CRN.Info and Analysis

Rob Bell’s next speaking tour has been announced - “The Gods Aren’t Angry Tour“, subtitled how humans invented religion to make themselves feel better, will be coming late this fall in the US.  Like the “Everything is Spiritual” tour, the venues for the tour are primarily nightclubs and small public theaters (like the Murat, here in Indianapolis).  All proceeds from the tour will go to the Burundi poverty-relief program, Turame, which is part of Mars Hill Bible Church’s (where Rob preaches) ‘XYZ’ mission program.

It will be interesting to hear what he has to say, which will obviously - on some level - be differentiating what it means to follow Jesus from simply practicing religion.

Tickets go on sale Saturday…

[NOTE: The original version of this article referred to Ken as posting the C?N article about this tour.  However, the mysterious 'Editor' was the poster, not Ken, so we cannot make attribution of the C?N post.] 

While the announcement of the tour was one of the first useful things I’ve found on C?N lately, C?N couldn’t resist throwing in a nasty guess at what Rob will say (kind of like the preview nastiness about Sex God, though - interestingly - C?N doesn’t seem to be able to exercise as much prooftexting glee with Bell’s second book as he has with Velvet Elvis.

We wonder if he’ll lump Christianity and the God of the Bible into both categories; not angry with our sin and a man-made religion. (after all, Bell thinks the Bible is a human product)

I wonder if C?N will actually go listen to Bell before tearing apart whatever he has to say.  Something tells me that only one of the two of us has ‘wondered’ correctly…

[FYI: C?N's last potshot is part of a quote from a Bell interview in which he addresses the way some fundamentalist churches treat the Bible, as if it fell out of the sky (was created by fiat) with no contextual connection to those who wrote the words in it, inspired by God.  Of course, that doesn't say what they want it to say, so they have eisogeted the quote in a manner to give it a different meaning than intended...]

As I have been perusing the comments at Slice, I have been deeply saddened. These are usually in response to a piece on how evil the seeker sensitive church is, and how the church is being taken over by the devil as we speak. Some have good content, others are obviously written out of ignorance or hate. There is one common though that I see throughout them. It is usually something to the effect of, “Lord, how much longer can we endure this? Come Lord, come!”

I obviously don’t agree completely with their assessment of the church today. But, as I read that, I think to myself how much more selfish can that statement be? Here they are pointing out that people are being dragged to hell left and right. They have the answer to solve the problem. And what do they want to do? Leave the scene! I am not to sure if this is a product of reformed theology or just a self-seeking heart.

Imagine watching a building burn with thousands of men, women and children in it. You have the fire hose in your hand. But, you cry out, “The fire is too hot! I gotta get outta here!” To me, that is exactly what many of these people are doing. They are too concerned with their own comfortable way of life being preserved, that they leave the situation in fear of being burned while saving someone. I would rather smell of the smokes of hell in an attempt to help bring someone to Christ, than stand by and watch people I love fall away. “For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers”