My daughter, Nicole Beauchemin, speaks from her heart about what she believes. She asked “Don’t you think when God says “depart from me I never knew you”… that he might be talking to people who were only trying to escape hell? If you just look deeper, hope for something better, you might experience the peace, joy and freedom in loving God for the right reasons!” How this lines up with John’s letter where he says, “We love Him because He first loved us (1 Jn. 4:19).”
April 11, 2012
Thanks Nicole for your encouraging words. There is always something new to learn for each of us. Your very simple, but powerful message was heart touching- continue to seek truth, and you will always find it. Much love to you, and all the family. Give Dad a big hug when he returns home-from Barbara and Tom Varney-in Australia. x x x
April 11, 2012
I’ve read both Rob and Gerry’s books and it not only reaffirms in me that we have a just and loving God, but also one who is so much bigger than we can even imagine. I’ve struggled all my believing life with scriptures that “didn’t make sense”… that didn’t sound like the God I would want to know. To me, many scriptures were just allegory or presented a God who was all about punishing me for not following his ways. Many appeared to show a God who was very negative—“You either do what I say or you’re kicked out of the house forever”. Is there any value at all in sending someone to their room forever? Sheesh, get real…the whole concept behind any kind of punishment is so that the person being punished will reconsider or change their behavior. That’s all God wants of us. It wouldn’t do him any good to banish us for ever…what’s the point of that. Retaliation? Is that love? I don’t think that’s how I’d handle my kids or wife.
I’ve shared these concepts with many people, and most don’t accept it, for the same reason that Nicole mentions above, that it rocks their comfortable little theology. Jesus bumped into that challenge all the time. What I walked away with was the ability to take those parts of scripture that don’t make sense and just table them for now, knowing that the guy who can create something as marvelous as a hummingbird has the game all figured out….and I don’t need to have answers for all the riddles I see…creation, the flood, people being swallowed and spit out by fish. My logical little mind has trouble digesting those concepts as truth. Doesn’t mean that God doesn’t have a reason for including them in his book…perhaps it’s not something we’re supposed to understand in this age…perhaps it’s written for someone a 1000 years from now, just like the concept of the world being round was kept from flat land thinkers for generations.
And perhaps the biggest walk away for me in this is an understanding that Jesus didn’t come here to save us for eternity…that seat already exists…God wants all his creation back where it belongs (as he says, we’re not of this world… and I don’t think he was only talking to those who accepted Jesus on this side of the grave). I think Jesus came here not to save us from some eternal torment in a fiery place of torment, he came here to show us how it’s done…how to love one another, feed those in need around us, cloth those who need clothes…not get locked up in all the legalism around scripture but to be free of all our junk, so we can appreciate this amazing place he gave us to hang out in for a while. To love those wonderful people he brings into our sphere of influence.
I pray you all can walk away with the same peace I have, and the new understanding of our Creator. Is it an upside down world out there? Yeah, you bet….lots of ugliness and darkness…hell some would call it. But we can choose to focus on those or marvel at sunrises. Good luck, God bless…. d
April 11, 2012
Nicole, your thoughts are very good, thought out and clear. I know you will be an influence on many young people, and others, encouraging them to search out the “Blessed Hope” for themselves. Blesssings on you. Lynda
April 11, 2012
Nicole:
Very sincere and heartfelt video. Thank you for sharing your love and faith in Christ.
There is no way in my mind that a God of love would punish a person by roasting them forever and ever for the mistakes they made in a few years of their life.
I hope that you do more and continue to let your light shine before men.
In Christ,
JJ
April 11, 2012
Hi Nicole,
What you have said is so very true, and I agree with you one hundred percent. Your Dad must be very proud of you, with good reason. God is using you in a mighty way, keep up the good work. I will be praying for you as your ministry grows
God Bless
Rod
April 11, 2012
By all means, encourage Nicole to speak to us anytime she has something to share. This was excellent. Like father, like daughter!
April 11, 2012
Awesome message! I love the book of course too! Thanks so much Nicole! I think the Lord will be using her virtues in so many ways in the future too! Thanks you Jesus! God bless you & your great spirit led ministry!
– Darren Colton
April 11, 2012
thank you for sharing your hope and faith from your heart, Nicole. My teenage grandsons embrace this same concept. Our Creator is finally coming to be known as any Great Father would be, pure unconditional love, training through discipline, while faithful and true to His nature.
Let us all share this wonderful truth and fill the land with gladness!
April 11, 2012
I saw this and shared this the first time. It is a beautiful message and succinct. Pass it on…
April 12, 2012
I heard Nicole previously on YouTube, but this was right to the heart. She is certainly gifted to confront those who don’t understand the Blessed hope in a manner which is loving and compassionate. Go Nicole!
April 12, 2012
Gerry, please tell sweet Nicole, that she has warmed the heart of this old veteran of universal salvation in Jesus Christ our Lord. Sending a great big hug in the Spirit to her.
John Gavazzoni
April 12, 2012
Nicole, there are many who need to hear your ‘good news’ about Jesus. Not all have been taught nor believe the hell myth. I was taught correctly 32 years ago that the hell doctrine is a myth. It’s exciting to see that others, like you and your father, teaching truth also. God bless your family.
Donna Edwards
April 19, 2012
wow. Thoughtful, intelligent, beautiful and sincere. Great video, and very encouraging.
April 20, 2012
I was so touched by your compassion, wisdom, meekness, and gentleness….boldly proclaiming the truth in love that Jesus is the saviour of the WHOLE WORLD. I honor who HE IS in you.
The blessings of Christ to you & your family!
May 7, 2012
Nicole,
Well put! My 4 daughters ( all in thier 20’s now) grew up being taught about and believing in a God who is the Savior of All Mankind. I would never want them to live right out of the fear of punishment. I long for them to live right because living right is a beautiful way to live. I want them to love God because they can’t resist his love, not because they dread the consequences of rejecting Him. I can’t help but believe our Heavenly Father feels the same way.
Press on young believer!
July 10, 2012
The video ,ma’am, is indeed inspiring . I don’t know if there will be a universal salvation in the end , however, I am obligated to pray and hope that there will be .
The explanation you gave as to to the story in Matthew 25 of the parable of the sheep and goats , is quite edifying inasmuch as that it goes to show that there were people who served Jesus without realizing it by serving the least of the bretheren , and , *moreover*, that those were not people who were trying to do such acts to gain rewards in the afterlife, but instead were people acting from altruism …NOT to escape divine punishment (unless the questions asked by the ones told to inherit the kingdom in Matthew 25 , ‘such as when were you hungry and did we feed you?, when were you thirsty and did we give you something to drink ?, ect . were rhetorical questions …a scenario which is highly unlikely ) .
We should keep praying for a universal salvation . If there are people who are in some sort of place of desolation and misery (some sort of hell) then one question I would like to ask the fundamentalists is , where is the loss in praying that the one who runs the universe would send Jesus to let them out of hell ?
In Exodus 32:9-14, Moses presented arguments to God to extend mercy upon the Israelites who had offended God by worshiping the golden calf and to then not go through with the tenative punishment that God had announced to consume them . Granted, the Israelites were still physically alive when Moses persuaded God not to go ahead with the punishment of the Israelites. Why then would it be impossible that people could persuade the one who Rules the universe to allow Jesus to show mercy on those who have died and gone to some sort of “hell” ? Perhaps they may reply by saying that such intercessory prayers for lost souls of people who have died are futile and that they have already made their decision and God then punishes them accordingly .
The follow up question would be : why not send Jesus to let them out of such hell and send them to some place that has neither the anguish of hell, yet none of the pleasures and rewards of heaven ? A place of perpetual tedious boredom with nothin to do for example . <—That alternate proposal is NOT a universalist proposal , but at least it would serve justice better than a place of endless anguish . Endless anguish would distract them from considering the gravity and seriousness of their sins anyway , whereas a place of endless tedious boredom would not …..