If you’d like I want to give you the opportunity to share with me where you where when 9/11 happened. Tell your story in the comment box at the bottom of this post.

It was first period when I sluggishly dragged myself into class. Bible College, first year, Moose Jaw Saskatchewan. Moments before class was scheduled to begin there was commotion in the halls. I watched a girl run by our room with her hand covering her mouth. I followed. In the main office was a TV set up and the planes flying into the World Trade Towers on repeat. They set up a second TV in our class. Another girl completely emotionally destroyed began crying out undiscernable gibberish as she ran through the doors of the building and towards the dorms. I ran and caught up to her. I tried to calm her down. I tried to figure out what was wrong. Yes, you read that correctly. What was occurring hadn’t really hit me. The gravity of it I mean. It might as well have been a bombing in the Gaza Strip or London England or Minsk. To this day I feel guilty about that fact. Have I grown numb to the terrors of the world? How close to home does a terror have to be to be something that rocks my emotional and ideological world? Should I feel different about a bombing that happens in America or Canada than I do about a bombing that happens, say, in the Middle East?

Of course the closer an evil is, the more devastating it is to each and everyone one of us.

In the latest CT magazine, an article titled “The Gospel at Ground Zero”, Russell Moore asks:

“Might seeing those images of falling towers hourly on the video-clips of the talking-head cable programs make them seem commonplace, much like the White House explosion from Independence Day, of the Statue of Liberty buried up to her neck at the close of Planet of the Apes?”

Try not to hate me for my apathy that instance when I tried to calm that girl down. You might say that the whole ordeal seemed so unreal. Was this really happening? People jumping from Towers? Airliners highjacked? The U.S.A. closing it’s borders effectively making small Canadian towns the tarmac of the world? Is this for real?

9/11 has changed my thinking in many ways. It brought the subject of evil to the forefront of my mind and made me challenge my assumptions about God. 9/11 reminded me that people are dying – for real – in similar attacks all the time in different places around the world. It reminded my that my comfort in Canada can be taken away by any number of things nobody has yet even thought about.

More than this, it challenged my assumptions about the cross. Another confession: Mel Gibsons movie, Passion of the Christ, didn’t emotionally affect me all that much. I don’t like blood and gore and so would prefer not to see it twice. But when my friends are coming out sniffling and teary-eyed. I felt like nothing but guilt. Why wasn’t this movie “affecting” me like everybody else.

My wife recently said that she had to stop watching Law & Order: Special Victims Unit because it was desensitizing her to the horrors of real life. After 9/11, after the Passion of the Christ, I picked up Elie Wiesel’s book, Night. In it Wiesel describes his experience in a Nazi camp where babies where casually tossed – while alive and screaming – into the furnace. He writes:

Never shall I forget that night, the first night in camp, that turned my life into one long night seven times sealed.
Never shall I forget that smoke.
Never shall I forget the small faces of the children whose bodies I saw transformed into smoke under a silent sky.
Never shall I forget those flames that consumed my faith forever.
Never shall I forget the nocturnal silence that deprived me for all eternity of my desire to live.
Never shall I forget those moments that murdered my God and my soul and turned my dreams to ashes.
Never shall I forget those things, even were I condemned to live as long as God Himself.
Never.

I suspect that to many, many thousands of people, Elie’s lament now belongs to them. Our prayers today go out to all the victims of 9/11, remembering the heroes from the average Joe to the policemen, firefighters, and countless others.

Psalm 23:4

Here are some comments from some of my visitors that deserve repeating:

1. In the article The Problem with Christus Victor Part 1:

“I see no problem with holding to both Christus Victor and Penal Substitution.” ~ Kyle Pitts

Neither do I Kyle! ~ Derek

2. In the article The Problem with Christus Victor Part 2:

“First time visitor to the blog and I like this post, primarly for two reasons…” ~ Ryan Collins

Always happy to have a new “First time visitor”. Thanks Ryan, stick around! ~ Derek

3. In the article Annihilationism, Universalism and the Angelic Problem:

“At the resurrection, all men will be raised and judged according to their deeds. Conditionalists have always believed that the death of the wicked will not be instantaneous, and that analogous to executions in this life, there will be some process involving pain. In similar fashion, the severity and length of the punishment that culminates in death can (and will) vary from person to person. Conditionalists do not deny torment, they just don’t think that it lasts forever.” ~ Ronnie

I did not know that about Annihilationsim Ronnie, I just thought it taught all unbelievers get obliterated at the Great Judgment. Thanks! ~ Derek

4. In the article Evangelism is Hindered: Inclusivism/Exclusivism:

“While eschewing such labels as inclusivist/exclusivist, I continue to hope, pray, and work that, as God desires, “all be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth”.” ~ F. Greg

Right there with ya Greg. ~ Derek

5. In the article Young, Restless, Reformed (In Review):

“I might be older, even cranky.. but I am not a ‘New Calvinist’, but I am an Anglican Calvinist, which ain’t “new”!  Btw, I don’t use the TULIP much myself, but then Calvin did not teach a “Limited” Atonement to my mind.” ~ Fr. Robert

Now here’s a Calvinist I can talk to. Thanks for sharing Robert. ~ Derek

6. In the article Easter With The Orthodox:

“You were very blessed to have the Jerusalem flame. It appears miraculously every year in the holy sepulcher of Christ and for the first 33 minutes, it is said, it does not burn you.” ~ Jodie Anna

Jodie, I did not know that. I’m always the skeptic though. But it was an honour to take part in the tradition. ~ Derek

7. In the article, Evangelism is Hindered: Inclusivism/Exclusivism:

“Derek, In some ways I’m there too. But how I understand the Bible, it seems like we are at least supposed to live like exclusivists are right – aggressively evangelizing and discipling – and then trusting in God’s justice.” ~ Crystal

Crystal, you’ve wonderfully put words of wisdom to a debate which sometimes remains abstract. Thanks! ~ Derek

8. My personal favourite comment of April! In the article Evangelism is Hindered: Inclusivism/Exclusivism:

“Man i like you Derek…..I can relate to you so much and i am thankful for you and your blog/learning. Your friend, Britt.” ~ Britt

Every time I read that comment it makes me smile. It’s real people sitting behind these computer screens. Your a great guy Britt! ~ Derek

I have been extraodinarily graceful towards Rob Bell. Rob is incredibly ambiguous and I have interpreted that ambiguity in a way that hopes for the best. I have tried hard to listen to what he has to say without jumping to gut-wrenching or reactionary conclusions.

Disclaimer: I have not read the book.

Rob Bell does not like labels, he does not like to be backed into corners, he likes “interpretive art”, he likes “dialogue”, he likes ambiguity and tension. In every way he want’s his cake and to eat it too. And as a result he plays fast and loose with terms because – admittedly I agree – terms can become stagnant and dry and even mean different things to different people in different generations. Rob Bell knows this, and uses it to his advantage.

For example, in the interview with Lisa Miller recently when he was asked point blank, “Are you a Universalist?” he responds with what seems to be unimbiguity:

“No, if by Universalism we mean a giant cosmic arm that swoops everybody in at some point whether you want to be there or not.”

But that’s just it, in case you missed it, Bell adds a qualifier. But what if Universalism were not defined in such a narrow way as Rob does here? What if Universalism were defined simply as to say that in some way and some how in the eternal unknown everyone will be in heaven so that we could speak of Universalism broadly as “in the end everyone will universally be saved”; then would Bell categorize himself as a Universalist?

What if Universalism was defined as that “eventually everybody will be persuaded by God’s love postmortem” or as that “God’s love will eventually melt hearts”? I think even by that definition Rob Bell would say he is not a Universalism. Does he accomplishes this by eschewing the label altogether?

When Rob is asked by Martin Bashir in this MSNBC interview if he is a universalist, his answer is telling:

“First and formost no, and that is a perspective within the Christian stream…”

When he says “that” he means “Universalism” as he goes on to make clear. Let’s not miss what he is saying. First he says that he is not a Universalist, but then he seeks to set up a barrier between himself – if he ever were pushed to say that he is a Universalist – and what many perceive to be “heresy” by defending Universalism’s right to orthodoxy.

But Martin Bashir pushes Bell by asking the pressing question which really is at the very heart of why Christians have been so up in arms with Bell’s position:

“So is it irrevelant, and is it immaterial about how one responds to Christ in this life in terms of determining ones eternal destiny?”

It is a carefully worded question which for me strikes at the heart of this issue. If the point of the Gospel is just to be good on earth then who really cares because life one earth is just a drop in the bucket of eternity. Rob Bell’s answer is ambiguous:

“It is terribly important. Now how exactly that works out, and how it works out in the future, we are now, when you die, firmly in the realm of speculation”.

I think Christians would mostly disagree. Sure there is much to speculate about in the afterlife, but the scriptures seem quite unambigous in some very important respects.

But when Bell is further pressed by Bashir, he turns to a defense which I would say falls into the category of inclusivism, not universalism. Furthermore, Bashir seems to be quoting Bell out of context, reading into Bell more then is there, asking leading questions which do not always logically follow and unfairly dismisses Bell’s insistence that love is a choice.

So I’m still not convinced that Bell is a Universalist. At best, he sees to be an ambigous inclusivist or a tension filled “inexclusivist”.

Now I have given you my commentary, what’s your take on the interview?

In this video interview (about 22 minutes in) Rob Bell is asked this question by Lisa Miller:

“Are you a Universalist?”

It is the question which is on everybody’s mind, and to which he answers with this:

“No, if by Universalism we mean a giant cosmic arm that swoops everybody in at some point whether you want to be there or not…. If by Universalism we mean that love doesn’t win and God sort of co-ops the human heart and says “Well you’re coming here and you’re gonna like it.” Um, that violates the laws of love, and love is about freedom, it’s about choice. It’s about “do you want to be here” because that’s what would make it heaven.

Now, do I believe that all sorts of people from all sorts of backgrounds with all sorts of labels will be there? Yes, I think heaven is full of surprises. “

When the next question is posed, well how do you get in? Bell becomes a whole like more ambiguous, explaining that he begins with the heaven and hell we see in this world. “We see hell on earth all around us… I begin with these realities in the here and now.” Jesus is very, unabashadly exclusive and yet he is boldly inclusive. Bell coins the term, “inexclusive”. Some followers of Jesus focus on the “exclusive” message of Jesus at the cost of his inclusive sayings, others focus on the “inclusive” message of Jesus at the expense of his “exclusive sayings”. Jesus is “inexclusive”, and how that pans out? “That’s God’s job.”

Throughout the video Rob Bell is notoriously ambiguous. He takes “tension” to a whole new level and it seems he makes no attempt – in fact he avoids all attempt – at theologically working these things out. So to ask Bell which is it, some passages teach “inclusivism” and others teach “exclusivism”, he says “Both”. How’s that actually play out, “That’s Gods job”. Ours, he would say, is to preach Love.

When Bell trys to deliver this tension-filled message to Miller he says:

“… but then Jesus says stuff like, very divisive stuff like, but, but then he also says, ‘if you’re not against me your for me.’ He is a paradox. Within himself there is tremendous tension, and we’ve been trying to figure it out for thousands of years.”

Notice how Bell could not actually get out the “divisive stuff” that Jesus said but he had no problem – in fact he was anxious to – get out the “inclusive” words of Christ.

Now to the question of why Bell might suppose his book – in which he states that there is nothing new in it – has been deemed heretical by so many people he says:

“I think that grace and love always rattle people. As soon as you say that perhaps this particular little club of people who have decided their the orthodox ones, as soon as you say ‘I think it might be a little wider then that’ you’re threating whole systems.”

At this point I think Rob is taking a bit of a shot at those in the Gospel Coalition who started the controversary. Later Bell adds:

“Do I think that I am Evangelical and orthodox to the bone. Yes. And I think that orthodoxy is a terribly wide and diverse stream and that is the real question here. Is the endless religious sort of compulsion to say, ‘you’re in, we’re in, you’re out’, to constantly sort of narrow it. And I think that the vibrant historic Christian faith is wide and leaves lots and lots of room for variant perspectives”

Bell says that many people have said this in the past and they have all been within the “Jesus tribe”. Now I want to stop here to give an affirmation. On this point I would agree with Bell unambigously, in so far as we are talking about those “within the Jesus tribe”. I tire of Calvinists trying to claim exclusive rights to the Gospel, or Orthodox telling me they are the one true “historic” church and that I must join them to truly be a part of the body of Christ (given my two most recent experiences). Both of these traditions want me to join their club, but I think both are wrong in certain important aspects. Yes, I believe that Christian orthodoxy is a wide stream with “lots of room for variant perspectives”.

The interview portion of the session concludes with an interesting discussion of the resurrection (in which Tom Wright gets a mention I might add). It is excellent (considering Lisa Miller is a Jew who doesn’t “get it”) and very central to Rob’s entire theology – Miller observes. But I’ll leave that discussion for another time.

Until then, thoughts? Opinions? Insights?

They say there is a first time for everything. Well, for your sake I hope that is not true because recently Covenant of Love went through a period of distress which I would wish on no one.

Tuesday night I was finishing up a blog when a terrible storm hit and knocked out our home internet. Not a problem. My post was all but complete and ready to be published.

The next morning I woke up and set about my routine by first checking facebook to see what my friends are up to when I received a notification from my friend who said, “Dude! You’ve been hacked by Muslims Extremist!” I had no idea what that meant.

Shrugging it off I continued my routine by visiting my blog to see if anyone left a comment. I found it odd that I could not sign in, but I was using my Palm Pre phone and figured it was just a glitch. So I decided to go directly to the site which you are now on. I discovered in short order exactly what my friend meant. Just then I received a text from the same friend: “Dude, it’s Nate, I think your blog was hacked“. About that time I received another facebook notification by Billy: “How on earth did your site get hacked???” That’s a good question. (Advice: Update and backup. Update and backup.)

I received further moral support from Britt, Gregory, Jose and George who all took interest in my sorry predicament. I’ll come back to Jose and George in a moment.

So what’s it like being “hacked”? Terrifying actually. Panic sets in right away. You don’t know who to contact or what to do. Your password and email addresses have been changed effectively rendering you helpless.

Friends come along side and offer their incites, experiences and support. But if you’re like me, you’re not much of a techi. It makes following instructions via the internet quite difficult.

My blog is a part of me. It encompasses a piece of my identity. When my writing matures it is a sure sign that I have matured. When my posts are witty, it means I am witty. When they are deep and emotive, they are so because I am so.

If it’s true that words, once uttered, can never be taken back. It is also true that uttered words can be easily forgotten. But written words are easier to store. I have written things I don’t want to lose. Like my article on Wright/Sproul/Scarecrow, or the series I have written on How the Irish Saved Civilization, or the obituary of my cat Sassy who was very much like a daughter and dear family member to me (after 16 years!), or the reflections I’ve written about my father who passed away a few years ago or the wrangling with theological issues of “Justification” among others. That stuff is important to me.

Blogging also takes time. Lots of time and lots of energy. Lots of formatting, and tweaking, adjusting and nestling. Blogging is hard work. It is difficult to get to a place of high standing in Google. It is difficult to make long-term friends and acquire  long-term readers who are not just readers, but engagers, contributors (literally!). People who visit, read, and engage. If people aren’t engaging then what am I writing for. I need people to engage so that I can learn and grow. And when people are engaging I know that I am not learning and growing alone. “As iron sharpens iron.”

All of that, everything I just mentioned, stripped from me in a heartbeat by some vindictive sorry soul whose task in life is to steal joy and security from others. My friend called them “Muslim Extremists”. That’s not quite true, there is no way to know for sure. But terrorists. Yes, that is a more accurate word, internet terrorists of the little guy. Only terrorists usually operate with – what they perceive to be – stated goals or objectives in mind. This Ali Abdennadher had no stated goals. (Love your enemy. Pray for those who persecute you. Forgive. Unconditional.)

As I said earlier, I’m not a techi. My wife’s uncle, Jose, purchased the domain for me and got me all set up. I contacted him (he lives up in Mississauga Ontario) and he went to work right away connecting with the right people, getting my password reinstated and settling loose ends. I owe him a thousand thanks (muchus gracias!).

There were still quirks to work out and I’m not sure all of the damage has yet been contained.

I was fortunate that my server automatically backs up my blog but I was saddened to discover that the last back up was in December. I have published over thirty posts since then including five book reviews, two of my new “polls results” posts, my twenty plus posts documenting my journy through the bible in 90 days and all of the images attached to those posts. Gone.

But then George sent me an email. He went to his reader and pulled off every post I had written since December, including all of the images, placed them in a Word document and sent them to me. Again, a thousand “thank you’s” to you too! (“χάρις ὑμῖν καὶ εἰρήνη πληθυνθείη ἐν ἐπιγνώσει τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ Ἰησοῦ τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν.” – 2 Peter 1:2)

Last night I worked hard at getting those posts inputted back into my blog (whew). Sadly all comments are irretrievable.

Thanks for listening. Thanks for your support. Thanks for trusting Covenant of Love by returning to engage once again.

~ Derek

For some reason I had “poll block” when I was trying to come up with a poll for February. The first poll I put up was simply dumb. The second one seemed too obvious and it seemed everyone agrees. Doesn’t make for a very interesting poll. Then I got the idea, thanks to a friend on facebook who planted the thought via inception, to build upon last months poll results.

In February 32% of visitors to Covenant of Love said they prefer the NKJV, twice as much as the ESV runner up (17%) with the NLT surprisingly bottoming out at a measly 2%. What I want to know is why. What are people looking for in a translation?

Thus February’s poll: What is most important to you when choosing a Bible Translation?

When Dad was about my age. No wonder I love guitar.

When Dad was about my age. No wonder I love guitar.

On January 29th 2009 my father passed away at age 49. He had a knee operation which resulted in a blood clot which carried to his heart and caused a massive heart attack.

At the bottom of this post are links to my description of the morning dad passed away plus two testimonies, one by my mother and the other by me, and a dedication song by Jeremy Camp: There Will Be A Day. Dad liked Jeremy Camp.

I have lived a relatively unbegrieved life. Losing dad has been extraordinarily hard on me. In many ways I feel like our family has fractured since his passing. My dad was not the best father in the world. He and my mother nearly separated on numerous occasions. Yelling and screaming in our home was routine. Dad never held a job much and never took care of his health – which was poor to begin with.

Yet inspite of all of this, there is a hole in our lives since his passing which throbs in pain. His absence is duly noticed.

At Christmas time Dad always played “Santa Clause”. He often put on the Santa hat and would wave his hands at us kids, and then as we grew older, at the grand-kids, and say “look out, look out would you” as he would shoo everyone back from the tree. He was a pretty good Santa. The past two years I have tried to fit my head in the Santa hat. It’s not easy. Dad’s head was bigger then mine . I’m not nearly as good at playing Santa as he was.

I remember when I wanted to learn to tie a necktie. My sister tried to teach me, but her’s always looked crooked. She called it a “Windsor Knot”. I don’t know if there is an actual tie called a “Windsor Knot”, but in any case, they were crooked knots. On Sunday mornings for about three weeks I stood next to dad in front of a large mirror watching as he slowly tied his own, and copying step by step until I had finally mastered the art to tying a necktie. To me it is moments like that which make fatherhood so special. Men who miss out on those opportunities miss out on some of the greatest joys in life. I have no children yet. But when I do I’ll searching for moments like that. And when they come I’ll pray that God would slow them down so we could enjoy each moment in slow motion.

My father inspired me to play guitar. Often we would sit down together in the living room, pull out our gits and rock it out. When I got older my abilities soon surpassed his and as I learned to play contemporary praise and worship music I would grow frustrated with him for not being able to keep up. I feel bad for that now of course. But I cherish those times. I loved to play and he loved to play with me. I’d get alone and begin to play and before long he would join me. I would position the sheet music so we could both read the chords and – with our not-so-good voices – we would enter into some awesome times of worship towards God. I don’t know if I ever thanked him for inspiring me to play guitar, but if I could right now, I would.

As I write this an interesting coincidence has occurred to me: I have not played guitar in two years. I have never made the connection before, but I wonder if in losing my father I have somehow lost my song.

As I entered my mid twenties a special thing began to happen. My dad began to look on my life with a great deal of pride. He always told me how proud he was of me. He shared with me how many regrets he carried in his life. He loved my wife like his very own daughter and was so proud of me for having married her. He admired my passion to know the Lord more through studying his word and often wanted to talk and learn from me. Dad wanted to learn from me. That is a humbling thought. In many ways I often felt like dad’s priest or pastor or spiritual leader. Often times I felt it was a role better suited for someone else. Perhaps a stranger in a cloth or someone older and wise. But he came to me. He valued my thoughts. He confessed his struggles. He wanted my prayers.

Another cool thing is this: the older he got the more we hugged. The more time we spent together. The more movies we watched together. The more time we spent at the mall together. The more drives we went on together. Together. That word captures the direction our relationship grew in the years leading up to his passing.

To this day I grieve. Occasionally I have a hard time sleeping. If I ever think about this stuff – like now as I write this – my eyes tear up and my nose drips. I love you dad and I painfully miss you.

Oh, and you should know that “dad” was really “step-dad”. But does that really matter?

• The Day Dad Died
• Mom’s Testimony
• My Testimony
• “There Will Be A Day” – A Dedication Song by Jeremy Camp