Recently, I attended the Hope Women's Center board meeting, which I have the privilege of serving on right now. As we were discussing various issues about what is happening with Hope, one of the people in the meeting reminded me of an important lesson we Christians need to always be learning and applying.
One of the great things about Hope Women's Centers are their commitment to promoting life. Everything the centers do are intended to help women (and men) who are considering abortion or have decided to pursue abortion to instead choose life. The centers do this through clear information that the unborn child the mother is carrying is a human being.
Not to speak for others at this point, I believe in promoting life because I firmly believe that abortion is the unjust taking of a human life of the unborn child and a physically, psychologically, and spiritually traumatic event for the mother and father. Abortion is morally and spiritually reprehensible because it is an affront to God's determination that every human life is of value and worth.
Hope opposes abortions by promoting life in a positive manner. The women that feel like they must consider abortion tend to be under a great deal of stress, and they may feel pressure from others to make a decision they don't really want to make. A negative confrontation does not lower the stress, but increases it. A positive view of life, rather than a negative view of abortion, leads people to have hope instead of despair.
This is contrasted with others who focus on the negative aspects of abortion. They may use a variety of techiques to get their point across like coercion, guilt, railing against abortion, holding up pictures of aborted babies, screaming at people who are entering an abortion clinic, or any of the other confrontational methods that people choose to use. Though I used some "loaded" terms that paint some of their actions in a negative light, I would agree with their position that abortion is wrong. There may even be times that those methods are effective, though they often come at a high cost.
The reason why I bring this up is because the contrast of being for life or against abortion is more than just semantics. How you present a position and how others perceive that position matters. I heard Allan Lockerman, pastor at First Baptist Church in Cleveland, Tennessee, make a comment about this issue. To sum up his statement, "When I die, would I rather be remembered as someone who was for grace, or be remembered as someone who was against something."
Being remembered as a person for grace (or life, or Jesus), rather than being someone who was against a myriad of topics is so much more positive. Being "for" something tends to attract people to the cause for the right reasons. Those people tend to be easier to work with and uplifting in how they pursue life. On the other hand, people who center their life around what they are against tend to be negative in how they approach life. The people they draw to their cause tend to be confrontational in their manner and difficult to work with.
How do you frame the things you are passionate about? Are you a person who is "for" something or "against" something? I would urge you to stop being against things are start promoting the positive alternative.
Just a reminder that Hope Women's Center fundraising banquet is April 4 at the Signature Grand at 7:00 pm. You can contact me if you have questions or would like to donate or go to Hope's Website.
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Al Mohler and Russell Moore on Rob Bell's Book "Love Wins"
Not to go overboard on this topic about Rob Bell's book, but the issue of salvation, hell, and the sacrifice of Christ on the cross are critical doctrines for the Christian faith. Two more "heavyweights" have written about Bell's new book.
Al Mohler's review is good because he paints the picture in a historical context. He ably demonstrates that Bell is another in a long line of people who have attempted to save Christianity from itself.
Russell Moore's review takes an entirely different direction. He points out that Bell's view of salvation and judgment robs the Gospel of the significance of Christ's atonement for sin. I appreciate Dr. Moore's observations on the book because it adds some significant theological "weight" to the argument.
I would recommend both reviews for your reading because of the knowledge their blogs impart that go beyond just a book review.
Al Mohler's review is good because he paints the picture in a historical context. He ably demonstrates that Bell is another in a long line of people who have attempted to save Christianity from itself.
Russell Moore's review takes an entirely different direction. He points out that Bell's view of salvation and judgment robs the Gospel of the significance of Christ's atonement for sin. I appreciate Dr. Moore's observations on the book because it adds some significant theological "weight" to the argument.
I would recommend both reviews for your reading because of the knowledge their blogs impart that go beyond just a book review.
Review of Rob Bell's New Book 2
Click on the title above to read the review of Rob Bell's book found on the Baptist Press website.
If you were to look at the posts on the site, you can tell I have been in blogosphere slumber for a while. School and a trip to China to get our daughter will change your priorities. However, Bell's book has awakened me from my hibernation because of the grave danger it poses to orthodox Christians.
Bell is like most of the emergent church leadership today. They use many of the same terms that we use to discuss their faith, but they define their terms differently. For example, Bell defines hell as the vast suffering due to evil that occurs here on earth (not exactly his words, but a generalization), while traditional Christian faith calls hell a literal place that will be a place of eternal torment (again, a generalization.) What makes this dangerous is the following Bell and other leaders have gained among evangelicals, especially younger evangelicals, and influence that he carries.
I do not agree 100% with every pastor or leader that I follow, read, or listen to. However, we do agree on the essentials of the faith. Any major deviation from issues like salvation, nature of God, work of the Cross, or nature of Christ are reasons to no longer allow that person to teach me about spiritual truth. Or, at the very least, to highly filter what they are teaching to be sure it is biblical. So many have placed their trust in the teaching of Bell, that they may not realize how severe his deviation is from biblical truth.
My word to you is to be cautious about Bell and his teaching, and advise those who are in your circle of influence to be cautious as well.
If you were to look at the posts on the site, you can tell I have been in blogosphere slumber for a while. School and a trip to China to get our daughter will change your priorities. However, Bell's book has awakened me from my hibernation because of the grave danger it poses to orthodox Christians.
Bell is like most of the emergent church leadership today. They use many of the same terms that we use to discuss their faith, but they define their terms differently. For example, Bell defines hell as the vast suffering due to evil that occurs here on earth (not exactly his words, but a generalization), while traditional Christian faith calls hell a literal place that will be a place of eternal torment (again, a generalization.) What makes this dangerous is the following Bell and other leaders have gained among evangelicals, especially younger evangelicals, and influence that he carries.
I do not agree 100% with every pastor or leader that I follow, read, or listen to. However, we do agree on the essentials of the faith. Any major deviation from issues like salvation, nature of God, work of the Cross, or nature of Christ are reasons to no longer allow that person to teach me about spiritual truth. Or, at the very least, to highly filter what they are teaching to be sure it is biblical. So many have placed their trust in the teaching of Bell, that they may not realize how severe his deviation is from biblical truth.
My word to you is to be cautious about Bell and his teaching, and advise those who are in your circle of influence to be cautious as well.
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Review of Rob Bell's New Book
Rob Bell is releasing a new book this month that addresses the topic of heaven and hell. I have not read the book, but the reviews are disturbing to say the least. I wanted to put a review out there for those who are interested.
The quotes that are pulled from the book are not encouraging. The issue is that many people today want to avoid hard doctrines like judgment and hell because they are not palatable to the modern/postmodern person. Ultimately, many popular pastors today are happy to talk about the love of God, but are reticent to talk about judgment and the wrath of God.
As you look at this article and the included link to Al Mohler's blog about hell, let me be clear about my view on sin, salvation, and hell. Al Mohler's Blog
All people are born with a sin nature. Amazingly, I did not have to teach my infant daughter to be defiant, it just comes naturally to her. Sin separates us from God because He is a Holy and Righteous God. He is so Holy, that any sin is an affront to Him and deserves punishment.
Sin is so pervasive in man that he is incapable of saving himself. Man can never be good enough or resist sin so as to not offend God's holy nature. God, in His wisdom and mercy, knew that man is incapable of saving himself. Jesus, part of the Triune God, came in flesh and lived a sinless life on earth and willingly died on the Cross to be the sacrifice for our sins. Jesus rose to life after three days to signify the defeat of death and hell through his sacrifice. Man must place his faith in the sacrificial, atoning death of Jesus on the Cross in order to be saved.
Hell is a real place that God will send all people who die without accepting Christ as their Lord and Savior. The descriptions of hell are that it is eternal, painful, and people are separated from God as punishment for their sins.
There are many passages in Scripture from which I derive the above perspective. The short version is read Romans 1, 3, 8 & 10. Read 1 Corinthians 15:1-19. Read Matthew 25:31-46. Read Revelation 20-22.
The quotes that are pulled from the book are not encouraging. The issue is that many people today want to avoid hard doctrines like judgment and hell because they are not palatable to the modern/postmodern person. Ultimately, many popular pastors today are happy to talk about the love of God, but are reticent to talk about judgment and the wrath of God.
As you look at this article and the included link to Al Mohler's blog about hell, let me be clear about my view on sin, salvation, and hell. Al Mohler's Blog
All people are born with a sin nature. Amazingly, I did not have to teach my infant daughter to be defiant, it just comes naturally to her. Sin separates us from God because He is a Holy and Righteous God. He is so Holy, that any sin is an affront to Him and deserves punishment.
Sin is so pervasive in man that he is incapable of saving himself. Man can never be good enough or resist sin so as to not offend God's holy nature. God, in His wisdom and mercy, knew that man is incapable of saving himself. Jesus, part of the Triune God, came in flesh and lived a sinless life on earth and willingly died on the Cross to be the sacrifice for our sins. Jesus rose to life after three days to signify the defeat of death and hell through his sacrifice. Man must place his faith in the sacrificial, atoning death of Jesus on the Cross in order to be saved.
Hell is a real place that God will send all people who die without accepting Christ as their Lord and Savior. The descriptions of hell are that it is eternal, painful, and people are separated from God as punishment for their sins.
There are many passages in Scripture from which I derive the above perspective. The short version is read Romans 1, 3, 8 & 10. Read 1 Corinthians 15:1-19. Read Matthew 25:31-46. Read Revelation 20-22.
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