Rob Bell se Noomas

2011-02-21 Leave a comment

Hier volg ’n kort bespreking van sommige van Rob Bell se Noomas wat op www.youtube.com beskikbaar is:

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Rhythm Nooma

Youtube: Rob Bell – Rhythm

“And then there are people who talk as if they know everything about being a Christian… they can seem way out of tune. And then there are others who would say that they do not know much at all about the Christian faith, and they can seem very in tune with the song…

So may you come to see that the song is written on your heart and as you live in tune with the song, in tune with the creator of the universe, may you realise that you are in relationship with the living God.“

Dit klink vir my al of hy sê dat indien jy ’n goeie lewe lei, dan is jy ingestem met God. Dit klink vir my of hy ander reddingspaaie na God verkondig…

Hier volg die hele Nooma:

I recently heard somebody saying that they were pulling into a parking lot and the space closest to the building opened up and they said it was a sign that God was with them. And then probably about two weeks ago I heard somebody talking about two people who’d been sick and the one of them had been healed, and they were talking enthusiastically about how God had intervened to heal the one person; and the whole time I’m thinking, “Yeah, but, what about the other person? I mean, they didn’t get healed. Where was God, why didn’t God intervene with them?” And then it was last night, just last night I heard somebody say that they had been in a store and they’d seen something they’d really wanted and it was on sale, and they said, “This just shows how good God is.” If God can help people find things on sale, then why doesn’t God spend time doing things that seem more important like earthquakes or famines or sickness?

When you think about God, when you hear the word “God,” what images come to mind? Like this old man with a long white beard and he’s behind a curtain and he’s working these levers, he’s healing some and then he’s find parking spaces for others? See, for many people their concept of God is built around a God who’s outside of everything, a God who essentially is somewhere else; a God who made the world, but then stands back; and like watches it from this other vantage point. A God who’s “there” and then from time to time comes “here.” The problem with this concept of God is you end up having to even prove that this God even exists. And so what happens is we start with real life, we start with existence, “this,” what we all agree actually exists, and then people end up arguing and debating and discussing whether there’s a God somewhere else who has something to do with “this.”

But the writers of the bible seem far less interested in proving whether God exists, and far more interested in talking about what God is like. Like in the book of Exodus, a man named Moses wants to know God’s name, and God responds, “I AM.” And then later God reminds Moses that when Moses heard God’s voice he saw no shape or form. God is beyond anything our minds can comprehend. What’s it mean to have a personal relationship with this kind of God? I mean that’s like… that’s like hard… hard to get your mind around. You know, I believe that God listens and God cares and God’s involved, but I find the whole relationship idea hard to comprehend; and then loving this kind of God. What does that look like? What does it mean and how do you do it?

When I think of God, I hear a song. It’s a song that moves me, and it has a melody and it has a groove. It has a certain rhythm. And people have heard this song for thousands and thousands of years across continents and cultures and time periods. People have heard this song and they found it captivating; and they’ve wanted to hear more. Now there have always been people who say there is no song and who deny the music, but the song keeps playing. And so, Jesus came to show us how to live in tune with the song. Like that he’s the way and the truth and the life.

This isn’t a statement about one religion being better than all the other religions; I mean the last thing Jesus came to do was start a new religion. He came to show us reality at its most raw. He came to show us how things are. I mean Jesus is like God and… taking on flesh and blood and so in his generosity and in his compassion, that’s what God’s like. In his telling of the truth that’s what God’s like. In his love and forgiveness and sacrifice that’s what God’s like. That’s who God is. That’s how the song… that’s how the song goes.

This song is playing all around us all the time. This song is playing everywhere. It’s written on our hearts. And everybody is playing the song. See the question… the question isn’t whether or not you’re playing a song. The question is: are you in tune? Like it’s written in the book of Acts; it says that God gives us life and breath and everything else. God is generous. So when I’m like selfish and stingy and I refuse to give, I’m essentially out of tune with the song. Later, in one of John’s letters, he says that God is love; unrestrained, unconditional love. So when you see somebody sacrifice themselves for another, for the well being of somebody else, it’s like they’re playing in the right key. That’s why it’s so inspiring and powerful; they’re in tune with the song.

Now some people know all sorts of stuff about music. They know stuff about pitch and modes and keys and instruments, and so they can hear things that maybe other people don’t. They hear subtlety and nuance in the song that other people might miss. They appreciate things others might miss, but it’s also possible to be so caught up in the technical aspects in the song that you miss the simple, pure, enjoyment of the song.
I mean there are people who talk as if they know everything about being a Christian, and yet they can seem way out of tune. And then there are others who would say they don’t know much at all about the Christian faith and yet they can seem very in tune with the song. I met lots of people who struggle with what it means to have a relationship with God, but they haven’t lost faith and love and hope and truth and compassion and justice and generosity. And maybe you have this sense like you have no sort relationship with God because all these things… these ideas you have about what that means. All these things that you’ve been told about what it is or what it isn’t. And an infinite massive kind of invisible God… that’s hard to get our minds around; but truth, love, grace, mercy, justice, compassion… the way that Jesus lived… I can see that. I can understand that. I can relate to that. I can play that song.

So may you come to see that the song is written on your heart, and as you live in tune with the song, in tune with the creator of universe. May you realize that you are in relationship with the living God.

(Uit Nooma – Rhythm – Transcript)

Breathe Nooma

Youtube: Rob Bell NOOMA – 14 Breathe

Is the name of God the sound of breathing?

The word for “breath” is the same word for “spirit”.

The first Christians took hold of this idea and took it way farther; they actually believed that the spirit of God resides or could literally dwell, live in a person. One scripture in Romans 8 says, that if the nooma, the spirit of God who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, then God will give you life.

Jesus said: Whatever you do for them, you’ve done for him. God is there because God is here. And a person does not have to agree with this for it to already be true. God has already given us life and the breath we just took and the breath we took before that and the breath we are going to take and the breath after that. When a baby is born, what is the first thing it must do or this baby is not going to make it? Does this baby have to take a breath or say the name of God? [Hierdie stem nie ooreen met die Bybel wat verkondig dat ons in sonde gebore is nie.] And what is the last thing you do and then you die? The last thing we do is to take our last breath? Or is it when we can no longer say the name of God we die? [Impliseer hierdie dat alle mense God se Naam spreek? Selfs ateïste?] Is it possible that you have be having a meal with a good friend of yours who does not believe in God and you could be sitting across him at the table from your friend who is saying: “There… is… no… God” and what you would be hearing is: “Yod… Hey… Vav… Hey…” [Wat presies wil hy hier sê? Dit klink vir my of hy baie sterk impliseer dat selfs ateïste God het. Dit is waar dat selfs ateïste nie sonder God kan leef nie, al wil hulle dit nie erken nie, maar omdat Rob Bell net nooit oor redding praat nie, kan dit impliseer dat God selfs tevrede is met mense wat Hom nie erken nie.]

Hier volg die hele transkripsie:

Each day we take about 26,000 breaths, which is somewhere around 14,000 liters of air. And we should breathe from our stomach, not our chest. But when we’re distracted, when we’re stressed, when we’re moving too fast, we tend to breathe from our chest. We take somewhere between 4 and 6 breaths a minute. But most of us, on average, take between 16 and 20 breaths a minute. And experts say that from our breathing we should get 99% of our energy. And they say that most of us only access 10% to 20% of that energy. I mean, with all that all of us have going on every day, I mean, who actually thinks about their breathing?

Now there’s a story about a shepherd named Moses who’s living in a land called Midian. And God appears to him, speaking to him through a burning bush. And God says, “Moses, take off your sandals because the ground that you’re standing on is holy.” Now, Moses has been walking this land for 40 years. I mean, it isn’t as if the ground all of a sudden became holy. The ground didn’t just change. It’s Moses becomes aware of it; which raises the question for us: “Are we standing on holy ground all the time?” Passing burning bushes on the left and the right, and because we’re moving too fast and we’re distracted, we miss them. Now, God has heard the cry of his people who are in slavery in Egypt. And he wants Moses to go rescue them. And Moses says, “Well, if I go to these people, and I say to them that God wants to liberate them, they’re going to say to me: ‘Well, what is this God’s name?’” So Moses says to God, “What is your name?” And God responds, “Moses, you tell them the LORD sent you.”

Now, this name, LORD, if you’re reading it in an English translation of the Bible, the name is spelled capital L, capital O, capital R, capital D. The name appears in the bible over 6,000 times. But it wasn’t originally written in the English language. It was written in the Hebrew language. And in Hebrew, the name is essentially four letters. We would say Y, H, V, H. But in Hebrew, the letters are pronounced “Yod, Hey, Vav, Hey.” Now, some pronounce the name “Yahweh” or “Yahveh,” although in many traditions the name isn’t even pronounced because it’s considered so sacred, so mysterious, so holy. In fact, the ancient rabbis believed that these letters were actually—they function kind of as vowels in the Hebrew language. They believed that they were essentially kind of breathing sounds, and that ultimately the name is simply unpronounceable because the letters together are essentially the sound of breathing. Yod. Hey. Vav. Hey. Is the name of God the sound of breathing?

Now, the book of Genesis says that when God created the first person, God took this dust; this dirt from the ground, and God shaped it and formed it and then breathed into it, and it became a living being. Now, the Hebrew word for “ground” is the word, “adamah,” and this first person, his name is Adam. And so essentially it’s from “adamah,” we get Adam. We pronounce the word “Adam.” From ground we get groundman, from dirt we get dirtman. There’s this paradox at the heart of what it means to be a human being. We’re fragile and vulnerable. We came from the dust. As it says in Ecclesiastes, all people come from the dust. As it’s written in the Psalms, all come from the dust and then die and return to the dust.

So the other day I’m trying to call someone, so I dial the number on my phone. The call won’t connect, and so I dial the number again, and it still won’t connect. Then my phone tells me I need to redial, and I’m getting more and more frustrated. And I catch myself literally about to throw my phone out the window. I mean, why is it that the strangest things can get under our skin so quickly? I mean, do you ever have moments when you feel like you’re seconds from losing it? We come from the dust. We’re fragile. Like it’s written in the Psalms: “Each person’s life is but a breath, even those who seem secure.” If you’ve ever walked the halls of a hospital, if you’ve ever stood over a casket, if you’ve ever driven by a bad car accident, then you know exactly what I’m talking about. Life is fragile. And yet, at the same time, we’ve been breathed into by the Creator of the Universe. And this divine breath is in every single human being ever. Like it’s written in the Psalms, Psalm 8 says that has God has crowned us with glory and honor. Now, the glory and honor in this passage isn’t referring to God, it’s referring to the people God made. We’re these sacred, divine dirt clods, and yet we possess untold power and strength. Your life is but a breath, and yet you were made by the Creator of everything.

Now, for thousands of years, people have understood that this physical breath that we all possess is actually a picture of a deeper reality. In the bible, the word for breath is the same word as the word for Spirit. In the Hebrew language, it’s the word “ruah.” In the Greek language, it’s the word “pneuma.” One scripture says that when God takes away the ruah, the breath of all living creatures, then they die and return to the dust. But when God sends the ruah, the Spirit, they are created. Breath, spirit, same word. And the first Christians took hold of this idea; then they took it way farther. They actually believed that the Spirit of God resides or can literally dwell; live in a person. One scripture in Romans 8 says that if the pneuma, the Spirit of God who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, then God will give you life. Another scripture says that what the Spirit of God does, living in you, is it sanctifies.

Now the word “sanctify,” it means “to purge,” or to “clean out.” What essentially it means it that when you let God in, when you breathe, what happens is you become aware of all the things you need to leave behind, everything you need to let go of. If you were totally honest right now about what’s going on inside of you, what would we find out? What would you say if you just kind of opened it up? What’s inside? What are you angry about? What are you concerned for? What are you anxious for? What’s bothering you? What’s filling up your headspace? What’s stressing you? I mean, if we were to be totally honest about what’s going on inside of you, is there anything you need right now to breathe out? Jesus said that what the Spirit of God does, is the Spirit guides us into Truth. Is there anything you need guidance in? I mean, maybe what we need is as close as breathing. Another scripture says that God gives the Spirit without limit. Is there anything right now you need to breathe in?

As it says in Ephesians, Chapter 4, there is one God and Father of all, who’s over all and through all in all. As it says in Hebrews, Chapter 2, there’s God for whom and through whom everything exists. Or as Jesus said it, God is Spirit. And you are a sacred creation of God. The Divine Breath is flowing through you, and it’s flowing through the person next to you, and it’s flowing through the person next to them. You are on holy ground. And there is a holiness to the people around us. And how to treat them. Jesus said that whatever you do for them, you’ve done for Him. God is there because God is here. A person doesn’t have to agree with this for it to already be true. God has already given us life, and the breath we just took, and the breath we took before that, and the breath we’re gonna take, and the breath after that.

When a baby is born, what’s the first thing it must do, or this baby isn’t going to make it? Does this baby have to take a breath, or say the name of God? And what’s the last thing you do and then you die? The last thing we do is we take our last breath, or is it that when we can no longer say the name of God, we die? I mean, is it possible that you could be having a meal with a good friend of yours who doesn’t believe in God? And you could be sitting across the table from your friend who is saying: “There is no God,” and what you would be hearing is “Yod, Hey, Vav, Hey.”

May you come to see that God is here right now with us all the time. May you come to see that the ground that you are standing on is holy. And as you slow down, may you become aware that it’s in Yod, Hey, Vav, Hey that we live, and we move, and we breathe.

(Uit http://www.takebackcanada.com/breathe.html)

CNN & Rob Bell (oor seks voor die huwelik)

Youtube: CNN & Rob Bell

In hierdie videotjie op youtube.com is die duidelik dat Rob Bell geen probleem het met seks voor die huwelik nie en dit selfs aanmoedig.

Rob Bell Exposed (Cameron Beuttel)

Youtube: Rob Bell Exposed

In hierdie videotjie van Cameron Beuttel wys hy duidelik hoe Rob Bell dwaal in Nooma 008 Dust, deur te sê dat Jesus nie teleurgesteld was in Petrus se ongeloof toe hy nie op die water kon loop nie, maar teleurgesteld omdat Petrus nie in homsélf geglo het nie.

Hier volg ’n transkripsie van Nooma 008|Dust:

“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?
“A disciple doesn’t just want to know what the rabbi knows. A disciple wants to be like the rabbi and wants to learn to do what the rabbi does.”

Have you ever thought about Jesus as your rabbi? Would you consider yourself a disciple?
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?”

Matthew 14:25-31 (NIV)

“So different rabbis had different sets of interpretations about how they lived out,
and understood, and interpreted the Scriptures.”

Have you ever thought about your faith as being an interpretation? Is it okay to have different interpretations of the Scriptures?

“If they’re 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? 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. He 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.
1 Corinthians 1:26-29 (TNIV) “It’s like a movement of anybodies and he calls them – the JV, the B team, the ‘not-good-enoughs.’ He calls them to be his disciples and they change the course of human history.”What impact are Christians today having on the course of human history?

“Now, I 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?
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.

Matthew 16:19 (NASB) “Faith in Jesus is important, but what about Jesus’ faith in us?
I mean he must have faith in us because he leaves it all in the hands of these disciples.”

Do you believe that God believes in you?

“Jesus has faith that you can follow him and that you can be like him.”

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

“May you believe in God. But may you come to see that God believes in you. May you have faith in Jesus. But may you come to see 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 rabbi, Jesus.”

Rob Bell oor sy boek, Love Wins

Youtube: LOVE WINS – Rob Bell

Hier is dit duidelik dat Rob Bell nie glo dat mense hel toe gaan nie (“universalism”). Hier volg die woorde:

Several years ago we had an art show at our church and people brought in all kinds of sculptures, and paintings, and we put them on display. And there was this one piece that had a quote from Gandhi in it; and lots of people found this piece compeling. They’d stop and sort of stare at it, and take it in, and reflect on it—but not everybody found it that compelling. Somewhere in the course of the art show somebody attached a hand-written note to the piece, and on the note they had written: “Reality Check—He’s In Hell.”

Gandhi’s in hell? He is? And someone knows this, for sure; and felt the need to let the rest of us know? Will only a few, select, people make it to heaven? And will billions and billions of people burn forever in hell? And, if that’s the case, how do you become one of the few? Is it what you believe; or what you say, or what you do, or who you know—or something that happens in your heart? Or do you need to be initiated, or baptized, or take a class, or converted, or being born again—how does one become one of these few?

And then there is the question behind the questions, the real question: What is God like? Because millions and millions of people were taught that the primary message—the center of the Gospel of Jesus—is that God is going to send you to hell, unless you believe in Jesus. And so, what gets, subtlely, sort of caught and taught is that Jesus rescues you from God. But what kind of God is that; that we would need to be rescued from this God? How could that God ever be good; how could that God ever be trusted? And how could that ever be good news.

This is why lots of people want nothing to do with the Christian faith. They see it as an endless list of absurdities and inconsistencies; and they say: “Why would I ever want to be part of that?” See, what we believe about heaven and hell is incredibly important because it exposes what we believe about Who God is, and what God is like. What you discover in the Bible is so surprising, unexpected, and beautiful, that whatever we’ve been told or taught, the good news is actually better than that; better than we could ever imagine.

The good news is, that love wins.

(Vanaf Transcript of Love Wins video of Rob Bell)

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In die videotjie Rob Bell – The Gods Arent Angry vertel Rob Bell baie mooi dinge, maar bitter min oor God/Jesus. Die naaste wat hy daaraan kom is om te noem dat God jou sonde só vergewe dat Hy vergeet wat jy gedoen het. Dit is ’n baie treffende gedagte, maar nooit praat Rob Bell oor die oordeel van God nie.

Op sy facebook sê hy bv “Where did the first caveman or cavewoman get the idea that somebody, somewhere existed who needed to be worshiped, appeased, and followed? And how did the idea evolve that if you didn’t say, do, or offer the right things, this being would be upset, agitated, or even angry with you? Where did religion come from?” Vrae en vrae sonder antwoorde.

Kyk ook:

MSNBC Host Makes Rob Bell Squirm: “You’re Amending The Gospel So That It’s Palatable!”

Youtube: MSNBC Host Makes Rob Bell Squirm: “You’re Amending The Gospel So That It’s Palatable!”

Hierdie wys weereens wat Rob Bell glo. Dit is net weer opvallend dat indien jy nie in ’n letterlike sondeval glo nie, sukkel jy om dood en swaarkry te verduidelik. Martin Bashir vra Bell of God almagtig is, maar nie omgee oor swaarkry nie (nav die aardbewing in Japan) of gee God om, maar kan niks daaraan doen nie. Die antwoord is dat dit nie een van bogenoemde is nie: God is almagtig, maar agv die sonde van Adam en Eva laat Hy hierdie dinge toe. Vir meer hieroor, kyk Death and Suffering.

Dit is ook presies soos Martin Bashir sê: Bell skep ’n God wat polities korrek is en aanvaarbaar is vir almal: “You are creating a Christian message that is warm, kind and popular for contemporary culture, but it’s frankly, according to this critique, unbiblical and historically unreliable. That’s true, isn’t it? What you have done is you are amending the Gospel, the Christian message so that it palatable to contemporary people who find for example the idea of hell and heaven very difficult to stomach. So here come Rob Bell – he has made a Christian gospel for you and it’s perfectly palatable – it’s much easier swallow. That’s what you have done, haven’t you?”. Ek moet egter vir Bell erkenning gee oor die kalm manier hoe hy hierdie velle aanslag hanteer het :-).

You Nooma

Youtube: Rob Bell Nooma – 15 You

Rob Bell probeer jou hier heeltemal deurmekaar praat: Aan die begin dink jy dat hy nou sy ware kleure wys deur te sê dat die eerste Christene se beeld van hulle volger/God niks uniek was nie. Maar aan die einde glo hy eweskielik in die opstanding en sê dat die graf leeg was. Hierdie videotjie maak geheel en al nie sin nie.

Kyk ook Mosaïek: A Christian Church or a Buddhist Retreat? – Part 1, Confronting the Copycat Thesis: A Multi-Essay Examination (spesifiek Mithra en Attis.) en Was the New Testament Influenced by Pagan Philosophy?

Bullhorn guy Nooma

Youtube: 09 Bullhorn Rob Bell

Hier volg hierdie Nooma:

So I’m going to see a footy game with some old friends right, and up ahead on the sidewalk there’s this guy, and he’s got one of those big massive Bullhorns and yelling all this stuff and first I can’t hear what he’s saying but as I get closer I hear the words “Sin” and “Burn”, “Hell”, “Repent” and then…I hear the word “Jesus”. And, this, this guy he’s got all these pamphlets and he’s quoting these bible verses about anger and wrath of God and how if I don’t repent I’m going to pay for it for eternity and how I might die tonight, I might die at this very moment and this might be my only chance and I might spend ever in misery as I burn in hell.

And no one is stopping to hear more. And no one wants any of his pamphlets.

So I want to talk to the Bullhorn guy:

Bullhorn guy, I don’t think it’s working. All the yelling and the judgment and condemnation, I don’t think it’s working. I, actually, think it’s making things worse. I don’t think it’s what Jesus had in mind. And see, see Bullhorn guy, it’s confusing for my friends and I because some are Christian and some are not. But we just don’t get it, we just don’t understand were all the condemning and all the converting, we don’t understand what it has to do with Jesus’s message. And, to be honest it’s confusing for me because you and I get painted with the same brush. I mean didn’t Jesus say that he came to save not to condemn. Like that story in the bible in the book of John where that women is caught for stealing and the religious leaders like drag her in front of Jesus and they have essentially condemned her to die and What does Jesus say to her. He says “I don’t condemn you”. I mean, that’s why so many of us are fascinated with Jesus because he never stops insisting that GOD REALLY, REALLY LOVES US, exactly how we are, who we are. I mean, isn’t that what draws you to him. It what draws me. And all I can figure out Bullhorn guy is that you think you giving people the good news, but the problem is it doesn’t come across that way. It doesn’t appear very loving. And when the Jesus is asked what’s the most important thing , Jesus’s response is to love God everything you have and then love those who are around you in the same kind of way.

Jesus doesn’t separate loving god and loving others. For Jesus everything hangs on these two. So the defining mark of a Christian is basically……….love. Like this writer John in the bible writes a series a letters to some of the first Christians and in one of them he says this:

He says “If you say that you love God and you don’t love the people around you, Then you are lier”. It’s almost as if John says that “How you love others, that’s how you love God”.There’s a great passage in the bible, this one writer “I can say all these things but If I don’t have love, then I’m like GONG or a clanging symbol. And you see Bullhorn guy, this is why all the yelling and the bullhorn are so disturbing to us. Because it just seems like your trying to convert people to your religion. Like they are notches on some sort of spiritual bell but they are not. They are people. They’re people that God loves. They’re people that Jesus wants us……… to love. They aren’t statistics, they aren’t numbers, they aren’t possible conversions. I mean, if…, If I’m loving somebody with an agenda then it isn’t really love, is it. Because God loves everybody. Any movement that isn’t of love it isn’t of God. I mean any movement of hate or marginalisation or oppresses, ANYBODY, ANYWHERE, no matter what it says or what’s in it’s name. Jesus doesn’t want any part of it. So a Christian, somebody who understands this, who understands that people’s different perspectives and different religious believes and convictions. They are to be loved and respected because they are made by God and they are sacred and are valuable and they matter. God loves the world, so Christian does to.

And it doesn’t mean that they have to agree with everybody, like they can’t have a spine or something. I mean we speak our minds and we take action against the things that we think are wrong but we do it with love and respect.

Because Jesus said to love everybody, including your enemies. And, and when we love our enemies, something powerful happens doesn’t. Something transforming, something that can’t be denied. It’s like we have an internal compass that tells us what love is, don’t we. We know when we see it. I mean Love wins. We just know when someone doing something out of love. See, God loves everybody, you, me, and God loves those who think that doesn’t exist and some people think that God only loves them and God loves them too. And some people think they are right and others are wrong and GOD LOVES THEM TOO. God loves everybody. Like the writes James says in the bible “God shows no Favoritism”.

And see, Bullhorn guy, there is so much that you can do, that we can do to help, there so much good that we can do to help. I mean there is so many people that just need someone to listen, not to preach to them and not to try to convert them but just to listen, to listen to their story and listen to their pain and to listen to their dreams. And then there is so many people who have such basic needs like food and clothing and shelter and medicine and we have the resources to help them and didn’t Jesus say that when we do that, when we look out for each other, he is there in some sort of mysterious way. I mean, how we love others is how we love God.

And see Bullhorn guy, that’s why the hellfire and the brimstone stuff are so dangerous. When you tell me that I should follow Jesus so that I don’t burn in hell for ever, it…, it sounds like a threat. As if, like you scare people enough they magically all of a sudden decide to love God and follow Jesus. But that isn’t what Jesus did. Jesus went around INVITING people into the best possible kind of life, I mean at one point he even said “I come that you can have life and have it to the fullest.

We just don’t find Jesus waving heaven in front of people like a carrot on a stick.

So Bullhorn guy, I’m asking you in love, on behalf of all of us. Please put the bullhorn down. I’m tired of it, we’re all tired of it, I think……, I think that Jesus is tired of it.

But maybe you are a Christian sitting there nodding and agreeing with me and saying yeah you tell him, it’s about time somebody…said that. But what are you doing to change the perception because that’s what it is. It’s a perception between many that being a Christian is LAME. When you ask a lot of people what’s it mean to be a Christian and they give you a long list of things that have nothing to do with following Jesus. Even say the name Christian and for a lot of people it instantly drags up negative stereotypes, adjectives and images. I mean my question is this, how did – the best message ever, this beautiful life of love and hope and peace – how did it ever get turned into something else? I mean, HOW DID SO FEW END UP SPEAKING FOR SO MANY?

See there is massive numbers of us, all over the place, who are serious about following Jesus, who actually believe him when he said that he came to give us life and life to the fullest. We want the best possible life here and now, the kind that goes on for ever. The kind that Jesus invites us too. And so we are pursuing it, we’re learning how to live it and we’re learning how to love people. Not because we’re trying to get them into our little clubs and not because we want everybody to be the same but because this is what JESUS TEACHES US TO DO .

So may you see that how you love others IS how you love God. That’s it. That’s the way of love. That’s the way of Jesus.

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Die indruk wat Rob skep is dat bekering glad nie belangrik is nie, want Jesus het gekom om ALMAL te red, wat nie waar is nie.

Kyk ook Todd Friel se kommentaar hierop by Deel 1 en Deel 2.

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