Love Wins: A Cage Fight for Truth, Rd 1

Round 1, The Preface

Bell comes out in his typical stance. Not Southpaw, but still “Unorthodox.” If you’ve ever read a Bell book, you know exactly what I’m talking about.

If you haven’t read a Rob Bell book before, this is what I mean:

Rob Bell

writes most

of his

books

like this.

He writes

in such a way that

you

have to follow

a pattern of reading

that defies

common sense

and a normative

reading flow

in general.

But…

most people

think

it’s edgy,

and really

cool.

In fact, they get so caught up in how awesome and different Bell’s “style” is that they forget that they might actually need to cross check his words with the Bible. You know, that thing that has become a coaster for their Starbucks latte.

Side Bar: Actually, the hardcore Bell fan doesn’t go to Starbucks. They’re usually the kid that will give you a 15 minute spiel on how Starbucks is “evil” and it would be better if the entire world abandoned Starbucks and went to the cool, low-key, local coffee joints like they do. But all the while they secretly hope nobody listens because they really like the fact that they have that “indy” coffee shop all to themselves and if everyone abandoned Starbucks for the local joint, then their own patronage would no longer be cool because then “everyone would be doing it” and they find their identity in being “rebellious” and talking about how much they want to stick it to “The Man.” So, of course, if too many people show up to “their” coffee shop where they hangout and listen to John Mayer while wearing TOMS, their good time will be ruined.

By the way, I own a pair of TOMS and I love them. My anti-Starbucks friends introduced me to them and I couldn’t be happier. End Sidebar.

So that’s what’s going on. Typical Bell print style as expected. No surprises. To be honest, it’s cool for like 10 pages and then it’s just annoying.

As far as the content of the Preface goes…it’s not a great start for Rob Bell, but it could get worse in the pages to come. I’m hoping it doesn’t.

So far, in less than four full pages, Rob Bell has:

-Read John 3:16, but failed to mention the rest of the passage, which he could make up for later.

-Failed to read John 18 and therefore he has wrongfully stated the purpose of Jesus’ entry into human history.

-Called a basic teaching/doctrine of historical, orthodox, Biblical Christianity “misguided and toxic.”

-Failed to mention justice, wrath, and holiness alongside love, peace, forgiveness, and joy as attributes of God, which is not surprising given the previous point.

-Said that our faith isn’t one that “skirts” the big questions. Let’s hope he doesn’t do what he just said our faith was not all about.

-Failed to read 1 John 2:19 and numerous other passages to mold correct theology and doctrine on those who are “Christians” and then dip-set from (leave) the faith.

-Correctly stated that others have taught what he teaches in this book for years and years. The only question I have is: Were his predecessors heretics?

That’s in less than 4 pages. I’m sure the next 200 pages should be a real blast. But that brings a close to a short Round One. It’s too early to tell whether or not Bell will make some sort of epic turn around in the next few rounds so out of the generosity of my heart and being the kind of writer that would like the benefit of a doubt to be given to me, I’ll call Round One: A Draw.

The good news is: it’s still early in the rounds for Bell.

The bad news: he’s in the cage and dealing with a Big subject here. This is no Bantamweight he’s staring down. It’s much bigger.

Fall in line with Truth

I once heard it said that the best way to avoid falling for a lie was to fall in line with Truth. It's wise advice.

I think it's important for us as believers to use good discernment. Discernment is simply the ability to judge well. As Christians we're constantly being fed a bunch of things that are bad for us and sometimes we don't even know it.

For example, if a preacher stands before his people, tells a great story and he leaves them feeling really great about life, but his words don't line up with the gospel, then we have a problem. This is the problem I have with many pastors, particularly one out in Texas. He's got a great smile and killer hair, but he seems to have no clue about proclaiming God's Word with authority, boldness and truth.

Example Two: If an author of a fictional book paints a picture of God that doesn't line up with how the Bible portrays God, then we have a problem. I mean it should be pretty clear that an author has lost sight of the truth when he starts painting the Holy Ghost as a human woman (The Spirit is referred to as being a 'he' and 'he' is not human so to portray him as such is wrong).

We see this happen in other books. Like some guy makes tons cash off of a book he writes about the time he died and went to hell and then came back and got saved. What? How are Christians buying into this? Hebrews 9:27 and Luke 16:19-31 clearly are NOT being taught to them as truth.

Another guy wrote a book about how he died and went to heaven and then came back. The problem is that his book described heaven in such a way that discounted and contradicted the Bible's own description of Heaven. So who's right? This guy? Or the Bible? I'm going to go with the Bible on this one. But that hasn't stopped 4 million people from buying a story that's clearly not all true.

Example Next: Musicians are the same way. I don't care if they are a "Christian" rock-band. I don't care if the sing or dance or rap. If they claim to know Jesus and love Jesus and follow Jesus, then their stuff should line up with the Word of Jesus. And if it doesn't line-up, they need to be reproofed and rebuked in love because their current state of being wrong or even deceived is probably a bad deal for them in the grand scheme of eternity (and for sure, it's a bad deal for us all here on Earth).

Because seriously, it's pretty disturbing to hear a "Christian" artist rap or sing (or a preacher preach) about warm, fuzzy non-sense like it's what the people really need, when what they actually need, is the Gospel of Jesus. Why? Because warm and fuzzy can't save--Jesus does.

If what I need more than anything else in the universe is to be saved by Jesus, then you would have to absolutely hate me to give anything other than the Gospel of Jesus if you claim to know Jesus and His Gospel. That doesn't line up with Scripture because Christians love Jesus and because they love Jesus they love people and because they love people they give the people what they need the most, even if it's not what they want the most. The Gospel of Jesus...give them that! This other stuff does not matter. It's not even worthy to be called secondary or tertiary. That's how frivolous it is.

Am I saying Christian artists shouldn't write "love" songs? No. Write the best love songs ever! But when you're claiming to present the Gospel...do it. Don't present your audience with triviality and call it a message of redemption.

I could go and on for days. The point is this: Just because someone has "Jesus" or "Christian" or "Church" or "God" or "gospel" attached to something they are or something they do, doesn't make it true. Truth makes it true.

So for the two of you that read this blog, the next time you read or hear something like the afore mentioned shenanigans, please check some facts, read your Bible, and discern truth as you walk empowered by the Spirit of God. If it doesn't line up with the Word of God, it isn't true.

I love you guys,

-Nate Xanders,

An Unworthy Slave of Christ

Jesus Christ in Leviticus

I read the book Radical by David Platt. It messed me up. That's all I can say. I decided in December when I finished Radical that I would read through the Bible in 2011. I started out really strong. I blew through all 50 chapters of Genesis, no problem. I was a week ahead of schedule. So how is it that in February I find myself behind already? The answer is: Leviticus. I was on pace (or close to it) all the way through the book of Exodus. The end got tough but when I found myself wading the deep waters of Leviticus...well, Exodus looks like a cake walk in retrospect.


And now that I'm finally done with Leviticus I can tell you this: the juice is worth the squeeze.


Jesus is everywhere in the Bible, you just have to look for Him in the pages. In Leviticus, it is much more obvious than some other books. I mean the entire book is basically about sacrifice and priest law. And the cool thing is, I've read the Gospel accounts and Hebrews before. So it's so clear that Jesus is supreme over all these sacrifices and sacrificial law. I mean, Leviticus just goes on and on about the different sacrifices and their different uses and all the rules and regulations that go with each one. I mean I can't imagine having to memorize these things and then carry them out on a daily basis!


So when Hebrews says the Law was a shadow of good things (i.e. Jesus) to come, I believe the text. When Hebrews says that by the Will of God we (Christians) have been sanctified (cleansed, purified) through the one time offering of the body of Jesus and that one time sacrifice is sufficient forever...it's not hard at all for me to believe that text, because now I've read Leviticus. I see that Jesus is better. Why would anyone go back to he Law after tasting and seeing that Jesus' Way is so much sweeter?


Just to be clear, there is nothing wrong with the Law, there is something wrong with us. We are broken, not the Law. But Jesus overcame our inability to keep the law.


It's so clear that His preisthood is higher and supreme over all other priests. After all, he's the first (and only) High Priest to ever sit done and declare that His work as a High Priest is finished. He foffered one sacrifice and hHe was done. He said, "It is finished." Every other priest has had to make another sacrifice...and then another and another and another. They were never done. They could never sit down as if they were finished. And they always had to come up with another sacrifice. More blood had to be shed in order to continue the sacrifices. But, Jesus' sacrifice was a one time deal that was eternally satisfactory to the Father. It was one and then done because it was eternally and infintely worthy as a sacrifice for guilt, sins, and everything else found in Leviticus.


Jesus is the Great High Priest. He has earned His priesthood by way of His indestructible life.
Jesus is the Ultimate Sacrifice. He was worthy to be slain as an all-satisfying sacrifice.

You can't see the Supremacy of Christ at its highest heights in the book of Leviticus until you read Hebrews. And you can't see our desperate need for Jesus at its deepest depths in Hebrews until you've read Leviticus. The entire Bible is important. The entire Bible is relevant. You can read the entire Bible...and find Jesus all along the way.

Gnomeo, Juliet, Jesus

Last Friday I went to see the new movie Gnomeo and Juliet with my friend Kimberly. I figured, "Hey, it's G-rated and it's only 84 minutes long, so if it sucks...no big deal." But, it did not suck. It did not suck at all. No doubt, that movie was worth $10.

However, the best part of the whole film will never happen to me again, even if I watch it 1000 times. Why? Because I'll never get to watch it again with the kid that sat to my left in the row below me on that night. He literally made the whole film for me just ten times better.

Here's why: At the moment in the movie, the climax, where everything seems lost...

Sidebar: Let's be honest, we all knew it was going to be okay because we knew this film wasn't going to end badly like the real Romeo and Juliet story, because it's a kids movie and no one makes a G-rated spoof of R & J to break the hearts and souls of toddlers and small children; but if they did, I secretly commend them for being true to the story and cinematically daring but then I would publicly condemn them like everyone else...I'm just saying...okay, back to the point.

...this little boy (a pre-schooler), right in the middle of the awkward "are they alive or are they dead?" silence gets out of his chair, stands to his feet and yells:

"Nooooo! It cannot be!"

It was one of the greatest moments of my long movie going career. You just can't script that, you just can't plan those sort of things and they just make the movie so much better. But the real power in that statement came to me much later on that night while I was in bed trying to fall asleep.

Most of us want the movie to end well. Most people on this planet want to see Romeo (or rather, Gnomeo) and Juliet live. I like the fact that some movies and other stories end tragically because I think that's more in tune with reality. But, everyone has seen the movie or read the story that ends badly when we are all so desperate for it to have a happy ending.

I mean...this toddler...you should have heard his voice. It was so honest and so innocent as he proclaimed his longing to see this tragedy end in peace and joy and happiness. I think that most adults, regardless of culture, look out on the world they see, either first hand or through the news media, and say the same thing: "No...It cannot be."

The real tragedy is that the world seems so confused about what is really broken. We're either in denial or we just have outright blindness to the fact that what's really broken is us. And most of the world is confused about who or what can save the day when the dust settles. Many have no hope for the world at all. Some turn to empty religions or even irreligion based on dead men, statues made by men or animals owned by men. Some people believe our savior will be money, education, political freedom, or some other finite form that won't fix us or free us.

"No. It cannot be."

But thankfully, a Savior has already come to save and now we are patiently waiting for His return. The hope and truth that we as Christians so faithfully and joyfully holdfast to is this: Hurricanes, earthquakes, tsunamis, and all other natural disasters; epidemics, famines, millions of kids dead because they dont have clean water; and all other tragedies, including homicide, suicide, genocide...they were all paid for and made right by The Righteous Regicide.

Regicide is the killing of a king. The Righteous Regicide was the killing of The King. The Regicide of Jesus Christ by His Father is the single greatest act of love. Ever. And yes, I did just say that the Father killed the Son. What did you think Genesis 22 was alluding to? Read Acts 2 if you don't believe me.

The "It" that kid was talking about is tragedy. Jesus' death and resurrection means that "No. It cannot be." will one day be "Yes. It is no more." I'm so thankful that when the dust of this real life tragedy settles, Jesus Christ will stand alone, supreme over all else, because he said, "It is finished."

The craziest thing about all of this is that when it's all said and done...we get Jesus. All of those tragedies disappearing for eternity is great, but better yet...we get Christ. Forever. If eternity is free of all tragedy and Jesus isn't there...I don't want it. I want Jesus. Show me where the King is and that's where I'm going, because He's there and I'm His.

---

Thank you for the Cross my Friend.

Book Review: "What is the Gospel?"

Title: What is the Gospel?
Sub-title: (gŏs'pel)
Author: Greg Gilbert
Publisher: Crossway
Book Type: Christian Theology/Soteriology
Page Length: 121
Chapters: Foreword (D.A. Carson), Introduction, 8 Chapters
SRP: $12.99
Suggested Audience: All Christians


Strengths: It's short. It's sweet. It's hard hitting. It's not too deep. It's not too shallow. And it is absolutely "smathered" with Scripture.

Weaknesses: I could on and on about things here but I think they are really just preferences and at that, they would all be preferences of hypothetical readers. For example, this book isn't very meaty for the heavy academic types. But then again, D.A. Carson is smarter than you (I don't care who you are, and I'm included) and he loved this book so much he wrote the Foreword.

My thoughts: I think every Christian should be issued two things when they become Christians: an ESV Study Bible and this book. It's that good. There is nothing more important for a new Christian to know than the Gospel. After all, God uses the Gospel to save us (Romans 10). This book is contains very basic soteriology (the study of salvation) and I think every baby Christian needs to be discipled through this little gem. It's one of my favorite books and God willing, I'll be teaching Sunday School classes on it for years to come.

Notable quotes: "This is the Bible's sobering verdict on us. There is not one of us righteous, not even one."

"Faith is...reliance."

"Jesus if you don't catch me, I'm done. I've no other hope, no other savior. Save me, Jesus or I die."

"Repentance is not just an optional plug into the Christian life."

"...what was really astonishing about the gospel of Jesus was that his King died to save his people..."

Stevie Johnson: A man just like you and me

Recently, NFL wide-receiver Stevie Johnson ran a deep post corner route and dropped what would have been a game-winning touchdown pass thrown by his quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick. It was the kind of catch that Johnson could make in his sleep, but this time around he didn't make the catch despite the fact that he was wide awake, not to mention wide open. The nearest defender was five feet away (and in the NFL if a defender is five feet away on a deep ball, he might as well be a mile away). He caught the ball for a brief second and then all of a sudden the ball seemed to just squirt away from him.

Johnson sat dejected in the end-zone. I can't imagine what was going on in his head as he sat there thinking whatever he was thinking. Actually, that's a lie, I know exactly what he was thinking. Johnson let the whole world (or at least those of us on Twitter) know exactly what he was thinking while he sat there. After the game, Johnson "tweeted" this: "I PRAISE YOU 24/7!!!!!! AND THIS HOW YOU DO ME!!!!! YOU EXPECT ME TO LEARN FROM THIS??? HOW???!!! ILL NEVER FORGET THIS!! EVER!!! THX THO..."

As you can imagine, and as you've probably already heard, many Christians and non-Christians alike are all over this guy for his Twitter to God. Now, some people see a huge problem with his tweet and I'm sure somebody out there has even said something like, "He's an idiot, You can think that kind of thing but you should never say it, let alone put it on Twitter, Facebook or MySpace (does anyone still use MySpace?). But I would like to put some things into perspective for you...

First of all, this guy is just being honest and transparent with God (to a fault). This is something more Christians should do. Most of us just stuff these things deep or drop the Christian F-Word and act like everything is okay. The Christian F-Word, by the way, is: Fine.

"I'm fine. How are you?"
"That's good. I fine."

No you're not! Come on! How many times have you said "I'm fine" when you weren't "fine" by any stretch of the imagination. Life sucks sometimes...why can't we be honest and say, "Hey, things are awful right now and I'm doing...well, I suck too"?

Johnson did something that would be healthy for all of us to do. Yeah sure, his heart was postured poorly toward God, but so is yours every once is a while...but are you ever honest about it? Johnson had a very bad moment and he had a very open conversation with God about it. Was it wise to have that via Twitter? No. Because now his thoughts will be out there for all to see until the internet is no more. But it could be worse...

Think about it for a second. Eventually, all the Tweets and Facebook Status Updates will be forgotten and they will end up as dust or ash in eternity. But the Word of the Lord is forever (1 Peter 1:25). I have no doubt that His written Word (the Bible) is apart of that package deal. So this could mean, that while Stevie Johnson's Tweet of Anger will last a long time, the questions and statements of other men (who have their moments of frustration with God quoted in the Bible) will be around long after Johnson's disappear along with Twitter and Facebook.

Jeremiah, for example, is quoted for all of eternity as he tells God that God has seduced him into serving God. Jeremiah would do exactly what God told him to do and almost always catch a beat down for it from the audience. That's way worse than dropping at catch when you play for the Buffalo Bills but his words will be immortalized!

Think about Job and the things that he said! Think about all of his idiot friends that "advised" him during is suffering. Their words live on thousands of years later for all of us to see how ridiculous they were! God even showed up in the middle of their conversation to clarify how dumb their words were.

David, the schizophrenic shepherd-warrior-king-poet can't seem to make up his mind! One minute he's talking to God as if they were sharing a gourmet parfait in the botanical gardens and the next he's crying out, "Where are you? God you've abandoned me! Whyyyyyyyy?!"

And in the New Testament we see that even the disciples, the guys who walked with Jesus Christ (i.e. God in the Flesh), are also pretty lame at times. James and John had their mom asked Jesus embarrassing questions, Peter constantly sticks his foot in his mouth, and three clowns are "The Inner Three" for goodness sake!

The point is, we've all blamed God for things or been wrongfully angry toward Him. We've all blasphemed and said stupid things to God or about God. Stevie Johnson just happened to do it on Twitter and get all over the media air waves for it too. When all is said and done, it could be worse. The bright side is that Johnson's outburst could have been captured in the Word rather than in the media and on the internet. Get off of the man's case...you're just like him, and if you're honest, you'll admit it.

Book Review: "The Gospel & Personal Evangelism"

Title: The Gospel & Personal Evangelism
Sub-title: (not applicable)
Author: Mark Dever
Publisher: Crossway
Book Type: Evangelism (Christian Living)
Page Length: 124
Chapters: Foreword (by CJ Mahaney), Introduction, 7 Chapters, Conclusion
SRP: $9.99
Suggested Audience: All Christians, all ages.


Strengths: This book is short, so those of you that feel like you have the attention span of Dory from Finding Nemo, you have no excuses to not finish this book if you dare to pick it up. This book is organized well and it is by no means boring. If you have any desire to learn about evangelism or live out a life of evangelism, you will like this book.

Weaknesses: I feel like every time I write a book review I end up writing this, “I don’t think this book has any weaknesses.” And, honestly, I don’t feel badly about that fact because most books that I read are really good. I don’t usually pick up a book if I have a feeling that a book is going to be a bad read. With that said, this book hits the target that Dever was aiming for when he wrote it.

My thoughts: I love this book. I feel like it’s the unofficial sequel to Greg Gilbert’s “What is the Gospel?” and that is not too much of stretch considering that Greg Gilbert is a pastor at Capitol Hill Baptist Church just like Mark Dever. So my theory is that Gilbert wrote his book to establish what the gospel is and to clear up what the gospel is not. Then, Dever came along behind him and wrote “The Gospel & Personal Evangelism” to show us how to respond to the gospel of Jesus in light of what the Bible shows it (the gospel) to be. The problem with that theory is that Dever published his book first, so maybe Gilbert wanted to clarify the gospel for readers so they could better understand the gospel before moving on to Dever’s book about how the gospel demands that we live out personal evangelism. But I digress…

Dever’s book boldly declares what a Christian’s biblical response to the power of the gospel should be. Chapter by chapter he answers the various Who, How, What and Why questions of the gospel and personal evangelism. His methodical, systematic, and academic approach is make so personal by his writing that you don’t feel like a professor is teaching you from a chalk board, you feel like you’re being discipled in personal evangelism by a guy who loves Jesus and cares about you the reader.

Notable quotes: “My blindness to God’s provision is voluntary. I don’t consider the reality and finality of death, judgment, and hell.”

“In biblical evangelism, we don’t impose anything. In fact, we really can’t. According to the Bible, evangelism is simply telling the good news. It’s not making sure that the other person responds correctly. I wish we could, but according to the Bible, this is not something we can do.”

“Interrupting someone in the process of deciding to follow Christ can actually help him.”

“You may not remember a time when you didn’t follow Christ. But the Bible tells us that we are all by nature at enmity with God. And at some point, our hearts came alive to God and our wills bent to his. We were converted. That’s what we want to see as a result of our evangelism.”

“God is glorified in being known.”

“If you think that the gospel is all about what we can do, that the practice of it is optional, and that conversion is simply something that anyone can choose at any time, then I’m concerned that you’ll think of evangelism as nothing more than a sales job where the prospect is to be won over to sign on the dotted line by praying a prayer, followed by an assurance that he is the proud owner of salvation.”

“The Christian call to evangelism is not simply a call to persuade people to make decisions, but rather to proclaim to them the good news of salvation in Christ, to call them to repentance, and to give God the glory for regeneration and conversion.”