I've been listening to this message from Rob Bell at Mars Hills Church in Grand Rapids, part of the series 15 part on Mastering the Art of Living. Great series, but there are two messages on truth that have really caused me to think, which I guess is what a good sermon does. Part 11 deals with finding and claiming truth in the world around us as Christians. It was a concept I'd heard, but taken to a new point that I hadn't. Part 12 takes it quite a bit further, talking about God in terms of the definition of Ultimate Reality. I've been reading about this same idea in the book I just started called The Divine Conspiracy, by Dallas Willard.

In Rob's message, he makes a leap somewhere in the message iin how he interprets John 14:6 which is where Jesus states:

"I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him."

I'm just not sure I'm tracking with where he takes this. Rob seems to take the position that this is not about Jesus saying that he's the gatekeeper to heaven but that he's pointing to the ultimate reality that is God and himself. It seems to be such a fine line between Christianity and Universalism. It's caused me to do a lot of thinking and studying, which I guess is the goal of a great message. Take a listen and let me know what you think. I've had some great conversations with a friend of mine Mark who's been looking into Kaballah, about this verse and how it lines up with what he thinks, but I still can't follow how Rob Bell comes to the conclusions that he does with this.