Posted on 03/24/2011 9:35:50 AM PDT by TaraP
Methodist pastor who voiced support for a book questioning the view of hell as a place of eternal damnation is "shocked" by his church's decision to fire him. Chad Holtz, who served as pastor of the United Methodist church in rural North Carolina, said he hoped his personal belief posted on Facebook would engage -- not anger -- members of his congregation.
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.
Holtz said church members complained to a pastor-parish relations committee that his views did not reflect the views of the congregation.
"They felt that what their pastor was writing publicly was not reflective of what they think," Holtz said in an interview. "I was quite shocked, and also disappointed that no one came to me personally to talk about why they were upset. It’s OK to disagree."
The debate over Bell's new book "Love Wins" has quickly spread across the evangelical precincts of the Internet, in part because of an eye-catching
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Rob Bell is a New Age heretic who does not grasp the whole Gospel. He has gone the way of Carlton Pearson.
I left. She was eventually fired, but overall, I think you find a lot of Methodists who are not Christians.
I guess this Preacher thinks hell is really all about rainbows and lollipops. Gee, I wonder why he was fired. (On a serious note, the bible is quite clear on the subject of hell. I guess he thought the new age book he was reading should supplant the bible as the ultimate authority on hell. I am sure he can get still get a job preaching to a liberal congregation somewhere.)
The Methodist Church did right by firing Holtz. They should counsel him or excommunicate for being a heretic if he continues to espouse this false gospel.
The removal of Holtz was not over a single belief that he posted on the internet. It was about a whole range of beliefs that demonstrated he was not fit to preach the true Gospel. I hope he realizes the error of his beliefs and comes back into the fold, but the congregation did the right thing.
I agree!
These apostates must be removed from the Church...
Liberals, progressives..........
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’” Matthew 7:21-23
“For many are called, but few chosen.” Matthew 20:16
“Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.” 1 Corinthians 6:9-11
“...no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not be partakers with them.” Ephesians 5:5-7
“...the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” Galatians 5:19-21
As I recall, Christ not only affirmed that hell exists but he also described it as a place, “where the worm NEVER dies and the fire is NEVER quenched.”
"This is misguided and toxic and ultimately subverts the contagious spread of Jesus' message of love, peace, forgiveness and joy that our world desperately needs to hear," Bell writes in his book.
Well, if there is no Hell I guess there is no reason to go to church. Unless you just want to go to reaffirm your commitment to Jesus Christ. Oh, and deposit money into Bell's collection plates.
I’m not really knowledgeable on the details of Christian beliefs so therefore I’m asking those who are more knowledgeable. What is the general consensus on Annihilationism? It seems attractive to me in that it appears to reconcile justice and mercy. The interpretation placing the sinner burning forever and ever for stealing a pack of gum seems excessivly ridiculous. The concept that the sinner is thrown into hell then annihilated is more in accord with punishment followed by merciful extinction. Scripture does speak of the second death, destruction etc. Annihilation seesm more in accord with those terms.
The majority of humanity is going to hell. It doesn’t matter what you do or say there is no guarantee that anyone you know won’t turn to sin forever.
It might be best to cut oneself off from human relationships and to avoid at any cost the temptation to love a person or to bring a child into the world. There is always a possibility that the child will take the wrong path regardless of instruction or upbringing. If this happens then it would have been better if they were never conceived in the first place.
If a person is created then there is a small chance that the person will go to paradise but a MUCH greater chance of going to a hell of his own doing. With these terrible odds it should be best to play it safe and ignore the command of “be fruitful and multiply”. It seems shocking that God would want this in the first place.
You’ll find a lot of Christians, who are not Christian. It’s very easy to be a Christian in name only.
Anyone who doesn’t have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
“For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.”
“But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. “
“He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life.
“These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.”
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”
God doesn’t send anyone to hell. We’ve all sinned and fall short of the glory of God. But, God sent His Son Jesus to cover our sins, He is our scapegoat, the bridge back to God, the way out. We only have to accept that, repent and come to Christ, that is the only way to atone is through Jesus sacrifice for each one of us. You have a choice, to accept it or reject it. Those that reject Jesus, reject there only hope and they, by their own choice go to hell.
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