Love Wins (3)

It is true, God is love. But God is also just. And just for fun I have decided to create a list of the other references where it says, “God is…”

So, here is the list, along with the references:

  • God is love- 1 John 4:8-10
  • God is a jealous God who will not share our affection with any other god- Exodus 20:5
  • God is a devouring fire, a jealous God- Deuteronomy 4:24
  • God is an awesome God, greater than any other- 2 Chronicles 2:5
  • God is Spirit- John 4:24
  • God is the one who made the world and everything in it- Acts 17:24
  • God is Lord of heaven and earth- Acts 17:24
  • God is true- Romans 3:4
  • God is so rich in mercy- Ephesians 2:4-10
What does all this mean? It means God is not only love. He is also all of these other things. He is righteous and just. He is sovereign and true. He is rich in mercy, and he also judges when necessary. As Solomon concluded, “God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil.”
 
What I’m getting at is this: if you happen to read Rob’s book, I’m afraid you may come away with only “heads” of a 2-sided coin. The “tails” is that God has set up a judgment day. When is that? How does it all work? Who gets to go where? Is there the possibility of changing your mind later, as in after death? I don’t know. I only know its worth your time to look into these issues and make a decision soon. Very soon.
I’ll close with this. A professor of mine, who is a Christian, was once asked to have a dialogue/debate with a prominent Buddhist leader. After a few minutes of dialogue, the Buddhist turned toward my professor and poignantly asked,  “Do you think I’m going to hell?” The room fell silent as everyone waited to see how the Christian would answer. He answered with this, “I’m not the judge. Jesus is the way. And heaven will be full of surprises.”

Love Wins (2)

I finished Love Wins over Thanksgiving Break, and honestly, I gave thanks for that. Not because it’s a difficult or laborious read, but because I feel a great sense of accomplishment when I finish a book.

So what did the book say? Or rather, what did the author, Rob, say?

Rob essentially said that love wins, which is the same thing (in his argument) as saying God wins. God desires that all people be saved. And Rob says God’s desire will be fulfilled. Whether you experience salvation in this life, or in the next, or somewhere in between, you will at some point, be won over by the love of God. Eventually, you will see it, understand it, accept it, and come into relationship with Him. You see, in the end, God gets what He wants. But He never does so through coercion, as Rob is careful to point out. The big idea of the book is summed up by Paul in 1 Corinthians, love never fails. Which means it/He always wins. Love wins.

That’s the basic argument, supplemented by plenty of Scriptures, set in their proper context. It is also supplemented by the notion that there are hells on earth and heavens on earth. And don’t forget, the argument also hinges quite a bit on the Greek word for “eternity” or “forever,” which is “aeon.”

So what do I think about all of this? I think there are hells on earth and heavens on earth. I think we can experience eternal life now if we begin to follow the ways of Jesus. And I think “aeon” is a tricky word to translate, especially in situations where Jesus is speaking in parables or using hyperbole.

I also think a strong understanding of context is crucial in interpretation. I think God wants us all to experience life eternal. I think heaven will be full of surprises. I think it’s hard to know exactly what happens when we die and how time and space and all of that will work once we are no longer in physical bodies. And last, but not least, I think God is love.

(Love Wins Part 3 will be coming soon.)

Living Epistles (2b)

(A continuation from yesterday)

You see, the marijuana is also a crucial part of the story because this is where the serious trouble began. He began smoking pot in early high school. Then, he moved to drinking Robitussin, 2-3 bottles a night. From there, he tried cocaine, but didn’t like it, so instead he started Molly. Molly would keep him up for three days at a time, so he wasn’t sleeping and he wasn’t eating. He lost a lot of weight, and when he finally began to notice its effects on his body, he just quit. Cold turkey, turned it off. But he still stuck to his Mary Jane.

Admist all of this, he did try a semester of college at a kind-of Christian university. He had been raised in a Christian home after all. But college wasn’t for him. He had his books stolen mid-way through the semester, so he upped his partying from two days a week to five days a week. Around this time, he also tried out for the basketball team. He was doing great, but all of the sudden he collapsed on the court. Doctors wouldn’t clear him, he was frustrated, burnt-out, and broke, so he returned home.

He moved in with his brother, was kicked out, moved in with his old youth pastor, and found a job at Pizza Hut. He still smoked pot, but never at the house. Eventually, he was kicked out of there too, so he went to his parents, and that’s when things started coming to a point.

He quit working at Pizza Hut. He quit the drugs (since he was on probation). An old family friend began talking with him about Jesus. He went to his brother’s wedding and thought about how his brother had always been living for Jesus. Then, a cousin began talking to him about Jesus. His cousin encouraged him to go to Bible college, and so he did.

Now, he’s at Bible college, following Jesus. He’s trying to figure out his dreams, or rather God’s dreams for him. He wants to know what he’s supposed to do, where he’s supposed to be, and who he’s supposed to be–now and in the years to come.

Living Epistles (2a)

I know a guy, in his early 20s, who just started following Jesus. A few months ago, this guy was living at his parents’, on house arrest, smoking pot, and unemployed. Before that, he had been a thief, a drug dealer, and a womanizer. Here’s how all of that went down:

As a young boy, in third grade, he began stealing. He started with little things, like candy and trinkets. By middle school, he was stealing money, for expensive clothes and basketball shoes. He didn’t steal from family, but he stole while he was with family. That is, he stole some $1500 from the family that his mother cleaned for. The family caught him, but he lied about it. They said they believed him, but they also never invited his mother and him back to clean.

By the end of high school, he had begun to steal the merchandise itself, from various stores in Castleton. A year or so later, an employee caught him stealing at Dick’s Sporting Goods. As the employee led him back to the offices, my friend made the decision to run for it. He bolted out the door and began a 45-minute chase across some of the busiest streets and parking lots in the city. He escaped, but he did so on an adrenaline high, along with a strong sense of pride. What I mean is that after this experience, he wanted to steal more, because there was always the potential for a chase. A chase which he thought he would always win.

Eventually, he didn’t win. He was stealing merchandise from Von Maur, and when the employee was leading him to the offices, he tried to escape, just like he did at Dick’s. But this time he couldn’t fanagle his way out of a 3-person sting plot. You see, the day before, he had stolen from Von Maur and he thought the employees didn’t notice. But when he came back the very next day, they eyed him like a hawk. And when he went to leave, two security guards collapsed on him, along with the store manager. He was arrested for theft and attempting to flee authorities. But then, when they were putting everything in a bag to take to the station, the police were about to throw a little gum wrapper away. My friend insisted that they put that in the bag, and the cops, a bit suspicious, went ahead with it. Back at the station, in the wrapper, the police found a trace of marijuana. They tacked on possession to the list of charges.

Love Wins (1)

I finally started Rob Bell’s latest book. I can’t believe it took me this long.

Sadly, I still haven’t finished the book, but I am over halfway through it and I just have to express some initial thoughts.

First, I’ve never read a book with so many questions. He barrages the reader with pages of questions, and, although he never seems to answer them, I appreciate it. He makes the reader think.

Second, I appreciate his writing style and organization. He makes a very deep and complicated discussion accessible to the average Joe. He brings out Hebrew and Greek words, but never loses the reader in the process. And as for organization, his chapters stay on topic and they flow into each other.

Third, I’ve never thought about heaven and hell and eternity and what’s happening on this earth and what I’m doing with life so much as I have in the past two weeks. That’s a good thing.

Fourth, I can see why this book rattled many Christians. I can also see why it was in Amazon’s Top 10 Bestsellers for a couple months. It’s provocative, challenging, and delightfully interesting.

With that, I’ll go back to reading. And when I finish, I’ll write a final review.

Living Epistles (1)

I know a lady, a single mom actually. She is in her forties, with three kids, two of which are out of the house. The youngest is still at home, quickly approaching her teenage years. The other two are out of the house, both boys. The oldest boy is married, working as an apprentice in the electrical field, and working on his degree. The other boy is single, just starting college.

That’s the simple part, the surface part. The difficult part is the inner turmoil, caused by the past. She was married seventeen years, only to learn her husband had been living a double life. He had cheated on her, set-up a Ponzi scheme of sorts, and lied about it throughout the marriage. Eventually he was caught and ended up in jail, with the marriage ending around that same time. What was that time?

Well, by the time of the divorce, all three children had been born. The oldest had just started high school and the youngest had just started elementary school. So the mom found a job and started playing the role of provider, as well as protector, as well as nurturer and care-taker. And she did this for six years. Work away from home full-time, only to come home and work full-time all over again. Year in, year out, for six years. Talk about a trooper.

Now, she works as a secretary at a church on the northeast side of Indianapolis. Her middle child, the guy who is single and at college, has been in and out of trouble with the law. Most of his escapades happened before he turned 18, while he was living at his mom’s place. But now, he’s starting to make some better choices, and I can’t help but think these better choices have something to do with the prayers of his mother. She prays hard, works hard, and continues to make ends meet. She loves her boys, loves her girl, loves her dog, and loves her God.

And for all of those reasons, and for all of that story, I call her a living epistle.

Living Epistles (Introduction)

Last week I came up with an idea. I’m going to write blogs about people I know.

I know, it doesn’t sound like an impressive idea, but impressing you is not the point. Power is the point. The people I’m going to write about are living powerful lives. They are demonstrating that there is a better way to live.

In 2 Corinthians, Paul writes to the church at Corinth, “You are our epistle written on our hearts, known and read by all men.” He goes on to say that this epistle or letter of their lives is not written with ink, but is written by the Spirit of the living God. And my friends, that is a point that is often missed.

God is alive. He’s active. He’s present. He’s moving. He’s dynamic. He is not off in some distant place. He is not sitting around watching this whole experiment. He is not withdrawn, detached, or disinterested. God is closer than you think. He’s doing things all around you. And my hope is that through these series of posts, you too will see what I’m talking about. God at work, in people.