psalm 107 - relevance for today

Today I read a psalm, 107, and noticed the pattern.  See if you notice it also. 
From verse 1-16 there is this pattern:
1. People are suffering and troubled because of some circumstances
2. The people cry out to God in their distress
3. God saves them because of his great love
4. Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,
    for his wondrous works to the children of man!5. For he...lists the work of God

From verse 16-32 there is a pattern of a few events:
1. Poeple do something to turn away from the Lord and sin against him
2. The Lord brings some kind of punishment or distruction on them
3. The people cry out to God in their distress
4. God saves them because of his great love
5. Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love for his wondrous works to the children of man

Verses 33-43 tell about how great is the Lord in his saving works toward people who turn to him for help.

Take note of the last verses as a summary:  

Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,

Some wandered in desert wastes,

Some sat in darkness and in the shadow of death,

Some were fools through their sinful ways,

Some went down to the sea in ships,

He turns rivers into a desert,

When they are diminished and brought low

Whoever is wise, let him attend to these things;

I'm praying today that I will constantly consider the steadfast love of the Lord and call upon him day after day. May God bless you today.

Psalm 107

Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
    for his steadfast love endures forever!
2 Let the redeemed of the Lord say so,
    whom he has redeemed from trouble[a]
3 and gathered in from the lands,
    from the east and from the west,
    from the north and from the south.

4 Some wandered in desert wastes,
    finding no way to a city to dwell in;
5 hungry and thirsty,
    their soul fainted within them.
6 Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
    and he delivered them from their distress.
7 He led them by a straight way
    till they reached a city to dwell in.
8 Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,
    for his wondrous works to the children of man!
9 For he satisfies the longing soul,
    and the hungry soul he fills with good things.

10 Some sat in darkness and in the shadow of death,
    prisoners in affliction and in irons,
11 for they had rebelled against the words of God,
    and spurned the counsel of the Most High.
12 So he bowed their hearts down with hard labor;
    they fell down, with none to help.
13 Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
    and he delivered them from their distress.
14 He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death,
    and burst their bonds apart.
15 Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,
    for his wondrous works to the children of man!
16 For he shatters the doors of bronze
    and cuts in two the bars of iron.

17 Some were fools through their sinful ways,
    and because of their iniquities suffered affliction;
18 they loathed any kind of food,
    and they drew near to the gates of death.
19 Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
    and he delivered them from their distress.
20 He sent out his word and healed them,
    and delivered them from their destruction.
21 Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,
    for his wondrous works to the children of man!
22 And let them offer sacrifices of thanksgiving,
    and tell of his deeds in songs of joy!

23 Some went down to the sea in ships,
    doing business on the great waters;
24 they saw the deeds of the Lord,
    his wondrous works in the deep.
25 For he commanded and raised the stormy wind,
    which lifted up the waves of the sea.
26 They mounted up to heaven; they went down to the depths;
    their courage melted away in their evil plight;
27 they reeled and staggered like drunken men
    and were at their wits' end.[b]
28 Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
    and he delivered them from their distress.
29 He made the storm be still,
    and the waves of the sea were hushed.
30 Then they were glad that the waters[c] were quiet,
    and he brought them to their desired haven.
31 Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,
    for his wondrous works to the children of man!
32 Let them extol him in the congregation of the people,
    and praise him in the assembly of the elders.

33 He turns rivers into a desert,
    springs of water into thirsty ground,
34 a fruitful land into a salty waste,
    because of the evil of its inhabitants.
35 He turns a desert into pools of water,
    a parched land into springs of water.
36 And there he lets the hungry dwell,
    and they establish a city to live in;
37 they sow fields and plant vineyards
    and get a fruitful yield.
38 By his blessing they multiply greatly,
    and he does not let their livestock diminish.

39 When they are diminished and brought low
    through oppression, evil, and sorrow,
40 he pours contempt on princes
    and makes them wander in trackless wastes;
41 but he raises up the needy out of affliction
    and makes their families like flocks.
42 The upright see it and are glad,
    and all wickedness shuts its mouth.

43 Whoever is wise, let him attend to these things;
    let them consider the steadfast love of the Lord.

On Parenting - Lacking Grace

Two days ago I was walking with my daughter in the stroller and I came upon a little boy 3-4 years old throwing sticks in the puddles of water. I smiled at him because of the simple fun he was having. Up ahead about 50 meters a woman, which I understood was his mom, yelled angrily at him "Let's go" and when he didn't immediately follow her, she yelled even more angrily "what are you doing?" And then she said something in Russian and followed by "bye Nikita" and she turned away from him and started walking away.  This kind of parental response is pretty common among Ukrainian parents, and I see it often.
 As I passed them, I bent down to Ellie and told her "I promise I'll never yell at you like that, especially in public" Not 2 seconds later did I realize that my statement was pretty hypocritical, and I would probably never be able to keep that promise. I instantly thought about how many times, in my sleep deprivation, I'd been very angry at her for not letting me sleep because she needed something.

I saw this mom and her kid walking back from the school with the older brother about 20 minutes later and she was still speaking harshly with her kids.  I felt really bad for those boys, and stored this in my memory as a warning for myself.

I asked myself, "what's this mom's deal?"  Why is she lacking so much grace when dealing with her kids? Well, I don't know her, but my guess is that she's lacking the grace herself that comes from the gospel of Jesus Christ, therefore she's not able to pour out the grace into her kids.

Consider what Jesus said "The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks." Luke 6:24

Now don't misunderstand, no one is good by nature, in fact we are actually all evil, and without God the Holy Spirit people are not able to do anything or say anything good at all, because of that evil nature.  Jesus is talking about good people as those who are redeemed and treasure Christ, and evil people, those who treasure other things than Christ.

If it weren't for the redeeming work of Christ in my life I'm sure I'd act no differently toward my kids than this mom did, and maybe even worse! Even now I still see glimpses of the evilness of my own heart in my behavior toward my baby and I shutter at the thought of these moments persisting in my parenting, so I pray to God for his grace and help.

Parenting is hard work, really hard, and there is a great deal of suffering that we go through for our children. But there is a difference between Christian parents, and non-Christian parents.

Consider this verse:
Romans 5:1-5
"Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this GRACE in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

The key difference is that parents who rejoice in the hope of the glory of God, are also able to rejoice in their sufferings.  This is possible through the grace of God, and produces in the parents a plethora of other things like: joy (the ability to be happy in Christ alone, even when your kids sin against you, or you suffer in some way as a parent), endurance (with kids when they annoy you, or cause you some hardship), character (the ability to stay composed and demonstrate the very character of Christ in crucial moments when your kids need you as an example), hope (that all the sacrifice and work you put into training your kids and teaching them about God and life is worth it), and the ability to stand unashamed before God (because indeed everything we do in obedience to God pleases him, and no matter how the world sees us, God's opinion is the only one that matters).

The simple fact is that grace is given by God, and if not received from God, the parent is not able to bestow real grace upon his child and act rightly before God, neither is he able to teach his child to act rightly before God.

No matter how hard we try to be good parents, it's futile without God's ways and God's grace, because simply good parenting is not enough to help our kids gain the one thing that really matters in life, a saving relationship with Jesus Christ.

I'm not going to do everything nearly as well as I would like to as a parent, but I have hope that if I turn to God daily to receive grace for my work, and in turn pour this grace out into my kids as I teach them about Christ and life, I know that I will not be ashamed for this obedience before God.

If you're a parent, and times are tough with your kids, and your patience with them is short, turn to God and seek a relationship with him, and then let your relationship with God be reflected in the way you raise your kids. If you don't I assure you that you will stand before God ashamed and regretting that you had not turned to him and helped your kids to do the same.

Consider these words:
Romans 6:23
"For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord"

Acts 2:38
"And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit."

Heb 4:16
"Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need."

Believe in Him, the giver of grace and all good gifts, and He will be your helper in your time of need.

May God bless you.

Loving the Little Days

So it's been a while!  We now have our daughter Elizabeth, Ellie, in our lives and she every bit as wonderful as we imagined.

There's so much I could share from the last 4 months, but mostly I want to share about my physical and spiritual struggles adjusting to life as a mommy.

A friend told us before she was born, that there are moments in every parent's life when you want to kill your child...well, I could understand him, but I'm not sure I really believed it!  Well, I will confess that I've had a few of those moments...when I'm so sleep deprived from not sleeping more than 2 hours at a time every night, for almost 4 months, and not being able to consistently take naps during the day....there have been moments when I broke down and cried because I was so tired...there were also a few moments where she was screaming or crying for so long that I was going crazy, and having horrible thoughts toward her...of course they were only momentary, and I immediately dismissed them as crazy sinful talk, but Satan has tempted me in many was to count my daughter as more of a curse than a blessing to my life over the last 4 months.

Ellie the day she was born: healthy and amazing!!

Ellie at 1 month: we had a photo shoot done with her

Ellie at 2 months: She started smiling and practicing standing!

Ellie at 3 months: Christmas Day

Ellie at almost 4 months (today):

I wore this red dress 25 years ago!!

The Bible says repeatedly that children are a blessing and good thing for our lives:
Psalm 127:3-5
Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one's youth. Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them! He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.

John 16:21
When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come, but when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world.

Proverbs 17:6
Grandchildren are the crown of the aged, and the glory of children is their fathers.


So why do I feel like she is such a curse to me sometimes? I have foolish thoughts sometimes like...

"I never want to go through all this suffering again..."

"you make me never want to have any more kids..."

"this isn't worth it..."

"do not poop, please do not poop so I'll have to get out of bed to change your diaper"

"you better not be waking up this early!"

"just let me sleeeeeeeeep! you are such a selfish baby!"

Seriously, I can't count the number of times I prayed for her to sleep through the night and it almost never happens.  I'll wake up between 2-4 in the morning to feed and change a diaper and have the most sour, joyless attitude possible.

My faith has seriously been tested these last 4 months, and I have really been put through the Lord's refining fire.  All my sin is now easily visible on the surface of my life, and I feel hypocritical if I try to pretend I have it all together.

Yet God is so good to me through all my hard days and nights. This song helped me to wake up a little spiritually, and I would sing to myself it in the hardest times in the night when I was waking up multiple times: (still am waking up multiple times)

The Sing Team - I am Satisfied in You

It's a combination of the words from Psalms 42 and 63, and has been very encouraging to me in my hardest moments.


A few weeks ago, on new years eve, God gave me a revelation about what it means to be a parent, especially now during the little years.
Sacrifice....you sacrifice and give up yourself, your desires, your needs, so that you can take care of someone else's needs, someone who needs you to help them....this is so true about babies and small children. They are completely dependent on you, their parent, for all their needs.

It was then that I understood on a deeper level that Jesus did the same thing for me...giving up the easier way and taking the hard and painful path of obedience to the father in order to carry out the plan for my salvation!! Jesus has also experienced every hardship and temptation that I face now, but he had it much worse, yet was without sin!! Every time after I fail and sin, I remember this, and am incredibly humbled.

Hebrews 4:15 says:
"For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin."

There is a lot of sanctifying work to be done in my heart, especially about patience toward my children, and long suffering with joy, but I'm thankful to God that I'm aware of my sinful heart's condition and that God has given me a strong desire to change and be a better example of the faith to my children in the months and years to come.  

I recently found and started to read a recommended book called Loving the Little Years and by reading it and the Bible, I'm hoping to continue gaining a fresh perspective on the blessing of this time when my daughter is small and needs me constantly.  I want to constantly feel in my heart and soul that all my hardships as a mom are all part of the bigger blessing of having children. God certainly is using her as a sanctifying influence in my life, and I'm excited to watch her, and myself, keep growing.

End of summer updates

Well, it officially feels like fall in Kiev now.  We've got rain here all week and it's been quite chilly lately.  It seems like summer came and went really quickly this year.

Fall will bring a lot of changes in our life.  Most changes will revolve around the arrival of our first baby (Hoo Rayyy!!!).  She's due on October 3rd.

I've had so many challenges with doing all the documents and tests required simply to give birth somewhere in Kiev, that it seems like I'll give birth at home!! (kidding, but seriously, it's 37/38 weeks in pregnancy now, and the hospital still hasn't agreed to take me.)

You can help us in your prayers by praying that I will be submitted to the hospital and whoever my doctor ends up being will be qualified and handle me and our baby with care.

You can also pray for the first month or so once she comes, because we are expecting to be sleep deprived and stressed, and want to make sure that our relationship with God and each other doesn't suffer because of the amount of time she requires.

We are also praying about our finances, that everything will be provided that we need, and especially that we'll not worry about it if things get tight in the budget.  After all, God has thoroughly convinced us by his promise in Philippians 4:19 that He WILL meet all our needs.  "My God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus."

God always proves to us that he is faithful and cares for every kind of need we have.  For example, our home group gave us a surprise baby shower yesterday and showered us with prayers, affections and financial help.  It was a huge blessing for our family.

Here's a picture:

We also continue to pray about the possibility of entering into full time ministry as a family...but for now, we're are continuing to help the evangelism ministry in our church grow, recruiting people for the work of the harvest!  Luke 10:2 "And he said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest."

Here's a picture of Oles evangelizing publicly recently near our home, at Leningrad Square.

For those of you who pray for us and read the updates about our life and ministry, thank you, and may God bless you abundantly through his riches in glory in Christ Jesus!

Summer Updates

It's been a while since the last post.  A lot has happened this summer in Almaz church and in our lives.

First we prepared the last few months for a 1 week public evangelism project, which was completed 2 weeks ago.  It was successful by the Lord's power alone and all of us were greatly encouraged by what we did and saw during the project.  The basic outline of the project is like this:
- we had a team of 4 Americans come, and we provided translators for them so they should do face to face street evangelism.
- there were other Ukrainian pairs who did face to face evangelism
- we had a team of 4-8 people depending on the day who read the bible on a loud speaker in a public place near the metro, and the other team members talked with the people who were interested in what we were doing.
- To prepare our hearts for evangelism we pent the first half of the day in devotion, bible study and prayer.  This time was what we needed to trust our hearts and actions to God.

We're still seeing the results from the project now...new people coming to church, new friendships with non-believers that will hopefully bring them to Christ and a new inspiration about evangelism within our church.
Here's some photos:

Praying

 Worship

 Public Bible reading and preaching

 Public Bible reading and preaching

 Sharing the gospel with people

 Our banner - John 14:6

 One of the only photos of me since I was a photographer for the week

As you can also see from the photo above, I'm now 30 weeks pregnant with our baby girl, Elizabeth.  There are a few small problems with my health, but we're praying and trusting God that everything will be normal and she'll be born on time and healthy.  Please pray for us as we finish out the rest of the summer, ministering in Kiev through evangelism, and preparing for parenthood!

God bless!
John 16:4 "Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."

Persecution and Lukewarm Christianity

Every week I get an email from Open Doors and International Christian Concern about prayer needs for the persecuted Christians in the world.  I try to read them and pray for the needs as often as I can, which unfortunately I don't do it every time.  This morning I read a few country profiles and news updates from Syria, Oman, and Eritrea.  

From the emails:

"Oman

There are a few countries on the World Watch List that we can’t share stories from. Even if we were to use different names, the Christian population is so small, that the story could easily be traced back to the individual. For their security, we are providing a different way to pray for the country this week.
Here are the top 10 things to know about what life is like for Christians in Oman:

• The law prohibits religious discrimination but all religious organizations must register.
• All public school curriculums (grades K-12) include instruction in Islam.
• Almost the entire Christian population (around 35,000) is made up of expatriates; indigenous Christians number only a few hundred.
• Foreign Christians are often tolerated and allowed to worship in private homes or work compounds.
• The government records religious affiliation on national identity cards for citizens and on residency cards for non-citizens.
• Muslim Background Believers (MBBs) risk persecution from family and society, but the government may intervene on request from the family. In such cases, these believers are often treated as psychiatric patients.
• MBBs can lose their family, house, and job and can even be killed.
• There are some government limitations on proselytizing and printing religious material. Non-Muslim groups are prohibited from publishing religious material, although non-Muslim religious material printed abroad may be imported after government inspection and approval.
• The Protestant Church in Oman (PCO) is the fruit of the active presence of RCA, a branch of the Reformed Church of America (RCA), which started its work in Oman in 1893.
• Currently PCO, under the combined leadership of the Reformed Church of America and the Anglican Church, ministers to over 1000 believers from 60 countries.

Syria
In April 2011 a war began in Syria with peaceful protests against the regime. The war has escalated and Christians have found themselves in the center of it all. Two archbishops were captured and another leader in the country has been killed. The overall war is for tolerance and pluralism. If the government wins this war there is no more hope for any type of religious tolerance in Syria. Many Syrians have been displaced, fled to neighboring countries, or have been killed. 
Full story here...http://www.persecution.org/2013/06/01/syrias-future-tied-to-freedom-for-captured-christian-leaders/


Eritrea

Christians in Eritrea, Africa are being heavily persecuted. The Christians are being forced into traumatizing events like being held inside metal shipping containers with no access to ventilation or toilet facilities. Some of the Africans that try to flee are captured and brought to the desert and sold. Those that they capture are also tortured to death. Sometimes their organs are removed so that they can be sold.  The Eritrean government will deny any of these reports. The president says he fears religious freedom for the worry that it might lead to a Christian nation.
Full story here...http://www.persecution.org/2013/06/02/christians-in-eritrea-face-extreme-persecution-thats-getting-worse/  "


When I read the news about Christians in other countries in the world...it makes me question myself and the church who live in parts of the world where persecution is almost non-existent why we are not all the more eagerly using this freedom we have to share the gospel with as many people as possible.  I think sometimes that our lack of persecution is exactly what keeps us in a state of lukewarm Christianity.  This is a scary thought.  I pray for my heart all the time that I will treasure Christ like the man who found the treasure in the field...
"The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field." Matthew 13:44

I want to treasure the Lord in the same way!  I want to eagerly give everything away for him, but I often struggle to even leave my comfort zone to share the gospel or reach out to someone in need.  Because of this I even pray sometimes that God will cause difficulties in my life that I will become stronger in faith... In Luke 14:31-33 Jesus says “Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Won’t he first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. In the 
same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples"

The question I ask myself when I read such passages as this is "Will my faith stand through the fire of persecution?"  Am I ready to really pick up my cross and follow Jesus?  My brain screams yes, but my heart feels reluctant sometimes because of the great cost I know it will take.  With this I realize how lukewarm my faith really is sometimes!!!!!

What I understand is that if I am afraid to share the gospel, or to do something for God, it is because I do not count him as worthy of my sacrifice...and I am really ashamed of the gospel.  Paul says in Romans 1:15-16 "That is why I am so eager to preach the gospel also to you who are in Rome.  For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile."  

Maybe you struggle with the same feelings, or maybe Satan has so weakened your faith that you do not even think about such things.  So I will pray that God will work mightily in my heart and in your heart to give us courage and love for him, that we will give anything in order to glorify him and share the gospel.  Please, I also ask you to pray for the persecuted Christians in the world.  Proverbs 31:8 "Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute."

May God bless you today!

The Kingdom of Heaven

While studying the gospel of Matthew this morning, I read through chapter 13, which predominately talks about the kingdom of heaven through a series of many parables.  One parable is the parable of the good and bad seeds.
"24 He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field, 25 but while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away.  26 So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also.  27 And the servants of the master of the house came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds?’  28 He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’So the servants said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’  29 But he said, ‘No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them.  30 Let both grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.’”  

Jesus explains the parable a little further in the chapter:
"36 Then he left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples came to him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field.”  37 He answered, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man.  38 The field is the world, and the good seed is the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one,  39 and the enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the close of the age, and the reapers are angels.  40 Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the close of the age.  41 The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers,  42 and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.  43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear."

Hell is a very real place, as is heaven a very real place.  I need to remember this often when I'm interacting with non-believers, so that I will seriously consider their destiny, and what it means for them if they do not repent.  Many people, especially in Ukraine and America, falsely believe they will go to heaven.  They assume that because they believe in God, even profess Jesus was the son of God, and are not a "bad person", that this will save them a place in heaven.  They may not even believe in Hell, because the thought of such a place of eternal agony and torment is not something bearable to think about.

Isaiah 66:24 talks about Hell as a place where "their worm shall not die, their fire shall not be quenched, and they shall be an abhorrence to all flesh.”

When I think about Hell, it is unimaginable exactly how horrible of a place it is.  It seems that there are not words in the English language that could fully describe what an eternal place of torment is like.

In Luke 16:19-31 Jesus tells the story of Lazarus, the poor beggar who was faithful to God, and the rich man, while He thought he knew God, was not saved by his religion and suffered the consequences in eternity. 


¹⁹ “There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. ²⁰ And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, ²¹ who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man's table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores. 
²² The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried, ²³ and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. ²⁴ And he called out,‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.’
 ²⁵ But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. ²⁶ And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.’ 
²⁷ And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father's house— ²⁸ for I have five brothers—so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.’ 
²⁹ But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ 
³⁰ And he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ 
³¹ He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’”

From a Shepherd's Conference preaching by Steve Lawson, we can learn several things from this passage:
1. The Rich man represented the pharisees in this story...rich in Religion but devoid of real faith.  He knew Abraham, and God, for he called Abraham "father."  This is a term that only people who are familiar with the bible and God would have used at that time.
2. The poor beggar was rice in grace and spirit, which is why the angels carried him to heaven (vs. 22)
3. Hell is an immediate place - The rich man was died, buried and immediately was in agony in the fire in Hell.  As in 5 seconds after his death, his soul was already in Hell...no waiting time, no second chance, no purgatory...just Hell, immediately upon death. (vs. 22-23)
4. Hell is a very separated place from heaven - "he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off " (vs.23)
5.  Hell is a place of agony, torment, unquenchable fire, and it is unending (eternal) (vs. 24)
6. Hell is a haunting place - people there are fully aware, more than they were in their life, to every sin, every opportunity they had to repent and believe, every time they heard the gospel, and every mistake they ever made.  They will remember their life forever. "But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish." (vs. 25) 
7. Hell is an inescapable place - "And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.’ " (vs. 26). Who would want to try to cross from heaven to hell?...surely people who want to save their loved ones.  However the chasm is so great that it is impossible for anyone to leave their eternal residence.
8. Hell is a place of desperation - The rich man desperately wanted to warn his loved ones (vs. 27-30)
9. God's word in the Scripture is shown to have full sufficiency and power to save us.  "³¹ He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’”"  Many people say they will believe if they see a miracle or a sign from God that He is the true God...but think about all the people who didn't believe Jesus in his day...despite the many miracles and signs he performed and that he fulfilled the prophesies written in the new testament about the savior.

If you have read this far in this post, thank you, and I beg you to consider these things in your heart and repent if you do not have real faith in Jesus Christ, the savior from sins and Hell, and the only mediator between God and mankind.  Today and now is the time to repent, for you could die at any moment, and your eternal destiny will be sealed in heaven with God, or in eternal torment in Hell with all people who have rejected Christ.  It's up to you, but I beg you not to waste your life, and in the end to spend an eternity in Hell.

Here's the link to he Steve Lawson sermon if you'd like to listen to it.
http://www.shepherdsconference.org/media/details/?mediaID=7601