Buckets Of Easter…
Technorati Tags: Rob Bell, easter, Burundi, Mars Hill, resurrection
XYZ
When I had the chance to go to Mars Hill for the Isn’t She Beautiful conference. At that time, Rob Bell said that at the beginning of Lent, a plan would be unveiled for people around the world, that feel part of Mars Hill to get involved. Here is the XYZ, watch the video and if your intrigued, check out the site. It’s so cool.
God will journey with us
A quote from a Rob Bell Sermon entitled “Leaving control for faith”.
“In life, God never guarantees relationships, about when you’re going to move, when your going to move, where you’re going to stop, about where the provision comes from. The only guarantee you get is that God will journey with you. That’s all you get, that God will journey with you. Nope, I’m not gonna clean that up for you. I’m not going to spare you that. I’ll be with you. I’ll just go with you.
Is there anybody that you have been trying to control? Any relationship that is not going according to your divinely orchestrated plan and it’s time to surrender that person this lent season? God, I turn so and so over to you. Is it a child that has caused you many a sleepless night because they do not do what they’re supposed to? And you need to turn them over? Is there a circumstance, you have done everything you can to control it and it’s still not submitting and it so now it’s time to surrender… Have you had untold anxiety about where your provision is going to come from and all you have is today? Have you been trying to get God to confess what the 6 month plan is and it’s not happening? And today, this lent season, it’s God, I give you my future. I’m tired of worrying about things that are out of my grasp.
The guarantee we have is that God will journey with us. Not that it will be perfect or smooth, or even the short route. All we have is that God will journey with us. And journey with us some more, and journey with us some more. This lent season, is there any attitude of anxiety, manipulation, control, or worry? You need to let go.”
Calling All Peacemakers
A great series by Rob Bell.
Calling All Peacemakers I
Calling All Peacemakers II
Calling All Peacemakers III
Just click the blue play button to listen. If you are interested in downloading the series, you can go to Mars Hill’s Website.
Technorati Tags: Rob+Bell, Mars+Hill+Bible+Church
ISB video
For those of you that are interested in what Mars Hill looks like, here’s a 2 minute video of the conference….
Who’s blogging about ISB?
Lacey
C. Scott Andreas
Dave Crow
Nathan
Joe
Jonathan
Mr and Mrs Ashdown
Isaac
Josh
Brian
Aspiring Indie
Conversation Outside the Bubble
Top Ten reasons you know you went to a Rob Bell conference.
Community Planting
Mike (WHO, by the way, felt God calling his family to be part of Mars Hill and moved there.
Let me know if I’ve missed someone, and I’ll add them!
Technorati Tags: Mars+Hill, Isn’t+She+Beautful, Rob+Bell
Isn’t She Beautiful-In or Out?
Some of the people you assume are in may be out and some of those you assume are out, may be in. Be VERY careful. You are on thin ice when you begin making judgments about who’s in and who’s out. We are called to invite people to trust Jesus. That’s it.
A definition of Salvation:
When one begins to live in conscious union with God. This, of course, grows and develops. Jesus makes it plan that this has to begin in our bodies, our lives, in our experience in this world now, and for that Jesus is surely necessary for salvation. Salvation is not a formula or a mere affirmation….it is a change of identity.
Salvation is learning to live to live in Shalom. Shalom is not simply peace, it is wholeness.
Shalom with our Creator.
Shalom with each other.
Shalom with Creation.
And..
Perhaps, Shalom with ourselves. No longer hiding from God and aware of the fact that we are naked.
Sin exists anywhere Shalom isn’t. God wants to dwell with us. We blew it in the Garden. Yahweh had the Hebrews build a temple so He might dwell with them there. Then He became flesh to dwell with us. Now, the bride is here and God dwells among us. The story does not begin with sin, it begins with Shalom and God’s purpose is that it ends with Shalom. History is going somewhere. The question is simply, will you be part of it?
Isn’t She Beautiful-Eternal Life
Olam Haba=life in the age to come=eternal life
The Jewish sages would say, “How dare you speak of forever.” Who are we to know what lies over the horizon? Olam haba—living NOW in anticipation of what is to come. Living in harmony with God.
If you wanted to determine if you wanted to follow a particular Rabbi, you would ask the following questions:
1. What is the greatest commandment?
2. Teach me how to pray.
3. How do I attain olam haba?
How do I live now in anticipation of the age to come?
Acts 3:21 Restoration
Matthew 19:28 Renewal
Col 1:20 Reconciliation
The cross was about you and I, but it’s so much bigger than that-it’s as wide as the whole of creation!
Isn’t She Beautiful-Salvation
What is the nature of salvation? Is salvation going to heaven?
Is the Gospel not about today? Our message only consists of fire insurance?
Is that the best God can do? Is that how we define salvation? Just getting out of here?
What about the person who “said the prayer” but isn’t living like he/she follows Jesus?
What about the person who “didn’t say the prayer”, but lives in the ways of Jesus?
Does our definition of salvation teach that the kind of person you are becoming is irrelevant? That’s funny, because Jesus talked about that a lot.
Of all the billions of people—us? Only us?
Do you believe in a God that creates billions of people only to watch them burn in hell? Or is it only a select few that happen to believe/confess/do only a few things that even they can’t agree on?
What if the missionary gets a flat tire? Sorry about that, dude, I guess you are going to burn in hell. That sucks.
Age of accountability? A baby goes to heaven, but the 13-year-old (you can substitute your own personal age of accountability here) atheist that dies in a car wreck burns in hell?
Setting: 14-year-old kid dies. At the funeral the question circulates….”Was he born again?” Many don’t think he ever “said the prayer” and the response is “So, there’s no hope.”
How is this grace? Grace trumps hard and fast rules of theology.
It’s grace!!!! All you have to do is….
Accept.
It’s grace!!! All you have to do is…
Say a prayer.
It’s grace!!! All you have to do is…
Do whatever it is you are supposed to do.
Its grace…all you have to do is say/believe/do…
And how is any of this grace?
If only we had the bible to tell us what salvation is…
Luke 7:1-10, Luke 18:9-13, Luke 23:42
The Roman centurion makes a speech about authority. He’s in.
The tax collector beats his chest and cries “have mercy on me, a sinner”. He’s in.
The thief asks Jesus to remember him. He’s in.
So, salvation is something you say?
If only we had the bible to tell us what salvation is….
Matthew 6:14, Matthew 7:21, Matthew 10:28, John 3, Luke 20:35, John 11:25, Acts 2:38
Forgive as our Father forgives. In.
Do the will of our Father. In.
Be born again. In.
Stand firm. In.
Be considered worthy. In.
Believe. In.
Repent and be baptized. In
So, salvation is something we do?
If we only had the bible to tell us what salvation is…
Luke 19
Zaccheus said he would pay back everything he had taken and then some.
So, salvation is something you say you’re going to do?
Mark 2:1-5
The friends cut a hole in the roof to lower the sick man down. Not only were the friends saved that day, but also the sick man.
So, you’re friend’s faith brings salvation?
I Corinthians 7:16 is the passage about the wife’s faith bringing the husband salvation and vice versa.
So your spouse’s faith brings salvation?
Is salvation something we do/believe/say?
Is salvation something someone else does/believe/says?
If only we had the bible to tell us what salvation is….
We would have lots of answers.
People stumble into the Kingdom in all sorts of ways.
Salvation is holistic in nature-Jesus wants to save us from hatred, debt, unforgiveness, love of money, racism, poverty, anything at all that hinders us from Shalom.
Do you have a destination theology? Out or in? Here or there?
Or do you have a journey theology? We can believe in Jesus and still be indifferent, selfish and hateful. Even the demons believe.
Isn’t She beautiful-A Theology of Creativity.
This was a session that Rob Bell shared some of his ideas about leading/teaching.
Sacramental Imagination:
My Father is always at work. John 5:17
We must begin to see that God is always at work. The job of a leader is to hear people’s stories and begin to see where God has been at work and point that out. We are in a God bathed world. We simply need to recognize it.
The art of tension/elimination/perspective/expulsion/turning off the edit button/risk/space.
Tension: The parables invite you to find yourself in them and begin a discussion. “What does this mean?” RB states that he hopes that he leaves the congregation hanging after a teaching. His hope is that they walk out unresolved. He believes that if he always resolves a teaching, it’s easy to walk out and simply forget about it.
Elimination: When putting together a teaching or a Nooma Video, Rob asks himself the following questions:
What is the controlling idea here?
If I only had a few words to describe the content-what would they be?
What needs to go?
What, in this message, is good, but not necessary because it doesn’t support the main idea?
What is this idea in its purest, most unadulterated form?
What’s the idea behind the idea?
Turning the edit button off: RB keeps a notebook with him where he jots down little thoughts, ideas, movies, quotes etc. He thinks that many great ideas never come to fruition because they are lost. Any little thing, any little thought. “Abandonment is central to creativity”
Expulsion: What is that thing that is burning inside of you? What is it that you have to get out or y0u will spontaneously combust? And why do you care? That thought, that burning feeling is there for a reason. Explore the above thoughts and then act on them.
Space: We need the space to let the ideas roll about in our head, the space to let our mind wander. Let a text or an idea just sit there. Give yourself the space to turn off “fast thinking”. Turn the text over and over, ruminate and meditate on it.
Risk: Be prepared. If you challenge people, be prepared for backlash. When Christians feel the need to defend God, Jesus or the Bible, things can get ugly. People will devote entire blog sites to discrediting you. (Hmmm…who could he have been talking about?) Put supportive protective people around you.
RB then put an email on the screen. The email was sent from a friend regarding the reviews and criticism of his book, Velvet Elvis. At one point, the letter said,
“ Be encouraged. For every negative you get, know that you are setting thousands of people free.”
While reading this, Rob Bell’s voice broke and he stopped reading. It’s clear that much of the criticism he’s drawn is still painful. There were a few moments of silence, as RB sat there, trying to compose himself, then slowly, people started clapping and within a few seconds, the whole crowd was giving him a standing ovation. He just stood there with tears streaming down his face. It was a powerful moment. I stood there as one who feels that his teaching has introduced an excitement and grace back into my faith. Though he had more to cover on his outline, he said, “I think I need to just finish up tomorrow”.
It doesn’t matter who you are—none of us are immune to being hurt by the church.
Technorati Tags: Mars+Hill, Isn’t+She+Beautful, Rob+Bell
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