Category Archives: Bible

Intersecting Hell

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Where do you dwell?

My recent readings have intersected.  I have been reading a series of lectures on C. S. Lewis by a Dr. Louis Markos as well as reading Rob Bell’s Love Wins: A Book about Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived.   Bell starts with Jesus’s word for hell, Gehenna.  Gehenna was an actual valley outside of Jerusalem that was used as the city dump, where fires burned constantly and animals gnashed teeth as they fought for scrapes.   Gehenna was not desirable real estate. 

Lewis wrote about hell in The Great Divorce.   His image of hell: dirty, grey mean streets of a city slum where it is always dusk and always raining.  Scholars think Lewis was using London during a smog alert.  (I might be tempted to use a picture of Minnesota in March, when snirt (snow/dirt) never leaves and spring never comes. )   Lewis’ basic definition of hell is the absence of God: where God says to those who reject Him, “your will be done.” 

 Both Bell and Lewis agree that hell is not only a destination to be avoided after death.  It can be our reality right now.  Hell emerges when we allow our sinful nature to dominate our lives.  It can be drugs, alcohol, ambition or greed.  Or it can be something simple like grumbling.   C. S. Lewis wrote,

Hell begins with a grumbling mood, always complaining, always blaming others . . . but you are still distinct from it. You may even criticize it in yourself and wish you could stop it. But there may come a day when you can no longer. Then there will be no you left to criticize the mood or even to enjoy it, but just the grumble itself, going on forever like a machine. It is not a question of God ‘sending us’ to hell. In each of us there is something growing, which will BE Hell unless it is nipped in the bud.

The Good News is that God has come to rescue us from hell.  Jesus’ life, death and resurrection carries all who believe into his kingdom of heaven.  Tomorrow I will post on their intersection in heaven.

Do images of hell help or hinder your faith in God?

Daily Multigrain

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Daily Bread

Okay, yesterday was Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent.  Yesterday many of us went to church, confessed our sins, received the promise of forgiveness and went home.  Now what?  How are you going to allow God to work in your life today?

It does not have to be some big spiritual feat or sacrifice.   A simple prayer asking God to start your day with grace and gratitude.  For example, take one petition from the Lord’s Prayer, such as “Give us today our daily bread.”   Reflect on that as you eat your breakfast, drink your morning cup of tea, as you start your car or turn on your computer. All that we have, all that we use each day is a gift from our Creator. 

Martin Luther answered the question, “What does ‘daily bread’ mean?”  in the Small Catechism. 

Everything included in the necessity and nourishment for our bodies, such as food, drink, clothing, shoes, house, farm, fields, livestock, money, property, an upright spouse, upright children, upright members of the household, upright and faithful rulers, good government, good weather, peace, health, decency, honor, good friends, faithful neighbors and the like.

Slow down and see the amazing grace all around us.  Our daily bread is truly multi-grain and nourishing.

 Where was God for you in the second day of Lent?

Bible Favorites

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What are you?

Recently I asked members of Resurrection Lutheran to write brief devotionals based on their favorite Bible verse.  These devotionals will be assembled into a booklet to used during Lent by members and friends of the congregation.  I am excited with how the writers have engaged Scripture and its interplay with their lives.  Each person has a unique perspective, reflection, or idea that opens up a verse or story in a new way.

When I was growing up, the Bible was a storybook filled with fascinating characters and plots.  It was exciting, lively and challenging.  As a teenager I sometimes went down strange tangents, looking for new interpretations that would catch my fancy.  I remember reading the “wheel within a wheel” passage in Ezekiel 1 and wondering if it was describing a spaceship!    The wonder and mystery of the Bible was alluring to me.   

 Then I went off to college and I was challenged to see the historical context of the authors, to learn the Biblical languages of Hebrew and Greek, and to understand the literary motifs and forms within the Bible.  At times I was fascinated with this knowledge, gaining tremendous insight into this ancient collection of books, poems and laws. To read Genesis 1 and 2 in light of the Babylonian creation myths brought me new wisdom and excitement.   But I also was disturbed by this avenue of learning because it seemed to make the Bible into an artifact to be dissected and classified.  The Bible lost some of it awe and wonder.

I know that some of my classmates lost their faith during this time of critical examination.  I waffled from time-to-time in my own grasp of  truth and faith.   Yet the sheer power of God’s glorious grace continued to shine through to me.  God’s love was evident in the midst of the history, language and myth of the scripture.   I remember hearing a quote from the great Swiss theologian, Karl Barth.   When asked how one could best summarize the Bible, he said, “Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.”   

I am excited to see how the Lenten devotional will touch and influence the culture of Resurrection.  We are all called to engage scripture, to listen for God’s voice in God’s Word.  

How or when has a Bible story or verse impacted your life?