Monday, May 19, 2008
Hey Bullhorn Guy- by Rob Bell
So what do you think? Do you agree or disagree with Rob Bell on this issue? Any scriptures come to mind when you see this video? What comment do you think Jesus would leave for this post? Throw your thoughts up against the wall and we'll see if they stick!
Way of the Pastor,
Joe Drew
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I would like to know more about bull-horn guy. I wonder if he is with the group that works the Indy 500 races here. I sometimes wonder if this is the only Jesus that some people see, no wonder they want nothing to do with him. No one WANTS to be told they are doing wrong and are sinners (yet they know it inside). There is a way to be confrontational and yet have people drawn to what you are saying. I don't think this is one of them.
ReplyDeleteHey Bro
ReplyDeleteI wrote a couple of articles about this.
Rob Bell's followers HATE when we go to his conferences and street preach. Many believe, as Rob Bell does, that everyone is going to heaven because Jesus' death was effective for everyone.
I do not use a bullhorn; I raise my voice so people can hear. I proclaim the law so people can see their need; then I bring in the Gospel.
Hey Rob, I do not want to be lumped in together with you. Jesus called us to proclaim the good news to every creature (Mark 16:15) He has all authority to give us this command (Matthew 28:18-20) and He has empowered us by the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:8) to complete this call.
I'm not a Rob Bell follower... and honestly, I don't even know who the guy is. In this video the issue wasn't... What does Rob Bell believe?
ReplyDeleteBut seriously... this guy could stand out on a street corner for years with his bullhorn, and the only thing he will ever do is push people away. I wouldn't listen, and I doubt very much that anyone else would, especially those who may not have ever come to know Christ. They would just call a person a freak and walk on.
Don't get me wrong... Jesus preached to crowds, but they tended to their needs... got to know the people they helped. They (Jesus + disciples) didn't just walk around screaming that everyone was wrong and they were going to hell.
Concerning Rob Bell´s comments on the ¨Bullhorn Guy¨:
ReplyDeleteIt appears to me that there is either not much difference between Rob Bell and the man described by Paul in 1 Corinthians 2:14, or he is just the false teacher described in 2 Peter 2 and Jude. His arguements do not hold up in Scripture for many reasons:
Nahum 1:2-8
Proverbs 1:22-33
Psalms 7:11-12
Jesus Christ Himself taught more on Hell than any other. The apostle of love, John, records Jesus as saying that the wrath of God abides on all who do not believe, he also wrote the Revelation, in which Jesus is described in chapter 19:11-19 with the following words:
¨From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the winepress of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty¨.
5 chapters earlier in 14:10-11, Hell is described in the following way:
¨he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed in full strength in the cup of His anger; and he will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever; they have no rest day and night, those who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.¨
God burns with indignation every day against the wicked, is that the God you know. He is love, and He is also a Just and Righteous, and HOLY God who hates all evil.
It is clear that in John 6 Jesus offeneded many people, so much that many of those who had followed Him turned back and no longer followed Him. I have preached the gospel of Jesus Christ to a pagan group of unreached people in the Andes mountains of Peru for 1 year, and they have rejected it. Are we to quit doing what is Biblical because ¨it does not work¨ or are we to remain faithful to Gods Word even when there are no results? Scripture tells us that we are born again by the Will of God not by our own will, salvation is a supernatural work of the Holy Spirit, He must raise the dead, not us, we only preach and pray.
It is true that some people perhaps go too far with the preaching of the gospel, but I will take a passionate open-air preacher anyday over a hyper calvinist who sits on the couch all day talking theology and not preaching it. What Rob Bell described of this man who he heard preaching sounds like the Gospel of the Scriptures. ¨Unless you repent, you likewise will perish¨, the words of Jesus Christ along with the Apostles clearly tell us that man is called to repent.
Luke 13:1-5
Matthew 3:8
Mark 1:14-15
Acts 3:19
Acts 17:30
2 Corinthians 7:10
...
I am not ashamed of the Gospel because it is the power of God unto salvation to all who believe. Do we really believe that, if we do then all the pragmatic man-made methods go out the window and we fall face down at the feet of God relying wholeheartedly on the Holy Spirit.
With love and a passion for the Truth I must say that Rob Bell is a heretic. I pray for his soul that the Lord save him. May we love this man and not hate him but pray for him.
Preach the Gospel, be ready in season and out, as Paul told Timothy we would to do well to do the same.
Soli Deo Gloria,
Ryan Richie
missionary in Peru
http://huaylas.spruz.net
I just don't agree to the approach. I think you can be more effective by reaching people by knowing them.... Again, I'd say it's somewhere in the middle... I don't think Rob Bell is right, and I for sure don't think the guy with the bull horn is either. I'd like to also know where I said you shouldn't repent?
ReplyDeleteAnyhow... God has surely called you for a different reason than I. Once upon a time, I really did sit on the couch, but again... I'll just say this and end it, ... if you were seeking to talk to me, and you just came to me preaching that I was a sinner, and that I'm going straight to hell... First of all, that makes you a liar. I know I'm covered by the blood of Jesus, because he lives in my heart. Second, if I'm not living that way, I'm NOT going to listen. And again, I think 99% of America wouldn't either.
So what is it about Bullhorn Guy that we do not like? Does it bother us that he uses a method that we don't use and a method that may not reap in all the results we he would hope for? Does Bullhorn Guy have a heart for people? Does he have a heart for God? IS there any scripture that exists that would stop Bullhorn Guy in his steps? Is it his words he is saying or the bullhorn that he is using that some have a problem with? Why should a guy like ROb Bell care? Is any one thing that Rob Bell (a pastor himself) says offer any hint of encouragement to Bullhorn Guy? Is that ok? Is that along the lines of scripture? And last of all do any of us know for sure that no one heard what bullhorn guy was saying or that no one stopped to listen? Thanks to all who have posted so far, keep up the good posts and keep thinking about how you answer these real questions!
ReplyDeleteWay of the Pastor,
Joe Drew
In the Battle,
ReplyDeleteI apologize if I upset you by my response. I was not replying to anything that you previously said. When I spoke of repentence I was answering the question the brother Joe Drew asked when he said this:
¨So what do you think? Do you agree or disagree with Rob Bell on this issue? Any scriptures come to mind when you see this video? What comment do you think Jesus would leave for this post? Throw your thoughts up against the wall and we'll see if they stick!¨
I do not see how I would be a liar for preaching open air. True, there may be some listeners passing by who may be saved, but there would be many more that werent. Are pastors not supposed to preach the gospel within their churches because there are believers there? certainly they are, there are always unconverted people in churches. I never claimed that you were unconverted or not covered by the blood of Jesus.
Rob Bell clearly seemed to think that preaching sin, repentane, and hell is wrong, to that I answered with Biblical evidence.
The Bullhorn Guy could have been crazy and over the top, I do not know because I was not there, I do know that there is absolutly nothing wrong with preaching the True gospel open air. It is true that the majority of the world does not listen to the true preaching of the gospel, that is why men like Rick Warren and Bill Hybel among many others have sold their souls to gain the world. I would rather keep my soul and lose the world, and be a faithful servant and preacher of Jesus Christ.
To answer the questions put forth by Brother Joe Drew:
I have no problem with a man standing and preaching open air when it is the True gospel of Jesus Christ. Many have done it, there is Biblical grounds for it, George Whitefield is a good example outside of Scripture and Peter a good one within, not to mention Jesus. The open air method should be used more, because it is not used today much does not matter. The True gospel is not preached today very much either and it bothers many professing Christians when it is. I do not know if the Bullhorn Guy has a heart for people, I know George Whitefield did and his method was similar. To my knowledge there is no Scripture that would stop this man from doing what he is doing, Matthew 6 will not suppot this, it deals with other issues, it appears he was doing so for some reason other than to make friends and be well thought of. I have no problem with his words, or at least the words that Rob Bell described him to have used, the bullhorn is necessary if there was passing traffic and extra noise, not everone has a trumpet for a voice. Rob Bell cares because he abhores the gospel of the Scriptures. The advice that Rob Bell the ¨pastor¨ offers is simply to be kind, do what Jesus did (which is not what Bell does), and preach the seeker friendly gospel. None of us know that no one stopped to hear the Bullhorn Guy preach. This man may have been standing there weeping over this people, with a broken heart for them. I agree with the words of Jonathan Edwards when he said ¨if you knew that someone was dying, because of their sin, and going to hell, would you not at least warn them...¨ It would be benificial for anyone who can read the english language to google search ¨Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God¨ by Jonathan Edwards and read one of the most Biblical sermons ever preached.
May God have mercy on us and grant us grace to love our brethren and not fight and argue with one another. May we heed the words of Paul to Timothy in his second epistle chapter 4 verses 2-4
¨preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires,and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths. ¨
to God alone be the Glory
Ryan Richie
I'm not going to answer... but just one more question to this. Since Mark 16:15 says, "15 And He said to them, Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation."
ReplyDeleteand since Matthew 29:19 says, " 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,"
I want to know... where does bullhorn guy read in that... to tell people that they are going to hell? Somehow that doesn't quite sound like preaching "good news" to me.
I will say this... I'm sorry Ryan. After all, in the grand scheme of things we are all on the same team.
ReplyDeleteAgain, I'm not sure I disagree with bull horn guy preaching the gospel. (Assuming that is indeed what he is doing)... I guess the real part is... he's only telling one side of the story, and that's what bothers me the most. Is God just? Of course he is! Just read the story about the ark being moved (and done incorrectly I might add) and you find out that he is just, and there will be a day that we WILL have to answer before God.
Let me ask one last question. So is there any other way to bring people to Jesus? Are we just going to preach to them hell, fire, and brimstone... or can there be an alternative?
I think the thing that bothers me the most is... I have to speculate about two people I don't know. I don't know bull horn guy... and I don't know Rob Bell.
It's beginning to warm up.
ReplyDeleteI saw Hybels and Warren mentioned. I realize they sell a lot of books and they gigantic churches and it all looks very commercial, but I would ask you to take a look at some of the things that are happening at Willow Creek now. Just some food for thought.
ReplyDeleteGo to www.revealnow.com and watch the short video from Bill Hybels about some recent research that they've done. If for nothing else, than just to get a glimpse into his heart.
This discussion is very funny...Rob Bell is great at getting people to want to work in the garden. Problem is, he gives you rusty tools with splintered handles. He is almost as bad as the quack, Dr. Phil.
ReplyDeleteBTW...why do we sit here and bash eachother's evangelistic style, instead of getting together and using our differences for the same purpose? This is what Satan wants, we are a divided nation...
I almost want to say that we are one of the biggest groups of pharasee's out there. We sit here and pick apart each other instead of lifting them up. Dare I say that no one has a corner-on-the-market when it comes to evangelistic style and knowledge of what works and what doesn't. I would proably say that if you do, you are the biggest lier and your church is the weakest group of people fighting for the kingdom. I just can't believe we are debating this bull-horn guy. Rob Bell wins...we are fighting a battle that has no significance in the grand scheme of life. Stop wasting resources in this battle and start fighting in the war...
ReplyDeleteKirby,
ReplyDeleteHey there is definately a lot of stuff being discussed in this blog. Mary Poppins said it best when she sang "a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down." I agree with you Kirby, bashing people for the sake of bashing people should be illegal! I'm just posting questions that lead to great discussion about the issue at hand. Because bottom line you can find something wrong with everyone...your favorite speaker...my favorite speaker...get the picture. I think if we can keep the discussion going of is there a difference between Biblical evangelism and Modern Day Evangelism?
Way of the Pastor,
Joe Drew
I know...I just don't want people to become so lost in the debate they forget who we are debating about..the lost for the Lord.
ReplyDeleteMark and I had this discussion yesterday... and I asked him... Aren't bull horn guy and Rob Bell really the same person? Because neither are really leading people to Christ. Does that make sense?
ReplyDeleteI don't disagree with what Bull Horn guy is trying to do, just with the way in which he is doing it.
ReplyDeleteYes, if people continue to sin they will be going to hell. Yes, God can be angry and his wrath fierce but what brings this about? It is continuing disobedience and sin. An unwillingness to repent. God has demonstrated that He loves his children over and over again. He has shown that He would much rather show His children love. That He would rather bless them and attended to all of their needs than punish them.
Jesus taught repentence and that there was a cost if you did not repent but he also taught love. As I read the New Testament it seems to me that when dealing with the common people Jesus took each situation on a case by case basis. He did not start out telling the blind, demon possessed or even the prostitute "You are a sinner and you are going to Hell." He did not first ask the question "Do you repent" and then waited for their answer before healing them or attending to their needs. He attended to the needs before him and then instructed the person to go and sin no more. Jesue got their attention by first taking care of their problem. Then, Jesus instructed them as to the cause of their problem, sin, and what the cost would be if they did not repent. Jesus did not sugar coat anything, He just let them see what they could have if they repented and what they would lose if they did not.
If Bull Horn guy's purpose is to let people know there is a better way and actually bring people to Christ than I think he should follow Jesus example.
So here is where I stand. I think more people should be sharing their faith period! Allow me to set up the next post which is entitled the Bullhorn Guy response. Most Christians I talk with about sharing their faith do not use words like hell, judgement, sin and they have never even had a thought about using the 10 commandments when sharing their faith! Now I am not saying that hell, sin and judgement are the only words you should use when sharing your faith and let me say that (there are so many ways to evangelize and share your faith) but I am also not scareed to use them when sharing my faith and I have learned how to use them in their proper place when evangelizing. Rob Bell seems to cut to the chase and downplay the role of those words in a witnessing opportunity. Therefore, within the next 24 hours, I will be posting for you the 2nd installment of the Bullhorn Bloggings. The second one will be called "The Bullhorn Guy Response." And it may shed some light on the role of such words like sin and hell when sharing your faith and how people respond to it! So thanks for all who are blogging...I have noticed some new bloggers here at way of the pastor (fundementalists in nature I believe) so even if we disagree, let's keep the focus on seeking and saving that which is lost!
ReplyDeleteWay of the Pastor,
Joe Drew
Amen to that Joe. I'm going to another EPIC retreat this weekend, and I'm hoping to bring up this subject. Somehow... someway... we lose sight of what is really important, which is bringing others to know our God, who has sent His son Jesus to die for us, and has sent His Holy Spirit to guide us.
ReplyDeleteAre we looking so far outside the box, that we are forgetting what the box looks like? Where did a "seeker friendly" idea come from anyway? What happened to Romans 3:11? I love to share the gospel, just not water it down to the point where what we know to be biblical is just a good, safe story.
ReplyDeletePaul Washer V. Rob Bell...Round 1 ding ding ding
ReplyDeleteThe real question should be... "Why do we try and keep God in a box?"
ReplyDeleteIf you want to literalize "Hell"-- then go ahead and read into it as a place of eternal torture for the wicked. But if you read it that way and still have your eye balls and hands, don't come up to me and pretend that you are sincere. Read Mark 9:43. Jesus used Lazerus, Cutting off Hands, and other expressions and stories to shock us into seeing the world in a new way so that we might be changed in this life. Never trust a bull-horn guy who is not a a blind amputee.
ReplyDeletethe word "rob Bell" scares me. He is a false prophet. Anyone who claims hell doesn't exist is on a wide path. A very dangerous one. I am a woman with two degrees. I once doubted the goodness of God because of the "hell" issue. But, as I have truly sought Him..I have found that He is good. This may sound strange, but I have had encounters with demonic forces. They are real. They are deadly. The Bible says we battle the unseen. I have seen more of the unseen than a lot of people and I will be the first to tell you..Yes, Hell is real. It will be horrific. Please don't encourage anyone to listen to anything Rob Bell has to say. It's dangerous.
ReplyDelete