This is in the first pages of Rob Bell’s new book Love Wins. He is preparing the reader for the ideas he presents in this book about heaven, hell, eternity, and the nature of God.  I agree with his introductory statement. This isn’t new stuff. It’s all been heard before and refuted. In my opinion (as well as Al Mohler and Ed Stetzer), many of the mainline denominations (non evangelical) still embrace all or portions of the theological ideas in this book. I think they are distortions of Biblical truth that many have considered before and rejected.

 For example: “The message that Christians will spend eternity with God in heaven while the rest of humanity will spend eternity in hell is toxic and misguided and subverts the message of God’s love.”

Revelation 20:15 (ESV) ^“And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.”

Matthew 10:28 (ESV)  And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.

Luke 12:5 (ESV) But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him!

Revelation 21:8 (ESV) But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”

In order to consider the Biblical message about hell “toxic, misguided and subversive”, one has to ignore the words of Scripture. I personally hate the idea of hell and would like to see every person escape the eternal separation of hell, but I cannot ignore the Scripture. Hell is real and God has provided a way to avoid that terrible destiny-Jesus. Mark Driscoll (pastor of another Mars Hill Church in another part of the country) has a great video about that truth here.)

Another example: “And whenever people claim that one group is in, saved, accepted by God, forgiven, enlightened, redeemed- and everybody else isn’t- why is it that those who make this claim are almost always part of the group that’s in?”

Luke 13:22-24 (NIV) Then Jesus went through the towns and villages, teaching as he made his way to Jerusalem. ²³ Someone asked him, "Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?" He said to them, ²⁴ "Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to.

Matthew 7:21-23 (NIV) "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. ²² Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' ²³ Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'

Jesus Himself in these two different passages clearly communicates that some would be “in” while others would be “out”. This is not an unloving judgmental perspective; it is truth spoken by Truth that there is an ‘in” and there is an “out”. While it may be wishful thinking that everybody is "in"; it is not Biblical Truth.

There are many other examples of error in Bell’s book and I do pray for him to re-think these dangerous and deceiving teachings.I don't know the man or his heart, but he has chosen to publish his beliefs and market them to people I love, so I must address them as a shepherd who stands before God daily and ultimately. I do pray for him.

I have a greater concern for the Believers who are not grounded in God’s Word and orthodox Christian teaching. I fear for those who are swayed by doubt more than truth. I pray for those who build their lives on possible scenarios rather than clearly declared truth. I pray for those who are weak in their faith and now have been made more unsure of their faith by one who is supposed to speak for Truth and help them live lives of deep faith.

In these times the idea that truth is relative and that one can be the authority in one’s life, the Bible is reduced to one of many books; and the centuries old teaching of the Christian church is reduced to mere opinion. I tremble at the consequences of regarding God’s Word and Truth as subjective rather than rooted in God Himself.

I guess I pray that Rob Bell’s thinking will be countered by a renewed commitment to teach Truth as revealed in the clear teaching of the Bible and the two thousand year old orthodox teachings of the Christian Church.

Curt's opinion.

In my personal study of the Scriptures, I often try to project myself into the story to get a better sense of what the Lord would have me be or do. It helps me get different perspectives. 

For example, in the parable in Luke 18:10-14, I have sometimes identified with the self righteous guy so I repent. Other times I’m the repentant sinner standing extremely grateful to God for his sacrifice for me. In the teaching from Jesus in Matthew 6 about worrying, I project myself into the story as a worried guy sitting on a hill listening to Jesus tell me to trust Him.  In the OT story of Joseph (Genesis 37ff), I have been the brothers, the Dad, and Joseph. The difference in perspective helps me see the Lord’s word to me personally.  I think the Lord often speaks differently to us at different times in our life. His perspective is always best.

In the story of the Good Samaritan I put myself into the story in a place I have never been before. I was the wounded guy on the road. I have been the guy who stops to help the wounded guy. And I have been the two who passed on by and did nothing. But when I saw myself as the wounded guy on the road that needed help, it gave me a perspective on the mercy and grace of God who stops for the unworthy and undeserving.  Jesus the Savior stopped to help; but not bandages and lodging. The help I needed was reconciliation to God. I was alienated from God and He took notice, came to me, picked me up, and made things right with God and me. All His decision to save.

I could have died separated from God forever, but Jesus stopped.

From this perspective, I have a different view towards the needy. I realize I am one of them. I have a different motive for helping others now. As one for whom God stopped to help, I am now a wounded healer who stops to help because he has been helped by God the Healer and Savior.

Just thinking….

"The world can no longer be left to mere diplomats, politicians and business leaders. They have done  the best they could, no doubt. This is an age for spiritual heroes- a time for men and women to be heroic in their faith and in spiritual character and power.The greatest danger to the Christian church  today is that of pitching the message too low."

Our journey into ministry to the poor and oppressed of the nation and world will require us to make sacrifices. I have been familiar with giving for some time, but my giving is rarely sacrificial. It is more of a giving that doesn't really upset normal life practices.I would rather give like heroes do- sacrificially.

I'm praying that Riverbluff Church will be a church of spiritual heroes ready to tackle the problems of the world.

We’re studying The Hole In Our Gospel by Rich Stearns, President of World Vision. Stearns challenges the church to “plug the hole” in our Gospel. He doesn’t suggest that there is a hole in THE Gospel, just in OUR Gospel. That hole is our ministry to the poor and the pursuit of justice for the oppressed. It’s not making the Gospel a Gospel of good works, but suggesting that God sends us to get people saved AND to meet their needs. It’s what we do. It’s enlarging our work in the world to do good as well as help people get saved. It's the results of being saved, not a way to be saved.

I know there will be some who hope we're not taking a step towards the theological error called the Social Gospel. Me too. We are a conservative Bible believing church who takes all of the Bible to be authoritative, not just the parts about life after life. So I ask the Lord to keep us tuned into His Spirit. I think we have to pursue obedience to all of God’s commands to His people, especially those concerning the poor.

I’m also hoping we don’t just come out of this study with some new optional program that some of our folks get involved in periodically. I’m asking God to do such a work in us that we make helping others as regular and essential as lunch or sleeping. I want to make it a regular part of our budgteing and ministries.

I do think we will have to act from a motive other than duty, guilt, avoiding punishment, or anticipated rewards.

In my opinion, the only lasting motive is to realize our own deep need of the Savior, and the extent to which He sacrificed for us. We have to see ourselves not as the Good Samaritan but as the wounded man lying in the road. The more we consider ourselves worthy and others unworthy, the less we grasp the depth of our own sin. The more we realize what Jesus did for us and how unworthy we were and are, the more we will live as he lived simply out of gratitude and love. And we will begin to see people as He does.

Pray for us in this journey….

Next week we begin a church wide study that was prompted by God at work in me some time ago when I read David Platt's Radical . God just did a number on me to show that we were helping the needy in convenient and easy ways that didn't require a lot of church or personal sacrifice. Isaiah 58 has troubled me for many years and I felt the time was right for us to do something about it.

In reading the book The Hole In Our Gospel, I saw a resource to help our entire church confront the issue of the Christian's role in world poverty and needs. I discovered that small group materials were available for an entire church to explore this together. So I asked our leadership team to pray about it and Sunday we start. It's a 6 week Sunday message and small group study based on the book by Rich Stearns, President of World Vision.

The United States is home to thousands of churches and Christians who engage the poor every now and then. We want to disciple Riverbluff Christians to be Christians who engage the needy as regularly as they engage the Lord in Prayer, Bible study, witness, community, or worship. Our vision is that they will assist others in need as a normal Christian activity, not an "add-on". It will be a discipline until it becomes a habit and ultimately a way of life.

Rick Warren did a study of the verses in the Bible that deal with poverty and justice (don't get excited Glenn Beck fans! Justice is a Biblical word.) Warren found over 2,000 verses that were directly related to our regular engagement with the needy. The American Bible Society published his research as The Poverty & Justice Bible, and it is powerful and convicting reading.

When I first came to Midland Park Baptist back in 1988, I had a big place in my heart for the poor that I think God put there. Our efforts to connect evangelism and discipleship with concern for the poor and needy has always been in our DNA. Thank God! Now God has led me and our leadership team to take serious steps to meet needs in the Charleston area, the nation, and around the world in a greater way than we have before.

My prayer is that God will take us deeper into our understanding of the issues of poverty and justice and then cause us to have a greater influence on the needs of the world. We actually are World Changers through Christ. 

Just thinking about it…

We may lose our orthodoxy papers from the SBC for this but we don't have a "walk-down-the-aisle-public -'just-as-I-am' Invitation" every worship service.Haven't for years. We do give an invitation at every service but the invitation is to meet with one of us to talk about salvation, re-dedication, growth, or any other issues. We have a prayer team available at the end of every service to pray with those who need someone to pray with or for them. We also have a Response Sunday once a month (thanx to my friend Greg) where we offer multiple possibilities for public commitments.

The whole point of writing the last paragraph was to explain the wonderful service we had Sunday.

We gave the invitation to be saved, to repent of sin, to publicly thank God for what He is doing in one's life or around them. One could pray with our prayer teams, confess sins nailing them to the cross, or take communion.

This morning at our staff meeting we read the sheets people had put into baskets all over the auditorium where they see God working in their lives or around them. It was wonderful to read so many who have experienced genuine growth personally. The number of people who were seeing God at work was amazing. Mostly in the lives of the poor and needy. There were also words about healings and jobs and other things.

When we read the sins that people repented of and nailed to the two crosses, it was heart breaking. Sin still has too much of a hold on Christians and we prayed long and heard about recurring sins. Sin is still destructive. What was wonderful was the people who repented of sin and made a commitment to grow stronger and avoid that sin in the future. They threw themselves on the mercy and grace of God and you could see their sincerity in the notes they wrote.

These response days are sweet to me and to the staff and leadership here at the River. We thank God for what He is doing in us, through us, and around us.  Our prayer is that God will do great things in us and around us and that He will use us to change the world.

Just thinking about it…

My conclusion is that when we become fully convinced that God is Our Source; and begin to handle the money He entrust to us as His money, then we will begin to live in such a way that generosity is possible. Our attitudes towards life are based on an Abundance or Scarcity mentality. (Thx Tim Sanders!)

In difficult financial times, many of us abandon our "generosity thinking" for "look out for #1" thinking.

Let me encourage you to maintain your generosity even when times are hard. The man with two coats should share with the man who has none. Most of us have more than two coats. Don't limit your generosity to money. Give yourself when there's no money to give. Be generous with you!

Just a thot…

This hasn't been a fundraising or budget pledge effort; but a look at how becoming a Christian affects the way we make, spend, or use money. In my years of ministry, I've encountered many who felt that such areas were off limits. We could talk about morality, or missions, or discipleship; but money was considered an area that God really didn't care much about.

Oh, really?!?!?! (Insert laugh track here)

In a sermon on the subject, Tim Keller says that unless one submits all money matters to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, there can be little to no spiritual growth. After decades of helping others deal with the problems of their lives, I would have to say "I agree".

Sunday I talked about Greed. Yes, greed. Greed is the attitude that most of us think someone else has. Most of us are pretty good at spotting greed in others. And most of us erroneously believe that greed is a rich man's sin; but one doesn't have to be wealthy to be greedy. Greed is like a well hidden sickness operating in our souls affecting everything regardless of our money situation. 

That's why Jesus says in Luke 12: "Watch out for every kind of greed."

My hope after this series (I have one more message for this Sunday), is that we will change our thinking from money as a controlling factor in life, to money as a tool for good given by God and for which we are accountable.

That' a giant step but one we can make with God's help.

Paul said that Contentment is not something that just happens. It is learned according to Philippians 4:10-13. And the secret to learning contentment is to know Jesus.

The song goes "all of You is more than enough for all of me".

The longer I walk with HIm and know Him, the more I agree with the song.

For example, the matter of ownership. For the Christian ownership is a settled matter because we belong to the Lord, so everything in our lives belongs to God. That includes the money He has entrusted to us. He owns it all. Actually, God owns it all for everyone, but not all have realized that truth or agreed to it. Christians accept this as truth-God owns it all.

So if God owns it all, what are we?

The word is stewards. A steward is one who is entrusted with the resources of another.  Notice the word entrusted. Since we are entrusted with God’s resources that also brings another truth to mind.

We are accountable to God the Owner for how we use the money He entrusts to us. That is a mind blowing fact that surely warrants attention and action for all Believers.

I think the Bible is clear that God expects us to care for our families AND use His money to do good to all.

Curt’s opinion: It’s not up to the government to care for the poor, or widows, or the elderly, or the needy. It’s a responsibility given to us, Followers of Jesus Christ.

Now is a great time to be sure that a portion of the money entrusted to you is budgeted to meet the needs of others in addition to your own family.

Just thinking about it…