Special Announcement Aug 31, 2011: After almost three years as Interfaith Spirit Quest, we have a new name, a new location, and a slightly different focus and direction. It's called LifOvation!! All future posts will be posted at www.lifovation.com - we hope you'll come over for a visit now and then! Thank you for your past support - it has been a huge blessing to be part of this ministry and we look forward to an exciting time of spiritual exploration in our new ministry.
LifOvation: There's a new Christ-centered Community Center coming to Appleton, WI - founded by yours truly & friends after feeling called by God to do so! LifOvation will have its own permanent location for services, events and activities! LifOvation will offer a unique service style and refreshing content. Learn more at www.lifovation.com. Please share with friends and let us know your thoughts. :)
Why the new direction?: After almost three years of exploring the religions of the world through a Christ-centered lens, we believe that it would be a good idea to begin weekly services for people of all-faiths to learn about the spiritual therapies of the Universal Christ.
Everyone can experience God in their hearts, in their relationships, and in their communities. By learning more about the one we call 'Jesus' we discover how this is possible. Let us shine the light on the wisdom of knowing and practicing the way and religion of Jesus. Jesus is for everyone. The cross represents the love and devotion of Jesus and the revelation of God to the people of the Earth. Religion is the personal experience of divinity within. It's in the here and now, our religion has present and eternal realities.
Jesus is where faith meets reason.
This is the age of the "Epochalypsis":a disclosure or unveiling of something hidden from the majority of humankind in an era dominated by falsehood and misconception.
Divine Spirit and Creator of all that is and that will be, Comforter and Greatest Friend of all, You are in our thoughts, You are Part of our spirit, We sense You and we stand in Awe of You!
May we each day learn to Love each other more as You Love us. As you Will! Thank You for all that You provide on Earth and in Heaven! Your Love sustains our Body, Mind and Spirit here in our Earthly homes, and Your Love promises to sustain us forevermore in Your Heavenly mansions.
Teach us to love and forgive others as You Love and Forgive us. Guide us each step of every moment and Save us from ourselves. You are the One True God of us all, teach us to truly love All of You, now and forever.
Did you think Rob Bell was the first one to come up with the idea that hell is more of a state of circumstance, rather than a literal place of eternal torment? Think again - far from it! There are not just a few who have come to these same conclusions. In ten plus years of personal study, I too came to these same conclusions. Then I began to discover others more 'educated' and 'prominent' than my humble self, who shared my views on the whole subject. Praise be to God.
This book, Hope Beyond Hell, shares information about the concept of hell, and names some of the many religious ministers and scholars, including the Pope of all people, who have denounced the medieval concept of hell as a literal place. Hell is a circumstance of the mind, and it's something that can be worked through, God has provided a way for all people to traverse this dilemma.
A little excerpt from 'Hope Beyond Hell' by Gerry Beauchemin - page 176:
"Any human or demon can destroy lives. So could God, of course. But only God can create, transform, and restore. What do you think would give God greater pleasure and glory, destruction or restoration? Shall we restrict His possibilities by placing limits on His power and purpose? What would you expect from an all-powerful and all-loving God? I would expect the unexpected, the impossible, and that alone which reaches the highest and most noblest of thoughts!"
"To Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we can ask or think." (Ep. 3:20) "He will swallow up death forever and will wipe away tears from all faces (Is 25:8)
(...all faces)
...continuing on Page 177:
"I have good news for you. Positive signs indicating Christianity is already well on its way out of the dark ages of terror are beginning to emerge."
from page 178:
R. Albert Mohler Jr. in Modern Theology: The Disappearance of Hell, pointed out:
"In 1995, the Church of England Doctrine Commission released The Mystery of Salvation, an official report commended by the House of Bishops. The report embraced a hope of universal salvation, arguing that it is "imcompatible with the essential Christian affirmation that God is Love to say that God brings millions into the world to damn them."
--Eternal damnation is 'imcompatible' with God. Indeed. :)
Page 179: (I didn't know this!)
"Even Pope John Paul II redefined hell in a 1999 General Audience at the Vatican. The traditional doctrine of hell was redifined to remove virtually all threat of eternal torment and any sense of place "
Hope Beyond Hellis a well researched book, packed with all sorts of references and excellent information - check it out!
In the spirit of kindness, simplicity and reconciliation, enjoy and participate.
Taizé-hymn - Bless the Lord my soul (lyrics)
Bless the Lord, my soul,
and bless God's holy name.
Bless the Lord, my soul,
who leads me into life.
What is a Taizé-hymn? From Wikipedia:
The Taizé Community is an ecumenical Christian monastic order in Taizé, Saône-et-Loire, Burgundy, France. It is composed of about 100 brothers who come from Protestant and Catholic traditions. The brothers come from about 30 countries across the world.[1] The monastic order has a strong devotion to peace and justice through prayer and meditation. It was founded in 1940 by Brother Roger Schutz.[2]
The community has become one of the world's most important sites of Christian pilgrimage. Over 100,000 young people from around the world make pilgrimages to Taizé each year for prayer, Bible study, sharing, and communal work. Through the community's ecumenical outlook, they are encouraged to live in the spirit of kindness, simplicity and reconciliation.
The music emphasises simple phrases, usually lines from Psalms or other pieces of Scripture, repeated and sometimes also sung in canon.
Sally Quinn from the Washington Post interviews Rob Bell, author of the new book, Love Wins, asking him the two most important questions people really want answered. Listen to Rob Bell's answers to these two important thological questions:
What if you're wrong about hell?
If there's no hell, then why did Jesus die for our sins?
After reading the book, and listening to Bell's answers in this video, I think Rob Bell is declaring to the world what we all intuitively know in our hearts. On the question of 'What if you're wrong about hell?' Bell basically says that if God would throw billions and billions of people in hell for all eternity, even those who've never heard of Jesus, then we've got bigger problems than the theology in his book, Love Wins.
On question two, Bell reaffirms his belief in hell, he's not a universalist persay, as some define universalism; instead, Bell maintains that people have a choice whether to accept God's grace or not (which is very similar to the views held by another famous Christian, C. S. Lewis). Bell believes Jesus saves, but he saves everyone.
In his book, Love Wins, Rob Bell goes into much greater detail on both of these issues. As a former fundamentalist Christian myself, I found it necessary to drop the title of Christian because I could no longer accept the conventional, modern day interpretation of the Bible by modern day fundamentalists, nor can I accept extreme alternative offered by the liberal wings of the Christian church as a whole. Love demands freedom, it cannot feel threatened. This is something we all know intuitively, it's our choice whether to accept it as truth or not.
Love Winscould potentially change everything! This brand new book by Rob Bell - could just be the most unifying, interfaith, conservative Christian book to come out of this messy age of religion since... maybe... the Bible? Who knows? This book is exactly what the conservative Christian tribe needs to thrust them into this inspiring new world created by Jesus over 2,000 years ago.
A Book About Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived.
Rob Bell addresses one of the most controversial issues of faith—the afterlife—arguing, would a loving God send people to eternal torment forever…? With searing insight, Bell puts hell on trial, and his message is decidedly hopeful—eternal life doesn’t start when we die; it starts right now. And ultimately, Love Wins.
God asks for our heart.
Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
Jesus replied: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind." This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: "Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." --Matthew 22:34-40
Jesus came proclaiming God's love for us, asking us anew to give our hearts to God; but the religious authorities of the day, in cahoots with the government, got rid of him, because he was perceived as a threat to their establishment. In 2007, conservative Christians named Rob Bell #10 on their list of "The 50 Most Influential Christians in America" as chosen by The Church Report readers and online visitors. Is the Bell still ringing true? How will the conservative Christian community receive Bell after they read his new book, Love Wins?
Rob Bell is an author, pastor, innovative, dynamic person who presents a deeper Biblical vision for discovering the richer, more majestic and true, and more spiritually satisfying way of understanding heaven, hell, God, Jesus, salvation, and what it means to come to Jesus. The "good news" is way better than we ever imagined.
Rob Bell was interviewed by Lisa Miller of Newsweek March 14, 2011, the day before the book release; and thus began a moment of contemplation for many Christian leaders around the world. God is not willing that any should perish. Will God have His way? Or will the religious authorities of the day have their way? Does Love Win for everyone? Or does this message get ignored in the same way the good news of the Bible is ignored by many?
Then I heard the Lord asking, "Whom should I send as a messenger to this people? Who will go for us?" I said, "Here I am. Send me." --Isaiah 6:8
What do I see? I see a man whos says 'Here am I, Lord, send me!' I will ring that bell with you Pastor Bell. I believe Bell is proclaiming a truth felt within the heart of millions of Christians who are afraid to speak up about the fact that they can no longer accept the hell and brimstone message they've been taught in the past. Afraid of losing their worship community and possibly a few friendships should they break rank, they remain silent instead. I know I have lost friends over my beliefs, but I keep loving everyone anyway - and to borrow a phrase from Rob Bell "You're Next!" :)
The stubborn theological nincompoops of today, and the people who listen to them, can be as stubborn as the ones who were alive at the time of Jesus. Soon, I fear, the accusations will begin ....'false teaching' ....'heretic' ...'blasphemy' ....'heterodox' or 'unorthodox', etc.... and just like that, they will miss their opportunity to move the ship toward the way of Jesus! They may have developed too much pride over the years to change their evil ways. But in the end? Love Wins.
What would happen if we believed in
Love instead of hell? Seriously.
Order Love Wins, by Rob Bell - release date March 15th, 2011.
Here's Rob Bell in the Love Wins promo video:
Love Wins, by Rob Bell, release date March 15, 2011
Oh little town of Bethlehem Looks like another silent night...
There's a very controversial line in this video that stirs the emotions, 'As we're sung to sleep by philosophies that save the trees and kill the children'.
Who are we kidding? Do we really think trees deserve more of our concern than our children? Can we not simultaneously save and lift up our children while also treating the Earth and its resources with good regard? Yes. We can.
Are you in tune? Are you playing in the right key? Rob Bell, a Christian speaker with the goal of rediscovering Christianity as an Eastern religion, as a way of life, speaks about who God is in this 10 min video. Well worth watching!!
"God gives us life and breath and everything else. God is generous. God is unrestrained, unconditional love."
The video left me with these thoughts: Jesus came to show us how to live in tune with the song, this is the way and the truth and the life. God's love is flowing within each one of us, everything that God is, is within us. Our hands, our hearts, our minds ...God is flowing through them. We have God's power within and we can make a difference. Does God love one and not the other? Does God save one from calamity and not the other? He came to show us reality at it's most raw. In his (Jesus') telling of truth, showing us this truth, we see the extremes of humanity and the love of God. Jesus didn't need to die, didn't have to die, could have prevented it, but chose not to. Why? Because we need to know the truth, we need to know the extremes we are capable of in life. We need to know how far apart and how close together hate and love can be. God is Love, this Love is flowing within each one of us, we need to hook onto that Love and discard the hate within that could even go to the murderous extreme of killing Love.
It occurs to me that traditional and progressive Christianity is a facade that is fading because it is not working anymore. God is the instrument of love flowing through our hearts, bodies and minds, making us an integral part of the orchestra! We will not be punished for being out of tune, but of course playing in the right key, being in tune, is a whole lot more fun and fruitful - for everyone!
Rob Bell - Are You In Tune?
Video begins and ends with some good music. For the impatient ones out there :) ...Bell begins the talk around the 1:20 mark.
TheMiracles of Christmasis a plan to create a more meaningful Christmas and eliminate the over-commercialization of the holidays. This plan can also be used at other holidays and special celebrations.
Thanksgiving morning, November 25, 2009, our family came up with a new and meaningful way to celebrate Christmas. After bringing it up and discussing it with my spouse over Thanksgiving breakfast, we decided we should discuss the idea with the rest of the family - they loved the idea! The fact we all agreed that it was at least a good idea in theory, is a miracle in and of itself. The idea is about making dreams and wishes come true, it’s about The Miracles of Christmas, and it might even make a Scrooge look forward to Christmas again. Perhaps this will be your Christmas of the future. Of course this theme may be used at other holidays such as Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, birthdays, you name it.
The Miracles of Christmas is a new way to celebrate a more meaningful Christmas or other Holiday. The idea is to allow one Christmas/Holiday wish per person and then to give that person the undivided attention and participation of the whole family or group for an allotted time period, agreed upon by all. If you have a large family, you may wish or need to spread this out over a couple days, and if you have a small family; you may choose to allow more time for each person. Alternatively, you may wish to choose 2 or 3 main activities that everyone agrees on. Simplify the process a little bit if a lot of people are involved. Every year will be different and memorable in its own way. You can make this as easy or as elaborate as you wish. You create the guidelines.
Last year, I wrote three posts pertaining to the Miracles of Christmas. These three posts explain the plan, offer up ideas, and tell the story of how it went for my family. You can read all three posts here:
Meet locally with other spiritual seekers - join the Interfaith Spirit Quest (ISQ) Community on Meetup.com! Check our calendar for upcoming events - ISQ is located in Appleton, Wisconsin, USA!
