"HELL, ROB BELL, AND WHAT HAPPENS WHEN PEOPLE DIE", by Bobby Conway

There are some conversations best left untouched in public circles, like religion and politics.  But another that is often neglected because of its sensitive, even politically incorrect nature, is Hell.  It's difficult to talk about openly because (a) if it really exists, nobody wants to come to grips with the notion that grandma or grandpa -- or even we -- might be or go there; (b) it is difficult to imagine decent people suffering for all eternity in Hell for finite sins; (c) it has often been used as a scare tactic to coerce people to believe a certain way.  I could continue, but you get the point.

"Hell, Rob Bell, and What Happens When People Die" is a short rebuttal to Rob Bell's recent release, "Love Wins".


So why this book?  Why is it necessary?  Why not let Bell write his best-seller book about his beliefs on Hell and just get on with life?  Because "a Barna poll found that 25 percent of born-again Christians maintain that all people will eventually be accepted by God" and "only 1 percent of Americans actually think they are going to hell."

I think Conway is right when he wrote, "Christians are embarrassed by the doctrine of Hell", that it is "seldom preached from the pulpit."  If the Bible is true; if Jesus bore witness to the truth, to reality; then Hell is a real place with which we real sinners must come to grips.  We have shied away from Hell's reality because we have forgotten that Hell was God's idea in the first place.  We have forgotten that sin is not merely something that is finite or horizontal in nature, that we can only commit "so much" sin in any one lifetime.  Instead, sin must be seen as infinite and vertical in nature.  We must recognize that sin causes us to fall infinitely below the holiness of God, and that height is infinitely great.

Conway is spot-on in his approach to the horrible reality of Hell.  But he doesn't leave the reader hopeless, for he presents the simple, clear gospel, giving hope that sinners can be saved by God's grace through Christ from this horrible eternity.  He offers the promise of real hope, not the false hope that Bell provides.  Conway urges his readers that when talking about such a difficult topic as Hell, "When we who call ourselves Christians talk about hell, our demeanor and our words should express humble brokenheartedness, with no hint of arrogance.  Nonbelievers have a hard enough time digesting this terrible truth -- we should not make it even more tasteless with a love-lacking presentation.  Our voice should have the ring of urgency, truth, humility, and brokenness."

For his careful and truthful presentation of Hell's reality, I give Conway 5 stars on this book!  It was the perfect length.  Perfect for sharing.  He lovingly, but sternly, corrects Bell's flawed doctrine while presenting the message of the gospel of Christ.  It's a very quick read, and extremely cheap in e-book form.


DISCLAIMER: I received this title from Waterbrook Multnomah "Blogging for Books" free of charge in exchange for my unbiased review.  I was not threatened or coerced in any way in order to provide a positive review. All opinions are mine.

"THE GOD I NEVER KNEW", by Robert Morris

I requested a review copy of "The God I Never Knew" because I recognize I have long neglected the influence and presence of the Holy Spirit in my own life.  I was one of those who grew up in a denomination where I was given poor teaching and theology regarding the Holy Spirit, so I grew fearful and reserved about His role in my daily Christian life.  Over the course of years, I flip-flopped from one extreme of Holy Spirit theology to the opposite, and I don't believe either of them are/were biblically healthy.

I read "The God I Never Knew" with an open mind; with a fresh set of lenses, as though I was discovering the Holy Spirit with the faith of a first-time reader of the Bible.  I was open to learning fresh what the Bible has to say about the Holy Spirit, and as a result, I'm pleased I read this book.  Maybe the Holy Spirit knew I was ready to receive something about Him from scratch; I certainly won't call it coincidence.

The chapters in the book are divided into themes about who the Holy Spirit is, what His character is like, how He came "onto the scene", His gifts, the baptism & filling (although I'm not sure I see a difference theologically), and the controversies over speaking in tongues in public and the use of tongues as a spiritual prayer language.

Morris approached the topics biblically and candidly from his vantage point.  His writing is simple to read and not too heady.  There were moments when I had to pause my reading to contemplate what was being conveyed, but all-in-all it was not a difficult one to read.  He breaks down 1 Corinthians 14 and other passages quite well, making good arguments for the role of the Spirit in believers today.  I'm sure he did not intend this book to be the final authority on all that is of the Holy Spirit, but he convinced me to trust the Spirit and look into His role further.

DISLIKES: I have one major dislike, and that is the overuse of the word "amazing" (or a derivative thereof).  Sadly, Hollywood (via reality TV) has taken this word hostage and it seems to have lost its true meaning.  Morris used "amazing" (or amazed) no fewer than 28 times in the book's 198 pages.  That equates to one use per every 7 pages!

I recognize this book is an "advance reading copy" and has not been finalized, but there are other corrections that need to be made by the editor prior to official release.  There were several misspelled or misused (correctly spelled but used in the wrong context) words.  Additionally, on page 60 there was a complete sentence repeated immediately one after the other.  Verbatim.  It was obviously not a literary technique, but a "copy and paste" error.  Minor errors, but never-the-less these are some of the mistakes I'd like to see corrected.

RATING: All-in-all, I give "The God I Never Knew" 4 stars.  It was biblically sound, it was pretty well written, and it caused me to consider my position (right, wrong, or indifferent)...and isn't that all an author can hope to accomplish?

DISCLAIMER: I received this book free of charge in exchange for my unbiased opinion. I was not threatened or coerced to provide a positive review.

ELI & PEYTON MANNING = "FOOTBALL COPS"

RUN FOR THE GLORY OF GOD:

A popular quote has been attributed to Eric Liddell (on whom "Chariots of Fire" was based): "I believe God made me for a purpose, but he also made me fast. And when I run I feel His pleasure."

I competed in the Clarklake Triathlon yesterday...and I beat myself!  I had an overall time of 1 hour 48 minutes, which was well below my estimated time of 2 hours 10 minutes.  I was 22nd of 26 in my age group, but the experience was exhilarating!

Prior to beginning the triathlon yesterday, though, a good friend sent me a text message: "I'll be praying for you as you run for the glory of God."  It was appreciated, and I was later encouraged by those words.  After swimming the 1/2 mile and about 4 miles into the 13.5 mile bike portion, I was starting to sharply fatigue.  I was reminded of all the good advice I'd heard during my training: "Pace yourself.  Don't worry about what others are doing.  Go at your pace."

Well, during that fatiguing process, I was reminded of my friend's good words about running for the glory of God.  I reflected on some people in my life who would gladly trade their wheelchairs for the chance to compete in an event like this.  I thought, "If Jason (a paraplegic friend) or Joni Earickson-Tada were told, 'You can get out of your wheelchair on one condition: you must compete in a triathlon;' "  My hunch is that they would jump at the chance.

So I took that opportunity to smile, enjoy the tightness in my lungs, and the burn in my legs, saying, "Thank you, God, for giving me the ability to swim, and bike, and run, and breathe heavily, and push myself in ways others may not be able to do, and enjoy the health you've given me."

More than simply performing well for my own standards (good grief, a 69 year-old guy "smoked" me!), I used the opportunity to run in pain for God's glory; to remember those who were/are not able to compete, and mention their names to God.

Run for the glory of God, Christian. 
Run hard! 
Don't give up. 
Run as if your life depends on it.
Because it does.

CLARKLAKE TRIATHLON - July 17th:

When I began training for the Clarklake Triathlon back in early March, I went in with the mindset that I simply wanted to finish.  No doubt, I wanted to finish well, but I primarily wanted to finish.

Over the past 3 1/2 months, however, the desire has grown more and more to finish really well -- hopefully in the top 10 in my age group.  Based on my training, I set what I believe are some very realistic goals for myself last week: Swim the 1/2 mile in 30 minutes or less, bike the 13 1/2 miles in an hour or less, and run the 4 1/4 miles in 40 minutes or less.  That adds up to 130 minutes.  I set my own performance goal at 2 hours 10 minutes.  Reasonable

Well, I thought I was progressing pretty well until I reviewed the results of the Ann Arbor Tri/Du held last week.  First place finisher finished in 1 hour 17 minutes!  That's nearly an hour ahead of my goal!  The 10th place finisher in my age group finished in 1 hour 43 minutes!  If my practice times are any indication of my performance time Sunday, these guys will be done sweating by the time I return.  Shoot, the organizers will probably have already passed out awards and gone home.  I just hope I don't return to crickets chirping.

So, while I'm super excited to compete in my first-ever "sprint" triathlon, I'm a little concerned about my times.  Maybe "concerned" isn't the right choice of words.  Maybe "uneasy" or "healthily burdened" would fit better, I wonder?  Hopefully my time discrepancy is due to over-training...yeah, that's it...because I've actually been swimming more than a half mile, biking nearly 20 miles, and running like crazy.  I don't think I'll finish horribly, but I'm thinkin' I better push the pace a wee bit, eh?

I'll be praying that my heart, lungs, legs, shoulders, neck, calves, and brain don't quit on me!

"WHY GOD WON'T GO AWAY", by Alister McGrath

Two general classes of atheism exist today: Apathetic and Committed. Apathetic atheists say, “I don’t believe in God”. While atheists, they feel little need to provide reasons why they believe as they do. They have no axe to grind with religion; they are simply indifferent to it. Committed atheists, on the other hand, say, “I believe no God exists”. They have their reasons, and they’re not afraid to make their points. The committed atheists are not indifferent to religion, as are their apathetic counterparts, but they merely tolerate it.


But there’s a sub-category of Committed atheism: It’s the New Atheism. “New Atheists”, informally led by “The Four Horsemen” – Sam Harris, Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, & Christopher Hitchens – do not stop with their profession that “there is no God”. Neither do they tolerate religion. Instead, they are militant about their position. In fact, they think apathetic and committed atheists are cowards. They hate religion, saying it is the sole source for today’s evils. In a word, they are “anti-theists”.

“Why God Won’t Go Away”, by Alister McGrath, is not a tome on the defense of Christianity – or any other religion, for that matter. McGrath writes, “It is not my intention to argue the case for the Christian faith in this short volume…” (p.145). Neither is this title one where the author slings mud at the atheists who sling mud at the religious. It is also like a childhood playground argument: “God is not good”, “Yes He is”, “No he isn’t”, “Yes He is.”

Instead, “Why God Won’t Go Away” is a book that sheds light on the inconsistent positions the New Atheists posit. In the three primary sections of the book, McGrath discusses three core themes of attack New Atheists level against religion: “Violence”, “Reason”, and “Science”. The New Atheists attack on these fronts because “New Atheism is characterized more by its attacks on religion than by its own positive beliefs…” (p.45).

Citing several historical events, McGrath brings injury to the New Atheist positions because “such irrational hatred [is] what the New Atheists want us to believe is characteristic only of religion” (p.50). He does well in pointing out the New Atheist flaws and inconsistencies (something too detailed to describe in this brief review), and he does it without demeaning or belittling those who hold the atheistic position.

“Why God Won’t Go Away” is intelligently written and presented – although the New Atheists will never accept anything that’s not atheist as being remotely intelligent. Reading this book was truly a pleasure, and I highly recommend it if the on-going conversation interests you. You will see that the New Atheism is, in fact, running on empty.  I give this one 5 stars out of 5.


I was given this free book by Booksneeze in exchange for my unbiased review.  All opinions are mine. I was not coerced or threatened to provide a positive review of this title.

MEET THE MAN WHO MET THE MILESTONE:

This guy caught Derek Jeter's 3000th hit, which happened to be a home run!  Teams -- and fans -- recognize the value of a ball when it was the one in play at the time a major milestone was met.  It's been said this particular ball was worth upwards of a quarter mill.  Not too shabby.

But what did this guy want for the ball?  To give it to DJ himself, shake his hand, and say, "Congratulations." 

That's it. 
No money. 
No autographs.
No special accomodations.

In return for his generosity, the Yankess are rewarding this guy with a nice package -- suite tickets to every remaining home game this year (including playoffs) at Yankee Stadium, jerseys, bats, balls, you name it.

What I think is coolest is the man's unique (non) request because it speaks volumes of his character.  After all, who couldn't use an extra chunk o' change, right?  I love it that this guy loves baseball, that he recognizes major milestones, and that he recognized it was worth so much more to DJ and to baseball. 

That guy? 
Christian Lopez. 
Great job, my fellow fan. 
Classy move!

BATTLEFIELD JESUS (from "A Place of Healing"):

"Do you find yourself objecting, perhaps, to this battlefield imagery I've employed to describe my life as is? Could it be you've never quite pictured your walk with Jesus in such terms?  Here at our ministry, we refuse to present a picture of "gentle Jesus meek and mild", you know, a portrait that tugs at your sentiments or pulls at your heart strings.  That's because we deal with so many people who suffer, and when you are hurting hard you're neither helped nor inspired by a syrupy picture of the Lord, like those sugary, sentimental images many of us grew up with. 

You know what I mean, Jesus with his hair parted down the middle, surrounded by cherubic children and blue birds.  C'mon, admit it.  When your heart is being wrung out like a sponge, when you feel like Morton's salt is being poured into your wounded soul, you don't want a thin, pale, emotional Jesus who relates only to lambs and birds and babies.  You want a warrior Jesus.  You want a battlefield Jesus.  You want his rigorous and robust gospel to command your sensibilities to stand at attention. 

To be honest, many of the sentimental hymns and gospel songs of our heritage don't do much to hone that image.  One of the favorite words of hymn writers in days gone by was "sweet".  It's a term that doesn't have the edge on it that it once did.  When you're in a dark place, when lions surround you, when you need strong help to rescue you from impossibility, you don't want sweet, you don't want faded pastels and honey softness.  You want mighty.  You want the strong arm and the unshakable grip of God who will not let you go, no matter what!"

(transcribed from the audiobook by Joni Eareckson Tada, "A Place of Healing", available free at christianaudio.com this month; chapter 1, beginning around the 20-minute mark.)