TIME's Cover Article Courtesy of Rob's Book: 'What if There's No Hell?'

Kind of a hot topic. In fact, I spoke on this just last Sunday (archived here: http://www.lakevc.org/media/messagearchives/mythbusters)

You can read the full TIME article here:
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2065080-2,00.html

True Confessions: I Read and Finished 'Love Wins'

I've just finished 'Love Wins,' by Rob Bell. Five minutes ago. I am glad to be able to tell you I liked it.

I liked the simple, crisp language--like the Gospel of John in Greek. Simple, but profound.

I liked the questions that were asked.

I liked that Rob was willing to ask the hard questions about God and the Gospel and evangelicalism and love and hell and judgment that many people are asking outside the church but few within the church (the evangelical church, at least) are willing to voice.

I liked the typesetting and the arrangement of the words on the page. Kind of like the writing here.

I liked that at the very end, Rob described how, as a child, he had asked Jesus into his heart, and his life was forever changed. Ah, familiar language to warm an evangelical's heart.

There was much I liked.

But I have to come clean and admit there was a lot more that I didn't like. I'm not going to address the biblical and theological issues in any depth here. Others more capable than I have done that and you can chase down those links in some of my earlier posts, if you're inclined.

What I will say here is that I'm really sad. I honestly don't mean that in any condescending, patronizing way. My sadness stems from the gutting of the gospel that is the essence of this book.

To be continued...

USA Today Understands Bell Better Than Many Evangelicals

Saw an interesting article last night in the hotel's edition of USA Today. Article was flagged on the front page. Here's the electronic version. Cathy Grossman has pegged Rob's position pretty accurately. I think the publication of this book is going to be seen as a watershed event in the history of evangelicalism in years to come.

http://yourlife.usatoday.com/mind-soul/spirituality/story/2011/03/Pastor-Rob-Bells-Love-Wins-bedevils-traditionalists/44835214/1?loc=interstitialskip

Here's Rob's book interview and some Q&A. No surprises at all. Start at around 14 minutes.

http://blog.christianitytoday.com/ctliveblog/archives/2011/03/rob_bell_on_uni.html

Rob Bell's Book: The Definitive Word

Hi from Austin, Texas (more on that later). Been trying to get online in various places and in various ways all day to post this link, but have had no success UNTIL NOW.

Anyway, this is a careful and theologically astute evaluation of Rob's book. If, like me, you're a former Rob Bell fan at some level, or want to be informed about a huge debate in contemporary evangelical Christendom, you'll want to read this.

Note 1: Kevin DeYoung also provides this in pdf form for easier reading.
Note 2: In spite of what some may say, this kind of theological critique is not witch hunting. Going into print as a high-profile pastor taking a radical new approach to a major topic in Scripture invites (requires, actually) careful and fair biblical and theological evaluation. I think that's what DeYoung provides. But read it and decide for yourself. :)

http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/kevindeyoung/2011/03/14/rob-bell-love-wins-review/

First Official Review of Rob Bell's book 'Love Wins'

Well, I'm still in Chicago really enjoying this class on Missional Church with Ed Stetzer. But we interrupt this program for an important announcement. The first official review of Rob's book is out, and let's just say it's not pretty. Or maybe the correct term is 'complimentary.'

Here's one quote from the book:
"A staggering number of people have been taught that a select few Christians will spend forever in a peaceful, joyous place called heaven, while the rest of humanity spends forever in torment and punishment in hell with no chance for anything better. . . . This is misguided and toxic and ultimately subverts the contagious spread of Jesus’ message of love, peace, forgiveness, and joy that our world desperately needs to hear" (preface, vi).

Click here for Tim Challies' full review:
http://www.challies.com/book-reviews/love-wins-a-review-of-rob-bells-new-book

Hell and the Bell Curve

Rob Bell's book, Love Wins, is not going away anwhere soon, though I'm guessing John Piper has already picked out a spot at the very bottom of his personal dumpster where he'll toss it the minute he's finished reading it.

Seems like the New York Times has gotten wind of the brouhaha (wow, I love that word):
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/05/us/05bell.html?_r=1

The Gospel Coalition Conference in Chicago in April is going to have a bit of a chin-wag from Trinity scholar (yay, I'll be there tomorrow), Don Carson, and a few other notable clerics without dog collars, like Tim Keller. Wish I could be there.

NOTE: THIS IS NOT ROB BELL!
DO NOT DRAW HORNS!

I was at the Gospel Coalition Conference two years ago with Brad Carr, my old mate from New Zealand. He and I co-pastored together and then he defected to do a church plant of all things ("they went out from us because they were never part of us" says John, but he got it wrong in Brad and Rochell's case). Sending them and 30 or so others away was one of the best things we did (does that sound bad?). So, to reverse Jesus' statement about Adam and Eve, "the one shall become two":

• There's Auckland Bible Church: http://www.abcchurch.co.nz/ (golly, gee, they've moved locations & are updating their website)
• And Botanylife Community Church: http://www.botanylife.org.nz/

Oh yeah. At the G.C. Conference, Brad and I each scored a Free ESV Study Bible. It's a fantastic, literal translation with superb study notes, but it doesn't fit in my pocket. In fact, my insurance refuses to cover chiropractic that is required after I carry it anywhere. So it just sits on my desk. Under all the piles of paper.

For Whom the [Rob] Bell Tolls

Yeah, my title's weak. But the treatment in Kevin DeYoung's blog of how the controversy has played out biblically, is quite robust. The best yet, if you're at all interested in this discussion:

http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/kevindeyoung/2011/02/28/bell-brouhaha/

Hells Bells!

Hells bells, it's really heating up in cyberspace over Rob Bell's book about hell and the video which promotes it (see post two days ago below for my preliminary take).

The publicity is an author's dream, which may just be the point. Rob is great at asking questions which get us to think, and he's certainly touched a nerve with this one.

According to Christianity Today, John Piper tweeted: "Farewell Rob Bell." Last night Rick Warren tweeted: "I believe in hell because Jesus says it's real & he knows more about it than anyone." Just added to the Gospel Coalition Conference in April: Don Carson is going to do a special session as a response to Bell's book. You can read various reactions here:
http://blog.christianitytoday.com/ctliveblog/archives/2011/02/rob_bells_book.html

It's probably good to withhold judgment until we have the text in our hot little hands, or hot little kindle (if it's just been recharged), but the wait is killing me. And if it kills me, what are my possible destinations? Or should that be singular?

This is a HOT topic, and I don't mean that as a pun because making light of the issue of our eternal destiny is utterly heartless. But so is departing from the teaching of Jesus and Scripture on the topic. Did Rob actually do that in this book, as many are now claiming? Guess we'll find out. In the meantime, he's not saying--for reasons only he knows. If Rob Bell ever tires of writing books and making Nooma videos, I think he could have a great career playing poker.

Rob Bell, Hell and Universalism

Justin Taylor has a blog I regularly read  on 'The Gospel Coalition.' He put up a post about Rob Bell's new book, coming out the end of March. Justin's got a lot of flack for his comments which are based, among other things, on a promotional video Rob has.

You can find the discussion and video here:

http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justintaylor/2011/02/26/rob-bell-universalist/?comments#commentscomment-80217

For what it's worth, here's a comment I left on the site:

If you've ever watched Rob Bell's "The gods aren't angry" tour/message, this latest iteration should really come as no surprise. In fact, it is entirely logical. In "the gods aren't angry," Rob very skillfully indicates that any notion of an angry God who demands sacrifice is nothing more than pagan in origin and, hence, utterly unChristian. So, the idea of God being angry at and judging his own son is worse than pagan.

He does an absolutely masterful job of unpacking this approach through a narrative that connects with seekers put off by the blood and gore of Old Testament sacrifices, and of the barbarism of the crucifixion.

But it is a pyrrhic victory that costs him and the church no less than the gospel itself. For, the good news is not just Rob's "God is love," so end of story. Rather, the good news is so much better than that. The gospel is good news because in it God lovingly offers to exchange his righteousness for our sinfulness and its consequences. In Jesus' own words: "God SO loved the world that he gave his only son that whosoever BELIEVES IN HIM might not PERISH but have eternal life." One doesn't need a doctorate in hermeneutics to understand Jesus, himself, to be stating that those without faith in him are in danger of perishing eternally. Interestingly, John uses the same word that Paul does in Galatians 2:20: "who loved me and GAVE himself for me." The loving giving of himself which Paul has in mind was Jesus' sacrificial death -- "to give his life a ransom for many" was how Jesus put it in Mark 10:45.

This theme of a God who is infinitely loving and yet simultaneously wrathful towards sin is one that permeates Scripture from cover to cover. Yet, it is one which Rob, sadly, ignores. Still, there is no way around it: "God presented him [Christ] as a sacrifice of atonement [propitiation] through faith in his blood" (Romans 3:25). It doesn't get much clearer than that.

Perhaps Rob will surprise us when we get to spend $14 on the book when it comes out the end of March. Perhaps, we will all have a good chuckle and conclude, "Great marketing ploy, Rob." But given his absolute aversion to Scripture's focus on the necessity of Christ's atonement, I suspect Justin's concerns are well-founded. My best guess is that this book will be another, but not the last, step away from the Scripture that speaks, and the Christ who saves.