Mount Bethel Publishing
  • Home
  • Free audio books
  • Foy Short Biography
  • Libro "Hogares"
  • Growing in Christ Blog
  • Convictions Versus Mercy
  • Creced
  • Creced PDF

February 11th, 2015

2/11/2015

0 Comments

 

"What we talk about when we talk about God"
Review of the book by Rob Bell

Picture
It’s so easy to see flaws in the way others approach God, and so difficult to get it right ourselves. That thought comes to mind when reading Rob Bell’s brilliant yet flawed book. When you read just a few pages you think, “This guy is brilliant and a master communicator.” You read a few more and you think, “This guy is sincerely speaking from his heart.” However, the more you read the more you begin to see that underneath all the brilliance, sincerity and great quotes there is a flawed premise— that if God’s revelation doesn’t seem to make sense to people, especially brilliant people, then some accommodation must be made to it to keep Christianity relevant.

Bell starts by comparing traditional concepts of God to an Oldsmobile 88 that he drove in his youth. It served him then, but later became a part of the past and is now irrelevant except for collectors. As he put it,

“For them, not us.
For then, not now.”

Of course the practical problem is determining which “traditional concepts” should be discarded. If he refers to traditional concepts that have been added by theologians through the years to those found in the scriptures we would agree. But, you can’t feel that he has much more in mind than theological mishmash.

The first chapter is titled “hum” and Bell discusses the importance of sensing “reverence humming” in us. Throughout the book, he points out perspectives about God that ancient Hebrews and others used have had, and illustrates them by using various Hebrew and Greek words and even a German one.

The chapter titled “Open,” is the most powerful. There Bell lays out graphic images of the vastness of the universe and the intricacy of cells and life itself and the reader is forced to face two realities: (1) There has to be a supernatural power behind both the universe and life itself and (2) That power, God, is beyond anything we can imagine. The last part of the chapter masterfully states our need for science in some realms and yet its utter inability to deal with other realms.

“Because sometimes you need a biologist,
And sometimes you need a poet.
Sometimes you need a scientist,
And sometimes you need a song.” (p. 76)

Bell expands on this thread in the third chapter titled, “Both.” We need both the mechanical precision of true science, but especially the wonder of God. Some good quotes from this chapter:

* “Technical language has limits. It can describe some thing very well, but in other situations, like love, it falls flat. It’s inadequate, it fails.” (p. 85)

* “So when we talk about God we’re using language, language that employs a vast array of words and phrases and forms to describe a reality that is fundamentally beyond words and phrases and forms.” (p. 87)

The chapter titled “With” points out that God is always with us, which is true to the extent that God is always omnipresent and available to those who reach out to him. As Paul pointed out both on the Areopagus and in Romans, he is not far from us (Acts 17:27; Romans 10:6-10). I can’t think help but think, however, of the fact that when man rebels against God that there is a sense in which God departs just as he left old king Saul (1 Samuel 15:26; 16:24). His presence left the temple because of the idolatry of Judah (Ezekiel 10). This consequence of sin, God’s departure from the rebellious, is one of the Biblical truths that give Rob Bell trouble.

Bell rejects any conditions to receive God’s favor and complains about judgments and sermons about “how God loves you if you’ll just. . .” and “God is for you as long as you . . .” (p. 128) He is absolutely right when he complains in the same context that “boycotts and wars and judgments . . . and inquisitions and placards and crusades and terrible PR” have covered up the “beautiful, life-changing message of God being for us.” That last point is right because such tactics are not found among Christ’s disciples in the scriptures and represent a this-worldly focus that is at odds with the otherworldly focus of the New Testament. However, the fact that such methods are wrong and counterproductive does not detract from the fact that God is not for the wicked, the rebellious nor the presumptuous while they persist in their evil. God was not for Hitler. He was not for the children of Israel when they rebelled against Him. Of course, God is for the sinful in the sense that he wants them to leave their sins and come to Him, but he is not for them in their rebellion. Bell’s line of reasoning is at odds with God promises of blessings for an obedient Israel (Deut. 28:1-14) and curses for disobedience (Deut. 28:1-68). There are horrible consequences for disobedience and rebellion. That spiritual truth conflicts with much of the teaching in the book.

Chapter 6, titled “Ahead” is my second favorite chapter, pointing out clearly and correctly that Old Testament laws were never designed to reflect God’s ideals. Often critics jump on such laws to criticize the Bible, misunderstanding of course that their purpose was to take primitive, backward people incrementally towards God’s ideal. Many of the points he makes are also made in Paul Copan’s excellent book, “Is God a Moral Monster?” A question I would have if I could ever talk personally with Rob Bell would be whether he thinks the New Testament reflects God’s ideals, or whether we have now, though some mysterious new source or revelation, a way of coming even closer to God, discarding any New Testament teaching that we feel to be outmoded.

I think I can illustrate the greatest problem behind the premise of the book from a section in the very first chapter. There, Bell wrote about a woman who heard “an influential Christian leader talk openly about how he didn’t think women should be allowed to teach and lead in the church.” (Page 6) According to Bell, she was stunned, and to top it off, “she had two master’s degrees.” I doubt that the influential Christian leader that Bell had in mind was the apostle Paul, but his words describing the leader’s message are close to the same words that the inspired apostle used in 1 Timothy 2:11,12. However, since that teaching is not palatable in our 21st century society, many like Bell feel that it should be rejected. This approach is unintentionally insulting to the brilliant women with and without master’s degrees who have humbly submitted to God’s teaching about subjection. In Bell’s world, it’s as if two masters’ degrees make you incapable of subjection. If Jesus taught us anything it is that there is virtue in subjection. However, some people, especially the brilliant and those enamored with worldly learning just can’t bring themselves to submit.

The truth is that the message of the true God has never been appealing to the wise and learned of this age (Matthew 11:27). They don’t like teaching about subjection, punishment for sin and the afterlife.

"But we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles. . . For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God." (1 Corinthians 1:23, 26-29)

That fact that God is unfathomable, as Bell eloquently points out, does not mean that His will for us is unknowable. God came down on our level through the incarnation of Jesus Christ and also does it through the inspired scriptures. Though there are many deep and profound things in the scriptures that are difficult to understand (2 Peter 3:15), we can at least know God on a level that is pleasing to him, as we grow in our understanding of them. I think Bell misses this point.

It takes a deep poverty of spirit to be willing to accept all of Christ’s teachings and those of His inspired apostles at face value. Bell partially acknowledges that on page 133. However, when Christ’s teaching is counter-cultural, counter-political and unpopular, those who are worldly wise, and yes, some who have two masters’ degrees, will have a hard time swallowing it. Yes, they are stunned by it. The decision that brilliant people like Rob Bell must make (and also those of us who aren’t nearly as brilliant) is whether to accept God and his teachings at face value, or whether to try to adjust God so that he will become more palatable and conform to cultural and social norms. This is not a new choice, but one that has faced mankind from the very beginning.


0 Comments

Book Review, "Was Blind, But Now I See"

12/27/2014

2 Comments

 
Picture
Conversion stories are always thrilling and enlightening. That’s why God gave us several in the book of Acts and why they still resonate today. Unfortunately, many modern “testimonials” sound nothing like Bible conversions, but instead reflect popular errors of the day. They involve salvation supposedly received through bizarre visions, subjective feelings or the “sinner’s prayer” with little or no influence from the word of God. Until recently, most modern biblical conversion stories have simply been passed on orally with little available in written form.

Brent Lewis, motivated by a suggestion by his wife, Joy, has written an insightful book, Was Blind But Now I See, which helps fill the void. It is the story of five people from different backgrounds, who heard the gospel in different ways, but obeyed it the same way, the biblical way.  The subtitle of the book is “How Real People in the Real World Finally Found the Real Truth.”

* Joe Rodriguez suffered various types of abuse as a youngster in Central Florida, but he persevered through life until he came to know a number of Christians, especially Kerry Keenan, who were good influences in his life. Gary Ogden was finally able to baptize him into Christ.

* Keith Stonehart was an out-of-control and drug addicted rock musician, whose wife’s family and several gospel preachers were finally able to reach with the gospel message. Keith is probably the best known of the converts mentioned, preaching now for a congregation in Fultondale, Alabama.

* Ray and Louetta Hilt were truth seekers from Pennsylvania who were discouraged that none of the churches they attended seemed to be anything like what they read about in the Bible. They wondered if anyone in the world followed the Bible until a letter to the editor of a newspaper in York, Pennsylvania, opened doors to a contact with Denny Freeman and disciples in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Denny taught them and they were baptized into Christ.

* Bubba Caudill’s life took him from the mountains of Eastern Kentucky through a number of intermediate stops to Shelby County Alabama where he came to know Christians through his work in law enforcement. A tragic traffic accident drew him even closer to them and that association helped him see the truth and obey the gospel.

* Paul Gregory was a criminal and highly manipulative con artist who spent most of his adult life in the Florida state prison system. There he met two gospel preachers, Daryl Townsend and Denny Freeman, whose Bible studies and those of others made him come face to face with the emptiness of his life. He obeyed the gospel and since being released from prison has married and serves God faithfully.

The first chapter is a sermon by Paul Earnhart and gives a number of motivating thoughts and anecdotes. The most riveting parts of the book are in the five chapters about the conversions. They are well written by Brent Lewis who captures well the different personalities of the protagonists, even occasionally using some “local lingo” in doing so. The book helps remind us that there are still truth seekers in our shallow world.

Thanks for the book should not only go to Lewis, but also to the subjects of his sketches who were willing to reveal painful details of their past lives, in the hope that others who are going through the same type of trauma, can see that God can give them peace as well. Their openness greatly encouraged me.

I highly recommend the book for young readers, new Christians and for all who could use an encouraging boost. It is available at the CEI Bookstore, Florida College Bookstore, Religious Supply in Louisville, Kentucky and One Stone Publishing. I notice that One Stone has the book listed on Amazon.com.


2 Comments

Strength among modern young disciples

12/8/2014

0 Comments

 
 “Say not, ‘Why were the former days better than these?’
  For it is not from wisdom that you ask this.” (Eccl. 7:10) (Explicación en español abajo)

Are younger Christians generally drifting away from God into convictionless Postmodernism? Some are, and therefore we need to give constant warnings about the danger of apostasy. However, at least in the circle of people I know, I believe that young Christians as a group are much stronger now than in the 1970’s when I was a teenager and young adult. Perhaps it’s because I’m blessed to work with some exceptional youth, but I see a number of areas in which I believe that many modern young Christians beat my generation of teens from the 1970’s hands down.

1. More willingness to show spiritual interest – Frankly, almost all congregations I knew in the 1970’s had a group of disinterested teenagers clumped on the back row, sometimes smirking and sometimes simply looking bored. I hardly see that now. Instead, in most congregations there is a group of teens and older children on the front rows, singing, taking notes or listening carefully.

2. More willingness to be open about spiritual challenges (James 5:16). There was often a “hush hush” mentality regarding personal spiritual struggles in the 1960’s and 1970’s.  Many individuals fought their spiritual battles alone, afraid to confide in others for fear of being ostracized. Not so today! I hear many young disciples who are willing to confide in others about their struggles with lust, pride and materialism. Not only do they confess their sins, but also take concrete steps to help each other in battling their temptations. Thank God for them!

3. More emphasis on humility – Most young disciples I know today hate pride. Though most preachers I knew in the 1960’s and 1970’s were humble and hard working, there were also a number of frankly cocky characters that caused harm in the kingdom. That type of preacher completely turns off most young disciples today and that is a blessing! I believe there is much less “preacheritis” now than in my youth.

4. More emphasis on prayer – I don’t remember a single prayer meeting among my young Christian peers in the 1970’s. I remember a number of singings for young Christians but no time dedicated primarily to group prayer. Now, there are regular gatherings of young Christians (and also older ones) designed to pour out our hearts to our heavenly Father. I believe that collective prayer life is much more vibrant among disciples of the 2010’s than those of the 1970’s.

5. Independence and anti-denominationalism – The 1950’s and 1960’s saw intense pressure among known churches of Christ to line up with the official line of the “Church of Christ” denomination and support its approved schools, benevolent organization, papers and other denominational machinery. Modern young disciples today are turned off by that approach and resist any efforts to force others to “line up” with a party line.

6. A desire to know the Bible in its context rather than just “proof texts.” – I doubt many in my peer group in the 1970’s could tell you what the book of 1 Peter was about, much less Habakkuk or Haggai. We could all quote Acts 2:38 and Mark 16:16 but would have difficulty giving a summary of many of Paul’s epistles. I believe that a much higher percentage of young Christians now have a working knowledge of the theme of various books.

Of course, we must not overlook texts that back up fundamental Bible teaching, so called “proof texts.” The New Testament writers quoted such texts repeatedly. There needs to be more Bible memorization of “proof texts,” even as we continue to emphasize an analysis of the Bible in its context.

Why this positive transformation among many young disciples today? Perhaps the fact that the world is more evil now than ever is opening eyes of more parents today to the fact that they must emphasize spirituality and separation from the world in their parenting. Perhaps teens themselves are put off by the shallow carnality and selfishness they see among their peers and realize the need to seek God to get away from that. Whatever the reason, I am thankful to God that I see more faith and spiritual hunger among most young disciples now than I saw in the 1970’s.

I am not naïve about the unique spiritual dangers that face the young now than in the 1970’s. In particular, there is a tendency to underestimate the importance of having Bible authority along with naiveté about the historical consequences of that trend. However, I am confident that the unique strengths of many young disciples will help in the battle against presumption and other spiritual enemies.

(Es un artículo que trata de Corrientes entre Iglesias norteamericanas y por tanto no pienso traducirlo.)

0 Comments

Is everything that happens God's will?

11/25/2014

0 Comments

 
Picture
After the death of a child, a horrible mishap or any other tragedy there are always some who say, “It was the will of God.” Is that statement always true?

It Depends!
Yes… It is the will of God to permit tragedies and trials. Everything that happens in permitted by him.

No
… However, God doesn’t want everything He permits! There is a subtle but important difference between permitting something and wanting it to happen!

Illustrations
God…
*… did not want the ancient Israelites to divorce, but he permitted it because of the hardness of their hearts (Matt. 19:8).
* … did not want ancient people to have more than one wife (Gen. 2:24), but regulated it when Israel was a primitive society (Deut. 21:15-17)
* … did not want Israel to have a king (2 Sam. 10:17-19), but tolerated it and even had his prophets anoint them.
* … does not want anyone to rebel against Him and be lost (2 Pet. 3:9), and yet gives men the free will to do it.

* Often Christian parents will allow their teenage children to do something that they don’t necessarily want them to do, so that they will learn to face the consequences of their actions.

I can think of two Biblical reasons why God allows things to happen that He doesn’t necessarily want:
(1) He wants to give us free will (Deut. 30:15-19). He wants us to have the freedom to choose. He doesn’t want us to make bad choices but He allows them.
(2) He allows tragedies because He doesn’t want us to become too attached to this world that has become corrupted by sin. Rather, He wants us to prove our love by learning to deal with trials and then have eternal life with Him (2 Cor. 4:17).

Careful with our words!
Whenever a child dies or someone suffers horribly, we need to be careful before saying, “God wants this.” Yes, God allows trials and tragedies, as in the case of Job, but that doesn’t mean that He wants them. When we suffer, let’s blame Satan and the curses that come upon our world because of sin. Let’s never blame God!


0 Comments

Which of the three concepts is correct?

11/18/2014

1 Comment

 
Picture
Choose One of the Three!

A Hispanic friend who could be described as “progressive” wrote the following, which I’ll put in italics and translate literally.
 

Three types of believers: With which do you identify?

Three types of believers: (1) those that believe that they are justified only by the merits of Jesus and nothing more that the merits of Jesus, (2) those that believe they are justified in part by Jesus Christ and in part by their own efforts, that is to say, salvation depends partly on Jesus and partly on man and (3) those that believe that salvation depends completely on obedience to all the commandments.

Only the first type of believer can enjoy true peace. The second will always have doubts. The third type will not know if they are saved until the last day. I personally identify with the first type. And you?

My friend uses a logical fallacy called “false trichotomy.” He presents three possibilities, using slightly vague language, in an attempt to have us conclude that the only logical choice is the Calvinist concept that it is not necessary to receive Christ’s salvation.

If he had said something like, “those that believe that salvation comes to us, or is provided only by the merits of Jesus,” we would have no reservation in answering that the first option is correct. His error is trying to have us conclude that since Christ has done everything to provide salvation, therefore we have to do nothing to receive it.

Common Bible Illustrations

The blind man of John 9 – Jesus told the blind man to wash in the Pool of Siloam. He did so and returned seeing (9:7). Let’s try to apply the formula of my friend to the blind man. Was he healed: 1) only on the merits of Christ? (2) partly on the merits of Christ and partly by the blind man’s efforts? or, (3) wholly by his own obedience? The closest answer to being correct is the first in the sense that his healing was provided only by Christ’s power. However, that doesn’t take away from the fact that he had to comply with Christ’s conditions and wash in the Pool of Siloam to receive the blessing.

The children of Israel in Joshua 6 – God told the children of Israel to circle the city of Jericho once for six days and seven times on the seventh. After they did this and the priests blew their trumpets, the walls fell and the Israelites conquered the city (verse 20). Applying my friend’s paradigm did the walls fall: (1) only by God’s power? (2) partly by God’s power and partly by the efforts of the Israelites? Or (3) only by the obedience of the Israelites to God’s commands? Again, the correct choice is the first one if we think only of the provision of the power, but the Israelites still had to comply with God’s conditions to receive it.

These and other Bible examples illustrate the concept of conditional grace. It’s not a complicated idea nor is it difficult to understand. All of our blessings are provided 100% by God. Man has neither the power nor the ability to provide any of them. However, God wants us to accept His conditions. To accept His conditions (for example, by washing in the Pool of Siloam, marching around Jericho, being baptized for the remission of sins, etc.) doesn’t earn blessings, but is required to receive them. We don’t have to understand everything or “get everything right” to have peace and confidence of salvation. God is merciful! However, we must be in Christ (Galatians 3:26, 27) and be growing in Him (2 Pet. 1:8). Let’s not allow sincere but mistaken people to confuse us with logical fallacies.


1 Comment

How to help homosexual friends with the gospel

11/18/2014

0 Comments

 
Picture
When confronting our culture’s promotion of homosexuality, the question of how to best reach those affected by it with the gospel often hasn’t been the primary focus. Rather, many have concentrated on political campaigns to pass bills to fight gay marriage, appoint pro-family judges and vote out politicians who have promoted gay causes. There are a host of weapons for this type of culture war: Old Testament texts mandating the death penalty for such perversions, Romans chapter one which points out that homosexuality is against nature and the result of rejecting God and a number of sources that point out the harmful effects of sexual perversion upon a society.  Among those who are more crass, there are the jokes and epithets that disparage homosexuals.

Is the political, culture war approach to homosexuality the way of Jesus Christ? Homosexuality was rampant in the Roman Empire in the first century. Though it was perhaps less perceptible in Jewish society, other socially unacceptable sins such as prostitution, extortion and collaboration with the hated Roman oppressors were widespread there. What did Jesus do with those sinners that were the untouchables of Jewish society? Did he lead a political crusade complete with petitions, letter writing campaigns, etc. to clean up Jewish society once and for all? He ate and drank with them! (Matt. 9:9-12) In doing so He earned the bitter contempt of the religious leaders of His day.

Jesus wasn’t concerned with using political leverage or grass roots campaigns to make social changes in the decaying culture, but rather with reaching individuals, even outcasts, with the kingdom message. So, He ate and drank with them, showing them the better way of God’s love. His followers did the same. Paul’s writings that mention homosexuality such as Romans 1 were designed to teach Christians, not evangelize the lost. Instead, the love of God was able to lead many like the Corinthians who had been involved in all kinds of sexual perversions to be washed, sanctified and justified “in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God” (1 Cor. 6:11).

Disciples of Christ need to decide whether their primary objective in facing homosexuality is: (a) to focus on culture war and use political and social tools to fight the gay agenda, or (b) to focus on lost individuals and show them a better way through the love of Christ. To focus on “a” is to ignore the example of Christ and also hinders us in our efforts at “b,” to show the love of Christ as a way to forgiveness and transformation. Few homosexuals will sense that we love them if all they see from us are noisy efforts to promote political change.

The way of Christ is always best! Let’s never forget it, even as we grieve over the excesses of our Western culture.


Picture
0 Comments

    Gardner Hall

    I live in New Jersey with my wife Beverly and preach primarily in two congregations: A bilingual congregation that meets in West Harlem in New York City (the official page [with less pictures] is here) and a Spanish Speaking congregation in Fair Lawn, NJ. Also have a small web page with various articles and sermons here and a Spanish webpage here.

    Archives

    February 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.