I have long enjoyed the teaching of Rob Bell. I read once that Rob felt called to teach the Bible, but knew that he had to find a new way of communicating the truth he found there. His teaching on Sundays at his church reflects this somewhat. But he has also produced some short DVD’s called Nooma.
Nooma seem to capture a mood that communicates to a younger generation, with theological concepts presented so clearly and tackling really relevant subjects.
I have wondered for a while, whether Nooma would work as a kind of pre-Alpha Alpha! The Alpha Course is brilliant in what it sets out to do. For people who are really interested in Jesus, it explains so clearly who is he and what following Him might entail. But what about those people who are interested in spiritual matters, but not necessarily at the point of really wanting to investigate? And what about the emerging generation who investigating truth isn’t their primary motivation - they are perhaps asking "does it work?" or "does it help me?" or maybe even "does it make the world a better place?".
The students in our church have humoured me in my promotion of Nooma. Over the summer they have experimented with having a meal together, inviting their friends, watching a Nooma, and talking together. It seems to be working! The Christians are loving it, and their friends seem to be too! It appears as though people are up for talking about spiritual things and even about Jesus, if we can the kind of language that communicates, and the things they are interested in.
If you are interested you can view the whole of the just released Nooma 21, "she" here for the next 48 hours (until end of Friday 22nd). Looking at feminine images for God, it is brilliant.
We have also used NOOMA for the youth at our church, doing the same thing, watching the dvd, then having a chat. There were some questions that came with the dvds, we found that they were not as relevant as the dvd, it is hard to get material that really is relevant and gets a point across, provoking debate, I really enjoy them as well, and have read both his books, all good.