Nooma Video

I had never heard of Rob Bell until last spring. The spring of 2008 was a mixture of great times and very hard times. One specific week had been very tough. School was getting overwhelming with classwork, seeing clients, other work from jobs, and other responsibilities. Then one of the students at ACU who was a good friend of one of the student’s in the program as well as a former Blue Haven camper committed suicide and it rocked our world. Not to mention the flu bug was ravaging through the clinic hitting both the students and professors and the somewhat healthy ones were trying to cover for the ones that fell victim to the bug. Everyone was exhausted – physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. During supervision we asked for a self of the therapist supervision session and this was where I was introduced to Rob Bell.

My supervisor brought a video called Rain and showed it to us. You can watch it below (complete with Portuguese subtitles!!):



I didn’t have a clue who this guy was or what this video was going to be about only that it was one of the Nooma videos that my supervisor had been talking about - whatever that was. I come to find out Rob Bell is the pastor at a church he founded in Michigan. His dad was a judge and was associated with Ronald Reagan’s presidency. Some people love him and of course some are very critical of him. I haven't yet formed an opinion nor really think I need to but enjoy his Nooma videos and have enjoyed reading one of his books I have started. I am not saying I agree with everything he writes but I think he makes you think about things from a different perspective sometimes and search out what the Word really does say and to challenge some of our traditional views and to see things as the Jewish World of that time would see things.

So as for the first video Rain – it really helped us through a tough time just being reminded of these things. It makes me think of the 3rd Day song, When the Rain Comes. The rain comes in all of our lives. Sometimes its heavier than others but knowing that we can cry out during these times and God hears us is an amazing promise. I need the reminder often that when I build my life on a solid rock the rains won’t tear it down. There are so many times I wish I had built my life on that solid foundation but what matters is what it is built on now and what it will be built on in the future. So now built on that rock I can come before the throne of God during the rain and cry out and be comforted. That is powerful!!

We showed this at Celebrate Recovery one week and just to remind others that they have a choice whether to build their lives around their addictions of this world or around the love of God and that choice dictates how you are able to handle the trials that come as you move from that house built by your own hands to the way of the Father was an amazing thing for me to see.

He has many other videos worth viewing. Another powerful one is called Name. They can all be found on youtube. (Warning: Bell can be a little dramatic in the videos)

I’m reading one of his books now called Sex God. This book was recommended to me and I thought it was a really weird title for a book but it is the notion that God created everything to be connected to Him, to one another, to the earth etc.

So I look forward to blogging some of my thoughts about his book and maybe some of the other Nooma videos.