Protected from the Bible – Who’s in Hell

"Who's in Hell?"
Seems like a pretty good question for a site names God versus "religion".

I first wrote this back in 2011.  It was a tough one.

It's now 2017, one month short of six years later.  As I make updates (including the line above) I'll put them in text like this, so you can tell what's new.  There will also be an update on Rob Bell at the end.

Back in 2011, the site had a different name - one which made the article seem out of place.  Given what I've learned since then, I think there is even more importance to knowing the difference between what some (not all) Christian churches talk about / teach - versus what the Bible actually says.  Therefore - the new name - and the increased importance of things on topic for what is taught and what probably should be taught.  Anyway, please keep in mind the different perspectives - from today as compared to six years ago -  as you read.

Given the recent news about Chad Holtz - I think this is the right place for it at this time.
If you haven't seen it, here are a couple links to articles -
One from Fox News and one from New York Daily News.  (Sorry, the NY Daily News article is no longer online.)
From the Fox News article, we see the starting point for what happened is a book called Love Wins, written by Rob Bell -

Holtz was dismissed this month as pastor of Marrow's Chapel in Henderson after he wrote a note on his Facebook page supporting a new book by Rob Bell, a prominent young evangelical pastor and critic of the traditional view of hell as a place of torment for billions of damned souls.

In essence, what Bell's book is about is -

Bell, the pastor of the 10,000-member Mars Hill Bible Church in Grand Rapids, Mich., criticizes the belief that a select number of Christians will spend eternity in the bliss of heaven while everyone else is tormented forever in hell.

And then the closing line in the article is a quote from Chad Holtz -

"So long as we believe there's a dividing point in eternity, we're going to think in terms of us and them," he said. "But when you believe God has saved everyone, the point is, you're saved. Live like it."

I can see where it may be popular to preach that there's no such place as Hell. Lot's of people don't want to hear about Hell and damnation. Plenty of people are turned off by the fire and brimstone preaching - repent or die! It's scary stuff. It doesn't sound even the least bit loving. Who wouldn't want to think that "Love Wins" is right - that God loves everyone and no one's going to Hell because there is no such place.
That sounds good.
That sounds too good. Too good to be true.
So - is it true? Or is God warning us about Hell - not because He wants to condemn us, but because He loves us and truly doesn't want us to end up there?

Let me take a short break here. A handful of people saw the original posting of this article. Then I got an email saying that I may have mis-characterized the intent of the original book (Love Wins) and its author (Rob Bell). At that point, I pulled the article. The goal here is to point people to the Truth - so it had to be pulled while I checked it out.

Unfortunately (from my selfish point of view), the email turned out to be correct.

Fortunately, the email was sent and I am now able to make the correction.

Which proves at least 2 things that I've been trying to get across. (1) always check out statements to be sure they are true - and ultimately that they are in alignment with the Bible. And (2) I'm just human - so you need to check out what I say too.

So - the problem was that I relied on Chad Holtz' statements about the book. I assumed that he got it right - and that what he said about the book was correct.

After getting the email - I had to go get the book. And then read it. I have to say, now that I've read the book, I still have some issues with it - which I'll be writing about another day.  As of March, 2017 - another day hasn't come yet.