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Jesus Wants to Save Christians: A Manifesto for the Church in Exile

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Authors: Rob Bell, Don Golden
Publisher: Zondervan
Category: Book

List Price: ~~$19.99~~
Buy New: $13.59
You Save: $6.40 (32%)

New (34) Used (8) from $12.15

Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars

31 reviews
Sales Rank: 374

Media: Hardcover
Pages: 224
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 8.3 x 6.4 x 0.9

ISBN: 0310275024
Dewey Decimal Number: 230
EAN: 9780310275022
ASIN: 0310275024

Publication Date: October 1, 2008
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours

Also Available In:

•	Audio CD - Jesus Wants to Save Christians: A Manifesto for the Church in Exile
•	Audio Download - Jesus Wants to Save Christians: A Manifesto for the Church in Exile (Unabridged)

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Editorial Reviews:

Product Description
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.

Customer Reviews: Read 26 more reviews...

5 out of 5 stars

Rob Bell challenges us to see our world through the eyes of Jesus September 22, 2008
IA
91 out of 102 found this review helpful

In his latest work, Jesus Wants To Save Christians, Rob Bell along with friend Don Golden reflects on the growing differences between the message of the Gospel as found in the Bible, and the message of the gospel as preached in many Western churches each Sunday.

No doubt the criticisms will come that this book is anti-American, or un-Patriotic as Bell portrays America's growing global empire by way of comparison with other global empires of their time. The comparison is chilling and leaves the reader thinking, "what the heck are we doing?? Is this what Jesus wants for our nation??".

Rob Bell is in essence calling for Reformation in the Church. It is a timely and indeed Prophetic book that calls out the mischief of the war-makers and calls the Bride back to its roots and a message of grace and redemption. Something that will no doubt grate painfully with many right-wing pseudo-Conservative "christians" that see foreign enemies as the real cause of our problems, rather that those domestic enemies Thomas Jefferson warned us of.

Calling things as they really are and shining the light of Kingdom truth on where we are headed as a nation is something few men are brave enough to do. This book will challenge you to reflect on your own faith and ask yourself hard questions about your day to day opinions of war and terrorism and what our response as Followers of Christ should be.

A Manifesto For the Church In Exile. The sub title is extremely fitting. This book should go hand in hand with another Manifesto written by a Christian, that of Congressman Dr. Ron Paul; The Revolution: A Manifesto. Both books are in agreement with each other but present the argument from two very different but very solid positions. I recommend both of these books together.

Ending the book, Bell calls the reader to consider their place in the world. To stop waiting for something big to happen and to simply live the example of Christ for the rest of the world, and everything that entails. Buy this book, it will challenge and provoke you to see the world through the eyes of Jesus and not of the "Western Christian faith". And that, can only be a good thing.

I give this book 5 out 5. If this review was helpful to you, please click yes below.

2 out of 5 stars

Not So Much . . . September 27, 2008
Jon A. Larson (Otsego, MN USA)
54 out of 74 found this review helpful

First, I want to say that I am a big Rob Bell fan. I thoroughly enjoy all of the Nooma videos and his other two books "Velvet Elvis" and "Sex God", and also the "Everything is Spiritual" video. In those, he consistently captured the Christian message and made it fresh and relevant for today, which challenges each of us to reflect on our personal relationship with our Lord.

With that being said, I was deeply disappointed with this book. I am not sure if it was because it was co-authored or what, but the personal commentary on the state of the United States' "empire" was a little too much for me.

Bell and Golden are great at asking leading questions and causing you to draw your own conclusions. The book is full of such questions. But then there is a major deviation comparing the United States to the `failed empire of Solomon'. For example, the analogies of the armies, chariots & horses, and riches of Solomon's day with the war on terror, homeland security, and accumulating riches of the current United States. There is a clear indictment on the United States living in an "empire" and because of that, we are accused of being oppressive by nature. `Big' equals `oppressive'? The Bible clearly states that the Lord was angry with Solomon because his heart had turned from the Lord God of Israel. To challenge Americans to examine our hearts because of the blessing bestowed on our nation, which could cause us to forget the Lord is one thing, but to equate that because we are the most prosperous nation in the history of the world and by default we are somehow bad or evil is just peculiar. If America fell, and let's say China was the new "empire" in the world, are they oppressive by nature because of this standing?

Also, the commentary of the book of Revelation was really out of place. An attempt was made to attach participation in the exchange of goods and services in the Roman Empire days with taking a mark, and somehow that is connected to having us not `take part in the animating spirit of empire'. This was just strange. The author(s) conclude in this by saying: "Resist. Rebel. Protest. Revelation is a bold, courageous, politically subversive attack on corrosive empire and its power to oppress people." WOW! It was stated that the book of Revelation was written to the audience of that day, and not prophetic. Where did this come from? Although there are the letters to the churches in the beginning of Revelation (which is also analogous to the church today), the rest is prophetic. The Old Testament is chock full of prophecy regarding the coming of the Messiah. The one prophetic book in the NEW Testament has been now discounted by Bell and Golden as just another message, and written in a "subversive literary style called apocalyptic".

This book delves too much into a political statement on the perceived oppressive state of the current administration. The author rails against the very thing they engage in. It is implied throughout the book that if we make a personal connection with our Lord, live for Him, things will change. Interjecting a personal commentary on an otherwise thoughtful discourse was out of place. If Bell and Golden would have stuck to the redeeming nature of God and NOT of their personal opinions, I would have been much more satisfied with this book.

1 out of 5 stars

Not worth the paper it's printed on!! September 30, 2008
W. Wojcik
24 out of 71 found this review helpful

Maybe Rob should study the Bible more hermeneutically, and spend less time on monasticism and ecclesiology. Should we not vote and exercise our rights as citizens? Paul did. Preach the gospel correctly Rob and quit rambling constantly about how misguided YOU think the Church is. Jesus wants to save the lost. Christians are already saved. Yes, the church can and should be more giving (and loving), as long as the gospel is preached accurately and verbally at the same time. Our country is not a theocracy. Our government is not the church. Make a NOOMA that has you opening the Bible and actually reading it (correctly, in context).

1 out of 5 stars

Liberation Theology puts on funky glasses October 1, 2008
Stephen A. Kellar
23 out of 60 found this review helpful

You can give it a an eye-catching green and gray package, yet Bell, and his fellow author Golden, are simply repackaging the America-hating Liberation Theology of another generation. Both see wealth and war through the skinny, yet stylish, glasses of a subjective hermenutic, not grounded in careful Biblical exegesis but rather colored with a Marxist driven isogesis of scripture. Bell and Golden take their preconceived notions and go running for a Hebrew narrative proof text to support them. The key error of their theology is to think that Jesus has already ushered in His future kingdom and we should be beating our swords into plowshares, and getting cozy in our possession free communes. Do the disadvantaged of Bell's community live under his roof with free access to all he possess? Do his children have pet vipers and lions to play with? I think not. The kingdom Jesus was talking about is future tense, and the new Exodus begins with a Second Coming. I shudder to think of the real "violence" the world would witness if Bell and his followers were in charge. Could it be that, David & Solomon's kingdoms, and dare I say the United States, were blessed by God to possess both wealth and power to create a climate most favorable for the advancing of the message of the Gospel? Certainly there will always be abuses, but what we need to do is to use wealth and power wisely, not be ashamed of it.

3 out of 5 stars

Good, but thin. September 22, 2008
Jacob C. Dahlke
20 out of 24 found this review helpful

I bought it yesterday, and just finished it, i had the day off today. It's not a hard read, and it's incredibly short.

Most of the pages look like this post.

Short.

One line at a time.

Very few paragraphs.

I thought it was interesting, and actually agree with a lot of it, but i was very annoyed with the book. It was exhausting to read and I'm not exactly sure why. Again, I thought it said a lot of good things, but I feel like it was thin. I found myself going to the notations a lot for a deeper look, which was nice that it was there. Overall, I think the book could have been a series of blog posts and not cost 19.99.

christianity emerging church jesus rob bell theology

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