Rob Bell

Millions of Christians have struggled with how to reconcile God's love and God's judgment: Has God created billions of people over thousands of years only to select a few to go to heaven and everyone else to suffer forever in hell? Is this acceptable to God? How is this "good news"? Troubling questions—so troubling that many have lost their faith because of them. Others only whisper the questions to themselves, fearing or being taught that they might lose their faith and their church if they ask them out loud. But what if these questions trouble us for good reason? What if the story of heaven and hell we have been taught is not, in fact, what the Bible teaches? What if what Jesus meant by heaven, hell, and salvation are very different from how we have come to understand them? What if it is God who wants us to face these questions? Author, pastor, and innovative teacher Rob Bell presents a deeply biblical vision for rediscovering a richer, grander, truer, and more spiritually satisfying way of understanding heaven, hell, God, Jesus, salvation, and repentance. The result is the discovery that the "good news" is much, much better than we ever imagined. Love wins.

A Book About Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived

Love Wins

Instant New York Times Bestseller Rob Bell, the beloved author of Love Wins and What We Talk About When We Talk About God, goes deep into the Bible to show how it is more revelatory, revolutionary, and relevant than we ever imagined—and offers a cogent argument for why we need to look at it in a fresh, new way. In Love Wins, Rob Bell confronted the troubling questions that many people of faith were afraid to ask about heaven, hell, fate, and faith. Using the same inspired, inquisitive approach, he now turns to our most sacred book, the Bible. What Is the Bible? provides insights and answers that make clear why the Bible is so revered and what makes it truly inspiring and essential to our lives. Rob takes us deep into actual passages to reveal the humanity behind the Scriptures. You cannot get to the holy without going through the human, Rob tells us. When considering a passage, we shouldn’t ask "Why did God say . . .?" To get to the heart of the Bible’s meaning, we should be asking: "What’s the story that’s unfolding here and why did people find it important to tell it? What was it that moved them to record these words? What was happening in the world at that time? What does this passage/story/poem/verse/book tell us about how people understood who they were and who God was at that time?" In asking these questions, Rob goes beyond the one-dimensional question of "is it true?" to reveal the Bible’s authentic transformative power. Rob addresses the concerns of all those who see the Bible as God’s Word but are troubled by the ethical dilemmas, errors, and inconsistencies in Scripture. With What Is the Bible?, he recaptures the Good Book’s magic and reaffirms its power and inspiration to shape and inspire our lives today.

How an Ancient Library of Poems, Letters, and Stories Can Transform the Way You Think and Feel About Everything

What Is the Bible?

New York Times bestselling author Rob Bell shows us how to discover the greatness we were born for, successfully pursue our dreams, find our path, and live confident, fulfilled lives. Rob Bell believes that each of us has a path, a calling—whether it’s writing a novel, starting a business, joining a band, or simply becoming a volunteer. But many people are afraid to start on that path. Who are we to do that? Bell counters, Why not you? We need to learn to turn off the internal and external critics and leap. The universe is alive to help us. And we can only discover passion and joy after we take off. Interweaving engaging stories; lessons from Biblical figures; science, art, and business; honest personal experience; and practical advice, he offers invaluable insight on how to silence our critics, move from idea to action, take the first step, find joy in the work, persevere through hard times, and surrender the outcome. Combining the practical inspiration of Stephen Pressfield’s The War of Art and the warm instructional insight of Annie Lamott’s Bird By Bird, Yes, You encourages us to leave boring behind and embrace the fulfilling lives we are meant to have.

How to Be Here

A guide to living an authentic Christian life urges readers to seek an expression of faith that is personal, rather than in accordance with the belief systems of others, in a handbook that cites the examples of Jesus while offering a perspective on the unlimited nature of God.

Repainting the Christian Faith

Velvet Elvis

Introduction: This is Really about ThatChapter One: God Wears LipstickChapter Two: Sexy on the InsideChapter Three: Angels and AnimalsChapter Four:Leather, Whips, and FruitChapter Five: She Ran into the GirlsÆ BathroomChapter Six: Worth Dying ForChapter Seven: Under the ChuppahChapter Eight: Johnny and JuneChapter Nine: Whoopee ForeverEpilogue: More Balloons, PleaseEndnotes/Resources/Discussion

Exploring the Endless Connections Between Sexuality and Spirituality

Sex God

An influential pastor explains why both culture and church resist talking about God and discusses how to reconnect with God in the modern world.

What We Talk About When We Talk About God

From Rob Bell, the New York Times bestselling author of Love Wins This book is an invitation to see your life in a new way. Because we each have a story we're telling- about who and where we come from, what we've been through, and what it all means-or doesn't mean. These stories we tell can easily feel disjointed and fragmented, like an endless series of events are happening to us without any particular coherence or point. Just, you know, life. But for thousands of years there's been another way of understanding this experience we're all having here, one that goes directly to the heart of those age-old questions Who are we? And What are we doing here? And what does it all mean? In this compelling and surprisingly subversive memoir, Rob shows us this ancient wisdom, taking us through his history and the history of the universe to show us something about each our histories- how all of it matters, how everything we've been through forms a connected whole, and how it's all been headed somewhere the whole time. From the farthest reaches of the universe to the smallest cells in our bodies, Rob invites us to see that there's something more going on here, something bringing us together and guiding us into greater and greater wonder and awe at our own existence, showing us how this world we call home is way more dynamic and mysterious and meaningful than we ever realized. If you've every found yourself thinking There's got to be me more than this. this book is for you. Can your life get more fascinating, more meaningful, filled with more and more possibilities surprising you year after year after year? This book says yes. Because everything is spiritual.

Who We Are and What We're Doing Here

Everything Is Spiritual

Kristen Bell

As he revolutionized traditional teaching on hell in the phenomenal New York Times bestseller Love Wins, Rob Bell now transforms how we understand and practice marriage in The Zimzum of Love, co-written with his wife, Kristen. Despite the divorce statistics, people are still committing to each other, instinctively believing and hoping that theirs is a sacred union that will last forever. Yet when these couples encounter problems, they often lack the resources that keep them connected to this greater mystery surrounding marriage. Rob and Kristen Bell introduce a startling new way of looking at marriage, The Zimzum of Love. Zimzum is a Hebrew term where God, in order to have a relationship with the world, contracts, creating space for the creation to exist. In marriage, zimzum is the dynamic energy field between two partners, in which each person contracts to allow the other to flourish. Mastering this field, this give and take of energy, is the secret to what makes marriage flourish. Rob and Kristen Bell are brutally honest about their own struggles, their ups and downs, as together they pass along what matters most for couples. In this wise book, they explore the secret of what makes a happy union—probing the mystery at the heart of the extraordinary emotional connection that binds two people. With his down-to-earth charm, a dose of whimsy, and memorable stories, Rob, writing with his wife Kristen, changes how we consider marriage, providing insight that can help all of us create satisfying and sacred unions of our own.

A New Way of Understanding Marriage

The Zimzum of Love

Don Golden

A church in Grand Rapids, Michigan, recently added a $25-million addition to its building; meanwhile one in five people in Grand Rapids lives in poverty. This book about those two numbers tells what happens when Christians support and participate in the very things Jesus advocated.

A Manifesto for the Church in Exile

Jesus Wants to Save Christians

Discusses the complex relationship between suffering and creativity, and how it relates to the spirituality in Christian life.

Drops Like Stars

"Bestselling author of VELVET ELVIS and the 2 million-plus selling Nooma videos, Rob Bell, reveals a secret deep in the heart of millions of Christians-they don't believe what they have been taught are the essential truths of their faith. Out of respect for their tradition, they keep quiet, confiding to a few close friends their doubts and questions about salvation, Jesus, and, of course, God. Is Jesus really the only way into heaven? Is God "good" if he is planning on sending billions of people to eternal torment in hell? Are Christians the only ones who have it "right," and everyone else is just deceived? Bell brings out to the open and faces squarely the questions on everyone's mind: Does it really make sense that God is a loving, kind, compassionate God who wants to know people in a personal way, but if they reject this relationship with Jesus, they will be sent to hell where God will eternally punish them forever? In LOVE WINS, Bell goes to the heart of these issues and argues that the church's traditional understanding of heaven and hell is actually not taught by the Bible. Bell is emphatically not offering a new view of heaven and hell-instead, he closely examines every verse in the Bible on heaven and hell and shows what they really teach. And he discovers that Jesus's most fundamental teaching about heaven and hell is, "Love wins.""--

a book about Heaven, Hell, and the fate of every person who ever lived

Love wins

The popular pastor and New York Times bestselling author of Love Wins and What We Talk About When We Talk About God shows us how to pursue and realize our dreams, live in the moment, and joyfully do the things that make us come alive. Each of us was created for something great—we just need to figure out what it is and find the courage to do it. Whether it’s writing the next great American novel, starting a business, or joining a band, Rob Bell wants to help us make those dreams become reality. Our path is ours and ours alone to pursue, he reminds us, and in doing so, we derive great joy because we are living our passions. How to Be Here lays out concrete steps we can use to define and follow our dreams, interweaving engaging stories, lessons from biblical figures, insights gleaned from Rob’s personal experience, and practical advice. Rob gives you the support and insight you need to silence your critics, move from idea to action, take the first step, find joy in the work, persevere through hard times, and surrender to the outcome. Like Stephen Pressfield’s classic The War of Art, How to Be Here will inspire readers to seek the lives they were created to lead.

A Guide to Creating a Life Worth Living

Millones Cajones

When we encounter pain and suffering, our lives are disrupted. Our normal paths and expectations come to a halt. Suffering forces us to take a new path, to create new expectations. In Drops Like Stars, Bell shows us how art does the same thing; it disrupts us, forces us to see the world differently and to forge new expectations. How will we reimagine suffering when we realize that God sees our lives as works of art?

A Few Thoughts on Creativity and Suffering

The New York Times bestselling author Rob Bell, using his inspired and inquisitive approach, focuses on the most widely read book of all time. He provides surprising insights and answers about how the Bible actually works as a source of faith and guidance, showing a brand-new way of reading this sacred text.

What is the Bible?: How an Ancient Library of Poems, Letters and Stories Can Transform the Way You Think and Feel About Everything

'New York Times' bestselling author Rob Bell shows us how to discover the greatness we were born for, successfully pursue our dreams, find our path, and live confident, fulfilled lives.

How to be Here

This book is an exploration of the complex relationship between suffering andcreativity, driven by the belief that there is art in the agony.

Most of us have done things in our lives that we're ashamed of. Some are small things, and some are devastating things. But no matter what we've done or how other people respond, it doesn't change how God feels about us. Nothing can ever change his unconditional love for us.

Rob Bell

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