Love Wins by Rob Bell Video Transcript

Here is the written transcript of the short promotional video that Rob Bell id for his 2011 book Love Wins.

 

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. There was this one piece that had a quote from ghandi in it

And lots of people found this piece compelling. they’d stop and sorta stare at in 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 handwritten note to the piece

And on the note they had written

Reality check – he’s in hell.

Ghandi’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 or people burn forever in hell?

And if that is 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 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 subtly gets 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 inconstancies 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 even better than that. Better than we could ever imagine. The good news is that Love wins!

 

Love Wins By Rob Bell - Animated Version

Dare 2 Share conference Leaders Guide Evaluation

Dare 2 Share

I recently attended my first Dare 2 Share conference. I've heard a lot about it and everyone who had been there had a ton of positive things to report. I love the fact that a group of people have gotten together and formed an organization that is focused on reaching the American teenager.

During the leaders breakout session Greg Stier spoke to the pastors and youth leaders that were there, while the teenagers were both entertained and challenged in their groups. The leaders received a special booklet / workbook that Greg Stier spoke about and then challenge us youth workers to take home and study more in depth. That is what I've done and I kind of got stuck on one of the early pages. If you're up for it, let me share with you here what I encountered and then perhaps you can help me see what I've missed.

Dare to Share 2011 Leaders Guide Notes

 

Note in this picture that they state that “They loved God and took it out on other by making disciples who made disciples from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth”. It’s talking about the first century church and I really like the first part where it talks about how much they loved God and that it impacted their life and that made an obvious impact on others too. But not the transition “by making disciples…” and that’s the part that I don’t see how they make the jump.

Note my other thought – it says in capitalized letters that they were focused on ONE things, but the verse at the bottom of the page talks about 4 different things they focused on. (note my underlining in the picture).

 

This is another good point. Love and telling others cannot be separated, but rather they must go hand in hand and it always results in a good thing when love overflows like that.

Most of us go through periods of our lives where we feel we were anointed for something, but the appointed time has not yet come where we can fulfill the destiny. We need to be patient and wait for God’s time and yet meanwhile be so consumed with God’s love.

 

This doesn’t look like one thing anymore, does it? Looks like 5 to me. Why take the one thing that god wants us to work on and change it into a system? If the love is there it will result in an automatic time of prayer for others, we will want to live and we will be an inspiration without trying and would naturally help others be ready for their journey and we’d be deploying ourselves into action.

 

The Cause

The organization Dare 2 Share has at its' core mission "the Cause" which is a mix of the Great Commission and the Great Commandment. The Great Commission is from Jesus at the end of Matthew in the Bible, where He challenges his disciples to "go" and make disciples.

The Great Commandment refers to another time Jesus was speaking and He is sharing that the greatest commandment there is was to love God with all your heart, soul & mind. And Jesus sneaks the second most important one in there too, even though he wasn't asked about it - love your neighbor as yourself. Obviously Jesus cares about people and is centered on LOVE!

Us Versus

Me vs you, spy vs spy, us vs them, good vs evil and so on, there are a lot of “versus” situations in life.

I see a life lesson in the ‘us versus’ approach. Relationally with my family I want it to be us taking on any challenges that arise. We want to tackle problems together and also we want to enjoy the good stuff together and be bored together as well. We want to become so close that it’s not all of us at someplace at the same time and we all happen to be doing something at the same time, but rather that we are all together undertaking the activity. We want it to be “Us Versus” anything else.

Note we don’t want to be “us against” everything else because it’s not a fight, but simply that we encounter life together and live in a way that reflects that.

Sound like a fine line between one or the other? I’ve discovered that often issues are solved and become extremely clear if we take it back to the earliest and simplest point possible and then see what the very fine points are that really distinguish the options. This works for looking at different religions, personal problems, relationships and so much more. Think back to the earliest point and you will see a time where things were not all that different. When you discover the small differences, then you can track them forward and see how they grow and become big differences.

On a far deeper and more important level when it comes to God & I, I want it to be “Us Versus”. I want to encounter life together with God. Go through the tough stuff, the good stuff and all the in between happenings with Him together. Just like it started for Adam & Eve, walking together with God in the garden. Or as the New Testament puts it, learn the unforced rhythms of grace. ( Mat 11:29  Walk with me and work with me--watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. – Msg Bible)

Blessings on you as you learn to have good relationships and tackle things together with God.

You & God taking on life together!

Your Spiritual Trajectory

What is your spiritual trajectory?

Simplified, a trajectory is the general direction in which you are heading. If a chart show an upward trajectory then it may have some slight ups and downs, but the overall heading is a positive direction. If it is trending down, then the opposite would be true and the trajectory would be a negative trajectory. Even with a negative trajectory, there may be some small positive blips on the chart, but pulling out and looking at the big picture, it’s not a good sight.

Our lives have a trajectory in our connection with God. each day there will be many ups and downs but the question is one of where the overall trend is at. Is the overall trend that you are getting closer to God, or are you getting further away? Are you getting more familiar with where God wants you to be each day, or do you feel that you used to know far easier and better where you should be?

Using the 8 questions from our Be, Be, Duh Do article, let’s take a look at the overall trajectory of your life.

Go through the list of questions in each of the 8 different categories and if you answer honestly, you will discover what your spiritual trajectory really is right now.

Be on guard – trajectories can change at any minute. Don’t get too confident in your current trajectory, but take the time to review it from time to time as needed. On a positive note, that means that the negative trajectory can be corrected at any time.

Be Be Duh Do – It’s a way of life

For me, this is a summary of my entire life.

The way it started: I think many people start of with Do-Be-Do. The doing seems to justify us having value, time and the right to Be and then we need to do more. We have contributed to God and it simply is a natural progression. If we are not connected then we need to go back to the Do and probably adjust our behavior. Then when we've gotten our doing in place we can spend some good time with God, but then shortly it's time to get busy again. Don't want to forget that 2nd Do.

Taking it a step further and knowing that it can't just be about our works, we can move to Be Do Be. We want to Be a good Christian so we say, "In order to Be what do I need to Do?" Well, it's a start, but that is not where we want to end up. It still revolves around us working and doing something in order to Be.

Here's where I've ended up and I think it's a great place to be. Be-Be-Do

Be1
Is the foundation of determining what our relationship is to God. Have we put our faith and trust in God and has the objective changed to Be in an active relationship with God? What do you believe about God? Have you entered into that covenant with Him? Pledging to Be with Him.

BE2

Be2 is the relationship side of being. We need to be connected and focused on God and His desires for our life!

For The Practical Application of BE BE DO, here are some questions you can ask yourself to help evaluate if you're on track. Obviously these are only ideas and suggestions and you should really add your own. You'll want to start off by running through the check list quite frequently. Once it becomes a habit it will be more instinctive.  The arrangement or sequence has no bearing on importance. They are all part of BEing in tune with God, so that we can BE ready for the Doing!

1) Be Aware - Before we even get started, we need to be aware of what we're getting into.

Am I aware of God's presence?

Are I aware of our current state of being?

Are my eyes open to what is really going on around me?

2) Who - Am I being WHO God wants me to be?

          Is my focus on God’s identity for my life?

          Who should I include in my being?

          Who am I? 

          Who is getting my attention and focus?

3) What - Am I being WHAT God wants me to be?

          What is God saying to me?

          What is God showing me?

          What should I do?

4) Where - Am I being WHERE God wants me to be?

          Where has God brought me from?

          Where is my journey leading me?

          Where does God me want me to go?

          Am I in the right place?

5) Why - Am I being WHY God wants me to be?

          Is the reason I'm being because of His motives?

          Are my feelings and emotions in line with God?

6) When - Am I being WHEN God wants me to be?

          When does God want me to be with him?

          When does God want me to do for/with him? See #3

          When have I ignored God?

          When have I missed God’s voice?

          Is there something coming that I still need to wait for?

          How am I using my time? Is it focused on Him?

          Am I open to time changes or lock into expectations?

7) How - Am I being HOW God wants me to be?

          How can I be more with God?

          How does God want me to be different?

          How does God want me to do?

          Am I being or doing what God wants using His methods and in the way he wants?

8) AM I READY? Be Ready! Be ready to do whatever God wants. When Jesus said that if you love Him we'll keep His commandments, I like to think of it as if He were saying - Naturally you'd do what I ask if you love me, right? If your spouse or kids love you and you ask them for something, isn't it a natural response for them to be happy to do it? I believe that is what we are being told - naturally you'll do what God asks! That's the Duh!Do part.  'Do' Is Love, Relationship & Connection Made Visible and expressed.

As you grow in your relationship with God, you will find that several of them are much easier than others. Typically based on your personality style 2 or 3 will be almost natural while 1 or 2 are something you really have to work at. It helps to identify those particular challenge areas and start delving into turning those in to God's design for your BEing.

Then comes Duh-DO

If you love God then you will naturally want to do what He asks. When Jesus said: “If you love me, keep my commandments” He wasn’t saying that in order to prove you love Him that you have to keep His commandments, but rather that it’s obvious we will want to keep His commandments. It’s kind of like a gauge or dial that if we start finding it hard to keep to His commandments or possibly that you find that you aren’t even aware of who God wants you to be, then you need to check your love for Him.

Do you want to have life all figured out?

It's somehow worrisome to get one area of our life 'figured out'.

If our finances are in basic order, then how do we continue to trust God in that area? Are we not supposed to be continuing to trust Him more and more in every area? I'd like to start thinking about what areas can be 'figured out' and what areas we shouldn't bother 'figuring out'. Are we supposed to have our human relationships figured out? Our assignments and tasks? Are some people not supposed to do the 4HWW or something like that, because they would stop trusting God? Is it like an alcoholic who chooses not to be around alcohol so that he's not tempted.

Living in the moment may mean nothing is ever at a state of being figured out. Thing may always be fluid and planning past tomorrow is exactly what Jesus was talking about that may be all wrong. He did also talk about counting the cost before tackling a project, but that has more to do with discovering where you are at right now and if now you have the resources to start a project. It doesn’t mean that you have to have a long term, long range plan to make the money, but rather being honest about where you are really at.

Am I right now being who what why where when how and ready as my upline wants me? That’s all anyone can ask of you.

Is God In Control?

I keep hearing people talk about God being in control. Something bad happens and people say “Don’t worry, God is in control”. Your kids gets sick, you lose your job or your house burns down – what is the first thing people will tell you? “God is in control”. What on earth does that even mean?  Have you ever had something horrible happen and your friends and family are trying to help you and make you feel better, but when someone says that, it doesn’t help me feel any better at all. As a matter of fact it actually makes me feel worse.

Meaning
We need to take a second look at that and figure out what it actually means and at what they are implying when they say that. They are trying to imply that God is in charge and there is always a part of it that says that God is using it for something good. I don’t like that concept at all. It doesn’t sound like the God I know. Does that mean that the bad stuff was part of some master plan God has? If you’re in control, doesn’t that mean you’re running the show and and got it all covered? When I hear someone say that God is in control, then it even makes me question whether or not we have free will.

Free Will
And if I have free will and can chose to do good or chose to do bad, then other people have that same choice. If someone else chooses to do something bad, then God wasn’t in control of that. We can’t blame God for the bad. But if God wasn’t in control of the bad, then we can’t just arbitrarily say that God is in control. We have to discern that God is involved in life, and to what extent He is involved and chooses to take control. I believe that God is all powerful and can chose to do whatever He wants, whenever He wants. But when He is letting humans make choices, both good and bad, then He is waiting and watching and my guess is that He would often be shaking His head in disbelief. Here are some thoughts that I wonder if God might be thinking: “Why do these humans keep on choosing to reject me and throw away all of the good stuff that I’ve given them. Why can’t they grasp that I love them and want to have a perfectly close relationship with them. Why can’t they understand, that just as it started for Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden, I want that for all of mankind and womankind. To spend time walking and talking in the Garden. To give us the opportunity to enjoy My creation and all of the great things it offers, and just relish the thought of us spending our lives together. Why can’t we all just get along? Love. My Love. That all they need to get.”

Well in my mind none of that fits with what I know about God. The one thing that I think everyone would agree on is that God Is Love. If God is Love, then He wants good things for us, right?

And what if God weren’t love? Well that just doesn’t work at all. there’s no reason that any part of the Bible would be true then. If God isn’t love, then He would be so unpredictable and self focused that life just wouldn’t make any sense at all. God Is Love!

Next Section
Check out the next section that will talk about If God isn’t “In control”, does that mean that He is “out of control”?