Rob Bell - the Emo Pastor

Rob Bell.  If you are a Christian, you probably know who this guy is.  You've either read Velvet Elvis or a friend has said "Holy crap you just HAVE to read Sex God.  It's SO amazing!"  I fell into that category 2 years ago or so with Velvet Elvis.  I read it, and at the time, I thought it was amazing.  Several people I talked to warned me about some of the stuff he said, but I just wrote it off as them being "too Presbyterian" (cough...Dustin Jernigan...cough).  Then, over the summer, I read Sex God.  I thought it was terrible.  People thought I was crazy for thinking it was terrible, but I did.  And it was more than just me being cynical.  Something didn't feel right about it, and the more I thought about it, Velvet Elvis felt about the same.  So I did some thinking and some research and this is what I came up with.

Rob Bell is, at best, standing on very shaky theological ground.  I am no theological giant myself, but a lot of the stuff Bell says is just BS, and it contradicts scripture.  That's the easiest way to put it.  I don't have any exact quotes because I don't have a copy of either of his books with me, but if you've read them, you know what I'm talking about.

Here's an example:

-In Velvet Elvis, Bell talks about the story where Jesus walks on the water and Peter walks out to him.  Bell says that Peter did not lose faith in Jesus, rather Peter lost faith in Peter, which is why he sank in the water.  Peter lost faith in his own ability to walk on the water.  

The story, as told in Matthew 14:22-37, is that the disciples are out on a boat and Jesus walks out to them.  At first they think it's a ghost, but Peter calls out and says that if it is Jesus to have him walk out to him.  Jesus tells him to come on, and Peter walks out, initially believing in Jesus and his ability to let Peter walk on the water.  Then, Peter sees the wind and the waves and gets scared and sinks, and Jesus grabs him and takes him back to the boat.  Peter took his eyes off of Jesus and he sank.  This is in sync with John 15:5, which says "I am the vine, you are the branches."  This verse ends with the phrase "Apart from me you can do nothing."

According to Jesus, apart from me you can do nothing.  Yet, according to Bell, Peter had the ability in and of himself to walk on the water.  Something has to give right there.

-Bell, and the Emerging Church in general, aren't too crazy about the thought of Hell, either.  Hell, or the eternal separation of man from God, is a real thing.  In Sex God, Bell talks about Hell but he only defines it as a situation that we create on earth when we are mean to people.  Again, the Bible talks about Hell, a real place where man is separated from God for eternity, several times.  I don't know if Bell personally believes in Hell or not, but it's a pretty significant thing and it's like a heresy by omission or something.  I don't know if that's a real term or not, but it's omitting part of the truth, and that is not a good thing.

There's some other stuff too, but I don't feel like looking it up.  I don't think people should avoid Rob Bell and his books/videos/sermons, because I do think he says some good stuff occasionally, but people who read him need to do some research on what he's saying and not just accept it for truth.  He does a fantastic job of packaging stuff into a hip package that is aesthetically pleasing, and because we think he's so cool and his books are printed so uniquely, we don't look into it much.

But as with anything, scripture is the ultimate standard, and Jesus Christ is the ultimate truth.  As far as I can tell, while Bell does say some good things, he has a lot of very significant points that simply do not line up with scripture.  

My most hated cities...

So, as I was walking around in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, on Saturday, and thought to myself "man, I really hate this city."  Then I got to thinking about my most hated cities, which is tough because I generally like most of the places I go.  So, here is my list.  It's not necessarily in order, except that Branson holds, and always will hold, the top spot.

4. Tuscaloosa, AL. - Outside of the strip, a total dump of a city.

3. Jackson, MS. - Contrary to popular belief of Jacksonians, this is not the center of the universe, and if it were, it would be a crappy universe.  Pretty good food though - Keifer's is fantastic.

2. Starkville, MS. - I'm kind of obliged to put this here.  I really just don't care for Starkville one bit.  Except for the food.  It's fantastic.

1. Branson, MO. - The absolute worst place in the world.  I know a handful of good people that I like from there, but overall, this place is terrible.  And the food sucks.

Playing guitar

I think that playing guitar is the single most frustrating thing I do.  I pick it up, and I have things, thoughts, and feelings that I want to express, but I can't seem to make the right things come out.  Maybe it's not necessarily the guitar that's the problem - I'm not great by any stretch but I'm decent.  I know my way around chords and can do some really basic riffs and stuff, but it's just that - it's just chords.  I can play chords and things that sound like music, but I can't make songs.  And I get frustrated with just playing those chords and playing other people's music.  It's frustrating.  Have I said the word frustrating enough?  I'm sitting here with my guitar by my side on the couch, with these thoughts.  Thoughts of love, fear, frustration, and an intense desire to run away.  And I just don't know what to do with them.  I know what I want to do with them, but I I just don't have the slightest idea.  

Oh well.

A Sports Post - Ole Miss Tradition?

So, on the free message board on the Ole Miss Spirit (omspirit.com), there was a thread about basketball and I contributed.  Someone asked about the pre-game routine, and said that back in the day when Col. Reb came down from the rafters and they had the strands of crepe paper coming down was the coolest thing ever or something like that.  I said I thought Col. Reb was bush league, and somebody responded with this:

"Call the streamers and Col. Reb 'bush' if you want, but two things for sure.

1. You obviously have little if any pride in tradition as far as your Col. Reb remark"

To which I responded with this:

what do you mean by tradition?

hopefully it's my generation that is laying the groundwork for the actual "tradition" of which you speak.  hopefully it's my generation that is going to stand up and say enough is enough, we're tired of tradition being based on mascots and tailgating.  we want wins.

y'all complain and whine and cry about col. reb and "tradition but what tradition are we talking about?  my dad is almost 60 and he has a hard time remembering the "glory years" and i know nothing of any success in any major sport minus a tie for the SEC west in 2003.

so, you're right.  i couldn't care less about "tradition" especially when it's one so mired in mediocrity.  actually, to say it's been mired in mediocrity is being generous.

i want more than the grove and pretty girls.  those things are good, but when we're repeatedly getting beat down week in and week out (and then it turns into year in and year out).  i want to see ole miss win CHAMPIONSHIPS, and anything short of that is tradition i don't care about.

so, you're right.  i have no pride in ole miss "tradition" because there is no ole miss "tradition" to speak of.  i do love ole miss and do want to see ole miss have that tradition, but i want it to be something tangible.  i want it to be trophies.  i want it to be nets cut down.  i want it to be banners put up in vaught hemingway and tad smith.  not some pathetic mascot.  so if that's what you mean by tradition, then no.  i couldn't care less about it.

That was the meat of my post.  I think it speaks for itself.