How can this happen?

How can a pastor not only turn from God but deny his existence?


http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/12/...god-to-have-a-closer-relationship-to-reality/

The former pastor of the Hollywood Seventh-day Adventist Church, who stepped down from his position in March of 2013 before embarking on what he called a “Year without God,” has concluded that he no longer believes that God exists.

In an interview with NPR, former pastor Ryan Bell said his year long journey took him from merely questioning the existence of God to arriving at the conclusion that there is no convincing case for the existence of God.[/quote
 
Deuteronomy 6:4-5

Hear O Israel. The Lord, Our God, The Lord is One, and you shall love the Lord with all your Heart, with all your Soul, and with all your Might

Notice this is a 3-leg stool...
Heart = Intellect (Note, Heart in the ancient writing was the seat of the intellect.. The bowels were the seat of emotions..)
Soul = Emotion/feelings
Might = Volition/willpower/actions

(Note that Jesus quotes this same verse in Matt 12 and Luke 10 as Heart, Mind, Soul, Strength)

MANY people are trying to fool themselves to believe their 1 or 2 legged stool is really a 3-legged stool.... They believe on God with some of this - but not all of it.... Perhaps their Emotions and Actions believe in Jesus - but not their MIND....

and you can stand on a 1 or 2 leg stool for a while - but it is UNSTABLE! Very unstable..... You push down all the doubts... Hide the doubts from yourself... Try to talk yourself into not thinking about it.... But... In the end - it catches up on you..... Your faith goes "Wobbly" and you fall...

It caught up with me right after College when I couldn't reconcile Jesus = actually the Son of God in my intellect - a MAN in Jerusalem 2,000 years ago - and the blood of that man was to somehow reconcile me to God....

and it took 20 years for me to reconcile that 1 missing leg.... Believing in Jesus with all my Intellect - my "Mind"... but God is faithful, and helped me understand in my INTELLECT as well that Jesus IS the Son of God and His blood was sufficient...

Looks like it caught up with him too....

Here's the most important thing to realize here.... Jesus isn't kidding when he says "And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father's hand." John 10:28-29

See, we don't get the idea that it's not just MY reputation or that pastor's reputation that's on the line... God's Holy name is on the line and HE is the faithful one!

Thanks
 
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There's the problem staring everyone in the face, "he believed".
He did not know, comprehend, engage, or experience. He merely believed.
Beliefs, like the weather, tend to change.
Pity the fellow, he is obviously an idiot.
 
There's the problem staring everyone in the face, "he believed".
He did not know, comprehend, engage, or experience. He merely believed.
Beliefs, like the weather, tend to change.
Pity the fellow, he is obviously an idiot.
I think calling him an idiot is harsh. Where is the love in that comment? I left Christianity for Paganism for ten years. I guess you would have called me an idiot as well. Great way to try and witness to someone or even pray for them.
 
I think calling him an idiot is harsh. Where is the love in that comment? I left Christianity for Paganism for ten years. I guess you would have called me an idiot as well. Great way to try and witness to someone or even pray for them.

Call a spade a spade, not a shovel. Where was the intelligence in musing for a year and then coming to the false conclusion that God does not exist?
He has a brain, but apparently does not use it. Calling him an idiot was being kind. When he is in Hell he'll be called much worse.

If it has not been made clear by my other posts, I don't do politically correct.
 
Call a spade a spade, not a shovel. Where was the intelligence in musing for a year and then coming to the false conclusion that God does not exist?
He has a brain, but apparently does not use it. Calling him an idiot was being kind. When he is in Hell he'll be called much worse.

If it has not been made clear by my other posts, I don't do politically correct.
I'm sure you win a lot of people to the Lord with that logic. Did Jesus go around calling people idiots?
 
We need to rachet this down a notch or two... when you point fingers, there's three on your own hand pointing back.
 
Nothing new I guess. Happened in John's day.. Happening today also.

1 John 2:19 - They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us

As Church body, we are to pray for Holy Spirit to guide the sheep with discernment.
 
My first few thoughts is if you follow bad theology this might well be what you get. And it seems to me that if you understood anything about God - you would know that no one lives without Him, the best you can do is ignore His message. And by best, I mean, it is the worst logic I ever heard. He has a smug smile in his pics that says "I". He rejects God and is well pleased with himself as a result. I would say idiot doesn't encompass it enough.
 

He never knew Him ....Rav had the right scripture..... Here is another.......

John 10:28 (NASB)
28 and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand.

The guy was never in his hand to begin with.....

Numbers 23:19 (NASB)

19 “God is not a man, that He should lie,
Nor a son of man, that He should repent;
Has He said, and will He not do it?
Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?
 
Words hurt guys - I like you both and have agreed and disagreed with you both. And in theory you both could be correct. The truth can be devisive but sometimes one needs a kick in the head to recognize one's error. And sometimes it requires kindness and compassion. This Hollywood Pastor wants the world - look at his face and tell me he doesn't need a jolt.


Tom Boggioni
29 Dec 2014 at 13:33 ET
Ryan-Bell-Headshot-800x430.jpeg

Former Seventh-day Adventist pastor Ryan Bell (A Year Without God blog)
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The former pastor of the Hollywood Seventh-day Adventist Church, who stepped down from his position in March of 2013 before embarking on what he called a “Year without God,” has concluded that he no longer believes that God exists.
In an interview with NPR, former pastor Ryan Bell said his year long journey took him from merely questioning the existence of God to arriving at the conclusion that there is no convincing case for the existence of God.
“I’ve looked at the majority of the arguments that I’ve been able to find for the existence of God and on the question of God’s existence or not, I have to say I don’t find there to be a convincing case in my view,” Bell explained.
 
Maybe I'm not as hard on him because I went through the same thing. Granted I wasn't a minister, but he was in an organization that most Christians feel leads their flock astray. Everyone is accountable for their own actions but can we blame the institution he belonged to for pushing him to his decision? I agree he probably didn't know God on a personal level, but then when I look at my own life I did know God on a personal level when I left. There are many reasons people decide to leave, none of them are good reasons, but they do happen. We just need to have faith God will bring him back.

There is the question if he was even saved in the first place. If he was, does a person have the ability to remove his/her salvation? I question this all the time because of me leaving my faith and verbally denying Christ. I did everything in my power to counter anything a Christian threw at me. I knew all the verses that seemed to contradict themselves and most Christians I ran into didn't have an answer for it. That is pretty much what this guy is doing or is going to do. So if he was saved, since he is denying Christ, is he saved still. I know this is off the topic some and belongs probably in another thread on Once Saved Always Saved. Or is this topic off limits? Just some thoughts.
 
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