After reading Rob Bell’s latest book, “Love Wins”… I remain convinced that God will make heaven as good as it can be… and hell as bad as it needs to be. We have every reason to trust whatever Jesus said and meant about the real danger of hellish loss in this life, and the judgment […]
Let’s take a second look at the two proverbs we took off from in our last post. I asked whether it is biblical to settle an argument by drawing straws, flipping a coin, or rolling the dice after referring to: “We may throw the dice, but the LORD determines how they fall (Prov 16:33 NLT). […]
The counsel of the Bible can sound contrary to all reason—and against our best interests—while showing us the meaning of wisdom. For instance, the Apostle James says something that could sound more like mental illness than spiritual health. He encourages his readers to “count it all joy when they fall into various kinds of trials […]
A few days ago, online communities lit up with pre-publication rumors about a book that is coming out by Rob Bell on the subject of heaven, hell, and the destiny of all. Overnight, a video teaser, and cover copy released by his publisher stirred up enough furor (over what Rob might say) to earn his […]
Why do we punish ourselves for old regrets long after we believe God has forgiven us? The question stuck in my mind after a conversation with someone I’ll call TC. TC described himself as being in recovery for multiple addictions. A couple of times he said, “My problem was forgiving myself. I found it a […]
Our pastor used an unexpected and effective twist in his teaching yesterday. He started out saying that, while reading the book, Radical, by author David Platt, he began thinking about how much money would be coming into the church this week in the form of engagement rings on the fingers of women of the church. […]
According to the Bible, some of the last words of Christ were spoken through his angel to the Apostle John, exiled to the Aegean Island of Patmos. But what are we to make of Jesus’ message when he says in 22:14, ‘Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the […]
The 18th and 19th verses of Revelation 22 describe severe consequences to anyone who either takes away or adds to the words of the prophecy. Apocalyptic plagues are promised to those who add to the book. Even worse, the Tree of Life and City of God are to be taken from those who subtract from […]
So how does the Big Picture and Story of the Bible help us to understand a quote as difficult as we find in Revelation 22:11? “He who is unjust, let him be unjust still; he who is filthy, let him be filthy still; he who is righteous, let him be righteous still; he who is […]
I woke up this morning thinking that I need to move the conversation along to something else, as promised, because of the frustration that erupted over our last discussion. Then I read the comments posted overnight, and heard the heart and reasonableness of friends who expressed that they felt I was just making the Bible […]
