Showing posts with label conference. Show all posts
Showing posts with label conference. Show all posts

Monday, July 13, 2009

poets, prophets, and preachers ...


I just spent the past weekend in Grand Rapids, Michigan, soaking up the Poets, Prophets, and Preachers, a conference hosted by Rob Bell of Mars Hill, Shane Hipps, author of Flickering Pixels, and Peter Rollins, author of How (Not) to Speak of God. When I found out about this conference, I knew I had to be there. I bought a plane ticket the next week. Sometimes, you just know you've got to be there.

The heart of the conference: Reclaiming the Art of the Sermon

Here were some of the session titles: (provoking to say the least!)

The Original Guerilla Theatre (Rob Bell)
The Story We’re Telling (Rob Bell)
Returning to the New: An Introduction to Tranformance Art (Peter Rollins)
How Technology Shapes the Sermon (Shane Hipps)
The Fig Tree and the Failure of Language (Rob Bell)
Fumbling Around with Your Radar (Rob Bell)
For Those With Ears to Hear: Parables and the Lost Art of Provocation (Peter Rollins)
You are the Medium (Shane Hipps)
The One Thing I’ve Never Heard Someone Talk About That Has Changed Everything For Me (Rob Bell)

I took 15 hard core pages of notes ... I leaned forward in my chair 3 days straight ... my head hurts, but my spirit is alive ...

More than anything, I have a wider lens through which to read the Scriptures ... I have a new set of questions as I approach theology ... I have a new passion for teaching and preaching ... I have a renewed love for God's story ... (and I have a great idea for our Fall series) ... just wait and see ...

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Catalyst Conference ...

just wrapped up the first day of the Catalyst Conference in Irvine ...

we listened to Andy Stanley talk about leadership in the face of uncertainty ... Guy Kawasaki talked about innovation and convinced everyone to buy Macs ... Bryan Houston brought such a burning passion for the church and its great calling on earth ... and Hillsong United led worship ... those guys are money ...

we hung out with 3200 pastors and leaders, ate chicken sandwiches for lunch, drank 8 cups of coffee, waited in line for 15 minutes for the bathroom, and took a friendly ride in a hot air balloon ... we are filled with joy and God is speaking ... the perfect conference, except for the waiting in line bit ...

tonight, we went to the beach and saw dolphins ... we ate chicken nachos and jumped in a hot tub until wrinkled and ready for bed ... it's my life ...