Comfortable Christianity?

Friends,

     I just watched the controversial video by Pastor Rob Bell that promotes his book Love Wins. In this video he discounts the fact that God will judge all of mankind. Bell also discounts the fact that there really is a Hell, a place where people, by their own choice, are eternally separated from God. In fact Bell poses the question, “Do we know this for sure?” To answer your question Rob, YES!

     This topic came up in our Bible study this morning and it is amazing how God works. I came to the church, The Valley, to do my personal devotion time with the Lord and opened the Bible where I left off yesterday and there it was, Matthew 13! If only Rob Bell would have read the words of Jesus before he wrote this book maybe he would have found the answer to his question without misleading others too.

     Matthew 13 is all about God’s judgment. Several times, in this chapter, Jesus speaks in parables and he is speaking about judgment day. In fact, in Matthew 13:24-30 Jesus tells the parable of the weeds, but then he defines the meaning of that parable in Matthew 13:36-43.
     Later, Jesus tells the Parable of the Net. In this Parable, Jesus says, “Once again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was let down into the lake and caught all kinds of fish. When it was full, the fishermen pulled it up on the shore. Then they sat down and collected the good fish in baskets, but threw the bad away. This is how it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. “Have you understood all these things?” Jesus asked. “Yes,” they replied.  He said to them, “Therefore every teacher of the law who has been instructed about the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old” (Matthew 13:47-52 NIV).

     By-the-way, Jesus also preached in his Sermon on the Mount, “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it” (Matthew 7:13-14).  We have to be willing to preach both sides of God’s message. God is love and God is judge. We have a choice to make. Choose God or not! Jesus said, “Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven” (Matthew 10:32-33).

     Bell's book is a reminder to me that we would rather be comfortable with God rather than confronted by Him! Rob Bell is right in one sense, love does win! Jesus paid it all when no one else could (John 14:6). The question is, whose side are you on?

Be Biblical. Stay faithful,

Greg Edens

Tsunami

     By now everyone has heard about the earthquake that hit Japan on March 11^th. The tsunami that followed only added to the devastation. Many of us have read the news articles and watched the videos of people and property being swept away so easily by the waves that were nearly four stories high. It is amazing to witness the destructive power of water.

     The Associated Press (AP) released an article this morning telling the story of Minami Sato. The article said, “Growing up in this small fishing town on Japan's northeastern coast, 16-year-old Minami Sato never took the annual tsunami drills seriously. She thought the town's thick, two-story-high harbor walls would protect against any big wave.” In other words, Minami did not believe it was even possible that a tsunami could have this type of devastating impact on her community.

     This story could really be about us. All of us are guilty of refusing to admit the devastating impact that sin has had on our culture, community, country and across the world. There has been a tsunami of sin in our culture and like Minami, many do not take the warning signs seriously. The immorality in this world is having a major impact on the generations behind us.

     Think with me for a moment. Sexual immorality alone has grown considerably in our culture. Statistics show that many would rather cohabitate and have the benefits of marriage without the risk of commitment. Sex before marriage, as well as sex outside of marriage  have become more accepted. Divorce is on the rise and family is being redefined by our government as they try to force the acceptance of homosexuality. God designed family! Who are we to change God’s design?

     Minami Sato trusted that the two story harbor wall would protect her small town off the northeast coast of Japan but it failed to do so. The same is true for the Church. People expect that the church would protect their community from a tsunami, but just as the harbor wall failed Minami, the church is failing people. Many times we fail to stand in the face of immorality and slow the destruction of sin. In Matthew 5:13-16, Jesus called us salt and light. Salt slows the decay and light shines in the darkness. This is exactly what the Church, the body of Christ, should be doing. We should be slowing the decay of immorality. We should be shining the light of Jesus in this dark world.

Let’s go and be the Church,

Greg Edens

Marriage

     During my devotion time this morning in 1 Corinthians 7 God showed me something about my marriage. In this chapter, Paul writes to believers about the responsibility each spouse has in the marriage, as designed by God. But what struck me this morning was what Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 7:8-9. Paul says, “Now to the unmarried and the widows I say: It is good for them to stay unmarried, as I am. But if they cannot control themselves, they should marry, for it is better to marry than to burn with passion” (NIV).

     I have read 1 Corinthians several times and these two verses have never caught my attention quite the way they did today. It is a good reminder to me that the Word of God always speaks even when we have read it again and again. While reading these two verses my mind immediately thought about my wife, Amey. In particular 1 Corinthians 7:9 reminded me that Amey is a gift that God has placed in my life in order that I would not sin against him by burning with unholy passion and being tempted by sexual immorality. My marriage is an incredible picture of God’s protection over me if I am willing to honor him. My marriage to Amey is designed to keep me from sin! I am passionate for my bride.

     This does not mean that marriage is always easy. Marriage takes work. Gary Thomas, in his book Sacred Marriage, asks the question, “What if God designed marriage to make us holy more than to make us happy?” This morning, I am grateful to God that He designed marriage, and more specifically that he designed Amey to make me holy. What about you? For those who are married, are you grateful to God for the gift of marriage today?

Stay faithful

Greg Edens