A stewardship sermon based on events in the life of Benaiah, King Solomon’s hitman. Facing our insecurity by jumping right into the pit.
How To Be A Christian Without Being A Jerk
Faith in real life
Category Archives: THINK AGAIN
How can a loving God create Hell? Because he loves us…
Throughout Christian history, there has always been a voice from Christians who think everyone will be saved eventually. This is called “Universal Salvation,” or “Universal Reconciliation.” Either God will forgive those who oppose Him to the end or there will be a probation period of time in the afterlife where those who oppose God are given the chance to change.
We hear phrases like, “Jesus has arms wide open on the cross and he dies to embrace everyone,” or, as Pope Francis recently said, “”The Lord has redeemed all of us, all of us, with the blood of Christ: all of us, not just Catholics.” Books like, “Love Wins,” by Rob Bell, come to mind, as well.
These phrases and books, and others like them, may not be advocating Universal Salvation, but they are interpreted by some as a calling for such. Most of this thinking begins with the viewpoint that Heaven is a place of bliss and Hell is a place of torment. Then the quotes start popping up.
“No loving God would create Hell.”
“God doesn’t want to lose anyone.”
“In the end God will bring all his children home.”
Well, there is a key piece missing in this whole “Universal Salvation” puzzle. I think it is obvious, but it must not be, because otherwise gifted authors and scholars, miss it. It’s called choice.
Not all kids end up home in the end. They don’t want to go home. In fact, some children leave home and never return. Not because they can’t; they don’t want to. They choose to stay away.
People choose to not want God in their lives all the time. If you live a life of not wanting God, eventually you can’t want God in your life. As human beings we have a finite will and we can exhaust that will into becoming the kind of people who can’t want God.
If this is the case, then why would people who don’t want God, who can’t want God in in their lives, want God in their lives? And even worse, why would they want God in their lives for eternity?
Heaven would become a place of torment. Especially when you are met by Jesus. Heaven would be worse than Hell. Right in front of your eyes, forever, you would be faced with your ultimate rejection and you would spend eternity knowing you are wrong. No one would choose such torment, willingly, would they? Unless you want to live with Jesus forever, Heaven is to be avoided if at all possible.
Dallas Willard says it this way,
“Heaven is a place for people who can stand it.”
I know it sounds crazy, but actually God is brilliant on this one. Hell becomes a gift of love in the end for people who don’t want Him. At least they get to spend eternity separated from God, and so rather than having to face they are wrong for eternity, at least they get to spend eternity blaming God for being wrong. Being unfair. And out of love, God can take the slander. Dallas says this about Hell:
“Hell is the best God can do for some people.”
Dana Hanson show w/ Olu Olubunmi and James Coffman pt.2
I interview Olu Olubunmi (okayhouseunlimited.com), from Nigeria and James Coffman, from Minneapolis, and we talk about the spread of the gospel in the early church as it relates today. Continue to listen to this fascinating conversation…
Listen Here
Dana Hanson Show w/ Olu Olubunmi and James Coffman pt. 1
I interview Olu Olubunmi (okayhouseunlimited.com), from Nigeria and
James Coffman, from Minneapolis, and we talk about the spread of the
gospel in the early church as it relates today. Listen in on a
fascinating conversation…
#003 Grandpa in the Stands w/ Dana Hanson- Radio Show
When you’re a kid, there’s nothing like mom and dad in the stands at your games. But even better? Grandma and Grandpa! Listen in, as I interview a raving fan of his granddaughters sporting events, Grandpa John Stotler.
Everyday Life for a Christian-podcast
When god seems distant, it’s not distance
Hannah is a hero. Pray + Listen= Prayer
God’s antidepressants
Here are the Bible’s antidotes to destructive feelings.
Faith and hope
These go hand in hand. Faith is acting in confidence on belief based upon reality. Our reality is Jesus. As we trust in him, we are capable of “seeing the future.” This brings us to hope. Hope is the anticipation of good that is coming. When we combine faith and hope we act as if the good God has in store for us is already happening. It is.
Love
Love is to will the good of others. To desire good for another and to act upon it. To make choices that bring good in someone else’s life.
Love is not the same as lust, which is to desire for the sake of what we can receive. Love is giving of yourself so that other people receive benefit in their lives. Love produces the healthy feelings we are hoping for. When we are being transformed by Jesus this is what our lives look like. It is a process.
We are loved by God.
We love God.
We love others.
They experience God’s love, and, therefore, love us.
A life filled with love produces feelings of love. Fear, pride, resentment and such are all dying out because we have the power of Jesus to show us we are completely safe in a life with him.
Joy
Joy is a deep sense of well being. We face life knowing all is well in spite of any circumstances of challenge and hardship. Jesus means for us to have a life of joy (John 15:11). This makes it possible for us to be secure in all circumstances. We aren’t on an emotional roller coaster, where every trouble brings feelings of fear and anxiety.
Peace
This word has two meanings.
1. To be at peace with God is to be reconciled to him through Jesus.
2. Peace is also a sense of well being based on confidence in Jesus.
We live in peace when we know God is in charge. Then destructive feelings of anxiety and fear disappear. Not because there is no trouble and pain, but because we face everything from within the Kingdom perspective and can take the long view.
A transformed life has an environment where faith, hope, love, joy and peace can flourish.
Whatever is troubling you recently, what is the absolute worst thing that could happen, as a result? What could God do if that would occur?
Taking on Jesus As Your Partner
In order to have lasting transformation, Jesus chooses to partner with us. Dallas says it this way:
Without Jesus I can do nothing, but if I do nothing, it will certainly be without Jesus.
The path of self-denial is a one of cooperation. Not everyone understands this. I come out of a faith tradition (Lutheran Christian) that so strongly emphasizes grace (God’s free gift of love) that any effort on our part will smack of “works righteousness.” We are trying to earn God’s love if we talk about doing the right things. The spiritual disciplines are not a focal point of life because they seem to be human effort to earn God’s favor.
As a result of this kind of thinking, after we become Christian, we are supposed to just sit back and be transformed through some kind of spiritual osmosis. That is not the reality of Kingdom life, however.
By fearing we would have a “heart attack” if we dare speak of doing something to grow in our faith, we become complacent in our non-response. Strangely, for some Christians, it becomes a badge of honor not to do anything.
Trouble is, transformation doesn’t happen this way. This is why the lives of most Christians don’t differ that much from anyone else. Without partnering with Jesus, we are on our own. He will not do our self-denial for us. Oh, we don’t doubt we will be with him in heaven someday, but Jesus actually wants to work with us in Kingdom living now.
There is another way. Our efforts fall into the category of VIM. “Vim” is defined as ”energy and enthusiasm,” from the Latin vis, meaning “strength.” Dallas uses it as an acronym for Vision, Intention, and Means. Through this three-step process, Jesus transforms us into the kind of people who can do the things he would do if he were us in any situation.
“We don’t do good things so that God loves us. God loves us, and our response of thanksgiving is to do good things.” Explain
We are in this together
How do you move from a life of radical ruin to a life of radical goodness? You have to get off the throne of your life, where you are the ruler and god, and allow Jesus to take his rightful place on the throne. You need to be transformed in all five parts of heart, mind, body, social life, and soul.
That should be easy, right? Just get a little more focused? Just try harder? Actually, you can’t change using the direct approach at all. Either you won’t think you are capable of changing, or your instinct will be you don’t need to change. Self-worship is a powerful force. Everything that makes you, “you,” will scream out, “No!”
We need to take a different approach. Just like in athletics and the arts, we need to practice. We need to take a disciplined approach.
There are age old spiritual practices that have been effective for those who have become more like Jesus over the centuries. These “spiritual disciplines,” as they are called, take what is unnatural, self-denial, and make it natural. We address ourselves indirectly, because the direct way will fail. The devil and our own sinful selves’ gang up on us to convince us that there is no way this denial is possible; or it is not necessary.
Spiritual disciplines like silence and solitude, prayer, Bible reading, fasting, study, journaling, practicing simplicity, worship, and the like, make it possible to become more and more like Jesus. This indirect approach to transformation distracts our natural tendencies to rule in our own lives. Let me give you one example. You are experiencing one of the disciplines right now.
By reading this, you are practicing the discipline of study, and I trust it is helpful. Yet, I’ll let you in on a little secret. This is one of my key spiritual disciplines, as well. I study and think about what I am studying and pass that on to you in the form of this book. This is a good discipline for me and I share it with you, because whoever you are, if I can be any influence on your expanding as a disciple, I expand, as well.
Why is it so important that we encourage each other in transformation?
