Joy is learning to perceive things that run counter to prevailing wisdom about how the world works. 

-Rob Bell

Is joy simply feeling happy? Or is it knowing that in any situation, God is up to something… and being okay with that. 

This week, Ventus was labeled “emergent” by some local pastors like it was a dirty word. I was a bit offended to be so easily labeled. It was very judgmental and off base.

On a side note, I got the new Rob Bell and Brian McLaren books in the mail today. I’m way jazzed.

Zondervan sent me Rob Bell’s new Everything is Spiritual DVD for review.

I received it in the mail Friday and Miriam and watched it yesterday. I’ll have to say that it really struck a chord in both of us. It was partially because it answered some questions and topics we had been pondering lately in our coffee time. I love God’s continuity and how he uses so many different ways to speak to us as we journey with him.

As I’ve said before about Rob and his lectures, he covers so much ground and takes you on such an intellectual and spiritual journey that it’s often times hard to sum up. Essentially he breaks down the creation story in Genesis and shows how God has interwoven us so that everything we experience is spiritual. From quantum physics to Jesus, we don’t have a spiritual walk because we are spiritual beings and it is impossible to separate spirituality from humanity. They are one.

Zondervan puts it more succinctly than I do:

In the Hebrew scriptures there is no word for “spiritual.” And Jesus never used the phrase “spiritual life.” Why? Because for Jesus and his tradition, all of life is spiritual.

I’d definitely recommend this one. It’s not a sermon, it’s a lecture. If you don’t mind thinking you’ll really enjoy this.

I just can’t wait for Rob’s The God’s Aren’t Angry on DVD.

For more on this DVD or to order it… click here.

I’ve shown this clip before, but it’ll give you a good idea of Rob’s style and message.

[youtube= http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Poi3imQkQsQ]

Zondervan publishing sent me this clip to push Rob Bell’s new DVD of his “Everything is Spiritual” tour. I’ve heard good things from friends and I’m going to order it (if they don’t send me a free copy for hocking it here).

[youtube= http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Poi3imQkQsQ]

For more go here.  

Life’s always an adventure. And going to see Rob Bell last night was no exception.

I had three people riding with me to go to the Moore theater in Seattle last night when we had a bit of car trouble on the way down. Well, it’ wasn’t exactly car trouble, we ran out of gas. That was my first inkling that the gas gauge on our ministry van was broken.  We left plenty early and everything was going great. No traffic. Great conversations. It couldn’t get any better till the car lost all power going 70 down the highway.

We pull over, call AAA and they inform us it could take up to 45 min for them to come help us. Rob Bell is slated to go on at 7:30 and it’s about 6:40 at this time. So we wait and wait, watching the clock. We all took turns urinating outside the van in the medium of the highway. It was good bonding time to say the least.

I’m checking my watch and getting more and more frustrated so I decide start to walking towards a gas station. About ten minutes into my hike, I get a call that AAA has arrived. So I run back to the van (it’s 7:30 by this time) and drive frantically to find a gas station. You’d think that was a easy task being so close to Seattle, but it wasn’t. We drive through all these random neighborhoods looking (because there are no gas stations on the outskirts of Seattle). Finally we find one and gas up.

Driving late to the Moore theater, we face the next hurdle: finding parking in Seattle. By the time we park, I’m pretty spent and it’s almost 8pm. We rush into the theater and it looks like they’ve already let the cowds out. So I go over to an attendant and ask her what’s going on. She informs me that they printed the start time on the tickets wrong and that Rob is really slated to start at 8pm.

You have no idea the mix of relief, joy and amazement that washed over me. So we go looking for our tickets and they’re on the front row. Again, amazing. And as soon as we sit down the music plans and Rob enters. I couldn’t have scripted this any better. God was so good to us.

All I can say about “The God’s Aren’t Angry” tours is that I great time. I really enjoyed myself. Rob has an an amazing ability to connect things that are already know and bring them together into a whole new perspective. The bulk of the lecture was about how God enjoys revolutionizing our perspective of reality.  I won’t say much more because a few of you who have tickets have asked me to to spoil it. My only advice: don’t take notes. Don’t even try. Rob talks too fast, covers too much ground (in 1.5 hours) and you’re better suited just enjoying it and soaking it in. I’ll be processing it for the next couple of days. I had a great time and just love Rob Bell’s heart and passion.

My opinion: it’s well worth your time and money (and a raping by tickemaster).

For tickets go here… 

To hear more from Rob go here…