A Heart That Burns

Review: Erasing Hell, Chapter Six

Published on 2012-01-22 19:20:35

In this brief, penultimate chapter, Francis Chan addresses Romans 9, a passage he claims has caused him more confusion than any other. In this passage, he says, “Paul asks a necessary question: What if?” What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of [...]

2011 in review

Published on 2011-12-31 20:25:15

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog. Here’s an excerpt: The concert hall at the Syndey Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 12,000 times in 2011. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 4 sold-out performances for that many [...]

My Favorite Five

Published on 2011-12-30 21:38:20

It’s hard to believe that tomorrow is the final day of 2011. Another year has passed, and it’s been a great year for this little blog of mine. I am blown away by the growth in visitors in just one year, and grateful for the growing number of people who find enough worth in what [...]

Christmas Eve Reflections

Published on 2011-12-24 20:46:58

It’s Christmas Eve, and so many of my fellow Christians are engaged in traditions that have been part of their families for years: decorating the tree, wrapping presents (or, heaven forbid at this late hour, buying presents), baking cookies, maybe mixing up some holiday punch. There are smells of cinnamon and citrus, ole Bing is [...]

Review: Erasing Hell, Chapter Five

Published on 2011-12-04 21:20:05

Up until this point in Erasing Hell, Francis Chan and Preston Sprinkle have leaned heavily towards examination of what 1st-century Jewish beliefs regarding Hell were, what the New Testament records that Jesus actually said about Hell, and what the writers of the New Testament themselves wrote about Hell. All of this has had a rather [...]

Gone On To Glory

Published on 2011-11-26 15:19:03

I first met Holly Meyer in November of 2001, as I was coming off of an 18-month stint with the Liberated Wailing Wall, the mobile music/evangelism team of Jews for Jesus. Holly was a missionary with the same ministry, married to Stan Meyer, who was at the time leading the South Florida branch of the [...]

Review: Erasing Hell, Chapter Four

Published on 2011-11-21 21:33:05

Having delved into exactly what Jesus himself had to say on the subject, Chan and Sprinkle turn their attention to what Jesus’ followers said about Hell. Chapter Four of Erasing Hell is a short but pithy exploration of what the writers of the New Testament wrote about Hell. HELL IN THE LETTERS OF PAUL, PETER, [...]

Dietrich Bonhoeffer on Success

Published on 2011-11-21 19:50:09

“In a world where success is the measure and justification of all things the figure of Him who was sentenced and crucified remains a stranger and is at best the object of pity. The world will allow itself to be subdued only by success. It is not ideas or opinions which decide, but deeds. Success [...]

Review: Erasing Hell, Chapter Three

Published on 2011-11-15 22:30:50

Having dealt in Chapter Two with what the Jewish beliefs about Hell were that would have influenced Jesus and the writers of the New Testament, Francis Chan moves on to exploring what Jesus actually said about Hell. Chan gives the reader a reminder of what he labels a sobering reality: this is a subject which [...]

Review: Erasing Hell, Chapter Two

Published on 2011-11-09 17:02:42

“Has Hell Changed? Or Have We?” is the question that begins chapter two of Erasing Hell. Here, Chan discusses inaccurate ideas and images that many of us persist in believing. He begins with an embarrassing confession about the image that comes to his mind when he hears the name Jesus: a Caucasian man with long [...]