Hello, this is pastor gary from first baptist church of laplata. Did you hear about the guy who finished last in his Fantasy Football League and was punished for doing so by spending 24 hours in a Waffle House restaurant? The only way he could shorten his stay was by eating waffles; each complete waffle he ate shaved one hour off of his 24 hour sentence. Lee Sanderlin ended up eating eight waffles over the course of 16 hours and his experience was described as “full of carbohydrates, regret, and intestinal pain.” Sanderlin’s stay in the Waffle House was called “Purgatory.” Purgatory is the Roman Catholic concept of a place of purification after death if one is not quite ready to enter heaven; one can be purified through personal suffering and the collective prayers and gifts of living loved ones. Purgatory is not biblical. When one passes from this life, he is either headed to heaven or hell—there is no in-between stage. People are either purified by the blood of Christ while they are living, or they are condemned to eternal hell when they no longer are. Hebrews 9:27 reminds us, “And as it is appointed unto man once to die but after this the judgment.” The Waffle House may be a place of suffering for those who choose to go there, but customers are free to come and go as they please. Hell is a place of permanent residence with no freedom whatsoever.
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