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

“Money” is not a subject I broach often. In fact I don’t like to talk about it much at all. I never write on the subject of tithing unless it is to dispel certain misconceptions about “what the bible really teaches about tithing”. But even there I do this very rarely because the tithe is a sacred cow to so many who take it for granted that the bible teaches it in the way it is commonly practiced today. I only step up when I see people getting abused by this church practice. I’m on the council of my church where, like any church council I suppose, the subject of money seems to dominate the agenda. I loathe that part of our meetings and for the most part remain silent.

Today I want to talk about money. The reason is because as of late, the subject of “money” has become something I do like to talk about. Not because I have more of it. In fact, most often the words out of my mouth are, “I don’t think I can afford that”, when asked to do something, buy something or go somewhere. But our (my wife and I) lives have been transformed in recent years. You might say that, while yes we still do not have much money, we are however no longer “slave to the lender”, and that is exciting!

I grew up in a home where my mom was very honest to us. When she said, “I have no money”, she meant it literally; there was absolutely no money to her name. If she said, “I have a $20”, that is what she had. My parents lived paycheck to paycheck by paying bills (if we could) and blowing the leftovers (if ever there were any).

My wife was more responsible with money then I was when we were engaged. But that’s because her parents typically lived within their means. Still, no one taught her how to handle money and her father typically lives on a line of credit and sees that as a normal thing, even expecting us to do the same and finding it odd that we don’t want to.

When we got married, her lack of money handling mixed with my training of, if you have it, it’s there to be used, made of a disastrous first year of marriage.

Then I discovered Dave Ramsey’s Total Money Makeover book. I read it and thought it could change our lives. Foolishly I jumped into “gazelle intensity” and sold my guitar to begin my “debt snowball” before my wife was on board. The result is that we both lost something of sentimental value (I used that guitar to sing her the wedding song I wrote on our wedding day), we cannot get it back and it did nothing to further our financial freedom.

Today she confesses that the reason she did not want to do the Total Money Makeover with me back when I first presented it to her was because of pride and control. First she did not want to admit that we needed help, and second she didn’t want someone else telling her how to handle our money. I have found this to be a common reaction whenever I broach the subject of money and suggest Dave Ramsey.

Eventually we both got on board with Dave’s program and took the course, Financial Peace University. While we have not kept to Dave’s ideals in every detail (recently we purchased a new car without paying cash, something Dave would not approve of), on a whole this decision has literally changed our lives. Last year we managed to pay off over $14,000.00 in debts and we bought a used car with cash ($2,000.00). What makes that number even more amazing is that just prior to taking Dave’s course we were still living paycheck to paycheck and struggling to get ahead even a little.

The point of writing this post is not to reflect on how much money I have (I don’t have much!) nor to boast on how much I have paid off (but I am proud and amazed at the fact). I’ve written this post because of the real change that has taken place inside of me. A change that involves my thinking process.

Someone recently said to me that every time they talk to someone who has taken the Dave Ramsey course, they never seem to have any money. It baffled this person, “does the course work? Does it not? I don’t know. But no one who takes it seems to have any money.”

I’m afraid my friend misses the point, as my wife did when I first broached the subject with her, as I would have if someone had made the suggestion to me four years ago. We judge whether or not something works based on a monetary value. What kind of results are you looking for?

If you are looking for money, look elsewhere; because you have missed the point. If you are looking for freedom, however, then let’s talk. Look for money and you’ll find bondage, look for freedom and you’ll find money. If my wife and I stopped at this moment to look for freedom, we would find that we have lots of money. Money we have been using to get out of debt. But we would also find that before long that money would be gone and we would still be in bondage. However, if we continue to use our money to press for freedom, if – to quote Dave – “we told our money where to go instead of allowing our money to tell us where to go”, we would eventually find freedom and when that happens we’ll have lots of money and no place to go but up.

So what kind of results are you looking for? For my wife and I, searching for financial peace has changed the way we think. I purchased a Tim Horton’s travel mug for $4.00 because I drink a cup of coffee on my way to work every day (it’s in the budget). When you first buy the mug your first coffee is free, thus the mug really only cost me $2.50. Plus, because I use the mug every day when I go through the drive thru they take 10 cents off the price of the coffee. Before long the coffee has paid for itself and I keep my car clean (the paper cups always leak). This way of thinking would have never occurred to me before.

I am still as honest as ever when it comes to money, just like my mom was. But I have redefined terms. You’ll recall that when my mom said she had no money, it meant that her bank account had run dry. For me, to say that I have no money does not mean that my bank account has run dry; it means that I have no money to spend. It means that this thing, event, whatever, is not in the budget. It means that I had to prioritize and set an agenda and those shoes I want are going to have to wait a few weeks. It also happens to mean that if I come across someone in dire straits, a sheer desperate situation, to say that “I have no money right now” to other things actually means, “here, let me help you out.” It just takes a little adjusting of the budget.

And what is one of the most delightfully joyful things of this whole life changing process my wife and I are doing right now with all of its menial and temporary sacrifices? It is the knowledge that one day our kids will not have to struggle for food and will not have to worry about having a good education and will not be dependent upon the system in any way and will not be in bondage to the lender. That their children will be able to play all of the sports they can and also get a good education. That my wife and I are readjusting the settings on our lives so that we are no longer in financial cruise control which may alter the course of our family for generations to come and, let’s not forget that when this happens, we are in a better position to move forward the Kingdom of God and to help those around us in need when we ourselves are no longer there.

A part of my job as the marketing guy for a Christian bookstore is to travel the area visiting pastors. It is not the easiest part of my job. Most pastors receive me with a great deal of apprehension, which adds some unnecessary tension to our meetings – though no doubt from experience most pastors have learned to be guarded for good reason unfortunately. It is difficult to get into seeing a pastor from a larger church. They are usually quite busy. But visiting pastors in smaller churches sometimes feels like being invited to a friend’s home for the first time. They want to show you around the house, every room, every feature. With great pleasure, they share an abbreviated history of the church and their time as pastor. Things sometimes warm up quite quickly.

Just the other day I went in to visit a pastor of a small Pentecostal church. His office was too small and cluttered for two people to cohabitate, so when I entered the foyer (which was the same as entering the sanctuary) the first thing I saw was a table set up at the altar of the church, a chair on either side and a bottle of water in front of each seat. He was waiting for me with a big smile and eagerly extended the right hand of fellowship.

Before that I had visited a United Methodist Church where the pastor was just as friendly as he gave me the grand tour. It was beautiful building with great acoustics, recently remodeled. And today another minister, a Baptist pastor, handed me a printed copy of the history of the Church. They had just celebrated their 125^th anniversary! Quite the accomplishment for this area.

As I entered the Baptist church I had passed through a large library, high ceilings, large thick wooden shelves which extended to the top, a deep room with a ladder reaching to the high shelves and a table in the center. I marveled as I passed through and into the pastor’s office and had made a comment of how much I like it.

He shared with me how he grieves that no one uses it. The person who built it and stocked it had done so over 25 years prior, they had since passed away. About four years ago a young man took charge of the library, but began to toss anything that seemed “dated”, “irrelevant” or “unknown” to him. The pastor was horrified and put a stop to it as soon as he could. Fortunately, the young man was not in charge long enough to deal too much damage, most of the books were salvaged.

The pastor went on to show me a little book of hardly more than a hundred pages sitting there on his desk.  It was Mark Dever’s What Is A Healthy Church. He said he was going to ask his board members to read it. “It’s small”, he said, “they shouldn’t have much excuse not to. But if I don’t politely, but forcefully ask them to read it, they won’t read at all.”

He then said something which stuck for me, like one of those quotes worth archiving. He said:

“If only six men would read three books a year, it would change the whole environment of our church.”

I grieve with this pastor. In our store we have a quote on the wall by A.W. Tozer:

“… the right book in the hands of the right person, can easily transform a life.”

It did for me. It can for you. It and will for those in your church.

This November marks the first anniversary of Covenant of Love. So I’d like to take this opportunity to share some insights I learned through trial and error. What works for a Christian blog, want doesn’t work. Mistakes I’ve made and what is really important.

1. Friends Matter Most: I’m starting here because, as I’ve discovered, the Christian community is a Covenantal community. No two people agree on all points. But it is when you can develop respectful online friendships in the blogging world, that whether or not we agree, your blog will truly be benefited. Because from respectful dialogue you can celebrate with your friends on issues where you agree and take constructive criticism in areas where you do not. And, what’s more, you support each other’s blogs and will extend the influence you have. Friends matter most.

2. Content Matters Most: Because Covenant of Love was new, I decided the best way to “introduce” my blog to the wider Christian blogosphere was to do a “book giveaway”. I had hoped that this would allow my blog to go viral and once having discovered it, that people would return regularly. In retrospect, nothing makes a blog go viral like a great blog post with great content. My posts titled N.T. Wright, R.C. Sproul and the Scarecrow, and Soul-Journey Into The Lost World of Genesis One generated nearly twice as much action as the giveaway.

3. Courtesy Matters Most: Passion and inexperience results in the use of many exclamation marks (!). Exclamation marks can be a dangerous thing because they often communicate a message contrary to what is intended. For example, a writer may use many exclamation marks because they are shocked or excited about something, but the reader will read into those exclamation marks as arrogance, pride or immaturity. Exclamation marks can be powerful and effect when used infrequently and timely. But it says something of the writer’s skill when he is able to communicate a powerful point without the need of exaggerated emphasis. But what I have also noted is that people will be more inclined to dialogue with your blog and engage with you as a blogger if you write with courtesy and humility. It is fair and expected that when you write you will be giving your opinion, and in doing so you can be firm.  But be respectful, or become your only reader.

4. Controversy Matters Most: Writing on matters of controversy will almost certainly drive your blog status up – at first. But how you handle the controversial subject will weigh heavily as to whether someone will return to read new stuff. If you write in favour of someone’s view, they will wish to see if you have any new insight to add. If you write against someone’s view, they will want to see what you have to say (and most often make an attempt to rebut you). If possible, be your own worst critic, be as well read on the subject as possible, and be open to correction. Controversial issues can be divisive, and the church does not need any more division. But controversial issues can also open fresh lines of thinking on old and difficult problems, and we Christians need to allow our received traditions to be challenged and to open our minds from time to time. Controversial blog posts can help, but they need to be written with a spirit of exhortation and humility.

5. Comments Matter Most: We are way beyond the age of passive-web-surfers. The internet is no longer about information retrieval; it is equally about information bestowal. People want to engage and contribute to the information out there, particularly by sharing the information they have; i.e. they leave comments. Whenever possible, engage those comments, because one thing is for sure: when someone leaves a comment they will almost certainly return to see if you’ve responded. Seeing that you have will make their return worth the cyber trip. You can expect that they will come back again. A word of caution: choose your battles wisely. Many commenters’ are like drive-by parishioners: they blow in, blow up, and blow out. Some people just want to cause trouble while others are consumed in their own pride and feel it is their mission in life to correct everyone with their absolute opinions. I suggest that a great deal if humility will be required not to take their bait.

6. Inspiration Matter Most: Why do I blog? This question has taunted me since I first opened Covenant of Love. Do I blog to stroke my pride? To vent my frustration? To hammer those I disagree with? Or do I blog to add something positive and constructive into peoples lives? Another way to put it: if Covenant of Love ceased to exist today, would it be missed at all? If not, then what is the point? I want Covenant of Love to be a place of useful (and sometimes challenging) information, of resources, and of spiritual encouragement. I don’t think I’ve been able to cultivate any of these to any great degree. But bloggers who do are those Christian blog sites who have proved to be most successful. In time, I hope to be there.

Special thanks to those who have been returning friends and partners to Covenant of Love this year, to José who helped get Covenant of Love up and running, and to Craig Adams who has come along side in recent months to help keep Covenant of Love running by contributing great articles.