Category: Other Musings

Some book length responses to Rob Bell’s Love Wins are already being published by good authors such as Michael Wittmer, and Mark Galli. But I am especially excited that Francis Chan is writing one. The humility, earnestness, and compassion he expresses in the video below are part of what generates this excitement. But it is his plea for prayer that especially excites me. This isn’t because of what this communicates about Chan, though that is admirable and to imitated. No, what excites me is how God can answer these prayers. I am praying that Erasing Hell will be Biblically faithful, God-honoring, and outsell Love Wins. I am praying that this book be used by God to turn evil for good, to turn hearts from heresy to truth, and to turn evangelicals and unbelievers to the evangel.

I have nothing new to add to controversy concerning Rob Bell’s newest book, Love Wins. But I do want to make accessible to you many of the resources I have found helpful, insightful, and most importantly, Biblical.

Reviews:

Kevin DeYoung: The most thorough review dealing with the problems found in Love Wins under the following headings: historical, exegetical, eschatological, Christological, and Gospel problems. (21 printed pages)

Albert Mohler: Shows how indeed, as Bell claims, that he is saying nothing new, and that is the tragedy. Here we have the same old heresies rehashed, the heresies especially apparent in Protestant Liberalism. (7 printed pages)

Russell Moore: Deals with Bell making “blood” is nothing more than a cultural metaphor. (3 printed pages)

Denny Burk: A great chapter by chapter review that clearly sums up the errors Bell espouses. (11 printed pages)

Tim Challies: A clear review that deals with the big ideas of Love Wins. (6 printed pages)

Greg Gilbert: Deals well with the meaning of aion as meaning “eternal” in many contexts. (3 printed pages)

Trevin Wax: Writes of what the furor over Bell’s book reveals about Evangelicalism. (2 printed pages)

Michael Horton: A great chapter by chapter review that shows many of Bell’s faulty presuppositions. (16 printed pages)

Carl Trueman: Deals explicitly with Bell’s poor quotation of Luther in his defence. (5 printed pages)

Audio / Video:

The Gospel Coalition Discussion Panel: A discussion moderated by Kevin DeYoung, including D. A. Carson, Tim Keller, Crawford Loritts, and Stephen Um.

Southern Seminary Discussion Panel: Alber Mohler, Russell Moore, Denny Burk, and Justin Taylor discuss the book.

Unbelievable: A British Radio Program host a discussion between Adrian Warnock and Rob Bell.

White Horse Inn: An interview with Kevin DeYoung.

What people revere, they resemble, either for ruin or restoration. – G.K. Beale in We Become What We Worship

I long for poet’s eyes to see God’s truth. That means seeing truth more as it is, not as more than it is. I want to approach closer with my language in describing the majesty of God.

There is a danger of pride here, but if I am truly seeing God’s glory, I will be humbled at how my frail words only fall short. The goal is the adoration of Him and not the admiration of me.

A few months ago my nephew did an amazing thing. He wanted to get rid of his old video game system (a PS2) and instead of trading it all in to buy more games for his new system he decided he wanted to give it to Alex and Connor.

I remember having an Atari as a child, but rarely playing it. Then the NES came out, that is, the Nintendo Entertainment System. Hours would be invested in this little grey box.  Upgraded video systems would come out and I would buy them too, but I never got rid of any of them, I still played them all. I lack my nephew’s compassion.  At seminary I decided the throw them all in the dumpster. I am glad I did. So when my sis put my nephew’s proposal before me I was worried not only for my child’s soul by my own.

Initially I exercised great self-control. The PS2 wasn’t even turned on for a month. Then Alex and I played one day. Since them I have relapsed a handful of times, staying up after everyone is asleep for up to three hours. I have vowed in my own power and strength to stop a few times but eventually I lose out. Today I come freshly repentant, seeking to defeat what for me is sin with accountability (I have litteraly given Bethany permission to slap sense into me), prayer, scripture memorization, and the pursuit of greater joy.

Reasons I Will Not Play Video Games By Myself:

1. We limit our children to thirty minutes of media a day, with an occasional exception on the weekends or special occasions.  One reason among many that we do this is to teach them self-control.  I want to end my hypocrisy and practice what I preach.
2. It numbs me to the realness of real life. A virtual world cannot make you shiver at the coldness of snow, twist your tongue at the sour juice of a lime, tickle your ears like rain on a tin roof, arouse your appetite like the smell of snicker doodles, or entice your eyes like the sight of your wife. Why spend time living there, when there is such magic here?  Reality trumps virtual reality.
3. It is wasted time.  No real treasure is gained, no real evil defeated, no lasting joy gained, no beneficial knowledge obtained.
4. I am weak. I become too easily obsessed.  A video game can consume my thoughts and therefore my heart. In short I worship video games.  I turn them into an idol to which I sacrifice time to gain only illusory power, glory, and treasure.
5. When I think of what it means to be a man, spending hours playing a game by myself never enters my mind. I don’t want to be the guy who escapes to be a hero, seek adventure, capture a beauty, and fight a battle in a fake world because I am too lame and lazy to live a life of eternal significance.  When I think of those men whom I regard as men, my heroes, I cannot picture them playing a video game by themselves. They may have had a hobby or sought occasional recreation, but it was grounded in reality. They built ships inside bottles, rode stallions, created art, or built something with dirty calloused hands.
6. I cannot imagine appearing before the God of all glory and giving account for such large blocks of time by saying, “But look at what I accomplished, the playoffs I won, the bosses I defeated, the campaigns I completed, the lives I saved…”
7. I was made to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. For me video games played by myself contribute nothing toward this goal.  I don’t exercise self-discipline to choke joy, but because deeper joy is being choked.  I want to stop playing video games by myself because I want greater joy. I am making no sacrifice.

I know of no other way to triumph over sin long-term than to gain a distaste for it because of a superior satisfaction in God.  – John Piper

And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.”  – Luke 9:23-24 23

A man without self-control is like a city broken into and left without walls.  – Proverbs 25:28

Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.  – Philippians 3:8-11

Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. – Psalm 73:25-26

For the past few days John Piper has been releasing a couplet via Twitter from a poem I am guessing is titled My Crucified Christ.  I have rejoiced in these lines and I hope they edify you as well.  I will update this post if he tweets anything further.

My Crucified Chrsit

Condemned to fill this ancient festival:

You are my Holy Criminal.

 

Cut off from life by every man, and worse:

You are my dear All-blessing Curse

 

Reviled with bitter gall in every slur:

You are my Sweetest Vinegar.

 

Defiled, defamed by my defection:

You are my Perfect Imperfection.

Thelogically rich, Christ saturated, and balancing conviction and comfort; this is why I love discovering old hymns.

Stricken, Smitten, and Afflicted
by Thomas Kelly

Stricken, smitten, and afflicted,
See Him dying on the tree!
’Tis the Christ by man rejected;
Yes, my soul, ’tis He, ’tis He!
’Tis the long expected prophet,
David’s Son, yet David’s Lord;
Proofs I see sufficient of it:
’Tis a true and faithful Word.

Tell me, ye who hear Him groaning,
Was there ever grief like His?
Friends through fear His cause disowning,
Foes insulting his distress:
Many hands were raised to wound Him,
None would interpose to save;
But the deepest stroke that pierced Him
Was the stroke that Justice gave.

Ye who think of sin but lightly,
Nor suppose the evil great,
Here may view its nature rightly,
Here its guilt may estimate.
Mark the Sacrifice appointed!
See Who bears the awful load!
’Tis the Word, the Lord’s Anointed,
Son of Man, and Son of God.

Here we have a firm foundation,
Here the refuge of the lost.
Christ the Rock of our salvation,
Christ the Name of which we boast.
Lamb of God for sinners wounded!
Sacrifice to cancel guilt!
None shall ever be confounded
Who on Him their hope have built.

The only refuge from God is God.

The Lord roars from Zion,

and utters his voice from Jerusalem,

and the heavens and the earth quake.

 

But the Lord is a refuge to his people,

a stronghold to the people of Israel.

–  Joel 3:16

The Lion will not shed the blood of those covered with His own Lamb-blood.

Too few understand what Church Discipline looks like and why it is important.  Here is a good illustration what it should look like.