Reformed. Christianity. Evangelism. Modern Culture.
If any one ever told you that false teachers are always nasty looking and carry placards – they are very wrong. No, you see false teachers are actually suave, have sleek smiles (with well packaged video promos) and they are very affirming. They always give you positive vibes and have programs that appeal to your emotions so that you can give them an inch. Speaking of some one inching closer, do you remember that smooth talking Universalist ‘pastor’ called Rob Bell (in whose church a bewildered muslim was invited to partake of the Communion table) and who said that there is no Hell and every one will go to Heaven? Well, Rob is back (big sigh) and this time he wants your teens…..
Author and speaker Rob Bell is set to release a teen version of his book Love Wins: A Book About Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived nationwide next month.
In a promotional video created for Love Wins: For Teens, Bell explains that the book is designed to teach youth that God is the life of the party, rather than the one that spoils everyone’s fun.
“What do you believe about God?” he begins. “Is God somewhere on a cloud with a long beard, making a list of no’s?”
“For a lot of people, when you mention God, the first thing they think of is, ‘Oh yeah, God shuts the party down,’” Bell continues. “But when Jesus talked about faith, when Jesus talked about God, one of the dominant images He uses again and again is that of a party.” …Read More!
Disillusioned Emergent preacher Rob Bell confused many people in his time as pastor. It is not surprising therefore to see that the man he left in charge of Mars Hill church Amusement Centre in Grand Rapids is himself disillusioned as to whether to call himself a Christian or part time follower of Christ. He ends up serving up dregs of muddied water….
This time in a new video trailer for a book by Shane Hipps called “Selling Water by the River: A Book About the Life Jesus Promised and the Religion that Gets in the Way.” In an age where we need clarity now more than ever, this muddies the waters of confusion ever more, but in an oh-so-fresh and appealing way…
Many Christians around the world are martyred today, not because they say they “follow” Jesus, but because of who they are: Christians.
Lighthouse Trails reported that Emerging church leader, Erwin McManus says his “goal is to destroy Christianity as a world religion and be a recatalyst for the movement of Jesus Christ.” In McManus’ book, The Barbarian Way, he says that the “greatest enemy to the movement of Jesus Christ is Christianity [i.e., Christians].” …Read More!
Mars Hill church must have lost all theological bearings and now wants to do the unthinkable. Seeing this latest jubilant tweet from Shane Hipps (Rob Bell’s co-pastor):
Does Shane know that when communion was instituted Jesus actually said as often as you do this remember me? Does he know that the drink is symbolic of the blood of Christ shed as a seal of a covenant being established on behalf of believers? …Read More!
- For all their talk about community, Emergents are too individualistic to hang together.
- For all their talk about conversation, Emergents mainly just like to hear themselves prattle.
- For all their talk about humility, Emergents begin with an incorrigibly arrogant worldview.
Excerpt from Why the Emergent Movement Keeps Stalling [HT Phil Johnson]
With recent publications showing blatant disregard for the attributes of God, this Article by A.W Pink on the attribute of his wrath is just a timely message.
It is sad to find so many professing Christians who appear to regard the wrath of God as something for which they need to make an apology, or at least they wish there were no such thing. While some would not go so far as to openly admit that they consider it a blemish on the Divine character, yet they are far from regarding it with delight, they like not to think about it, and they rarely hear it mentioned without a secret resentment rising up in their hearts against it. Even with those who are more sober in their judgment, not a few seem to imagine that there is a severity about the Divine wrath which is too terrifying to form a theme for profitable contemplation. Others harbor the delusion that God’s wrath is not consistent with His goodness, and so seek to banish it from their thoughts. There’s More
One of the good things about book reviews is that some one else reads the book so that you don’t have to. This couldn’t be more correct than in the case of Rob Bell’s latest ambiguous book. I would like to commend Tim Challies for this review:
Questions matter. They can help you to grow deeper in your knowledge of the truth and your love for God—especially when you’re dealing with the harder doctrines of the Christian faith. But questions can also be used to obscure the truth. They can be used to lead away just as easily as they can be used to lead toward. Ask Eve. Enter Rob Bell, a man who has spent much of the last seven years asking questions in his sometimes thought-provoking and often frustrating fashion. And when he’s done asking, no matter what answers he puts forward, it seems we’re only left with more questions. This trend continues in his new book, Love Wins: A Book About Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived, where Bell poses what might be his most controversial question yet:
Does a loving God really send people to hell for all eternity? The questions you probably want answers to as you read this review are these: Is it true that Rob Bell teaches that hell doesn’t exist? Is it true that Rob Bell believes no one goes to hell? You’ll just need to keep reading because, frankly, the answers aren’t that easy to come by.
It is said that Rob Bell’s fans flock to his Facebook page, his NOOMA videos have been viewed by millions, and his Sunday sermons are attended by 10,000 parishioners-with a downloadable podcast reaching 50,000 more. The latest stirring is related to his upcoming book “Love Wins: A Book About Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived” His publisher allegedly boasts that he is an electrifying, unconventional pastor whom Time magazine calls “a singular rock star in the church world,” Rob Bell is the most vibrant, central religious leader of the millennial generation.” Bell plays with theology the way a cat plays with a mouse. His sermons, videos, books, and public relations are often more suggestive and subversive than clear.But who is this man who never defines what he means nor means what he says?
There are three men in particular who have solid responses to Rob Bell’s video: Justin Taylor, Kevin DeYoung and Al Mohler. Below are their responses to the video and the upcoming book. Click the links to see their entire responses:
1. Justin Taylor – “If Bell is teaching that hell is empty and that you can reject Jesus and still be saved, he is opposing the gospel and the biblical teaching of Jesus Christ. You may think that’s judgmental to say that; I think it’s being faithful. I would encourage a careful study of 1 Timothy to see what Paul says about false teaching and teachers.”
2. Kevin DeYoung – “Rob Bell is right about one thing: what you believe about heaven and hell says a lot about what you believe about God. That’s why theological error of this magnitude cannot go unchecked. The God of the Vimeo clip is not a God of wrath, not a God of eternal recompense, not a God who showed us love in sending his Son to be a propitiation for our wretched sins, not a God whose will it was to crush the Suffering Servant in an exercise of divine justice and free grace.” Read More
Once in a while there comes a salesman with a silk tongue selling snake oil with the charisma of an art dealer. For a while you believe what he has is authentic until you discover the trail of victims left in the sand dunes of time. Such rogue tradesmen are usually hard to tell apart from the real deal. They masquerade between shades of grey and white as social enigmas. But wait, there is another kind of tradesman:
The pastor of Mars Hill Bible Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Rob Bell has authored a book called Love Wins: A Book About Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived, which ignited a firestorm of controversy over the weekend, weeks before it arrives in bookstores.
On Saturday, in a blog post on the popular Christian website The Gospel Coalition, Justin Taylor blasted Bell’s new book, out March 29, for teaching “false doctrine”:
“I’m glad that Rob Bell has the integrity to be lay his cards on the table about universalism. It seems that this is not just optimism about the fate of those who haven’t heard the Good News, but (as it seems from below) full-blown hell-is-empty-everyone-gets-saved universalism.” ~CNN
Suave Rob Bell has decided to make it easy for the average Christian to discern where he lies regarding Orthodox Christianity. I like him because he is not pretending to be a what he is not. He is not a shepherd but Read More
A Twisted Crown of Thorns ® 