Monday, March 06, 2006

Velvet

I finished Velvet Elvis last night. I've been told that Rob Bell rambles a bit and that his first book is understandably unpolished, but I disagree. Rob apparently designed his own print layout, with orange pages and subtitles for each movement; even the endnotes become part of the story. With that kind of attention to detail, it's silly to presume that the that the seeming lack of structure in any way rambles. Rather, his gentle narrative disarms. It engages your modern assumptions and your postmodern arrogance and then sells you a new view--a view of the church. A view of a battered and beautiful woman who has stood the test of 2000 years and continues on, even flourishing. And he brings you to tears in the process with truths that seem too good to be true and force you to the appendix to see if he can prove it. He says what needed saying and then he convicts you for your anger and your pride and your nearsightedness. It is a beautiful book. I hope to read it again. I hope he's at Catalyst.

I ordered five copies today to give away. GK, I'm sure you've read it, but if you haven't, then it's a must. I'd love to hear your thoughts and greatly miss the opportunity to do so regularly (maybe July).

For Lisa's List:
1-I've spent several days rebuilding Wendy's (new) hard drive. I've been enjoying it thoroughly!
2-I register for summer and fall classes on Wednesday and am nervous about how much I can take and how we'll pay for it.

4 comments:

Wendy said...

It sounds like you liked this book! Maybe, I can borrow your copy?

kreider said...

I love the book. It is engaging and provocative. One criticism is that Bell is heavily dependent on one understanding of the Jewish discipleship/training model, but that is a minor criticism. Bell is a very charismatic speaker and he writes in the same style. It is sometimes "stream of consciousness" in the best sense of the term.

Sweet Beth said...

sign up for some easy classes like; soccer or tv history

AmberShea said...

that sounds like a good book. Steve I am in Dallas and this is the first spare moment I have had. I don't think I will be able to meet up with you all this trip unless you want to come to south dallas and pick me up tomorrow or thursday. If not I will meet up with you when I come back in May.