alone on the beach

some people honestly feel sorry for you when you tell them you went to the beach by yourself. i don't know why, because obviously you aren't being forced to go - it's your choice to get in your car and drive there :) so as a disclaimer, don't feel even a hint of sorryness for me for the following story, because i'm just telling you what i did tonight and i'm not looking for pity because there's absolutely no need! now on to my post...

man, tonight at church just really...well, it made things even worse for me in my struggle with church/beliefs/etc.. everything i've been reading in this velvet elvis book was spoke against tonight. which would have been great if i hadn't been agreeing with what rob bell says in his book. that's the problem. i'm reading his book and thinking "wow, you know...i think he has some good stuff here" and then go to church tonight and hear that all that stuff is dangerous, horrible stuff. real smooth, jen. the confusing part is, i still agree with what rob bell says right now. the hard part is knowing that the majority (if not everyone) in my church family disagrees with it severely. so who's right?

from what was said at church, however, it sounds like the accusations were based off of quotes pulled out of context from bell's book. that's something i've realized a lot as i'm reading this book - rob bell is probably one of the most misquoted men alive. seriously. you have to know his way of speaking/communicating. sometimes he says things to the extreme in a sarcastic manner. sometimes he has a point he's trying to make and if you just take 1 paragraph out of his chapter explaining his meaning, yeah, he sounds horrible. but when you read what he's really saying behind that one paragraph, everything changes. one of those quotes is where rob bell says he can't see how people can believe in "Scripture alone". :::anti-bell-ers gasp::: yeah, sounds bad, huh? well if you read the rest of what he's saying in the chapter, he explains that the reason you can't have just "Scripture alone" is because along with Scripture, you have to have people interpreting what everything says. think about it. you don't read the new testament and take everything word for word, do you? if you say you do, and you're a woman, i would assume you keep your head covered when you're worshipping then, right? well you must, because in 1 Corinthians 11 it says all women should have their heads covered in worship. HOWEVER - people have interpreted that to mean it applied to that certain group of people that Paul was writing to, and women these days don't need to do it. it's an interpretation. yes, God's Word is sufficient - but we interpret and take meanings out of it and do not take everything literal, word for word. that is what bell is meaning by saying you can't have just "Scripture alone" as people say. because automatically, people add their own views/opinions/interpretations that they get from Scripture to base their faith off of.

am i making sense? does it make sense? is it wrong?

so it seems to me that the problem comes down to 1 of 2 things: either -
1, people against what bell teaches have not taken the time to read what he has said and to read the text surrounding his quotes, and if they did, they would affirm what he's saying,
or
2, these people really have honestly studied what bell says and he really is off and dangerous and yet...i'm falling for it.

if the answers 1, then i've got a whole lot of people to convince to read the rest of what bell's saying. if the answers 2, then i'm heading down a dangerous road that i don't want to be on but don't really see the dangerousness of.

and so comes the confusion. the boggled mindedness.

and so we come to the beach part. i went to grand haven tonight and go to the beach JUST in time to see the sun slip behind the clouds. what a beautiful sight! it's such an awesome sight that God creates uniquely each night. so i took my beach towel and Bible sat on the beach for a little bit reading and contemplating. i didn't come to any conclusion, but it was so great just to be at one of my favorite places (the beach), alone with God. i stayed out at grand haven for about 45 minutes, then headed back home. i love driving in my car by myself. 'cause i can sing and worship God and it's just me and Him in that car. there's really no conclusion to my night, so i'll just leave you with one of the songs that really reminded me of ultimately, what life is about:

"it's all about You, Jesus. and all this is for You. for Your glory and Your fame. it's not about me. as if You should do things my way. You alone are God, and i surrender to Your way."

so much more i could write, but since i don't even know what's right or wrong tonight, i'm just going to stop rambling right about..............

now.

keep it real.
~jen~