Where Will You Spend Eternity?
Wednesday, November 12, 2008 by Dee
This is going to be a little different than what I normally write. This is about an experience I had last night that was one of the most powerful thing’s I’d seen. I saw God move in a room of over 700 people.
Don and I went to see “Heaven’s Gate & Hell’s Flames” at a local church. Don had seen it before and told me to bring a lot of Kleenex because he knew I’d be crying. He told me when it was over I’d feel like my emotions had been on a roller coaster ride. He was right. I was crying but not as much because of what I saw during the play but what happened after.
I’ll tell you a little about “Heaven’s Gate & Hell’s Flame” to set the mood. It’s a play produced by Reality Outreach Ministries. This is a group out of Canada but they have 9 groups in the US and many other groups in other countries. They go to the churches all across the U.S. and teach them how to do the play using members from that church as the actors. It intermingles video with live action and it’s great how the 2 fit together. The stage is filled with silver and gold with a stairway to heaven being flanked by angels and The Book of Life. On the other side of the stage is hell, complete with a dark hole and flames. There are many scenes of people in different places in their life from denouncing the existence of Christ and God to those who feel they know what they need to do but will accept Christ at a later time after they live life the way they want to those who are believers and have accepted Christ either earlier in their life or at that moment. Each person is met with an untimely death and are at the gates to heaven. Those who have accepted Christ find their name in the book and are welcomed by Christ into heaven. The other’s are blocked from entering heaven and Satan and his minions come out and take them kicking and screaming into the flames. There are a number of relationships that meet that untimely death. A family who are all believers are met not only by Christ but by a young child they’d lost earlier who had accepted Christ before she died. There are a mother and daughter where the daughter is a believer and the mother isn’t. Their separation is heart wrenching. I was tearing up during these scenes but as I’d mentioned it was the scene after that really got to me. It was seeing God at work in people’s lives.
After the play ended they asked everyone to stay in their seats. The producer from Reality Outreach Ministries gave a little talk about what we’d just seen then he asked everyone to bow their heads. He prayed than asked for anyone who was ready to accept Christ to raise their hands. He then told them to lower their hands and asked everyone who had accepted Christ but have backslidden and felt led to get right with God to raise their hands. He then asked all those that had raised their hands to stand and invited them to step into the aisles and move forward. Then came the invite to everyone there to ask the people sitting near them if they were ready to accept Christ and to bring them to the front. Then it was time for those still in our seats to stand in support. When I opened my eyes I was amazed. Out of the 700 people in attendance at least half were in the front accepting Christ either for the first time or rededicating their lives to Him. That is when I lost it and really started crying.
The producer prayed the Sinner’s Prayer and asked everyone to repeat it with him. After he was done speaking he told those who were standing in front and in the aisles that they would be led to a room where they were going to meet with people that will answer any of their questions and help them in their decision. If they had bibles they were encouraged to start reading them and if they needed a bible the church would try to get them one for free.
My heart was full and I could feel the love of Jesus in that church. He was there and He was working a miracle. They were to have the play for three nights. The first night they had 400 people in attendance, the second night there were 600 and the third night when we attended there were over 700 and were bringing out folding chairs so more could get in. The first 2 nights they’d had over 350 people accept Christ. Because of the work that was being done they were extending it for another night.
If you’re a member of a church I suggest you try to get Reality Outreach Ministries to come to you for this production. If you don’t want to put on a production they have a video available that the members of Reality Outreach Ministries acted in that’s available at the site’s store along with T-shirts designed by them. There was no charge to attend this production and the sale of their merchandise helps fund their work. Please check out their website for further information.
Hebrews 9:27 Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.
John 3:3 In reply Jesus declared, “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.”
Don and I went to see “Heaven’s Gate & Hell’s Flames” at a local church. Don had seen it before and told me to bring a lot of Kleenex because he knew I’d be crying. He told me when it was over I’d feel like my emotions had been on a roller coaster ride. He was right. I was crying but not as much because of what I saw during the play but what happened after.
I’ll tell you a little about “Heaven’s Gate & Hell’s Flame” to set the mood. It’s a play produced by Reality Outreach Ministries. This is a group out of Canada but they have 9 groups in the US and many other groups in other countries. They go to the churches all across the U.S. and teach them how to do the play using members from that church as the actors. It intermingles video with live action and it’s great how the 2 fit together. The stage is filled with silver and gold with a stairway to heaven being flanked by angels and The Book of Life. On the other side of the stage is hell, complete with a dark hole and flames. There are many scenes of people in different places in their life from denouncing the existence of Christ and God to those who feel they know what they need to do but will accept Christ at a later time after they live life the way they want to those who are believers and have accepted Christ either earlier in their life or at that moment. Each person is met with an untimely death and are at the gates to heaven. Those who have accepted Christ find their name in the book and are welcomed by Christ into heaven. The other’s are blocked from entering heaven and Satan and his minions come out and take them kicking and screaming into the flames. There are a number of relationships that meet that untimely death. A family who are all believers are met not only by Christ but by a young child they’d lost earlier who had accepted Christ before she died. There are a mother and daughter where the daughter is a believer and the mother isn’t. Their separation is heart wrenching. I was tearing up during these scenes but as I’d mentioned it was the scene after that really got to me. It was seeing God at work in people’s lives.
After the play ended they asked everyone to stay in their seats. The producer from Reality Outreach Ministries gave a little talk about what we’d just seen then he asked everyone to bow their heads. He prayed than asked for anyone who was ready to accept Christ to raise their hands. He then told them to lower their hands and asked everyone who had accepted Christ but have backslidden and felt led to get right with God to raise their hands. He then asked all those that had raised their hands to stand and invited them to step into the aisles and move forward. Then came the invite to everyone there to ask the people sitting near them if they were ready to accept Christ and to bring them to the front. Then it was time for those still in our seats to stand in support. When I opened my eyes I was amazed. Out of the 700 people in attendance at least half were in the front accepting Christ either for the first time or rededicating their lives to Him. That is when I lost it and really started crying.
The producer prayed the Sinner’s Prayer and asked everyone to repeat it with him. After he was done speaking he told those who were standing in front and in the aisles that they would be led to a room where they were going to meet with people that will answer any of their questions and help them in their decision. If they had bibles they were encouraged to start reading them and if they needed a bible the church would try to get them one for free.
My heart was full and I could feel the love of Jesus in that church. He was there and He was working a miracle. They were to have the play for three nights. The first night they had 400 people in attendance, the second night there were 600 and the third night when we attended there were over 700 and were bringing out folding chairs so more could get in. The first 2 nights they’d had over 350 people accept Christ. Because of the work that was being done they were extending it for another night.
If you’re a member of a church I suggest you try to get Reality Outreach Ministries to come to you for this production. If you don’t want to put on a production they have a video available that the members of Reality Outreach Ministries acted in that’s available at the site’s store along with T-shirts designed by them. There was no charge to attend this production and the sale of their merchandise helps fund their work. Please check out their website for further information.
Hebrews 9:27 Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.
John 3:3 In reply Jesus declared, “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.”
