…to hell with Hell…?

I am hesitant to enter into the discussion of Rob Bell’s latest book “Love Wins”. Part of the reason “why” is me – I am afraid to go back to being the mean spirited blogger that I was. Also, I am afraid that what I am saying will be tearing down Rob Bell and not affirming what is true about God.

So I come, not as an expert or someone who has this thing of following Jesus all figured out, rather I come as a servant of God who seeks to affirm what He has spoken to us in Scripture.

Forgive me for the length and at the same time for not dealing with all of the issues of the book.

 

the distorted god?

It seems as though the lens that Rob sees God through is distorted and therefore leads to a god that is not the real God. Hang with me for a second while I take you through a winding road of my logic. If I am looking through binoculars that have lenses that are melted and misshaped and then I go to draw that object, would my picture be close to what the real object looks like and really is? Let’s also assume that I can draw really well, even though that is not true at all. Would my picture look anything like the real thing? Nope, not at all unless I got lucky with my drawing.

Now, back to the god that Rob describes in his book. He says that God is Love.

Is this true? Yes. God can be described as love, that is an attribute of God.

Is this all that God is? What does God say? What does He reveal Himself to be in Scripture?

Is God creator? Yes. Is that all He is? Nope.

Is God deliverer? Yes. Is that all He is? Nope.

Is God holy? For sure. Is that all that defines Him? Nope.

Is God the ultimate Judge? Yes. So God is judge? Yep, according to the Scriptures He is. So should I base my whole way of living and thinking on that attribute of God? Nope.

God is complex. Isn’t He. Think about it with me for a second. Are you complex? Am I complex? Yep to both of those questions? Men, is your wife complex? Yep. Natalie is, once I think I have her figured out I discover a whole other layer of who she is.

So if we who are created and in the image of the God are complex then why would God not be complex? Otherwise wouldn’t I think that I am more than God?

Has Rob created a simple god? Has he created a god that tickles our ears? Has he created a god that goes well with our post modern culture? Has he created a god that only is love so he can defend this god?

As Rob said “we shape our God, and then our God shapes us? (184)

It’s true isn’t it? We want to create a god that when asked by our friends and family, those who we love, if they have eternal life apart from Jesus, we can say “yes”. I want to worship a god that is only love, a love that I get to define? It would be a lot less messy.

Wouldn’t it?

God is love? Yes, He is. God is judge? Yes, He is. God is the lion? Yep. God is the lamb? Yep. God is the payment for my sins? Yep. Wait, I thought He was judge? He is. So He is both?

How does that work? I don’t know. There I said it. Here’s the thing, I don’t have to defend God. Do I? He is strong enough to defend Himself if He sees fit? God is God and I am not. However we are to understand God through the lens that God gave us to see Him. What is the lens? Scripture.

 

hell is a garbage dump?

In chapter 3, Bell talks about the use of the word “hell” in Scriptures. Ironically I heard Rob preach on this the last time that I was at Mars Hill and was left thinking “does Rob really believe that hell is only a here and now thing”? Well Rob does not leave me wondering now.

The word that is translated “hell” in the English New Testament is the word Gehenna. Rob says “Gehenna, in Jesus’ day, was a city dump.” (68) Bell goes on to say “So the next time someone asks you if you believe in an actual hell, you can always say, “Yes, I do believe that my garbage goes somewhere…”” (68)

So in Matthew 5 when Jesus says “whoever says, ‘you fool’ will be liable to the Gehenna of fire”, He was referring literally to the garbage dump? Jesus meant that if you said that, boom, they were throwing you in the garbage dump, same thing for today then. Is that what He meant? Nope, there is a much deeper meaning there.

Some may say, that is really what Jesus said? Okay, then let’s apply that the rest of the Sermon on the Mount, which this passage is a part of?

We are to be salt.

We are to be the light of the world.

We are to be aware of wolves in sheep clothing.

We are to bear literal fruit.

We are to build our houses on rock.

This sounds painfully impossible? I am human and yet I am to take the form of salt, a light and fruit all at the same time and I am to build my house on rock. Who wants to help me dig my foundation?

What is the kingdom of heaven? It is a mustard seed that grows into a large tree? So we need to find a large tree and that is heaven? I am afraid of being high in a tree? That sounds like hell to me. The kingdom of heaven is a pearl? Ladies it is not a diamond. So the next time someone ask you if you believe in a real heaven you can say “yes I loved to climb it when I was a child.”

Enough with my rambling. What is my point? My point is that Jesus uses these images so that we can understand what hell is like. He like any good teacher uses images for us to understand what it is like? Jesus, used the imagery of the dump because that is a great way of understanding hell.

Have you been to the dump? Did you like it? Did you want to stay there? Now add some dogs and piles of trash burning. How much would you want to be there?

I know that I want nothing to do with that.

 

hell is for pruning?

In chapter 3 Rob deals with Matthew 25, that says “and these (those on Jesus’ left) will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

Rob says that the phrase “eternal punishment” should be translated “a period of pruning or a time of trimming.” (91) How does Rob get there? He says that Aion, should be translated “age or period of time” (91) and that kolazo is “a term from horticulture. It refers to the pruning and trimming of the branches of a plant so it can flourish.” Now I am not Greek expert, however I can use resources by follows of Jesus that are much more versed in Greek than Rob and I.

What do they say the phrase means? Good question. They say it means “eternal punishment.”

So what will you believe? What has been said for 2,000 years in the orthodox stream of Christianity or something that has been said by a man, here in Grand Rapids.

I am going to go with the millions of faithful Christians, some who were persecuted and killed for what they believe.

Here is the other problem with the translation. The word that is used for “eternal” in the the phrase “eternal life” is aion. Crap, if aion means “period of time” and not “forever or eternal” that means that the life that we receive or in Rob’s way can and will convert to is for a period of time what happens then?

So is eternal life really eternal? What about those men and women who were and are tortured and killed for not renouncing Jesus? Did they die for no reason? How much longer will they get with Jesus? After eternal life do I have to go through this pain again? Do I have to watch loved ones slowly die again? Do I have to see my wife cry as we go through “hell” here on earth at times? Does Jesus have to die to rescue me again?

How is God loving in that? How does love win in that situation? Will God only wipe my tears away for a period of time?

 

magic words to get in?

In chapter 1 on page 14 Rob asks questions about how we get “in” to heaven. First of all let’s deal with getting “in” to heaven. Rob paints the picture that Christianity is all about getting “in”. Rob I agree with you on this point. It is not about getting “in”, eternal life is not about escaping from this world and waiting for a space ship to take us away. I agree that some churches in the past 50 years have taught this, however Rob paints it as this is what has been taught in all churches throughout the ages and this is not true.

It just isn’t true

What is eternal life? Well let’s look at what Jesus says in John 17 “and this is eternal life, that they (Jesus’ followers) that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.”

Eternal life is about being rescued from the fires of hell and getting the one thing that we need…God. That we know God and are known by Him. Wow… not that is good news.

Rob then goes on to mock phrases that the church has used in the past 50 years to describe this salvation such as “personal relationship” or “asking Jesus into my heart” is there some truth to his criticism? Yes. Does this mean that the Bible has nothing to say about this? Nope.

Before we deal with that, let’s deal with a passage that Rob uses to show that all people get into heaven. He uses John 14 which says “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Seems like Jesus is saying there is one narrow path to life. Doesn’t it? Not to Rob, he says that this view is toxic. And says “what He (Jesus) doesn’t say is how, or when, or in what manner the mechanism functions that gets people to God through Him.” (154)

Sounds great doesn’t it? That means my atheist friend is in. That means that my agnostic family members are going to have eternal life. That is awesome and saves me from tears, a broken heart and crying out to God to rescue them.

Is this the truth? I am afraid not. If we go back a couple of sentences before this phrase it says “let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me.”

Crap, God don’t throw that believe thing in there.

God don’t say “repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.” (Acts 2)

God don’t say “the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1)

God please don’t say “No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish” (Luke 13)

Jesus don’t say “because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10)

If these words of God are true, then I am to be on my knees begging God to rescue those that I love and care for? And that sucks. This is not as palatable is it?

 

Holy Hell?

I may have been a cruel kid that loved to see frogs explode from a firework in them, however that does not mean that I want to see people suffer eternal punishment. In fact it makes me cringe and weep. It makes me cringe that those who like me chose to rebel against God and worship themselves suffer punishment if they are not rescued by God.

I wish that Hell was not real and that it was not forever. I really do, I want God to save all and at times get mad at Him for not doing that.

However, who is God.

God? Or me?

God.

When I balk at the idea I forget that God is Holy. He is holy, holy, holy is the Lord God almighty and that is what will be sang for all eternity.

Hell is not unfair. Hell is what we deserve. I deserve Hell more than anyone and yet Jesus died and paid the price for my Sin so that I can have eternal life and be in the presence of a holy, holy, holy God.

That I could follow Jesus.

Why me?

Why the other followers of Jesus?

Why not that single mother of 3 that is way more loving than me?

Why that rapist?

Why the guy who murdered his wife?

Why not those who are “good” people?

Why those “legalistic” people?

Can I admit that I don’t get it?

And that I don’t have to get it.

That God is more complex than what my mind can understand.

 

the past 2,000 years?

What I am saying about Hell, repentance and God’s holiness is not new. God has said it, from the beginning of time, 2000 years ago God came in human flesh and said the same thing and followers of Jesus have affirmed the same thing for 2,000 years.

In that stream, the orthodox stream I affirm that:

God is Love.

God is Holy.

God is Provider.

God is the Lamb that is made the payment for sin of those who believe.

God is my Protection.

God is the rest for the weary.

God is bigger than the box that I put Him in.

God is bigger than my understanding of Him.

I do not need to defend God.

I am to be His witness to all those that I meet.

The real God is so much better than the god that Rob paints the picture of in his book.

True joy only can be found in knowing and glorifying the true God, Father, Spirit and Son. Not in the god that only is love.

Orthodoxy is not toxic, it is life giving.

For those of you who are afraid that what Rob is saying is going to destroy Christianity in West Michigan – do not worry. The Church will survive, the real thing will live long past this recycled heterodox belief of universal goes away. The Holy Spirit is stronger than this false teaching.

For those who think Rob is just asking innocent questions or that we don’t need to address these issues, we as followers are called to be aware of wolves in sheep’s clothing and need to keep the Body of Christ pure.

My prayer is that what Rob said in the last chapter is true and that Rob truly asked God to forgive him. I beg God that He is faithful in reconciling Rob to Himself and that God Himself and He alone, Father, Spirit and Son is brought glory and that many come to worship Him and give all that they have to Him. To God be the glory.

 

 

*All Quoted Scripture is from the ESV

…i hate boundaries…

Do you hate boundaries?

Don’t you feel boxed in by fences?

Boundaries are oppressive, right?

Boundaries are freedom?

Growing up I tried to find ways around the boundaries that were given to me and I thought that those around me were giving the rules and boundaries were trying to oppress me (let’s be honest I still think that the rules my parents gave me were because they didn’t want me to have fun…just don’t tell them).

Here is the crazy thing about it, I still think that and act the like the boundaries that God gives to me and by fellow followers of Jesus to oppress us and to make it so that we don’t have fun.  Then I read this,

Whenever the LORD raised up judges for them, the LORD was with the judge, and he saved them from the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge. For the LORD was moved to pity by their groaning because of those who afflicted and oppressed them. But whenever the judge died, they turned back and were more corrupt than their fathers, going after other gods, serving them and bowing down to them. They did not drop any of their practices or their stubborn ways. (Judges 2:18-19 ESV)

God, my loving Father doesn’t show and tell us the best way to live because He is mean or wants to keep us from being from or even from being truly human.  In fact when we follow Jesus and His way of living we find out what it truly means to be human.  God gives us guidance and rules so that we will not be afflicted and oppressed, Jesus came so that we might have life abundant.  God as the designer of all tells us what it looks like to live, to truly live, why, so that we may have joy true joy that can not be found anywhere else.

For my joy?

Here is the thing brothers and sisters, why are we so opposed to what God says?  Why do we want to disregard what God says in Scripture says?  Why is not what God revealed about Himself and told us enough?  Why is true joy not enough?

Why do we say “God say ___ about ____ and yet that was for that culture and not for us”?  Do we think we know more than God?  Are trying to apologize for God?  Are we trying to make God more palatable?  Are we ashamed of God?

What if in ignoring or blatantly disregarding God’s commands we are actually experiencing death?  What if we in our “sophistication” are missing out on life, life to the full?  What if we are missing out on what it means to be truly human?  What if we are missing out on true joy, the full joy that we as humans are supposed to experience?  What if we are trading in the real thing for something that is so fake that is barely resembles the real thing?

What if we are letting those false things oppress and afflict us?

What does it look like for us to be free?

What does it look like for us to say “what does Scripture say about this”?

What does it look like for us to live inside the boundaries and find true joy?

…I am my own crutch…

Jesus is NOT my crutch – I’m FAR MORE DEPENDENT on Him than that! I can’t even guarantee my next breath without God’s grace. -Rick Warren

As I grew up, I was taught a good Dutch work ethic and I am proud to say that it was imparted on me.  From a very young  age, I was taught to work whether it was around the house or at my Grandpa’s farm.  In fact after my 6th grade year I worked at his farm with my cousin, it was fun and it was hard work.  After my 9th grade year I got a job at a lettuce farm in the area and had to be at work at 6am and we usually ended at 5pm.  Through this all I was taught to work hard, no matter how hard the job was.  It was ingrained by my family, bosses and the community around me.

So let’s bring this into me following Jesus, I tend in my actions to treat Jesus as my crutch, it is disgusting isn’t it?  Yeah.  I say that I believe that Jesus is my everything and that He alone is the reason that I can even breathe and let’s be honest I do not live that way at all.  I live as though I have done mostly everything and that Jesus just needs to help me along a little bit, however that is not true.  In order to live the way of completely relying on Jesus, I need to fall on my face before God and completely submit to Him, I need to live as though I believe the Gospel and live a Gospel life.  How radical would it be if a bunch of people truly lived as though this aspect of the Gospel is true?

…the crazy ideas that I get…

We have nothing to offer God that is not already His own -C.S. Lewis

So sometimes I get this crazy idea that I am in control of my own life, I think that Jesus should praise me that I would actually be willing to offer my life to serve Him.  What a load of dung that is and yes when I do this, I smell as bad as a load of dung.  I manage to read through the Word of God and somehow think that even though Jesus is in charge of it all throughout history that somehow I am exempt from this and that I am special (and yes I am special in some other ways).

So instead of thinking that I am great when I actually somewhat live for the glory of God that I am great and doing something awesome, I should realize that when I manage to somewhat do it that I am just being obedient and not stealing from Jesus.

To me this is a crazy concept that I can only grasp that in light of what Jesus did on the cross in dying for my sins, in my place.  When I start to think that it is my hard work I get proud and it is a never-ending cycle that is more confusing than the show Lost.

curvy road behind

Have you ever had the feeling that you were lost…or at least you did not know where you were going?  I have…many times in fact and it sucks, doesn’t it?

Let me tell you a little story to explain the lost feelings that I have had over the past few years.  Almost 4 years ago I got married to an amazing and beautiful woman named Natalie.  At the time we thought that I was supposed to be a youth pastor at a church.  So we applied at so many churches; if I had to guess it was at least 30 churches and with at least 10 of those being in Colorado.  I will be honest, those were trying times for me personally and for us as a couple.

Come to find out that is not what God wanted for us, rather the training I had that I thought I was going to have for being a youth pastor was really training for something else.

During this time we ended up  at a couple of different churches.  The first one we were involved, yet not highly.  I played bass guitar in the band and yes those were fun times and a time that allowed us to recharge and focus on what we wanted to do and where God was leading us.

At the second church we went to, it took us a little while, but we got involved.  Helping out with the youth group, developing small groups, preaching and then ultimately becoming an associate pastor at that church.

It was here at that second church that we realized that we were supposed to plant a church.  Let’s just be honest for a second, it took a lot and I mean a lot of prodding from God for us to even consider the idea of church planting.  It wasn’t a part of our plan and Natalie and I are really stubborn (well…more me than her, however we don’t have to tell anyone that).

Jump forward to now, we know that we are going to be planting a church in Holland and have been spending  a lot of time there, trying to become a part of the city, to understand it, so that we may minister in the best way possible to the people in Holland.

Here is the crux of it all, the whole time that we (I mean me) thought that we were lost, we were being prepared for this whole church planting thingy.  God was preparing us for this crazy, amazing, awesome journey that he has for us in the future.

so you want to be a farmer?

So the other day I was reading Seth Godin’s blog.

I came across something that caught my attention.  It was a post about hunters vs farmers and how those personality types play out in today’s society.

That article of course got me thinking about how that concept plays into church planting.

So here is what I have noticed so far about church planting and more specifically, church planting in Holland.  It is going to take a long time to establish a church that is going to be the church.

This reminds me of my grandpa and his farm that I used to work at when I was young.  As a farmer he had to be patient, he couldn’t go out one day plow the fields, plant a seed and come out the next day and be able to harvest his crops.  Rather it took a very long time, from the time that he plowed the field to get it ready to the time that he harvested the crops could be 4 months.  During those 4 months that it took he couldn’t just sit back and let the crops grow, rather he had to be out there watering the crops, taking out the weeds, making sure that his crops didn’t flood, over and over he did these things through the heat of the summer.  He had to have patience and a reliance on God, that his crops would come up and that he would be able to feed his family.

So back to church planting, as I look towards Holland and the church that God has Natalie and I planting, I see a place where we have to be farmers and not hunters.  If I was a hunter I would go in there and just expect that in a short while there would be a church established, however this would cause more pain than good.

So in the same sense that my grandpa was a patient farmer, I too need to be patient.  Working hard, praying hard and letting God do whatever he pleases.

the journey to cold waves

A habit of Natalie and I when we have gone out to Holland has been to go out to the beach.  Now, the beach is not part of the actual city of Holland however it is associated with the city of Holland and is what a majority of people seem to think that Holland is about.

During these trips to the beach during the winter I have been impressed with one thing about the lake.  The lake is powerful, as we sit there and watch the dark clouds role in, Natalie and I observe the power of the waves as they come crashing into the shore and the pier.  As the waves smash into the pier and the lighthouse, freezing spray goes flying into the air.

When I see this, I am reminded of the power of God, He is the source and creator of these waves that smash into the shore and that continues to amaze us.  There are times while in this process of planting a church that I forget about the power and majesty of God.  So, it is great to be reminded from somewhere so close of the power and majesty of God, the one who is my master and savior.

the adventure of exploring

Over the past couple of months I have had the joy of exploring a city with my wife Natalie.  It is a city that I knew parts of growing up, however did not know it.  As a result I had many preconceived ideas of the city, that broke when we went exploring.

So where does one start with exploring a city, really where does one start with explaining the city that they have spent so many hours exploring and trying to understand and become a part of the city?

As we drove in for the first time we drove in through the main street in the downtown of the city.  As we drove we noticed the shops on both sides of the road, little shops, except for a couple of stores, were independently owned.  This gave the downtown of the city a quaint little feel to it.  Let’s be honest it also gave it a “cool” feel as independent shops are all the rage.  On both sides of the street there were a lot of people walking throughout the downtown area, some walking slowly while drinking their coffee from one of local coffee shops, some were in a hurry like they had somewhere they wanted to get.  During the process of driving we realized that we were hungry.  So we drove until we found a little restaurant that served burgers and fries, wow, what great food that was.

From there we drove into the residential area of the city, a part of the city that people call central city.  As we drove we noticed the houses and the people, the area that we were soon enough going to call home.  As we observed we learned more and more about the people and the place that we were going to become a part of.  It was joyful and daunting all at the same time.

Once Natalie and I finished exploring, we went to that little coffee shop and discussed the possibility and the reality that we were moving to this city.

Since then Natalie and I have found our favorite little areas.  We have our favorite restaurant, well, of the 3 that we have been to and those who know us, know that once we love a place it is hard to get us to go somewhere else.  Natalie has her favorite coffee shop, which sadly to say is JP’s Coffee, mine on the other hand is a much more indie and let’s be honest way “cooler” than hers.  My favorite is Lemonjello’s, the place where the hip kids look at me strange and say “what is that old non hip man doing in our hip hangout.”  I am pretty sure that once we move there and I frequent Lemonjello’s more often the hipness will be lost, so sorry to all of you hip folks that will need to find a new spot to hang out.

As we spend more time in the city, the smaller the city becomes, and the more like home it is to Natalie and I.  While it still seems foreign in many ways to us, we are beginning to learn about it and become a part of it.  For if we are going to incarnate and minster to a city we need to spend time there and learn to love things about it.

So, our journey of exploring the city of Holland is far from over, it has begun and it has been an amazing journey so far and we look forward to showing people around and telling them about “our” city.

in search of the illusive beast called efficiency?

I have a busy life; it seems like it will only to continue to be more busy.

How about you?  Is your life busy?  I assume it is.

It seems like I am trying to juggle a lot of things; which is completely needed at this stage of life.  I work 2 jobs, am an associate pastor at a church and am in the process of church planting, have a wife, and try to be a friend to some people (maybe even you).

So, because of that, I have tried to figure out how I can be more efficient with my time.  Especially, when it comes to tasks that are mundane and is something that I have to do.  One day I was reading one of the few blogs that I read anymore (you know, blogging is dead, don’t you?) and I came across this link for a system that makes email more efficient and therefore let’s me spend less time on it, leaving more time to do other and more important things.

I would love to take credit for the idea of Inbox Zero, however I can’t.  It would even be fine, if I could take the credit for finding the guy who talked about Inbox Zero, however I can’t.  Remember, I found it at a blog that I still read.

The video of Inbox Zero is of a talk that Merlin Mann did at Google, it is on the long side, but it is well worth the watch and will save you time, checking email, which is a such a mundane task that is needed to gather information from others.

This has made me more efficient.  Will it make you more efficient?  Also if you have other ideas to make email more efficient; tell me; I would love to hear your suggestions (however that doesn’t mean that I will enact anything you have to say (well, unless it is really, really good)).

the journey? (of church planting)

One of the things that I want to talk about here is my journey of church planting.

A lot of my blogging on church planting will just be my thoughts (let’s be honest, I have never done this before, so some (or a lot) of my thoughts on church planting might be off, since I am no expert on church planting).  However I wanted to record my thoughts and the things that occur when I church plant.

Here is one thing that I have learned already, in this short time that things are starting to flesh out with the church planting.  Make sure to write your plans in pencil, not in pen.  I almost mean this literally, however I mean this in a metaphorical sense.  I am already seeing that my plans, however great and wonderful I think that they are, should be written in pencil and will change.  Things change in church planting, constantly, and as one who wants to church plant, I need to change them, when needed.  Isn’t that really true when we follow Jesus, shouldn’t our plans be written in pencil, constantly listening to Him, ready to go where he wants?

So, there is a factoid from my journey so far.