There is No Bad New in Good News

If fear is used as the impetus for a person to receive the Gospel, then it ceases to be the Gospel. Gospel, by definition, is 'good news'. 

Perfect love (God) casts out all fear. Fear is anti-God. 

It is the goodness of God that draws a person to God. 

Think about it -- which sane woman (a prospective bride) would want to live forever with an abusive, manipulative, judgmental, terrorizing, impatient, controlling, vindictive, demanding and a conditionally "loving" husband?

And yet, for years, we have inadvertently been (or was it purposeful, based on the interpretation that we chose to believe?) portraying God as the aforementioned husband - whether this portrayal is blatant or subtle.

Is God an Abusive Husband or a Deadbeat Dad?

"The main problem I have with the mainstream Christian view of hell is that it's starting place is that God's wrath must be satisfied against sinful man. 

I think before we can come to any conclusion about hell, our starting place needs to be "God is love." God's wrath needs to be defined in the context of love and our view of hell needs to be set within the context of love. God's very nature is love and he cannot violate that. 

If our view of hell turns God into an abusive husband (marry me or else) or a deadbeat dad (some are predestined for eternal torture), it can't be the right view because love is never abusive nor does it force itself on anyone, nor would love ever bring children into the world that it did not want and that it wouldn't die for." 

- Annette Hunsberger Presley

Related posts:

The Cosmic Turtle
Love is...
My Thoughts on Raising Hell