nooma_bullhorn

Have you seen these guys on the street corner of a busy downtown intersection. They have pamphlets, a box and a small PA system or a bullhorn and they are yelling judgement on those passing buy. Words such as hell, repent, burn and Jesus are stewed together in a mix of anger and rage. We all have seen the 'bullhorn guy'. We have seen them on television we have seen them in movies. We may have heard them in church.

How do you feel about the 'bullhorn guy'?

Are you like me and just want to tell him to "Stop!"? I mean, I don't think it's working. All the yelling and the judgment and condemnation, is not working. Maybe it is even making things worse. Have you ever tried to share your faith with someone only to have that person bring up 'Christians' they have known that have distorted the Gospel? It's like, "You know I am a Christian and I would like to invite you to church with me this Sunday..." And before you can finish your invitation, they shake their heads and say something like, "Nope! I will never step into a church again. Not after what so-and-so said to me...or...did to me..."

Are people like bullhorn guy hurting the general perception of Christianity?
What things other than bullhorn guy negatively taint the perception of the Christian faith?

What drew you to the message of Jesus? What was it that caught your attention or made you listen to his message rather than someone elses?

One of the reasons so many are fascinated with Jesus is because he never stops reminding us that God really, really loves us...exactly the way we are. Just knowing that God loves us unconditionally is a new concept to some of us. How many time have you said something like, "If you pick up your room then i'll give you a treat." or to a lover "I'll love you if you only (fill in the blank)." We put conditions on how we love. We love with an agenda.

Matthew 22:36-40 (CEV) "Teacher, what is the most important commandment in the Law?"
Jesus answered:
Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind. This is the first and most important commandment. The second most important commandment is like this one. And it is, "Love others as much as you love yourself." All the Law of Moses and the Books of the Prophets are based on these two commandments."

When Jesus is asked, 'What is the most important thing?' His response is to love, love God with all you have and then love those around you in the same kind of way. Do you notice that Jesus doesn't seperate loving god and loving others. For Jesus, everything hangs on these two. So what is the one thing that should set Christians apart from the world? What is the one defining atribute given to Christians? Love.

What's the most important thing in you life?
How does that line up with what Jesus said?

Is the most important thing in your life your job or career? Okay, then how are you showing love to you coworkers? Are you showing love to God by loving them? Or does the extent of your witness end with the Christian radio station on in your cubical?

God's plan for setting Christians apart from the world and God's plan for winning outsiders over, is not through yelling or condemnation, but through love. That is why the yelling and the bullhorn are so disturbing, it seems like you're trying to convert people to your religion. Like people are just notches on your spiritual belt. But they're not. They are people, they're people God loves. They are people that Jesus wants us to love. They aren't statistics, they aren't numbers, they aren't possible conversions. If i'm loving someone with an agenda, then it isn't really love, is it?

What does it mean to love someone with an agenda (or condition)?
Is trying to convert someone to your religious beliefs an agenda?

This is a dangerous trap minsters can fall in to. It is something i struggle with. i genuinely want people to join our church. I wan them to be a part of this fellowship, because it is a good place to be. However, if i am reaching out to that person just to get them to place their membership with us, then i am loving them with an agenda. God wants us to love them, because he loves them.

John 13:35 (TNIV) "By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."

"So a Christian is somebody who understands this, who understands that people with different perspectives and differetn religious beliefs and convictions, they're to be loved and respected, because they're made by God, and they're sacred and they're valuable and they matter. god loves the world, so a Christian does too." -rob bell

Does god love people with different beliefs than you?
As much as he loves you?
How do you feel about people with different beliefs than you?

The danger with the hell fire and brimstone message is that when you tell someone that they should follow Jesus so that they don't burn forever, it sounds like a threat. It goes back to the tactic of trying to scare people enough they'll make some magically decision to love God and follow Jesus.

Do you think it's possible to scare people into loving God?

If you say yes, then you are probably thinkg about someone who may have come so close to death or a life threatening illness or event they 'wake up' and give their lives over to God. This isn't what this question means. Can you scare people into 'loving' God. Almost always, "No." What you would do is scare people into being afraid of God (which isn't the same as fearing God).

Most people rally behind this kind of talk of telling the bullhorn guy to stop. You may be saying, "Yeah, you tell 'em." But what are you doing to change the perception of christianity. That's really what it is, people have a perception of Christianity based on their experiences. So, when someone spends time around you, what would their perception of a Christian be?

Are there some general negative perceptions of Christians out their? What might some of those be?
Are their negative perceptions of Christians caused by what we believe or how we're living?
Are you doing anything to change the negative perception?

Understand this, how you love others is how you love God. you say, "I love God." Really, so why did you say all those mean things about your co-worker? YOu say, "I love God." Really, so why do you tell all those jokes about people who are different than you? If you want to really love God, then you show it by how you love others. That's the way of love. That's the way of Jesus.

nooma_dust

Have you ever said something like this, "I want to be the kind of person who does the right thing. and i don't just mean the big things, where right and wrong are obvious and easy, but I mean the small things. The subtle, unnoticed things."

Why are the 'small and unnoticed' things such a big deal?
Doesn't God want us to do big things for His Kingdom? Or is this maybe a lie we've bought in to?

Many times in scripture, Jesus is refered to as "Teacher" or even "Rabbi". But what does that mean to our 21st century minds? Why is that so important? We all know Jesus had his 12 Disciples or Apostles, but every rabbi had their disciples -young men who were considered the best of the best of the best. These students would study and memorize the entire Hebrew scriptures, Genesis through Malachi. When these boys would reach the ages of 12, 13 or 14 they would go one of two directions. They would either acknowledge their inability to become a rabbi (a teacher) and pursue their family trade. Or they would go to a rabbi and ask to be one of his disciples.

Now if you pursued your family trade, then that meant you didn't make the cut to follow a rabbi. You weren't good enough -according to the rabbi you wanted to study under. Now if you did make the cut and a rabbi selected you to follow him, he is saying, 'I think this kid can be like me. I think he can do what i do.' Different rabbis had different sets of interpretations about how they lived out, and understood, and interpreted the Scriptures. This set of interpretations was called that rabbis yoke. When he selects is disciples, he is saying, "I think this kid can carry my yoke and spread my yoke to others."

A disciple doesn't just want to be know what the rabbi knows. A disciple wants to be like the rabbi and wants to elarn to do what the rabbi does.

Have you ever thought of Jesus as your rabbi?
Would you consider yourself a disciple?
Have you ever thought about your faith as being an interpretation?Is it okay to have different interpretations fo the Scriptures?

Matthew 14:25-31 "During the fourth watch of the night Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. "It's a ghost," they said, and cried out in fear.
But Jesus immediately said to them: "Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid."
"Lord, if it's you," Peter replied, "tell me to come to you on the water."
"Come," he said.
Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, "Lord, save me!" Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. "You of little faith," he said, "why did you doubt?"

We've always been taught or we've always assumed that Peter doubts Jesus. But Jesus isn't sinking. Who does Peter doubt? He doubts himself. he loses faith in himself that he can actually be like his rabbi.

How big of a role do your insecurities play in your life?
Do they ever affect your faith?

Now if the peter and some of the other disciples were fishermen and Jesus calls them to be his disciples, then they're not following another rabbi; and if they're not following another rabbi they're not the best of the best. They didn't make the cut.

What message was Jesus sending us by not choosing the best of the best?

I Corinthians 1:26-29 (TNIV) "Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him."

Jesus is sending the message to the world, that his movement is a movement of anybodies and he calls them -the JC, the B-squad, the 'not-good-enoughs.' He calls them to be his disciples and they chang ethe course of human history.

What impact are Christians today having on the course of human history?

Matthew 16:19 (NASB) "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven."

We all know that faith in Jesus is important, but have you ever considered Jesus' faith in us? He must have faith in us, because he leaves his yoke; his commands; his plans in the hands of his disciples.

Do you believe God believes in you?

If it is true that Jesus is our rabbi and we are his disciples -followers, then it must also be true that he has faith in us to follow him and be like him.

What does it mean to be like Jesus?
Can you do it?

Understand this, continue to believe in God. But may you come to understand that God believes in you. Continue in faith in Jesus. But understand that Jesus has faith that you can be like him. A person of love and compassion and truth. A person of forgiveness, and peace, and grace, and joy, and hope. And may you be covered in the dust of your rabbie, Jesus.

nooma_luggage

Everyone I know has wounds. Some are small and petty and it's like, you just need to get over it, but for many the wounds are deep and they hurt. And they still impact and effect your life even now. "You thought you were over it but now you're more into it than ever and the wound is reopened and it hurts more than ever, and then it becomes a day or a week or 10 years later and now it's become like a part of you." (Rob Bell)

What wounds do you have? How have your wounds shaped who you are today?

"Don't insist on getting even; that's not for you to do. 'I'll do the judging,' says God. 'I'll take care of it.'" -Romans 12:19 When we don't deal with the wounds and the hurt properly and promptly, we let the bitterness well up inside. We may want to forget, but it seems like we only remember it more and more. When we carry untreated wounds with us the bitterness evolves into revenge -it becomes our only hope.

Have you ever really goten revenge?
If so, how did it make you feel afterwards?
If we take revenge when we get hurt, do you think it's like saying to God, "I think i can handle this better than you"?

When we are hurt, bad, there is a part of us that wants to get revenge. We want that person to hurt. Just a little portion of us wants them to know what it felt like. We all have joked about how we would like to get back at the person who cut us off in traffic. We tell stories of personal retribution we've tried to take out on someon. However, on the spiritual level revenge is so much more. We are saying, "God i don't trust you to deal with this person the way i think they should be dealt with." We want them punished. We want judgment.

But what if God says that about us?

Proverbs 15:3 says, "The LORD sees everything, wheter good or bad" (CEV). This scripture tells us that God sees everything -whether good or bad. That means he saw how that person hurt you. He saw when your wounds were created. It was like God was right there.

If God's right there when people get hurt, why do you think he doesn't step in to stop it from happening?
Do you trust that God is ultimately going to take care of everything?
Have you ever said something like this, "You know what, you don't understand. What they did to me is so horrible, I will never forgive them, i can't forgive them for what they did."
But what if God said that -"I can't forgive them."?
Why is God's forgiveness of us so crucial to our forgiveness of others?

"Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven." -Luke 6:37

Too many times Christians believe in order for them to forgive someone they have to forget. The only person that is capable of forgetting is God. You know as much as we may want to forget, sometimes forgiving is remembering and some people are going to keep returning to their vomit, and we don't have to be there when they do.

Proverbs 26:11 says, "as a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool returns to its folly." Sometimes the person that has hurt you, will hurt you again. They are toxic. They are malicious and dangerous. They are bent on hurting others. If he is hitting you, if you are being abused, you need to get out -now. If you are in a dangerous situation, you need to get out. Your leaving the situation may be the attention grabber God will use to get them to change. To understand the consequences to their actions.

Many times people say that forgiveness is about freeing the other person. You know freeing the one who hurt you. But really is forgiveness actually about you? Is it about me? Its about us isn't it? Because, when i forgive somebody and i set them free, it's like im setting myself free.

Do you believe forgivenss is really more about the one forgiving than the one being forgiven?
Does that view on forgiveness make it easier to forgive?

Another misunderstanding about forgiveness is that it is not a feeling. You don't forgive and forgive and forgive until you get a warm fuzzy. Forgiving is an action, it's somthing you do. Chances are we all have someone we need to forgive. Reconsidering the passage from Luke that says our sins will be forgiven when we forgive others is even more demanding.

Are there people you need to forgive?
If someone you need to forgive died before you made amends, what kinds of regrets would you have?

Now, you may need to make a phone call, send an email or have a face to face with someone, but what it may also be is at this moment, you pause your mp3 player, close the door and forgive somebody. What does that look like? Maybe something like this, "God, i don't want to be a slave to my wounds anymore. I don't want to live with the bitterness or vengence for one more minute. God i forgive ________________. I know what they did hurt me, and they may even hurt me again, but i forgive them for what they did to me. God give me the strength to wish them well. Bless them Lord. If they are living in rebellion to you, bring them close to your side. If they are hurting themselves, bring healing and comfort to them. Thank you Father for forgiving me of how i have hurt you. In Jesus Name, Amen."

There is nothing right or special about the above prayer, but maybe it can help you start the process of forgiveness. And may you forgive as you've been forgiven, may you give to others what's been given to you, may you set someone free and find out that it was you, and may you do it TODAY, because you might not have the chance tomorrow.

nooma_kickball

One of the problems with mankind is that our perspective is limited. The phrase, "He lives his life like a chess match." may show some foresight, but in reality it is simply a guess. What that does to us is handicaps us from seeing the bigger picture. Is there a bigger picture to this life? I think we can all say that there is infact a bigger picture. More to this life than what we experience at this moment in history.

In the video, Rob Bell's 2 1/2 year old is standing at a kiosk in the mall. He looks up and sees a wall of fun. Bell looks up and sees a wall of tomorrow's garbage. His boy wanted a particular toy that was not age appropriate. But as the debate continued his son laments, "I want one...I need one...I thought you said you loved me?"

We always want something, don't we? Something that would make us happy, right? What is it for You? Ebay's latest marketing tells consumers, "Whatever 'IT' is you want Ebay has IT". Clever. We all want something. Whether it's a physical something or emotional something or spritual something. We always want something.

Why do we as parents try to use reason and logic on someone who hasn't even developed the ability to reason yet? Have you ever tried to reason with a 2 year old? Of course. We know why they need to eat their veggies. We know why they need to go to bed. But they don't. Esther loves to play outside. She loves to swing and play in the fallen leaves. So when i ask her, "Do you want to play outside?" She gets all excited and ready to go. Whe i try to sit her down and put shoes, socks and her coat on, she throws a fit. All she's thinking is, "I thought we were going outside? This isn't outside. This is a trick." At that moment Esther believes she isn't getting that which had been promised to her.

Do you feel like you often don't get the things you really want? Do you feel like God's denying you these things or maybe like he's not even listening to you? James 1:17 says, "Every good and perfect gift comes down from the Father who created all the lights in the heavens. He is always the same and never makes dark shadows by changing."

Have you ever had to remove your child from a situation they really want to be in, but because of their behavior or maybe even because of other circumstances -maybe even dangerous circumstances - you've had to take them from fun time? Have you ever been mad at God for not giving you what you'd asked for? Is it okay to question God?

In the video, Bell explains the reason his wife, son and he were at the mall. They were there to get their son a kickball. Something he really wanted. But he was caught up in something that looked like a must have. Have you ever felt like God did come through for you? If so, how? Looking back, how did God come through for you?

We can create a safe little bubble of a aworld around our children. Where they always get everying they want right when they ask for it, when they were protected from everything, but it wouldn't be much of of a life, would it? Christians sometimes do the same thing. We create a safe little bubble around our minds and the people we hang out with. We have our music, our movies and our like-minded friends. But how much of a life is it -really?

If you got everything you asked for in life, do you think you'd be happy?

Jeremiah 29:11-14 states, "I know what I'm doing. I have it all planned out—plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for. "When you call on me, when you come and pray to me, I'll listen. "When you come looking for me, you'll find me. "Yes, when you get serious about finding me and want it more than anything else, I'll make sure you won't be disappointed."

You know, we may have a very sincere reason for wanting something. Maybe we want just enough money to get out of debt and get the collection agencies off our backs. Maybe we want a certain temptation removed so we don't disappoint our family again with our sin. Maybe we want a disease removed or chronic pain to cease. There are very real desires we want, and maybe your question is, "How long, how long do i have to wait for this? When is God going to deliver?" and maybe God's perspective is, "How long till you see that there's a bigger perspective here?"

Do you see your life as part of a bigger picture, a larger story? Sometimes you ahve this sense of, "God, if you just give me this, then i'd be okay. Then my life would be okay." Have you ever felt unsure about an important decision in your life and trusted God to lead you in the right direction? How did that turn out?

A question you may need to ask yourself is "Do I believe God is good? Deep in my bones, do i believe God is Good? What do you really believe God is like? Because until we each deal with this question, then nothing's ever going to make any sense, is it?

Do you believe God is good?
Always?

Luke 11:11-13 "Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!"

Now, when you find yourself standing at the kiosk, asking "Why can't i have what I want?" may you beleive that God is good, and that right across the street he has something better.