A man walks along the shore with a small child following him. The young boy wades in the frothing waves as his father shares a story about his son. While this may seem like just a relaxing scene, biblical principles are woven into the narrative. The result: a chapel Nooma video.

In order to add variety to the weekly chapel, which usually consists of music and a sermon, the campus student leadership team has added these spiritually educational videos to chapel’s schedule.

“I thought it would be good to have something different for chapel, outside of the regular worship,” Josh Tosland, student leadership adviser, said. “The way the messages are presented in the videos is great, and the presenter does a excellent job.”

The Nooma videos are based on a variety of themes, covering topics ranging from decision making to purity. The narrator usually opens his sermon with an illustrative story that he refers to throughout the video.

“The guy who speaks in the videos brings aspects of the Bible and actual experiences together in a way that people can easily understand,” Tosland said. “I really liked his message called ?Flame’, which talked about love and its different characteristics. Love is a strong word, and it gets misused often.”

The addition of the Nooma videos offers students a chance to apply biblical morals and teachings to their everyday circumstances.

“I think the student body can positively benefit from the Nooma videos,” Layne Meadows, ’05, said. “They can teach you to keep an open mind. On campus, people have preconceived judgments against the videos. If you talk to these people about the Noomas, they immediately say, ?Oh, Noomas! I hate those!'”

While the videos may be beneficial to some, others do not find them enjoyable or applicable.

“I think the Nooma videos take up too much time,” Phil Unruh, ’07, said. “They are sometimes okay, but most of the information covered is just unnecessary detail that takes up half of the movie. I think they are a waste of time.”

While some may have opposing opinions to the monthly viewings, other students find the videos enjoyable and educational.

“The Noomas are easy to relate to because they teach things that everyone needs to hear about, like love,” Kim Bimat, ’06, said. “As teens, we need something positive to help us grow in our everyday walk with Christ. The videos teach that God is there through all our troubles, and they put life into perspective.”

The Nooma videos not only seem to be educational, but are also encouraging to many of their viewers.

“I thought the best video shown in chapel so far was the one titled ?Rain’,” Bimat said. “It depicted how God is really there for us with open arms. Because I am going through hard times, I found the message comforting.

Rather than the typical sermon, the Noomas bring a different perspective to biblical principles and translates Scripture into simpler, everyday language.

“I think the Nooma videos are a different way of preaching and explaining the Bible,” David Bethea, ’08, said. “The narrator takes the Bible and puts it into modern language and stories that we as high schoolers can all relate to. It is better than having someone simply reading the Bible to us.”

For more information on the Nooma videos, e-mail Tosland at [email protected].

The next video will be shown in chapel on March 17 at 11:40 A.M.
“~”Brianna Stobbe, Photographer”~”The Nooma video entitled “flame”, which discussed the importance of a three way view on love, was shown in the Jan. 27 chapel.

“Flame” illustrated how love requires three different parts to create a healthy emotion rather than a lustful passion.”~””~””~”Insert text here