FIRE
IN THE BACKYARD

Topics: Assurance; Eternal Life; Hell

References: Mark 8:34–37; 9:43–48; Luke 12:5

Early on Friday morning, the phone rang. “David Noel?” I heard.

“Yes.”

“This is your neighbor, Mrs. Waldron.”

Not wanting to embarrass myself, I tried to place a Mrs. Waldron somewhere in my neighborhood. She continued, “There’s a fire in back of your house by the fence, close to the gas tanks.”

I don’t have a fence, nor are there any gas tanks anywhere near my home. However, I immediately went outside to see if there was indeed a fire. Returning to the phone, I said, “Ma’am, I think you have the wrong David Noel.”

“Aren’t you the David Noel that lives on Avery?”

“No, ma’am.”

“I’m very sorry,” she said.

“That’s quite all right,” I said.

I hung up the phone with a smile—and one more glance at the backyard. Minutes later I found myself looking in the backyard again. The stakes were too high to let a little embarrassment keep me from making sure.

The scriptural teachings are clear on hell. No one ought to ignore those teachings without serious investigation into the claims of Jesus Christ.

—David Noel, pastor, First Alliance Church, Columbus, Ohio