Rob Bell

Last evening, some of us went to see Rob Bell speak in Denver. His topic was "The Gods Aren't Angry", and he went to some pains to detail what he believes is a universal, deep-seeded belief common to all humans that there are forces which must be appeased. These forces are ambivalent, fickle, arbitrary, and above all you never know where you stand with them. And then the God of Abraham enters human history, and begins to reveal the way to Itself - a God who is perfectly fair, and who will let you know exactly where you fit in Its benevolent plan.

It was really his conclusion which impressed me the most. He ended by repeating the phrase, "It doesn't have to be like this", over and over. This phrase, which referred to an earlier story in his message, also stood alone as a striking metaphor of how we *think* things work, and how they actually work in God's system (the "Kingdom").

Since last night, I have found myself thinking of people in my life I'd like to sit down with. I'd like to look in their eyes. And I would pray peace over them. I would tell them, like Rob Bell, that it doesn't have to be like this.

I hope to have some of those conversations really soon.