Rob Bell is a bestselling author and international teacher and speaker. He is the founding pastor of Mars Hill Bible Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan. His books include Velvet Elvis, Sex God, and Jesus Wants to Save Christians. He was profiled in TIME Magazine as one of 2011's hundred most influential people. Visit Rob Bell at www.robbell.com.
Bell received a ton of publicity when angry fundamentalist Christians heard about a video he made and accused him of heresy for proclaiming universalism instead of the orthodox Christian view that God sends unbelievers to hell. The author sees Jesus as the expression of God's love for the world. "He didn’t come to start a new religion, and he continually disrupted whatever conventions or systems that existed in his day."
Bell correctly states that no one has cornered the market on Jesus. But the fundamentalists who object to this book think they have the One True Way. God loves them, too, even though they want to see Him as condemning heretics to hell.
Jesus brings the message that we can experience heaven right now. What a joy it is to hear that, says Bell. Or we can choose to speak and live out of the slogan "Turn or burn." You can hear that from the angry mouths of street preachers all across the land. "Love Wins" is a much more appealing and tantalizing mantra to express the grace and mystery that Bell finds on the Christian path.
This evangelical celebration of the love of God will open new doors for Jesus seekers fed up with the toxic hellfire and brimstone tirades of fundamentalist Christianity. As that happens, love wins again!
