The link is Nooma.com. You can watch the first feature, "Rain" for free. They run about 10 minutes and all of them have a theme.

I REALLLY like the Pastor, Pastor Rob. He is young and applies things in a very real and practical way. Also, MTV does the DVD's so it's high quality stuff. Check it out, and let me know what you think.

I haven't seen them all, but my favorite that I've seen is called, "Sunday". I haven't seen the newer ones but am really looking forward to it.

Before I post more on this thread...Would it be alright to use this thread to group christian videos/ good sites together so that they are all in one place for people to check out?

seems pretty new age. no wonder you like it.

It's probably better to do it in a fresh new thread, but I'm ok with it. No problem.

Put us out of our misery, give up poker and become a minister or pastor already; I'm sure that would be a huge sacrifice, and ensure your place in heaven. It's not like you are helping the world any luring potentially productive young people into the world of poker.

Do something truly great with your life. I understand you fear life after death, "as a Christian" but like any gambler you are trying to make sure you get better odds in the afterlife, but seriously take religion out of this poker forum, it's creepy, or go pursue your true calling.

I mean seriously. Are you that pu$$y-whipped?

i find it funny that someone comes to another guys website only to bag him out lol no comment on his post.

good website tho i highly recomend it

Not sure why you feel it's your place to tell me how to live my life, but I want to give you a reply that echoes the one you just gave me:

"Not sure why you are wasting all of your time telling other people what to do in an internet forum? If you are so offended by people discussing their beliefs and sharing their faith, what possesses you to look into this forum at all?

I mean seriously, have you nothing better to do?"

Now, that's not what I want to say to you, but it helps show you my point. Seriously, why does it bother you that I share my faith in the Religion forum? How does this hurt you personally?

When you say "Do something great with your life" what exactly qualifies? Getting lots of hot chicks? Becoming a Billionaire? Winning the WSOP main event? Owning the Lakers?

I DO want to do great things in my life. My definition of what those types of things are might be very different from yours.

If Religion being in the poker forum "creeps" you out, there is an easy solution. There are TONS of other forums on here that will be completely void of any religious discussion.

i think he just "pu$$y-whipped" him straight back lol
nice 1 daniel

I didnt really understand what he was tryin to prove. As a christian you arent "improving your odds" Your either 100% or not...

the trail blazers are for sale cheap and vegas needs a team

Well said Daniel.

Very good video. I woudn't call it New Agey but it is a more modern perspective.

In case you forgot this was Daniels forum and he has every right to discuss what he wants to discuss, if you dont like it go to www.philhellmuth.com. He never throws his beliefs down anyones throat and this IS the religion forum of FCP. He who has not sinned cast the first stone, do not judge who do not know. Christ is Lord, make room for him in your heart.

Daniel N,

I doubt that you will have the time to read this, but THANK YOU so much for giving a link to the NOOMA site. I read through the bio of Pastor Rob and he seemed like a normal down to earth guy in the first videos which drew my attention immediately. Out of curiousity I clicked on the Matthew clip and it concentrated on with dealing with a loss.... I recently lost my older brother and best friend about a year ago and the words that Rob spoke were definitely genuine and spoke right to what I have been struggling with. I dont find it a coincidence that I was directed to this site and wanted to say thank you for putting that link up.

God Bless

James

I'm a member of Rob's church. (Mars Hill) He's a great teacher. I always leave having gained some knowledge or new perspective on Christianity and life in general. If you live in the GR area and are looking for a church, give it a try.

http://www.mhbcmi.org/findex.html

I have been there and it's pretty amazing how big it's grown. Pastor Rob really grabs you. He doesn't come off as preachy, he delivers a message in a way that relates today's world to scripture.


To James,

Sorry about your loss...

i just saw the clips and was very intrigued. he seems very real, i felt like i could relate to what he was saying. thank you for the link.

Pokerfriendly, if you enjoyed the NOOMA video's you can also go to his church's website at Mars Hill Bible Church and download some of his sermons that he has done, which are great to listen to whenever. I felt the same way you did when watching the videos. Just a thought.

thanks i will!!

Daniel,

I was at a Promise Keepers conference a few weeks ago, and they actually showed the full "Dust" video instead of having a 2nd speaker the first night. When I saw the "Nooma" name, I remembered your posting about it. Truly amazing teaching - I saw 10,000 guys blown away by it at the conference. When I told my church buddies that I first heard about Nooma on a Poker site, I definitely got some funny looks.

I hope you can carve some time out of your schedule to hit a PK Conference somewhere this summer.

God Bless,

Matt

Daniel,

I bought you a book I feel you will like...I tried to make it to Best Buy however missed you...

Can I mail it to you...???

Also if you are looking for a great church in Vegas, try Shadow Hills Baptist in Summerlin..best pastor I have ever listened too.. very motivational..also several other Vegas Celebs attend and you can worship in peace without being approached.

God Bless and thanks for your courage to share you faith in a lions den...

Andrew Lunsford
xvsptrp3@yahoo.com

First let me say I don't doubt anyones salvation and the last time I checked in this country your entitled to believe in whatever you choose. I was born and raised baptist, although I disagree with some of the doctrine I'm comfortable with worshipping in a baptist church. A lot of you can school me in the world of poker and my freerolls are mediocre compared to the stakes you play for and win. But one thing I have noticed about christians, especially in this century is how the bible can be stretched to live your life however you want. I would like to remind everyone here that when Jesus came to this Earth he was born in a manger and sat with sinners and social outcast, which was troubling to the group that was running the show. Sounds like some of the churches I been to recently ( I refer to them as social clubs) if a drug addict or a real sinner walked in penniless would he be accepted, in most circumstances he would not. To me its more than reading a book, listening to a sermon, singing in the choir its more than a Sunday service or a bilble study. To me if you believe its about Jesus. Jesus said to love thy neighbor as thyself. Thats hard to do loving someone as much you do yourself. But realize if we all did that ,this world would be a much better palce. I didn't mean to ramble but to me there is a difference between do gooders and true christians. Billy Grahm was once asked if he was a preacher that believed baptist were the only ones going to heaven, he said I'll take it further I believe some of them are going to be dissappointed. So in my opinion live it like you mean it. Thats 24/7.

Daniel I must say I am VERY impressed with you, not only as a very enjoyable poker player to watch on TV, but to take your forum and discuss your faith and possibly steer someone confused into the right direction is awesome.

I just want to comend you on that, Poker is a great game but there are issues in life much more important and you are one that expresses that very well.

My best friend is a pastor of a small church in Anderson, South Carolina.

He teaches the Bible verse by verse, all mp3 and video lessons are always free of charge.

He just did a great MARRIAGE series.

http://www.lewisministries.org

just say no to christian themed websites

Why spam these threads, and where does all the negativity come from?
Guilt?

No.

Probably annoyance.

my negativity came from annoyance?

i think youre trying to say i "wish to annoy"

i love how you think you understand the inner working of the universe while you struggle with the proper way to speak your native language at a second grade level.

I do think your negativity comes from annoyance. Mine does.

Religion annoys me. So I post in here, not to annoy, but rather to understand and be understood.

For your information, I scored 800 on the writing SAT and I read the LOTR trilogy in first grade. But I agree, my writing is pretty bad.

You might want to give capitalization or punctuation a try.

SAT scores are useless when testing the proverbial nincompoop.

i think u misspoke...u scored an 800 on the entire SATs

No, I did not mispeak.

I did post the scores to validate the test's accuracy, or to brag. I only used it as a piece of evidence to refute the assertion that I speak English at a second grade level. A standardized test is better evidence than anecdotal assertions.

so, i know what you are talking about, and its upsetting to me, but there are a great deal of people out there that are actually tryin to live out their faith like Christ would have them do it. eh, about the baptist thing, there are gonna be people from every denomination that were just playin a game with their faith and they will be dissapointed when they die.


and yes, nooma are some of my favorite videos. i saw my first one about a yr and a half or so ago, and it blew me away.

? . !

Please don't yell at us frustrated atheists. Put yourselves in our shoes when we have to see the continuous spread of this religion. To me, it's a detriment to the growth of humanity and, especially, our society. You might tell me some line about how churches donate such and such money more then anyone else... and I still wouldn't care. Religion is psychological crutch and explainably (new word, I think ;-) ) shady at best. Plus the Christians vs. Muslims war is really getting on my (and a lot of atheists') nerves. Not only that, but Christianity continues to grow in popularity, mainly due to the continuous folktales passed down from generation to generation. Then with the invention of the internet, the fad is spreading more quickly. God is used as a mystical stress-ball when times get too personally tough, always part of some mystical plan when things are globally tough, and seems to somehow be the reason for everything good in life.

So don't get mad at atheists, you would feel the same way in our shoes. And no, we're not all typically bitter people. Most of us, actually, are very friendly and emotionally in control due to our firm grip on reality and ability to handle the rough swings in life. Most of us are quite grounded, too :-)

But even the best humans (teasing) are able to be logically upset. We've had to deal with ignorance of large numbers of people for the longer parts of even our most personal lives.... trying having to explain why "spirituality" is a gibberish word and how people can enjoy their lives without a god alllll the time (especially in Indiana). Try having to be denied long-term personal relationships or having to deal with family in-law pressure because of the fact that I don't believe a "higher-power" exists. My gay best friend compares my situations to those of his losing boyfriends to ignorant family "religious/right-wing/conservative" pressure. So, seriously, if you can just put yourselves in our shoes......................

I don't care what anyone believes. If they want to believe that the santa really puts gifts under the tree, then fine. But the day it starts to intrude on my personal life, you can expect how a person would react. At least this government allows you people to have your churches, your AA, your tax-relief, etc... I bet it's pretty nice to live in a country where you're allowed to be as Christian as you want everyday of the year. I guess if I was one, I really wouldn't have anything to complain about either... agh, sorry, that wasn't necessary

Just ... please... try to be a tad more understanding to our frustrations.

And yes, Daniel, we can go to any other forums... we know, but we like your forums and even the debate on your religious threads.

But Christians, really... quit being surprised, upset, hurt, angered, etc. when an upset atheist makes some emotional post on your threads. If you didn't want the atheists to say such things, the rules of your Christian threads should say "No Atheists Allowed". Most of these people do have reasons why they are upset and their posts have quite a bit of meaning behind them.

:-) and have a nice day as always

http://youtube.com/watch?v=w4fQA9mt-Mg


Edit: you can now thank me for noticing how late I am in posting on this thread :-P

I know I'm tuning in late, however, doing this would sharply curtail basketball betting in Vegas.... There's supposedly some sort of law that prohibits it. Go figure....

I've been lurking here for a few weeks, and may not have joined or posted if there was only poker info here, because I don't feel the need to really interact there, but the religion section is pretty intriguing.

I didn't know Daniel was a theist or Christian and for some reason it I find it very surprising. I suppose that's because he is so rational and reasoned at the poker table, and religion is anything but. At the table, he requires evidence and information, and yet in this section of his life, pure faith is enough for him. It's pretty interesting.

As for that video, I watched the first one, Rain. It was a classic appeal to emotion, produced well, but not a whole lot of substance. The thing about God helping people who ask for it is a crock of **** if you ask me, but of course nobody did.

I know lots of Christians who talk of prayer and recieving God through prayer. Miracles and divine help. I'd like to believe them, but God hasn't done one thing through prayer that couldn't be explained by simpler and more rational means. Often a man claims his cancer was stopped by God, through prayer, or that he was healed of some other internal condition through communication with God. But plenty of amputees have asked for help, plenty of them, and in not one instance has he healed an amputee. That's all it would take for me to make a believer out of me, one amputee. Why does God hate amputees?

I watched the Rain episode and couldn't help but notice how skilled this pastor was of getting his message across and to get to our feelings. He surely is a very skilled speaker and his results speak for themselves.

On the other hand, when I listen to him and think about what he has said, I'm not really impressed with it. He says that God is with us when we are going through a rough time as long as we cry out. When I'm going through rough patches in my life I sort them out on my own, maybe talk to my fiancé, but I don't need to rely on a divine power. I think the reason people that praying gives them strength is that they truly fully believe that someone is listening and caring, even though they have no empirical observations that justify it. Having a sense of someone else caring for you is powerful for us because we are such emotional creatures.

So why not try that, the next time you are having troubles, try to sort it out yourself, talk to a very good friend or spouse, I promise, it will be equally rewarding.

You suck at convincing people of, well, anything. Keep trying, though, it's fun to watch a global warming, gun controling atheist bang it's head against a wall. REALLY fun.

The typical response of someone who has absolutely nothing to say (I guess I'm guilty as charged now)



KEEP IT UP LOIS!!!!!!

Yeah, I have got nothing to say. Sure. Because that's why people react to every post I make.

Because they say nothing. They provoke no reaction. Thye say nothing.

Dream on.

I understand why you use the term atheist in a derogatory way, but why global warming and gun control? Do you feel that God wants us to make the climate less habitable for animal and plant life and that he wants us to bear arms so that we can easily kill each other?

Maybe you should let people believe whatever they feel comfortable believing. If it works for him, why try something else? This is his religion, have a little respect.

And the "sort it out yourself", what's that all about? As if Daniel never sorts out his own issues or something... Religion is more than just a place you flee to whenever life gets a little rough. It's part of your life itself.

(No, I'm not Christian myself)

Wow... random sticky and random bump


Has that sticky always been there?




Ah, but it doesn't need to be. If religion is your comfort zone, then by all means, but it's not a fact of life.

yes for almost 2 years

wow

You took it exactly the opposite way of how I meant it: I meant it's not JUST a comfort zone, it's a PART of somebody's life. I never said it was a fact of life

I'm sorry if I'm still a little confused.


Raping is part of a serial rapist's life... doesn't mean it deserves respect.

Is that what you were trying to say?

Are you saying a person's religion doesn't deserve respect?

Yes, I am.

YOU, personally, have my respect.

Your religion and your religious beliefs do not.