Thoughts on Heaven and Love.

Just read an article about Rob Bell, who some believe is a false teacher. I don’t believe he is a false teacher but is writing a book of the love of God simply stating that all have a place in God’s kingdom. He brings out the point that we are not judges of salvation but tools to usher in the grace and love and salvation that God offers through his son Jesus Christ who is God and who is love.

I can see why the author of this article would pick out this 30 second spot or preview of a book and categorize Rob Bell as being a Universalist, which I do agree is a bad thing; but nowhere does Rob Bell discount there is a hell. He is simply stating that who are we to judge? Is Ghandi, Hitler, Che Guevarra, Stalin, Kark Marx….the list of “BAD” people continues. But has anyone ever really been to hell and taken a head count of who suffers there? NO!

Anyways, I know that Rob Bell is controversial and pushes the envelope a bit, but hey so did St. Justin Martyr (who spoke against Plato who he had learned from, displacing Plato’s teaching and teaching a Gospel of a loving God) Martin Luther (who taught against the teachings of the early catholic church and viewed by some as a heretic and constantly had threats on his life…for simply teaching that Salvation is a free gift of Grace from a loving God), Abraham Lincoln (Who by the way never became a member of any church said, “When any church will inscribe over its altar, as its sole qualification for membership, the Savior’s condensed statement of the substance of both law and Gospel, ‘Thou shalt love the lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul and thy neighbor as thyself’ that church will I join with all my heart and all my soul.”—he is simply pointing to a God who accepts everyone on the basis of their faith in him and not for any good works we can do, but by believing in Christ.)

I can think of many other envelope pushers who have been criticized for their thoughts on God. The Gospel to me is a subject of good news….the good news that we have redemption in Christ and anyone and everyone is accepted into the kingdom of God. There is not one exception to that list. I like that Rob Bell isn’t afraid to speak what is in his heart, all the while knowing there are people who don’t agree with him and think his teaches contrary to the Bible and to God. Heck I’ve also heard other Pastors, Teachers, and fellow believers say the same about Brian McLaren (author of A New Kind of Christian) Donald Miller (author of Blue Like Jazz, and Searching For God Knows What), or William Paul Young (author of The Shack) who all have a very controversial ways about them (in the essence that they are not quoting the bible rather than sharing the thought out of their own creativeness that God himself blessed them with. With the articulate knowledge to write books that will influence people in different ways.)

I believe that there is not a ‘single, one way’ to be saved. Yes to be saved is to believe Christ is who he says he is but what are the 10 quick steps to doing that? I really don’t think that there are pin-pointed steps to becoming a person who will live for eternity in heaven. But God will meet everyone where they are at, knowing where we all are at the time that we will accept him into our lives. Can God not meet a Gihadist Muslim on his way to blow up a building full of innocent people? Yes! Read the story of former PLO terrorist Muslim Walid Shoubat (http://www.shoebat.com/) I think that if you are seeking God you will find him, if you are asking God to come in then he will open the door, no matter where you are, what actions you are doing at the time and no matter how black our hearts are…God is here to redeem us by his Grace and Love.

The following is taken from the Bible in Romans 1:14-17 “I am obligated both to Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the wise and the foolish.That is why I am so eager to preach the gospel also to you who are in Rome. For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.” —this says that if you have faith you will have a place in heaven.

We just need to remember that God is bigger than us, he will always be bigger than us as He has been here before there was a here. We also need to be careful not to put God in a box as to easily understand him….the fact that we don’t understand God is a good thing. As Mike Erre (former pastor of Rock Harbor, and now pastor of Mariners Church Mission Viejo) has said, “The greatest hindrance to actually knowing something, is believing you’ve already got it figured out.” All this to say that if we look at all the attributes of God other than Love and Anger is a massive God who reveals himself in endless ways. I am finite, and He is Infinite. All the questions that we have about Heaven and Hell will be answered when we get there….but I honestly think that by the time we get there we will be so distracted and in Awe of God’s creation then we will not even remember the questions in the first place. I am committing from this day forward to preach a gospel of Good News, that all have a place in God’s kingdom and that the Lord will reveal himself through His Spirit any way that He sees fit….even if that means we all experience is differently. I will point to the God above for all the answers, I am just the messenger.

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