[Gamecock]

The YBPDLNPL is generally published infrequently, but based on the exploits of the megachurch pastors posts can spike for a period of time. If you would like on or off of this list please FReepmail me.

[Tainan]

Seems to be a rather nepotistic little group.

[Dr. Thorne]

Gee Rob, there's always the United Church of Christ (aka Communist Party USA), the Presbyterian Church USA (aka Havana North) or the UUs (aka the Synagogue of Satan).

Since these "churches" have no standards, as a heretic, you'll fit right in.

[txrefugee]

The independent mega-churches that are inherited father-to-son don’t stand the test of time. It’s a family business model that doesn’t survive well.

As for Bell’s novel re-writing of God’s Word, the final word is given in Revelation 22:18, 19: “I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book, if anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book, and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life, from the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.”

Believers believe. They do not freelance to fit in with the world’s rotten culture.

[SoFloFreeper]

WOW! I didn’t realize his church fired him over that book.

God bless the people for not falling for having a “celebrity” pastor, loved by the world while eschewing the Word...the theology he apparently espoused in that writing is unbiblical, not comporting with true Christian doctrine.

[Tax-chick]

a cohort of pastors worldwide who are searching for ways to move beyond old-fashioned worship

I expect they say that with a straight face, too.

[Alex Murphy]

[Rob Bell] told The New Yorker that the publication of his book resulted in a 3,000-person decrease in membership at Mars Hill Bible Church, which he founded in 1999. "The book put pressure on the people around Bell, who found themselves having to defend statements they might never have heard, let alone approved," The New Yorker writes.

That's what happens when you fail to publish a thorough "statement of faith" for your church, Rob. People find out what you really believe, and then it all goes south.

[Lee N. Field]

Bell details this search in a recent interview with The New Yorker, and discusses his invitation to Christians interested in a different kind of church, "one that can keep pace with the rising 'waterline of culture.'"

Waterboarding?

[SoFloFreeper]

Ultimately, Bell and his wife chose to leave their West Michigan church and seek a new way of life in California, where Bell and Carlton Cuse, producer of the hit TV series "Lost", are teaming up to work on a "faith-inflected talk show."

Oh boy.

[Belteshazzar]

So, what we have is a very bright, inquisitive, ambitious man with a flair for both teaching and attracting people. This bit of information from the Wiki article on him helps explain what got him started:

“Bell received his bachelor’s degree in 1992 from Wheaton and taught water skiing in the summers at Wheaton College’s Honey Rock Camp, making about thirty dollars a week. During this time, Bell offered to teach a Christian message to the camp counselors after no pastor could be found. He taught a message about rest. Bell was later approached by several people, each of them telling him that he should pursue teaching as a career.”

Just because one can do something - whether rightly or not - does not mean that one should do something. “Behold, I am against those who prophesy lying dreams, declares the LORD, and who tell them and lead My people astray by their lies and their recklessness, when I did not send them or charge them. So they do not profit this people at all, declares the LORD.” (Jeremiah 23:32)

Doctrinal oversight, while strongly affirmed in the Scriptures, is virtually non-existent in many American denominations. God has a way of doing things that in both timing and manner are at complete variance with the way of man. We short circuit it to our and others’ peril.

Sadly, Rob Bell is nothing more or less than a false prophet, talented, yes, and false. I would assume the same could be said of many in Jeremiah’s day.