Scars

How come old wounds can tear open when you least expect it too? And with it comes a range of emotions: bitterness, anger, hope, forgiveness, peace, and unrest, all at the same time. It is as if your emotions have no idea what to feel and your mind and your heart are playing all sorts of games with you. Old wounds tend to bring old insecurities, old habits, and old fears.

The rip is easy. A phrase, or a memory, can rip the wounds straight open and sometimes it feels that the second time it rips comes complications with its healing. In moments like this, in moments when life is chaotic, and you literally feel like you suck, and you feel everyone thinks you suck (even the ones you love), you can rest in this promise: God is the ultimate healer. He is the great physician. Old wounds, deep, messy, bloody wounds are no match for God. When those insecurities come there is only one that can ultimately heal them and seal them so they never have to open again and that is Christ.

As a personal testimony, I know what it feels like to be hurt over and over again, by know fault of others, but my neglect to seek help from the True physician. If you neglect the medicine, you will never get better!

I pray that you will always seek Christ as the one who came brings calm to the storm, and bring life to your soul.

Some insight from Jon Edwards

“Our external delights, our earthly pleasures, our ambition and our reputation, our human relationships, for all of these things, our desires are eager, our appetites strong, our love, warm and affectionate. When it comes to these things our hearts are tender and sensitive, deeply impressed, easily moved, much concern and greatly engaged. We are depressed at our losses and we are excited and joyful about any worldly success or prosperity. But when it comes to spiritual matters, how dull we feel. How heavy and hard our hearts. We can sit and hear of the infinite length and height and breadth and love of God in Christ Jesus, of His giving of His infinitely dear Son, and yet sit there cold and unmoved. If we are going to be excited about anything, shouldn’t it be our spiritual lives? Is there anything more inspiring, more exciting, more lovable and desirable in heaven or on earth than the Gospel of Jesus Christ? We should be utterly humbled that we are not more emotionally affected than we are in the church.” Jonathan Edwards

You are a Failure...

It is time to be honest. I feel like a failure. All the pain and frustration has led me to this point of feeling lonely and feeling like my best efforts weren't good enough. Even with God by my side, I feel like I have no more strength than if an ant tried to lift a mountain. I feel as if all my plans have fallen by the waist side, exposing the insecurities I try to hide. Pride. Pride is Sins best friend. Pride is what makes the strongest of men...crumble, it makes the wisest of men...foolish, and it makes the most passionate men...dormant.

It would be hard for me to explain all that has happened in the last 7 or 8 months of my life. It has been the most challenging moments in my personal life, my ministry, and my relationship with God. It has been the good-bye of someone who I loved, a good-bye to a ministry that I passionately served, and a desperate effort of clinging to Christ when I felt most uncertain of what lie ahead for me. By cultural standards, I was dumped, I work at a job (though I am thankful) that reminds everyday of how I long to be in full time student ministry, and the fact that I can't seem to find a job in ministry anywhere I feel like God may be leading me. I feel like a failure. I failed to be the type of person for someone I thought I would spend the rest of my life with, I failed to get a job that I actually had, and I failed to trust in Christ in the midst of all of it.

I once heard from a Pastor that the thing you run to when life is chaotic is the thing in which you have the most hope. When all this happened: I ran to myself. I bottled it up. I let deceit and decention have room to run in the chasms of my heart. I let self-pity and self-loathing use my mind as a playground. I allowed Christ a front row seat as I decided to not lean to him for comfort but to lean away. It is crazy to think that I felt like a failure so I steered clear of Christ, when it is Christ that said, "fall all have fallen short of the Glory of God," God has declared me a sinner, declared me as someone who by human strength will fail 100 percent of the time if not were by the strength of Christ working through me. I am a failure. I fail to see God's plan that is unfolding right infront of me, I fail to hear God's direction in my life because I am so preoccupied but my wants and needs, I fail to understand that the character of God is faithful and kind when life gets crazy, I fail to see the bigger picture is something that I will never see, I fail at being content when I know the truth is God is in control, I fail at recognizing that man's ways are not God's ways, I fail at pursuing Christ as much as I do other things on earth.

I dont believe it is just me who fails. I believe we all do. I thank God that He is Faithful and Kind! I praise Him for the blessings He puts in my life even when the storm comes. Many times we want to complain about the rain and the wind, but we dont think to thank God for the life vest! If you feel like you are a failure, it is probably because you are. You have been trying to do things on your own, away from God. You have been trying to be the best, do the right thing, and ended up in the doghouse. It is time you turn your comfort and insecurities to God. It is time to trust in Him completely and stop relying on yourself.

My prayer for today was:

Lord, help me to recognize the strength you give me to complete each day and help me not forget who created the air for me to breathe. Help me to remember that at times I may feel like a failure but that is because I tried doing things on my own and didnt rest in your grace and in your plan. I need you to continue to work in me, because outside of you I fail. Outside of you, I have no one to comfort me when I am disappointed. Outside of you, I am lost. God, thank you so much for your loving sacrifice and unconditional love that you give me each day even though my words and actions could never amount to the price that you paid for me on the Cross.

Amen.

HEAVEN AND HELL

Below is a link from a sermon that Marc Driscoll preached on Heaven and Hell. This will help you if you are confused after reading Love Wins. Pastor Driscoll talks about the traditional view of Heaven and Hell and why the Scripture supports this view, instead of exalting one attribute of God above the rest, like Love, and forgetting all together wrath and holiness. I wouldnt be able to put it better than him.

Blessings,

Jon Spallino

http://www.marshillchurch.org/media/luke/heaven-and-hell

Love Wins and Justice Loses

^"1 But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves. ² Many will follow their depraved conduct and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. ³ In their greed these teachers will exploit you with fabricated stories. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.

⁴ For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell,^[a] putting them in chains of darkness^[b] to be held for judgment; ⁵ if he did not spare the ancient world when he brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others; ⁶ if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; ⁷ and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the depraved conduct of the lawless ⁸ (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)— ⁹ if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to hold the unrighteous for punishment on the day of judgment. ¹⁰ This is especially true of those who follow the corrupt desire of the flesh^[c] and despise authority.

Bold and arrogant, they are not afraid to heap abuse on celestial beings;¹¹ yet even angels, although they are stronger and more powerful, do not heap abuse on such beings when bringing judgment on them from^[d] the Lord. ¹² But these people blaspheme in matters they do not understand. They are like unreasoning animals, creatures of instinct, born only to be caught and destroyed, and like animals they too will perish.

¹³ They will be paid back with harm for the harm they have done. Their idea of pleasure is to carouse in broad daylight. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their pleasures while they feast with you.^{[e] 14}With eyes full of adultery, they never stop sinning; they seduce the unstable; they are experts in greed—an accursed brood! ¹⁵ They have left the straight way and wandered off to follow the way of Balaam son of Bezer,^[f] who loved the wages of wickedness. ¹⁶ But he was rebuked for his wrongdoing by a donkey—an animal without speech—who spoke with a human voice and restrained the prophet’s madness.

¹⁷ These people are springs without water and mists driven by a storm. Blackest darkness is reserved for them. ¹⁸ For they mouth empty, boastful words and, by appealing to the lustful desires of the flesh, they entice people who are just escaping from those who live in error. ¹⁹ They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity—for “people are slaves to whatever has mastered them.” ²⁰ If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and are overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning. ²¹ It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them. ²² Of them the proverbs are true: “A dog returns to its vomit,”^[g] and, “A sow that is washed returns to her wallowing in the mud.”" 2 Peter Chapter 2

I know this is a lot to read but I believe in reading whole books, chapters, etc in comparison to picking a few verses to support my idea. A common theme in Love Wins, that has probably drawn the most controversy, is his idea of heaven. I want to make it clear that Pastor Bell is not completely wrong. I believe that He uses truth from the Scriptures but then expounds and draws the wrong conclusion. Pastor Bell writes that Jesus died for all creation. I agree. I agree that the blood of Jesus was shed for all people so that we (believers in Christ) can truly live in Grace. Pastor Bell would say, "What Jesus does is declare that he, and he alone, is saving everybody." It sounds great. Pastor Bell is not a universalist, He believes in one way to heaven. Here is where I disagree: He believes at the heart of every man is good, He believes that once you get to hell you have a chance to accept Christ. If what Pastor Bell preaches is true, then judgement wouldn't be so bad after all. Passages of Scripture like the one above would lose there sting. Verse 4, "⁴ For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell,^[a] putting them in chains of darkness^[b] to be held for judgment..." Who cares if the whole passage is talking about God's judgement and alluding to the the Lake of Fire in Revelation and He wants to say that it is not true!

Let me ask you a question (I will use earthly examples like Bell):

If we all took the same important test, some got A's, some B's, Some F's and at the end of the test, the Teacher says, "All right, if you want an A, just hand me your test." Where is the justice in that? Where is the accountability in that? Now people will probably say, but Jon you should be happy for those people who should have gotten F's. I would respond that my feelings are not the issue here. God's perfection and justice are at issue here. If God is not fully and inflexibly just, then He seizes to be perfect, holy, loving, and just. God is the teacher who seizes to be righteous and just.

A problem I ran into in the book that is not spoken of directly but comes out in the reading is Can God be both LOVING AND JUST at the same time. You dont have to throw out Justice, so that God can be loving. As Humans we can not experience two emotions at the same time fully, but with God He can experience every emotion fully! He can be completely Loving, but also make people accountable for their decisions.

Did Christ's death mean nothing! Is there no accountability for those who have spit in his faith? In Matthew 26:35 it talks about how all of us will be held accountable for everything we have done. Where Pastor Bell does your scripture say that there is a second chance? I would say there is more evidence that people have this live to follow Christ, then there is that there are second chances. There is not place in scripture it says that God's love is manifested in passages that extend his desire that all will be saved and reconciled to him. That is his desire. Cant God desire something, and yet stay true to his Character of accountability? You ask, Does God get what He wants? You say no, if everyone doesnt go to heaven. I say that God does get what He wants. He gets glory. It is not about us, which Pastor Bell seems to make it a point that it is about US. It is about God receiving glory. And One day every knee will bow and tongue confess that Jesus is Lord, whether it is in humble adoration of our Savior Christ, or whether our knee is forced to bow and suffer our justice in Hell. This may sound harsh compared Pastor Bells view. And it is. People say, thats not loving.

What would it take for me to show love. Would it be to twist the Scriptures and say everybody is in? God is unconditionally loving, but is also unconditionally just. The Scriptures say in Hebrews that man dies once, and then judgement. Not Judgements... There is one judgement, in which the choices your make to reject Christ or to pursue Him will matter. It is foolish to think that they wont. It is foolish to think that a "PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP" isnt in the Bible. The words dont appear, but the concept certainly does. In Corinthians it talks about a New Birth, God being the father, those who believe being Children, in Ephesians, it talks about the good works God has given his Children, we were adopted. Is that not personal enough? SO Pastor Bell, you are saying that I dont have to give one thought to God, I can live for myself, and when I die I can then accept Christ? Really....well shoot I'll do that!

I believe that this type of teaching, is a secret, destructive heresy. I dont believe that Pastor Bell is a false prophet, however, I believe what He is teaching about God will ultimately skew our thinking about God and we will lose the Truth of his Justice all because it sounds good. There is no way that you could read the Scriptures and come to the conclusions that Pastor Bell has made. I believe his thinking is a product of seeing circumstances in life, seeing hurt and pain, wanted all to come to know Christ. As preachers, we see it all the time and it is heart breaking. That same desire for all to come to God that Rob Bell has is the same desire God has. I just dont understand why Rob Bell is so urgent about it if it doesnt matter? If all are saved, then why does spreading the Gospel matter. Why write your book?

I believe that Pastor Bell has a heart for people, and hearing some of the stories in his book, will make your heart go out to those people. In this day in age, it is hard to use Scriptural Truths against emotion provoking stories. Because most will go along with the emotion provoking story. But we must remember that it is not about us. It is about God getting glory, even if we hate the way God has made things to be.

Love Wins by Rob Bell Review Day 1

Love Wins by Rob Bell

"Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly." -James 3:1-

James 3 is an interesting passage. It holds preachers and teachers of the word to a high accountability in order that we take serious the task of interpreting the Scriptures. This goes for all preachers and teachers. This goes for Me, the pastor down the street, this even goes for Rob Bell. Accountability. I want to start my review of Love Wins by this idea of accountability. An idea that I feel is lost in the book with the suggestions that Pastor Bell provides for us. I affirm his detail and urgency about sin in the Bible and how it is not to be dealt with lightly. But I am a little confused. Because if in the end, everyone is covered by Jesus' death (and everyone is going to Heaven eventually), why should I care so much about it? If everyone at some point will eventually choose Jesus, then what is the big deal about "living the best life now." If when I die and I go to Bell's version of Hell and I get a second choice to believe in Jesus, then why would I care so much about the things that I teach about sin and hell, if they are wrong?

See, if I am wrong and Bell is right, then if what I teach is wrong about Hell and eternity, it doesn't really matter. Because in the end, at some point, I will be able to join Christ. Where is the accountability in that? I might as well, try and get rich! But if Pastor Bell is wrong and I'm right, and there is a place of accountability that there are no second chances, then I am scared of what Pastor Bell would be faced with. Accountability. There is no room or very little room for accountability in Bell's stance of heaven. This issue of accountability is very serious and I will be praying for Pastor Bell. I know that He does not take this lightly by any means, and will be praying for him even though we disagree.

It is hard to wrap my head around where I should begin with this book because there are so many factors that need to be said in response to this book. The issues of inherited goodness as opposed to inherited wickedness, the issue of accountability among people, the issue of God's ability to be both fully Just and Loving at the same time, the issue of man being the center of the universe as opposed to God, the issue of God and his plan and purpose, all come into question. This is a book that will rattle the soul. It will tear at the very fiber of your beliefs in Christ. It will inevitably dissuade some people with its creative illusions and witty and eloquent remarks. It will use extreme and rare examples to prove a point. It uses loaded questions and loaded answers to prove points. It is well written with persuasion techniques frequently being used. As I write over the next week, I will address some of the issues mentioned above. For most, I will use a passage of Scripture that isn't mentioned in his book.

2 Peter 2 states:

¹ But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves. ² Many will follow their depraved conduct and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. ³ In their greed these teachers will exploit you with fabricated stories. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.

⁴ For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell,^[a] putting them in chains of darkness^[b] to be held for judgment; ⁵ if he did not spare the ancient world when he brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others; ⁶ if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; ⁷ and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the depraved conduct of the lawless ⁸ (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)— ⁹ if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to hold the unrighteous for punishment on the day of judgment. ¹⁰ This is especially true of those who follow the corrupt desire of the flesh^[c] and despise authority.

Bold and arrogant, they are not afraid to heap abuse on celestial beings; ¹¹ yet even angels, although they are stronger and more powerful, do not heap abuse on such beings when bringing judgment on them from^[d] the Lord. ¹² But these people blaspheme in matters they do not understand. They are like unreasoning animals, creatures of instinct, born only to be caught and destroyed, and like animals they too will perish.

¹³ They will be paid back with harm for the harm they have done. Their idea of pleasure is to carouse in broad daylight. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their pleasures while they feast with you.^{[e] 14} With eyes full of adultery, they never stop sinning; they seduce the unstable; they are experts in greed—an accursed brood! ¹⁵ They have left the straight way and wandered off to follow the way of Balaam son of Bezer,^[f] who loved the wages of wickedness. ¹⁶ But he was rebuked for his wrongdoing by a donkey—an animal without speech—who spoke with a human voice and restrained the prophet’s madness.

¹⁷ These people are springs without water and mists driven by a storm. Blackest darkness is reserved for them. ¹⁸ For they mouth empty, boastful words and, by appealing to the lustful desires of the flesh, they entice people who are just escaping from those who live in error. ¹⁹ They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity—for “people are slaves to whatever has mastered them.” ²⁰ If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and are overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning. ²¹ It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them. ²² Of them the proverbs are true: “A dog returns to its vomit,”^[g] and, “A sow that is washed returns to her wallowing in the mud.”

I will use this scripture to guide us into answering some of these tough questions.

I respect Pastor Bell for starting a wonderful conversation about these important issues because He is right when he says that these discussions have laid dormant among the Christian circle. He is right when He says that people have been hurt by Christians and the way they deliver the message. The point I would like to prove over the next week is that you can hate, dislike the messenger and the way it is delivered, but that doesnt make the message null and void.

I am getting ahead of myself. So I will stop for now.

2 Corinthians 12:8-10

Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 2 Corinthians 12:8-10 I dont have much to say except that God's promise to Paul is the same promise He makes to us. When we go through weakness of the flesh, insults from the gallery, hardships in the storm, persecutions from the enemy, and diffucilties from life, We should delight in them, because when we are weak, we become strong through the power of God working in us. How Cool! Blessings and I hope today you will find opportunites to not boast in yourself, but rather find opportunities to boast about the Lord!