Thanks to Tim Challies for highlighting this video. It made me laugh out loud.
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Rob Bell on the Cover of TIME
TIME magazine’s cover story this week is about Rob Bell’s book Love Wins. Here is John Meacham’s one line explanation of what the fuss is about: “[Bell] suggests that the redemptive work of Jesus may be universal — meaning that, as his book’s subtitle puts it, ‘every person who ever lived’ could have a place in heaven, whatever that turns out to be.” Every year during Easter season, the news weeklies like to feature stories that tweak traditional Christian belief (for example, The Gospel of Judas, the tomb of Jesus, etc.). For these publications, Holy Week has become heresy week. I think it says something that Bell’s book has now…
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The Nigerian Witness
I flew to Chicago Tuesday morning to attend The Gospel Coalition conference, and I took a cab from the airport to my hotel. As I was sitting in the backseat formulating my strategy for sharing the gospel with my Nigerian driver, the driver starts singing. “What are you singing,” I asked. He replied, “I’m singing to my God. I must always sing to my God!” It turns out that this was his strategy for sharing the gospel with me! The rest of the trip was a delight. We talked about life, the gospel, and the nature of true Christianity. We prayed for each other, and then he gave one final…
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Bullhorn Guy
I had occasion earlier this week to go back and watch one of Rob Bell’s NOOMA videos from seven years ago. This one is titled “Bullhorn.” When I first saw this about six years ago, I didn’t know much about Bell. So I walked away with one question: Is Bell’s problem with the messenger (the Bullhorn Guy) or with the message? There was an ambiguity about it then. But I guess not so much now. Note that he even uses the phrase “love wins.”
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The Victory in My Disgrace
Is there anything more difficult in Christianity than loving your enemy and forgiving them? And yet Jesus is able to do in us what we would never do ourselves. I am grateful to God for this young woman’s powerful testimony. I think you will be too. “For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins” (Matthew 6:14-15). (HT: Tim Challies)
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Don Miller: Who should run the church?
Donald Miller asks an interesting question at his website: “Should the Church be Led by Teachers and Scholars?” His contention is that unlike the original disciples who were fisherman and tradesman, the Christian church today has ceded its leadership to the academics. Churches today are basically schools that are run by teachers. As a result, we have a lot of arguing about doctrine in our churches and not enough doing Jesus’ commands. Miller writes: “Church divisions are almost exclusively academic divisions. The reason I don’t understand my Lutheran neighbor is because a couple academics got into a fight hundreds of years ago. And the rest of the church followed them…
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“Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring” Like You’ve Never Seen It Before
(HT: Tim Challies)
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Hell in 1st Century Judaism
Rob Bell makes frequent appeals to “1st Century Judaism” as the proper background for understanding the New Testament. In Bell’s hands, this is all well in good in principle, but not so good in practice. At numerous points, his appeals to 1st century Judaism are highly suspect. This is especially the case when it comes to understanding the New Testament doctrine of hell. Since Bell does not have footnotes, his portrait of Judaism is impossible to verify in the primary sources. He argues by assertion, not by evidence.
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Is the shutdown about abortion?
Sarah Pulliam Bailey has a nice round-up of material from the web about the cause of the looming government shutdown. As you may have heard by now, one of the sticking points in the debate is federal funding for Planned Parenthood—the largest abortion provider in the United States. As far as the national deficit is concerned, the funding is a drop in the bucket. Nevertheless, Republicans want the funds eliminated, and Democrats are trying to protect them. The Tea Party is ambivalent—some of them just wishing for Republicans to quit their obsession with irrelevant “social issues.” I think it’s very unlikely that Planned Parenthood would be defunded this go round.…
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Albert Mohler on Qur’an Burning
“Christians are not called to burn the books of other religions. We are not called to publicity stunts that put lives at risk and subvert the preaching of the Gospel of Christ. Such actions deserve only the most severe condemnation. But even the condemnation serves its purpose — to gain publicity.” Read the rest here.