Tag: Christianity

Book Look: Christ Alone

On By BrianIn Book Look1 Comment

Christ Alone by Michael Wittmer does exactly what the sub-title states: it is “An Evangelical Response to Rob Bell’s Love Wins.”  In ten chapters, Wittmer address the major themes in Bell’s book.  In doing so, Wittmer goes way beyond the question of hell, showing that Bell’s view of hell has important ramifications for the doctrines of God, sin, Christ, and salvation.  In the end, the issue touches on the gospel itself.   Along the way, Wittmer helpfully sets the various issues in their historical contexts, granting further thought and insight.

Overall, he gives a careful biblical critique in a gentle and charitable tone.  No ranting and raving here.  His critique is further very readable and accessible, with even a touch of humor.  Though a response to Bell’s book, it can easily be read on its own.  If you have read Bell’s book and want another perspective, or if you are just curious about what all the fuss is about, or if you just want to understand these issues better, this is a great book to pick up.

Responding To Hell

On By BrianIn Uncategorized3 Comments

Yesterday I preached a sermon on Jesus’ parable about hell in Luke 16:19-31.  I showed that hell is not only real, but that it is a place of torment.  Hell is directly related to God’s justice (we really do deserve to go there).  And once you are there, there is no escape. This is the traditional and Biblical way of understanding hell.  But what should a Christian do with hell?  Just defend these truths from those who reject them?  This is necessary, but I suggest that there are many other responses we should make (and I am indebted to Michael Wittmer and Francis Chan for helping me think this through).

Humbly Submit to God

It is not up to me if there is a hell or not.  It is up to God, and he tells us it exists.  It doesn’t matter if I like it, if I consent to its existence, or if I understand it.  It doesn’t matter how I feel about it.  God says hell exists and I should humbly submit to what he says.  Or as Rick Warren apparently put it: “I believe in hell because Jesus says it’s real and he knows more about it than anyone.”

Examine Your Heart

Are you certain you are going to heaven and not hell?  Are you trusting in what Jesus did for you on the cross and through the resurrection?  Have you really received Jesus as your Savior?  Is there evidence of your salvation?  Has there been a change in your life?  Are you following Christ?  We will never be perfect here, but if we are God’s children, there will be a difference.  Our eternal destiny is on the line here.  We must be sure we are saved.

Rejoice In Your Salvation

Because of our sin, we deserve hell.  Every sin is rebellion against the King, a terrible offense against God.  We deserve eternal punishment.  But Jesus died to take our punishment upon himself so we could go free, so we could escape hell.  The more we grasp hell, the more we will praise God for saving us from it.  No wonder Paul tells us to rejoice in the Lord always (Philippians 4:4).  It doesn’t matter how bad your life is going right now – if God has saved you from hell, you have reason to rejoice.

Weep For The Lost

If hell is real, and people are going there, then we should weep.  We should mourn.  We should cry.  Too often we live without enough passion.  Not only don’t we rejoice enough in our salvation, we don’t weep enough for the lost.  And as we weep, we should:

Cry Out To God For People To Get Saved

Plead with God for your family, your friends, your co-workers, your neighbors, your community.  Let passionate cries for mercy ascend constantly to the throne of grace.  And as you pray:

Go And Share The Gospel

Look for opportunities to share the gospel with the people you see.  And if you don’t see opportunities, look for ways to create opportunities.  We need to give thought to ways we can reach out to people with the good news of Jesus.  The more we believe in hell, the more we will have a burden for the lost. 

Send Missionaries Around The World

Finally, if hell is real, we need to send people out with the gospel to those who have never heard.  We need to not only invest our time in sharing the gospel, but also our money to help others share the gospel in places we will never go.

How do you need to respond to hell today?

Passion Points

On By BrianIn PASSION Points

Here are some good posts for your weekend reading:

Growing…

Some good quotes from Jerry Bridges on sanctification (via Ed Stetzer).

John Newton writes about how we grow in grace (via Justin Taylor).

Compassion for People

Paul Tripp talks about how sin dehumanizes people (via Justin Taylor).

Ray Ortlund considers seven ways we can guard and restore relationships.

Church

And as you prepare to gather with God’s people tomorrow in your local church, consider how churches die from The Gospel-Driven Church.

Hope you have a great Lord’s Day worshipping our great God.

If Sinners Be Damned

On By BrianIn PASSION Quotes1 Comment

If sinners be damned, at least let them leap to hell over our bodies. 
And if they perish, let them perish with our arms about their knees,
imploring them to stay. 
If hell must be filled, at least let it be filled in the teeth of our exertions,
and let not one person go there unwarned and unprayed for.

– Charles Spurgeon (as quoted in Christ Alone by Michael E. Wittmer)

Book Look: Erasing Hell

On By BrianIn Book Look3 Comments

Erasing Hell by Francis Chan and Preston Sprinkle addresses the current hell controvery.  In a simple easy-to-read fashion they explore the various verses in Scripture that speak about hell.  In the process they write against Rob Bell’s recent book as well as the American “everyone goes to heaven” funeral mentality.  This is much needed in the world and church today.

Still, where the book really shines is when it challenges the way Christians respond to this doctrine of hell.  Hell should make us weep.  Hell doesn’t make sense to us, and so should humble us before a God that is greater than we are.  Hell should cause us to examine ourselves to see if we are really of the faith.  Hell is more than a doctrine to fight about or an issue only for the lost.  Hell is something that Christians must wrestle with and live in light of.  The reality of hell has ramifications for how we live.  And these reminders are much needed in the church today.

The Reality of Failure

On By BrianIn Family Collection

The following is an excellent post from Collin Hansen addressing the reality of failure and its necessary applications in parenting and discipleship.  If you are a parent, you need to read this.  If you are a teen/young adult, you should read this.  Okay, you should just read and ponder this post no matter who you are:

Your kids will fail. This is both inevitable and also necessary. Apparently not many parents today want to hear this uncomfortable fact. And they certainly don’t want to implement it in how they discipline their children. Writing the cover story for The Atlantic’s July/August issue, therapist Lori Gottlieb alerts us that the cult of self-esteem is ruining our kids. Convinced they are the center of the universe and capable of anything, our children have become insufferable narcissists. Then, when these kids grow up and fail, as they must, they head for the nearest therapist, worried their lives have gone horribly wrong. Gottlieb writes:

[R]ates of anxiety and depression have also risen in tandem with self-esteem. Why is this? “Narcissists are happy when they’re younger, because they’re the center of the universe,” [psychology professor Jean] Twenge explains. “Their parents act like their servants, shuttling them to any activity they choose and catering to their every desire. Parents are constantly telling their children how special and talented they are. This gives them an inflated view of their specialness compared to other human beings. Instead of feeling good about themselves, they feel better than everyone else.”

As you might expect, this attitude wreaks havoc in the real world of adulthood. Try giving one of these college students a B, let alone a C. You better be prepared for a visit from the student and maybe even a phone call from a parent. Or try telling young adults in their first job that their work doesn’t cut it. You just might be looking for a new employee when the offended party looks for a workplace where his creativity and brilliance will be “appreciated.”

Continue reading…

Passion Points – Forgiveness

On By BrianIn PASSION Points

Here are three good posts on forgiveness for your weekend reading: 

Paul Tripp talks about the “benefits” of unforgiveness before reminding us of a better way. 

Chris Brauns gives important counsel on how to stop thinking about past wounds. 

And then Brauns discusses the issue of forgiveness as it relates to the Casey Anthony case.

Hope you have a great Lord’s Day with your local church celebrating our great God!

God Loves You

On By BrianIn Book of Luke

What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’ – Luke 15:4-6

You were that lost sheep.  You had lost your way, were wandering without hope, living in sin, easy prey for the devil.

But God loves you, and he looked for you.  He didn’t leave you lost, he came looking for you.  Maybe it was through a friend or your parents, maybe through VBS, Camp, Sunday School, a sermon, a tract, or some other way.  However he did it, God didn’t leave you lost.  He came looking for you.

And when he found you, he carried you home.  You were too weak to go home, too sinful to go home.  It was not by your own effort or works that you came home.  It was not your own goodness that led you home.  On your own you wouldn’t have made it.  You would still be lost, wandering, hopeless.  But he carried you home.   It was the work of Christ that brought you home.  It was the goodness of Jesus that brought you home.  It was the power of the Spirit that brought you home.  God carried you home.

And then, he rejoiced over you.  When you got saved, there was a celebration in heaven, a party in paradise.  God was excited, thrilled, rejoicing over you.  Have you ever lost something?  Maybe your keys, the remote, or something else.  You looked for it and when you found it, you rejoiced.  In a greater way, God rejoiced over you.  You were lost, but now you are found, and God threw a party.

Why would God come looking for people like us?  Why would he care to carry us home?  Why would he rejoice over the likes of us?  Because somehow, someway, in his incredible mercy and grace, God loves us.  He loves you.  There is a love we can rest in.

Resources on Hell

On By BrianIn Uncategorized1 Comment

I am in process of preparing a sermon on hell from Luke 16, and so I’m researching the issue a bit, and thought I’d share a few resources available.

Rob Bell’s book (see prior post) has unleashed an avalanche of books supporting the traditional Biblical understanding of hell.  My former classmate and professor Michael Wittmer has a short book called Christ Alone that interacts with and critiques Bell’s book.  Francis Chan has a new book called Erasing Hell that looks at the relevent Biblical passages.  Mark Galli has a book coming soon called God Wins that according to Randy Alcorn (via Justin Taylor) looks more at the historical and theological aspects.  It also includes a small group study guide.  See Taylor’s summary of the books by Chan and Galli here.  In August, Keller, Mohler, and Packer have a brief book coming out called Is Hell For Real or Does Everyone Go To Heaven?  Too bad these last two books are coming out too late for me to look at for my sermon.

With all these new books coming out, Tim Challies looks at how well those with the traditional Biblical view of hell (himself included) responded to the Bell controversy.  In part of his critique he argues that all the uproar actually helped sell the book.  Taylor has a brief response.  I would simply add that while the uproar may have helped sell the book, Rob Bell was already a best-selling author whose book would have sold well even without an evangelical response – and the evangelical response was greatly needed (as Challies readily acknowledges).  While many may be led astray by Bell’s book, he has forced the church to re-examine and address the issue.  And with the recent slew of books, many will be better educated on the Bible’s teaching on hell.  And for that we can be grateful.