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Timothy Isaiah Cho @tisaiahcho.bsky.social · 6h

I've written down some scattered thoughts on the difficulty of understanding hell and break down why I don't think that retributive justice, penal substitution, and eternal conscious torment are a package deal.

Read more: timothyisaiahcho.substack.com/p/the-diffic...

The Difficulty of Hell

Hell is a very difficult subject to talk about, and yet Christians seem to really like talking debating about it.

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Timothy Isaiah Cho @tisaiahcho.bsky.social · 6d

the Civil Rights." "I would have fought for emancipation." "I would have... I would have..."

There's no more "I would have," but it's "will you now?" Because if you won't now, you wouldn't have then. Today's the test of your hypothetical yesterday that you are so sure of.

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Timothy Isaiah Cho @tisaiahcho.bsky.social · 6d

action of the Kingdom of God. You can keep your "whataboutism" and "bothsidesing" in your own head, but like Jesus, we've got to say, "Get behind me, Satan" when we hear you saying Satan's ways to keep us from doing God's will.

"I would have stood up to the Nazis." "I would have marched during

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Timothy Isaiah Cho @tisaiahcho.bsky.social · 6d

statues in both the literal and figurative sense are being erected and bowed down to, and Christians are getting shot at by ICE for doing what they've been called by God to do. It's a time to unequivocally "obey God rather than men" and "turn the world upside down" with the nonviolent direct

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Timothy Isaiah Cho @tisaiahcho.bsky.social · 6d

"such a time as this" Christian prophetic moral witness to a watching world that already believes that the church is nothing more than a mouthpiece of conservatism, the status quo, and the maintaining of power by any means necessary. It's time to actually "dare to be a Daniel" when golden

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Timothy Isaiah Cho @tisaiahcho.bsky.social · 6d

And so many churches are choosing Barabbas. To the one who has ears to hear, let them hear.

Now is not the time for "whataboutism" and telling people to be "balanced" in their critique of the Right and the Left. It's not the time for moral equivalence and "bothsidesing." It's time for bold,

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Timothy Isaiah Cho @tisaiahcho.bsky.social · 6d

He is being thrown to the ground, wrongfully detained, deported, and tortured. He is crying out for His mother and father who are being ripped from Him as He's being picked up from school. He is having slurs and derogatory jokes made about Him as He's rounded up with other Black and Brown people.

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Timothy Isaiah Cho @tisaiahcho.bsky.social · 6d

actions on the regular until the cruelty ends. Too many churches are quiet as Jesus is desecrated in the cruelty against our immigrant neighbors. Jesus is being zip-tied, having flashbangs thrown at him, and having guns pointed at His head through our immigrant neighbors.

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Timothy Isaiah Cho @tisaiahcho.bsky.social · 6d

you are dangerously close to how Hitler blamed the Weimar Republic for its leniency with the Jews and how he justified "correcting" the issues he believed were plaguing Germany in his time.

Every church in the U.S. should be lamenting and praying against our government's

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Timothy Isaiah Cho @tisaiahcho.bsky.social · 6d

the vulnerable, but against Jesus, the One you claim to follow.

This is not a Left, Right, Moderate, or anything on the political spectrum issue; it's a moral issue.

If you justify the use of inhumane methods to enforce immigration and put the blame on the previous administration,

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Timothy Isaiah Cho @tisaiahcho.bsky.social · 6d

And if you are a Christian and you are supporting these tactics, then you have either had your heart hardened by your fear or your eyes blinded by your lust for power.

If Jesus says He identifies with the immigrant (Matthew 25:35, 43), then you are not only supporting cruelty against

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Timothy Isaiah Cho @tisaiahcho.bsky.social · 6d

What is happening across the country with these ICE raids is neither "more strict" immigration policy nor "finally being serious about immigration" after the previous administration's purported lenience.

It's cruelty. It's inhumanity. It's demonic. It's evil. Plain and simple.

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Timothy Isaiah Cho @tisaiahcho.bsky.social · 7d

breaking is pastorally insensitive if that’s what a family has to do to survive."

Timothy Isaiah Cho @tisaiahcho.bsky.social · 7d

I've been thinking about vacations lately.

"You can’t put forth vacation as a practical application of sabbath if there are people in your church who simply can’t afford it. Frowning upon working on Sundays as sabbath-

timothyisaiahcho.substack.com/p/thinking-a...

Thinking about vacations

Did you grow up going on vacations (or holidays as our other English-speaking friends would say) regularly with your family?

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Timothy Isaiah Cho @tisaiahcho.bsky.social · 14d

lordship of Jesus, ultimate allegiance to the Kingdom of God, and care for the marginalized and oppressed will be seen as treasonous.

The Christian faith has always been opposed to the ways of "Babylon" and empire, but it's during times akin to these that the contrast becomes most visible.

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Timothy Isaiah Cho @tisaiahcho.bsky.social · 14d

For Christians standing against fascism in the U.S. -

Be ready to be accused of being anti-American, Antifa, anti-Christian, domestic terrorists, etc.

We're seeing the modern day Machtergreifung and Führerprinzip (look them up), and to make basic Christian theological declarations about the

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Timothy Isaiah Cho @tisaiahcho.bsky.social · 21d

"Christians who have any influence in the workplace have to be the ones who are asking the “Sabbath questions” because capitalism won’t."

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Timothy Isaiah Cho @tisaiahcho.bsky.social · 21d

"I have never heard anyone to date try to convince me that AI is a wonderful tool because it will enable workers to be able to have more margin, work-life balance, and the ability to stop, rest, and reflect regularly at work...

timothyisaiahcho.substack.com/p/aint-no-re...

Ain't no rest for the... workers

Why we need the Sabbath to inform our use of AI

timothyisaiahcho.substack.com

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Timothy Isaiah Cho @tisaiahcho.bsky.social · 22d

from the perspective of marginalized communities and those who stand in solidarity with them as allies.

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Timothy Isaiah Cho @tisaiahcho.bsky.social · 22d

I’ve seen quite a few pastors talk about how they feel it is unfair that they are expected to speak up on flashpoint current events. However, I think there are a few things they need to understand

timothyisaiahcho.substack.com/p/how-a-past...

How a pastor should speak up

Not perfection but a pattern of trust

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Timothy Isaiah Cho @tisaiahcho.bsky.social · 25d

genuine love, and a commitment to walk with them on the path to healing through thick or thin.

The church cannot fathom doing anything of lasting impact if it does not first bind up the wounds of those it has harmed.

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Timothy Isaiah Cho @tisaiahcho.bsky.social · 25d

you should expect because the church is full of sinners," "That was people, not God," "You're learning to depend on God alone," or "God is sovereign and is using that for your good."

Enter into their pain, anger, despair, tears, loneliness, and disillusionment with understanding, empathy,

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Timothy Isaiah Cho @tisaiahcho.bsky.social · 25d

circle the wagons or pretend the evil is not as bad as it really is.

And I know that I'm not the only one.

The church is meant to be a beautiful community, but for many, it has been a cause of countless wounds and scars. That's why you cannot simply respond with "That's what

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Timothy Isaiah Cho @tisaiahcho.bsky.social · 25d

It's where I've experienced sudden abandonment, ostracization, disfellowshipping, avoidance, and the onslaught of mischaracterization and falsehoods.

It's where I have witnessed leaders get away with misconduct that would have gotten anyone fired in the secular world, and I have seen leaders

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Timothy Isaiah Cho @tisaiahcho.bsky.social · 25d

The church is the place where I've experienced the most fairweather friends.

It's where I have seen otherwise thoughtful, intelligent, and wise people completely shut their brains off for the sake of institutional reputation and cult of personality.

It's where I've been ghosted the most.

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