Don't do drugs might be another way to say it...
Yesterday Lorie and I skipped church. Sort of. The kids had several late nights last Friday/Saturday so we were feeling the need to let the kids sleep. It just so happened that it was a sunny Sunday morning with some good surf out there, too. So I got up semi-early and went to Long Sands in Maine. I did feel a bit guilty about skipping church so before I left I downloaded a couple of sermons from Rob Bell. I know there are varrying opinions on Mr. Bell. Without going into that, I just have to say that what he had to say was very timely for me and it spoke to me on so many levels. In particular (assuming you will take the time to listen to it) the part where he talks about how God will remain even after our religion, [worldview, belief systems] are blown apart; he will be there to meet us on the other side. Just like He was for Ezekiel.
If you find time, listen to the sermon (The Pain is Our Teacher). It has given me a sense of much needed peace. Maybe some of you will see why.
http://marshill.org/teaching/
So you decided to go ahead w/ being a blogger! I like the concept that you put forth. I did listen to the sermon yesterday. I took a few notes. Here are the sound bites for me that I really appreciated and spoke to me: "sometimes God goes around the mind and speaks straight to the heart", "some things you can only learn in exile/you can only learn when everything falls apart", "Ezekiel realizes this God can not be localized", "God survives religion", "we uphold/value doctrine, theology, the Bible", "there is nothing to fear", "the pain of his exile becomes his teacher".
ReplyDeleteSo there you have it. That's what stood out for me and I can see why it was an important message for you. Jon, God has given you a great mind and a great heart. Maybe I'm off base, but it sounds like the Holy Spirit helped to reconcile in your heart what you struggle with in your mind sometimes. I'm glad you have a sense of much needed peace!
OK-so I spent about 30 minutes coming up with a great response to Bell's sermon. Then I tried to post it and was told that there was an error-and it deleted my post. Let's see if this works-then I'll throw out my thoughts on Ezekiel 1 if this works.
ReplyDeleteAlright-here is the problem. This isn't Abby but Bjorn-but I can't figure out how to link my name with the correct email account. So, Abby will probably be publishing a lot of great stuff to this blog in the meantime.
ReplyDeleteOK-Bell's sermon, in bullet points. What I liked:
-Pain as a teacher...although, I don't think I want pain as my teacher. CS Lewis talked about this, calling pain "God's megaphone." James 1:2 picks up on this too telling us that we should be joyful in trials because it develops our faith.
-Great Dr. Dre shout-out when talking about the awesome rims.
-Very, very cool thoughts on God not being localized. I especially liked his comments that we localize God negatively by imagining that he is NOT in certain places just as much as we localize him by thinking that he is more present in certain places. This seems very relevant in light of our discussions on some of the minor prophets essentially being racist and seeing God as the sole property of Israel.
What I didn't like:
-I'd contend with the idea that God will be there to meet us on the other side when our religion and creed are blown apart. Yes-God will be there to meet us-if we confess Christ. Bell's contention that creeds, etc. don't matter doesn't necessarily even stand up against the prophecies of Ezekiel later on in the book. God speaks through Ezekiel in multiple places telling Israel that they will be punished because of their sin and failure to obey his rules. Apparently, creed and religion do matter to God. Of course, everything changes when Christ comes and abolishes the old covenant, temple system, etc. But God still hates sin, right? Why else would Christ have to die on the cross? He came to pay the penalty of sin so that, ultimately, we would be met by God on the other side-IF we trust in Christ as our savior. Trusting in a creed or a worldview as our savior is just as misguided as trusting in ourselves as our savior. Christ is bigger than our love of ourselves and our love of having the correct creed.
So, while I don't necessarily disagree with Bell, I'd say that he needs to make clear that God meets us on the other side when we trust in Christ.
Great blog here, Jon, look forward to reading more. I may even have my own post coming soon.