Open a Door That No Man Can Shut...

So, Friendo here (i.e., Sierra, my 24lb human daughter), recently discovered the doggy door.  For a while she has known about the doggy door and has been throwing her toys out the plastic flap only to land outside – out of reach and in Bobo’s (our 8lb dog’s) way of getting back into the house.

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A Few French Fries Short of a Happy Meal.

Have you ever known someone who is good at “bending the truth”?  You know, little things that seem really small and insignificant until they start to pile up and become big? 

I realize that we all exaggerate to some degree.   Yes, I do believe that exaggeration is just another form of lying and Yes, I do it quite a bit myself… about 1,000 times a day (exaggeration of course).  

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Pedal Pusher.

It has been a while now that my 3-year-old, my 36 pounder, first-born, Friendo - Sierra Starr – has been trying to ride her bike.  Actually, it has been a very long time.  Her grandparents bought her this cool bike last year with training wheels, sparkles, pink, – the whole nine yards.  However, it is the kind of bike that when you pedal backwards it is the break and she kept trying, for whatever reason, to pedal backwards.

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The Journey.

  The road was long, bumpy and full of potholes. It was hot outside and I wanted to go home. I was tired of the journey. I was weary of the same scenery. Nothing seemed to change. It was all desert. Here and there would be a small stream, but it was never enough. It was only enough to keep me moving, to keep me pressing on.

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Love...Wins?

I have a very popular book.  “Love Wins” by Rob Bell.  I bought it knowing what it was about and knowing it is VERY controversial.  I wanted to see what all the “Hoopla” was about.  Now I know. 

Love Wins.  Yes, it does, but I don’t think it wins the way Rob thinks it does.  I heard Rob Bell teach a few years back.  I remember thinking how he was such a good Bible teacher.  He seemed to know his “stuff”.  He taught on something like the “Jewishness of Jesus”.  It was quite compelling and I even returned home and started to watch, download and use in sermons his videos that he makes called “Nooma”. 

 

Let me explain the jest of his book to you.  He believes no one goes to Hell.  Therefore, you don’t have to “get saved”, “pray the salvation prayer”, “be born again”, or whatever term you would like to use.  Everyone goes to Heaven.  He believes that Jesus died on the cross and therefore everyone is already saved.  It doesn’t matter what you do or don’t do.  It doesn’t matter if you believe in Buddha, No god, Jesus Christ, or the tree on the corner.  You are saved.  Nothing more to do be done.

 

According to MY Bible (and I’m pretty sure we read the same one), it says, [Jn3:16] ”For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son that whosoever believes in Him will not perish, but have everlasting life.”  Hmm… Maybe he is missing the “whosoever believes part?”   John 3:17 goes on to say, “For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.”  Did he miss the “THROUGH HIM” part?  It’s in my Bible.  I’m assuming it is in every Holy Bible out there… maybe not his.  Someone needs to add it back for him.

 

Rob Bell believes that a loving God would not send anyone to Hell.  I agree.  God doesn’t send anyone to Hell.  He does, however, give everyone a free choice and will of their own.  My husband, Steve, always says, “Why would a loving God make me spend eternity with Him if I didn’t want to spend my life with Him here?”  I agree.  A loving God is not going to force anyone into Heaven.  It is a choice.  Free will.  We choose to believe in God.  We choose to live our lives for Him.  We choose to accept His grace and mercy.  We choose to not go to Hell because of Jesus Christs loving act on the cross and His resurrection.  WE choose.  WE decide what will happen in our eternity. 

 

I pray that anyone involved in the “Love Wins” movement or the “Emergent Church” sees the truth.  We live in a time where it is easier to make people feel good about themselves rather than speak the truth about them.  We should always approach others in the Love of Jesus Christ.  But even in love there must be a truth that points our life to a better way of living and more importantly, points us to a choice to live with and for Jesus.  

 

Back to Rob Bell:  It is just sad.  Not sad that he knows the Scripture.  Not sad that he teaches love.  Just sad that he doesn’t know and understand the God of love and the God of the Scripture.  He doesn’t have the Holy Spirit within him to give him wisdom and discernment.  I pray that changes. 

 

I pray that the thousands that he has touched with his “Love Wins” message will turn and see the truth – Jesus is the ONLY way.  There is one way to Heaven and one way to Hell.  It is our choice.  That choice has not been made for us.  It remains our choice….