Thor Ramsey is a man who straddles two very different worlds. He's a comedian, so you might catch him performing in a night club on a Saturday evening. But he's also a teaching pastor at Canyon Lake Community Church in California, so he's equally comfortable filling the pulpit the next morning. And don't let his humorous demeanor fool you. He recently wrote a book about the least funny topic imaginable—hell. In The Most Encouraging Book about Hell Ever (Cruciform Press, 2014), he makes a case for the embattled doctrine. We talked to Ramsey about why he thinks church leaders still need to talk about hell.

What led you to write a book on hell?

For whatever reason, I'm attracted to areas of Christian life and theology that I believe have been compromised in the church. I can't quite shake that Keith Green influence, I guess. But hell is one of those areas of Christian compromise, especially from the pulpit. Nearly a decade ago, a sincere follower of Jesus ...