July 2009
23 posts
“What is the good if Mary gave birth to the son of God two thousand years ago if...”
– Meister Eickhart, adapted [HT: Bob Carlton]
A People's History of Christianity
I should receive Diana Butler Bass’ latest book any day now - A People’s History of Christianity. I really enjoyed her Christianity for the Rest of Us (see my thoughts here), so I’m looking forward to reading her latest. Above is an interview about the new book. You should check it out. I think Butler Bass is one of the most interesting voices within Christianity right now.
When Sufjan saved my life
This morning the fam and I went to UBC Waco where I was reminded of the time when Sufjan Stevens saved my life. It was during a pretty bad time in life when I was first introduced to Sufjan Stevens. Illinoise, Seven Swans, Michigan, and then everything I could get my hands on. I will always remember his music as healing during those difficult days. There were times when his music was the only...
Happy Blogiversary!
Ok, so today is not actually my blogiversary. But since I’ve missed my past two (2008 and 2009), as compensation I’ve chosen to celebrate today. The reason is because I was reminded of the following quote, which I posted on a previous blogiversary. It reminds me of why I blog and why I think media such as blogs, Facebook, and Twitter are powerful tools for good (are you reading this...
Trajectory
Over the past couple days I read through most of the entries at my old blogs (here, here, and here). As I was reading I was struck by how you can trace a trajectory of my thoughts on church. Of course you can also tell a lot of changes in my ideas about faith, etc, but I was particularly interested in the evolution of my view of church. Here’s a sketch of what the trajectory looks like....
Poets, Prophets, & Preachers: Final Thoughts
So here’s my final post on Poets, Prophets, & Preachers. Just some reflections. 1. Are Rob Bell and Peter Rollins saying opposing things? I came across an interesting post on Twitter by Tony Jones jokingly(?) wondering if Rob Bell and Peter Rollins’ thoughts would directly contradict each other. Of course they aren’t complete opposites. In fact, they have lots in common....
Derek Webb's Latest
If you haven’t heard it already, you might be interested in Derek Webb’s latest album called “Stockholm Syndrome” (download it at his website). In particular, the following song has been getting a lot of attention:
Here are the lyrics:
You say you always treat people like you like to be I guess you love being hated for your sexuality You love when people put words in...
Church as the work of the people
The community gathering should not be the work of a few professionals, but the work of the people within the community. This does not necessarily mean every person will be involved, or even most people. However, each person should have equal access to the creative process. The planning of the gathering should be open to all. The hope is for a more bottom-up structure, rather than the typical...
Poets, Prophets, & Preachers: Twitter Highlights
If you only read one of my posts about Poets, Prophets, & Preachers, make it my next post, which will have my overall reflections. If you’re only gonna read two, then make this post the other one you read.
Yesterday I spent six hours in the DFW airport. During that time I fnished up posting my PPP notes to the blog and also got a chance to go back and read the entire Twitter feed...
Post-PPP Thoughts From Peter Rollins
“What can I say. I want to communicate what a great time I had at Poets, Prophets and Preachers and how grateful I am to Rob Bell for not only inviting me to speak but standing side by side with me on the stage in an act of solidarity. In the battle for what Christianity will look like in our current epoch Rob Bell is an important figure and one who I hope we heed.”
Check out the rest...
Concluding Sessions (when I completely abandon my...
The final two sessions of the conference were from Shane Hipps and the Rob Bell. Shane spoke on “You Are the Medium” and Rob talked on “The One Thing I’ve Never Heard Someone Talk About That Has Changed Everything for Me.” Unfortunately for you, I have no notes from these sessions. After Pete’s talk I went to lunch with some new people and then decided to...
Session 7: Peter Rollins - Parables and the Lost...
This talk was awesome. Pete was really on and the crowd ate it up. Nothing very new for me, since I’ve heard him talk so many times. But it was thorougly enjoyable to watch Pete do his thing and to watch the crowd really enjoy it. I was just really happy for Pete the whole time. I want his voice to be heard more widely. I think this could be a major step in that direction. Here are...
Session 6: Rob Bell - Fumbling Around With Your...
This talk didn’t directly relate to me, since I’m not a preacher, but I did find it helpful for other contexts. I enjoyed this talk. As usual, quotes mean both direct quotes and paraphrases of Rob. No quotes equal my own thoughts. Here are my notes:
Skateboarders are cool. I wish I was a skateboarder. I wish I was cool. Especially in slow motion.
I hate it when I’m...
Session 5: Rob Bell - The Fig Tree and the Failure...
This talk was probably the least relevant for me. Rob mainly focused on practical matters related to preaching. As you’ll see, I didn’t take great notes, mainly started reflecting on other things. Here they are:
“Why do some sermons work and others don’t?”
“There must be something behind the sermon compelling you to preach it.”
Rob and Pete do not...
Session 4: Shane Hipps - How Technology Shapes the...
Here are my notes from Shane Hipps’ first talk at Poets, Prophets, & Preachers. I found the talk to be very similar to his first book, which I do recommend. But since much of it was not new, I didn’t get into the session too much. Quotes mean a direct quote or a paraphrase of Shane. Everything outside of quotes is me. Here it is:
“Used to be in advertising mainly with...
Session 3: Peter Rollins - Introduction to...
I can’t believe my wish actually came true. Going in to this conference I was really hoping that there would be an opportunity for Rob Bell and Peter Rollins to interact, but I didn’t see that on the schedule of events, so I figured it wasn’t going to happen. Well, it turns out Peter Rollins’ first talk was actually an interview with Rob Bell! Great stuff. I didn’t take a lot of notes...
Session 2 (part 2): Rob Bell - The Story We're...
Ok, so I’m quite a bit behind. I’ve just been having too much fun connecting with people during our free time, thus no time to blog. But I might have time right now to finish up the notes from session 2. Quotes equal Rob (or just paraphrase of Rob) and the rest is me.
“Business is an essential part of all this. Not a secondary task. Business as ministry. The...
Session 2 (part 1): Rob Bell - The Story We're...
This is going to be a real quick copying of my notes, just to get them out there. I’ll probably be commenting more about my own thoughts/reflections in a later post. This was a great talk by Rob Bell. Again, everything in quotes is from Rob, either direct or paraphrased. Everything not in quotes is me.
Theological underpinings of the sermon
Does Rob Bell have a closet full of the...
Blogging Poets, Prophets, & Preachers
Here’s a list of people blogging at Poets, Prophets, & Preachers. Let me know if there are others I need to add to the list (feel free to copy elsewhere).
Adam Moore
BJ at Jonesboy
Clint McManaman (a few pictures)
Dave Sandell
David Kenney
David Kenney at Neue Ministry
EdBob at The Bi-cynical-ist
Embarking Blog
Ian Bailey
Jeremy Bouma
Jim Kast Keat
Jim Vining
Jonathan...
Session 1: Rob Bell – The Original Guerilla...
Here are some random notes/thoughts/comments on Session 1 of Poets, Prophets, & Preachers. I’m going to use quotes for both Rob’s thoughts and paraphrases of Rob’s thoughts. The other parts are my own thoughts/comments.
“What do average people think of when they hear the word ‘sermon’?” Great question. Not addressed enough. Personally I think sermons are largely irrelevant to most...
Poets, Prophets, & Preachers: Sunday Morning at...
This morning I had the opportunity to go to Mars Hill Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan, while I am in town for the Poets, Prophets, & Preachers conference (I went with Steve, Carrie, Mark, Johnny, and Dave). This church is rather well known among the Evangelical world because of its pastor, Rob Bell, who I think is incredibly talented. Rob didn’t preach this morning, instead Shane Hipps,...
Twitter, Tweets, and Twubs
So I’m starting to catch the Twitter fever (go follow me at @adamdmoore). I’m even starting to think it’s better than Facebook. For example, as I’m sure all of you already know, you can tag posts in Twitter and then go to a site that aggregates all the tweets on that topic. For example, I’m about to go to the Poets, Prophets, & Preachers conference this weekend,...