I guess I have a few concerns about this whole . Â I mean, beyond the potential misuse of millions of dollars in endowment
money…
What is clear here is that the church leadership is trying to blend two things that I feel are not good to blend. Â 1) the scriptural challenge to help one another out – this one I like; and then 2) the cultural value of keeping others away from us – this one I don’t. 🙂
It would seem that the church is so comfortable maintaining distance between the leadership and the members that they don’t see the disconnect. Â So you get “Please help out by sending over meals – but give them to the limo drivers, please don’t come by our home.”
Am I the only one who is bothered by this?
On this day in 1517, the priest and scholar  approaches the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany, and nails a piece of paper to it containing the 95 revolutionary opinions that would begin the Protestant Reformation.
If you want a brief rundown of the ensuing years, hit .
And so began the Protestant movement, even though it wasn’t called that until a number of years later.
I am a product of that, especially now that I am a pastor of a non-denominational church near Va. Tech. Â My question is, “do we as Protestants, or better yet, do I as a Protestant, protest too much?” Â This question comes up as we as a church are in the midst of a series on the Lord’s Prayer. Â A prayer that many recite weekly in church’s all over the world.
We as a church don’t.
And my question is, is that good? Â Is it good to include in the general flow of a Sunday gathering time something that can easily become rote and mundane? Â Or the counter, is it wise to not regularly participate in one of the traditions the church has widely participated in over the centuries?
My concern with the former is that we can easily mishandle very sacred things. Â A bit like eating on the good china everyday somehow reduces the specialness of it. Â But my concern with not engaging in its reading and reciting is that I am pushing away something very valuable just to show that we are different.
To be fair, to me and the elder team I lead with, we have thought about this a great deal. Â We aren’t just pushing away tradition for the sake of pushing away tradition. Â But, on the anniversary of this moment in time that truly created a fork in the road, I do wonder if there are areas I simply protest for reasons less well thought out. Â How much of my decision making is influenced by the fact I am a Protestant, who is in ministry primarily among generations that are much more comfortable determining what they are against than what they are for.
So… thoughts?
Peace, Jim
I remember the first time I read Job. Â I remember reading the wild account of God and Satan interacting. Â I remember the tension of a real Satan that was seeking to harm humanity in real ways being allowed some freedom to work by God, while at the same time being contained beyond a certain point as well. Â I remember Job’s life being ripped to shreds by Satan. Â I remember Job’s very visceral suffering, his understandible anguish at the loss of so much in his life. Â I remember Satan’s claim that Job would eventually curse God and I remember wondering if he would.
And I remember his friends.
11 “Three of Job’s friends were Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. When they heard of the tragedy he had suffered, they got together and traveled from their homes to comfort and console him. 12 When they saw Job from a distance, they scarcely recognized him. Wailing loudly, they tore their robes and threw dust into the air over their heads to demonstrate their grief. 13 Then they sat on the ground with him for seven days and nights. And no one said a word, for they saw that his suffering was too great for words.”  Job 2.11,12
So, Job’s friends hear that he is suffering and decide to come and comfort him. Â When they got there, his pain is so overwhelming they just sit with him for a week. Â Just spend that time with him. Â Amazing.
Then they started to talk.
At a coffee shop and restaurant I frequent I was called on the carpet for what Harold and his devotees have been saying.  My friends’ eyes would gleam as they razzed me for being connected to the same faith as Family Radio.  Honestly, I used to get so angry when a Christian would step up to the bad quote plate and swing for the fences.  I would have to answer for them.  It seemed like every bad quote, every unkind, unreflected on sentiment, made my faith seem more and more silly to more and more people.  These people were seen as jokes and Jesus (and I) was often thrown in with them.
Harold Camping, founder of the Christian station Family Radio, also known as the man who sounded the May 21 Doomsday alarm, warned the world will start falling apart as each time zone reached the six oclock hour. Â First we would experience an earthquake that “would put what Japan experienced to shame,” we would experience the Rapture, followed by five months of suffering for those who remained on earth. Â Â The 89 year old Camping has predicted the end of the world before. Â On Sunday he was quoted by the San Franciso Chronicle as being “flabbergasted his calculation was off.” Â Again.
Oh Harold.
But I don’t get angry at people like this anymore. Â I do get angry at the problems they cause. Â The followers of his highly obscure
teachings, his weird numbering of the 3,000th anniversary of the flood of Noah, a thirty three year season of tribulation of the church, and a level of certainty of the year of the death of Jesus that few share, have been devastated.  Their faith is understandibly shaken.  Life savings’ have been spent on getting the word out about what was to happen on Saturday.  Even Camping’s own family has been torn apart by all this.
I do get angry at that.
For me, I try to look at what is going on in the world around me and look for what God is trying to say to me through it. Â What I noticed is that I really don’t think about Jesus’ return very much. Â With so many challenges in my life now, Jesus’ second coming rarely comes to mind. Â That is not a good thing to me.
In his closing , JR answers the question, “Do you think Rob Bell is a heretic?”
What did you think of JR’s take?
Peace, Jim
In part five, JR continues the discussion of whether or not God’s love extends beyond the grave. Â Take a !
Peace, Jim
Ready for part ? Â In , Rob Bell touches on the idea that people could respond to forgiveness from Christ after death. Â In this post, JR discusses that issue.
And now, installment . Â In this post, JR discusses his thoughts on whether Rob Bell is a universalist.
Here is second post on Rob Bell’s new book, . Â Take a ! Â In this post, JR gives a general overview of the flow of the book.
Just over a month ago, news that John Piper had tweeted a farewell to Rob Bell, in response to his newest book, , took over evangelical blogs, the twittersphere and secular news agencies.
The fervor over whether or not Bell was a universalist; or whether Piper was being unfair was almost instantaneous. Many people, myself included, were asked our thoughts.
As I was working on my response, I heard from my good friend and former pastor, ,
that he was going to handle the issue in a six-part series. I have just been able to read it, and it is fantastic. I will be posting the links to his blog over the next five days.
The reason that I will post a link each day is in the hopes that the posts will be read in the spirit they were written in. When I was talking with JR on the phone about a week ago, he shared that he hoped that people would read the content and reflect a bit, not just just to the next one or try to get to the answer.
Obviously, if you just want that, you can just stay on his site and do so 🙂 but I hope you will give his answers some reflection.
This isn’t to say you agree or disagree with everything JR says, but he does provide a great foundation upon which the continuing conversation can be had. And what I like is that he tracks the discussion a bit through history. Like it, like it, like it.
So, here is post one. Take a look and I’d love to know what you think!
Peace, Jim
