Gender Equality and Divine Design

    There has been much debate and discussion about the roles of women, in the church and in the family. Many Christians quote the Bible, saying that the man is the head of the household, and so is therefore superior to the woman. Mark Driscoll adamantly claims that the man HAS to be the one to work, and the woman needs to be the one to stay home and look after the kids. He states the the Bible is clear that a man must provide for his family (and therefore, apparently, staying home to look after kids is NOT providing for a family). Now, John Macarthur has a new book out (actually, not sure if it is ne...it may just be a new edition or cover) called Divine Design, where he talks about the roles of the genders in both family and church.
   To be honest, I skimmed through the book, so I may be taking things out of context, but to me, it seemed as if Macarthur missed the point on a lot of passages of Scripture. He seemed to be applying verses about particular churches, or particular women, and meaning that it was a universal truth. Anyway, from what I gathered from what I skimmed in the book, Women cannot be pastor's, and, like Driscoll says, should stay home with the kids. Is this really the case though?
    I think, when we start taking verses out of context and assigning certain roles and positions for genders (such as the man is the head, and provider..and the woman is the support) we miss the main point. We tend to focus on these controversial verses, and women claim that the Bible is sexist when it tells wives to Submit. I understand that the word Submit is hard to accept, and has a lot of misconceptions...and I'm not going to get into what the word means here...perhaps that will be another blog. Today, I want to focus on he ATTITUDE of people in the debate. It seems that, we want to have a seperation. We want to know, "women can or should do this, and men can or should do that". We want it to be black and white. And so long as we have this attitude, the gender equality debate will never end.
    We seem to miss the verses in which the Bible says that all have different gifts. The Bible doesn't specify that "men recieve this gift, and women recieve this one". The Bible just lists gits and tells us to use our gifts to further the Kingdom of God.
    I'm sick of this idea that, churches or companies need to have so much diversity in their staff. I hate the concept that, "every company must haveso many women on staff, so many african-americans, so many native, so many homosexuals...blah blah blah". I'm not trying to say that we need to not hire people of different ethnicity or gender...in fact I am going the opposite direction of that. We need to hire people based on their skills and talents. Why do companies get into trouble when they don't have a certain amount of "diversity"? Yes...if they are NOT hiring someone out of sexism, or racism or prejudice then yes, that is wrong...but hav we ever though that just maybe, the people that are hired are the ones that are most suited to that position? Maybe there was no prejudice behind the hiring process and they just chose who was best?
    Finally, I want to get to the Feminism group. Keep in mind, I LOVE the idea of gender equality. I think it is wrong when one gender is treated differently (for better or worse) of another gender (or race/sexual orientation/age whatever) But I hate how Feminists, or at least many of them, try to take it beyond equality. They want to make men pay and put women AHEAD of men. To many feminists, men can't do anything right. Everything is prejudice, or sexist and needs to be stopped. When men are Chivalrous and hold the door open, it is sexist...when men fail to do so, again...it is sexist. I hate these women that want special privileges, but then don't want men to have the same privileges. For examples, we go to the world of sports:
    Why are women reporters allowed into Mens dressing rooms, but not Men reporters into women dressing rooms? Women fought for the right, but dont' want men to have the same right. It has to go both way...either don't go into the Men's dressing room and wait for the athletes to come out, or allow men to go into the women's room too.
     On that note, women who fight to play on men's sports teams. I'm all for women wanting to play sports, and compete. And I think they should be able to play in whatever league they feel comfortable playing in...but why can't a man play in a girls league? There was a boy who played Field Hockey in his home country...but when he came to Canada (or maybe it was the US), the only Field Hockey teams were girl teams. But the girl teams didnt want him to play with them. So once again...it's a two way street. The key word in Gender Equality is...EQUALITY. It's not about, let's make ourselves better than them! It's about...let's stop this idea of one person being better than another and treat everyone as equals.
    Keep in mind, while this blog is about the genders, it can be applied to all differences,such as race, age, religion...anything that ha prejudices and inequality (whether real or implied). I don't like the idea that, in the home, the men have certain tasks and jobs that are ok, and the women have others. What happened to, "everyone do what they are the best at"? Why can't a man clean, or a woman mow the lawn? Why is Laudry a womans job, and fixing things a man's job? People should be able to do what they are good at, and enjoy doing. It shouldn't be based on stereotypes, or genders, or cultural norms.
     I want to finish with the hypocrisy of the Church. Many Christian and Church leaders don't like the idea of Women Pastor's. They think that the Bible is clear on the issue that men should be the leaders of the church (which is a debatable issue, but for another time). However, these same people don't seem to have a problem with major women author's and speakers such as Joyce Meyer and Beth Moore. Is writing a major book, which is a form of preaching and teaching, and speaking to a massive group of people at a large conference any different than being a pastor? Not really.
   Did I offend anyone? Maybe, and if that is the case, then please try to make sure that what you are reading and understanding is truly what I am trying to say before you call me names and disagree. But please...let me know what you think. Have I gone too far? Not far enough? What are your thoughts on this issue....or is it even still an issue?

My New Quest

Ok, wow...so I realize it has been a very long time since my last post, and lots has happend since then. I now have a full time job at a Christian Bookstore here in Abbotsford (and LOVE it!), and we moved to a new place in Abbotsford. Kitchen is smaller than our last place, but overall we really enjoy our new apartment. Anyway, I just finished reading the book "The Know-It All" by A.J. Jacobs, and it was very interesting, funny and inspiring. For those of you who are unfamiliar wth AJ Jacobs and this book, AJ Jacobs is the author of books "The Year of Livin Biblically" and "The Guinea Pig Diaries". In this book, he reads through the entire 2002 edition of the Encyclopaedia Brittanica, from A-Z. He writes out his thoughts, and things that he learns. It was a very fascinating book, in which he meets Alex Trebek, tries to get on Jeopardy and other game shows, and struggles with trying to have a baby.
Anyway, this book challenged me. I don't own an Encyclopaedia set, but I wanted to do something that was worthwhile. Being a Christian, I thought, what better thing to do than to read the Bible through (in Chronological order) from cover to cover. Now, I know what you are probably thinking..."umm, Keith...you haven't read the whole bible before?" Well, the honest answer is no. Ok...maybe I did throughout by time at Bethany, but that was different. It was sporadic reading for different classes, and lets be honest....it involved a lot of skimming. So I am going to go through the Bible, in the order it was written (at least according to a website telling me the order in which it was written), and I will take notes. I will write out things that stick out to me, things that I may have overlooked in my skimming days. I will write out questions that certain books, verses and chapters raise. I will even write out frustrations that arise...frustrations at God,people, stories, whatever. I will do my best to update a blog about it (I may or may not start a new blog..but I may just use this one), but even if I don't blog, I will try to read every day. I know, it's something that I should have been doing a long time ago. I should already be reading every day, but unfortunately I am not. I am surrounded by Christians stuff every day at work, and I get very cynical towards things. I read a lot of other people telling me what to believe about the Bible, but I have avoided actually coming to my own conclusions in a very long time. So...here I go. Please, pray for me, join me, think of me, encourage me, whatever. I'm not doing this to say "look at me"...I'm not trying to just draw attention to myself, I am doing this because I want to. I want to go deeper into Scripture. I want to draw closer to God. I want to share my thoughts because hopefully it can encourage you. God Bless everyone...and I really will try to blog more often now!

Saved!

I watched, for the first time, the movie Saved! starring Mandy Moore. I've heard a lot about this movie, mostly from Christians, saying that the movie is offensive, and inappropriate. Which is esentially why I decided to watch it. I know, that may come as a shock to you, but when people tell me that somethin is offensive or heretical, I feel the need to see it for myself. It's for that reason that I began reading books lik Davinci Code, watching the Harry Potter Movies and reading Love Wins (all of the above by the way I loved!). Anyway, this movie, while being a parody of Christianity, actually has a lot of really good things to say to Christians (whether it means to or not is beside the point). I wasn't initially going to blog about the movie, as I don't generally do movie reviews, but when I finished watching the movie I checked out the Focus on the Family review of it, and te review just made me so mad that I felt the need that I needed to write a blog about the movie.
One of the main points of the movie is that Christians can get so caught up in whats right and wrong, that they forget to actually love and accept others. In the movie, one of the main plots is the attempted conversion of the lone non-Christian at the Christian school. Everyone is so eager to convert her, so eager to tell her that she is doomed to Hell without the love of Christ, that they end up shunning her, pushing her away, ridiculing her and embarrasing her. Throughout the movie as previously good Christians falter, the other Christians throw them under the bus, pray over them (forcibly), and literally throw the Bible at them. They get so caught up in making sure everyone is doing what is right, that they forget that Jesus loved everyone, especially the sinners.
Throughout the movie, it is clear that the most truly Christ-like people are those who aren't even 'Christians'. The non-Christian that everyone is trying to convert is the person who accepts, and loves, the other people who 'lose their way', and are ridiculed for sins that they commit. Unfortunately, I wish I could say that this is an area where the movie is clearly wrong, but the truth is, the movie is very accurate in this regard. Many of the most Christ-like individuals aren't even Christian (or at least, we wouldn't classify them as Christian). Sadly, many Christians are so centred on ASKING what Jesus would do that they forget to just live it out.
Hypocrisy and being a 'Pharisee' is another key part of the movie, as one of the main characters goes out of her way to make sure that everyone sees how Christian she is. She sings a worsip song before an assembly starts, she paints a statue of Jesus, she acts in the School plays, oranizes prayr circles, hands out tracts and pins, and is first in line to picket outside of the abortion clinics. She does all the 'right stuff', but for all the wrong reasons. She wants people to see how Christian she is. She wants to get noticed. She wants te attention. Like the Pharisees, she is a white washed tomb. Looks good on he outside, but inside is full of hate, full of sin, and just a gross mess. In the end, the one who needs saving the most is the one who thought she was saved all along. Sometimes, we are like her. We try to make everyone notice how good we are, we try to do all the right things, but we have no substance. We do it all for show.
Doing God's will is another thing that is poked at in the movie. On 2 occasions throughout the film, 2 different characters do things that are wrong because they think Jesus is telling them to do it. As much as the movie is trying to be funny, the truth is, we all have a "vision" or hear the voice of God every now and then tellins us to do something that is bad. What I mean is...we try to tell oureselves that God is blessing out action. We say things like, "Oh, I know it's usually wrong, but God wants me to do this so I can know what its like and so I can further witness to someone who has been through this". We make ourselves think that God is blessing our actions, just so we can do something that is otherwise wrong, or frowned upon. It's the ol', "God is giving me permission to do this" trick.
The movie also takes a stance on homosexuality, premarital sex and pro-life. I won't mention where they fall on these issues, but the movies does talk about grey areas. One character sees the Bible as black and white, while another argues that its all a grey area, and that everyone falls short in some area somewhere along the line. No one is perfect. The quote is, "why would God make us all so different, if he wants us to all be the same".
Overall, this movie, in a humorous satirical way, raises some good points. It should challenge Christians to realize how they are living, how hypocritical their lives are, and focus more on loving, accepting and being truly Christ-like. It's too bad that a lot of Christians will decide that the movie is too offensive to be worthwhile. I'm not saying that everyone should watch this movie, but I do think that sometimes, Christians are too afraid of what is controversial. Too scared of what is offensive. And refuse to learn from or be challenge by, someone who has different beliefs. In my opinion, the movie Saved! is more of an accurate Christian movie than most of the other literal christian movies. What do you guys think? Is the movie Saved! a satirical look at Christians, and something that we can actually learn from, or is FOTF right and the movie is offensive, heretical and has nothing (or very little) redeeming about it?

Hated for the Right Reasons

I admit I sometimes live in the naive world-belief that Christians would be liked and, actually probably loved, if we would just live the way Jesus commanded us. Who wouldn't want to hang around with people who love and accept everyone right? I'd get so involved in this thought, that I would see people bashing Christians, people saying hateful remarks towards us, and I think..."see! If only we would live like Christ, we would be accepted". But the truth is, we STILL wouldn't be accepted, and loved. We would still be hated, still be despised. As Christians, it seems we can't win in the social game. We will always be the brunt of a joke, we will always be the first to be scoffed at, laughed at, kicked, spit on.
So, I am trying to give up this notion that we need to be liked and accepted. It's hard for me, because I like being liked. I like being accepted, and appreciated. I like being "in". But what I CAN'T ignore, is that...if we are going to be hated, we better be hated for the right reasons. Unfortunately, it seems most (ok, maybe not most...but too many) Christians are ok with being hated for the wrong reasons. It seems that, because the Bible tells us that the world will despise us, many of us TRY to MAKE the world despise us. We give them fuel for the fire...on purpose. We write signs that say, "God hates Fags", we bomb abortion clinics, we are homophobic, we are anti-everything. We protest teachers teaching evolution as a theory. We pull our kids out of school because they can't say the Lord's Prayer anymore. We aren't known for love and acceptance, are a known for hate, judgment, false apocolyptic predictions. They hate us because we do everything in our power to make sure that they do, because "the bible says that they will". We are hypocrites! We arn't even close to living the life that Jesus wants us to. We are so far away from the great commission of "Go and make Disciples", and we always seem to forget about the greatest commandment of "Love God, and Love Others".
Wake up Christians! Wae up so called "Followers of Christ". Are we really celebrating the death of an enemy? Are we really telling homosexuals that they ae abominations and God hates them? Are we really throwing Rob Bell under the bus of damnation because he raises questions? Have we forgotten to look at our tacky bracelets and ask ourselves, "What Would Jesus Do?".
Yes...the Bible says we will be hated...but let's not go out of our way to remind the world of that. People should hate us because we are so loving, so accepting, so kind, so compassionate, so Christ-Like that it is almost annoying. If you look at why Jesus was hated, it was because he wasn't afraid to stick up for the little guy. He stood next to the tax-collector. He walked beside the prostitute. He embraced the leper. The Pharisees hated him because he neglected their "pious religious rules". The Romans hated him because he skewed the class/gender/race lines. The Jews hated him because he loved the Gentiles. The Gentiles hated him because he loved the Jews. THAT is being hated for the right reasons. When Jesus told us that we would be despised, he was envisioning us being despised for doing RIGHT. Jesus wasn't telling us, "Go out, and make the world hate you!", he was saying, "doing the right thing. Doing the unpopular, loving thing, will make people despise you."
I'm sick of the world hating us for being hypocrites. I'm sick of atheists like Bill Maher, or comedians like Steven Colbert, or shows like Family Guy, The Simpsons, South Park or American Dad being the only ones who are willing to challenge us, the only ones who apparantly see how off-based and hypocritical we are being. In fact..I want to say, "Thank You!" to these secular shows, these often anti-Christian people who aren't afraid to say exactly what we need to hear. It's just too bad that most Christians aren't willing to listen to atheists, or non-Christians.
That's my opinion anway. What do you guys think? Are we actually being hated for the right reasons? Or, is it possible for us to actually be loved and accepted in this world?

Because I Said So!

I'm sure we have all been on one side (or both sides) of this conversation before:

"Why can't I (insert desired activity here)?"

"Because, I said so!"

"Oh...ok, that makes sense!?" (or some variation ranging frm acceptance to anger and cursing)

The point is, as we grow up, we are told things that we need to do, things we can't do, things we can eat, things we can't eat, places we can and can't go, drinks we can and can't drink and words we can and can't say. For most of us, we never get a good reason as to why these things are accepted or forbidden. We just accept it as kids, and then one day pass down these same rules and regulations to our children, who will in turn pass it down to theirs and so on and so forth. While the "Because I said So" rule is fine in most family situations, as kids should listen to their parents, the problem comes when "Because I Said So" enters the world of religion. When the rule enters the church, the interpretation of the Bible, and the minds of Chrst Followers.

Ever since we went to Sunday School, we have been taught certain "Biblical Truths". Depending on your denomination (or even religion...as I am sure most religions have things that are taught "just because I said so"), it will change what these rules ar, but for me grwing up here is a short list of "Absolute Truths!":

-alcohol is bad (Jesus drank grape juice after all, right?)

-Swearing is straight from the pit of hell

-Pre-Marital sex is very bad.

-Homosexuality is even worse

-Pre-Marital-homosexual sex is enough to turn you into a demon (ok..I embelleshed that one a bit)

-Saying "The Prayer" is the only way to get to Heaven

-Watching a movie (or listening to music) with violence, and language will decensetize you so you go out and use curse words while killing people

-Jesus will return, takin Christian to heaven and then send an Apocolypse and force the rest f the world to suffer the reign of an evil Anti-Christ, locusts, fire, and the "mark of the beast"

-This "Apocolypse" is upon us, and will happen in our lifetime!

Ok...a few of these ideas go beyond the church and into my home environment, but you get the picture. Now, I am no saying that these things are false, untrue, or bad in and of themselves. Here is what I am saying..."We have to know WHY we believe what we believe!". "Because I said so" can't work as a foundation for Christian beliefs. We have to know why certain things are wrong? Why certain things are right? Why do we believe this is the way and not that?

This all started for me actually a few days ago when I was chatting with a friend. We got onto the topic of pre-marital sex (I don't know how we got there), and both of us asked, "Where in the Bible does it say that pre-marital sex is wrong?". It was a fundamental truth we had been taught since being a fetus, but we didn't know where it came from. Turns out, thanks to Google!, that there is no verse in the bible that condemns pre-marital sex. The closest thing it comes to is forbidding "sexual immorality" (which it does numerous times in the Bible). Now, what does Sexual immorality mean? How is it translated? I'm not sure...it could be interpretted in many ways. But somewhere, many years ago, someone translated Sexual Immorality to include (but not be limited to) pre-marital sex, passed it on to the next generation, and here we are believing this now! Believeing it as TRUTH!.

Once again, I am not encouraging people to have lots of pre-martial sex, that is not the point...the point is, "why do we believe that it is wrong?". Why do we believe that homosexuality is wrong? Is it because there are some verses in the Old Testament that forbid it? If that is the case, why is it ok for men to have long hair, or people to sit in a chair that a...ahem...woman on her "time of the month" sat on? Yes, there are verses in the New Testament about homosexuality too, but many of them are one person's opinion on the subject. I may be mistaken, but I don't believe Jesus ever says anything on the topic. But why do we believe what we do? Why is swearing so wrong? Ok, so the Bible mentions "unwholesome" talk...but once again, what does that mean? I am fairly certain that Jesus swore when we turned the tables in the temple.

So what I am trying to say, is..."Know what you believe, and WHY you believe it!". This goes beyond just the rules and regulations...it goes to the fundamental truths of Christianity too. "Why is Jesus the only way?", "What is the Trinity?", "Did God Create the world?", "Is there a God?", "How do we know Jesus rose from the dead?". If your entire faith system...if all of your rules, regulations, and religious beliefs are based on "Because I said so" answers, then you are in trouble....it is going to collapse. You are going to discover something that makes more sense, and go for that instead. Yes, there needs to be elements of faith, I get that. i'm not saying that we need proof for EVERYTHING, but we do at least need to find out for ourselves why certain things in Christianity are the way they are. Why we believe this, why we do that? Do some research, ask some questions, use Scripture, pray. Don't just accept what you believe as a "Because I said so" truth!.

So what are some of the "Because I Said So" things you were taught growing up, or are still taught today? Have you looked into why things are the way they are?

Morphsuit Christians

I don't know how you feel about these guys, but I HATE the green morphsuit guys at Canuck games. If you don't know who I am talking about, it's these guys:

I would love to see them do that stuff WITHOUT the green suit covering their face. They hide behind this costume, and then taunt, harass and annoy the heck out of opponents (and other fans). Now, I get that they are proud of their team, and cheering and jeering is all part of sports, I get that...but doing this type of thing EVERY time gets old very fast, and just becomes silly. Anyway, that's not really the point of this blog, just thought I would add my own personal opinion (feel free to LOVE the green guys, that is your right). What I really wanted to talk about though, is spiritually living under a green morphsuit. What I mean is, as Christians we hide behind our bibles, hide behind our computer screens, our blogs, our friends. We hide behind the safety of the penalty glass, and the anonymity (is that a word?) of the green suits. We stand up for our beliefs, so long as people don't really know who we are, or we are able to run into a group of likeminded individuals.

This goes even beyond just staying anonymous...we hide who we truly are. In one group of friends we are one way, in another we are a different person. We act like a devout Christian or fundamentalist nutjob, or religious pharisee or whatever on Sunday, and then on Monday we are the exact opposite. We put on a fake smile, hide behind laughter, join in when others are bullying or judging (even if we don't agree with the judgement). I urge us as Christians. I urge us as HUMANS...take off the morphsuits. Step out from behind the glass, reveal your true self. Why do we insist on being who we aren't? Why do we only stand up for our beliefs when no one knows who we are, or when we can easily run away? Why do we taunt and tease in large groups because we know we are "safe" there. Jesus wants us to be REAL. He wants us to be authentic. He wants us to LOVE. Take off the mask, get out of the suit, uncover your face. If you are too scared to let people know who you truly are, then maybe you need to re-evaluate who you are.

I know I am taking a lot of leaps going from fans at a hockey game to people hiding behind fake selves, but I think its something we have to do. We have to challenge ourselves. We have to remind ourselves that Jesus doesn't want fake Christians. Jesus wants REAL men and women who are willing to put themselves out there, for all to see. He wants people who aren't afraid to be known. Who will stand and dance by the penalty box without their faces covered (figuratively of course). Are you willing to step out? Are you willing to show your face? Are you willing to be who you are, and stand up for your beliefs at all times, even when it makes you unpopular. Even if it makes you the lone Blackhawks fan in an arena of Canuck faithful?

Love the Team, Hate the Fans

Have you ever heard an atheist (or some other person of another faith) say something like, "I don't mind God, I just can't stand his followers!". Well, I used to somewhat understand that sentiment, but now, living in Canuck central (and being a non-Canuck fan), I completely understand what they mean. I used to be indifferent to the Canucks. Growing up in Ontario, and being a Leaf fan (and still am...I know, pass judgement and ridicule), my hatred was more for the Sens and Habs. The Canucks, Flames and Oilers were teams that I didn't hate, didn't love, but wanted to see do decently well. Then I moved here to BC. EVERYONE is a crazy Canuck fan. Every game is meticulously scrutenized. Every hit by the Canucks is a clean hit, every hit against is the dirtiest hit in NHL history. Every loss is seen as the end of the world, and every win is viewed as the Stanley Cup winning game. Yes, I am emebellishing a little here, but I think you get my point. Also, I do want to clairify that, you can substitute any team for the Canucks. I know Leaf fans have a bad reputation so feel free to substitute "Leafs" for Canucks if it makes you more comfortable (or whichever team you want). Anyway, it gets frustrating. When all you hear on the sports radio is people calling in saying that this team is guaranteed to win the cup, and probably sweep their way there, you get really frustrated with it. I've gone from indifferent to the Canucks to wanting them to lose every game they play. I want them to fail, miserably bad. So that takes me back to the phrase, "I don't mind God, but I hate his followers". Christians sometimes (ok...quite often) act like bad fans of a sports team. When someone oposses our beliefs in some way, like wanting to take the Lords Prayer out of schools, teach evolution, promote gay marriage or whatever, we feel that it is a brutally dirty play. It's as if Daniel Sedin got blindsided when the puck was on the other side of the rink. We want blood. We call for suspensions. We call for the law to step in and stop these "anti-Christians" from taking away everything we stand for. We feel that our rights are being stomped on. But as soon as we try to oppose something. When we fight for abortion to be illegal, or for all Presidents and Prime Ministers to be Christians, or for prayer to be brought back into school. When we fight for "don't-ask-don't-tell", Creation to be solely taught as the origin of the world, and we try to ostracize the other faiths, we see it as a clean hit. We see it as "just playing the puck, a solid hockey hit". And it frustrates the hell out of everyone else. I realize that saying "hell" is proabably getting a bunch of you angry at me, but I feel that the words need to be strong. People who used to not really care about Christianity, either way, suddenly oppose it strongly, because of the "fans". It makes you wonder how badly we are screwing this up. Do we want to be known as the "worst fans in history"? Ranked up there ahead of the Red Sox, and Yankee faithful? We have to do something. It's not all about us. We have to keep our focus on God, on Christ, and on His message. We have to focus on LOVE, focus on compassion. I'm not blameless in this either. I mess up often and make Christianity look idiotic from time to time too. But we have to stop this. We have to make sure that, us "fans", us followers of Christ make sure to show true sportsmanship. We too often act like the Bieber fanatics who vandalized that girls Wikipedia page because she beat out Bieber in the Grammy's. Bieber didn't condone their actions at all, and it made HIM look bad and caused the haters to grow stronger. Or we act like the Habs fans who rioted after Maurice Richard was suspended for the rest of the season, casting a bad light on an otherwise classic and historical organization. The worse we the fans act, the worse it looks for God, and Christianity. Do we not understand that people reject God because of the way we act? Why does that not bother us more than it does? Why does it not cause us to change how we live? Why are we ok with the idea that people want to believe in God, but can't because of the way we treat them? Something has to change.

Is LOVE WINS a winner?

Well, I just finished the book Love Wins by Rob Bell. To be honest, I expected more. Not more in terms of insightful content, but more in terms of controversial, 'heretical' content...because really, it seems EVERYONE was saying that this book was an abomination and a message from Satan. Ok, perhaps they didnt say anything that strongly, but it seems that there were a lot of people who thought Rob Bell has abandoned the faith and is leading people into the depths of hell. So, I expected the content of the book to be something along the lines of "there is no such thing as hell, and everyone regardless of the choices they make will make it to heaven when they die". Alas, that was not what the book was about at all. So...here is my review of the book "Love Wins" The first chapter is Rob Bell asking a lot of questions, and to be honest, it was probably my favourite chapter of the book. I like questions. I like questions and discussion a lot, and this chapter asked a lot of the questions that I have asked (at least in my head) many times over the last little while. He doesn't answer the questions in the chapter (and it could be argued that he doesn't really answer them later on in the book either), but he starts the book off right, getting your brain working and thinking about what you believe. Now, if you take what Rob Bell says about heaven and hell (which many people have), it could be argued that Bell is a universalist. And I guess, in a sense he is, but its a mild version. Bell still believes in hell, however he views hell as more of a place for God to teach lessons, and "refine" us. In the end, once everyone has learned their lessons, and recognize God as the true savior, then they will enter into heaven. So, yes...everyone, according to Bell, will eventually arrive in heaven, but it still requires a choice and it is still only through Jesus. What I loved most about the book (other than the first chapter), was how Bell focuses on HERE and NOW. I have blogged before about how we need to focus more on the now and not as much on the 'later', and Bell takes that same approach in the book. He argues that Jesus' messages about heaven and hell are actually more about heaven and hell on earth, and not as much about the life after death. Bell says that we need to do our best to create an earthly shalom, and work towards the Kingdom of heaven, here on earth. Whether you agree with Bell or not, doesn't take away from the fact that the book has a lot of really good things to say. One of the best things Bell says is (paraphrased), "having a different view on heaven or hell doesn't mean you aren;t a Christian". In other words, just because he believe one way, doesn't mean that he is not a Christian, and also just because some disagree with his opinions don't make them any less of a Christian either. I can honestly say, Bell is DEFINITELY a Christian. He says over and over again that it is only through Jesus that we are saved, and that the life we live here and now, and the choices we make while we are alive really do matter. It seems that, people find what he says heretical because 1) they haven't ACTUALLY read the book...they probably skimmed the book, or took things out of context, or just read other peoples reviews, or 2) because it is so different than what they believe that they can't accept that they may be wrong. Christians don't like to think that they might be wrong or misled...so its easier to just call someone a heretic than actually thinking about what they are saying. I don't know if I agree with everything Bell said (I say I don't know because I need to really think about what was read, and probably re-read the book to make sure I didn't miss anything), and I can't honestly say that all of his Greek translations are correct (I will give him the benefit of the doubt), but regardless, this book truly makes us think about what we believe and that is GREAT. Kudos to Bell for not being afraid to stir the pot. For not shying away from the questions that many people are too scared to ask. I highly recommend for everyone, before you pass judgement on the book, before you judge Bell and call him a universalist or a heretic or whatever, READ THE BOOK. It's ok to not agree with it. I don't think Bell expects everyone to agree with him. He just wants people to think, ask questions and come up with their own conclusions. The bottom line is, no one really knows what heaven and hell are truly like. No one can say with 100% certainty that "heaven will be like this, and hell will be like that". Bell doesn't push his beliefs on the reader, he just says what he believes, and why he believes it. He doesn't make you feel like a loser for not agreeing with him, which is more than can be said for many of the critics of Bell. I enjoyed the book, it got me thinking, and got me asking questions. To me, that is all I can ask of a theological book. My final score of Love Wins is 9/10. What did you think of the book (if you've read it)? or do you plan on reading it if you haven't? oh...and to answer the question of the title..YES, Love Wins is a winner!

Hitting the Wall

The other day, I was watching the movie Run Fatboy Run and this scene really inspired me to write a blog. The movie is about a man named Dennis, who decides to run the London Marathon to prove his love for his ex-fiance. Early on, he gets badly injured, but instead of giving up, he keeps on going. Battling his inner demons reminding him that he has never finished anything in his life, and real people who bet against him finishing the race, who taunt him and insult him along the way, he keeps putting one foot in front of the other, until at least, he hits the dreaded Wall. In life, we all hit walls. Whether they are physical barriers preventing us from getting that job we want, going on vacation, getting married or whatever...or spiritual barriers that tell us we aren't good enough, pr don't have enough faith. It's inevitable. Life is filled with walls and obstacles. Sometimes, we have people around us who, instead of helping us get past these obstacles, and encouraging us, they instead remind us of our failures. They remind us that we aren't good enough, haven't finished anything, have amounted to jack-squat. It's easy to just stop moving forward, and give up. Hit the wall, and instead of breaking through it, just turn around. How to we overcomes these barriers? How do we break down the walls, jump over the obstacles? Well, as Christians we need to pray and have faith that, whatever God puts in our way is put there for a reason. It's also important to surround ourselves with people that will encourage us. People who have done the marathon before, and know the tricks. Breaking down the walls aren't easy. It can hurt, especially because often we are already in pain and worn out when we reach these walls. It's also important to remember that, once we break down the wall, we don't know what is on the other side. Usually, there are still more miles to run, more obstacles to overcome. Perhaps, we break down the wall, only to find out that we aren't on the path that we wanted in the first place. Or, we thought that once the wall was broken down, we would get what we wanted, only to find out that the wall was the actual destination all along (God works in mysterious ways sometimes). But, what I take from this scene, is...persevere! Never give up. As Justin Bieber reminds us, Never Say Never! (That's right...I Bieber'd this blog). Keep going. When we reach the walls, the obstacles, we need to find a way past them. Don't let our past failures hold us back. Focus on the goal, focus on the race. Stay motivated. It's not easy, and it's not usually fun, but it's worth it. What walls and obstacles are you facing? How are you going to get through, over, under, around it? Bloggers note: While I love the movie Run Fatboy Run, and genuinly think that it is a funny, inspiring movie, I do know that many people are easlily offended with language, sexual content and the like, so I just want to warn you that, if you are planning on watching this movie, be aware that this IS a typical hollywood movie and not the G-rated family friendly Disney, or Christian movie.

The Two Thieves

When we think of Easter there are a few things that pop into our head. First of all, we think of the Last Supper, which leads to Judas and his betrayel. We also think about the 2 other thieves that were executed to the left and right of Jesus. It is THESE 2 people, that I want to talk about today. Usually, when we think of the thieves, we think of one who is 'good' and one who is 'bad. The bad thief, we usually depict snarling, and hurling insults. Probably, like Mel Gibson in the Passion of the Christ, we take pleasure in thinking that maybe crows came and plucked out his eyeballs. But, what is his true crime? I'm not talking about the crime that led him to the cross, but his crime while on the cross. He simply asks Jesus to take him down from the cross. The NIV says it this way in Luke 23:39, "...Aren't you the Christ? Save yourself and us!". Was he mocking Jesus? Perhaps. In fact, the NIV does say he insulted Jesus...but at the same time, it seems as if he understood that Jesus was truly the Christ! He KNEW that Jesus was the Son of God, and his insult to Jesus was that he didn't accept his fate. He didn't accept responsibility for whatever it was he did, and he thought Jesus, if he truly was the saviour, should save him from his execution. Interestingly, both Matthew and Mark, don't record this conversation between Jesus and the thieves. In fact, both of those books simply say that "those crucified with Jesus also heaped insults at him". So perhaps, the 'good' thief, in our minds anyway, wasn't as holy and righteous as we envision. For some reason, we always see this thief as a good looking man. We tend to forget that this guy DESERVED to be where he was. He probably killed someone, or stole something, or did something like Treason...he wasn't falsly accused like Jesus was. It's weird that, because Jesus sees favor in his eyes, we forget that this guy was a horrible sinner. I think we also forget that this guy never says the sinners prayer. He never officially asks Jesus to come into his life, as we Christians tend to think is the only true way to reach heaven. His conversation with Jesus, as written by Luke is short, and as follows, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom". That's all that is recorded in terms of this man talking with Jesus. He rebukes the other thief, and he accepts his fate, but the only words spoken directly to Jesus is "remember me". Now, as I mentioned before, Matthew and Mark record that "those crucified also heaped insults at him". So, either there were more than just the 2 crucified with Jesus, or both of these thieves, insulted Jesus while on the cross. If the latter is true, why is the second one redeemed? Why, if this thief who never told Jesus to 'enter my heart and forgive my sins', with Jesus in paradise? I think it's because he accepted his fate, KNEW he did wrong, and just humbly chose to die alongside the Son of God. He didn't desperately try to reason with Jesus, making a case for why he should be saved...he just asked Jesus to remember him. He didn't justify his actions leading to the cross, he accepted that he was getting what he deserved. THAT is why Jesus saved him. I think, we often act more like the first, 'bad' thief when troubled times come our way. When we go through hard times, when we feel God is being mean and life is throwing us curveballs, we beg God to save us. We, essentially say, "If you are truly GOD, you would take me out of this predicament". Sounds much like the first thief doesn't it? God doesn't need us, or want us, to cry out for him to save us every time the water gets a bit rough. He wants us to TRUST him, and praise him regardless of our situation. We need to act more like the second thief. We need to understand that, yes while God COULD save us, and is very capable of saving us, he doesn't HAVE to save us. The thief accepted his fate, and because of that, because of his humble 'remember me' request...he is partying with Jesus today. Maybe, we have salvation all wrong. Maybe salvation isn't demanding Jesus to come into our life, but instead it's telling Jesus that 'we deserve what is happening to us". Maybe it's humbly accepting our fate, while understanding that God is capable of saving us. Perhaps its just being willing to die alongside Christ. The sinners prayer, as we understand it (which isn't biblical by the way), seems to me to be more like the first thiefs response to trials and tribulations. "Jesus...if you are God, SAVE ME!". True salvation, is not a 'save me from hell, or from this trial' mindset...true salvation is a humble 'God, I know you CAN save me, but you don't have to...just please, go through this with me!'.