All roads lead to Rome

Now that's a title that's bound to get some interest! Jim's lost the plot and headed for the fires of hell, yet again.

Well, I'm not broaching the subject of other religions, I'll save that for some time down the line... But I am talking about doctrines, denominations, theology, paradigms, blah, blah.

I had a run in with someone about "sound doctrine" and if you don't have it you're headed for damnation and need to repent immediately! It was their job to publicly determine who was "sound" and who was a heretic. It doesn't take much to imagine what my response would have been, but I was nice about it!

Sooo, let's take a couple of the most currently contentious doctrines floating around, say, "all are in Christ" and maybe "Universal Reconciliation", "Inclusionists" perhaps, subjective vs objective reconciliation, all that sort of stuff. Its a huge battle as people throw scriptures around trying to prove their points. Books and countless articles, videos and posts about it all. Now you probably know my personal views on some of this stuff, but that's not really the issue.

The point is we need to encourage each other to go for it! Yes, that's right, support and help each other in our quest for truth!

We can trust God in us to guide us, its really that simple. All we need is the integrity and honesty about our journey and the humility to be wrong and the willingness to be stretched. He has given us intelligence, reason, common sense, curiosity, passion and a desire for truth. We need to use these faculties to their fullest. And the best part is He's right there with us in that journey.

Now I can hear some of you saying, "well that's fine as long as its based in scripture, otherwise we'll just drift off into spiritual anarchy and deception". Well, I kinda think God's a little bigger than that. If we are truly living in the integrity I described above, then we can totally trust God to guide us.

The thing is, His grace leads us to intimacy with Him - that's the whole purpose of it. In that place, doctrines become a non-issue, its all about Jesus and us, living loved and all that entails. And from that place we have the permission and the ability to freely pursue all that we put our minds to. His universe (physical and spiritual) is so enormously huge that even the bible is quite a limited document.

That's got a few of you going too, I would guess, but I've covered that in a few previous blogs. Suffice it to say, the bible is awesome and definitely something He left for us to cross reference our life in the Holy Spirit with, but its also been the fuel for the worst atrocities in history.

We are made in His image and we are in union with Him. We are free to use all our God given capabilities and character to pursue His truth, in complete trust that He will guide us. Jesus WILL lead us into all truth.

So my original point? All these doctrines aren't either/or, they are expression of God's heart through us, and we have nothing to fear by pursuing these ideas. Lets help each other in this exciting journey into the enormity of Daddy's heart!!

Another UR rant, sigh...

I was reading an article by a wonderful man who has an incredible grasp on the the grace of God and our life of perfect unity with him. And there are many who teach the wonderful freedom and joy of  the finished work of Jesus and our union with the Triune God.

But, I am saddened by the ignorance of many of these guys those who oppose Universal Reconciliation (UR)! Now I know many fundamentalists would not even give the idea the light of day, so I'm not addressing those. I'm talking about those who understand something of the wonderful grace and love of Father and what it means to live loved, yet take some aspect of UR, line it up with their interpretation of some scriptures and declare it to be wrong. The problem I've found in every case, is they have misunderstood the depth and extent of the concept of UR, and based their premises on a small part of the argument. They refuse to think that God could be bigger than their paradigms, biases and traditional teachings.

The most popular argument against UR is in regard to those who say we are all saved but just don't know it. They say this denies any act of faith or belief on our behalf, so assume that all UR beliefs are in error based on this assumption. Now I can understand that, because if we say we don't have to apply faith or belief or acceptance in some form, that is a total denial of vast quantities of scripture. So I agree. To be "saved" we have to make a decision, to act upon a conviction, to change our minds.

But the real concept of UR paints a much bigger picture. We are talking about far more consequential questions:

• At what point is it too late to accept Jesus for who he is - to make that decission?
• Does the "final judgement" mean most will be eternally tortured in hell with no hope of redemption?
• Why does God outline the depths of love in 1 Cor 13 yet not apply the same standards to himself?
• When God says He will never give up on us does that meant NEVER?
• What about the mistransaltions of the words for Hell and eternity throughout the bible?
• What about the early church's position on UR for the first 400 years?
• What about all the scriptures that DO point to UR. They are probably in equal quantity to those that are used against the argument, so how do we reconcile them?
• Do we totally ignore the obvious similarities between the modern interpretation of hell with classical Greek and medieval mythology? 
• What about the total absence of the concept of Hell in the Old Testament?
• If Hell is so important why wasn't it an integral part of the gospel?
• Why didn't Paul even use scripture, let alone references to eternal damnation in his Mars Hill address in Acts?
• Why are three different words that have nothing to do with eternal judgement and torture, translated as Hell in the New Testament?

The list goes on and on. I've found at best people just talk round in circles, battling one scripture against another. Surely that in itself tells us something! If it was really that clear from scripture then there would be no argument, but its just not clear, whatever way you look at it, and to say it is would be just pig headed dogma!

So, like I usually end up saying, we have to rely on Holy Spirit to sort things out. God did that on purpose! He didn't write a user manual with clear instructions. He compiled a bunch of letters and documents about relationships. He gave us the fullness of Himself to live in union with Him, and the brains to think for ourselves - to question and reason and wrestle with Him about everything!

So, back to UR. What does our heart say? What do we know about the unconditional love of God? What about the prodigal son, the lost sheep, what about 70 x 7? What about the god who lovingly hand assembled every human being and breathed His life into, knowing that most of them would be damned for eternity?

Most christians, if asked in confidentiality, will say they either wish all would be saved, or that hell was not really eternal torture, or that God has something better in mind and we don't really understand these things.

The final question we end up with is: will everyone ULTIMATELY be saved. Will some face a judgement that requires refining before they can accept Jesus? Will some fall on their knees in joy at the very sight of Him? Will some realise that all their "sin" was dealt with and run to jump in Father's arms the moment they see him face to face. And will they be told "too late"!

What kind of God do you know? What is his true heart of unconditional love and justice? Why would you even want to enter into a relationship with a God that would even consider eternally torturing most of the creatures He created. It just doesn't make sense on any level. Unless of course you are happy to put your God given faculties aside, and believe the staus quo!

A quick reflection

Life has been a roller coaster for the last couple of years and I've finally had some time to take stock, sort out new directions, consolidate my beliefs etc.

Many of you probably think I've lost the plot (and you may be right), others have identified with my outspoken views. Thanks to all of you - even those who disagree, because it helps to refine me. 

The loss of my wife (Min), has allowed me to stop enough to assess my own identity again. To look at the things that are my uniqueness - outside of a relationship. The journey into grace and all that entails, is nothing new for me, even though it may seem like that to some. I have always believed the things I now espouse, but never had the time or freedom, at any stage in my life, to examine them closely and explore the truth of these things. So much of my ramblings are processing rather than firm views. I've felt its right to put it out there, as a way to help others on their journey, challenge the status quo, and walk together. 

Those that know me may realise my passion for "the ultimate answer to life the universe and everything" is always pushing me to explore the limits. But no matter how far I go, Jesus is always, always at the centre of it all. I can't get away from that! Without Him it would all be meaningless. My understanding of the depths of His grace really opened up this last year, as the same old scriptures suddenly fell into place, bringing so much into balance and opening the way to the intimacy I always craved. As He revealed more and more of His love to me, the question of how far that love actually goes kept getting more persistent - which is why I began the next step of facing the issue of Universalism. To me, its been the most natural process to realise that His love and the plans for His perfect creation must go hand in hand and that His will, no matter how long and difficult, will ultimately be done. I am now comfortable with the "theology" and feel no need to enter into intense discussion about its biblical basis, although I love discussing anything that glorifies Fathers heart!

The next step seems to be integrating many of the separate streams. There are a lot of variations in the "grace" thing, even to the extent of causing arguments (sigh) and the Universal Reconciliation theme has many variants. But I can see common threads through all this, like joyful glimpses of something just around the bend on a windey road. I shall keep exploring, prayerfully, lovingly, and being totally open with you all in this journey. 

I'll keep throwing my stuff out there for you to get upset about, argue, agree, comment etc, and hopefully we will keep growing together. Most importantly, we should be growing in love. It's more important than correct doctrine. God is Love - everything comes from that!

Good Exegesis!

Gods plan for the world is much bigger than our opinions over a few scriptures. If scriptures were so indisputable and all that was required was "good exegesis" then I think all of our woes should have been well and truly sorted by now. You'd kinda think that after 2000 years we could get our theology right!
But it just keeps getting worse - more divisions, doctrines and theologies than ever before - and more theologians who have the best texts than ever before - and still a bigger mess than we could imagine!
So study is not the answer, endlessly digging up scripture is not the answer. The more we bury our heads in endless studies of the scriptures, the more we end up like the Pharisees.
Its heart, its relationship, its allowing the Holy Spirit to renew our minds to the incredible unity that Jesus enabled. Its letting him be Daddy, knowing that we ARE new creations and he will never leave us. Its relationship - from beginning to end, nothing more, nothing less. He has planned it all from the beginning. He created every single person for relationship and He will not loose even one. I can trust Holy Spirit in me, and being created in his image means all the basics of our personality/character/makeup are like his. The bits that are "greater than our ways" are things like, how He keeps everything going, how He pulls it all together and makes all things work together for good. His character, however, is firmly imprinted deep in our hearts, sometimes tainted, but always the desire of dreams.

He is love, first and foremost, and he has made sure we understand love. Its indelibly stamped on our hearts, every single one of us. WE understand justice, he put it in us, and he gave us wonderful enquiring minds that can explore the depths of all He has put before us. He left things hidden for us to explore, ever unfolding the life before us. He gave us logic and deduction, the ability to philosophy and dream. He gave us Jesus, who became the centre of all our dealings with God, past present and future, gave us a new spirit, so that ALL shall be reconciled, and he came to dwell in us and us in Him - in all his fullness! His love NEVER fails, NEVER gives up, neither in this age or the age to come, and finally He shall destroy death itself.

He is wonderful beyond our wildest dreams, He brings hope to the hopeless, that need suffer no longer. Salvation is now, and through all ages, through trials and sufferings, pride and pain, until all that is not of Him is burnt away and we see Him for who He is and every knee will gladly bow and every tongue gladly confess He is Lord - and we will walk in perfect unity with Him into eternity!

Amen, Maranatha!! (Our Lord come - our Lord has come!)

Saving the Lost

So...
if we really, really believed, that humanity's last hope for redemption is this life and that most will be lost to eternal hell, and we claim to know how Father weeps for the lost and the pain he feels for every one of them breaks his heart, what on earth are we sitting around for, wasting time studying endless doctrines, going to meetings, partying, and even working or going to school for that matter! There are billions needing to know the gospel right now, every second we waste thousands are dropping off into hell - lost forever! This is horrible beyond comprehension, and WE are their only hope! Common, how can you live with yourselves knowing that every second, we are braking Daddy's heart and allowing people to completely unwittingly walk straight into eternal torture!!

Its an unbelievably hard job and the whole burden is on US, its as if every second that passes we personally have "hit the big red button" that sends another one down the chute.

And worse still, poor old God is sitting there utterly helpless, in tears, unable to even give us enough help to do the job, because its our job, and the Holy Spirit is too flat out to get to everyone in time. Yes, of course Jesus died to set us free from sin, but unfortunately it wasn't really that effective, it only works for a few lucky enough to hear about it in time... and oh, there goes another one. Was that my fault? Will I be held accountable for everyone? And what on earth will happen when I finally stand before Him? "Well Jim, you didn't try hard enough and 4,675,237 souls are now being tortured for eternity because of you! But that's okay, because you are saved, and you can spend the rest of eternity with me living happily ever after, and we won't even think about those poor souls any more because that would just spoil all the fun!"

Is this too silly? Really?...

The fear of Ultimate Reconciliation

I think the fear so many feel from even looking at this subject with any sort of objectiveness is real and should be respected. I myself have read all the books about both sides (well, lots of them), been a christian for 40 yrs, gone to bible college, had the full gamut of teaching from every corner of christendom, and I can't escape a few glaring facts that refuse to go away no matter how much theology I throw at them.

The biggest one (which I posted on Facebook the other day) in a nutshell, is something along the lines of: why would God create billions of precious people in his very image, out of his heart of love, knowing full well that most of them would end up in unbearable, horrific torture for eternity with no hope of reconciliation? It not only makes no sense but makes God out to be a tyrant more cruel than any human could possibly be, let alone want to be! He has put his heart of love in each of us - we know what love is, he describes his own character in 1Cor 13. So its not only impossible to think that God would just say "oh well, you lost your chance - off to hell with you and no chance of redemption", it is incomprehensible, and loathsome on any level. We to easily fob it off by saying His ways are higher than ours and other stuff about his justice being pure etc, but how come our standards are higher than His?

So where does that leave us? I have wrestled with this for years, and my passion for Jesus has only grown as I discover more and more of his grace. As I let more of His love fill me this question becomes a bigger issue, something I can't just cover up with a bunch inconsistent scriptures. I'm not afraid to be wrong! But God gave me a brain and a heart, that I have used with as much integrity as I can muster. Something is wrong with this picture - and I think its time we stopped burying our heads in dogma and had sensible discussions knowing that we can trust Holy Spirit in each other!