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Oh, man… I’m going to hell.

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Actually, Jack… Satan doesn’t rule hell. Hell is not his kingdom, like Heaven is God’s. When a man or woman goes to hell, he or she will not be a slave of Satan. Satan will not be ruling there with an iron whip. Satan is just another fallen creature that will be sent to hell for punishment. Rather than the warden, Satan will be a cellmate to the damned. He’ll even be suffering worse than mankind.

Some say that hell is the total absence of God—that to be away from God’s presence is the greatest punishment. That is not true. The Bible does speak of “levels of hell,” if you will—that the damned will be punished according to their transgressions. If hell is simply the absence of God, then how can He be more totally absent from some than others? No, God is omnipresent—He is everywhere at once. Even in hell.

Hell is, in fact, the manifestation of God’s holy and just punishment. It is His wrath. Hell is the wages of sin. Hell is what happened to Jesus Christ, when He died on the cross. Actually, Jesus went through infinitely more than what a man or fallen angel will go through in hell, because Jesus bore the punishment of the multitudes of God’s elect. He didn’t just get punished for one man’s sin, He got punished for many. And that’s what allows the followers of Christ to enter Heaven. Christ has already paid for our sins. God, in His justice, cannot punish a sin twice. That is why it is a guarantee that, if Jesus Christ has died for your sins, you will definitely be allowed into Heaven. And the sign of having Christ’s sacrifice count as payment for your sin is your belief—or faith—in Christ’s sacrifice to be the one and only means of your salvation. To believe, even an ounce, in the merits of your own good works or your own good intentions is to not have complete faith in Christ. And that means you’ll have to bear the payment for your sins in hell. That’s not a scare tactic—it’s the truth.

So what is hell? It’s God’s punishment for our rebellion and treason. How can we be saved? By having faith in Christ’s sacrifice as the be-all, end-all of our salvation. When all is said and done—when we talk about salvation—what exactly are we being saved from? We’re being saved from God, Himself—and His wrath. Not the devil.

I’m on vacation this week. I decided to take off, since I was getting burnt out and constantly annoyed at work. I’ve enjoyed my solitude. I’ve been able to get several big projects accomplished. I posted a zillion DVDs and Xbox games on eBay, and may continue to post CDs, books and comics, if I have time this weekend. I’ll be carving my pumpkin this evening, as well as raking leaves and mowing the lawn for (hopefully) the last time. I finally put Wheel Wax on my car wheels yesterday, as well as vacuumed my room and washed my sheets. I’m currently washing my clothes and will begin my job search online. I also need to clean the bathroom sometime today. With all my physical chores done, I’ll hopefully be able to spend Friday, Saturday and Sunday writing the rest of my Legion story. Then all of the various tasks and chores hanging over my head will be completed, and I can go back to work with a light spirit.

I had two other goals for my vacation, and those were to get back on the Atkins diet and restart my Bowflex workout schedule. I still haven’t finished up all my non-Atkins food, so that’s probably not going to happen this week, and mentally, I just don’t see myself doing the Bowflex, while not being on Atkins.

I had another goal set for this week, but I ended up getting started on it several weeks ago—and that was to start my devotions again. I began with reading Table Talk every morning at work. Then my mind started dwelling on Christian ideas, and now it’s all I’m thinking about. It’s amazing how, once you’re walking side-by-side with God, everything else seems unimportant. Then you realize how much in this world is specifically designed to take your attention away from Him.

Knowing this, I’ve imposed on myself a ban on TV and Internet during my vacation. I allow myself an hour online each day, and so far I’ve only had the TV on for the Redskins game, Angel, and watching the 28 Days Later DVD. It’s a great feeling of freedom. I’m feeling great and my creative mind is working non-stop. Entertainment media is such a suppressant. I used to think watching movies and reading comics would increase my creativity, but instead it does the opposite.

I love living free and clear. Self-imposed bans are a good thing. And daily devotions are the first step to the best thing—a walk with God. An uncluttered mind sees things for what they really are. Barriers.

Work is a barrier. Entertainment is a barrier. Social life is a barrier. Vanity is a barrier. Dwelling too much on any of these things is devastating to the soul.

The Redskins just released their second string quarterback Rob Johnson and signed a new second stringer Tim Hasselbeck. What does this mean exactly? Well, nothing to the Redskins, seeing as how Tim hasn’t done much in his NFL career (not like his brother Matt in Seattle). But when he moves to D.C., he’ll be bringing along his lovely wife Elizabeth Filarski—yep, the amazing cutie pie from Survivor: Australian Outback! It’s no secret I had a big ol’ crush on Elizabeth during the second season of Survivor—I even owned bethfilarski.com for a while. I bet on her in my Survivor office pool, and won (of the chosen contestants, she lasted the longest). In my defense, at the time of the show, she was still single and only dating Tim Hasselbeck (they were both athletes at Boston College). Anyway, I still think she’s the cutest girl in the world—only now I’ll just be happy to see her at a Redskins game on TV or in person.

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Actually, Jack, for a while now, Satan’s strategy has been to keep himself off the minds of most people. The idea of witchcraft and paganism and evil itself is trivialized in television shows and other media to relegate the notion of sin to the realm of fiction. We’re so bombarded with the promotion of sin and of blind tolerance today, that even Christians are bashing other Christians for opposing works of media that trivialize sinful behavior. It is now more respected for a Christian to be tolerant, and thus “enlightened,” than it is to be righteous.

I’ve strayed from my original point, Jack. The overt glorification of Satanism and paganism in music & horror stories trivializes evil. It doesn’t “draw kids into the camp,” as it were, but rather desensitizes them to it. The imagery you depict in your comic makes evil a joke and less real.

Satan is not out recruiting people. He doesn’t need people to sign up for his crew. They’re automatic members. They start off on his team. He just has to keep them from jumping ship. And the best way to do that is to make them as comfortable as possible right where they are—to keep them happy, to make them think that they’re admirable, and talented, and educated—and that they don’t need God or anything else.

The last thing Satan wants is for people to be aware of him.