Zondervan Blog

Rob Bell | 2 new covers!

The God's Aren't Angry DVD, coming July 2008: Jesus Wants to Save Christians, coming October 2008:

Rob Bell podcast | Jesus Wants to Save Christians

Click on this link to listen to an April 15, 2008 podcast of Rob Bell speaking about his upcoming book with Don Golden titled Jesus Wants to Save Christians: A Manifesto for the Church in Exile.

Jesus Wants to Save Christians | Rob Bell and Don Golden | Coming October 2008

There is a church not too far from us that recently added a $25 million addition to their building.

Our local newspaper ran a front-page story not too long ago about a study revealing that one in five people in our city lives in poverty.

This is a book about those two numbers.

It's a book about faith and fear,

wealth and war,

poverty, power, safety, terror,

Bibles, bombs, and homeland insecurity,

It's about empty empires and the truth that everybody's a priest, it's about oppression, occupation, and what happens when Christians support, animate and participate in the very things Jesus came to set people free from.

It's about what it means to be a part of the church of Jesus in a world where some people fly planes into buildings while others pick up groceries in Hummers.

Jesus Wants to Save Christians
A Manifesto for the Church in Exile
By Rob Bell and Don GoldenComing October 2008Join the Facebook group

Rob Bell: Everything Is Spiritual

In the Hebrew scriptures there is no word for "spiritual." And Jesus never used the phrase "spiritual life." Why? Because for Jesus and his tradition, all of life is spiritual. But what does that really mean?

You've Seen Rob Bell in the NOOMA videos. Now See Rob teaching about how everything is spiritual from his sold-out national speaking tour. Click here for more information on the Everything Is Spiritual DVD from Zondervan.

Time Magazine features Rob Bell

Zondervan author Rob Bell was featured in Time Magazine this past week. Click here to read the full article.

Rob Bell is author of Sex God: Exploring the Endless Connections between Sexuality and Spirituality and Velvet Elvis: Repainting the Christian Faith. Rob's recent Everything is Spiritual tour was released on DVD this past month.

Rob Bell's Sex God video on CNN

Rob Bell's Zondervan book Sex God: Exploring the Endless Connections between Sexuality and Spirituality was featured on CNN on Sunday, December 2nd. Click here to watch the CNN video.

Rob Bell on CNN this Sunday

CNN-TV is scheduled to broadcast a report about Rob Bell and his book Sex God, this Sunday at 7:40 AM. Thought you'd like to know in case you want to catch it.

On the banks of the Clyde

[Notes while on Rob Bell's Calling All Peacemakers tour.]

Glasgow was a strange time. I arrived by train at about the same time that the attempted attack on Glasgow airport occurred, and having left London just 5 days earlier, and just prior to the car bomb attempts there, really brought home the closeness of the attacks. It is ironic that at a time like this I am travelling on a tour about non-violence.

The event itself went smoothly in the rather grand setting of the Royal Concert Hall, although the Scottish crowd were full of enthusiasm.

Rather surreal time afterwards, when I was offered a life back to my hotel by a couple of radio presenters (they do a show together) with whom I had just met. However, the driver got lost and I ended up getting a delightful tour of the motorway circling Glasgow whilst seeing my hotel retreat into the distance! It was fun (in a funny kind of way)!

I am now on the train down, managing to escape the worst of the delays etc) to Cambridge for the final night tonight.

Ian Matthews, Zondervan's UK Sales and Marketing Manager

Land of (their) Fathers

[Notes while on Rob Bell's Calling All Peacemakers tour.]

Last night's event was at the Coal Exchange in Cardiff - a really grungy music venue in the Bay area. Previous appearances here included The Alarm, The Levellers, Van Morrison and Howard Marks, so Rob was in great company. The venue lent a really 'edgy' feel to the evening, and there was a lot more audience interaction than we have seen in many venues (Manchester apart ... but that is Manchester!).

We arrived into Cardiff around 2pm today, checked into the hotel and were able to spend a bit of time exploring the bay area - a redeveloped old dock and port, now a thriving commercial area with restaurants, pubs, the Welsh Assembly building, the stunning Opera House (with the stirring poem emblazoned on on the building in both Welsh and English "In These Stones/ Horizons/ Sing" - in welsh the word for sing here is Awen which means so much more than the English - it recalls Bardic tradition). We were able to relax and have some dinner looking out over the bay in some rare sunshine before heading off to the venue.

The building, The Coal Exchange, is over 100 years old and used to be, you guessed it, the Coal Exchange! That is, it is where the coal stocks from around the world were traded, and Rob performed on what was the trading room floor. Although all the redevelopment is great, I couldn't help but feel sad that this great music venue was going to be turned into expensive apartments for over-paid bankers!

Off to Shrewsbury today (my home town - I get to sleep in my bed!), where we are staying for the Wolverhampton gig.

Ian Matthews, Zondervan's UK Sales and Marketing Manager

Southampton

[Notes while on Rob Bell's Calling All Peacemakers tour.]

I racked my brain but couldn't think of any song reference for Southampton. Any ideas?

With Southampton we start the back half of the tour - just 4 dates to go now. Last night was at the Nuffield Theatre located on the Southampton University campus. A great theatre - about 500 capacity (and another sell-out) but feeling really intimate.

Rob has media interviews with the Tear Times (from Tearfund - see the last post) and Inspire magazine. We also all had chance to have some dinner with Delirious? (the band) and also a Pastor based here in Southampton called Billy Kennedy - see New Community, who is working with Oasis and Steve Chalke, working with some failing schools.

We head off now to Cardiff for tonight's event.

Ian Matthews, Zondervan's UK Sales and Marketing Manager