Featured Perspective

While yes that is true, however the fact that they do reject God is what keeps them from getting forgiveness and salvation.

John 3:18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

 

Let me put it this way, it is the rejection of God that keeps man under the condemnation from their sin.

 

Nope. Man is already under condemnation prior to any rejection of God. Their being lost in sin is what keeps them there, not rejection of God.

 

Depending upon where you live, it may happen more than you might expect. There used to be a church that put large crowds of its evangelists on the streets of downtown Fort Worth every Friday night to "evangelize." One of their standard tactics was to point at people and scream, "You're going to burn in hell," to those waiting to buy tickets at the movie theater. Their message indicated that the threat of hell was for going to see a movie, as well as general assumed evil (since no faithful Christian would be in line for a movie).

The church was named Kingdom Baptist Church out of the community of Venus, Texas. We even had one or two of their members on this site for awhile until they go banned. Apparently, the pastor and church decided to leave Fort Worth for the Ozarks of Missouri and have renamed themselves Long Run Baptist Church.

So, longer story than intended, many residents of Fort Worth have frequently had threats of hell cast at them, and it wasn't a rare experience. I hope the rest of you are more fortunate.

 

Do you think God is obligated to allow people to hear about Jesus Christ if God knows they won't accept it anyway?

Your missing the point, the point is that God is all knowing, and if there is someone out there in some far away land who WOULD accept Jesus Christ, God WILL send a missionary or someone to them.

If God wants all men to be saved and is not willing that any should come to repentance, you can rest assured that God will send someone to them if he knows they can be saved.

This is only a problem if you don't believe that God knows everything and is all powerful.

 

So members of one single church? Sounds rare to me.

 

Valid point about the quantity of people engaging in that action. However, my point still stands that a small group of people can have an outsized influence through the sheer amount of effort with which they engaged the public.

It actually comes up frequently with atheists I speak with on a normal basis. It is not a vague charge, but a specific experience. I have to explain the beliefs of the defunct Venus Baptist Church and why they may have done what they did. FWIW, they taught millennial exclusion, where Christians went to hell for sins like going to the movies, until they were finally punished enough that they might be made worthy. It was a fundamentalist purgatory scheme.

Most people I know encountered those folks and were condemned. It's a relief that they have fled Texas.

 

I am sure they ca. Such behavior is stupid and hateful and does nothing to represent God. In fact it is in line with (though not as extreme) as the attitude of extremists Muslims.

However, rare as it is, it is not a noteworthy discussion.

 

If you'll re-read what I wrote, and then compare that to FrigidDev's responses, you'll figure out what I was fishing for.

 

They perished in their sins.....

 

They do not want God or His word unless God opens their heart....