Rob Bell closes with “God is not angry because God is love.” I haven’t seen any of his followers here deny that he said that. So we all agree that is what he said. The problem is that according to the bible, this is wrong! Scripture teaches that God is angry AND he is Love. The two are not antithetical. I get angry at my kids when they do the wrong thing, but if you even imply that I don’t love them, then I’d really be angry. No one is saying that God is not love. We get that. But I do say that God is not one dimensional because scripture teaches that God is a whole lot more than Love whether we like his other attributes or not.

Consider John 3:36
“Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him.”

Notice that God’s wrath doesn’t “come on him” it “remains on him”. That clearly says that God’s wrath is on everyone who has not responded correctly to the Gospel. There is so much more support in scripture for this, but I’ll just add one more,

Ephesians 2:3
“All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath.”

I count well over 30 other times in the New Testament alone that talk of God’s wrath and anger. And what shall we make of Romans 9:13? “Just as it is written: “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”???

The Bible can’t be more clear. Got is angry. So back to what Bell says. “God is not angry because God is love.” It doesn’t matter what the context is of everything else Bell has said before or after this. This statement is dead wrong. Now if you can find me somewhere that Bell clearly communicates that God is in fact angry, you might have a case that Bell isn’t teaching an incomplete view of God. Of course, then you’ll be showing that Bell is sending out mixed signals. Is God angry or isn’t he? Scripture is clear to the salvation of many, Bell is not clear to the destruction of many.

PS. Again, nobody is denying that God is Love – scripture is equally clear on that point. God is both and more!

Roford, you also say that Bell’s message isn’t directed toward Non-Christians. Is that something Rob Bell told you in private? I can’t find that disclaimer anywhere else, but in your post. You must have some insight to Bell’s intentions that others do not. If you are correct, then at the very least, Rob Bell is reckless for not making that point clear. It is to quote the first half of Romans 8:28 and not the latter half. God Loves, God works all things for good, but only to those who love God and are called according to his purpose. What makes you say that Bell’s message is for Christians? The fact that he leaves the Gospel out of it, perhaps? If the Gospel was presented, wouldn’t non-Christians benefit from it?

Sorry he didnt do exactly what you had hoped for. I can only hope that someone projects their expectations onto you and then holds you as a heretic when you dont do exactly what they expected. Next time you preach a sermon on a subject other than salvation, hopefully someone stands up and calls you out for not preaching repentance.

Please contribute to the Kingdom in a productive way. Blogging about how someone else isn’t preaching salvation and repentance every time they open their mouth just makes you look 1. jealous and 2. like you are attacking the someone that has added to the Kingdom in ways you obviously are too shallow to see.

Not everyone has a fire and brimestone agenda.

Just LOL at your opening comments which explain your heart and motives…”I went as a pastor precisely because I was concerned that he would end up saying that God was not angry at sin. Bell lived up to my expectations.”

I’m sure you voiced your concern to him right? No, you ran to your computer to “blog” about him. Very “pastorly” of you.

What a joke. I’m sure you have a million justifications for feeling the way that you do, but just come to the knowledge that the Kingdom is growing and expanding in ways that your shallow mind cannot comprehend. Try not to to lash out and attack it when you see it ok?

Thanks for “looking out” for the Kingdom, lol.

Keep reminding them of these things. Warn them before God against arguing about words; it is of no value, and only ruins those who listen. -2 Tim 2.14

Don’t have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels. And the Lord’s servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. – 2 Tim. 2.22-24

And heck, I don’t even really care what you think of Rob Bell. I’m just annoyed that you think your doing the church a service by attacking him. Unless you can come up with something more convincing than “Rob Bell is like John Lennon and Oprah” then you should probably stop comparing him to Hymeneaus, Philetus, or Alexander, and stop comparing yourself to Paul.

The stuff you write is not helpful. Its why some Christians are afraid to speak, because they fear they will be criticized by people like you, instead of loved and accepted. If your really going to call him a heretic or an apostate, then you need something a little more concrete. You need to show me where he explicitly denies the existence of Jesus, or denies the Trinity, or the authority of Scripture. You can’t just say that he talks about love too much and so you don’t like him. And you can’t take stuff that he says out of context and start connecting dots that he himself would never connect. That is not what Paul did.

I guess what I am looking for here, is a little bit of grace and humility.

Funny that you’re not interested in fighting for sound doctrine or engaging in conversation about people, or even naming names. Apparently Paul thought it was important:

This charge I entrust to you, Timothy, my child, in accordance with the prophecies previously made about you, that by them you may wage the good warfare, holding faith and a good conscience. By rejecting this, some have made shipwreck of their faith, among whom are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme. 1 Timothy 1:18-20

Remind them of these things, and charge them before God not to quarrel about words, which does no good, but only ruins the hearers. Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. But avoid irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness, and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, who have swerved from the truth, saying that the resurrection has already happened. They are upsetting the faith of some. 2 Timothy 2:14-18

Perhaps Paul should not have named or had discussions about Hymenaeus, Philetus, or Alexander…he should have been out feeding the homeless…

No wonder the church is impotent. This is what our leadership spends it’s time on…tearing other people down.

You guys keep arguing about Rob Bell and taking stuff out of context. I’ll be busy feeding homeless people.