The Carlton Pearson curiosity continues.

Over the last few weeks I've noticed the amount of search engine queries landing on this site have shot heavenward for Carlton Pearson. The searchers have typed:

• carlton pearson goes bad
• carlton pearson has cancer
• carlton pearson has lost his mind
• is carlton pearson gay?
• did carlton pearson get a divorce?

As far as I can tell, Carlton Pearson's "badness" quotient has gotten no worse than when I wrote my semi-definitive exploration of his doctrine of inclusion back in early 2006: "Carlton D. Pearson: The Charismatic Bishop of Heresy." I've read that

The light of the Church on Earth is a bit dimmer today, but the chorus in Heaven is that much more joyful.

Statement by the President Regarding the Death of Ruth Bell Graham
Contact: White House, Office of the Press Secretary, 202-456-2580

WASHINGTON, June 14 /Standard Newswire/ -- the following is a statement by the President regarding the death of Ruth Bell Graham:

Laura and I are deeply saddened by the death of Ruth Bell Graham, a remarkable woman of faith whose life was defined by her belief in a personal, loving, and gracious God. She was an encouraging friend, accomplished poet, and devoted mother of five and grandmother of 19.

Ruth's marriage to her husband Billy was a true and loving

Marc, over at Spudlets, posted a reflection on 9/11 and its aftermath, now five years gone.

At the very least, whether it’s the day after or five years later, it comes down to how you have made a difference with the life and talents you were given. Have you loved deeply and given much? Can’t do anything about yesterday, today is a work in progress, and tomorrow holds out hope for something better. It’s up to us to grab that opportunity.

Amen.

I've been reflecting on this as well, and commenting elsewhere about suffering and tragedy. So, Marc's post prompted me to say more. And and I thought why not share my thoughts here, as well?

These are a few of the things I've recently found interesting, but don't have the time to properly blog on. I don't necessarily like or agree with the links here, I just think they're interesting. And just in case you do, too, enjoy.

(You can view past Del.icio.us links here or subscribe to my Del.icio.us feed here. )

Perhaps you’ve heard of Yahawa Wahab recently? Mr. Wahab lives in Malaysia, and he’s looking forward to his day in court: He owes $218 trillion dollars. If Mr. Wahab paid off his debt by one dollar every second of every 24-hour day, he would need 68,770.28 years to pay down his bill--or 1,058 lifetimes with 65 years of earning potential ("How Big is a Trillion?").

Update (07/14/2007): "Carlton Pearson: The closest to God you’ll probably ever get"

On Heresy

What is heresy? The textbook definition is simply:

• An opinion or a doctrine at variance with established religious beliefs … or
• A controversial or unorthodox opinion or doctrine.

And right alongside that definition — at least on this weblog, anyhow — you can find a picture of Bishop Carlton D. Pearson who wants to "rewrite the theology of the charismatic world" by preaching a "Gospel of Inclusion" asserting that Christ's death conclusively reconciled all mankind to God — whether we realize it or not — and that the only separation between man and God's grace is subjective, illusionary, and exists only in unenlightened minds (Carlton Pearson, "Jesus Savior of the World/Gospel of Inclusion — Position Paper," Higher Dimension website, viewed March 5, 2006).

More on that later, but first.…

Sorry it took so long to get these notes and ideas posted from last week’s class—it’s been a very busy week at work, and I haven’t had the time at home to get as much done as I’d hoped. So, unfortunately, this is a bit raw. But, fortunately, I have the audio done, and I have a couple other articles on this topic I can add in subsequent posts as well.

Without futher ado, here’s the audio file, it’s about an hour and twenty minutes long, and it includes some after-class discussion for a few die-hards who hung around to grill the unfortunate teacher. The audio is kinda poor, but it comes with the use-what-you-got technology category. If you can’t listen via the player below, here’s a link to the file.

[audio:http://tatumweb.com/blog/wp-content/mp3/bli-hh-03-2005-09-28-2.mp3]

The main topic today was whether or not Christ spent any time in Hell. I argue against that proposition, even

Last week we finished the last five minutes of the Search for Heaven video, then we opened the floor for discussion. The recordings I have below are for my brief intro before the video, the class discussion after the video, then some after-class discussion I recorded with a few who hung around, for the die-hards who want to hear it all!

Before the video:
[audio:http://tatumweb.com/blog/wp-content/mp3/bli-hh-02a-2005-09-21.mp3]

After the video:
[audio:http://tatumweb.com/blog/wp-content/mp3/bli-hh-02b-2005-09-21.mp3]

After class:
[audio:http://tatumweb.com/blog/wp-content/mp3/bli-hh-02c-2005-09-21.mp3]

Tomorrow night’s topic will cover what happened after Christ was crucified. Did he go down to Hell, or not? We’ll look at the principle texts used in this doctrine, and we’ll see if we can come to some conclusions about what it means, and whether that’s important or not. If we have time, I’ll talk some more about the major positions against the traditional view of Hell.

[tags]BlogRodent, heaven, hell, afterlife, death, search-for-heaven[/tags]

For all who were in last week’s open house, and for those who missed it, here are the little mini-presentations I gave regarding the future of this class.

For anybody else familiar with this site, this is my “boss blog” for the folks taking the Believer’s Life Institute classes at Calvary Chapel. Feel free to listen in and enjoy. But if this bores you, sorry.

Don’t have much to say on this first post except that we’re planning to talk a lot about Heaven and Hell over the next six or seven weeks. The next class will feature a video: The Search for Heaven. Here’re my open house talks.

[audio:http://tatumweb.com/blog/wp-content/mp3/bli-hh-01a-open-house.mp3]
[audio:http://tatumweb.com/blog/wp-content/mp3/bli-hh-01b-open-house.mp3]
[audio:http://tatumweb.com/blog/wp-content/mp3/bli-hh-01c-open-house.mp3]

You can also download them here, here, and here.

[tags]BlogRodent, podcast, heaven, hell, heaven-and-hell, mp3, doctrine, theology, afterlife, death[/tags]

“Life after Death?”
A Study of Heaven & Hell

Calvary Assembly of God
Naperville, IL • Room 221

This class will last 7 weeks,
from September 14–through-October 26, 2005

I hope this class will be as thought provoking for you as it has been for me to prepare for. There are few more important—and sometimes disturbing—topics to study than what happens after we die.

I have ordered two DVDs, one of which should arrive shortly, and it would be useful for us to watch together as a class:

The Search for Heaven (60 minutes)

Our lives are filled with joy and sorrow, challenges and change – all linked to growing up and growing old. Is the inevitable conclusion to life’s exciting journey the termination of the human spirit and a plot in the

In the Paris News story about the Assembly of God church shooting in Sash, Texas, Debbie Wolfe is quoted, remembering the scene when Sash A/G pastor James Armstrong was killed by the gunman:

“Brother Armstrong’s wife crouched down beside their travel trailer, and I know the man walked back and forth several times shooting. The Lord protected her.”

Can I tell you I am bothered when folks say this?

Does Mrs. Wolfe really mean to imply that God was not protecting Rev. Armstrong? That God was not protecting the other three who were murdered this Sunday?

Not really, I really don’t think that’s what she means.

But the words say it, and people who aren’t native speakers of “church talk” hear a different message than she’s intending to send. (For my part, I think she and others like her simply mean, “The outcome should’ve been different, but God must have had a different purpose

Well, last night was a good night!

Went to church and gave my talk on the existence of Heaven and Hell. Had a good crowd show up. Unfortunately, as usual, I had far more prepared than I could deliver in 45-minutes. :: Sigh ::

So, I've put the entire manuscript online, and it's available on my PulpitRodent page.

Some comments I received: My wife noted that she really liked the section on proofs and whether we require the same high level of evidence for most of the things we believe as we do for religious things. She mentioned that it was the kind of thing that once I said it, she felt a "Well, duh!" sort of reaction. The kind of thing you always know, but don't always articulate. I liked that.

Someone else told me they didn't

I'll be teaching a class this next month. I'm deep in the middle of research for it now.

Believe or Not?
Do you believe everything you read...or not? When it comes to the claims of the Bible you have to ask yourself if you believe it...or not? Can you believe what the Bible says about the creation of the universe, heaven, hell and angels? This four part series seeks the answers to these difficult questions.

• Creation...Myth or Fact?
• How Reliable is the Bible?
• Is There Really a Heaven or Hell?
• Do Angels Exist?

I'm working on the "Heaven or Hell" topic. To my surprise, there's a lot more debate going on about Hell than I ever suspected.

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[tags]BlogRodent, Heaven, Hell, belief, religion, christianity, death, afterlife, paradise, gehenna, eternity[/tags]