In the morning, I'll be cleaning my mouth guard by soaking it in a water /bleach solution. Why do I need a mouth guard you ask? Keep reading below from March 29, 2010!I reached my dentist's office this morning before 7:00AM. Downtown Houston is eerie and almost eerily charming before the masses arrive. This was an easy appointment, as easy as they come. Apparently, according to my dentist, I grind my teeth and I need a mouth guard. There are people I trust implicitly and Dr. Charles Campbell is one of them. If he tells me that I need something done, I have the procedure with no qualms. Today was just the fitting and Dr. Campbell's assistant went over a few tips for cleaning, insertion and removal, etc. Tonight is the maiden voyage for my new piece of equipment. What a great incentive for going to sleep!
I don't know what makes me grind my teeth. This actually is the second mouth guard Dr. Campbell has made for me. I accidentally threw the other one out about nine years ago. Maybe that's why I'm a teeth grinder; I lose almost everything! The dental community says grinding, medically termed bruxism, is caused by stress in our daytime lives. I don't think I have stress but I do know I'm a lousy sleeper- I never sleep more than several hours without waking up and that has been since early childhood. You know what I don't like about teeth grinding? It's spiritual application. Seven times, the Biblical synonym, gnashing of teeth, is used in the New Testament and always coming from the mouth of Jesus. (Six times in Matthew and once in Luke, if you're interested.) Each time, it is in the context of eternal punishment. And each time, those in that uncomfortable position certainly aren't sleeping. I doubt the Evil One will be offering mouth guards to his eternal guests. And on the other side of eternity, the companions of Jesus won't need them. They won't be sleeping either; too much singing going on!
Applicable quote of the day:
''Anger is implanted in us as sort of sting, to make us gnash with our teeth against the devil, to make us vehement against him, not to set us in array against each other.''
Richard Savage
''Anger is implanted in us as sort of sting, to make us gnash with our teeth against the devil, to make us vehement against him, not to set us in array against each other.''
Richard Savage
God bless,
Steve
Luke 18:1
Steve
Luke 18:1
E-mail me at steve@hawleybooks.com
3 comments:
Praying that you will sleep well tonight.
Most interesting. I didn't know much about grinding teeth, I do hope you can sleep peacefully now.
Take care.
Yvonne
Actually, the saying "where there shall be crying and grinding of teeth" is only in the context of the arrival of the Messiah to set up his EARTHLY reign. Those who were not faithful to God beforehand will be left out of getting to have any esteemed appointments, but will end up having to live as lowly serfs. Upon beging so excluded, the expectation was a day of shame, morning and self-recrimination...but that's still a far cry from being eternally tortured by fire!
The idea of eternal torture in the afterlife was a Greek import that came along much later (which is why you find the term Hades' [Realm] in the Greek, the underworld ruled by a pagan god).
But these adulterations of the gospels should be obvious to anyone who gets the core message of Jesus, which makes it very clear how much he opposed hurting people in the name of God, as a punishment or otherwise.
I've actually written an entire book on this topic--Hell? No! Why You Can Be Certain There's No Such Place As Hell, (for anyone interested, you can get a free ecopy of Did Jesus Believe in Hell?, one of the most compelling chapters in my book at www.thereisnohell.com), but if I may, let me share one of the many points I make in it to explain why.
If one is willing to look, there's substantial evidence contained in the gospels to show that Jesus opposed the idea of Hell. For example, in Luke 9:51-56, is a story about his great disappointment with his disciples when they actually suggested imploring God to rain FIRE on a village just because they had rejected him. His response: "You don't know what spirit is inspiring this kind of talk!" Presumably, it was NOT the Holy Spirit. He went on, trying to explain how he had come to save, heal and relieve suffering, not be the CAUSE of it.
So it only stands to reason that this same Jesus, who was appalled at the very idea of burning a few people, for a few horrific minutes until they were dead, could never, ever burn BILLIONS of people for an ETERNITY!
True, there are a few statements that made their way into the copies of copies of copies of the gospel texts which place “Hell” on Jesus’ lips, but these adulterations came along many decades after his death, most likely due to the Church filling up with Greeks who imported their belief in Hades with them when they converted.
Bear in mind that the historical Protestant doctrine of the inspiration of the Scriptures applies only to the original autographs, not the copies. But sadly, the interpolations that made their way into those copies have provided a convenient excuse for a lot of people to get around following Jesus’ real message.
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