Rob Bell (left), former pastor of the Mega Church Mars Hill Bible Church in Michigan and TIME Magazine's 2011 list of 100 Most Influential People in the World, has shocked right-wing evangelical groups with his acceptance of gay marriage. Even more so, he preaches that churches that refuse to accept gay marriage are making themselves irrelevant.

Rob Bell's star rose spectacularly when he founded the Mars Hill Bible Church where he routinely preached Sunday services to 10,000 souls. Unlike other noted televangelists who rode their popularity into the ground making mega bucks on hating gay people, Bell continued to grow and with the theme of "Love Wins" began to alienate his arch conservative followers. He believed the ship had sailed on gay marriage, that words against gay people written 2000 years ago were not relevant, and that there was no everlasting hell of punishment. He soon found that religious people do love, but only people who think and act like them and that they also loved and found great pleasure in thoughts of their enemies burning a trillion years in hell. Fundamentalist preachers rushed to their pulpits and blogs to damn their former fellow right-wing conspirator.

Rob Bell has moved on from the Mars Hill Bible Church to a world wide ministry in music, books, a possible movie, and a business association with Oprah Winfrey.