Rob Bell : The Gods Aren't Angry

Usually it makes more sense to blog about a book/cd/dvd after investigating said product! Usually is not how i ever do things and as i said to someone just the other day, 'I like to do things arse about face.' This morning the latest Rob Bell dvd came up in conversation and i am keen to get watching it sometime soon. I really enjoyed Everything is Spiritual despite not agreeing with every single thing Rob says in it. If you type the title of either of these dvd's or Rob's name into Google you will get enough search results to make your head spin. The net is rife with equal amounts of praise and criticism directed at Rob but one thing that is hard to deny is his amazing ability as a communicator. That is enough of a reason for me to want to watch this, whether i will agree with everything he says is another thing and frankly is not an issue.

Anyone see this? Thoughts?

Jesus wants to save Christians.....

I am not sure if you agree with Rob Bell on everything but thats not the point of this post. The point of this post is to say that i think his products are the best looking stuff the 'christian' market has seen over the last few years. The Nooma dvd's are packaged brilliantly, as was his first 2 books and the Everything is Spiritual dvd. I have to applaud the guys who come up with this stuff, they rock. I know, you may want to say that we should never judge a book by its cover, and that is quite correct but i am JUST talking about packaging here! I should add i do like the synopsis for the new book (pictured). It says: "There is a church not too far from us that recently added a $25 million addition to their building. Our local newspaper ran a front-page story not too long ago about a study revealing that one in five people in our city lives in poverty. This is a book about those two numbers." The fact that the book is titled "Jesus wants to Save Christians" is rather controversial, or at least it will be in N.Ireland. Perhaps i have a different sense of humor but when i hard that i laughed, i know some others who have gasped at the sheer awfulness of such a title! I am pretty sure that Rob is well aware of the criticism he will receive when he titles a book, film or sermon in this way. Anyway, the title is interesting to say the least BUT its another product from Rob that looks great.

Everything is Spiritual:Rob Bell

The 'Everything is Spiritual' dvd has been around for a little while now but we just got around to watching it today. I have had a love/hate relationship with Bell's teaching up until now and more recently i have been skeptical of some of his musings, however, there are some critics out there who have said he is not a 'christian' and some are finding the time to publish long winded attacks on an almost weekly basis (i won't link to these critics). Enough with that then, what about this dvd? Well as my colleague said a few weeks ago, "you need to listen carefully as soon as he starts," Bell begins as soon as he walks on-stage, he then spends the first 30 minutes explaining creation. I have to say i found this very interesting, i did start to wonder though when he would really get to "the point." When he does finally get "the point" of his dvd, where he states that "Everything is spiritual" i couldn't help but feel a tinge of 'new age thinking' in some of his statements BUT i am willing to admit that my misgivings could be tainted by many of the criticisms i have read.
I continue to have reservations about some of Bell's teaching but i have to admit that the man is incredibly talented, his ability to communicate his message is awesome and he is totally at ease in front of an audience. Some will say he does not use the opportunity to effectively communicate "The Gospel" and that is correct, he does not. Then some will say this is not the point of the dvd. I don't really want to enter that discussion here but the 1hr 17mins impressed me for sure.
To buy the dvd or subscribe to the podcast go here

My Coffee Table.........

What do The Sopranos, Simon & Garfunkel, Grapes and Rob Bell all have in common?



They are all on my coffee table!