Velvet Elvis: Repainting the Christian Faith by Rob Bell
The story of how I came upon this book is somewhat convoluted. Normally, I don't read a lot of religious books because to be honest I find a lot of them overly sentimental and treacly and frankly, not my thang. Another resident of LeukemiaTown told me about these spiritual shorts out on the 'net, called NOOMA. This guy swears by them and encouraged me to watch them. I cannot attest to the quality or power of these films because I am ashamed to admit I haven't seen a single one. Yeah, slackah.
The next day after our conversation I was in the bookstore looking for a gift to bring him. I thought, being that he is a churchin' dude, I'd see about finding him something with a more spiritual , devotional slant. As I glanced through the titles, this book caught my eye. Go check out the "Christian" shelves of your local book purveyor's religious section to see why a book with the words VELVET ELVIS in light mint against black is a standout. Intrigued, I pulled it out and flipped it over to read all the blurbies. Sure enough, there's the author, Rob Bell, who also happens to one of the individuals behind NOOMA. I bought a copy for my fellow LTown citizen and one for myself. It was too weird not to pass up.
Rob Bell is the founding pastor of Mars Hill Church, a megachurch in Michigan that meets in a coverted shoping mall. Rob also plays in a punk band. And he wears black framed nerd glassed. Awesome, I thought, A hipster Joel Osteen. Gak. Immediately, I was prepared to be annoyed by Bell just as I am annoyed by all those churches and their veneered, shuck-and-jive preachers.
Yeah, so totally wrong.
You know you want to read more; the rest of my review is up on Pajiba. Check it, one two, one two.
2 comments:
my bible study has the nooma videos (you can get the whole dvd set) they are pretty good. there are some that won't be comfortable for all audiences, but he has some good stuff to say and usually an interesting/weird visual
Cameron Bailey turned me on to Nooma & Rob Bell. Of course, I myself have slacked and have seen or read anything yet. However, a lot of people I know really like Rob Bell because he doesn't fall into that scary Christian area.
Hope you're feeling good. Work has been hell so I've been out of touch. I'm sorry! I'll be in touch soon!
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