Hello everyone!
My husband (forum member "thejollymonk") and I quite literally stumbled upon this paradigm recently. He found Gerry Beauchemin's (pronunciation?) AWESOME book Hope Beyond Hell and we devoured it in a matter of days... only to have a peace that neither of us has ever known -- despite growing up in the church and desiring to serve God in any way we could. February 15th, 2011 is when we now say we were TRULY converted as we finally found the GOOD NEWS that we'd been striving for our entire lives. After Rob Bell's book Love Wins came out last week, we've really wrestled with other believers who say this paradigm is heresy and we've basically been condemned to hell ourselves and warned to not believe false teachers. It is hard to hear things like this from teachers and pastors we respect so very much. Especially when we are genuinely asking questions because we want to understand--not because we want to rock the boat--and the best answers we can get basically boil down to "just because..." I admit, we struggle with righteous indignation when we feel we have a grasp of the Truth but people shoot us down.
Anyway, it is so very refreshing to know that we are not alone in our journey to find a more full understanding of God. In my brief 29 years, I've never had such a desire to dig deeper and grow in my faith like I do now. I've always struggled with anxiety and depression, doubts about my faith (and fate!), the desire to serve God (it always seemed like something I was required to do), and whether I truly was one of the "elect" or not. Well, I don't deal with those doubts and struggles ANY MORE! In fact, the fruit of the spirit comes more naturally to me, and when I mess up, I'm more willing and able to admit my fault and make amends.
SO, I look forward to the insight and discussions that I'll be part of while I grow and learn.
Thank you.
Hi MC,
:welcome: and don't forget http://www.tentmaker.org/ScholarsCorner.html
Rock ON!! You must have been reading my mind as I JUST posted about this in Apologetics! I appreciate the link!
Welcome Mrs.Curtiss! Like I replied to your hubby, a lot of us have been called heretics and had our friends turn their backs on us and it's no fun. Let me tell you though you are SO blessed to have your husband on the same page as you. I was the one to read 'Hope Beyond Hell' and lets just say it didn't go over well at all... but he is coming around and is now much more open to the idea. Especially since Rob Bell has released his new book. We haven't read it yet but he wants to get it and I am ecstatic to say the least! :thumbsup:
I can definitely relate to having much more peace and all the other fruits of the spirit too. Isn't it wonderful? :cloud9: Anyhow, I look forward to fellowshipping with the two of you. :smile:
Welcome! Great to have you and your husband here. :bigGrin:
:cloud9: Blessings to you both and welcome to the board :thumbsup: