In Evil Long I Took Delight

Here is the poem by John Newton that I quoted on Easter Sunday:


In evil long I took delight,
Unawed by shame or fear;
Till a new object struck my sight,
And stopped my wild career.

I saw One hanging on a tree,
In agony and blood;
Who fix'd His languid eyes on me,
As near His cross I stood.

Sure never till my latest breath,
Can I forget that look;
It seem'd to charge me with His death,
Tho' not a word He spoke.

My conscience felt and own'd the guilt,
And plunged me in despair;
I saw His blood my sins had spilt,
And help'd to nail Him there.

A second look He gave which said,
I freely all forgive,
This blood is for thy ransom paid,
I died that you may live.

Thus while His death my sin displays,
In all its blackest hue,
Such is the mystery of His grace,
It seals my pardon too.

With pleasing grief, and mourful joy,
My spirit now is filled,
That I should such a life destroy,
Yet live by Him I killed.

Rob Bell Reviews

The more I reflect on Rob Bell's book "Love Wins" the more disturbing it becomes. In fact, it is downright dangerous and cruel. That's right, cruel. It is cruel to see people heading towards danger and to tell them that it's not that dangerous.

Instead of continuing my review, there are some much smarter, wiser people that have done that very thing. Here are the best reviews.

John MacArthur is doing a series of blogs on Love Wins

Here

Here

Here


Dr. Al Mohler has a good review

Here

Frank Turk also has a good open letter to Rob Bell

Here

Mud Run - Pics

The race was in the shadow of Downtown Fort Worth. We started next to Lagrave Field...home of the Fort Worth Cats.




Brett and I before the Race








Some post race pics:

Mud Run - Post Race Recap

I survived!! And... it was awesome! The race was very challenging...I was sucking wind...the obstacles were a blast...and I had a great time with my pastor friend Brett Storseth...who, by the way, won! He led the race from start to finish! Incredible.

The race started off with a good mile run. There were a couple of small obstacles, just enough to get your heart pumping and weed out the really slow runners. The first major challenge was a swim across the Trinity river. I don't know what was the bigger challenge; swimming with army boots on, or trying not to think about what toxins were in that river?

After that swim there was a good 50 yard scramble up a steep hill. From that point on cardio was the issue. I had to slow down a few times but kept a decent pace. I think I finished 7th in my wave.

The worst obstacle: we had another swim across the Trinity, up a small bank, and then about a 150 yard plod through a mud bog of a feeder creek into the Trinity. The mud was sloppy, thick, and sticky. It was hard to walk through, I fell several times, and it would suck your feet down. The worst part was the stench - it had that putrid, old pond/sewage type of smell. It was exhausting to get through that bog.

The best obstacle: lots of them were fun...the mud crawls...cargo net...the platform jump into a pit of water...all were a blast and I wanted to do them again. I think my favorite was more of an accomplishment. It was the 9 foot wall. It was just far enough in the race that I was pushing for air and I hadn't thought about or practiced how to get over this wall. So, I ran and jumped and was able to get a grip with my hands...arms mostly extended, but I was stuck there. No momentum. The only thing I could think to do was throw my left elbow over the top...then I basically swung my legs up to the top...flipped head over heels...and landed on the other side on my feet...how did I do that? It hurt and I have a good bruise on the underside of my left arm as a badge of honor. But it was getting over that I enjoyed the most.

For most of the race I was in between groups. The really fast group, Brett and 5 others, outpaced me, and I was a good distance ahead of the group behind me. So, I got to run and do most of the course by myself. I kind of enjoyed that...just pushing myself...enjoying the challenge...it was fun.

Brett finished and came back to cheer me on and run alongside of me. I think he was a bit surprised that I was as far along as I was. It was a good encouragement to keep going and finish the last few obstacles strong. I did and my finish time was 1 hour and 24 minutes. Pretty good for an old fart.

Reflecting on the whole thing: the race was a great motivation for me to workout consistently in the few months before. I feel like I am in good shape - that is always a good thing. I love to compete...that was fun. It was a great challenge...and I got to do it with a friend.

When is the next one?!

Mud Run

This winter a friend introduced me to adventure racing. Perhaps a bit foolish, I decided to sign up for the DFW Mud Run. It is a 10k race with about 30 muddy, wet, challenging obstacles.
The race is this Saturday, April 9th.
There are two divisions, the competitive division and the non-competitive one. I like to compete, but that division ran on Sunday morning and I was unwilling to give up a Sunday to do that. So, I will compete in the non-compete division. Maybe it will make me look better.

I have always been athletic and worked our fairly regularly, but I never did much endurance running. I know that 10k is not that far for many, but will be further than I have ever run at one time.

I have been training now since about late January and have received some great advice from a few friends. My friend Dave Elliot (check out his blog here) gave me some good tips and advice. By the way he does another type of adventure/endurance racing that makes a 10k look like the salad before a 5 course steak dinner. My brother in law, Chuck, who runs the fitness boot camp (see here) has also been training me.

I feel like I am ready, but I know that I am not going to be too fast. My friend Brett Storseth, who got me into this, (pastor in Wichita Falls see here), has done lots of these and is going to smoke me at the mud run.

I feel like I am in good shape. Better shape than I have been in a while. It seems that I need something to motivate me to be consistent -- competing and not looking like a fool is some good motivation for me.

I'll let you know how it goes after Saturday.

Continuing our discussion of hell and justification...

In Jesus, and Him alone, the Justice of God is satisfied, and the Love of God is extended.

This leads us to consider a couple of other questions. If Jesus' death satisfies justice why is there still a hell? Does this mean that everyone automatically goes to heaven?

The belief that everyone goes to heaven is called universalism. This is essentially the position of Rob Bell. (His position is a bit more nuanced, but boils down to universalism)

You can come to that position, but just not from scripture. Jesus was clear that not everyone ends up in heaven. In fact, he says that most people will not end up in heaven.

But, if Jesus died for justice why do some still go to hell? The answer is that the gift of acquittal must be received in order to appropriate its benefits.

The biblical requirement for receiving the gift of pardon is repentance and faith. Jesus took the punishment, offers the gift, and gets to set the terms necessary for one to receive His gift. That is repentance and faith.

We must be clear about this. Reception of a gift is not a work to earn the gift. In fact, repentance and faith are a gift from the grace of God as well. If someone does not appropriate the pardon Jesus purchased then they forfeit its benefits forever. This is a tragedy. The gift is available and hell can be avoided. All one has to do is receive their pardon by grace through faith. If they don't, they will spend eternity in hell.

Imagine this: a person, JQ Everyman, has been walking down the broad path of life. JQ Everyman is handcuffed with his arms behind his back. He walks down a long hallway and comes to two doors. One door is big, broad. It is already opened. He can see down the path that this big door leads to. It is a broad path and there are lots of people ambling down this path. But, there is another door in front of JQ Everyman. It is a much smaller door and it is shut and locked. He is convinced that this door is the door to real life. But he can't open it, or go through it. It's locked and his hands are cuffed.
The owner of the door does something that JQ Everyman couldn't do for himself. The Owner comes and unlocks the door, and takes off his handcuffs. The Owner even opens the smaller door. JQ Everyman can see down this road. It is smaller, there are not as many people walking down it, but what he sees is truth, life, the Owner's invitation to walk with Him.

Then JQ Everyman turns away from the Owner and walks through the big door down the broad path that leads to destruction.

The story and analogy is far from perfect, but it is a bit similar to heaven and hell. Yes, Jesus satisfied the demands of a Just God and extends the love of God. But, if a person does not appropriate that by grace through faith/repentance, then they are walking down the broad road to destruction.

The jail door has been opened, the way to freedom is available if man would but repent and believe in Jesus. If not, they will spend and eternity in hell.

See Matthew 7:13-14

For review: God is Just and Holy. He would be perfectly justified in offering no one the opportunity of a relationship with Him and going to heaven. This because we are sinners. The fact that there is a way to be justified by Jesus Christ is the amazing love of God. He is both perfectly just and loving.
One cannot make a sound, biblical argument for the position of universalism.


Coming up next: some more thoughts about the reality of hell.