With all of the discussion lately about who goes to heaven and who goes to hell, allow me to write some thoughts along these lines based on my recent readings of Romans. (By the way, Romans is one of the most theologically rich books in the Bible–so much has already been written about it, as it’s packed with so much in there. This is just part of what I’ve gleaned from a few parts of it.) According to the Christian faith, what is required for one to receive salvation from God? First, we must look closely at the wording of that question: salvation is something to be received. That means it comes from something/someone other than ourselves. We do not have the possibility of saving ourselves. We don’t save ourselves by deciding to obey God or by professing any creed. Rather, the only way we can be saved is if someone else saves us. We can’t take care of the problem ourselves. So if we can’t save ourselves, who can save us? Can my neighbor? No, because they too need saving just as much as myself. Everyone is in the same predicament. This is an important place to stop and reflect: Everyone is in the same predicament. We must remember this when we consider who goes to heaven and who goes to hell. Every one of us is under the rule of Sin, and as a result, eternal death is our fate. There are not evil people and good people. Under God’s standard of righteousness, there is NO ONE who is righteous, no not one. As a result, no one can be considered righteous–even if from this point on, I never sin again, my record is still blemished. Not only this, but that scenario is not at all possible, as sin is much more than just an act or deed done in isolation. Rather, sin has also changed the nature of who I am as a person. I am totally screwed up. (If you can’t admit this, that’s called pride.) The illustration of someone who has taken heroine is a good illustration of what sin does to us. Once you’ve taken it once, it alters your brain in such...

I believe there is a movement today that emphasizes the Gospels found in the Bible to the point that it minimizes the writings of the Apostles in the NT (which is mostly Paul) and the rest of Scripture (i.e. Old Testament). I think this movement has been around for awhile now in the “liberal” mainstream church, and is also in the emergent church. If you look at these movements, however, you will find that they really emphasize only certain portions of the Gospels (and completely avoid much of Jesus’ teachings in the synoptics and almost all of John). In my previous church, I definitely saw this. The attitude was, “Yeah, Paul did say that, but how does that line up with what Jesus said here about not judging, etc.?” While I find it silly to pit one against the other, I’d like to lay out a reasonable argument for trusting Paul more than the Gospels, rather than the other way around. Again, let me repeat, I don’t think we should trust one more than the other–I think they are equally trustworthy, but I am doing this to make a point. So here are the reasons for trusting Paul over the Gospels: The letters of Paul were written earlier than the Gospels. We should be aware that as time goes by, the possibility of something losing its truth becomes greater. The earliest views of Jesus should be trusted over the later views, which have more possibility of being invented ideas, rather than truths. Paul’s words are his own words. Jesus’ words in the Gospels were written down by other people, not by Jesus himself. How can we trust that they are what Jesus really said or what He was trying to say? With Paul’s words, we have first-hand teachings. The Gospels sometimes frame Jesus’ teachings, so that in one gospel, Jesus’ teaching seems to mean one thing, and then in another, the same teaching has a different meaning. Even if Jesus did say these things, can we trust that the writers of the Gospels are framing Jesus’ words as He intended them? Are we sure they are being used in context? Luke wasn’t even a disciple of Jesus, so he...

…as pastors quell Bell who they claim fell and yell that they smell very well what he sells. What the shell? (that’s the only other word I could think of that rhymes) For me, the question is: Where the hell does Rob Bell stand? Hahahaha. A lot of controversy surrounds Rob Bell’s new book, and thanks to friends who have kept me in the loop (I have to rely on them, since I never got into Nooma, his books, or Bell himself), I’ve done my share of thinking about it. Without reading his book, and just judging by the interviews I’ve heard from him since he wrote his latest book, here’s what I conclude Rob Bell believes: If you’re an all-around nice person (i.e. obeying the golden rule, etc.), it doesn’t matter so much whether you believe that Jesus is the “Savior of the world” or not. After all, if you’re being kind to people like Jesus taught, you are actually bringing heaven to earth like Jesus wants you to. In the end, that’s really what matters to Jesus, not your religious affiliation. So don’t worry about all the nice people out there who have never heard of Jesus or all those nice people out there who refuse to believe He’s the savior of the world. They’re nice people–they will have made the world a little more like heaven, showing that they belong to heaven, regardless of their religious affiliation. Those who are not nice to people on earth are trying to make earth more like hell. They won’t succeed, because the power of love is stronger than their efforts. All they will be able to do is make their own life on earth more hellish. If you truly love people, it doesn’t matter what they try to do to make your life hell, they won’t be able to. In the end, those people who are trying to make life on earth more hellish will realize that it was a losing battle. They will then be forced to admit they were wrong and give in to the side of love. Two questions to consider now: Is this really what the Bible teaches? Is this really what Rob Bell teaches?...

  Do any of the following apply to you? Your last name rhymes with Swaggart/Haggard Your first name has a great ring to it if you add a “y” to it, such as Ben, Ted, Jim, etc. Even when you’re on a security camera in the mall, you feel the need to weep. You cry anytime you’ve done something wrong. You have fun at the expense of pushovers—literally. You seem to have an unusual amount of handkerchiefs and olive oil lying around. You suddenly come up with an ingenious way of turning those items into loads of cash. God’s call on you to reach the world for Christ is so strong, you have felt compelled at various times in your life to purchase a personal jet. You’ve been working on a new book entitled, How To Love God And Mammon: What Jesus Only Wishes He Could Have Known You have always believed that in order to find your virginity, you must first lose it. God has given you at least two of the following prophetic words for your ministry: Robin Hood had it all backwards. Your ministry should be modeled after the philosophy of the Chicago Cubs: People will continue to give you money if you promise them that things will be better next year Standalone verses in the Bible can mean so much more if you’re willing to let them stand alone. The real definition for Trinity: “God”–one word, three syllables. God is calling you to reach everyone in the world for Christ (except your children). Your wife enjoys dying her hair blue, and you think it looks kinda sexy. ============================================================================ 10-12 Correct: I think you’ve just discovered TBN’s call on your life 7-9 Correct: With a little more determination, you can become a household name 4-6 Correct: The best you can hope for is to be a traveling evangelist in the rural town circuit 0-3 Correct: You’re just a wannabe evangelist/preacher. You’ll need to find a real...

As many of you know, I was a member of the North Alabama Conference (United Methodists) for 8 years by being a member of two of their churches during that time. During that time, I heard many sentiments expressed about the current struggles for Methodists. Methodists moaned that they were a minority in the land of Southern Baptists. They didn’t moan just because they were a minority, but because they continue to be a shrinking minority. This means less congregants, which means less churches and less money to do everything they want to do. That is definitely a frustrating thing to go through. The current bishop, Will Willimon, believes that a large part of the problem is poor leadership. While I can agree that there is a problem w/poor leadership (and I think this can be said for all denominations to a smaller or larger degree), the agreement stops there. Because how he measures leadership is different from me. For him, the best way to tell if a church has spiritual vitality is by looking at church attendance numbers. Click here to read his words on that matter. This idea is also mentioned in this other article. Here’s another. To those who would say it’s not about the numbers, he would disagree in yet another article. My response? While I disagree with the bishop, that doesn’t make him a bad person–it just makes him pretty much like so many other modern church leaders out there. I think we would all do ourselves a favor if we remembered that the same Jesus that said, “You will know them by their fruit,” (but clearly isn’t talking about numbers there) also said, “Many will come to me saying, Lord, Lord did we not do these many great things?” And Jesus says that He will say, I never knew you.” I think we are on dangerous grounds when we think we can judge a ministry by quantitative measurements. If we do that, Jesus’ ministry ended up a failure. He kept turning away crowds and could have had a much grander church than what was left when He died on the cross. Oftentimes, a church is dwindling in size because it is indeed not...

The Son of God didn’t need to come in order that people who are hungry could have food. There’s already plenty of food on earth, and people could be fed without Him having to leave His heavenly throne. He did, however, instruct us to feed the hungry. The Son of God didn’t need to come in order to give people money who were in poverty. If so, He did a poor job fulfilling His mission. The poor Guy (pardon the pun) had no money of His own. He did, however, instruct us to take care of the poor and give them money. But if the Son of God had never come to save humanity from our sins, we would all still be lost and eternally separated from God. That was the reason why He needed to come. Jesus did, in fact, perform “social” acts of justice. But these “social” acts of Jesus were done in the context of declaring that the Savior of the World had come. Not just as acts of social justice. For example, when Jesus would heal people, He often told them their sins were forgiven, and they would be healed. In one instance, Jesus tells a paralyzed man that his sins are forgiven. The leaders get upset at Him for claiming to have such authority. So Jesus proves it to them by telling the guy to rise up and walk. It’s no different today. Today, we declare a Gospel that itself declares that Jesus is the only Son of God, and that only He is worthy of worship. That all other gods and religions are just man-made. And just like back then, today’s leaders (even within supposed “Christianity”) object. These proponents of a social gospel get upset: “How dare you claim that He has such authority! What narrow-mindedness! Jesus was about loving the poor and feeding the hungry–THAT is the gospel.” Case in point: Audra and I met a lady several months back in Alabama who left her denomination, and the last straw for her was the that denomination’s response in the relief effort in Haiti. According to her, churches were encouraged to provide much-needed packages for the survivors of the earthquake. However, they weren’t...