There is a place near the small town of Darvaz, Turkmenistan, called “The Door to Hell” by the locals. Thirty-five
years ago, geologists were drilling for gas, when suddenly they found
an underground cavern. It was so large that their entire drilling site
sank deep into the hole, including all their equipment and camps. Since
the cavern was filled with gas, nobody dared to go down there. Instead
they ignited it, in order to burn off the poisonous gas, and it has been
burning continuously now for thirty-five years. It is uncertain how
many tons of gas has been burned throughout the years, but there seems
to be an infinite supply there.
You can watch videos of this site below as well.
Video One
Video Two
This is an amazing wonder that God has given us. Here on earth we can actually catch a glimpse of what the fires of hell must look like. But this cannot compare to what hell is really like, since we cannot see the torment and the agony of what the millions of people there are experiencing.
This reminds me of an incident that happened a long time ago in Siberia. The Russians were drilling a hole into the earth about 14 kilometers deep, when suddenly the drill began to spin freely with no resistance. They realized they had drilled into some sort of cavern. So they pulled up the drill and lowered a microphone into it. The temperature was estimated to be 2,000 degrees F, which burned up the microphone within a few seconds. There they heard the sounds of human voices screaming in torment, and were able to capture them on tape. You can listen to this audio recording is online.
Furnace of Fire
If you read the Scriptures, Jesus described the place of eternal damnation as a furnace of fire, where their will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. He said, "The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness, and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." (Mat 13:41-42)
Unquenchable Fire
It's also an unquenchable fire, meaning it will never be extinguished. John the Baptist said, ""His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire." (Mat 3:12). The people in hell are so thirsty from the heat that they are begging for a drop of water, but there is no water in hell.
Putting it All Together
There are many more Scriptures I could cite to prove that hell is real, but these few references are enough to say that it's a burning hot place that is filled with flames. And there have been numerous people who have seen this place of torment and lived to tell about it. I've written about some of them in my previous posts. These include seven Colombian youths, a Nigerian pastor, named Daniel Ekechukwu, and a young lady from Ecuador, named Angelica Zambrano.
Those incidents happened in 1995, 2001, and 2009 respectively. Some of these individuals saw flames in hell that were nine to twelve feet high.
Do I believe the "Doors of Hell" in Turmenistan is
the actual opening to hell? No. But I think it gives us an open visual
representation of what it looks like in the underworld.
My friend, I hope you will not ignore these warnings from Scripture and nature. I hope you will know that Jesus Christ loves you, and it is not his will that anyone would perish in hell. But he can not make that choice for you. You must repent of your sin and put your faith in Him.
The apostle Peter preached, "Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." (Act 2:38). The Lord Jesus holds the keys of hell, death, and the grave.
And the apostle Paul taught that "If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. For the Scripture says, 'WHOEVER BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED.' For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him; for 'WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.'" (Rom 10:9-13)
Don't delay another day, because there is no guarantee you will have tomorrow.
Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you
repent and believe in Jesus. Do you know what God's Word, the Bible
says?
“Jesus
came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time
is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in
the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15). He preached that we must repent and
believe.
Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.
He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as
well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who
multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of
planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United
States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.
On November 30, 2001, a Nigerian pastor, named Daniel Ekechukwu, had an automobile accident. Afterward he was legally pronounced dead, placed in a mortuary for three days, and embalmed. But it was not time for his life on earth to end. Today he is alive and proclaiming the strong message that Jesus gave him for the world.
During the three days while he was dead, he was shown heaven and hell. Meanwhile, his wife was crying out for God to bring him back to her. She got his corpse out of the morgue, and brought it by ambulance to a meeting being conducted by evangelist, Reinhard Bonnke, of Christ for All Nations. Through the prayers of some pastors and others in the basement of the church, Daniel was raised from the dead.
His story is truly amazing, and his message is a warning for this generation about the realities of hell. While some may doubt this ever happened, this is a factual account that has been well-documented by numerous credible sources. There are many eyewitnesses and pieces of physical evidence that prove this really happened, including his coffin and his death certificate, signed by a medical doctor.
Daniel holding his death certificate
In fact, that doctor has testified that he pronounced him dead, and that he has seen him alive again. The mortician has also testified that he embalmed him and placed him in the morgue for three days. The pastor of the church where he was raised to life has testified that this happened, and that he could still smell the embalming fluid on Daniel's breath afterward. The pastors who prayed for him while he was dead have testified to what happened. An entire congregation of people saw him immediately after he was raised from the dead, as he was brought up onto the platform in plain view of them all.
For those who still doubt it, a man, named David Servant, has done a terrific job of verifying the account. He interviewed Daniel one year after his accident and reported on it. And then he continued to visit Nigeria annually for the following four years afterward. Since some people had sought to discredit Servant's report, he decided to do some follow up on the story during one of his subsequent annual visits to Nigeria. His follow up research was blessed with amazing coincidences, and the results of it absolutely confirmed the original story as he had reported it the first time.
Daniel being prayed for while he was dead
The story of Daniel Ekechukwu has been accurately reported by the 700 Club, and I am not going to rewrite their story. You can read it for yourself. Reinhard Bonnke has also produced a video about him that's available in six languages. I own a copy of it and have watched it more than once. I've included that video in this blog, which is available online below, so you can see it for yourself.
I have previously posted on experiences of others who saw hell, like the seven Colombian youths, a Fijian pastor in Australia, named Bill Kolikata, and a young lady from Ecuador, named Angelica Zambrano. Those incidents happened in 1995, 2007, and 2009 respectively. I am now posting this story of Daniel Ekechukwu, which occurred in 2001, because I believe it corroborates what the others testified to. Although these events happened in four different countries on three continents, they all saw similar things, and all have the same message of repentance for us. I also believe there is a reason why all these people have seen hell and have come back to tell about it. Jesus is grieved that so many people are going there, and he wants to warn us through his chosen servants.
You can chose to ignore the warnings, or you can listen to them and heed them. I choose to take them seriously and heed them. Why don't you watch Daniel's story below and decide for yourself?
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
After watching these videos, I think that you will find them quite sobering. Hell
is real! It's not a game, but an actual place of torment. Jesus said
He did not create hell for man, but for Satan. But humans are there,
because of sin. God wants to give you the best. He
wants you to enter the kingdom of heaven. Jesus Christ died for
you and all mankind. He wants you to repent, so that you can be saved.
As you prepare for the New Year, I hope that as part of your preparations, you will go before the Lord in earnest prayer about your own soul and the souls of your loved ones. And please share this with others you care about, so that they can benefit from it as well.
Author's note: Please prayerfully listen to this pastor's testimony, and use the Testimony Review Process
adopted by this blog, as you decide for yourself whether the Lord has
spoken to him. For issues and concerns, each person must confirm with
the Lord, whether something is valid or not. Brother Ekechukwa is not personally connected with this site. For more information on our position, please see Disclaimers.
If you enjoyed
this post, you may also like the other posts in this blog available
through the links in the side bar. You may also access my complete blog
directory at "Writing for the Master."
Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you
repent and believe in Jesus. Do you know what God's Word, the Bible
says?
“Jesus
came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time
is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in
the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15). He preached that we must repent and
believe.
Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.
He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as
well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who
multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of
planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United
States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.
This is the testimony of a Fijian man, named Viliame "Bill" Kolikata, pastor of Living Stones Mission Fellowship in Australia. While attending a prayer meeting at the great hall of the Parliament House, Canberra, on October 22, 2007, he had a heart attack and died. About twenty minutes later, he was resuscitated. This is a factual account that has been medically documented. Now he has a powerful message for the church and pastors today, as he retells the experience he had while he was dead.
"My heart just stopped and reports in the hospital said I was gone for 20 minutes. The doctors explained to me he can't do resuscitation on my mouth because there was no life, so he did it on my nose," Kolikata said. "They felt the heartbeat again, but it was in and out. I was in comatose for three days. They prayed and commanded the spirit of death to leave."
Kolikata said that while he was dead, his spirit left his body and went on a journey. As he looked back on this world, it was a very dark, sad place that
seemed haunted. There was nothing here that made him want to come back.
"I (could) see my body and saw the angels around me and they took me. I came to a beautiful place. On top of the mountain was a beautiful church strong. But one thing catches my eyes, the foundation of the building was made up of white sand," he shared.
He saw a beautiful church on a mountaintop in rainbow colors. It was on sand like the white sands of the Caribbean lagoons. He was told that this was the church on earth today. It is built on sand.
"The voice of the Lord said, 'Son, what you are seeing now is the picture of My Church in the world. It's beautiful, but the foundation is very weak. You need to take this message to church,'" Kolikata continued.
The
Lord told him, “My servants have departed from Me. They have departed
from My ways. There are a lot of sins in the church. There is no
holiness. The Church has compromised. Repent. Repent before me.
Humble yourself. Turn from your wicked ways.”
The Lord showed him that the church is involved in
alcohol, drugs, sexual immorality, and many other things. But no one
wants to say anything, because no one wants to offend anybody. He went on to say, "God is not happy. Jesus is not happy."
Shortly after Kolikata's experience, the leaders of Willow Creek Church near Chicago repented publicly for their mistakes. That church has been built on the seeker friendly
model of church growth. They do and preach what people want to hear.
They have spent millions of dollars doing this. They published Kolikata's story a few days after it happened. They confessed that after all these
years, they have not done the right thing. There is no discipleship in
the church.
Kolikata exhorts disciples of Christ by saying, "Pour your energy into serving the Lord and His kingdom. Invest your talents in His service. Pray, 'Lord, this is for You.'”
He points out that we
are all so focused on the natural, material realm. We invest in it.
It doesn’t matter how much you build in the natural. You cannot take
any of it with you. Everything we build will be destroyed. He says, "Give
everything you’ve got to the Lord: your own life, your wife, your
husband, your children, your talents, your energy. Always glorify God
in everything you do and say."
He emphasizes the need for a return to fasting, praying, feeding on the Word of God, because we are in a battle against darkness 24/7. He exhorts us to "Start doing what God says. Stop building on material things. Stop fulfilling your own plans and designs. Relationship comes first and then ministry. Make sure your relationship with God is right first. This is critical."
I believe that many pastors today think they are doing the right thing. And if they hear of this story, they may be inclined to dismiss it as potentially false, and something that does not apply to them. But Kolikata warns us not to do this. He says, "All seven churches in Revelation thought they were focused on the right thing. They were not aware of their sin until Jesus the Head of the Church revealed it to John. The message for all [except two of the] seven churches was 'repent.'"
He warns, "The Church does not belong to the pastors. It belongs to Jesus." There is only one Head of the church, and that's the Lord Jesus Christ. We need to restore Him to His rightful place once again. Today, Kolikata shares this message from the Lord with churches and anyone else who will listen.
Attribution: Excerpts of this story were used with permission from CBN News from an article called "Prayer Movement 'Rising Up' Australia." Other excerpts were taken from a 40-minute video of his testimony that was once posted online, but has since been marked private, and is no longer accessible to the general public.
Author's note: The pastor featured in this article is not personally connected with this site. Please prayerfully listen to his testimony, and use the Testimony Review Process
adopted by this blog, as you decide for yourself whether the Lord has
spoken to him. For issues and concerns, each person must confirm with
the Lord, whether something is valid or not. For more information on our position, please see Disclaimers.
Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you
repent and believe in Jesus. Do you know what God's Word, the Bible
says?
“Jesus
came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time
is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in
the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15). He preached that we must repent and
believe.
Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.
He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as
well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who
multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of
planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United
States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.
My wife and I recently listened to a testimony of seven Colombian youths who claim that Jesus took them for a tour of hell in 1995. I thank God for testimonies like this that can awaken us Christians to live our lives in accordance to God's Word.
The full length testimony is available below, and I highly recommend listening to it in its entirety!
I know that some people reading this will not believe, because it
doesn't fit into their box. Some will be skeptical and tempted to speak
against these servants of God. But please be careful not to do this! Please prayerfully listen to the testimony of these seven Columbians, and use the Testimony Review Process
adopted by this blog, as you decide for yourself whether the Lord has
spoken to them. For issues and concerns, each person must confirm with
the Lord, whether something is valid or not.
The apostle Paul said, "But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no one." (1Co 2:14-15)
The original testimony was in Spanish, and transcribed into
English. You can get contact names and numbers, along with their photos,
from their website. I do not believe it's a myth. Seven people testified to it.
Some People Who Once Knew Jesus Are in Hell
According to seven youths, the worst section of hell, where the torments are worse than any human could express with words, is reserved for those who knew the Lord during their lifetime. One youth testified, "These are people who knew Jesus and the Word of God – pastors, evangelists, missionaries, and all types of people that had once accepted Jesus and knew the Truth, but lived a double life. Their lives were not clean before the holy presence of the Lord. There were also backsliders, and their suffering was a thousand times worse than anyone else. Those souls were there because they preached and fasted. They sang and lifted their hands in the church. But in the streets and the homes, they were in adultery, fornication, lying, and robbery."
The Lord told the youths, “You cannot play with God or with the flames of hell either.” He also told them, “My sons, all the suffering on the earth concentrated in just one place is nothing – nothing -- compared with the suffering that a person has in the best parts of hell.” If this is true of those who suffer the least in hell, how much more must it be for those in the center of hell, who once knew the Lord and walked away from him.
Imagine - John Lennon in Hell
When Jesus took seven youths for a tour of hell, they saw many people there. One of the people they saw in hell was John Lennon, a member of the satanic Beatles group. During his life he had mocked and ridiculed the Lord. But in hell, after his life on earth had ended, he was upside down in a cauldron of fire with flames reaching nine to twelve feet high. The flesh was falling off his face in pieces.
On December 5, 1980, fifteen years earlier, he had been shot five times by a crazy fan as he and his wife, Yoko, were returning to their apartment building in New York City. John staggered into the building saying; "I'm shot!" Yoko called for help. Two police vehicles arrived in minutes, and one rushed John to Roosevelt Hospital. Lennon died in transit, and evidently went straight to hell.
Lennon signing his autograph for murderer Mark Chapman
Within minutes, crowds gathered outside the building. They brought flowers and candles, and sang, "Imagine," "In My Life," and "Give Peace a Chance." At least two fans committed suicide, when they heard the news. During his lifetime, fans had idolized him, and they continued to do so upon his death. In fact the man who murdered him, Mark Chapman, had just gotten Lennon to sign his autograph a few hours earlier, as pictured left!
In my opinion, Lennon sold his soul to satan, who took his life at age 40. His fans sang this song upon his death. They sang, “Imagine there’s no heaven…no hell below us…imagine…nothing to…die for, and no religion, too.” In his song, Give Peace a Chance, he promoted wicked, sinful behavior and the world’s false religions, as well as the United Nations. They have a website dedicated to him and an Imagine Peace Tower in Iceland made of white stone with fifteen beams of light. They even have an Imagine Mosaic dedicated to him in New York City's Central park. There you can almost always find someone strumming on a guitar to the tune of one of his songs. He is remembered as an advocate for a more peaceful world – a world without Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace, without whom there can be no peace.
Now Lennon has no peace. According to the testimony of the seven Colombian youths, he has nothing but torment in the fires of hell, apart from Christ forever and ever. When he saw Jesus with those seven Columbian youths, he remained watching the Lord intently from inside the flames. He called Him, “Lord,” as he begged Jesus to get him out of that place. He shouted, “Lord, have mercy! Lord, give me a chance! Lord, take me out of this place! But the Lord Jesus didn’t even want to look at him. He simply turned his back on Lennon, just as he had turned so many people away from Christ during his lifetime. When Jesus did this, the man started to curse and blaspheme the Lord.
Interestingly Lennon had a phobia of cremation, and dreaded the thought of being cremated when he died. According to controversial biographer Albert Goldman, "Lennon had a horror of cremation, a practice that he inveighed against and once proposed to protest in a song. Despite his aversion, his widow arranged to have his body burned." According to the account of Lennon’s assistant, Fred Seaman, in his book "The last days of John Lennon", Lennon’s security man, Douglas MacDougal told him that John's face had been serene and calm until just before the body entered the oven, when suddenly it contorted into a "pained, macabre grin." This may have been due to rigor mortis or a demonic manifestation within his corpse. Whether or not this is true, we don’t know. But we do know, according to what the youths saw, that he is now in painful torment in eternal flames.
His wife Yoko would like to imagine that Lennon has peace though, and she continues to proclaim that message to the world. On December 8, 2011, the 31st anniversary of his death, the Washington Post reported that she told the Vancouver Sun, “Now that John's a spirit, he has a different effect on people than when he was alive,” she told the Sun. “Spirits talk on a pure level and don't get distracted by people saying things like, 'That's nice, but why's he wearing that?'” One thing is for sure, his soul is talking, but he’s not talking on a pure level. He is crying out in pain and is still blaspheming Christ.
Putting it All Together
My friend, hell is real. Jesus warned us about this in Scripture. And the Lord gave these Colombians this experience, in order to warn those of us who are still alive on the earth. He did this because many people are dying and going to hell every minute.
Please don't think you can play games with God. You may be able to play with fire on earth, but you cannot play with the fires of hell. As long as you are still alive on earth, you have a chance to avoid going there. Don't delay doing so for another day.
If you have known the Lord, but have gone astray and fallen into sin, then repent and return to the Lord before it's too late! This is an opportunity to let the Holy Spirit search your heart and reveal any areas that are not right with God. Let Him reveal any sin that may be in your life. Who has first place in your life today? Is it Jesus? Or is it someone
or something else? Don't lie to yourself and think you can live a
double life. You can't live one way in church and then another way
outside of church. Even sin such as gossip, greed, and vanity are serious sins to God.
Don't be presumptuous. Don't classify your sins, thinking they are
relatively minor compared to others.
Backsliding Christians can repent and return to the Lord. But if they
don't, then when they die they will suffer eternal torment for the sins they are committing. There is no such thing as "eternal security!" I've written about that in another post called "Drifting Away." The Lord repeatedly told the youths, “Without holiness, no man will see Me. Without holiness, no man will see Me.” I've recently written about this topic in another post called "Holy Living in a Perverted World." Yet many believers today don't understand the need for holiness. They are living in sin, thinking they will go to heaven when they die.
Everyone arrives in hell for their own acts, so they cannot blame God. Paul the apostle wrote to the Galatians, "Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life." (Gal 6:7-8). We will each reap what we've sown. Some will reap eternal life, because they spend their lives sowing to please the Spirit. You know who they are, because the fruit of the Spirit is evident in their lives - love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Others who sow to their own flesh will reap corruption.
You have an opportunity today to turn from sin and cry out to Jesus for mercy. I urge you to do that right now while there is still time -- before it's too late. God will forgive you, if you repent.
Author's note: The Seven Colombian Youth are not personally connected with this site. Please prayerfully listen to their testimony, and use the Testimony Review Process
adopted by this blog, as you decide for yourself whether the Lord has
spoken to them. For issues and concerns, each person must confirm with
the Lord, whether something is valid or not. For more information on our position, please see Disclaimers.
If you enjoyed
this post, you may find more testimonies like this one the Home page for this blog. You may also access my complete blog
directory at "Writing for the Master."
Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you
repent and believe in Jesus. Do you know what God's Word, the Bible
says?
“Jesus
came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time
is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in
the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15). He preached that we must repent and
believe.
Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.
He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as
well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who
multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of
planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United
States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.
