Thursday, July 09, 2009

poets, prophets & preachers

I got back yesterday from Grand Rapids, MI where I attended the Poets, Prophets & Preachers convention. The tag line of the conference was "recalling the lost art of the sermon" and that really was the entire focus. The whole thing was absolutely top-notch.

I won't bore you with all the details. I'll just bullet point some of the things I took away.

~ Grand Rapids has a pretty stinking cool downtown. Who knew?

~ If you do not know who Peter Rollins is, you should. He was by far the highlight of the conference for me. I can't wait to read his book How Not to Speak of God.

~ It was great spending a few days with some dear friends (Jeph & Kayla, Tim & Courtney, & Tim Sutherland).

~ I don't understand why people so passionately hate Rob Bell. I understand some of the criticism against him. I understand people not liking him. I understand people strongly disagreeing with certain parts of this theology. But I don't understand the intensity and the zeal with which people attack him. It boggles my mind.

A gentlemen who attended the conference got a call while he was there from one of the elders at his church informing him that he had been fired merely for his attendance at the conference. Apparently, Rob Bell is a dangerous heretic leading everyone astray and any association with him will send you and your flock straight to hell. Really...I don't understand it at all.

~ Finally, here is my favorite quote from the conference. It is a meaty one, so it may take you awhile to chew on it. It is from the aforementioned Peter Rollins. Here you go...

"God is not the patch of meaning we place over the wound of our lack of understanding. He IS the wound...over which we attempt to place our patches of meaning."

Absolutely beautiful isn't it?

7 comments:

ragamuffinminister said...

My thoughts on your post about poets, prophets, and preachers...

~ your favorite thought from Rollins is probably the only one you could understand. be honest...

~ you called me a dear friend. i liked that...

~ you didn't mention any butt cheeks or limos in this post...

One more thing: how far has your new-found knowledge of me and my quirks reached? Juuuuusssst curious.

Ray K said...

great quote - thanks!

chris tomlin said...

If you were to ever attend a Hillsong United concert or conference, I would suggest that you be fired as well.

Anonymous said...

Yeah, people aren't getting canned enough these days.

bill said...

Jeph, here are my thoughts on your thoughts...

-I think I understood Rollins most of the time. Of course, just understanding what he was saying doesn't automatically mean that I understood what he meant. He is a smart dude.

-its true

-Yeah...I'm trying to keep from having the butt-cheeks and limo conversation. Thanks for mentioning it.

-to your last point...um, lets just say I will NEVER look at McDonalds napkins the same way.

michaelCODY said...

Hi Chris! You Rawk! Oh, hey Bill.

Kevin said...

Ah, the Nelson influence: using "stinking" as an adverb. It was inevitable.