagine. I managed to crawl out, somehow I was able to crawl and they let me apparently. I remembered where the door was so I crawled towards it and I felt my way, and I got outside the cell. I looked one direction, all black, and all I heard was screams, billions of people screaming in this place. I knew there were billions, and it was so loud. If you have ever heard someone scream before, it is so annoying. Well if you hear billions of people screaming, you can't imagine how it affects your mind. You just can't stand it. You hold your ears because it is so loud and penetrating. You can't get away from the screams."
some other things he described were maggots, eating people's flesh. he saw a literal lake of fire with millions of people burning, their flesh just falling right off their bodies.
Bill proceeded to tell about how burning is literally one of the worst pains you can experience as a human. he spoke about how he knows this fireman who described being in a burning building. the first floor was completely engulfed in flames and he was on the second floor. he said their suits are made to stand between 600 and 700 degrees and he began to feel the flesh under his gloves melt. so he went to the window and jumped. "it didn't even matter what was below," he told Bill. "anything not to burn anymore." the fireman also said that's why so many people had jumped from the Twin Towers on September 11th. nothing is worth enduring that heat. i couldn't believe that.
the thing that stood out to me the most is the eternal fear. he told a story about when he was younger, surfing out in florida
and there is no hope. nothing. God is Hope and God is completely absent.
the part that really hit home for me was when they showed a 3-minute video of clips from movies portraying hell. i wish i could find it to post, but i have had no luck. all i can is...it was awful and that was the point i began to cry. it showed miles and miles of people on crucifixes, with flames and lava leaping up on their bodies. it showed people on stone slabs, being stabbed and tortured and ripped apart. it showed thousands of screaming humans, all naked, being consumed and tormented by fire. it showed people being chased by demons through dark caverns, fear on their faces, knowing that they could only run for so long.
no words can describe the place portrayed in those clips. and that was only a glimpse. the smallest molecule of a taste. it broke my heart.
lastly, Bill said, you are alone. no matter how famous you are, no matter how many people in the world know your name now...that won't matter for all eternity. in hell, you have no name. no one knows who you are, or that you are even there. you are alone forever. and in hell, you grasp forever. the length of eternity.
it was mind-blowing to hear Bill tell us all that. and like i said, i cannot even begin to do him justice. but it made me realize what i have through my faith in Jesus. and what so many people don't have. i always joke around with people like, "you're going to burn for all eternity." i won't be doing that anymore.
the most shocking part of all this was when Bill said that so many Christians he talks to don't believe in hell. "A loving God wouldn't make a place like hell," they say. his response? "well, what about people who make prisons? do you think they're bad people? of course not, because the people that go there have the choice not to." i liked that. and what was so cool was that not one thing Bill said wasn't backed up by Scripture. he would say something and then follow with "in Isaiah such and such, it says...” there is so much evidence pointing to both sides of an afterlife in Scripture. it also clearly states in Scripture that through Him is the ONLY way to heaven. to not spend eternity separated from God. "God does not send people to hell. we are automatically on our way there the moment we are born. what God has done is created an alternate road and He is consistently inviting us over. we just have to take that step." -Bill Wiese
all in all, it was one of the most powerful services i have ever been to. after Bill spoke, there was an alter call and they estimated about 100 people had come forward. the whole congregation worshipped over them and praised God for Jesus. without a doubt, it was probably one of my most favorite moments i have yet experienced.
while i pulled out quotes to put in this post, i noticed quite a few articles rebuking Bill for the things he has shared. it is sad to me that so many people can be divided because of a work that one man is trying to do. i am quite a skeptic myself and although this is quite the uncomfortable topic, his words were consistently backed up by Scripture. anyone can pick and choose what they want to believe and what they don't want to believe, but that doesn't remove the truth and the power within it.
unfortunately, people choose to see it as a message of condemnation when it is actually the opposite. it is a message of hope. here is where you are supposed to go. and there is another place, and that is where God is calling you. please, please come.
and there is no hope. nothing. God is Hope and God is completely absent.
the part that really hit home for me was when they showed a 3-minute video of clips from movies portraying hell. i wish i could find it to post, but i have had no luck. all i can is...it was awful and that was the point i began to cry. it showed miles and miles of people on crucifixes, with flames and lava leaping up on their bodies. it showed people on stone slabs, being stabbed and tortured and ripped apart. it showed thousands of screaming humans, all naked, being consumed and tormented by fire. it showed people being chased by demons through dark caverns, fear on their faces, knowing that they could only run for so long.
no words can describe the place portrayed in those clips. and that was only a glimpse. the smallest molecule of a taste. it broke my heart.
lastly, Bill said, you are alone. no matter how famous you are, no matter how many people in the world know your name now...that won't matter for all eternity. in hell, you have no name. no one knows who you are, or that you are even there. you are alone forever. and in hell, you grasp forever. the length of eternity.
it was mind-blowing to hear Bill tell us all that. and like i said, i cannot even begin to do him justice. but it made me realize what i have through my faith in Jesus. and what so many people don't have. i always joke around with people like, "you're going to burn for all eternity." i won't be doing that anymore.
the most shocking part of all this was when Bill said that so many Christians he talks to don't believe in hell. "A loving God wouldn't make a place like hell," they say. his response? "well, what about people who make prisons? do you think they're bad people? of course not, because the people that go there have the choice not to." i liked that. and what was so cool was that not one thing Bill said wasn't backed up by Scripture. he would say something and then follow with "in Isaiah such and such, it says...” there is so much evidence pointing to both sides of an afterlife in Scripture. it also clearly states in Scripture that through Him is the ONLY way to heaven. to not spend eternity separated from God. "God does not send people to hell. we are automatically on our way there the moment we are born. what God has done is created an alternate road and He is consistently inviting us over. we just have to take that step." -Bill Wiese
all in all, it was one of the most powerful services i have ever been to. after Bill spoke, there was an alter call and they estimated about 100 people had come forward. the whole congregation worshipped over them and praised God for Jesus. without a doubt, it was probably one of my most favorite moments i have yet experienced.
while i pulled out quotes to put in this post, i noticed quite a few articles rebuking Bill for the things he has shared. it is sad to me that so many people can be divided because of a work that one man is trying to do. i am quite a skeptic myself and although this is quite the uncomfortable topic, his words were consistently backed up by Scripture. anyone can pick and choose what they want to believe and what they don't want to believe, but that doesn't remove the truth and the power within it.
unfortunately, people choose to see it as a message of condemnation when it is actually the opposite. it is a message of hope. here is where you are supposed to go. and there is another place, and that is where God is calling you. please, please come.
i challenge you, even those of you who already believe in hell...do the research. pull out the Word. see for yourself. while it is a horrible thought, it is necessary. listening to Bill speak gave me a revitalized view of my faith. i so willingly take what i have for granted on a daily basis and i wish not to do that anymore. i love seeing what i have been saved from. how glorious God really is that He would even give me another option! instead of the awful opposite. i would love for others to know that they have the same.
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