tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20905577.post6331791133213462543..comments2024-02-22T04:58:19.083-08:00Comments on My Reflections: Bell on JesusUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20905577.post-14249778877738168662012-09-20T21:01:38.181-07:002012-09-20T21:01:38.181-07:00Rachel,
Thanks so much for the super kind words. I...Rachel,<br />Thanks so much for the super kind words. I won't add much on Bell (because it's already on the blog), but I'm thankful my reflections gave you some insight on Love Wins... GregMy Reflectionshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06398084457749292224noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20905577.post-17769822471849481192012-09-18T07:49:27.709-07:002012-09-18T07:49:27.709-07:00Hi Greg!
I just finished Love Wins a few days ago...Hi Greg! <br />I just finished Love Wins a few days ago. I had mixed thoughts and emotions about what he wrote. I remembered that you had blogged a bit right when it became a hot topic so I came back to your blog to see all the posts you had! I sufficiently read them all and just wanted to thank you. I appreciate your thoughts and heart. It has helped me process through y opinions on what Rob wrote. You're awesome! I appreciate you and he knowledge and heart the Lord has given you! Rachel Hibberdhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08791434674172494691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20905577.post-1388277980169248722012-05-02T11:07:51.697-07:002012-05-02T11:07:51.697-07:00Yes, I think much of what has gone under the descr...Yes, I think much of what has gone under the description of the life is misguided. Whatever obscures the message that God is love is off-base. Nonetheless, I would emphasize that God's love is holy and that God gives us the agency of rejecting his offer, both of which help when we understand punishment. In the end--as I put in my post on "Heaven and Hell"--the Judge and the Savior are one. I don't know exactly how to bring that together, but I believe God can. Perhaps that means salvation will be greater than we ever imagined. We certainly need to pray to that end.My Reflectionshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06398084457749292224noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20905577.post-50160993167422907122012-05-02T10:13:13.421-07:002012-05-02T10:13:13.421-07:00Greg: You wrote—
As Bell describes it, this is st...Greg: You wrote—<br /><br /><i>As Bell describes it, this is story of love, not of fear. I do love this line:<br />Let’s be very clear, then: we do not need to be rescued from God. God is the one who rescues us from death, sin, and destruction. God is the rescuer.</i><br /><br />Amen. We do have a divine Rescuer intent on saving us from anything & everything contrary to Him. And that includes being saved from the erroneous concepts of hell…<br /><br />You referenced the scripture 1 John 4:8 which Bell’s book title echoes: “God is love.”<br /><br />Just 10 verses later the Apostle John expands on this divine character of love:<br /><br /><i>There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.</i> 1 John 4:18<br /><br />Any conversation about the topic of hell, the never-ending-agony-in-flames version, cannot be divorced from the overall smell of fear, can it? I mean any rational human presenting the topic of suffering such a ghastly fate cannot be so blasé about it that it is mentioned casually without any associated shock value, can it?<br /><br />I remember being ‘witnessed to’ by well-meaning Evangelical types many years ago where any good news was always predicated upon eternal damnation in very grisly detail. Like a 3D Chick Tract on steroids. Somehow the truth of God’s love lost in the translation. The em-PHA-sis of the gospel message reversed. The words of Jesus & those of the Apostle John strangely absent, or if addressed, simply an afterthought to close the deal on fire insurance salvation. I believe it is this incorrect prioritization of hell & its macabre elements that has resulted in a schizophrenic view of God today. And attempts at pointing out this apparent incongruity usually met with arguments defending hell’s prominence in Christian doctrine for a variety of reasons.<br /><br />Could it be our reputation as Christians being both judgmental & hypocritical earned? The world sees the way culture wars are being waged in our nation & wonder if there truly is any Good News to be found amidst the cacophony of clanging cymbals? Lord, have mercy…Josephnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20905577.post-21600945165049456602012-05-01T09:13:37.941-07:002012-05-01T09:13:37.941-07:00Amen, Great pots.Amen, Great pots.Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08771271897649590764noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20905577.post-57841994366092023232012-05-01T09:12:15.057-07:002012-05-01T09:12:15.057-07:00This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08771271897649590764noreply@blogger.com