Challenged By Hope

He died young; a car accident where the driver was intoxicated. He may have been intoxicated too, but that seems a small matter in the grand scheme of things. Over the years I have heard many talks from the religious crowd who would try to convince me that my brother went to hell for the way he lived, and for the way he died.

I myself am challenged by the greater truth of hope! I am challenged to believe that prayer matters. I am challenged by testimonies of those who were destined for nether regions and yet Jesus, in His mercy and by His blood, purchased the price of the sinner. Our prayers matter and I hold onto the hope always that the prayers spoken for my brother snatched him from darkness. Nothing this side of heaven will convince me otherwise.

Jude 1:23 (NKJV)  but others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garment defiled by the flesh.