Velvet Elvis: Repainting the Christian Faith »

Michigan pastor Rob Bell, known for his unconventional preaching style, offers a fresh and challenging work of Christian inspiration in his new book, Velvet Elvis -- giving readers a 21st-century (and distinctly unstodgy) view of what it means to wrestle with one's faith.

God never changes, nor do the central truths of Christianity. But our understanding of those truths is in constant flux. Christians will always be exploring and discovering what it means to live in harmony with God and each other. Now in softcover, Velvet Elvis offers original and refreshingly personal perspectives on what Christianity is really about.

Publishers Weekly

Bell, pastor of Mars Hill Bible Church in Grand Rapids, Mich., offers an innovative and intriguing, if uneven, first book. This introduction to the Christian faith is definitely outside the usual evangelical box. Bell wants to offer "a fresh take on Jesus"-a riff that begins with the assertion that Jesus wanted to "call people to live in tune with reality" and that he "had no use for religion." Bell invites seekers into a Christianity that has room for doubts (his church recently hosted an evening where doubters were invited to ask their hardest, most challenging questions). He mocks literalists whose faith seems to depend on a six-day creation, and one of his favorite people is a woman who turned up repeatedly at his church, only to tell him that she totally disagreed with his teachings. He cites his church as a place of forgiveness, mystery, community and transformation. Bell is well-versed in Jewish teachings and draws from rabbinic wisdom and stories freely. His casual, hip tone can grate at times, and his footnotes, instructing readers to drop everything and read the books that have influenced him, grow old. Still, this is faithful, creative Christianity, and Gen-Xers especially will find Bell a welcome guide to the Christian faith. (Aug.) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

CONTENTS WELCOME TO MY VELVET ELVIS 009
MOVEMENT ONE JUMP 017
MOVEMENT TWO YOKE 039
MOVEMENT THREE TRUE 071
MOVEMENT FOUR TASSELS 095
MOVEMENT FIVE DUST 123
MOVEMENT SIX NEW 137
MOVEMENT SEVEN GOOD 155
EPILOGUE 175
ENDNOTES 179