This has become one of my favorite times of year because every fall around Halloween, Southside Baptist Church in Princeton, Kentucky opens up their "Judgment House". Tonight, my family and I anxiously attended Judgment House to see what had unfolded this year.
The Judgment House is like a play. You begin on a journey with characters. There are usually about two or three main characters that you travel along with on their life journey. Tonight there was a young lady, 17 years old, who was diagnosed with cancer. She worked hard for the Lord. She was very passionate about introducing people to Christ to help build His Kingdom. She was a kingdom minded young lady, whose life of earth was difficult to live because of her terminal illness. As we traveled with this young lady, we actually walked through different rooms to watch the scenes of her life unfold. We watched her rollercoaster ride with cancer, and her determination to keep bringing souls to Christ despite her own illness.
In tonight's journey, the young lady, named Hannah, actually introduce another young lady around her age who also had cancer to Christ. The young lady prayed The Sinner’s Prayer and was saved. Hannah attempted to spread the love of God to a young man who also suffered from cancer, but he refused because he felt that everything in his life had gone wrong. First, his dad had left, and he did not know where he was, then the doctor's had informed him that there was nothing else that they could do to help cure his illness and that he was going to die. He was an extremely angry young man.
To make a long and emotional story short, Hannah actually dies, as well as the other two youth. We traveled to heaven with Hannah, where she was surprised to see the young lady that she shared Christ with, and to hell with the young man that allowed his anger to overshadow Christ’s love for him. Waiting for him was his father, whom he had been disconnected from since early childhood. His father still rejected him, and the young man began to blame his father for being in hell. The boy begged God for another chance, but God refused. He told him that he had plenty of chances, but he was too busy focusing on his own struggles that he could not see that God loved him. He had made the wrong choice and was hell bound for eternity!
Let me just say, God really used this group of people to spread the message of salvation. The tour counselor stated that they have had approximately 1,500 people go through the judgment house. Out of that massive number, around 150 have been saved and about 950 have rededicated their life to Jesus Christ. Heaven and Hell looked, and felt like what the Bible describes. Our names were called from the Lamb's Book of Life, and it really made the abstract of life after death tangible.
Attending Judgment House always humbles me. It brings me back to the reality that if my life is not totally committed to Christ, my choices could land me in Hell. It made me think that all that I think I am doing doesn't even really measure up to what I should be doing. When we entered Heaven, I wept the entire time. I don't think it was a dry eye in the group! What a marvelous day it will be when we get to Heaven and are greeted by our heavenly Father!
I am sure that this is not the only church organization that puts on a Judgment House. I have also heard these called Trilogy Houses. Check your local area to see if any churches are putting on anything like this. I have only really given a snapshot of what occurred tonight. And, I am not even sure if there are words to describe everything that I saw, heard, and felt on this night. If you are in this area, I encourage and recommend that you attend "Judgment House". You will never look at your salvation and relationship with God the same!
Lord, thank you for allowing my family to attend Judgment House tonight. Thank you for moving so powerfully through this church and give them the strength and resources needed to continue to do your will. Lord, I pray that anyone that does not know where they will spend eternity will seek your council. Let them know God that you love them, and created them for your purposes. Lord, I pray for each person that has recently found you. I pray that they stay on your path throughout their Christian journey. Lord, forgive me for the areas in my life that I do not exalt you. I realize that I am so unworthy of everything that you have done for me. Right now, I just want to thank you for even allowing me to have the opportunity to enter into your kingdom. Thank you for your son Jesus Christ, for if He had not died, I would have no way to reach you. Thank you Lord just for who you are!
Amen.
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