Jesus Wants to Save Christians: Learning to Read a Dangerous Book [Paperback]

Rob Bell (Author), Don Golden (Author)

Book Description

Release date: July 24, 2012

“Bell and Golden trace redemption from Genesis to Revelation...[delivering] a tough message the American church needs to hear.”
—Christianity Today

“Equal parts prophetic warning and call to action, Jesus Wants to Save Christians exhorts Jesus’s followers to sacrifice their comforts and hear the ‘cry of the oppressed.’”
—Grand Rapids Press

In Jesus Wants to Save Christians, Rob Bell, the New York Times bestselling author of Love Wins joins with Don Golden, Christian activist and vice president of World Relief, to call upon the church to break from its cultural captivity and challenge the assumptions of the American Empire. Bell, whom the New York Times calls “one of the country’s most influential evangelical pastors” and whom Time Magazine named one of the most influential people in 2011, is a pioneer in the movement seeking new Christian expression, and anyone who has ever questioned their faith or is those looking for answers they cannot find in their own church’s standard teachings will discover a new creed in Bell and Golden’s provocative and spiritually enlightening work.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Bell and Golden deliver a tough message the American church needs to hear.” (Christianity Today)

“Bell is at the forefront of a rethinking of Christianity in America.” (Time magazine)

“One of the country’s most influential evangelical pastors.” (New York Times)

“One of the nation’s rock-star-popular young pastors.” (USA Today)

“Rob Bell is one of the hottest names in contemporary evangelical life.” (Boston Globe)

“This dramatic book is politically charged but not party-bent, bearing a message evangelicals need: that Jesus didn’t come just to save people for heaven someday but to transform his followers and the physical world now.” (Publishers Weekly)

“Equal parts prophetic warning and call to action, Jesus Wants to Save Christians exhorts Jesus’ followers to sacrifice their comforts and hear the ‘cry of the oppressed’-the hungry and poor about whom God cares deeply.” (Grand Rapids Press)

“Bell and Golden present a clarion call for a justice emphasis within Christianity and, given the nightmarish developments in the U.S. and the world, it could not have come at a better time!” (Spirituality and Practice)

From the Back Cover

"We want you to discover the Bible as its own best commentary. We offer you a way to read the Bible that doesn't require a library or a preacher or a politician or an academic to interpret for you. Once justice is seen as the thread woven into the fabric of biblical history, the whole Bible becomes much clearer. Justice is the issue when God redeems Israel from Pharaoh. Justice is at the heart of the Sinai law and justice is what Israel must show the world as a kingdom of priests. Justice is the measure the Jews failed to meet in their days of power and empire in Jerusalem. It was justice the prophets proclaimed as the way of return during the exile of the Jews in Babylon and it was justice that Jesus incarnated."

—from Jesus Wants to Save Christians

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: HarperOne; Reprint edition (July 24, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0062125826
• ISBN-13: 978-0062125828
• Product Dimensions: 5.3 x 0.7 x 7.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #54,218 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Rob Bell is a bestselling author, international teacher, and highly sought after public speaker. His books include The New York Times bestseller Love Wins, along with Velvet Elvis, Sex God, Jesus Wants to Save Christians, and Drops Like Stars. At age 28 he founded Mars Hill Bible Church in Michigan, and under his leadership it was one of the fastest-growing churches in America. In 2011 he was profiled inTime Magazine as one of the 100 most inuential people. Rob is also the featured speaker in a series of spiritual short lms called NOOMA. Currently, he is working with former LOST producer Carlton Cuse on a television series and will be releasing a new book in 2013. He and his wife Kristen have three children and live in Los Angeles.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Different Style than his Last Books March 4, 2013

By DebFaeSwift

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

As a pastor leading a study group on this book, I can say that each person in the class has commented on the different style of this book compared to *Love Wins* and *Velvet Elvis* which we've also done. Perhaps it's having a co-author. There's something lacking, and I think it might be the in depth exegesis or drawing out of meaning that is not readily available to the viewer. Still a good choice for inspiring conversation, though.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Dubious Disciple Book Review April 30, 2013

By Dubious Disciple

Format:Paperback

Ouch. Several months ago, Harper One sent me a short collection of Rob Bell reprints to review. I slowly worked my way through them, enjoying each one, and somehow left this one sitting on the shelves. Too many other obligations. I just now picked it up, and read it in one sitting.

I couldn't put it down. Forget Velvet Elvis. Forget Love Wins. This 180-page sermon, this little obscure work, is for Bible groupies Bell's real masterpiece. It's definitely my new favorite, so maybe that says something about co-author Don Golden, a name I hadn't come across before.

From the Exodus, to the Temple construction, to the Eucharist, Bell and Golden reveal a surprising thread that weaves its way throughout the Bible. This "new perspective " opens up what the Bible means to Americans today, living in the world's most powerful nation, boasting the greatest military, yet holding the strongest responsibility for the world's impoverished. America is an empire, and the Bible has a lot to say about empires.

"I hope you see that there is a common humanity we share with everybody alive today, and everybody who has come before us," writes Bell in the preface. This little book accomplishes just that.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars worth readind April 6, 2013

By Martha G. Huebert

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

This book is worth rereading because it present some new and interesting ideas. It is well written and gives one a new perspective.

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Wow! November 23, 2012

By Pamie

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

This book is a must read if a person wants to be a biblical Christian and the church is to start being relevant in the world again. It is like Rob threaded miscellaneous beads on a string and the necklace appeared. This book will explain Scripture like it has not been explained in a church service and convict/challenge you to participate in the Kingdom on earth. Read this with Hugh Halter" "Sacrilege" and "Tangible Kingdom" and you will mourn all the years you have wasted for the Kingdom and jump-start your walk from this day forward. Don't read this book Jesus Wants to Save Christians: Learning to Read a Dangerous Bookif you don't want to be changed.

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Not a fan of Bell but.... August 2, 2012

By fifthavenueprincess

Format:Kindle Edition

I agree with Bell most churches in America and beyond need to wake up and stop taking their congregations money and build new buildings...instead they need to look after the poor.

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Love It November 21, 2012

By Doug Kroeker

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

I really enjoy Rob Bells books because he makes me think. He is always thinking outside the box, and I like his style of writing.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars 21st Century Prophet(in the real sense of the word)? February 18, 2013

By The Vision Catalyst

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

Pastor Rob Bell speaks powerfully to the culture of 21st Century America and particularly to the American Church. He poses question that need to be posed. Challenges assumptions. Makes us confront the reality of a Church that has embraced the Culture over the genuine Faith and has created a Christianity that suits us and our western sensibilites. He challenges us to find deeper and more clarified meaning in the words and life of the Christ. Pastor Bell is tremendously unpopular with some segments of the Church because he asks (important) questions about doctrinal positions held by varying segments of the Church. I think this is a must read for all those who purport to, or seek to, follow Christ!

4.0 out of 5 stars THOUGHT PREVOKING May 6, 2013

By James T. Mcqueen

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

SIMILAR TO 'LOVE WINS' BUT DOES NOT KEEP YOUR ATTENTION AS WELL...BUT STILL IS VERY WELL DONE IN MR.
BELL'S UNIQUE STYLE....