Wednesday, February 22, 2006

Nooma

As a youth minister, its sometimes hard to find a resource that is truly wonderful. I have searched high and low, looking for something that will grab the attention of the teens, and have some depth to it, while not being too deep.

There is a new video series out called Nooma. I believe they have 10 videos out not. Basically, they are about 12 minutes long, and hit some of the toughest issues to deal with. They are done by a guy named Rob Bell. Check out their website NOOMA to see some clips from some of the videos. Tonight, in class we'll be watching the Nooma video number 003, entitled Trees.

2 comments:

Jason said...

Trees is a great video. We used it at the start of the new year. Makes for a great lesson if you can look at Genesis 3 and Revelation 21 & 22 and discuss how we're living "between the trees". Great stuff, man. Hope it goes well.

Yeshayah/Nacho said...

I would like to share some views with you in concern with New Age that is coming in the church and we as Christians are blinded.
??That Day shall not come unless there come a great falling away first.? (2 Thessalonians 2:3)
We know by these words that before Jesus returns, great deception will come to the church. Right now, we are totally unprepared for it. One of the crying alarms in my heart is the almost total lack of discernment in the church. We have come to a place where we are so conditioned to the slow infiltration of all things sensual and worldly, that we judge the rightness of a thing based on how we feel, how something looks, how big and how popular something is. Humans by nature are trend junkies. The church, through compromise, have become trend junkies. There is always the ?latest? thing to make your church a success, make your program work, etc. There is something to be said for the steady faithfulness of a tiny church. In Revelation I never read Jesus commending a church for their astonishing growth. He does commend them for faithfulness under fire.
I recently viewed a new DVD series designed for teens and college kids. It’s slick, MTV quality and ?cool.? It is going to be marketed - and accepted - hugely in youth groups. It’s called ?Nooma? series by Mars Hill Pastor Rob Bell. I watched one entitled ?Bullhorn? and it made me spiritually sick. The background for Bell’s message is a fat, bald, coke-bottle glasses middle-aged man with shirttail hanging out and passing out literature and using a bullhorn to do street evangelism.
Bell went on to make the preacher come across as a fool, and worse - he proclaims that this man is actually turning people AWAY from Christ, and that he thinks even Jesus thinks he’s an embarrassment. Bell peppers his short message with new-age words like ?diversity?, ?inclusiveness? etc. It was very slick, and yes, many of us have seen someone like that. But the real message was, underlying it all, that evangelism is uncool and unnecessary, that we need to reach people by caring and putting and arm around their shoulder, and listening. These ?bullhorn? types are a terrible offense, and Jesus thinks so too.
What a damnable lie.
Our problem is not that too many bullhorn preachers have taken to the streets. The real problem is that the overwhelming majority of Christian youth don’t share their faith AT ALL. They have NEVER evangelized, never been on the street and WILL not. This DVD, if it gains a wide audience, is a preemptive strike designed by Satan to GUT this generation of its mandate to evangelize! They already do not know how and do not want to. This DVD’s message is, it is WRONG to, it is UNCOOL to, and Jesus doesn’t like it either.
Jesus caused many people to turn away from following Him. But Jesus wasn’t trying to attract large crowds. He wanted disciples!
You can tell me that I?m wrong in attacking Rob Bell ministry “Nooma” like I’ve been told by friends and pastors but i will not hide the fact that I Love Jesus and the fact that Jesus shared his gospel in a threatening way too (exp. Jesus Speaking Rev 2:23 And I will kill her children with death; and all the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according to your works) If you still think that I am wrong then i’ll be the Bullhorn Guy and I will love God in a fearful way Amen.