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Pastor Rob Bell’s “Love Wins” - So It Begins...
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by Yommie | March 27, 2011 at 06:45 pm
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I like Mark Driscoll of Mars Hill Church. His messages are frank, touching, and blunt. He speaks the truth most of the time, I think. But I do not understand what his fellow Pastor, Rob Bell is saying about heaven and hell. There seems to be lots of dodging, meandering, and evasiveness in the questions and answers in his interview at msnbc.
Rob Bell’s message in the trailer about his new book, Love Wins, is clear…but not clear enough. He seems to tell us the whole answer will be in his book (which is fair enough if you enjoy all these kinds of advertising hooks). Having said that, the concept of heaven and hell not being a place far away (or not existing at all) is no new concept to me. I just want to know what he want to say about it first.
The rage in the internet-world is building towards Rob Bell at the moment. It is not funny at all. Also, I noticed a lot of questions are raised in people’s hearts, which is not a bad thing. And lest I forget, damnation has already began to fall.
One thing is for sure, lots of people forming judgements are not going to read this book. The question of heaven or hell is nothing to raise eyebrows about. I think it is good for a Christian to raise issues about important part of Christian doctrine (not flimsy ones like the covering of the head and all that nonsense). Thinking and debating about important doctrines shows a Church that is journeying and seeking…not just adjusting to the daily grind of life and praying for more money.
My only regret is that Rob Bell doesn’t seem to be as confident in his interview. He seems tentative and unsure. Its seems his book may be more of about his own doubts than answers he has thought and prayed through. But enough about that…I need to get my hand on that book first…then I can talk better about Rob Bell’s “Love Wins”.
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ac98 (not verified)at 22:22 on April 29th, 2011
Satan got Eve to question what God had clearly said in the garden. She was emboldened to take what God had forbidden by the devil's clever insinuation and paid for it. It astounds me that in a book about heaven and hell that supposedly is teaching what the Bible says that Rob Bell would never even quote the clearest OT passages about the resurrection of the dead and the eternal damnation of sinners- Isaiah 66:22-24 and Daniel 12:2. And even more so, key NT passages like Luke 13:23-28, Mark 9:43-48, Romans 2:4-5, Romans 10:14-17, Luke 12:58-13:9, etc. These passages and others so perfectly refute the writer's conjectures that if he merely quoted them without explaining them away he would then have nothing to write about. The good news of the gospel is necessary because there is bad news, as Paul shows in Roman 1:18-3:20- our guilt before God and righteous condemnation of us on the day of judgment- if we're not made new creatures and forgiven in Christ. The Bible says "Flee from the wrath to come" and to bring forth fruits meet (fit) for repentance (Matthew 3:7-10). That is the response we must make to God's generous offer of mercy and grace through the death and resurrection of Christ. When we consider that Jesus himself warned his hearers to turn from sin or be punished in hell forever; and that he left a responsibility for us to do so in the limited time of our lives in this world in Mark 9:43-48, Luke 12:58-13:9, then anyone who claims to speak for Jesus and denies that warning and that urgency must be treated as a false teacher/prophet. Jesus loves us more than anyone else, and to deny and leave out what he has clearly said is to oppose him.What "Love Wins" does is give false comfort to those who have not turned from all sin and let Christ take his rightful hold on their lives (Psalm 2:10-12, Hebrews 5:9). The same type of false comfort the Serpent gave Eve in the garden. "Love Wins" also doesn't take into account that it is often more pleasurable SHORT-TERM to disobey God than to follow Christ. There is a pleasure to sin that is very uncomfortable to forsake to the point it can be called suffering to do so (See Hebrews 11:25, Romans 8:17). That goes against Bell's premise that hell is what we create for ourselves by disobeying God. Truly obeying God can be unpleasant and only those who are totally convinced by Christ's total faithfulness and the sureness of his promises will actually be his disciples and walk the narrow way that leads to life. That is when God really does get glory. We have the privilege that we can go straight to the Bible to see those promises, the truth about heaven and hell, and the entire counsel of God regarding salvation. May all who read this not be deceived by preachers who say what appeals to the itching ears of people.