Review of Love Wins by Rob Bell

On Sunday, I mentioned that I had read Love Wins by Rob Bell and addressed my general concerns with his misuse of Scripture to make the argument that there will be an opportunity for salvation through Jesus after death for everyone.  Bell says because God always gets what He wants, eventually everyone will be saved through His pursuing love.  To make this argument Bell has to do some exegetical gymnastics, making some new interpretations of Scripture while ignoring context in many cases.  As someone who enjoyed some of Bell’s teaching in the past, I am concerned for those who may be swayed by his engaging and persuasive style without measuring what they are reading next to Scripture in its context.  Bell’s new interpretations diminish the cost of Jesus sacrifice and as a result, God’s love for us. I am also disappointed that he feels the need throughout the book to demean and cast those of us who believe in a literal, eternal hell as toxic.  Church history tells us that such universal leaning teaching was rejected before and I trust it will be again.  I am including a link to the most thorough review of Love Wins from a biblical perspective written by Kevin DeYoung.  

http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/kevindeyoung/2011/03/14/rob-bell-love-wins-review/

It’s Friday but Sunday’s Coming

Holy Week: What Happened on Thursday?

Holy Week: What Happened on Thursday?.

How Do You Frighten Someone Raised From the Dead?

Still At Peace

Two weeks ago today, April 4th at 1:50 a.m., my Mom passed from this life into eternity.  We miss her terribly and yet I don’t believe the depth of  loss has been fully comprehended.  Since her passing, we held funeral services in Illinois and in West Virginia where she was buried.  The first week was a flurry of activity, planning services, selecting photographs, writing her life story, and travel.  In many ways, this activity has insulated me from the weight of grief.  Nevertheless, I, and my family are at peace in the midst of what has been the most difficult weeks of my life.

Some may wonder where this peace comes from.  Let me explain.  First, this peace comes from God.  Jesus said to His disciples before His crucifixion and resurrection, “Peace I leave with you; peace I give you.  I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” (John 14:27). Nothing can intimidate this peace from us, not sickness, not grief, not death.  God’s peace given liberally to us pushes away a fearful and troubled heart.

Second, we believe that when a person dies, who has trusted in Jesus Christ to reconcile them to God, (Romans 5:6-11) their spirit enters the presence of God.  The Apostle Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 5:8 “Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.” When Mom breathed her last breath here, her spirit left her body and is now home with the Lord. This belief allows us to grieve with hope.  Mom told me one day while she was in the hospital that she was not afraid to die and reminded me that we will one day be together again for eternity. For a Christian, death is not final, but a transition into heaven to enjoy the fullness of God.

Third, our peace has come from the fellowship of other believers.  The last two weeks we have been drowning in the kindness of people who loved my Mom and who love us.  At Mom’s wake we stood for a solid six hours as a continuous line of people offered their prayers and kind words.  We have received meals, cards, facebook messages, emails, phone calls, texts, flowers, and embraces from those who grieve with us. This has been a tremendous source of strength for us.

Finally, our peace comes from a future promise that we who are in Christ will all enjoy the presence of God free from sickness and death.  The Apostle John writes in Revelation 21:1-5 “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away. And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” It is this time that we wait with anticipation.  Until then, we rest in His peace and promises.

A Journey Ending…Beginning

My Mom is dying.  She has fought a courageous battle with cancer for fourteen months.  Following an MRI two weeks ago, we were told by the doctors that they had used all options available to treat her cancer.  She is now in Hospice care.  The cancer is consuming her and will eventually have its way.  Ultimately, however, it is God who gets to say when.  So, in the meantime we trust and we pray for her peace and rest.  As we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, we will not fear.

As a young girl, my Mom surrendered her life to Jesus Christ in a country church in Palestine, West Virginia.  She has served Him faithfully for over fifty years as wife, mother, grandmother, teacher and pianist.  For many years she has joined her church in singing and playing music that spoke of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection. She has walked the streets of Jerusalem, Capernaum, and the shores of the Sea of Galilee. She has visited the birthplace of Jesus, His hometown of Nazareth, and the place of His crucifixion and resurrection.  And soon she will be with Him in heaven.  With Jesus…her faithful, loving, patient, compassionate, and forgiving Lord.

Extravagant Love

We all love a good love story.  Well, at least women do.  Men of course don’t want to admit such things. But when you’re married you become familiar with more “chick flick” material than you would otherwise.  This Sunday I will be teaching from the book of Ruth.  This is one of most captivating love stories in all of the Old Testament. Ruth is a beautiful example of how God redeems tragedy and uncertainty and uses it for His purposes and glory.   Ruth is a young and beautiful Moabite that needs a husband while Boaz is an older man, who lost the six-pack years ago, that needs a wife.  Throughout the book we see the subtle sovereign hand of God bringing Ruth and Boaz together to bring a son into the world that would become the grandfather to King David.

Pleasant Surprises

Today I am studying outside the office in a local coffee shop.  This is part of my regular routine to have concentrated time to focus on study.  I have found this particular place fairly quiet (thus it goes unnamed).  As I sat down in my usual spot, Alex Gowler was also there.  Alex and his wife Renee attend River Valley and I had the privilege of marrying them last Summer.  Alex serves with Youth For Christ in the Manteno Middle School and Renee serves with the Kankakee Pregnancy Resource Center.  Alex and me have similar interests in the life of the church and notable conversations taking place in Christendom these days.  We always have stimulating conversations usually centered on the Word of God and how His word applies to current trends and conversations in church life.  I am reminded once again of our need for relationship within the body to encourage and spur one another on toward love and good deeds.  Our encounter was a pleasant surprise.

A Radical Experiment

The Radical Experiment continues to be a blessing in the life of River Valley. Every week I hear people talking about the impact of committing to read through the Bible, praying for every country of the world, serving in another context, sacrificing money for specific cause, and committing to the life of the church through small groups. Some are even foregoing the annual vacation and instead going on one of three mission trips this summer. Others are finding specific ways to pray for the world with the help of the book Operation World. One young lady said that when the earthquake and tsunami hit Japan, she was able to pray more effectively because of the information she received from Operation World. Others are committing themselves to River Valley by officially joining the church. Congratulations to the 24 who joined Sunday! To tell your story about how the Radical Experiment is changing you, visit our website at GrowDeepReachWide.org.

Powerless

In June I read the book Radical by David Platt. David Platt is the 31-year old pastor of the 4,000 member Church at Brook Hills in Birmingham, Alabama. While reading the book there was one particular moment that stopped me from reading on.  Platt wrote,  “I am part of a system that has created a whole host of means and methods, plans and strategies for doing church that require little if any power from God.”  I remembered reading something similar last year from Francis Chan’s book “Forgotten God.” Chan wrote, “If you combine a charismatic speaker, a talented worship band, and some hip, creative events, people will attend your church.  Yet this does not mean that the Holy Spirit of God is actively working and moving in the lives of people who are coming.  It simply means that you have created a space that is appealing enough to draw people in for an hour or two on Sunday.”  To me, this is a nightmare scenario.  That we would gather each Sunday, shake each other’s hands, sing some powerful songs of worship played by excellent musicians, hear a message from the Bible, send our kids to a gathering of worship and Bible teaching and yet God be absent from all of it.  And because people attend and their expectations are being met, we arrive at the conclusion that God is pleased. And because the seats are filled, we assume people are being filled with the Spirit.  And though we say that all of it was done FOR God, it was a waste of time because it was done WITHOUT God.  FOR God, but WITHOUT God…this is a nightmare.  It frightens me that we could coast along for quite awhile operating within our own strength and abilities and not realize that the power of the Holy Spirit has been absent.  We are radically dependent upon the Spirit because we are easily self-deceived.  We are radically dependent upon the Spirit because we have been given a mission we cannot accomplish on our own.  We demonstrate our radical dependence upon the Spirit through prayer.  The only proper posture before God is to humble ourselves and ask that His presence and power lead us into faithful obedience for His glory.