Rob Bell, Universalism and Nigerians
NOTICE: It has come to my attention that Jesse Morrell teaches Open Theism and Kerrigan Skelly with Jesse denies Man's sinful nature at birth. They are firm believers in Pelagianism which is a heresy and is not supported by Transplant Ministries. At the time of this article these views were not known, and Transplant Ministries has since distanced themselves from OpenAirOutreach and PinPointEvangelism. (Tony who is also mentioned in the article runs seedshakers.net and is still a good friend)
Rob Bell, Universalism and Nigerians.
I was fortunate enough to be able to go and see Rob Bell speak at an event he calls "the gods arn't angry". I went with my brother, my brother insisted on the way there that I was making a big deal out of this whole Rob Bell thing...I stated it was more serious then he thought.
So after three hours of driving to Raleigh, NC we managed to get to our destination at a concert hall. Upon parking in the Garage we ran into a Nigerian named "Friday". He was a Parking attendant . Friday saw my brothers T-Shirt, my brother the radical Christian had a shirt that said "Jesus Loves me and my Tattoos", it also contained a small tattooesque skull and bones. Friday went up to him and in a very deep African accent pointed and said that Skull and Jesus do not belong, my brother said wow, I never even noticed that on there really. Friday then looked at me and my shirt. It was an Iron-On Transplant Ministries Promo Shirt. It said on the front "REPENT! It's a dirty word, but Jesus used it!", Friday scolded me to in his thick accent he said..."No No No...Repent is not a Dirty Word. It is Beautiful, If you tell someone to Repent it means "I Love You!", Me and my brother both amazed at the depth coming from his broken English thanked him and continued on our way...
The crowds were building outside and I met my former pastor from Lynchburg. As we were let in the first thing me and my brother noticed were the Mini-Bars allowing people to buy Pepsi, cookies, beer and hard liquors.My former pastor said "Well you never know it is Rob Bell" My first impression was that must be for the ballet people across the hall in the theater to the left of us...I was wrong. People were lining up and we saw someone walk into the hall with a cup of beer in hand. My brother who regularly sees the damaging effects of alcohol was greatly disturbed by this, (He is a designated driver for his friends)
But that's not the centrality of the issue. Because ultimately beer is a non-essential to the Doctrine, the doctrine has to be above all things.
I want to say that as I knew going into this that I should be on guard, I wanted to take the advice of a friend of mine who said "Just enjoy it" so honestly that was my plan, well it was until he started speaking.
Rob Bell came out to a applause, not greeting the audience or introducing himself but immediately sucking you in to his incredibly brilliant and captivating story telling methods. He started out telling stories of tribal god's and he built you up in history till we got to Abraham, there were several implications of how he got to God, he implied that our God was a result of thousands of years of other god's and how radical our God was from the others of the time, to an extent true however our God did not form from other god's and societies and cultures, Our God was always there and the other false gods were results of him, he discussed the History of how people started making sacrifices as a way to "Please God" and how they gave God offerings for fear of Judgement, until Abraham, then people gave offerings for Blessings. "Our God wants us to be blessed...This was radically different."
Prosperity preaching aside, it is wrong. Sacrifices were done not as a result of other god's but because God commanded it, it did not start with Abraham it started with Cain and Abel.
After he got up to the point of sacrifices he made it to Leviticus where he discussed that the point of Leviticus was to know where you stand with God. This is true to some extent, he talked about the peace offerings and how God wanted us to be at Peace..He mentioned being at peace a lot.
From Leviticus he came upon the Sadducee's, Rob Bell said these people profited off of the Guilt of mankind..."Imagine that" he said to robotic, worshipping laughter from the audience. This was a direct stab at fundamental Christianity and I would like to propose it was even more directly an attack of the Way of the Master evangelism process.
Then Jesus came, Jesus Christ entered the temple with a bull whip not because he was "Angry" but because that's how you made statements back then, you wrecked something in guerrilla form as a way to show significance. He was telling them that the temple was not needed anymore that they would destroy it and in three days it would be rebuilt.
He then went into what I feared was universalism and the attack on Guilt. Now upon reading this please keep in mind it is late and my memory is not as fresh. One thing is clear, Rob Bell is heavy on universalism.
You see According to Rob Bell Jesus died to save us not from hell, but from guilt so we can have peace.There is no need to be guilty with Christ's sacrifice and he is Right, The death of Jesus Christ takes away the weight of the Law. However he did not die on the cross to do make us feel better he died to save us from Hell and God's Judgement. Because well God is angry at Sin. Love, Joy Peace Patience are results of salvation not the reason to be saved. Man's greatest need is saving from the coming Judgement. Jesus took the wrath of God on his shoulders for us...We just need to do something to receive it.
Repent and place our trust in Christ.
This is where Rob Bell failed. Besides the night being so dry and shallow spiritually, Rob Bell hung the Good News from everyone like a cheesecake just out of reach of a dog. He never told us how to receive the Grace of Jesus Christ. He failed...it was a tragedy.
What was the worst thing Rob Bell said? He declared that repentance was "A Celebration" when you repent, you celebrate. This is so not true. I would argue that Repentance is the exact opposite of Celebration. Celebration is done after you repent, once you receive assurance of eternal life. But repentance is a Holy time between the sinner and the savior where the Sinner humbles himself before the God of the universe and says. Save me I have wronged you, Please do not let me wrong you again. This is no time to celebrate, it is a time to weep to be humble and to pray. Rob Bell never said we need to repent because according to him "It was already done", We already have it. Universalism.
It was just wrong...The whole story, the entire speech was terribly twisted with truth and deception that my brother caught onto his round about post modern speaking style in the first fifteen minutes and said that this guy is really off base and said he was sorry he doubted my opinion to begin with.
Afterwards there was one of the saddest standing ovations I have ever seen. It really is solom to see people just follow a leader off a cliff with no idea what they were about to do. Every Word Rob Bell said was clung to, every thought, every walk across the stage...
As we left outside there were two guys doing exactly what Rob Bell spoke against in NOOMA 009. They were open air preaching. My brother ran to them and sat between them among the steps, we waited for them to finish and shook their hands, for an hour and a half we watched them preach. The most arrogant, self righteous "Christians" came and mocked them, one of them stood right on top of the same stand and side by side with Jesse the open air preacher screamed "PEANUTS, Get your PEANUTS"
Me and my brother were in shock, these were people that were coming from the Rob Bell event, standing laughing at him who was mocking in a very "Christian" like manner.
As Rob Bell would say...And...everyone...was...laughing.
Then from nowhere I heard a deep African accent. It was Friday. He heard the preaching and came to listen, he Even was allowed to get off work for a few minutes. His smile was contagious and me and my brother greeted him as if we knew him for years. As the heckler Got down Friday went up to him and his posse and said "Why do you Mock a man who preaches the Word of God...Do you know that God is Authority?" He pointed where Rob Bell was, "God was not there tonight...God was out here", he pointed to Jesse.
I guess the accent of a tall African man humbles the proud for a minute because he quickly left. I talked to Friday and asked if people Open Air Preach in Africa, he said all the time. Open Air Preaching is only rare in America because we do not do it. Friday was not embarrassed of the Word being preached in the public square, he ran to it, and sat down anxiously getting off of work to listen to them. Friday was starving for the Word.
Afterwards while talking to Jesse and Kerrigan and Tony, a Rob Bell fan came up to us and asked us questions regarding pragmatism and Open Air Preaching, he was really humbled and Jesse and Kerrigan did a great Job of showing him the transformation of a regenerate sinner. Please pray for him,. Visit OpenAirOutreach.com for more information of Jesse and Kerrigan. They love the Lord, and want his Gospel preached everywhere, they truly have a heart for the Lost. If only everyone else did. If only Rob Bell did.
Marcus
Bull Whip Guy
Rob Bell Have Faith in Ourselves
Rob Bell, Universalism and Nigerians.
I was fortunate enough to be able to go and see Rob Bell speak at an event he calls "the gods arn't angry". I went with my brother, my brother insisted on the way there that I was making a big deal out of this whole Rob Bell thing...I stated it was more serious then he thought.
So after three hours of driving to Raleigh, NC we managed to get to our destination at a concert hall. Upon parking in the Garage we ran into a Nigerian named "Friday". He was a Parking attendant . Friday saw my brothers T-Shirt, my brother the radical Christian had a shirt that said "Jesus Loves me and my Tattoos", it also contained a small tattooesque skull and bones. Friday went up to him and in a very deep African accent pointed and said that Skull and Jesus do not belong, my brother said wow, I never even noticed that on there really. Friday then looked at me and my shirt. It was an Iron-On Transplant Ministries Promo Shirt. It said on the front "REPENT! It's a dirty word, but Jesus used it!", Friday scolded me to in his thick accent he said..."No No No...Repent is not a Dirty Word. It is Beautiful, If you tell someone to Repent it means "I Love You!", Me and my brother both amazed at the depth coming from his broken English thanked him and continued on our way...
The crowds were building outside and I met my former pastor from Lynchburg. As we were let in the first thing me and my brother noticed were the Mini-Bars allowing people to buy Pepsi, cookies, beer and hard liquors.My former pastor said "Well you never know it is Rob Bell" My first impression was that must be for the ballet people across the hall in the theater to the left of us...I was wrong. People were lining up and we saw someone walk into the hall with a cup of beer in hand. My brother who regularly sees the damaging effects of alcohol was greatly disturbed by this, (He is a designated driver for his friends)
But that's not the centrality of the issue. Because ultimately beer is a non-essential to the Doctrine, the doctrine has to be above all things.
I want to say that as I knew going into this that I should be on guard, I wanted to take the advice of a friend of mine who said "Just enjoy it" so honestly that was my plan, well it was until he started speaking.
Rob Bell came out to a applause, not greeting the audience or introducing himself but immediately sucking you in to his incredibly brilliant and captivating story telling methods. He started out telling stories of tribal god's and he built you up in history till we got to Abraham, there were several implications of how he got to God, he implied that our God was a result of thousands of years of other god's and how radical our God was from the others of the time, to an extent true however our God did not form from other god's and societies and cultures, Our God was always there and the other false gods were results of him, he discussed the History of how people started making sacrifices as a way to "Please God" and how they gave God offerings for fear of Judgement, until Abraham, then people gave offerings for Blessings. "Our God wants us to be blessed...This was radically different."
Prosperity preaching aside, it is wrong. Sacrifices were done not as a result of other god's but because God commanded it, it did not start with Abraham it started with Cain and Abel.
After he got up to the point of sacrifices he made it to Leviticus where he discussed that the point of Leviticus was to know where you stand with God. This is true to some extent, he talked about the peace offerings and how God wanted us to be at Peace..He mentioned being at peace a lot.
From Leviticus he came upon the Sadducee's, Rob Bell said these people profited off of the Guilt of mankind..."Imagine that" he said to robotic, worshipping laughter from the audience. This was a direct stab at fundamental Christianity and I would like to propose it was even more directly an attack of the Way of the Master evangelism process.
Then Jesus came, Jesus Christ entered the temple with a bull whip not because he was "Angry" but because that's how you made statements back then, you wrecked something in guerrilla form as a way to show significance. He was telling them that the temple was not needed anymore that they would destroy it and in three days it would be rebuilt.
He then went into what I feared was universalism and the attack on Guilt. Now upon reading this please keep in mind it is late and my memory is not as fresh. One thing is clear, Rob Bell is heavy on universalism.
You see According to Rob Bell Jesus died to save us not from hell, but from guilt so we can have peace.There is no need to be guilty with Christ's sacrifice and he is Right, The death of Jesus Christ takes away the weight of the Law. However he did not die on the cross to do make us feel better he died to save us from Hell and God's Judgement. Because well God is angry at Sin. Love, Joy Peace Patience are results of salvation not the reason to be saved. Man's greatest need is saving from the coming Judgement. Jesus took the wrath of God on his shoulders for us...We just need to do something to receive it.
Repent and place our trust in Christ.
This is where Rob Bell failed. Besides the night being so dry and shallow spiritually, Rob Bell hung the Good News from everyone like a cheesecake just out of reach of a dog. He never told us how to receive the Grace of Jesus Christ. He failed...it was a tragedy.
What was the worst thing Rob Bell said? He declared that repentance was "A Celebration" when you repent, you celebrate. This is so not true. I would argue that Repentance is the exact opposite of Celebration. Celebration is done after you repent, once you receive assurance of eternal life. But repentance is a Holy time between the sinner and the savior where the Sinner humbles himself before the God of the universe and says. Save me I have wronged you, Please do not let me wrong you again. This is no time to celebrate, it is a time to weep to be humble and to pray. Rob Bell never said we need to repent because according to him "It was already done", We already have it. Universalism.
It was just wrong...The whole story, the entire speech was terribly twisted with truth and deception that my brother caught onto his round about post modern speaking style in the first fifteen minutes and said that this guy is really off base and said he was sorry he doubted my opinion to begin with.
Afterwards there was one of the saddest standing ovations I have ever seen. It really is solom to see people just follow a leader off a cliff with no idea what they were about to do. Every Word Rob Bell said was clung to, every thought, every walk across the stage...
As we left outside there were two guys doing exactly what Rob Bell spoke against in NOOMA 009. They were open air preaching. My brother ran to them and sat between them among the steps, we waited for them to finish and shook their hands, for an hour and a half we watched them preach. The most arrogant, self righteous "Christians" came and mocked them, one of them stood right on top of the same stand and side by side with Jesse the open air preacher screamed "PEANUTS, Get your PEANUTS"
Me and my brother were in shock, these were people that were coming from the Rob Bell event, standing laughing at him who was mocking in a very "Christian" like manner.
As Rob Bell would say...And...everyone...was...laughing.
Then from nowhere I heard a deep African accent. It was Friday. He heard the preaching and came to listen, he Even was allowed to get off work for a few minutes. His smile was contagious and me and my brother greeted him as if we knew him for years. As the heckler Got down Friday went up to him and his posse and said "Why do you Mock a man who preaches the Word of God...Do you know that God is Authority?" He pointed where Rob Bell was, "God was not there tonight...God was out here", he pointed to Jesse.
I guess the accent of a tall African man humbles the proud for a minute because he quickly left. I talked to Friday and asked if people Open Air Preach in Africa, he said all the time. Open Air Preaching is only rare in America because we do not do it. Friday was not embarrassed of the Word being preached in the public square, he ran to it, and sat down anxiously getting off of work to listen to them. Friday was starving for the Word.
Afterwards while talking to Jesse and Kerrigan and Tony, a Rob Bell fan came up to us and asked us questions regarding pragmatism and Open Air Preaching, he was really humbled and Jesse and Kerrigan did a great Job of showing him the transformation of a regenerate sinner. Please pray for him,. Visit OpenAirOutreach.com for more information of Jesse and Kerrigan. They love the Lord, and want his Gospel preached everywhere, they truly have a heart for the Lost. If only everyone else did. If only Rob Bell did.
Marcus
Bull Whip Guy
Rob Bell Have Faith in Ourselves
posted by Marcus Pittman at
4:35 AM
9 Comments:
Hey Marcus! Good post brother. It was good meeting you last night. Maybe I will see you again sometime in Virginia. By the way, my name is spelled Kerrigan :0)
I am reading this awhile after you posted it, but it made me sad and happy. Sad, knowing about Bell's false teachings for awhile, having read his books, read interviews, watched nooma's etc., and seeing how many folks are being led astray by him. Happy, reading about Friday and the open air preacher, my heart soared!
Reading about what Friday said to you and your brother about your t-shirts, and what he said to the mockers, I wanted to kiss and hug him to pieces, for his strong faith, and bold speech. Thanks for posting about this and caring enough about your brother to keep on trying to help him see what's going on. God bless.
Thank's Kim, it is good to know he is being exposed. Thanks for visiting the site!
Marcus Pittman
My brother Marcus
I do thank you for your skepticism, and deciding to test what is being taught, however in my opinion your synopsis of Rob Bells speech is a little flawed.
Rob Bell was not at all saying that we got our God from thousands of years of other Gods, he was showing what the basic religious customs were in Mesopotamia at the time.
Your right that sacrifices start with Cain and Abel, but I cannot find where it is said that God commanded them to do it. In fact all the early offerings of sacrifice i see by Cain and Abel, and even Abraham were done without command from God.
Of course he took a stab at fundamental Christianity using the sadducees, are you going to deny that there are a ton of people in ministry today that are simply there for their own gain, and not for the glory of God?
Now, your are of course correct that Jesus was sacrificed to save us from death/hell, but what kind of death? Not only did Christ die to save us from an eternity apart from God, but to save of from sin (death) here on earth. Perhaps you have a different way of looking at thing then I do, but for me I could care less weather God takes me to heaven when I die, or me simply stop existing or any other possibility (I of course do believe that God will grant his followers eternal life, fullfiling the covenant he has made with us)
But I whole heartedly believe that the most significant part of Christs sacrifice was that it allows us to change ours lives, understand that God will forgive us of our follies, and live life like Jesus walked. Salvation is not about going to heaven, merely an added bonus; and if heaven is your goal then you need to rethink your selfish ways and ask God to teach how to follow in the footsteps of your master. (Jesus would have lived the life he lived and died on the cross just for the sake of what he did while he was here, even if he were not to rise from the grave)
Repentance is a celebration is the worst thing Rob Bell said? I don't disagree that repenting is a holy and humbling time, but my friend have you ever really repented of your wrongs? Or do you fully understand the weight of your past misdeeds? How can one not celebrate after pouring out your heart to God, listing with shame all the horrible things you have done, knowing what you deserve is death and only death. Only to have God look down on you and say "I don't remember those things, no go and follow me." Marcus, repentance brings the greatest celebration on earth.
Now, about the guys preaching on the streets, I for one am not agianst street preaching, I have done it myself on many occasions. But the way in which it is performed is vital to it's effect. In the United States someone yelling out fire and brimstone on the streets is not going to help anyone. Our culture does not sit and listen to spiritual uidence from anyone willing to give it as most cultures do. Now i don't think there is any excuse for people mocking them, but I also would have to have been there in oder to comment on the validity of there evangelism.
I am not trying to make stabs at you or your beliefs, I just felt like the things you said were a little off base and thought I would offer up my feelings and concerns as a fellow follower of Christ Jesus. Please take no offense to anything said and if you read this feel free to respond I will check back now and again.
with love,
Josh Boli
brother - you missed it. his message - what he was going for. I have listen to countless messages (and his new book). He is clear about repentance - and about jesus being the only way - he is not universalist at all - it can be proven time and time again (listen to his easter sermon this past year - just to start).
He just doesnt subscribe to one narrow view of atonement (penal sub). historic orthodox Christianity.
This post disgusts me. It saddens me that he with arrogance is tearing down another brother. Why would the world be drawn to this???
its sad how we let the people that need Jesus see how his body beats itself up, let God be the judge, teach and don't punish. JAMES 1:19, JESUS HAS ONLY ONE BODY, LETS LOVE OUR BODY!!!!
This is pitiful. How can you make a claim about a another person's heart and whether they care for the lost? I was also there that night and regret that it has taken me this long to find this ridiculous post.
I had a conversation with one of those "open-air" preachers that you spoke of and I discovered very quickly that they had a very small, wholly inaccurate, image of "God' that they were portraying to those passing by. I also noticed that not one individual was seriously interested in their ranting and I would bet that was the case for the duration of they’re "preaching".
I do remember a girl that we brought with us. She is a friend that had been to many churches, many times, but did not have a personal relationship with Christ. After that night she told me that for the very first time she understood the gospel. She is now a Christian, saved from hell. Through discipleship and scripture, she is acutely aware of the judgment of God, but it was the work of the Holy Spirit THAT NIGHT, through THAT MESSAGE by Rob Bell, that her spiritual eyes were opened. This is undeniable fruit. Much more tangible and powerful than a "deep south African voice" saying where God is and isn't.
Paul said it best in Romans 2:4 when he said, "It is God's kindness that leads men toward repentance"...
Quite frankly, this is what those preachers fail to understand. That is why I, yes me, decided to stand up beside them and offer people peanuts! Because a lost and dying world would do better with a bag of peanuts, than another repelling, inaccurate, alienating, gross, misrepresentation of Gods character delivered in Pharisee like piety.
Some of you would rather defend Rob Bell than look at the actual context of Scripture. But if you are a big follower of Bell then scripture may not really be that important to you after all.
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