another review of the god's aren't angry

Here's yet another review of Rob Bell's The God's Aren't Angry tour, this one by Chad Hall. I like it and the more I listen to what people say that Bell actually said, the more I like Bell. Many angry people have become angrier because of what Bell didn't say but (1) they were already angry and (2) everyone fails to meet their standard.

As Hall, I and some of other reviewers have some questions for Bell but we don't think the absence of these answers in this presentation makes him a heretic. Hall writes:

I chalk up my questions and concerns to the fact that no sermon – even a 90-minute one delivered with incredible veracity – can cover everything.

Personally, I haven't read a book (outside of the Bible) or heard a message that covered everything. Too many are quick to condemn for what is absent rather than learn from what is present.

Here's the gist of Hall's take:

Using various sayings from Psalms, Micah, Jesus, Paul’s letters and Hebrews, [Bell] drew an alternate picture of the divine: a God who is not dependent on what we do, but who freely loves and pours blessing on us.

The problem, according to Bell, is not that God is angry with us, but that we think God is angry with us. Thus, Jesus’ purpose wasn’t to change God’s mind about us, but to change our mind about God: to notify us of God’s lack of anger and to free us from the prison of our misconceptions so that we can truly live well. The place of church and religious ritual is to remind us of our standing with God and freedom to live lives of sacrifice and service.

Now I have to say, that is Good News! Of course one must understand that they are in rebellion and that rebellion is an enmity to God. But that is NOT the Good News. The Good News is that Jesus has come to set us free from darkness. Bell is in fact teaching the Good News. Those that oppose him are preaching the message of the enemy. The only question is does Bell understand the base on which the Good News rests. I suspect yes but I do not know and I would like him to say but it's not clear to me why in the absence of him making that statement some feel compelled to preach a message of hate.

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