I recently just read a book entitled "Velvet Elvis" by Rob Bell. Now, Rob Bell has this tendency to shake up, and reshape my thinking... and I love it.
Faith: Brick wall, or trampoline? If you pull one brick out of the wall, will the rest of it tumble? Or a spring that when pulled, has some stretching room? A wall that is dependent upon each brick, or a spring that is merely supportive?
Heaven: A place we will eventually arrive at? Or a place we were designed to bring to earth. "On earth as it is in heaven..." If we have the cabability to bring heaven to earth, we must also then have the ability to bring hell to earth... Hell on earth... Sound familiar? What if we tried making it more like heaven?
Evangelism: We always talk about how we need to take Jesus to another country. China. India. Iraq. South Africa. England. France. Russia. Why? Is he missing in those countries? Or is more about journeying together, and recognizing his already existent presence everywhere?
These are some of the ideas that are present in Velvet Elvis. Keep in mind, I'm just skimming the surface. One of the greatest things about this book are all the questions. Yes, questions. And unanswered ones at that. Rob Bell talks about how so often, we're afraid to ask questions. We're afraid to let God in on what our hearts really want to know, what we really want to ask. In this book, he challenges us to ask those questions - no matter what.
I've written a review for Relevant magazine that can be found at this address: http://www.relevantmagazine.com/article.php?sid=7000 Or you can click on the title of this post. It has some quotes from the book, and where you can get more info on it. I highly recommend checking it out...
Not everything in the book sits well with me. It's not supposed to. They're someone elses questions, not mine. But I have found myself with a lot of the same questions on my tongue... Glad to know I'm not alone.
And on a side note... No I do not work for Rob Bell, I'm not related to Rob Bell, I don't even know Rob Bell, nor do I worship him. I appreciate his gift of communication the way someone might appreciate a painter, a musician, a writer, a movie maker... when someone communicates something that resonates deep within my being, I'm appreciative.
And I like to share.
5 comments:
Tory, I read the book too, loved it, love Rob. Don’t let the critics at Relevant get you down. A lot of those people like to stir up controversy and just take the opposite opinion on everything.
Nice site.
http://theway.blog.com
Tory - I know I'm your brother, but I think the review was great. Reviewers are supposed to write what they like about something they are reviewing, as much as they write about what they don't like.
I wrote some thoughts on my blog about how I wish people were more careful with their words online. Its too easy to think what we write is "just amongst friends", when in fact every one and any one can read it at any time.
Keep being honest. Keep writing. Keep loving.
Hello Tory,
I am a pastor who loves Jesus Christ.
I only have one question.
Do you love Jesus Christ?
John Loppnow
:)
John, John, John...
I can never quite hear the tone in your voice (or should I say typed words)... Complete humor (odd, yet delightful), slight humor/slight truth, complete truth?
Whatever the case, good to hear from you.
And yes, I love Jesus.
But I'm still learning what it means to really love.
Hi Tory-
Rob Bell is going on a speaking tour this July called the Everything is Spiritual tour. Go to the newsroom at zondervan.com for more details. Just thought you'd like to know.
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