To elevate abstract doctrines and dogmas over living, breathing, embodied experiences of God's love and grace, then, is going the wrong direction. It's taking flesh and turning it back into words. Rob Bell More Quotes by Rob Bell More Quotes From Rob Bell If the gospel isn't good news for everybody, then it isn't good news for anybody. And this is because the most powerful things happen when the church surrenders its desire to convert people and convince them to join. It is when the church gives itself away in radical acts of service and compassion, expecting nothing in return, that the way of Jesus is most vividly put on display. Rob Bell powerful compassion jesus When you forgive somebody, when you are generous, when you withhold judgment, when you love and when you stand up to injustice, you are, in that moment, bringing heaven to earth. Rob Bell forgiveness inspirational love Love is what God is, love is why Jesus came, and love is why he continues to come, year after year to person after person...May you experience this vast, expansive, infinite, indestructible love that has been yours all along. May you discover that this love is as wide as the sky and as small as the cracks in your heart no one else knows about, and may you know, deep in your bones, that love wins. Rob Bell winning heart jesus Times change. God doesn’t, but times do. We learn and grow, and the world around us shifts, and the Christian faith is alive only when it is listening, morphing, innovating, letting go of whatever has gotten in the way of Jesus and embracing whatever will help us be more and more the people God wants us to be. Rob Bell change faith god I would say that the powerful, revolutionary thing about Jesus' message is that he says, 'What do you do with the people that aren't like you? What do you do with the Other? What do you do with the person that's hardest to love?' . . . That's the measure of a good religion, is - you can love the people who are just like you; that's kind of easy. So what Jesus does is takes the question and talks about fruit. He's interested in what you actually produce. And that's a different discussion. How do we love the people in the world that are least like us? Rob Bell powerful people jesus This breath, and this moment, and this life is a gift and we are all in this together. We all have countless choices every day to close down or stand up straight and open up, and take a big breath and say YES to the gift. Rob Bell choices life-is together The moment God is figured out with nice neat lines and definitions, we are no longer dealing with God. Rob Bell faith god jesus Because with every action, comment, conversation, we have the choice to invite Heaven or Hell to Earth. Rob Bell choices religious christian What we do comes out of who we believe we are. Rob Bell believe It is trusting that I am loved. That I always have been. That I always will be. I don't have to do anything. I don't have to prove anything, or achieve anything, or accomplish one more thing. That, exactly as I am, I am totally accepted, forgiven, and there is nothing I could ever do to lose this acceptance. Rob Bell accepted achieve acceptance opening up your soul to someone, letting them into your spirit, thoughts, fears, future, hopes, dreams ... that is being naked. Rob Bell opening-up soul dream Why blame the dark for being dark? It is far more helpful to ask why the light isn’t as bright as it could be. Rob Bell deep-thought light dark Take faith, for example. For many people in our world, the opposite of faith is doubt. The goal, then, within this understanding, is to eliminate doubt. But faith and doubt aren't opposites. Doubt is often a sign that your faith has a pulse, that it's alive and well and exploring and searching. Faith and doubt aren't opposites, they are, it turns out, excellent dance partners. Rob Bell our-world opposites people I believe that God is love. I believe that Jesus came to show us this love, to give us this love, to teach us about this love, so that we could live in this love and extend it to others. Rob Bell giving believe jesus Jesus is God's way of refusing to give up his dream for the world. Rob Bell giving-up dream jesus The life that you want begins the moment you embrace the life you have because all of it is a miracle. Rob Bell miracle want inspiring A good sermon is going to disturb the comfortable and comfort the disturbed. It inspires you. It provokes you. It should make your soul soar. Rob Bell soul comfort inspire Fear wants us to become obsessed with some event or person in the future, a year, a month, even a day. It also wants us to look backwards not at our successes, but our short-comings and our failures. Fear losses it's grip when we stay in the now. Rob Bell events loss years Jesus is bigger than any one religion. He didn't come to start a new religion, and he continually disrupted whatever conventions or systems or establishments that existed in his day. He will always transcend whatever cages and labels are created to contain and name him, especially the one called "Christianity. Rob Bell cages names jesus Your life is a gift and how you respond to it - what you do with it matters. That's where I start. Rob Bell life-is-a-gift matter life-is
