Emergent Monday: Repent in Hell

Rob Bell, who as I've mentioned wants you to roast in hell, thinks you have plenty of time to repent after you get settled in to hell. I'm guessing that he figures that once you get your in-processing done you'll be able to change your mind and beg forgiveness for what you've done. Go on - live your life. Kill, maim, cheat, steal, enjoy! Because God is love and he couldn't possibly be mean to you no matter how evil you are! So, according to Rob Bell (but not God) hell is a place where you can ponder your inequities, say the sinners prayer and you're forgiven. Unfortunately for his followers, Rob Bell is not God and he doesn't make up the rules, and hell is not a low security prison. Once you're there, you've shut the door on God:

“Then they will call on me, but I will not answer; They will seek me diligently but they will not find me, Because they hated knowledge And did not choose the fear of the Lord. (Proverbs 1:28-29)

As I pointed out in my last blog that semi-educated nutcases like Steven J. Steward who's hobby is berating Godly men like Ray Comfort and John MacArthur due to Stewards own heretical misunderstanding of simple doctrine, don't like repentance. He loves the "Sin your way to salvation" doctrine because repentance to him means to try to live a sinless life which in his mind is a work which is a sin that he doesn't like, but he's ok with sin because we're sinners, just not that sin. (I'm guessing he doesn't like it because it's not as fulfilling a sin as compared to oh... say... child molestation)

Steward's view on repentance is both different from the Emergent Church's and the same. Steward wants to avoid repentance because of his skewed view of doctrine, the Emergent Church completely ignores the concept of repentance because reminding people of their failures is unpopular and people may not show up to their megachurch. Dropping attendance means empty collection baskets. So if you got Rick Warren and Bill Hybels and Eugene Peterson and Steven J. Steward convinced there is no need to repent then what does the bible REALLY say about it? 

Evangelical Fail

Recently a well meaning acquaintance sent my bride a link to a website that explained the beliefs of the webmaster who rails against Ray Comfort, and John MacArthur.  He calls them both damnable heretics for the sin of telling people to avoid sin.

I've tried to go to the website of this man because the name of the website looks pretty uplifting, but the firewall at my work prevents you from accessing the website labeling it "Racism and Hate" which angered me at first. The author of this article and webmaster, David J. Stewart,  a Texan now living on Guam, rips into Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron with frenzied hysteria damning them for daring to make heretical statements such as

“Merely being sorry for your sins, or confessing them to God won't help you. You must turn from sin (repent).”

Looking at this quote quickly you will probably see nothing insidious, but look a little deeper as a saved Christian and you will see.... nothing insidious. But David J. Stewart does. In his own sad little world David J. Stewart believes something completely different. 

Calvinist Cartoons Rocks

Me, The Wretched Son Of Perdition

Besides John, is there anyone that knew Christ Jesus as well as the apostle Paul? While John was the loved disciple and shared an intimate older brother-younger brother relationship with Jesus, Paul shared a truly amazing spiritual relationship with Him that started on the road to Damascus. 

When I read Paul I see someone who has a lot of sin in his past, in 1 Tim. 1:15 he called himself the chief of sinners and in Ephesians 3:8 he called himself "less than the least of all saints". He persecuted and murdered his fellow Jew for the crime of following Jesus, he was there when Steven was stoned to death for the crime of spreading the good news of the risen Messiah. Was he there when Christ Himself was crucified? I'll wager that he was, and I'm also betting that he was there for Christ's trial, and torture, then after He died I'll bet Paul went off to his Passover celebration proud of a job well done. 

Then Jesus forgave him.

Paul knows sin, and Paul knows sinners. So when this scriptural genius (and he was, he was the smartest man in the New Testament) talks about sinners, he knows what he's talking about: 

OT Tuesday: Fun With Science

Warning: Contains Science. Read with care.

It's not a far stretch to say that there's better science being taught in Sunday School than there is in Public School. For one thing, Sunday School doesn't have to worry about political correctness, and for another the bible has a much longer track record of accuracy and consistency than the standard 6th grade text book. Looking back on what I was taught in middle school, just about everything has changed in one form or another while the Bible remains constant.

Of course the Bible has it's detractors who tend to be vocal in their dismissal of God's word. Anytime the truth conflicts with what is convenient or fun people will go out of their way to try to tear down the truth and replace it with what feels good. I recently saw an "educated" criticism of the scientific content of the bible summed up by stating in effect "How can you take the science in the Bible seriously when it was written by people who thought that all animals were within walking distance from Noah's ark?" This was written by someone whose ancestors at that time believed that the world was flat and rested on the back of a giant turtle. 

Of course when discussing science in the Bible eventually the myth of evolution will rear it's ugly head. Yes, I said myth. Unlike actual science, evolution cannot be observed, tested, or repeated, nor is there proof that it actually exists such as transitory examples in the fossil record (fish with feet, dogs with wings, etc). Evolution is based upon faith alone, and unlike biblical faith, the myth of evolution has no historical basis to add emphasis to that faith.  What history the myth of evolution does have is peppered with fraud, disinformation, and undisguised racism. One of the original tenants of evolution was to prove that blacks weren't human. (source)

But science, real science, is there in the Bible to be pondered and marveled, and why not? God invented science.