Love Wins...

In the summer of 2005 I was working at Pine Cove Christian Camps in Tyler, TX. I had just recently finished my first year of college- an eye-opening year- one where I read more scripture than any year previously, one where I read books that challenged me to the core spiritually and started changing the way that I thought about Christianity, about Christ, and about God. That summer, I devoured classics like Mere Christianity, The Weight of Glory, and even took my first stab at Cost of Discipleship (one I would reread several times before fully making it through), but I also dove deep into new writers- Donald Miller's Blue Like Jazz, Erwin McManus's Barbarian Way, and Rob Bell's Velvet Elvis.

Ever since then I've bought every book Miller & Bell have written- because they semi-discipled me in the summer of 2005- you know long distance, and the fact that they didn't know me. But these books challenged me to think different, and live different- and my relationship with God was forever changed that summer.

During this same era of life (my college years) I had plenty of conversations with friends about what it would look like if Christians stopped acting like stuck-up hypocritical religionists and started living like Christ and loving people the way Christ loved us. 1 John 4 became a theme chapter for me- "Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. The one who does not love, does not know God, for God is love." I loved this passage- soon enough my friends and I started using the term LIVE LOVE to describe what it looked like to follow Jesus (a mantra I originally heard from my friend Kirk). I directed a whole year of an on-campus ministry under the banner of LOVE, SERVICE, and COMMUNITY- stressing that this is the way Christ has called us to live and since then it has propelled my ministry.

So... When I found out Rob Bell was coming out with a new book, entitled Love Wins, I was instantly intrigued- Rob Bell, one of my favorite authors, and with a title I instantly connected with.  Then I heard it was about Heaven & Hell and was even more intrigued. Then it blew up- controversy, drama, gossip, slander, name-calling- renowned theologians and pastors were all of the sudden acting like my high school girls in our student ministry- and over a book that had yet to be released and read.

Well I just finished the relatively short read and whether you are a Rob Bell fan or not- there are some great challenges in this book for our generation. But first- let's be honest- Bell likes controversy. He struck it up with the Virgin Mary quote in Velvet Elvis, I mean he entitled a book Sex God. He likes controversy. And I think Bell, in Love Wins, wanted to make people think, make people discuss and make people question the way they communicate about important issues, and make people think about how they live now in regards to how we answer those questions. The questions he is raising are not his questions- they are the questions of millions of people world-wide, and they are questions we should be discussing- and the perception among the unchurched, unbelievers, unChristians is that the Church has portrayed a picture of God as someone who Jesus must rescue us from- a mean God wanting to punish us and torment us unless we walk down an aisle and say a magic prayer. 

I had two main takeaways from the book and the first was this: that we as the church must do a better job of communicating the reality of the Gospel- not in a way were we CHANGE our theology, but in a way that is answering the questions of the world by repainting HOW we answer the question of Salvation.

Salvation is by GRACE through FAITH in CHRIST alone- and sorry to disappoint the Rob Bell haters- Bell doesn't deviate from that. He in no way comes across as a Universalist as some have labeled him, if anything he comes across as a Christian Inclusivist. (Universalists would believe there are any number of ways to God, and/or that we will all end up in Heaven no matter what you believe or what you've done. Whereas the Christian Inclusivists would say- there is only one way, Christ, but some may come to Heaven without a "conscious" understanding of the Christ we believe in because God is merciful & loving). This is a tough argument- who is man to judge anyone's salvation, who is man to judge the salvation of someone who has never heard of Christ or the only time she did hear of Christ it was as her father raping her as he recited the Lord's prayer (story recounted in chapter 1), but further- who is man to hope and wish that certain people will not be in Heaven? That might be the most unloving, unChristian thing to do. What Bell argues is that God's love wins out in situations like that. 

I personally think he takes it a little far or stops just short of a Biblical understanding of Heaven/Hell. He does mention "Love demands freedom. It always has and it always will. We are free to resist, reject, and rebel against God's ways for us. We can have all the hell we want" and later will say "God must say about a number of acts and to those who would continue to do them, 'Not here you won't.'" So he suggests a reality of Hell, but considers it to be a lot less empty than some of us might think. To be honest- this does not make Bell a heretic, CS Lewis proposed a similar view of Hell in the Great Divorce- and yet we quote Lewis often in our church's. We can disagree with Bell's writing- it isn't divine scripture- but calling him unorthodox and a heretic is ridiculous and ignores the massive contributions he has made to the Kingdom through his ministry. And although, I do believe what Bell says about LOVE & MERCY are true, I don't think that one of God's characteristics outweighs his others- such as JUSTICE & WRATH towards sin and the sinner.  I do believe in a literal heaven and a literal hell, or else I wouldn't be doing what I'm doing. If hell were empty or I thought we'd have a second chance after we die- I wouldn't be giving my whole life to make sure students hear the truth of the gospel in the here and now. Which brings me to the second big takeaway for me.

The second big takeaway (and I believe Bell's real motive behind authoring this book) was that the present reality matters and is either bringing a present Heaven or present Hell to earth. Often we act as though Heaven is a distant far off place, after we die, that we escape to, and Hell is a distant far off place that those who reject God will be sent to- when in reality eternity is NOW- its forever past and forever into the future- but that includes today. Bell does an incredible job in chapter 2 in talking about the Hebrew understanding of Heaven not as a distant far off place somewhere else, but as God restoring all things HERE- peace, relationships, creation- all restored HERE. An "escape the world and make it to heaven" mentality is dangerous, but all too often is how many live their "Christian" lives- as though today doesn't matter- I already I have my ticket punched. But what if everything thing we did NOW was bringing a little piece of Heaven or Hell to earth. In a previous book Bell  said "with every decision, gesture, conversation, action or attitude we are bringing either heaven or hell to earth."  I find that so true. 

It did bother me that in some interviews Bell seemed to duck the literal eternal Hell questions, or side-step some by suggesting "I'm not a theologian, I'm just a pastor." In my opinion, if you're a pastor- you are a theologian, shoot if you even think about God- you're a theologian- and we have a responsibility to deal with the revelation of God rightly. And though I didn't agree with everything in this book, and found myself shaking my head at times, once I finished I thought- what if the point of this book isn't to be RIGHT, but to challenge us to live in a way where we are conscious that every action is either bringing HEAVEN or HELL to earth- that might change the way we live NOW, and let's let God worry about eternity. If we place our faith in Christ NOW, follow Him NOW, love NOW, serve NOW, bring heaven to earth NOW, the future of eternity will take care of its self. 

God is love. God is just. And I trust Him enough to be both.  

Terrorism. War. Justice. Peace. Oh yeah and some guy named Bin Laden...

September 11, 2001 was my sixteenth birthday. I know it is a day that we will all remember, but I especially remember this day- a day that started in excitement- carrying birthday balloons and cards given to me in the first part of the day and nothing on my mind except getting my drivers' license at the DMV later that afternoon. But that excitement turned into shock and horror as I watched the World Trade Center Building pour out smoke into the New York City skyline. I was in Spanish class at Clear Creek High School, and our teacher had the TV on as we walked into class. We came in sat down and after everyone realized what was happening no one spoke. Even as Sophomores in High School we knew the weight of what had just happened. The day progressed slowly- each class filled with the same experience. 


I vividly remember going to our baseball class period in the middle of the day expecting to work out. Our coach was a hard-nosed disciplinarian type & I thought for sure he wouldn't "waste time" watching TV- but he sat us down and with obvious emotion in his voice, said "men, you will remember this day for the rest of your lives, we are going to sit and watch this instead of workout today. This is one of those days you realize there are more important things in life than baseball." I didn't think such words could come out of his mouth- "more important things than baseball"? 


But this was and still is. 


The days that followed we learned more and more about the characters behind this devious plot in the 9/11 tragic story. I remember mug shot looking faces of pilots of the hijacked planes being plastered on the TV screen, followed by a particularly ominous looking character by the name of Osama Bin Laden- who evidently was the mastermind behind this plot- followed by videos of his messages to America. I remember thinking- "hate, war, death-- this couldn't have been what God had in mind for humanity."


Flash-forward 10 years... Last night President Barack Obama announced that Osama Bin Laden had been found and killed. 10 years of searching. 10 years of Threat Levels. 10 years of Metal Detectors, Full Body Scans and "random" searches at the airport. 10 years of war. 10 years of more and more death- just as tragic as what happened on 9/11. 

This news has put me in a funk since I watched the reports- it brought back memories of my sixteenth birthday, brought back the feelings of tragedy, and brought back the thought- "hate, war, death-- this couldn't have been what God had in mind for humanity."


My funk may have been pushed over board last night as I watched my Facebook friends & twitter followers post some of the most heinous or insensitive comments in reaction to this story. Everything from "May he rot in hell with that bastard Hussein" to even just celebrating death to people with chants of "nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, hey hey hey goodbye..."or "we are the champions" to insensitive and disrespectful political shots like Photoshopping Obama to look like Bin Laden. People say that "the eyes are a window to the soul" but recently I've thought people's quick-witted comments on Facebook and twitter are a pretty clear window into people's soul and their worldview.


Its been hard for me, because I do remember the tragedy and I do remember the pain, I've "not forgotten" but at the same time- who are we to CELEBRATE the death of any man? I celebrate justice, but not death. I've been reading Isaiah lately in my time with the Lord and my first thoughts this morning were from Isaiah 2 "and they will hammer their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not lift up sword against nation, and never again will they learn war."-- how far away are we from this reality? Our idea of "peace" is more death and more war against those that are un-peaceful from our vantage point. It's a viscous cycle.

Then this morning the Lord had me in Isaiah 11 & I read "And the wolf will dwell with the lamb, And the leopard will lie down with the young goat, And the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; .... The nursing child will play by the hole of the cobra, And the weaned child will put his hand on the viper’s den. They will not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain, For the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord As the waters cover the sea." 


Though I long for it, I've come to realize the hope for peace is one that is outside of man's power- this "nation will not lift up sword against nation" idea will not happen until Christ's return- until "the whole earth is full of the Knowledge of the Lord." 


Come Lord Jesus, Come.
Come quickly. 

Preaching at the Commons...

I meant to post this last week, but got busy and forgot. But April 10, I drove to my friend Steve Bezner's church in Fort Worth and preach for Steve at the Commons Church. The Commons is a recent church plant who has been public since July and has been meeting in an intermediate school for the last couple months. This church is genuinely seeking to reach Fort Worth for Christ- to provide a relevant & relational place for families to know Christ, grow in their relationship with Christ and multiple disciples. It was a great experience to get to meet with them, to preach and challenge and encourage this church as they grow and as they anticipate what God has in store for them in the future.

I know that many of you who are reading my blog are doing so in order to keep up with Bethany and me- and so I just wanted to share this video of the sermon I preached there (Video Website), but also to encourage any of my Facebook friends or Twitter followers who are living in Ft Worth to check out The Commons Church (Church Website), and for those that don't to encourage you to be in prayer for Steve, for the Commons and for Fort Worth.

4/20...

Yesterday was 4/20. This day is known for different things around the world. Hitler's birthday- a once wildly celebrated "holiday" in German culture- now one synonymous with evil (read this article- great Op Ed- concerning Hitler and a now German Theological Hero- Dietrich Bonhoeffer). The 1999 Columbine School shootings happened on 4/20. 4/20 is also National Weed Day. Yesterday Bethany subbed at the Jr High and a lot of kids were wearing green. Bethany jokingly asked if they had moved St Patricks day or something- the 12-14 year olds in her class giggled and one told her- "no miss, it's national weed day." So proud Jr High Students are wearing green to support this day. 4/20 for me marks my brother in-law's birthday- Happy Birthday Will!

But 4/20 this year marked our church's Tennebrae service- this service of shadows- where we walk through the Passion narrative scripturally- walking to the cross- from Jesus' last supper with his friends- in which we participate in taking the Communion Elements- for me a shockingly realistic experience this year- thinking about this being the last meal with a friend before he was to die. We read through the Garden of Gethsemane account, the denial, the trial, and throughout we sang hymns about the reality of this week in the life of Christ.  I was given the responsibility to read the John 19 account about the cross- the mocking, his crucifixion, his death, and finally his being placed into a tomb in a garden. It was a spiritual experience for me to hear for probably at least the 200th time- the Easter story.

But 4/20 & the Tennebrae experience was much different for Bethany last night. Last night Bethany sat with one of our High School students who just recently accepted Christ. And although this freshmen in high school girl has placed her faith in Christ as her Lord and Savior- last night was the first time she heard in detail the Easter story- she had no reference for why we took the Lord's Supper till last night, she was shocked to hear one of Jesus' own disciples took a sword out and tried to kill somebody, she sat with amazement to hear how brutal the cross was and what Jesus went through on her behalf. Most of our teenagers sat and giggled through the service "for old people." But this particular student sat with jaw open in amazement at what her new found Savior had done for HER.

How numb we have come to the story of Christ- his sacrifice and his love for us. I pray that we look on the Easter story this Sunday with the eyes of one hearing it for the first time- again. The Gospel is great news- whether you've heard it for the first time or the 1000th.

"In the gospel we discover that we are far more wicked than we ever dared believe, yet more loved than we ever dared hope." (Timothy Keller)

It was for Freedom...

This week, as I was studying for a sermon I'm preaching on Sunday night over Galatians 5, I was considering the imagery that Paul uses in Galatians of being a SLAVE to the Law. Thats a pretty radical analogy- a pretty harsh metaphor. And so as I was preparing to speak on this passage I was doing some research in order to illustrate a few different stories of slavery- trying to bring this imagery to the forefront of our minds- without just glazing over the metaphor as this distant concept- but one that is abusive & degrading.

I started with a story of an African slave who remembers being kidnapped from his village, thrown on a boat and sold into slavery in a distant land he had never heard of and will tell his story, and then to think his story is one of over what 10 million stories just like his. And although this is shocking & we cringe at the reality that people could have done that to other people- we look at it as a dark cloud on our country's history and treat it as a distant past mistake that we could not be making in our modern day society.

But then as I continued to do research I ran across some shocking truths of modern day slavery. Experts estimate that there are currently 27 million people enslaved worldwide- 80% of which are women and children sold into not just manual labor type slavery but into sex slavery.

I ran across this video- I won't show this in my sermon Sunday- but we should be aware of this- and we as the church should do something about it. Because "It was for freedom that Christ set us free..."

You can visit their website at love146.org

love protects. love defends. love restores. love empowers.

Our Father Who Art in Heaven...

On Wednesday nights in our Student Ministry we are doing a series called DUST- focusing on the saying "May you be covered in the dust of your Rabbi, Jesus" - the idea that we follow our rabbi so closely that we are covered in his dust- that we don't just know what he knows, or do what he does, but that we become like Him. And so we are looking at the ways Jesus taught His disciples to follow Him- these core spiritual disciplines and this week we focused on prayer. The obvious text was from Matthew 6- the Lord's prayer- but I didn't want this to be overlooked by our students as a "religious prayer"- something that has become meaningless because we have said these words so often- so I taught line by line through the prayer and then had them "practice" each line of the prayer by writing out a prayer at 6 different stations and doing some physical act that represented that

We took some pics from each station that I thought I'd share.

Our Father who art in Heaven hallowed be thy name,

(here we had students write a prayer of praise on a sticky note and pray it as they put it on the wall)

Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven

(here students write a prayer for God's will in their life and prayed like they were at the Wailing Wall, wrote a prayer & stuck it in the crack of the "wall"- some pretty awesome prayers written here)

Give us this day our daily bread

(here students wrote a prayer for their needs- and took a piece of BREAD as a sign of God providing for their needs)

And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us

(here students wrote a prayer for forgiveness and nailed it to the cross)

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

(here students wrote a prayer of where they are tempted & then burned the paper with a candle to symbolize God getting rid of that temptation. This station won the award for most dangerous station)

For thine is the Kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. AMEN

(We finished the circuit where we started with a prayer of Praise:God we praise you because..)

 It was a pretty great night. I couldn't tell whether the teenagers took it seriously or not- it takes a long time to get 50 Junior Highers and 90 High Schoolers through 6 stations- but in reading some of the things they prayed- our students MET with God that night, and that's exciting.

May you be covered in the dust of your rabbi, Jesus.. as we pray like he taught us to pray.

Pluralism? Religion? Salvation?

Aren't all religions the same?
Don't all paths lead to the same god?
All world religions claim to have heard from God, so aren't they all the same in the end?
If we are sincere about our faith (in whatever religion) won't God reward that commitment and effort?

Or

Is there a specific world religion that saves?
Is it only Islam? Is it only Confucionism? Is it only Christianity?
And how do we know which one is right?

Paul addresses RELIGION and PLURALISM thinking in Galatians. It wasn't a book written only for people 2000 years ago, but written even for the modern (and post-modern) man to answer these type questions.

I recently addressed these issues in a sermon on Sunday night entitled RELIGION SAVES? (audio can be found here). I would love your feedback as we continue this conversation in our world.