I had the opportunity to sit down last night with the author of the new and controversial book Love Wins: A Book About Heaven, Hell, And The Fate Of Every Person Who Ever Lived, pastor Rob Bell.  We talked about his recent book and the controversy surrounding it, and throughout the night I gained some insight into the man currently holding the number two spot on the New York Times Bestseller List.  The following are bits of our conversation throughout the night and two major points surrounding my opinions on Mr. Rob Bell.

BH:  What sounds good for dinner?
RB:  Mexican.  You know of any good places?  I’m a sucker for a good burrito. We heard Baja Burrito was good.  You know where that is?
BH:  Yeah, is pretty amazing.  And their fish tacos are great.
RB:  Perfect.

BH:  How’s the family.
RB:  Doing well.  Yours?
BH:  Great.

RB:  So you’ve been on the road a lot.  How’s that going?
BH:  It’s been great.  Super busy, but really good.  Hey, who’s doing the interviewing here?

RB:  How long are you away from your family at any given time?
BH:  Okay, one more answer and that’s it.  I’m interviewing you.  I’m usually away from them a max of four days.  I’m lucky to travel with bands that also have families and like to be home.

BH:  What looks good?
RB:  I think the steak burrito on a wheat tortilla.  Yep.  That’s it.

BH:  So I know you’ve got a bunch of interviews tomorrow, but what else is going on?
RB:  There’s a big event at Belmont and I guess it moved from a church to the school.
BH:  Nice.  I’ll come out early and we can hang before it, but I have a thing at the boys school until 3:30.
RB:  Perfect.

BH:  So you got to meet Sammy Hagar.  That’s pretty awesome.
RB:  Yeah, he was cool, and gave me a great quote.
BH:  Nice.

BH:  Hey, I gotta get gas before we head back to the hotel.  Is that cool.
RB:  Sure.

BH:  What time is that big college basketball game on tonight?
RB:  You’re Central Time right?
BH:  I’ll ask the questions here, thanks.  But yeah, we’re Central Time.
RB:  I think the game is on at 8:06.

So, these two things jump out at me when I hang out with Rob.  Two things that shape the way I view him and his theology.  And based off of this interview I left completely standing by my Tweet a few weeks ago.

One, Rob is nice.  He’s a good person, concerned for others and truly believes that in the end love wins (minor pun intended).  He cares about the people around him and hopes the best for them.

Two, there is no doubt in my mind that Rob is 100% a Christ-following believer who desperately wants to share the gospel with people.

So I hope this clears a lot of things up for you guys.  I know there’s been a lot of questions and then more questions about Rob’s book and most are from people who haven’t read it, so I’d leave with one suggestion.  Go get the book and read it, then start loving people the way we are supposed to.

And if my opinion isn’t enough here’s something floating around the magical Interwebnet right now for your listening pleasure: