Rob Bell Part 2

I just want to say something to people who think that not reading one of Rob Bells books means that I may have a different opinion of him.  My opinion of him was pretty much solidified after reading.  Velvet Elvis, this new book just furthers my opinion of the man.  When he says "This love compels us to question some of the dominate stories that are being told as the Jesus story.  A staggering number of people have been taught that a select few Christians will spend forever in a peaceful, joyous place called heaven, while the rest of humanity spend forever in torment and punishment in hell with no chance for anything better.  It has clearly been communicated to many that this belief is a central truth to the Christian faith and to reject it, is in essence, to reject Jesus.  This is misguided and toxic and ultimately subverts the contagious spread of Jesus message of love, peace, forgiveness, and joy that our world desperately need to hear."  Those are his own words people.  Now as I read and study the Bible as a whole it is pretty clear that a "select" few will enter heaven while the rest of humanity will  spent the rest of eternity in torment.
One other thing that he says that I am in total disagreement with is "I believe the discussion itself is divine."  Discussion or debate for the sake of it is a usles endeavor, there has to be an end game.  A point you get to that closes the discussion.  This may not be possible in the Church as a whole but personally there must (sometimes after much intellectual and spiritual struggle) be a answer to the questions of faith. I myself have struggled with and sometimes still struggle with how a loving God can leave people to eternal punishment.  I always come back to the same conclusion:  God is loving, but he is also just and righteous, A just and righteous God must punish humanity for it's sins,  but this God has also prepared a road to grace, the death and the resurrection of Jesus Christ.  John 3:16-21 explains the entire process, these are the words of Christ.
Just one more note I am a proud Calvinist.  This discussion has truly made me more of a one and is teaching me to defend what I believe.  While I disagree with Rob Bell on a lot (not all) of what he says, he has opened the Christian debate up to many non Christians and offered many in roads that were not previously there for Christians.

Theology

I keep running across things that Rob Bell and others like him say, and it bugs me.  I was having a hard time figuring out why is bugged me so much, until just now I realized why is bugs me so much.  It's my theology, I know what I believe.   For the most part, and I have struggled through a lot of the "tough" questions of Christianity.  Here's what I have so Far:
     -There is one triune God; God the father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit
     -God the Father sent his only Son to Earth to be to die and rise again to defeat death and satan once and for all, and that all who believe in Him are saved through grace, and not of works
      -Through Jesus is the ONLY way to have a relationship the Father, and to eternal life
      -God alone is sovereign
      -The Holy Spirit indwells all who believe
      -The Bible is the inspired (by the Holy Spirit) inherent word of God
      -There is an eternity either with God, heaven, or without God, hell
      -We see God through our existence and not as he fully is (this does not mean however the knowledge os his character given to us in the Bible is in any way false or untrue, or that it is impossible to know God on a personal level, only that we have an incomplete understanding of Him.  Scripture acknowledges this.)

Now there is a lot more to my theology than what is listed here, but I think for the most part I have listed the major points.  There are some points of my theology that I am willing to debate, but there are also points that are nonnegotiable.  For a leader of a body of believers to "spark debate" without leading that debate to it's conclusion is irresponsible.  The point of asking questions, and debating should not be to tear each other down or to change someone's mind, but to truly seek God and learn from the opinions of others.  A leader should be leading people to the answers not just throwing the questions out there.


There is more I could say, about this, but I far I am already rambling.  There is one more thing I need to take care of.  There are a few men of God that helped me through the early years of forming my theology into coherent thought:
Dr. Rushing
Professor Webb
Dr. Nebeker
Hudson Shires
John Write
These men spent time teaching and discussing the Bible and theology with me.  I am almost positive that I am not in total agreement with any of them, but they taught me how to look at the Bible and theology in a systematic and rational way. 

Rob Bell

What is the deal with Rob Bell? Seriously, I mean all that I have heard about this guy is that he is misguided in his teachings.  I don't get it, he asks how a loving God can send someone to hell.  The answer is simple... a loving God can send someone to hell because he is not just a loving God, but also just and righteous.  Which means that Sin deserves to be punished.  The entire thing reminds me of a book I had to read for a theology class called "Your God is Too Small".  Well Rob Bell-your god is too small.  God is Love but he is so much more.  He is just, and mercy, and wrath, and righteous.  He is all of these things infinitely, he is all of these things and more in perfection.  (this isn't a perfect analogy) It's like we see God through a prism.  We see all the different colors, or attributes of God, broken down and individually, but they are distorted because we see them through the prism of our existence and not what they truly are. They are all perfect in one triune-God.

Life as I know it...

It has been a long 4 months, well more like 7, but Emry has been a champ, and so has Charlie, she loves her little brother more than we knew, today she sat by his bassinet and held his hand for a couple of minutes.  It was so cute.  Katie is starting to go full steam ahead with On The Fly.  She is really hyped up, and wants to do this right.  We both know it's a lot of work but if she''s willing I am more than willing to support her in her endeavor in any way that I can.  I have been working and taking care of the kids.  I am always exhausted.  If any of you have ever had a child that has been sick for an extended period of time you understand.  Side note:  I am sick of people telling that it's what parents go through....excuse me but I know all parents of young kids are tired, but not all parents have to wake up in the middle of the nigh to feed their child or take almost 2 hours to feed and clean up after feedings...so not every parent knows what we are going through.  I know some have it worse than Katie and I do and I pray that God gives them the strength to do what they need to do.  Sorry about the rant!  I am struggling with balancing my spiritual life with my family life and work life.  It seems that my spiritual life gets pushed to the side because I am taking care of Emry or Charlie or both, and hen I have to go to work, than I come home and feed Emry and try to sleep.  Katie is amazing; she takes car of Charlie and Emry while I'm at work and lets me sleep in while she gets Charlie up and breakfast.  I really try to balance my life it just seems so hard with everything that has happened with Emry.  I was doing good with just Charlie and until Emry started to get really sick, but now...  It seems like something always has to give.  It can't be taking care of my family, and I don;t know how to let it be my job so, it's God.  That sounds so horrible, I know.  I just truly don't know what else to do.  I cling to the hope that God will pull us through and yet, I walk away.  This is my struggle, to follow God and do everything else.  I think of pastors and missionaries who have to be rooted in the Word as part of their job, their ministry, and at times like this I almost wish I was in full time ministry.  Instead I go to work at the hospital and spend eight hour trying to figure out a way to pay the bills and keep Emry healthy.  So that's it that's where I'm at right now, nothing like bashing your head against a brick wall (figuratively).

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart...."  I know I've done it before, I just can't figure t out right now, in this situation.

Morning

This morning, after finishing up with Emry's feeding I decided to go out onto our deck and see what the weather was like.  It was cool and slightly breezy, the sun was just over the house behind ours and sining through the trees.  Inside everyone else was (and still is) asleep.  Never in my life would I have thought that I would enjoy a morning, but today it is nice to have peace.  I am exhausted, from feeding Emry 4 times throughout the night, but the stillness is good.  I think this is the first time in a long time that I can actually hear the keys on the keyboard!  This is nice after a not so great Father's day; it's nice.
Don't get me wrong I love my family, Charolette, Emry and Katie, but it is nice to have the stillness.

"In the secret, in the quiet place, in the stillness You are there...."

Speaking of.....

The song that inspired my last post is "fix me" by Ten years.  It's pretty much a summation of where I have come to over the past few months.  The line that is really the summation is, "I'm fine in the fire, I feed in the friction, I'm right where I should be. Don't try and fix me."  While I don't think I'm where I should be. I am not a fan of others trying to fix me or my family.  My wife and I have received a lot of unsolicited advice about what is happening with my son and other issues.  Don't get me wrong I appreciate people trying to help, but it does get old after a while.  I feel like I am in the fire, I am growing and learning more and more every day, I relish learning new things, it's just not always that comfortable to stretch yourself.  There is another song, (I can't for the life of me think of the title or band, so f anyone knows please let me know) which goes " I'll take the narrow road, there's a whole more to go.  Hope yours is filled with sunshine, right now that's not my road... abundant life, to many joy is to survive"  Right now my road is not filled with sunshine, but it will be someday again.  I have faith that what we are going through is a learning experience, as every trial is.  Just pray that I learn from this instead of being hardened.  

Music

Music...
It can ground you or take you to new wolds.  It touches the soul when done well.  It can tear down and build up.

I used to be interested in just rock, more specifically punk, but my music horizons have expanded.  Now I really like good music, from pretty much any genre.  My favorite song is actually a Hymn.  So what is "good music"?  I think it's more than just what one likes but there is something more.  Good music, great music move some ones soul, it is beautiful and can be, if not enjoyed by every one, respect for it's artistry.  With some bands or artist it's just one song, with others it is very consistent.  It is however very rare that any band or artist will do it all the time.  For one to find truly goo music though you have to be willing to expand your musical horizon.  I am by no means perfect when it comes to this but.  I am finding the more music I listen to I find more good music, much of it in styles that I never thought I would.

 Music is an amazing thing.
Be open to hearing new things!