Velvet Elvis - Introduction

My name is Nathan, and I have started working with a local prison ministry. As I became more and more involved, I also began reading Rob Bell's Velvet Elvis. This book started to illuminate things about God and me that I had never realized. Soon after I finished the book, I began to share the lessons with the inmates. I am putting my lessons here for discussion and hopefully the advancement of our knowledge of God and how God wants to work through us.

Velvet Elvis starts with this description of a painting of Elvis. It’s not the young Elvis (slicked back hair in the black and white photos with an unplugged guitar), and it’s not the old Elvis (the big one in the shiny cape); it is of the pre-donut Elvis. It captures “the king” in all his glory. If, after the artist was done, he said that there was no more need to paint because he had painted the ultimate painting, we’d say he had lost his mind. We know this because instinctively understand art has to keep going, keep exploring, keep arranging, keep shaping and bringing in more perspectives.

Followers of Jesus have also understood our need to keep going and exploring what it means to live in harmony with God and each other. When Martin Luther launched his series of questions about the painting the church was presenting, he had realized the need for changes. Many people after him continued to rethink and repaint the faith. It’s called the reformation because we are still in the reforming process.

This book is Rob Bell’s attempt at repainting the Christian faith. It’s broken into 7 segments called Movements. Movement One is Jump.