I started listening to Rob and Rich through the Minimalists. I didn’t even know that Rob was a former pastor. He got me when he spoke of having “a funeral for the family you wish you had.” It touched my soul. Thank all of you for the work you are doing. It is greatly empowering and important.
My boyfriend purchased The Heretic last night after listening to this podcasts. He hit soooo many tendor and deep spots for me. This conversation had me going back to my days as a Jehovah witness and how that experience created so much anger and resentment inside me which tail spinned into years of begrudging digging my heels into the ground about organized religion and questioning all things about God. I’m now at place where I believe in Karma and in agreement that yes there is “something” some “force” “someone” putting things into motion. If you know what it’s like to live in a strict catholic household then you’ll know the depressing and suppressing lifestyle of a Jehovah witness. It’s harsh and extremely critical, it’s deep, and creates loads of people who eventually bust out of the world with deep seeded emotional anger. That’s what it did to me and several people who I know. So thank you for this. I’m eager to purchase Rob Bells books and re-establish my relationship with God or how I like to put it the universal cosmic force that propels me through life.
I just want to say, haven't seen the movie yet but I can imagine exactly what it's about. Rob Bel was my pastor. His honesty lead me back to God and the ministries of our church saved my marriage. Can't understand the freaky reason he was a target of the religious right. Like he was the only liberal pastor in the world. It was surreal to watch it happen in real time and be a small part of it. His teaching is not complicated. The truth revealed by Jesus...God is bigger than religion and loving your neighbour is obedience to God. Rob isn't perfect, but he never deserved the way he was treated.
Loved this podcast as I love most of your sessions Rich Roll!! I listen as I go for my walk each day. Keep them coming - thank you for what you bring to the table!
"When you pull the cross away from the flag, you take off that thin veil of moral superiority… and you’re left with very naked nationalism. Suddenly it becomes very offensive and no one wants to believe that they’re wrong." WOW
For white nationalists the cross is arbitrary. They have no problem with the flag on its own or among other flags signifying their self delusion and contempt.
Richard Rohr speaks of the tricycle of faith: scripture + tradition + experience. Coming from the Perennial Tradition and my own experience of God, I am fed by Scripture. Without the other two wheels, it is broken. The Pharisees threw Scripture in Jesus' face all the time. He constantly turned it upside down on them ("You have heard it said, but I say to you..."). Modern day Pharisees are using the bible as a weapon and driving people away from Christianity and God by the droves. Rob Bell is drawing people back to God by the droves. Let God be the judge.
@Clouseauish Agreed. Anyone who has read and understands the Bible at all can see this clearly. So much of what he says is EASILY refutable of you know the scriptures.
He took the bible and read, i am a converted christian, i read the bible and i thought, no way does anybody know this?? Hell is not what people think it is. Luckily i am not the only one who found the real gospel. I just ordered his book love wins.
He speaks what FEELS good to many people. But he denies what God clearly teaches us about fiery, everlasting punishment (Matthew 25:41, 46). He also believes that Heaven and Hell are mere states of mind, which is a tenet of Eastern religion, NOT Christianity. Bell is even pro-LGBTQ. Bottom line: he is indeed a heretic, not a Christian. Scripture warns us about such false teachers (Jeremiah 28:15; II Peter 2:1-3)! Here are some biblical litmus tests: Deuteronomy 18:22, Luke 6:26, and I John 4:1-6. Whoever contradicts God's Word is a false prophet/teacher. It really is that simple.
@Clouseauish so not true - he would have more knowledge than you by far and his knowledge of the language of the day - watch his everything is spiritual video - incredible - he is light in a church that has set up so much control fear and manipulation according to the scriptures they want to promote
Rob Bell is living proof that God is doing something new in the world right now, and if all you can see is what God was doing before, you just might miss it. Rob has given Christianity a new story, and has made it relevant for today. He is the shepherd who has left the 99 sheep safe in the fold in order to go out and search for the 1 who is lost. I would even go so far as to say that he is the "Billy Graham" for this generation, and is leading many, many to God and Jesus who otherwise would have been left standing outside of the churches in the cold!
I'm enjoying your podcasts from Australia Rich - thank you for the work you're doing. [Half-way through this one]. Just a thought, the Self Realisation Fellowship in Los Angeles, the organisation started by Paramahansa Yogananda, earlier last century, have an amazing story to tell. He wrote the widely acclaimed, and somewhat mind exploding 'Autobiography of a Yogi'. I would love to hear an interview by you with one of the monks from that organisation - you have a talent for bringing out the best in people. I don't think I would be alone in finding this a fascinating conversation. In any case, my appreciation to you for sharing your work with us...
Thank you Rich, Rob and Andrew for this amazing podcast that I could have watched for another hour. I had heard of Rob Bell but didn’t know much about him. A truly inspiring man. Wish I had known - he was in my city last week and I would have loved seeing him.
One of the problems we have is that we think that our generation is THE generation. A lot of our limited vision and thinking is because we struggle to take a step back and observe humanity as a whole and from an objective perspective. We think our generation has it right and that where we are right NOW is what is the entire reality and truth. For example. Many Christians (and others) think that their understanding of the Bible & Christianity is Gospel...They think that they can't possibly have it wrong...But if they were to step back and look at the timeline and look at history they will see that masses upon masses of people back in time believed ANOTHER concept of Christianity and for a long time and if we were back there again would also believe the same as then...But now these Christians would say that the old form is not true and yet the old form had all the same scriptures to back up their ideas that we do with ours today... So what I love about Rob and many, many others is that take steps back and look at the Bible and what we perceive as God and then go from there...That is where you will find more truth I believe. For me truth is often a process of elimination...I might struggle to form an opinion so using that process of elimination helps...Not to say what God is but to say what you believe God is NOT often gives a much clearer view.
The birth of Jesus was not a socio-politcal revolutionary event; it was the king coming to his people who eventually rejected him. It upset Herod because he didn't want another king around and this was representative of the power of who Jesus is, which is contrary to the world system. Jesus said "My kingdom is not of this world." He will return and establish it one day, but we can't establish it. We can only preach who this king is, the Messiah and Son of God, and let God bring people into his kingdom. Either Jesus is the Son of God and the Messiah Redeemer or he isn't. So if this is right, then what Jesus taught is true, and anything against that, including all other beliefs, is false.
I have compassion for those that have had their vulnerabilities exploited by the co-opted Anti-Christ that is Evangelicalism that serves Empireand Death. Your value and survival here and through eternity was tied to serving evil that claimed to be God. The true Jesus does love you ... Please leave the Church and fight against it.
One of the best podcast!! Rich Roll, David Goggins, Rob Bell, and John Joseph enter in the bar...you know what happened? Everybody discover themselves.
Goggins and Bell? Lol love them both but totally different people. They both discovered themselves alright. One is the grim reaper trying to take peoples souls (dark side) and the other one is mother Teresa trying to give life through compassion and empathy (beauty). So good so good. Raise your glasses to ripping those souls. By all means fight until you hear the Bell.
(Nothing to do with this video but) Where does an ethical vegan do their banking? This struck me today when I was looking at making some independent investments(stocks and shares ISAs here in the UK), then I thought about the Bank I use for current and savings accounts and wondered where they make their investments. Am I inadvertently funding factory farming, environmental damage, animal drug research? Is this something you have ever covered/thought about?
Beautiful young men, you make me weep with your heart-connected intelligence and humor! At 31:31 Rob mentions the Celts and the soil. Follow this thread to find answers to much that you consider "mysterious" in people. What is seen as mysterious is common sense, become uncommon. It's all about relationships -- to earth, its creatures, and to one another when we make love and make children. "We must go to the past to go forward." (Native elder).
This really isn’t about the flag, or guns, or even homosexuality. It’s about choosing who or what you are going to follow. Are you going to follow Jesus and be informed only by Him and the Scriptures which affirm Him, or are you going follow the voices and the ethic of our society? In the very least, I would challenge people to try to understand how Jesus and society are in conflict, and why society is now quickly moving (I would call it regressing) to a state where the perspective of authentic followers of Jesus is deemed unacceptable (if it ever was, in fact, acceptable, which is a matter for debate). People don’t particularly like being called sinners, and they don’t like to find out that God is the focus of the universe, NOT humankind. God is at the center of reality, and we were created to serve Him, not vice versa. No, God is not a cosmic "kill joy" -- He did originate amazing concepts that compose the essence of joy and happiness, like our sexuality, the warmth of the sun, the nurturing love between a parent and a child, the incredible marvel of child birth, the weighty significance behind a kiss between a loving and devoted husband and wife, the warmth of a the summer surf, the glorious crispness and deep, bright blue of a freezing winter morning. But He did create a particular Order to things, and He created us for a particular purpose within that Order. The human race made a choice to diverge from that Order and purpose, and consequently we find ourselves alienated from Him. Our "default" condition, if you will, is one of alienation from God, to the extent that we even deny His very existence, which really is tantamount to denying the plain reality of existence itself. Romans 1:18ff: For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world,[g] in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. Even the most committed atheist, and the most skeptical agnostic, knows, deep down, that God is real. Now, the "god" that is often put forth as divine is just a straw man, used sometimes for political ends, to further human agendas, wage wars, etc. Nope, that "god" is just an idol, and our sinful human hearts are veritable idol factories -- we will worship anything and everything except for the true God, due to our sinful, rebellious condition. That's not the God I'm referring it, and it is not the God that Scripture tells us about, and it is not the God who became incarnate in Jesus. The true God is a God who is so beyond all that we can imagine. One way to conceive of His scope is to understand recent science relating to the size of the universe. Any God who created such a place is big. Very big. Very powerful. Beyond conception, and beyond our ability to every fully understand. In addition to understanding the scope of God, it is important to understand the holiness of God. Holiness is difficult for us to understand. I'm just going to say that it means that He is "set apart" and worth of awe and worship, and leave it to anyone who is interested to further explore via some google searches and careful reading. A resource I would recommend is RC Sproul's The Holiness of God -- a.co/cSBIY5B It is critical to understand the above context and "back drop" before God's core message to us can be appreciated, understood and ultimately believed in to the point that we are utterly transformed. God's core message is not so much a bunch of words, although, one could say that it is THE WORD, or Logos. God's core message is, in fact, Jesus Christ. Through Christ, and His submission to being sacrificed on a crude cross, enduring an excruciating death, we at once can understand the severity of our sinful condition and the peril which that condition causes us to be in; we can understand the lengths to which God has gone to reconcile us to Himself via the concept of a "covenant" relationship; we can understand that God took upon Himself the just penalty for our failure to obey Him and live within His Order; we can understand that all reconciliation to Him is by the gift of His grace; we can understand that we might be fully reconciled to Him by merely gazing upon Him; we can understand that the miraculous result of gazing upon Him is permanent union with Him whereby His Spirit takes up residence in our hearts. These are ALL complex theological topics that must be understood within the broader scope of Scripture; but although complex, the message is clear. It is also quite simple so that even the most simple-minded can believe and enjoy the benefits of tabernacling with God -- namely, believe in Jesus.
Rich Roll, I have thoroughly enjoyed so many of your podcasts. Some times they make my day, and that's an understatement. I want to thank you for the variety of intelligent, informed people you invite to your studio. The only draw back I have. And, as a woman I feel it needs to be said. There aren't nearly enough females interviewed. The few you have had on your podcasts are not that interesting, or so intense it's difficult to watch. Please don't take it as a serious critique so much as an observation. I'm a 67 year old grand mother who enjoys hearing about strong independent women who have taken charge of their life, and working with others for the benefit of all people, and or the earth. I think women in general are poorly represented in most podcasts involving life changing experience, healthy plant based living, spiritual well being, and evolvement,..
Rob Bell’s PC homogenized version of christianity and the Bible is not the light seekers of today should be drawn toward. If this is where they are to begin, however, they should seek out factual foundational material, giving light to both the historical and biblical inaccuracies of his pomposity.
Thank you...I so needed to see this today. I just watched The Young Turks channel how Trump’s followners are seeing the siting of the American Embassy in Jerusalem and his other insane actions as fulfilling of weird prophecies about Armageddon....and are pushing Trump to bring about the end times. The video made me feel physically sick...how distorted the views of many Evangelical ‘Christians” are against the simplicity of following Jesus. I’m in England and I was only introduced to Rob’s writings a month ago......THANK YOU GOD!!
Generation Xers are forgotten again. Millennials think all this present issues is new, it’s not. My generation were just as disaffected and anti authoritarian.
Unfortunately, Rob Bell does teach heretical things. So do many others. We cannot get this walk 100% right because we are sinners and the only good in us comes from Christ.
i can’t wait to hear him read your ugly comment someday on “celebrities read mean tweets” so we can laugh for a moment at the ridiculousness of it, and then feel sadness in our hearts for you.
