God the Tyrant?

Christopher Hitchens

I was fascinated to read all the interesting stuff written about Christopher Hitchens on his recent passing. Hitchens was a renowned atheist, orator, hardy partier and all-around stick in the mud who died of esophageal cancer at the age of 62.

A number of evangelical leaders spoke highly of Hitchens, which gives me some degree of hope for him. But it was another prominent atheist, Richard Dawkins, who did Hitchens' final interview. After Hitchens died, Dawkins tweeted that Hitchens was the “finest orator of our time, fellow horseman, valiant fighter against all tyrants including God.”

This statement, the concept of "God as tyrant," caught my interest. I think the reason was the fact that I've gotten to know at least one other (not-so-famous) atheist fairly well, a friend who attended the youth group at my church when I was in high school. He later disavowed his faith.

One of the things that has so fascinated me about my discussions with my friend has been his perception of "God as tyrant." We read the same exact Bible, but my friend walks away with conclusions about God that just don't make any sense to me. He jumps on specific verses or passages and interprets them as God (if He existed) delighting in doing great evil to innocent and helpless people. I look at those same passages and see them as indications of how much God hates sin (knowing better than all of us, apparently, how destructive it is), how concerned He is about justice being done, how utterly holy He is, and how longsuffering (patient) and kind He is.

And I also look at the vast preponderance of Scripture that demonstrates how much God truly loves us, how compassionate He is, how patient, and how badly we wound Him ... or at least try to. And when I try to point these out to my friend, he dismisses them without a thought. He wants to focus on those few he thinks support his case that God is some sort of big meany in the sky.

Since my friend is an atheist, I'm assuming he does this to try and prove that if God did indeed exist, he wouldn't therefore be a very good God; and therefore, He must not exist. But I really am amazed at how much energy he spends, trying to prove not simply that God does not exist, but that if He did exist (as the Bible claims He does), He would be a tyrant.

My definition of a tyrant is a person who has the means to make others suffer, and who wields power over them for His own sake, disregarding them and their needs.

But the Christian worldview holds that God causes suffering to no one, that we have brought an immense load of suffering down upon our own heads because we have rejected the best alternative which God offers to us: obedient partnership with Him in living life the way our Creator designed and intended, choosing instead to follow our own sinful hearts.

While God does not cause suffering, does He allow it? (The distinction between the two, many think, is a moot point when it comes to an omnipotent being ... but I disagree. God may be omnipotent, but He chooses, in many, many cases and for all the right reasons, NOT to wield His power.)

Yes, He allows suffering. Why? So that justice might be done, for one thing. So that people would be disciplined and learn the consequences of rebellion and sin. So that they might be pointed a better direction. And so that, ultimately, His purposes would be shown to be right and desirable.

Jesus gave a very clear and compelling depiction of His Father in the parable which we call "The Prodigal Son." The father figure of the parable (which should really be called "The Prodigal Father," since the word "prodigal" indicates one who gives grace extravagantly) is anything but a tyrant. He lovingly allows his wayward son to choose evil, to squander his inheritance, to spit in the face of his father. After he is gone, the father prays and waits for his return. When he finally does see his broken son returning in shame, he picks up his garments and does something a dignified Jewish father-figure would NEVER do: he runs to meet him with arms open wide! He forgives. He rejoices. He kills the fatted calf.

What a tyrant! (NOT!)

So, I just don't get it. I don't understand how different people can read the same Bible and walk away with two totally opposite perspectives on who God is and what He is like. The only possible explanation is that we are reading the same material from two totally different mindsets, two very different interpretive filters.

Which makes sense to the Christian, to the one who believes. Scripture itself has a number of very interesting things to say about this phenomenon. For instance, 1 Cor. 1:18-19 says: "For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”

The question is, why? Why are these interpretive filters so at odds? And why does God appear to claim responsibility for frustrating the "intelligence" of "the intelligent?"

I think that's a subject I'll wait until next time to tackle ... suffice it to say, for now, that I believe the answer can be found in Christ's parable of the sower and the seed. It goes to the reason Christ even spoke in parables in the first place ... because some types of soil are more receptive to seed than others.

The man who acknowledges his own sinful need looks at a holy and compassionate God and cries, "Abba, Father!" (Literally, "Daddy!") The man who persists in a desire to be his own God, looks at the same Creator of the Universe and cries, "Tyrant!"

Of course, now that I think about it, my own kids have said the same thing about me ... hmmm.

Favorite Christmas Songs of All Time: Joseph's Lullaby

As Christmas approaches, I love to reflect on what it all means for us, while listening to both new and classic Christmas carols and songs. So between now and Christmas, I think I'll post a few of my favorites.



This video sets scenes from "The Nativity Story" and "Passion of the Christ" to Mercy Me's beautiful and thought-provoking "Joseph's Lullaby."

What are some of your favorites? Post your links in the comments section and I'll happily play them.

Snapshot of a Day on the Internet (VIDEO)

God is using the internet to reach people for Christ! Yesterday, through the Global Media Outreach (GMO):

• 1,281,714 people visited a GMO evangelistic web site
• 134,187 indicated a spiritual decision (first-time or recommitment)
• 13,853 filled out a form to request follow-up
• 28,411 people visited a GMO Discipleship site

Think about this, in light of the largest evangelistic "crusades" of the past few decades. I think you will be encouraged. It's my privilege to serve as a volunteer GMO online missionary, and last week I shared encouragement and truth with my 1,000th GMO contact (seekers and new believers). What a blessing!


The Crisis from mike weimer on Vimeo.

If you are interested in getting involved, talk with me or visit http://www.globalmediaoutreach.com/.

Using the Internet to reach the world for Jesus: Global Media Outreach

www.globalmediaoutreach.com

Using the Internet to reach the world for Jesus Christ

The Northwest in November: Mushroom Heaven

We lived in the Northwest and dreamed about hunting mushrooms for 15 years before we finally got started.

Pretty mushrooms, growing by a
walkway near the office ... but these
ones I wouldn't eat, if I were you.

I am now sorry I waited that long!

This year and last, I've discovered the joy of fall mushroom hunting in the woods of the great Pacific Northwest. Every time we go out now, we discover dozens of species waiting to be enjoyed. Most of these are spectacular to look at, but I wouldn't try eating them. But there are others, which are as tasty as they are beautiful.

Supreme among these, in the fall, are the chanterelles. A typical two hours spent in the woods, hunting chanterelles, yields at least 10 pounds' worth (several grocery bags full). Chanterelles, which are typically golden in color (though we have also found several rare white ones, and others more of a brownish tint), go for $12-$20 per pound in the supers, so $200 worth of mushrooms in two hours is definitely nice work. (If one could call tromping around in the forest "work.")

Chanterelles are very easily identified, and grow in abundance. They range in size from as small as your thumbnail, all the way up to a giant pound-plus monster (easily twice the size of my clenched fist) which my nephew Kyle discovered during our last trip.

My nephew Kyle found
this monster chanterelle!

Sweet and peach-like, they are wonderful eating. The hardest part is the time required to brush them clean, which takes almost as much time as finding and picking them. (They have many crevasses in which pine needles and other forest flora and fauna love to hide.) Be sure to cook them well to kill any stray bacteria. (Did you know more people are sickened by the bacteria living on improperly cooked mushrooms, than by poisonous mushrooms?)

There are also two other mushroom varieties which I have enjoyed harvesting during the Fall: oyster mushrooms, and sulfur shelf, also known as "chicken of the woods." Both are varieties of "shelf mushrooms," which typically grow out of dead and down logs. I have found oyster mushrooms several times, usually growing on dead and decaying cottonwood. And I have found one lovely sulfur shelf, growing out of an old chunk of cedar.

It was a monstrous 3-pound specimen (see photo at bottom), but tender as cooked chicken breast. Sulfur shelfs are bright yellow sulfur-colored on the bottom, and golden (like a chanterelle) on the top. Caution is advised, because it's been documented that approximately 5% of those who eat sulfur shelf found on pine or cedar have an allergic reaction, usually intestinally unpleasant. For this reason we started with just a small taste, and increased the dosage after experiencing no negative reactions. We ended up eating three full meals out of that one mushroom, and all were quite wonderful. (We basically substituted the sulfur shelf for the chicken in chicken cacchiatori. It had a cedar-ish aroma but otherwise tasted just like tender white chicken breast.)

I've had oyster mushrooms from the supers, but those I have found in the wild are much more delicate. They have a nutty flavor which I really like. I typically saute them in butter or olive oil, reduced with a little sherry or port near the end.

2010's harvest of chanterelles.
My son Nathan (center) holds the
largest, and friend Ben Griffin (right)
a rare white chanterelle.

Chanterelles, likewise, are also wonderful cooked in olive oil. Add fresh pressed garlic, and kosher salt and ground pepper to taste. Boil off the liquid over low temperature, then sizzle them hot in the oil, adding a splash of port or fine, sweet red wine to finish.

Chanterelles have their own unique fragrance. It's very subtly peach-like, but they make an excellent accompaniment to almost any kind of steak.

If you need any sort of inducement to be my friend, this year I gave away many bags of chanterelles to friends and coworkers. Several bags I traded for wild-caught hake, true cod, and trout. This year we went hunting three times (three times as much as last year), and next year I am planning on going three times as much as this year! While the typical journey to our mushroom heaven (in the foothills of Mt. Rainier) is over an hour's drive, each way, I also know of a secret chanterelle spot just a mile or two from my home, and I have seeded the forests around our house with spores, so hopefully more will grow in the years to come.

This 3-pound "chicken of the woods"
(sulfur shelf) mushroom lasted
us for three full meals.

I've gone spring mushroom hunting twice now. My ultimate goal is the coveted morel, said to be the finest (and rarest) of all wild mushrooms; though I've had little success yet in finding other than false morels (verpa) and oyster mushrooms in the springtime. So, if you have any tips to offer on finding true morels in western (or I would also consider eastern) Washington in the spring (or possibly even Oregon), please post and point me in the right direction! (I might even consider trading mushrooms or homemade dandelion wine for good advice!)

Thanksgiving Top 10

In light of this week's theme of "Thanksgiving," here is my David Letterman-style Top 10 Things I Am Thankful for:

Number 10:

Great food. Mushrooms, cheeses, salmon and fine meats, wine and beer ... I will blog about it all, eventually, I am sure. Did you ever stop to think that God didn't have to give us taste buds?

Number 9:

Cycling and racquet sports. This is how I burn off all those calories after eating all that great food. Hopefully. I'm not the world's best cyclist, but I'm not bad for a 54-year-old guy who took up the sport only about 10 years ago. Mountain biking, road biking, cyclocross ... it's hard to decide which is the most fun.

Number 8:

Music. God also didn't have to give us ears. It's amazing how acoustic worship, in particular, lifts our hearts to soar before God's throne. I'm so glad I took up acoustic guitar when I was young, and added mandolin several years ago. I really enjoy playing on our church worship band and at World Vision and for special events, even simple things like Salvation Army bellringing! And I love to fall asleep to soft acoustic worship by amazing artists like Chris Tomlin, Shane Bernard, David Crowder, and so many others.

Number 7:

Literature and writing ... and the internet. All my life I've felt driven to write. I was blessed to get published, early in my life, and for the opportunity to write for great magazines and book publishers. I'm not Christendom's best writer, for sure (that was a bubble that got burst long ago), but I still really enjoy using and am thankful for the gift God gave me (even through simple means such as this blog) to communicate my heart and ideas to others.

And did you ever stop to think about what a huge blessing it is to be able to read? Without it, how would we access the dramatic, life-changing, hope-bringing impact of the Bible? Or put ourselves in wild and amazing places like Narnia? Benefit from the wisdom of saints and sages? Or even keep up with what's going on in the world around us? It's simply heart-breaking to think about all the people in the world who don't have this fundamentally life-changing ability.

Number 6:

World Vision ... not only are they an amazing, godly ministry saving lives and changing lives of the poor throughout the world, they have been a phenomenal employer these past 18 years, providing me with livelihood, an outlet for my triple passions ... for communication, technology, and being the hands and feet of Jesus to a hurting world! My colleagues there are incredible and God has blessed me so much through you!

Number 5:

I have three great churches in my life. My home church, Elim Evangelical Free Church, is an amazing oasis of God's love and renewal in the midst of a very secular and godless culture here in the Pacific Northwest. They are a very old church (about 130 years) yet it feels very young and fresh. They have a heart for the poor and for those who need to hear about Jesus, and are always doing something to reach out. They have talented and dedicated worship musicians and pastors, very friendly people, sold-out-for-Jesus leadership, and absolutely amazing groups.

Our favorite group at Elim is "Pulse," the young adults ministry which Darlene and I began 10 years ago next February. The young adults who are a part of Pulse constantly blow my mind. We are stimulating each other to love and good deeds and growing together in Christ. The future for these people and this church is so bright!

Two other churches I love: My amazing "home" church in Southern California, CBC. Their ministry in my life has been huge. And the last church plant my wife and I were a part of before we emigrated to the Northwest: The Journey.

Number 4

Friends and family. Especially my four brothers and sisters, and my two wonderful parents (who are both with Jesus now!). I come from a large family, as the oldest of five. My two brothers and two sisters and I are very close and we have been through a lot together. I so appreciate their love, their commitment to us as a family, and their friendship. They each have great families, are good at what they do, and I really enjoy spending time with them.

Friends are indeed an incredible blessing from God, and I have been blessed with some of the best. From longtime (since college days) buds such as John Veale, Dr. Kenneth Daughters, Dwight Warden and Sue Carson-Kimber, to current pals here in the Northwest like Pastor Martin Schlomer, Doug Ide, Gordy McCoy, Lars Passic, Bob Walsh, and many more ... I shouldn't even start naming because there are too many to list! ... I am so blessed to have a cadre of folks who "have my back." I know I can count on them for godly advice and help whenever the chips are down.

Number 3

My two amazing kids (and one amazing grandchild). Nathan and Mandy are the best kids one could hope for. They are kind, smart, talented, hard-working, and honest. I consider them both great friends and really enjoy spending time with them. Nathan and I survived several 206-mile bike rides together, and Mandy and I survived five countries (in two months) in Africa together.

And of course Annabelle (11 months) is the cutest grandchild one could hope for. She is obviously very intelligent and has a great sense of humor already. I love her (and both my kids, and the great spouses they married) endlessly!

Number 2

I will always be thankful for the love, friendship and partnership of my beautiful wife, Darlene. She is my best friend, passionate lover, the mother of my children. We have been friends for 38 years, married for 32, and I feel like I would be lost without her. I am so glad I met her (when I was 15!), recognized instantly what a pearl of great price I had found, and that she was willing to stake her claim with me and has hung with me through thick and thin.

Number 1

Above all else, I am thankful for my Savior, Jesus ... who took my sin on his shoulders when He hung on the Cross. He died for me so that I could live! He has brought hope, meaning, purpose, and uncounted blessings to my life. And I have the distinct feeling "We've only just begun!"

How Does God Define "Good?"

I recently wrote about my GMO correspondence with a contact in India whom I called "Raman" (not his real name). I'm pleased to share that Raman has continued his correspondence with me, and has continued to ask very good questions. I think this is a good sign that God is working in his heart.

Here is another "tough question" he recently posed: "If a person is [a self-proclaimed follower] of God, if he serves God day and night but then treats his fellow man like a dog, is he a good man? Don't you think that it's better to help needy people than going to church or temple? Because I think humanity is the best religion. Serving people is the same thing as serving God." My response:

Raman, I think you've asked a wonderful question. I believe Scripture teaches that we as human beings have a somewhat innate yet very limited ability to judge goodness. We look at a person like Mother Teresa and we conclude, "She is good because she spends her life helping the needy" (a good thing, as most everyone knows). We look at another person (and there are a lot of them out there) and we conclude, "He attends church all the time and pretends to be good, but in reality he doesn't care anything for his neighbor ... so in reality he is bad, he is a hypocrite." Everyone intuitively knows this is bad behavior. We make such broad-stroke judgments of goodness and badness, based on the image of good which God has placed in us.

But the problem is that we don't judge perfectly, and we especially can't judge ourselves. We don't know the heart of others, barely even know our own hearts; and moreover, we hope that God grades US on the curve. The Bible reveals very clearly, however, that God's standard of judging goodness is wholly different than ours — it's a lot tougher. It may not seem fair to us, but He measures us against the standard of His perfect goodness and holiness. He doesn't grade on the curve.

Jesus said: "Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect." If we're being honest, we all have to say, "Are you kidding? No way. I may be a pretty good person in my own eyes, but no way am I perfect. Even Mother Teresa wasn't perfect." And this is truth.

I recently took a test online (http://www.fbbc.com/messages/kohl_live_ten_commandments.htm) to see how I measure up against God's standard of perfection, the "Ten Commandments." The test goes through each of the 10 Commandments one at a time. Some are hard ("Do not bear false witness." Have I ever lied? Even once? Well, unfortunately, yes ... actually, many times.) Some seem easy at first ("Do not murder. Do not commit adultery") ... but you see how badly you have failed when you realize that Jesus defined murder and adultery a lot more strictly than we do (in the Sermon on the Mount he taught: "You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment."). To Christ, if you've ever hated someone in your heart, you have committed murder. If you've ever lusted after a woman in your heart, even if you didn't literally touch her, you have committed adultery.

Have I ever hated? Have I ever lusted? Sadly, yes. To God, goodness and evil are internal as well as external. He alone judges the heart.

I discovered after taking this test that, according to Christ's standard of measure, I've broken each and every one of the 10 commandments!

The Bible declares flat out: "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. There is none righteous, no, not one." The only exception to this was Christ himself, who the Bible declares sinless. God alone is the standard of holiness. Jesus confirmed this when someone called him "Good Teacher": "Why do you call Me good?" He asked. "There is none good but God alone." (He wasn't denying that He is good ... He was confirming that He is God!)

God doesn't grade on the curve. He doesn't look at Mother Teresa and say, "Yes, she is so much better than Adolf Hitler. Therefore she gets in, and Adolf Hitler doesn't." He looks at each of us and says, "There is none righteous, no not one." None of us meets His standard. We all stand condemned in the judgment.

This is a terrifying thought, but it is the truth from the Bible. But that's why the Gospel is called "Good News," because its central message is that, while we all deserve condemnation, Jesus came to pay the price for our sin. He took our imperfection on Himself on the Cross and put His perfection upon us. The Apostle Paul wrote: "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus."

So the question is no longer "How good are you?" or "How bad are you?" The question becomes: "Are you in Christ Jesus? Have you received His forgiveness for your sin and committed yourself to living for Him?"

Indeed, the person who has done this should not be a hypocrite. Scripture teaches that the person who is "in Christ Jesus" is in the process of being changed by the Holy Spirit to be more like Jesus. Their lives should be a reflection of God's glory. They should care for the poor and love their neighbor. They will still not be perfect, but with the help of the Holy Spirit they should be walking the road toward God's standard of holiness.
 
Raman, does this all make sense to you? This is the message of the Bible, even though in some respects it seems to us counter-intuitive. It requires a great deal of humility, because it requires of us a confession that each of us has sinned and can never meet God's standard of holiness. But it is also incredibly freeing. Once you realize that you don't have to "prove yourself" to God, that He absolutely loves you for who you are, it is incredibly freeing. Personally speaking, my life has been so blessed since I discovered this truth at a very young age.

But we're never too old or too far gone to receive God's forgiveness. To the thief on the cross, who humbled himself before God scant hours before his death, Jesus declared: "Today you will be with Me in paradise." God is merciful and full of compassion! He wants to accept YOU.

Have you ever taken that step to acknowledge before God your sin, to receive the forgiveness in Christ's blood? I challenge you to do that today. Put God to the test. Tell Him: "I will do what you ask and humble myself before you. I receive Christ's forgiveness for my sin. Now prove Yourself faithful to me."

Please let me know what you think of all this. (And, for what it's worth, I think you are right on target ... the best way to serve God is by serving people! That doesn't mean there is anything wrong with going to church or temple, but it doesn't make you "good." God is looking for a heart of compassion. People who serve the poor are indeed close to His heart.)

Many blessings to you in Christ,

Larry

Hell? Yes

Well, everyone is all a-twitter about Rob Bell's new book on heaven and hell, "Love Wins." I haven't read it (yet*) ... but of course neither has anyone else that I know personally who has complained about it. So I guess I won't let that stop me from commenting.

Supposedly Pastor Bell gives people the impression that he is a "Trinitarian universalist," which basically is the belief (operating within an evangelical framework) that no one will actually (ultimately) go to hell. Not having read it, I'm not sure whether that's an accurate assessment or not of his views. But I do have a hard time with universalism (Trinitarian or otherwise) itself — reasoning as follows:

1) As I get older, I've noticed a tendency to "calcify" in my beliefs. I think we all do. That's why it's so much easier to stake a claim of faith as a younger person. And it's why older folks rarely get saved. (They do sometimes, but less frequently.) It's not because we old farts are smarter, or anything like that; I think it's just because our lives have settled into patterns. (I write as a 54-year-old, mind you. I have a whole half-century of calcification under my belt.)

Observing this general tendency leads me to believe it is less and less likely, as time passes, for people who have not yet seen the need to repent, to do so. Repentance means turning, changing. In John Bunyan's classic, Pilgrim's Progress, he describes how hard it becomes, the further you travel down a wrong road (after having branched off the straight and narrow at some unfortunate point), to turn back and find where you went wrong, and start over again. Repentance is always easier (and more likely) the closer you are to the point from which you went astray. The older you get, the further you travel, the harder it becomes.

For those of us heading toward the Kingdom of God, rather than away from it, I think this fact brings encouragement. But I fear for those yet unrepentant.

2) I know that it's possible to repent and turn to Christ even on one's deathbed. It happened with my grandpa, and it happened with the thief on the cross. But is it possible to repent at some point after death? The Bible gives us only hints ... no direct teaching ... that while it might be possible, it's highly unlikely.

1 Peter 3:19-20 provides one very intriguing such hint. It says that after "being put to death in the body and made alive in the spirit," which I take to mean after He was crucified but probably before He was resurrected, Christ "went and made proclamation to the imprisoned spirits — to those who were disobedient long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built." I've read several and varied interpretations of this passage, but I think the best is what seems to be the plainest, that Christ had some sort of communication with deceased people who were in some after-death state referred to as "prison." Probably that same place referred to as "Hades" (not hell exactly, but a precursor of sorts) which Christ spoke about in the parable of the "rich man" and the beggar Lazarus in Luke 16.

As we know from the scriptural account of the flood, "those who were disobedient" during the days of Noah were "eating, drinking and marrying," carrying on as if God didn't exist, as if He didn't matter, and as if He would never bring judgment for sin. (Just as so many around us today are doing!) They mocked Noah and the Ark, and ended up being taken completely by surprise by the Great Deluge.

The real question, I think, is: What was the nature of Christ's communication to them? What was the proclamation? What was the point of Him preaching to these disobedient spirits?

The whole episode reminds me of C. S. Lewis' brilliant little novel, "The Great Divorce." In a dream Lewis takes the reader from a limbo-like hell, on a bus ride to heaven, along with a bus full of other passengers. Each is given the opportunity to stay, if they wish. I don't want to be a spoiler, but the bottom line is pretty much that none do, at least that we are aware of, with the possible exception of the dreamer. Heaven is far too uncomfortable a place for those who have grown accustomed to the self-centeredness of hell.

The name of the book I think illustrates the very thing we are talking about. Like the diverging roads in Pilgrim's Progress, the reality is that the story of history is the story of the "great divorce" between good and evil. Some would have us believe that "all roads lead to Rome," that there are many ways to God. But Scripture teaches in stark contradiction to this belief that there is a straight and narrow path, trust in Jesus Christ, which alone leads to salvation and an eternity with God. All other paths spiral away into darkness.

So, if Christ was preaching to these spirits in prison, was He giving them an opportunity to repent? I have to think that must have been it. Else, why bother? What would be the point, to simply wag a finger at them and say, "See? Noah was right and you were wrong." They already know that, apparently.

And if Christ indeed preached repentance to these spirits, did any repent? Did any find freedom? We don't know. I hope so. Peter doesn't say.

3) I think the final stake in the heart of the universalist monster is the reality that we see in Scripture: The Apocalypse (which means "The Unveiling") reveals that in the final days of our history there will be a separation, sheep from goats. Those on God's right hand will enter the kingdom. Those on his left will accompany the devil and his angels into the everlasting lake of fire. Which sounds pretty darned (excuse the expression) final to me.

This is such an unpleasant truth but so starkly stated by Scripture that it cannot be else but true. People, says the writer in Hebrews 9:27, are "destined to die once — and after that to face judgment." God gives us grace and mercy for a time, space to repent, but the very process of living (and then dying) is itself a process of calcification, of confirmation of whatever choice or series of choices we make — choices toward God, as we are living; or away from Him, as we are dying. Knowing Him, and entering in to His Kingdom; or being commanded: "Depart from Me — I never knew you."

In conclusion, I agree with Rob that, ultimately, "Love wins." God has created all this for a reason, and were it not for the Cross, none of us would be saved. Scripture says that, ultimately, "Every knee will bow" to Christ ... and I hope the universalist is right, that every knee will bow willingly, in repentance and humility. The power of God's love is indeed incomprehensible.

But, as anyone who studies the attributes of God knows, while God is indeed love, love is surely not God. In other words, love is not all He is. Yes, He is wholly loving; but he is also wholly just, wholly sovereign, and wholly holy! He created us in His own image, as free moral agents. We can choose to live with Him, or we can choose to live without Him. I hope with all my heart everyone ultimately chooses to live with Him. But I also know that God's justified wrath against all evil will win out in the end. "Love winning" ultimately means that justice will be done, that the demands of holiness will be fulfilled, and that no sin will be tolerated before His throne.

*Post Script: Since writing the above, I've actually sat down and read Pastor Bell's book ... or at least as much of it as can be reach through Amazon.com's free preview. (Which is quite a bit.) And, I really enjoyed what I read, and it made me want to read more, so I'm sure I'll buy the book soon.

What I read didn't really answer the question I raised above (is he propounding universalism?) and I think in truth he probably didn't intend to. Like a good author, he raises more questions than he answers. He is obviously trying to get us to think, not just about deep philosophical questions and unchallenged opinions, but about the nature of God, and how there really is just so much we don't (and can't yet) know.

Have you read it? I'd be interested in your thoughts.