Velvet Elvis or False Jesus?

"You have to see this, it's awesome!" I was handed a DVD by a friend. It was called "Bullhorn", part of a series of DVD messages by someone I had never heard of, Rob Bell. Being that I am always looking for good material for kids at youth group, I got home and eagerly plugged it in. From the moment I began to watch it, I felt almost nauseous and didn't know why.

It began with Rob Bell, casually dressed and hip looking, sitting on a park bench, interspersed with scenes of a street preacher, older, wearing thick glasses, scared of people, printing literature and going on the streets with a bullhorn to preach. The portrayal of this man as an unattractive, outdated offensive relic could not have been clearer, nor could Mr. Bell's full frontal attack towards street preachers and street preaching. He makes it clear that the "bullhorn man" is not reaching anyone, he's turning people off, and even Jesus doesn't like what he's doing. He goes on to say it's better to reach people by putting our arm around them, showing we love them, preaching diversity and tolerance, etc. etc.

I cut my teeth on street witnessing growing up as a baby Christian. The apostles were street preachers, and one of my dearest mentors, Rev Glenn Adkins, has been street preaching most of his life, and as his one-time protégé and disciple, I know the power that is there when you take the Gospel to the streets. And here I was listening to Mr. Bell implying that street preaching or "witnessing" will make you uncool and even unchristian, just like the humiliating caricature of the "bullhorn man" he showed in his DVD.

The fact is, most Christian kids don't evangelize - at all. They don't share their faith - at all. I realized that if this DVD got shown in youth groups, they never would, because Mr. Bell told them it is uncool and unchristian. I knew I did not want that DVD, or any other of Mr. Bell's DVD's, shown in our youth group.

As time went by, I began to accumulate information about this young man Christianity Today was calling "The Mystical Billy Graham." He is pastor of one of the largest "emergent" churches in America, Mars Hill, made up of mostly young people, almost 15,000 in attendance. Bell is the author of "Velvet Elvis", a book that is on the bookshelf of almost every youth pastor I know. A graduate of Wheaton, it appears the explosive growth of his church even took him by surprise. His second book, "The Sex God", contains a chapter called, "God Wears Lipstick."

The influence that Mr. Bell has on youth and college age kids is phenomenal. He is a pivotal player in the "Emergent Church". He is a charismatic speaker, a creative teacher, and seems to be a genuinely sincere and nice person. But, as previously stated, being sincere and nice has nothing to do with the truth, nor does being a charismatic, creative speaker. Because of the tremendous impact Mr. Bell is having on youth, it is our responsibility to look at what he is teaching.

My initial visceral spiritual aversion to Mr. Bell's Nooma DVD and the spiritual discernment that "something's not right" was soon verified for me when a new "Nooma" DVD was released called, "Breathe."

This coincided very closely, coincidentally, with another DVD release of New Wave spirituality called, "Be Still." Interspersed with commentary from major Christian celebrities like Max Lucado and Beth Moore, as well as more new-age leaning people like Dallas Willard and Richard Foster, the DVD moves Christians toward "contemplative prayer" and learning the value of silence.

I understand the need for times of silence before God - we are too busy, and it is too noisy. "The Lord is in His holy temple; let all the earth be silent before Him." How can we expect to hear His voice, when we never take the time to wait to hear? Silence has its place.

Unfortunately, the new push toward "silence" and "contemplative prayer" as it is being taught has more to do with Hindu and Buddhist style meditation and guided visualization than any Biblical template for meditation or waiting on God. It adds "breath prayers", repetitive prayers and emptying your mind . But the only way to wait and be silent safely in this age of deceptive demonic voices is to do so with the Word of God in your lap, filling your mind with truth from it.

The DVD "Be Still" is based on the scripture, "Be still and know that I am God." (Psalm 46:10) It's a great verse, but in this DVD, the verse is taken completely out of context. If you look at this verse in context, God was not saying, "Be quiet and listen to me", but rather, "Stand still and watch me deal with your enemies." Context is everything.

Why is that distinction important here? Quite simply because the "Be Still" verse is one of the favorite verses of the new age movement and new age practitioners. To your average Christian (which I was concerning this verse until someone pointed out its real context), this verse means, "Be still and know God is in control." But for new age believers, it means, "Be still and know that I (point to yourself) am God."

Let that sink in for a moment. That is why context is important.

As I've outlined before, leaders of the Luciferian New Age agenda have made it clear how important it was for them to change the doctrine of the church to new age doctrine, one doctrine at a time. By pushing old occult and new age practices such as "breathing properly" , meditation and silence to "hear the divine voice of God" packaged as a Christian experience for the hungry heart with one single out of context scripture to base it on, they have, through their unwitting Christian marketing folks, managed to make occult and eastern religious practices acceptable…desirable…a way to "hear God." The line between east and west begins to disappear, other voices and other "teachings and philosophies" begin to be incorporated with scripture, and the one world religion comes closer to reality. Those who have opened these doors through "contemplative prayer", "breath prayers" and eastern-style meditation do not have any idea how demonic it all is, and how it has opened up a whole generation of new believers to occultic practices disguised as Christian practice. The results will be - already are - devastating, as it is has served to move the church completely away from Biblical practices into an experience-based way of life that does not have the Bible as the solid standard by which we "prove all things."

During the release of "Breathe" and "Be Still", I happened upon a recording of a message by Mr. Bell at a church. It appears it was given at his church, Mars Hill.

I need to stop here and talk about the name of the church. I understand why he may have used the name, "Mars Hill." Paul preached a sermon there. Before Mr. Bell came on the scene, a very intellectual and sophisticated magazine was published called "Mars Hill." I assume the idea is, Paul took a secular God (The Unknown God) and tried to use it to show that that was the God of the Christians - the Unknown God. It is not clear whether that missions outreach was successful. Even so, I understand the need to "contextualize" the Gospel in a form the locals will get.

But that is a FAR cry from naming your church after a pagan god. It would be like an Old Testament Hebrew assembly calling itself "Baal Congregation" or "Ashteroth Hill Assembly."God judged His people SEVERELY for associating His temple or His people with pagan gods. At the least, it shows a complete ignorance of the dangers of the demonic on the part of Mr. Bell. At worst, it may actually be creating open doors to deception. After all, if you call them, they WILL come. It's called "invoking" in the world of black magick.

Now to return to Mr. Bell's teaching on breathing.  Here is a partial transcript:

"In Yoga, one of the central tenets of Yoga, is your breath needs to remain the same, regardless of the pose...the Yoga masters say, 'This is how it is when you follow Jesus and surrender to God...' That's integrating the Divine into the Daily."

If you are not alarmed by that statement, you simply do not understand the danger and potent destructive power of Yoga, and of occult practices.

Why in the world would we as believers take our cues from "Yoga Masters" on how to follow Jesus? WHAT Yoga masters? Is this not a clear indication of Mr. Bell's fundamental and foundational compromise with a pagan belief system? And if that is not clear to you, then you do not grasp how seriously God takes our opening the door to demonic and occultic Hindu practices.

Concerned, I wrote to the customer relations head of one of the major Christian bookstores that were carrying his "Breathe" DVD which was a watered-down version of his real teachings on Yogic breathing. Here are the following e mails communications between myself and the customer relations director for that bookstore:

Dear Sir or Madam,

 It has come to my attention that your stores are now going to carry Rob Bell's Nooma DVD, "Breathe."

You should know that Bell is now teaching an eastern-style Yoga breath technique and knows it. This is a direct quote from one of his sessions:

 "In Yoga, one of the central tenets of Yoga, is your breath needs to remain the same, regardless of the pose...It's not how flexible you are - it is, can you keep your breath consistent. And the Yoga Masters say, 'this is how it is when you follow Jesus and surrender to God.' That's integrating the divine into the daily."

 I am extremely concerned that you are carrying a product by someone who is taking his cues on how we should follow Jesus from "Yoga Masters" - and I assure you, he's not referring to Christians. I came out of the occult through great hardship, and I am deeply alarmed that you would carry something that has the potential to lead many people into darkness and occultism.

I am asking that you remove Bell's products or at least this "Breath" product from your stores. To not do so would lead me to believe you do not care about the Christian content of your store materials, and would make me consider not just ceasing to patronize your store, but to encourage others to do so. Your response in this matter is greatly appreciated."

 The response from their Public Relations department:

"Dr Reid,

 After reviewing your e-mail and reviewing the NOOMA 'Breathe' by Rob Bell I find no correlation between what Mr. Bell was communicating and the subject of Yoga.  He never even uses the word yoga, nor does he talk about how to breathe.  The entire DVD is a monologue about God providing breath to every living being.  And, the deeper spiritual meaning of the breath He provides. He states, `You are a sacred creation of God.  The divine breathe is flowing through you, and it's flowing through the person next to you and it's flowing through the person next to them.  You are on holy ground.  There is holiness to the people around us and how you treat them.  Jesus said whatever you do for them, you've done for him.'

I have also discussed the DVD with our Buyers of this product.  Three different individuals in this area of our company had previewed this DVD prior to releasing it.  And all of these individuals were shocked by the statements in your e-mail.  We would have to respectfully disagree with your comments.  It would appear that you have criticized this project without personally reviewing the content.  

We are pleased to be able to offer the NOOMA product and the title 'Breathe' is a quality product that we feel will draw the viewer into a deeper relationship with God.  We will have to decline your request to have this product removed from our stores. "

My reply:

"Dear Sir,

 Thank you for your response. I am glad that you made it clear where you all stand and that you chose to completely disregard my concerns and my direct quotes concerning Bell's affinity for the 'Yoga Masters.' I believe the desired response for me would have been, 'We did some research, we found out Rob Bell is teaching a form of occult meditation breath technique and he does quote 'Yoga Masters' as experts on following Jesus. We love truth more than anything so we're going to err on the side of caution and remove Mr. Bell's materials until we are confident he is not teaching unbiblical principles either on his videos or at his church.'

 It is very clear that you have no knowledge of the occult and eastern Buddhist/Hindu practices and its dangers, and you are completely unable or unwilling to even look at that and its influence in the Christian marketplace.

 As you are 'pleased' to offer Bell's products because of its quality, I will be saddened to make it clear to everyone I can that Family Christian Stores are carrying products by someone who is promoting eastern Yoga in his personal 'ministry.' I deeply regret your decision, and the steps I am going to take. But if those who can take a stand refuse to, please do not be surprised if those of us who have been through the kinds of hell the occult and eastern religions produce WILL.

Regretfully,

 Gregory Reid"

His reply:

Mr. Reid,

 That is certainly a Christ-like attitude.  I trust you are also

perpetrating this hate campaign with other Christian retailers as well.

As I have found that most major Christian retail outlets gladly carry

Rob Bell's products and that the product is well-received by a wide

variety of Christians nationwide.  Again, before you tear something

down, perhaps having direct knowledge of it would be a good idea.  View

the DVD then if you disagree perhaps a better avenue of expressing your

dissatisfaction would be to contact www.nooma.com."

My reply:

 "Sir,

Being Christlike is loving the truth that Jesus said He IS above all else.

This is not a hate campaign. This is about pleading with those responsible

for dispensing truth to be responsible to the truth found in the Word of

God. If you truly loved the truth you would have investigated my concerns,

and you have not. Attacking me with crass snippets like 'that certainly is a

Christ-like attitude' and accusing me of perpetrating a hate campaign does

not change the heart of the issue: IF Rob Bell is truly supporting Yoga and

'Yoga Masters' (Hindu and Buddhist, because a Christian 'Yoga master' is not

at issue) then, by supporting his product, you are enabling him in his

CHURCH TEACHINGS to propagate occult eastern practices. Of course, it is

entirely possible that you do not VIEW Yoga as occultic. In that case, I

truly have wasted my time, and yours. But rest assured, Bell may be teaching

something apparently innocent on the DVD - but it will lead people to what

he really teaches, and that is clearly Biblically-forbidden occult

collusion."

His reply:

"Dr. Reid,

The heart of the issue is that you are attacking a man of God, because

he teaches in a way different than you are used to.   If you can live

with that.  Fine.  But as far as this communication string.  I will no

longer participate.  I trust you will prayerfully consider these attacks

against Rev Bell.  If you are a follower of Christ that shouldn't be too

much to ask."

This is a stunning example of "don't confuse me with facts" that unfortunately is so prevalent in people's reactions to attempts to simply point out obvious scriptural problems with these new "new age" Christian teachings. There is no concern, no willingness to consider the facts, no willingness to consider the possibility that a well-loved Christian leader might be teaching error and occult lies.

Sincere and nice though he may be, Mr. Bell is leading thousands of young people and others in a dangerous and deceptive path, and not one Christian leader has raised the alarm. We're afraid to "name names." I cannot be. I am more concerned for youth that God has given us responsibility to shepherd than I am concerned about a misguided pastor. Although I am concerned about him, too.

Perhaps it is that the apple did not fall far from Mr. Bell's theological tree. One of Mr. Bell's spiritual role models is Marcus Borg, author of "The God We Never Knew." In his own words, Mr. Borg says, "I learned from my professors and the readings they assigned that Jesus almost certainly was not born of a virgin, did not think of himself as the son of God, and did not see his purpose as dying for the sins of the world ... by the time I was thirty, like Humpty Dumpty, my childhood faith had fallen into pieces. My life has since led to a quite different understanding of what the Christian tradition says about God." (No doubt - Author's Comment.)

He goes on to say, "I learned the use of mantras (Hindu yoga word repetition) as a means of giving the mind something to focus and refocus on as it sinks into silence." (The God We Never Knew, page 25)

It should not be difficult to connect the dots here. Rob Bell's spiritual inclinations flow straight from his own spiritual role model, Marcus Borg.

It is no surprise, then, when Christianity today stated that "The Bells started questioning their assumptions about the Bible itself "discovering the Bible as a human product," as Rob puts it, rather than the product of divine fiat. (From Christianity Today interview, "The Emergent Mystique", Sept. 7th. 2007) (Borg says, in The God We Never Knew, "I let go of the notion that the Bible is a divine product. I learned that it is a human cultural product, the product of two ancient communities, biblical Israel and early Christianity. As such, it contained their understandings and affirmations, not statements coming directly or somewhat directly from God.... I realized that whatever 'divine revelation" and the "inspiration of the Bible' meant (if they meant anything), they did not mean that the Bible was a divine product with divine authority."  And, "Jesus almost certainly was not born of a virgin, did not think of himself as the Son of God, and did not see his purpose as dying for the sins of the world."20)

No surprise, then, that Mars Hill's website speaks of the Bible as the "voices of those who came before us" - not as God's Word. ("We believe the Bible to be the voices of many who have come before us, inspired by God to pass along their poems, stories, accounts, and letters of response and relationship with each other and the living God. These words have been used to describe God and his character for thousands of years, and we call this theology. Theology is one of the best ways we can come to know and love God; it is also how we understand who God calls us to be and what he calls us to do. Theology comes from the Greek words "theos" and "logos." Theos means God, and logos means word. Words about God." - (From Mars Hill Website) You can see how Bell's theology mirrors Borg's almost precisely, right down to the "Bible as Human Product" to "What if Jesus wasn't born of a virgin?" nonsense in "Velvet Elvis." On page 180 and 184 of Velvet Elvis, Bell expresses his high opinion of Borg's thinking. But then, Bell also recommends to young minds that they take three months off to read Ken Wilber's "A Brief History of Everything" to have a "Mind blowing introduction to emergence theory and divine creativity." (Pg. 192, Velvet Elvis.) And Wilber "was raised in a conservative Christian church, but at some point he left that faith and is now a major proponent of Buddhist mysticism. His book that Bell recommends, A Brief History of Everything, is published by Shambhala Publications, named after the term, which in Buddhism means the mystical abode of spirit beings. Wilber is one of the most respected and highly regarded theoreticians in the New Age movement today. Wilber is perhaps best known for what he calls integral theory. On his website, he has a chart called the Integral Life Practice Matrix, which lists several activities one can practice "to authentically exercise all aspects or dimensions of your own being-in-the-world." Here are a few of these spiritual activities that Wilber promotes: yoga, Zen, centering prayer, kabbalah (Jewish mysticism), TM, tantra (Hindu-based sexuality), and kundalini yoga. There are others of this nature, as well. A Brief History of Everything discusses these practices (in a favorable light) as well." (From Faith Undone, pg. 109-110, Roger Oakland.) Shouldn't we be more than a little nervous that Bell is recommending people read Wilber's clearly occultic materials?

Now, if your concept of the Bible is a book of collective stories, the product of two cultures telling their stories, the voices of those who have gone before us, and that is all, then there is no point in you reading further. Clearly, the Bible is not God's "breathed" Word to you.

But if you DO believe that the Bible is the inspired, God-breathed, powerful Word of God, why are you not alarmed that someone with such a weak and false view of the scriptures is so highly  exalted in the western church world? The fact that Mr. Bell does NOT believe the Bible is the infallible Word of God is enough for me to thoroughly divest myself of all things Bell. I am sorry for him. I would welcome a chance to meet with him, pray with him and discuss all of this. But we should not allow his misguided spiritual perception to become acceptable in a church that professes to be the guardian of truth.

Before we continue to promote Rob Bell and his books and DVD's, it is important that we look at what he actually teaches.

"The Christian faith is filled with change and growth and transformation. Jesus took part in the process, by calling people to rethink faith and the Bible and hope and love and everything else. (P. 11 pp. 1)

There is SO much wrong with this idea. Jesus certainly did not "take part" in the process of calling people to "rethink faith and the Bible." He clarified what was already there in Torah and Tanach that others had distorted. Bell makes it sound like Jesus took part in transforming the "Christian faith." No. He authored truth. And He was the truth. Transformation comes from receiving truth, not "rethinking" it.

Jesus didn't call people to "rethink the Bible." He called them to strip the scriptures of all the additions and subtractions of man, and believe what GOD had said!

"You will find yourself living more in tune with ultimate reality, you are more and more in sync with how the universe works at its deepest levels." (P. 21, Pp. 2)

That is new age gobbledygook at its deepest. What is "in tune" with "ultimate reality''? I hate to say this, but as a former occultist and current researcher and writer on occult and new age affairs from a Christian perspective, this statement could go straight into a New Age Journal without editing, and it would not be rejected. What is "in tune with the ultimate reality''?) What is "in sync with the universe as it is at its deepest levels"? This is the sound of depth, signifying nothing. Oprah Winfrey speaks of "the universe", but she speaks as if it is a person. It is not. It is a thing. God is a person. We can only be "in sync" with Him, His will, His plan for us.

"Jesus at one point claimed to be the way and the life. Jesus was not making claims about one religion being better than other religions." Yes, actually, He was. But more than that - and it is astonishing Bell doesn't get this - Jesus said, "No one comes to the Father, except by Me. (John 14:6)

Bell falls into the classic error of someone who is disposed to error - he only quotes part of a verse or passage. He quotes the "I am the way" part but leaves out entirely the "No one comes to the Father but by Me" part. And half-quotes are the basis of the enemy's world of spiritual deception. The part Bell left out not only claims superiority of His Way, it claims it is the ONLY way. Not Buddha, not Krishna, not any other "religion" or "way." It is more than a little disturbing that Bell excised this last part - for it is the basis of our confidence in telling people Jesus alone can save them from eternal death. Without that, we're JUST like every other religion.

Bell implies that by Christians saying that Christianity is the only way to God, they are missing it. I agree. JESUS is the only way to God. I have serious doubts that Bell would agree. Someone needs to ask him if he does.

"Rather", Bell continues, "He was telling those who were following him that his way is the way to the depth of reality." I don't even know what he's talking about. What is the "way to the depth of reality"?

"This kind of life he was living (implying that he was just a human living life, not God come with a mission) perfectly in connection and cooperation with God, is the best possible way to live. It is the way things are."

Am I missing a translation gene here? "It is the way things are." What things? The best possible way to live? Is that what Jesus came for? "Better living and more depth"? Jesus came to DIE. That was his mission, not to give us a nicer way of life. His central mission was to be crucified and rise again, and everything else comes from His blood sacrifice. He Himself is the source, the word, the truth, ALL. Not "the best possible way to live."

In one portion of Velvet Elvis called "Springs", Bell uses an analogy of the springs of a trampoline to describe truth: it stretches, it flexes. This is where Bell's true view of scripture becomes very evident: "Once again, the springs aren't God. They have emerged over time as people have discussed and studied and experienced and reflected on their growing understanding of who God is. (P. 23, pp. 1) What a shallow, humanistic view of truth that is, and how far from the Biblical understanding that truth was about a Holy God speaking to men, and them scribing what He said to them. "For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." (2Pe 1 :21 ) True or not? "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness." (2Ti 3:16 ) True or not? If true, then scripture, old and new, is the product of God intervening and moving upon men to transcribe His heart and mind to them, not people sitting around in round table forums figuring out what truth is like it was a college discussion group. The truth is NOT a spring. The scriptures are not a spring that grow and expand and emerge over time as we discuss them. WE grow in our understanding of truth - but truth is not mutating and conforming to fit our finite minds and our corrupt cultures. Truth is what it is.

Bell continues, "Our words aren't absolutes. Only God is absolute, and God has no intention of sharing this absoluteness with anything, especially words that people have come up with to talk about him. (Ibid.)

This is so subtle, you will miss the meaning if you do not understand Bells' real meaning and his real theology. Bell, being a devotee of Marcus Borg, has abandoned a faith in God's word as absolute truth and authority, and "has come to believe the Bible is not the result of divine fiat but a "human product." In other words, for him, the Bible is just stories, people trying to figure out this God thing. When he says "our words aren't absolutes" he appears to mean, "The Bible's words aren't absolutes because men wrote them." But Jesus said, "Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words shall not pass away." (Mt. 24:35) True or not? OUR words may not be absolutes, but GOD'S Word is. The Psalmist said, "Thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name." (Ps. 138:2) That's pretty serious, is it not? Jesus frequently quoted- and attested to the absoluteness of - the Torah and the Tenach - what we call "The Old Testament." Bell just sees "stories." Bell says elsewhere, "God has spoken and everything else is just commentary." I fear he may mean the BIBLE is all commentary, because either it is God's Word or it is not, and then that IS the truth, or the Bible is the commentary and whatever Bell thinks is "God spoken" is what matters, but he never makes clear what that is. Which leaves everyone else as confused on the matter as he may be. My question for him is, when and where then did God speak? And if the Bible is all stories, which if any part did He speak? And who is to decide such a thing? If you pick and choose which parts of the scripture you think God spoke, then your view of truth isn't a spring but a trap. It just becomes "your truth, my truth" and NOTHING is sure, nothing is reliable, nothing is absolute.

When Bell says God has no intention of sharing His absoluteness with anything, I fear he means God didn't intend to share His absoluteness with the book we call the Bible - otherwise he would have said he won't share it with anyone. Mr. Bell frequently quotes Rabbis and Jewish scholars of old. But apparently he has little respect for their sacred understanding of the text of God, for they considered the Scriptures so holy and so absolute that if a scribe were copying it and had nearly finished and made ONE TINY ERROR of any kind, the whole manuscript would be thrown out and they would have to start again. That is a FAR cry from the liberal and uncertain view Bell takes of the Word of God.

Regarding the "spring" theory, I had a very personal revelation of truth some years ago. 1 was working construction in California in a brutal sleet and snow winter week, building a block wall next to a house. We hauled hundreds of 75 pound cinder blocks from truck to site, measured, set and cemented for an entire day. The wall was more than half done. The next day, the boss came up, measured what we had done so far and said, "Tear it all down and start over." "Why?, we asked in complete disbelief and frustration. "It's a sixteenth of an inch off at the foundation." So what?" , I asked. "If it's even a fraction off at the foundation, the wall is going to fall." What a revelation! Truth is not a flexible spring. It is a wall. And if you tamper with the foundation of truth, your whole spiritual life will eventually collapse.

Bell goes on to point out what he considers to be the danger of the "brick wall" concept of truth, putting forth the idea that, "If you found out Jesus had an earthly father named Larry, they find Larry's tomb, do DNA samples and prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that the virgin birth was really just a bit of mythologizing the Gospel writers threw in to appeal to the followers of the Mithra and Dionysian religious cults ... what if that spring were seriously questioned? Could a person keep jumping? (He likened truth to the springs of a trampoline, thus the "jumping" analogy - g.r.) Could a person still love God? Could you still be a Christian? Is the way of Jesus still the best possible way to live? Or does the whole thing just fall apart?"

In a word, Rob, yes. If Jesus had an earthly father then he deluded himself saying He was from above and the only begotten son of God who could say, "Before Abraham was, I AM." Then he cannot be trusted at all, and if the Gospel writers put in the virgin birth as a bit of mythologizing to appeal to pagans, then the Gospels are lies and exaggerations and we shouldn't believe any of it because you don't follow truth put forth by liars and exaggerators. And then, yes, the whole thing falls apart, and you could keep jumping, but you will be absorbed by the New Age Religion as you do, because you are no longer following the real Jesus or the real Gospel. You could still love God, but you wouldn't really have a clue who He is, because now you'd be doubting everything Jesus said, or even if he said it or the apostles made it all up. And no, you couldn't still be a Christian, because by definition a Christian is committed to the truth of what Jesus said and who He was, and if you doubt what is written, it is no longer being a Christian, it's just your own hodgepodge opinion and "rubber tree plant hot apple pie in the sky hopes" religion. So yes, Rob, it would fall apart, as well it should. But Jesus' dad wasn't Larry, no DNA has been found, and atheist drivel about Jesus' birth  being a take on the Mithras myth is a lie. But unfortunately, your words have succeeded in putting seeds of doubt in the minds of all your young readers, who never heard of Mithras, but will sure enough Google it now that you mentioned it. And there's plenty of lies to screw up their minds on it from the devil's sewer out there.

The fact is that if you tamper with truth - the virgin birth, Jesus as God's only begotten son, etc., then, no - the "way of Jesus" is not the best possible way to live, because you don't even know if it's real anymore. Jesus didn't say He came to show us the "best possible way to live" anyway." He said He came to die as the sacrificial lamb for man's sins. "For this cause I came into the world." Jesus is not Gandhi. He didn't come to teach us to be social revolutionaries, or even nice people - He came to call us to follow Him without reservation, even to the death. You can't follow someone that might be part myth to the death and still be sane.

It becomes evident at this juncture that Bell is writing from a carnal "logismos" - mind, and the "natural man", Paul said, cannot receive the things of the Spirit, because they are spiritually discerned. (1 Cor. 2: 14) I think Mr. Bell must have been gravely wounded in theology classes, and his faith so shattered that he had to come up with an alternative faith in which you didn't NEED the Bible to be true to follow Jesus. And that makes me very sad, and it makes Mr. Bell not someone to emulate. He is confused, and lost, and letting Satan build a kingdom of springs around him.

Bell continues, "God is bigger than any wall. God is bigger than any religion. God is bigger than any worldview. God is bigger than the Christian faith."

That means, I assume, that the "Christian faith" is just another flexible trampoline spring, then. Not absolute, not the only way. But Jesus SAID He was the only way. True or not? Because if the Christian faith is not it, then there are a lot more fun, a lot easier and a lot more pleasant religions to follow.

Bell continues with the trampoline analogy: "You rarely defend a trampoline. You invite others to jump on it with you ... You rarely defend things you love." (Pg. 27 pp. 6)

But Jesus and His Word are not a joyride trampoline jump. He is a life or death choice. HE said so. You don't defend a trampoline, but you DO defend the ones you love - and the One you love - Jesus. He's not a joyride to eternity. He is the Lamb of God in Revelation. And all but one Apostle died "defending the faith", not because they invited everyone to jump with them, but because they opposed the corruption of this world and "commanded men everywhere to be saved." Truth is not a spring, but a House, solid and true, built on the Cornerstone, Jesus. I am so sorry that Mr. Bell seems to be so devoid of even the most basic Bible understanding of this. I pray he will one day meet the Author of the Book he so diminishes and minimizes.

Mr. Bell says, "The problem with 'brickianity' is that walls invariably keep people out." (Pg. 22 , pp. 1) Jesus said, "I am the door." Obviously, a door lets people in - but also keeps people out. That "brickianity" invariably keeps people out, is, in fact, true. Jesus said the way to destruction was broad, and many are those that go that way; narrow was the way that led to eternal life, and FEW that found that road. Everyone is invited; but those who do not come in through the "Door of the Sheep" was a thief. Plenty of people were going to stand before Him at the last and be rejected because they did not enter in His way. That is keeping people out, is it not? The invitation is to ALL; but few are those who enter in.

Mr. Bell says, "(Jesus) is giving his followers the authority to make new interpretations of the Bible." (Pg. 50 pp. 3) But Peter said clearly, "Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit." (2 Peter 1 :20-21) True or not? If true, Jesus did not give them authority - nor us - to "make new interpretations." They merely unearthed the eternal truth already and always there in the scriptures. Bell's statement gives the very dangerous impression that we can interpret the Bible as we go along. That is how cults come to be. "New revelation" is the hallmark of cults. There IS no new revelation - just new light on eternal truth, already present.

Mr. Bell quotes a woman who said, "I decided to get back to the Bible and just take it for what it really says." Bell calls that view, "Warped and toxic." Why is it warped and toxic to believe the simple truth of God's Word? Even Occam's Razor says, "All other things being equal, the simplest solution is the best." MORE warped and toxic, I believe, is to make up truth as you go along according to humanistic reasoning and cultural preferences and demands. No, we're not all going to agree about everything in the scriptures. But when we decide truth is stable and knowable and that God expressed His truth in a Book, then though we see it "through a glass, darkly" we still know we are moving toward the clarity of revealed Biblical truth. That's not toxic. That's real. I find it so insulting that Bell considers the idea of taking the Bible for what it says "warped and toxic", when it has been this same simple faith, that for centuries, cost believers their lives. It wasn't great spiritual theologians who could talk their way around any argument with great words of self-wisdom that spilled their blood for the faith; it was common people who did nothing more than believe the Bible, love God, and love His word with all of their hearts. I remember the story of a little Russian girl during the Soviet era, whose Bible had been thoroughly spat upon by Soviet soldiers, and how she knelt down and wiped the spit off of her Bible with her hair - before she was shot. How dare Mr. Bell treat this sacred text, and those who have given their very lives just to keep a page of it hidden from their cruel persecutors, with such casualness, and arrogant disdain, and consider those who love it so simply as people whose view is "warped and toxic"? It is in fact what he is teaching - the disrespect and tearing down and questioning and fairy-tale-ing of the Word of God - that is not only toxic, it is DEMONIC.

Bell says, lest there be any doubt of where he stands, that the scriptures "aren't first and foremost timeless truths." (Pg. 62, pp. 3) Then what are they, Mr. Bell? Bell says you can FIND timeless truths present in the Bible because they were true in real places at real times. That implies that truth is time-bound, and therefore, changeable. But God said, "I am the Lord God, I do not change. (Malachi 3:6) And again, "Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away." (Luke 21:33) Isn't that pretty clear, that truth IS timeless and applicable at all times to all people in all circumstances?

Bell further states, "Let's make a group decision to drop once and for all the Bible-as-owner's-manual metaphor. It's terrible. It really is." Maybe for you, Mr. Bell, but leave me out of your group decision. When I gave my life to Jesus, I was so filled with lies and occult deception and mental and spiritual illness and darkness, that I was INCAPABLE of functioning in truth. The Bible became, in fact, my owner's manual, my medicine, my love letter from God, my revelation, my light and a thousand other things. You denigrate it by suggesting it is not at LEAST an owner's manual, and much more. You treat it like Aesop's fables, sir, nice stories with a nice moral to live by. And perhaps, that is all it is to you.

Mr. Bell says, "The Bible has the authority it does because it contains stories about people interacting with the God who has all authority." (Pg. 51 pp. 3) No, it has authority because it is, as previously stated from Peter, inspired - "God-breathed." But if you wish, you can discard Peter's words, then Paul's. Then, well, you become the arbiter of what is true and what is not, do you not?

Mr. Bell speaks of a problem with "continually insisting that one of the absolutes of the Christian faith must be a belief that 'scripture alone' is our guide. It sounds nice, but it is not true." "When people say that all we need is the Bible, it is simply not true." (Pg. 67, pp. 7, Pg. 68, pp. 1) Why not? It has worked quite well for centuries for multitudes over the world, Mr. Bell.

The more I progressed through "Velvet Elvis", the more I realized the book is a clever and systemized destruction of faith in the Bible as God's Word. What a terrifying task for such a young and influential person to take on. Rather than give lost youth an anchor of confidence that the Word of God can be trusted, he is unwittingly acting as an advocate for the one who said in the garden, "Did God really say ... "  Bell has turned his own theological doubts into a satanically motivated effort to remove the security of truth from all who read this unfortunate and highly seductive book.

Bell says, "When Jesus said, 'No one comes to the Father except through Me', He was saying that his way, his words, his life is our connection to how things truly are at the deepest level of existence." Wrong. Jesus was saying, "No one can belong to God except through Me." You go through Jesus, the one who gave His blood as atonement, or you DON'T get to the Father. I am totally amazed at how Mr. Bell reinterpreted Jesus' words to strip it of ALL truth. And so it goes throughout the entire book.

I believe I may have gotten some insight into how Rob Bell became a prophet of distortion. On page 104, he speaks of being overwhelmed by his growing church and not even being sure he was a Christian anymore, didn't know if he wanted to be. Did anyone catch that? He said the room was filling up with hundreds of people, and he didn't even know if any of it was true anymore. He admitted he was exhausted, burned out, full of doubt, done. Most of us in ministry have that moment, It is the moment where we either steel our hearts and say with Paul, "Let God be true and every man be a liar" and have faith in the dark and "having not seen, believe" and abandon ourselves to His care, or. .. we break. We fold. We open our hearts to alternative explanations for our wounded and failing faith. I fear Mr. Bell has accepted the latter. It has happened many times before - nominal believers who, when tried by lies, believed the lies because it is simply easier to give into them. It is tragic when it happens, and those who have been so broken and disheartened need to be loved and restored. But when someone accepts those lies and becomes a leader of thousands of young people - that becomes a very serious matter indeed, requiring not simple compassion but a withdrawal of support and a challenging of the deceptions that are now being put forth.

Absent in Rob Bells' book - perhaps his whole theology - is any mention of the devil. I believe he was shipwrecked by an enemy he did not know, by a war he did not comprehend. Mr. Bell is a casualty of war. And by default, he has become somewhat of a  spiritual Tokyo Rose, encouraging the soldiers of the Cross to give up the battle for truth and for the preciousness of the scriptures as God's Final Word and absolute truth in exchange for a joyride on the trampoline of bendable truth.  

Bell's solution to the battle is, "We have to listen to what our inner voice is saying." Pg. 118, pp. 5) Wrong conclusion. Jeremiah said our heart is deceitfully wicked and incurably sick, and who can know it? (Jeremiah 17:9) Mr. Bell has unwittingly become an echoing voice of the New Age: "Listen to your inner voice." No. Your "inner voice" lies and deludes. Listen to the Holy Spirit. He will give you truth, the way out of pain. Your "inner voice" will lead you to spiritual death.

Mr. Bell has a totally new age view of man. It's called "human potential". He says when Jesus said, "O ye of little faith, why did you doubt?" Peter didn't lose faith in Jesus, but himself. What a ridiculous twisting of scripture. No, he lost faith that Jesus was truly the son of God. Bell says the thing that frustrates Jesus was when his disciples lost faith in themselves. He's frustrated because they don't realize how capable they are. This is almost identical to a quote from New Age teacher Marianne Williamson, author of "Return to Love" and promoter of New Age trance-channeled "A Course In Miracles" - "Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure." It hope Mr. Bell isn't reading some of this material and picking up some of his ideas from it.

Jesus said, "Without Me, you can do nothing." (John 15:5b) Bell says it's not their failure that is their problem, it's their greatness. They don't realize what they are capable of. (Pg. 134)

This is an astonishing extrapolation of a truth that is non-existent and non present in either the words or implications of scripture. Only new agers teach how great we are. The Word of God teaches "How great THOU art." We are just servants that "hold this treasure in earthen vessels." (2 Cor. 4:7)

Bell says "Shame has no place whatever in the Christian experience", and that "God is not interested in shaming people; God wants people to see who they really are." At this point I am almost convinced that Mr. Bell has not really read the scriptures much at all. No, God doesn't want to humiliate us, but the Word is full of things like, "God be merciful to mc a sinner!" and to David, "'Thou art the man!" And "Woe is me, for I am a man of unclean lips and dwell in the midst of an unclean people." Shame is the first step to repentance, and then deliverance and healing. God didn't tell these people, "Get up already! You don't realize how great you are!" Even the woman caught in adultery, was in shame. Jesus didn't add to her shame. In fact he came to remove it from her. But he didn't say, "You're ok, just realize how great you are." He said, "I don't condemn you. Now go and don't sin anymore." God was always showing His people how unclean, incapable, broken and lost they were. They surrendered, and then they were healed and lifted up as a result. Without that process, they would remain just self deceived little gods who didn't realize their "greatness."

Bell says, "Poverty, injustice, suffering- they are all hells on earth, and as Christians, we oppose them with all our energies. Jesus told us to. (Pg. 148: pp.5) I have a simple question: Where?

Bell then makes a frightening statement that really sums up the new age claiming of his spirit:

"God made us in His image. And God calls us to return to our true selves. The true, whole people God originally intended us to be before we veered off course." (Pg. 150, pp. 5)

A clearer new age view could not have been written on man's condition. Rather than the Biblical view that man was born into sin, and born broken, Bell says we're called to "return to our true selves" as if all we needed was a simple "course correction". If that were the case, God would have sent a navigator, not a Lamb to be sacrificed for our sins. Bell's statement sounds just like A Course In Miracles, where it teaches that man's only sin is to fail to recognize he is one with God already - the "At-One-Ment". We do not need to return to our "true selves" -- we need redemption and salvation and transformation through the blood sacrifice of Jesus, to be BORN AGAIN and to let the old man, which was corrupt, DIE. We don't need self-realization about how we're awesome and then just straighten out our course. We need repentance, brokenness, surrender to the Cross, and then God will heal us, save us, lift us up into HIS true greatness for our lives.

Bell is apparently a reconstructionist as well. To him, "Litter and pollution are spiritual issues." (Pg. 158, pp. 3) No, they're issues of human selfishness. The true pollution Bell NEVER addresses - man's corrupt heart and sinfulness outside of Jesus. Bell states that the prophets "did not talk about going somewhere else at the end of time. They talked about God coming here at the end of time." But there IS a heaven, and we ARE going there. Hebrews says, "For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come." (Hebrews 13:14) Bell, unfortunately, shares with all New Agers the idea that we are to repair the earth and bring "heaven on earth." He has very dangerous theological companions, indeed.

In short, Mr. Bell does not believe in the need to "preach the Gospel to every creature", he is anti-evangelism, a reconstructionist who things we just need to get our thinking straightened out and return to who we really are - not be born again - who does not believe the Bible is the inspired, God-breathed Word of God, doesn't believe we're going to heaven, never talks of hell except as a vague allegory, thinks Jesus is a good example to follow and little else - and never speaks of the battle, spiritual warfare, or the devil.

And he teaches Hindu-style meditation and breathing.

His latest book is called "The Sex God" and has a chapter called "God Wears Lipstick."

He is a perfect youth leader in a new age world. His Gospel is, sadly, vague, powerless, nice, and harmless. And deadly.

He is just the kind of leader the spirit of the new age is looking for to anesthetize and render useless a whole generation of lost kids.

For kids' sake - for Mr. Bell's sake - for Jesus' sake and the sake of truth - please see Mr. Bell for the lost soul that he is - and stop buying his books and DVD's, and stop supporting his Kingdom of Springs. Pray for him. But keep his poison away from your kids.

Gregory R Reid