HELL IS RIGHT HERE ON EARTH!
This is the claim of Bishop Carlton Pearson, a minister who had so
much influence in the world of TV evangelism. He was once a rising
star on TBN, and someone whom Oral Roberts himself took under his own
wing! All this changed after Pearson had, what he called, a
“revelation” from God about hell, and after he started to
preach this revelation, things took a turn for the worse. What was
this “new revelation”?
Pearson claims God had told him hell is right here on earth! He told his story on an ABC 20/20 news special entitled “Hell, the Fear and Fascination” which aired on the 13th of July, Friday the thirteenth for all you superstitious readers out there! This startling new revelation did major damage to Pearson's ministry. According to the news story, Pearson's church membership went from a whopping six thousand members to just under three hundred. He was labeled a heretic from his own denomination, the very same one who ordained him! He was shunned by his own peers...all due to this “new revelation!”
I myself used to watch Pearson on TV quite a bit. He was a preacher who believed the Bible was the literal Word of God and preached the Gospel from the pulpit without compromise. He was never afraid to talk about how hell and damnation await those who refuse the saving grace of Jesus Christ! I respected his strong stand, I really did! But now, all this has changed, and for the worse I might add!
How did Pearson come to this point? How could someone who once preached the cross of Jesus Christ believe such a thing? Apparently this did not happen overnight. After a long period of much “careful” study, Pearson came to what the news story called a “crisis of faith” where he claims the Bible is not the literal Word of God, but rather a book “about God” written by fallible and sometimes corrupt, misled and even politically motivated men. However it was not until Pearson was watching a news story with Peter Jennings reporting on the suffering in Rwanda that he received this “revelation” from God that...”hell is right here on earth!”
This is what saddens me very much! Someone who supposedly knows the Word of God, turns from scripture to a new age, inclusion gospel. Nobody goes to hell, because we are already here, and everyone goes to heaven, no matter what they believe, or whatever religious denomination or faith they come from. This of course is a very popular message. As a result, Pearson's church is making up for the lost numbers with new membership. People are flocking to his church by the numbers and it's growing!
Everyone goes to heaven! Pearson really believes this, and says so:
“We may go through hell, but nobody goes to it” (Carlton Pearson - “20/20 Hell the Fear and Fascination” 07/13/07)
This would be a very nice prospect, however the only problem is... what about Jesus Christ? What about His death and Resurrection? What about scripture, what it says about mans rebellion against God and Jesus Christ satisfying God's righteous and holy demand for justice?
Romans 3:25 - Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;
1 John 2:2 - And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.
How does Pearson's claim fit into all of this? He claims he knows all the defense and the scriptures naysayers like myself would bring up, but he has not answered this question: If hell is right here on earth, and it is something we create ourselves, and if everyone goes to heaven...WHY DID JESUS CHRIST DIE IN THE FIRST PLACE??? If what Pearson says is true, then we do not need salvation through the cross of Christ, we do not need forgiveness of sin, there is no need to be born-again, nor do we need the redemptive power of the blood of Jesus Christ, therefore CHRIST DIED FOR NOTHING!! Pearson has yet to explain this!!
SOLA SCRIPTURA – THE SCRIPTURE ALONE!
This newsletter is not about whether hell exists or not, scripture makes it very clear it does! This article is really about a former minister of the Gospel, who once pastored a huge church with over six thousand people, rejecting the Bible as the Word of God and turning to new age philosophy. Pearson makes it very clear in what he says:
“Religion is the accuser of the brethren. That's what the devil is, it's legal systems, religious dogmas that say you're not good enough...you're not God enough” (Carlton Pearson - “20/20 Hell the Fear and Fascination” 07/13/07)
“My hope is that people will learn to love themselves, accept themselves and celebrate themselves, that's pretty dramatic, but I think it'll save the planet” (Carlton Pearson - “20/20 Hell the Fear and Fascination” 07/13/07)
There's nothing here of self denial, picking up your cross daily and following Jesus...absolutely nothing!
I will agree there is much suffering here on earth, I also could ask the same question Pearson asks, how could a loving, all merciful God, whose mercies endure forever, send people to hell? This does not sound like a loving, compassionate God...does it? Let me tell you what a loving and compassionate God is like:
1 John 4:10 - Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
Now this is a loving and compassionate God! Even though we did not love Him, He loved us so much that He provided the way for us to be spared from hell...not the so-called one here on earth, but the REAL one...the eternal, everlasting lake of fire (Revelation 20:15). We do not have to go there, because of what Jesus Christ did at the cross of Calvary! Salvation is in Christ alone! Believing hell is here on earth, or a state of mind, does not change this fact! I just pray Carlton Pearson will return to preaching the true Gospel of Jesus Christ while there is yet still time.
Search the Scripture for yourself! SOLA SCRIPTURA! The Scripture ALONE! May the Lord bless you!
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