Official Site:
http://www.zondervan.com/cultures/en-us/Pr...ISBN=031026345XYou can get it on Amazon for under $10.
I'll start by saying this was the single most insightful and profound book I've ever read in my entire life - by a long way, and that's no exaggeration.
If you're a Christian - you NEED to read this book. And if you're specifically not a Christian for whatever reason - you also NEED to check this out.
This author Rob Bell is a pastor in Michigan, and his message has really taken off with some of the younger crowd - I was turned on to him by a good friend of mine that works with highschool youth at our church. I thought it sounded interesting, he said it was "a really good book" - he loaned me a copy and I checked it out.
Rob takes the reader through a progressive thought process - starting in talking about an old painting in his basement and progresses through a very open minded "re-think everything you thought you ever knew" sort of discussion about who Jesus really was, how God really wants to connect to us through him, and creates a view of the Christian faith that is so much more broad and expansive than the "box of rules" many of us have always known.
The book is a super easy read - only 150 pg or so, written in clean simple english - but man is it deep, deep, deep. I found myself every few paragraphs just stopping and rolling around what he was saying.
He's got this perfect elegant way of speaking the total raw truth, yet does it in such a non-offensive way. I can see all people from all faiths cheering some of his comments - and he ties it all together. A new view of the Christian faith that doesn't depart from any traditional views, but reaches so very far beyond them.
And that's what the world needs. A faith that is true and is big enough to deal with the tough questions - a faith that welcomes those who ask the hard questions - one that encourages us to wrestle with the deep thoughts together - not just mindlessly defaulting to the canned answer provided by their particular denomination, but by honestly probing deep for the real truth and calling it for what it is.
This idea set is the most honest look at people, God, Jesus and Christianity I've ever come across and I really do think anyone and everyone would find this very insightful.
He also takes the reader into the world of how things really were in Jesus time. I just learned more about Jewish history in this book than I have in 10 years of church attendance. I'm more excited about my faith than ever before - I feel like I've got a better view the why behind Jesus than ever before. Seeing him as more than just a "ticket to heaven" but a ticket to fulfillment in the here and now also.
Start with the first sentence of "Welcome" and go through to the Epilogue - every bit of it is worth the read.
And I totally encourage and welcome any dialog from anyone that checks this out. Agree or not, I welcome the conversation.