According to a recent Gallop Poll, the number of Americans that believe in hell is up from 54% in 1965 to 73% today. The problem isn't that postmodern people don't believe it hell, it is that they don't think they will go there. In 1965, 17% thought they were headed there, today only 6% see it as their destiny.

"That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." (Romans 10:9 NASB)

—Charisma News Service, 2-25-2000 http://www.mcjonline.com/news/00/20000225e.htm Illustration by Jim L. Wilson

Hell has lost its fire and brimstone in the minds of most Americans. A U.S. News & World Report poll shows that more people believe in hell today than they did in the 1950s, but think of hell as a state of existence where a person suffers deprivation from God rather than as a physical place. While 64% of respondents said there was a hell, 53% agreed it is "more of an anguished state of existence eternally separated from God" than an actual place. Only thirty-four percent said hell is an actual place where people suffer eternal fiery torments.

Economists searching for reasons to explain why some nations of the world are richer than others have discovered an interesting correlation. Nations whose populations have a widespread belief in hell tend to be less corrupt and more prosperous.

The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis reported the study. Drawing on work by outside economists who studied 35 countries, including the United States, Europe, Japan, India, and Turkey, the report found that certain religious beliefs apparently have an impact on people's behavior. The St. Louis Fed quarterly review says, "In countries where large percentages of the population believe in hell, there seems to less corruption and a higher standard of living." For example, 71 percent of the United States' population claim to believe in a real hell, and the country has the world's highest per capita income. Ireland, which has income levels comparable to the United States, reports that 53 percent of their population believe in the existence of hell.

Researchers acknowledged that factors such as productivity and investment play a big role in the economic process, but they also looked at other unconventional motivations to explain the differences in national prosperity.

—http://news.yahoo.com/ Believing in Hell Has Its Benefits, Wednesday, July 28, 2004. Illustration by Jim L. Wilson and Jim Sandell.

Good deeds are not enough to keep anyone out of hell, but God offers redemption through His love and mercy.

Psalm 103:2-4 (NASB) "Bless the Lord, O my soul, And forget none of His benefits; [3] Who pardons all your iniquities; Who heals all your diseases; [4] Who redeems your life from the pit; Who crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion;"

During the closing moments of the season three finale of Supernatural, the show ends with a cliffhanger. The younger of the Winchester brothers, Sam, kneels crying over the remains of his older brother, Dean. The audience expects the show to be over; however, the writers have a final twist. The camera zooms onto Dean's eye as it shifts to a new perspective. Lightning strikes intermingle with clouds of smoke from flames. A muffled cry reverberates across the landscape. The camera begins to zoom toward the source of the sound. Barbed chains interweave leading to an imprisoned Dean. Metal passes throughout his body. Blood appears like sweat. Through the pain, his eyes search for another soul in the vicinity. He is alone. With a hoarse cry, he shouts for his brother, "Sam!" As his screams lessen, the camera focuses on the pain and fear in his face as he gnashes his teeth together.

– Supernatural, "No Rest for the Wicked,"episode 3.16 (originally aired May 15, 2008), 00:38:00-00:39:00.

The majority of society tends to deny or lessen the realities of hell by viewing it as merely a place of isolation. While there is an aspect of isolation from the righteousness of God, human imagination can only attempt to formulate analogs for the pain and suffering disclosed within the Biblical text.—Jim L. Wilson and Aaron Huntley

Matthew 13:49–50 (NASB): "So it will be at the end of the age; the angels will come forth and take out the wicked from among the righteous, and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."

In her mostly positive review of the movie heaven is for real Sophia Lee gives one warning. “One issue with the over emphasis on a wondrous heaven is the risk of negating the reality of a terrible hell–and the one and only way to heaven. Without clarity in the Gospel and the assurance of salvation, the film cannot provide true comfort and peace.”

One of the beauties of heaven is the promise of an eternal fate better than we deserve. To make that clear, one must understand the awfulness of the alternative. --Jim L. Wilson and Rodger Russell

Romans 2:6-7 (HCSB) (6) He will repay each one according to his works: (7) eternal life to those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor, and immortality;

When someone stole a brand new $3500 air conditioner from Akron Alliance Fellowship Church in Akron Ohio, church officials posted "Whoever stole our AC Unit: Keep it. It's hot where you're going" on their marquee sign.

When interviewed about the sign, Pastor Gus Brown, told reporters "Staying on this path will only get you one place. And we don't want you to go there. Our desire is to even see him at our church one day." —Jim L. Wilson

https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2019/09/19/Church-claps-back-at-AC-thieves-Its-hot-where-youre-going/2211568916264/?sl=17

Hell is no laughing matter. Pastor Brown is right to be concerned over the thief’s soul.

They will pay the penalty of eternal destruction from the Lord’s presence and from his glorious strength

American Quarterback & Superbowl winner Aaron Rodgers has been quoted as no longer believing in God. He said, "I don't know how you can believe in a God who wants to condemn most of the planet to a fiery hell".

I don’t blame him for that. I don’t believe in that God either. The God of Christianity doesn’t want to condemn anyone to hell, he too extraordinary steps to provide salvation to all who believe. —Jim L. Wilson and Rodger Russell.

2 Peter 3:9 (CSB) “The Lord does not delay his promise, as some understand delay, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish but all to come to repentance.”