Rob Bell:

Years ago I was struggling -- really, really struggling to make sense of a number of things in my life, in a lot of pain.  I started going to a counselor who gradually helped me understand why I was feeling how I was feeling and how I got there and what a better future might look like ... He was kind and humble and open, and yet firm and rock solid and unshakable.  All at the same time.  He was a man of faith, deeply grounded in his convictions, and yet those firm convictions didn't close him down or harden him or make him brittle and closed-minded; they had the exact opposite effect.  They seemed to make him more flexible and limber and engaging.

What We Talk About When We Talk About God, p. 94-95