EDEN'S FATEFUL CHOICE

How beautiful the flowers bloomed on Eden’s brow

The lion feeding with the lambs together grew

And perfect peace became the pledge for all to see

God’s awesome glory and eternal majesty.

No virgin love could ever match two hearts that day

As heaven’s Presence followed them at work or play

The Tree of Life whose leaves brought healing to all men

Gave Paradise one glorious hue of color blend.

But pride began to question freedom’s right to choose

The Serpent’s plan apart from God seemed better news

So in the course of time the fruit to make one wise

Became the sting of death that caught man by surprise!

But why this veil of night so cloaked in haunting fears?

Would man exchange God’s righteousness for mortal tears?

It was the price that disobedience had to pay

That formed this chasm touching every man today.

Yet from the ashes of despair the Lamb was slain

To bridge this separation from sin’s crimson stain

So while He calls for you to meet Him face to face

Receive this priceless Gift of God’s redeeming grace.

--B. Pent

OPRAH AND ROB BELL'S GOD

After listening to Oprah's interview with Rob Bell about their "new" and "enlightened" gospel, I felt compelled to respond with this warning: “the Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons . Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron” (I Tim. 4:1-2). This interview was a deja vu of what produced the 60's hippie-free-love movement.  It is the "pantheistic" gospel which was born in the Garden of Eden with Satan's deceptive question: "did God really say?" with its death-knell-hook: "God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God knowing good and evil" (Gen.3:1,5).  The problem we all have is trying to understand an infinite God through our finite minds.  There are many questions about the Bible I still have a hard time understanding.  My puny mind can't embrace, comprehend and, much less, answer issues that are not clearly or even remotely explained in Scripture.  God is too incomprehensibly omniscient and because He is the "Potter and I am the clay", I must rest my decisions on what I do know the Bible teaches and that is a faith issue!   Having said that, I sense that Rob and Oprah are trying to explain God by humanizing God and ultimately deifying man.  God is Love but He is also Holy and Just!  We cannot fully understand Grace unless we wrestle with the issues of Justice and Mercy, otherwise, Christ's death was a big mistake and Redemption must be explained away.  Maybe that is why Christ was not even mentioned or remotely suggested in their entire conversation except for a casual statement of a historic Jesus in the gospels. 

   The Apostle Paul dealt with this same problem in the church at Galatia. A new kind or a gospel was being introduced which Paul calls a "heteros" gospel: "I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to another gospel--- which is really no gospel at all" (Gal.1:6-7) and then comes down pretty hard on those who apostatize, with the warning: "if anybody preaches to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned" (v.9). 

   My real concern is that many Christians are being mesmerized or subtly sucked into a "new age" kind of theology that desires to make the gospel more acceptable to everyone.  But the exclusiveness of Christianity demands that our only understanding and explanation of the Gospel be drawn from Scripture only.  That is why Paul warned Timothy: "study to show yourself approved unto God, a workman that is not ashamed but rightly dividing the word of truth" (2 Timothy 2:15).

    While listening to Rob and Oprah, the Lord brought to my mind a Scripture that applies to this interview or any other teaching that either denies or waters down God's inerrant, irrefutable and infallible Word of God: "there will be terrible time in the last days.  People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love...lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God---having a form of godliness but denying it power. Have nothing to do with them" (2 Tim.3:1-5).

   I trust this will give you a little light into the "window of my soul" which includes a deep longing and prayer that Robbie returns to the God Who is absolutely Just, Merciful, and full of Grace and whose Son, Jesus Christ, came to show us a Love which passes ALL understanding.