rob bell, vekvet elvis

Any thoughts on Rob Bell and his Velvet Elvis? Personally, I am staying well clear, but have so many friends that adore it, that it puts me in a difficult position not to keep quiet?

This is one of the few books that I have read that I literally wanted to throw in the garbage when I was reading it.

The other was "The Shack".

I was forewarned about the Velvet Elvis, but I picked up a copy of The Shack last summer with no prior warning. So many Christians were reading it and even raving about it, and I'd not heard any negative comments. I pitched it in the trash about halfway through. I consoled myself that I had bought it at a discount.

:-(

Catgee,

I think you are wise to stay clear of VE. The way even Christians flock toward these types of books reminds me of the fact that we are sheep. We are prone to wander. If you see a brother or sister straying into this kind of stuff, I believe you should sound a warning--always in a spirit of gentleness and love, of course. Many people think that if a book is found in a "Christian" bookstore, it is a safe read. Not so!

May God give you the wisdom and grace to be an encouragement and help to those who are searching the flawed writings of men for what can only be found in the perfect Word of God.

I read the book and it landed on my toxic waste shelf were I keep many similar titles that I would not lend to others and some day may throw away.
I left our last church when they went through Rob Bell's video series "Nooma"

would I be breaking any rules if I posted a link to a discernment site that does book reviews?

But, there are several good websites concerning books out there that can tell you if a book is worth reading or not.. my favorite ones are the ones that quote a book then give what scripture says about it. Using foot notes to compare the book to the scriptures.
This has caused me to study, study, study, that way when I read a book now I am able to see the errors without having someone show me what they are...
I have another link if allowed, that teaches the fundamentals of christianity, which arms you to alot of stuff floating around out there.
But for a short answer to your question.
V.E. is not good.

Probably the best reply written to that garbage named Velvet Elvis (I own a copy) was already written in 1923 by J. Gresham Machen called 'Christianity and Liberalism'. I would highly recommend that you obtain a copy of that book. You can get it for under 10 dollars on amazon.

Yeah, I would also suggest Machen's "Christianity and Liberalism"

There is so much wrong with The Emerging Church (i know there is an emergent church and an emerging church movement - not sure which one is which). A couple of the problems with this book: 1.) No Gospel 2.) See #1.

I would stick to the dead guys.

hulsey wrote:

Probably the best reply written to that garbage named Velvet Elvis (I own a copy) was already written in 1923 by J. Gresham Machen called 'Christianity and Liberalism'. I would highly recommend that you obtain a copy of that book. You can get it for under 10 dollars on amazon.

Or you can read it online for free here:

http://www.biblebelievers.com/machen/index.html

Our local christian bookshop has the The Shack as its featured book.
So many christians are reading it & alot of them are loving it. I just tell people that I don't like it, I've done a bit of research on the internet about it. So much of the stuff in christian book stores aren't good, I remember about 12 years ago, we were in a leadership group in our church & we studied the book by Steven Covey, he is a morman!!!
We have to be so careful about what we read.
I am not a fan of Rob Bell either.

It was this book that gave me a vision to see godly content returned to the forefront of book stores. I believe the Lord is behind this vision as a couple of weeks later I was asked to distribute books for Art Katz Ministries in the UK, they aren't in bookstores (my local one didn't even reply to my email about stocking Art's books), but they are getting into the hands of saints who want them.

The most dangerous thing with Velvet Elvis (I felt the Lord lead me to read it) is that it's so [i]vague[/i] in what it says that people read into it what they want. Most people who admire Rob Bell that I know do so because they like to know about the 'underlying Hebrew' - I told them there are much better ways to learn about that!

Roger Oakland has written a very in-depth book on the Emergent Church calling 'Faith Undone', but you are right to stay away from Velvet Elvis. Sadly, convincing others to do so proves quite difficult, the wordliness of it, the fasionability and the sense that your faith doesn't demand anything specific of you seem to appeal to people and in some cases they sadly feel their faith has been 're-vamped', by a 'new' thing.

" Thus says the LORD:"Stand by the roads, and look,
and ask for the ancient paths,
where the good way is; and walk in it,
and find rest for your souls.
But they said, 'We will not walk in it.'"

Jeremiah 6:16