Session 6: Rob Bell - Fumbling Around With Your Radar

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 skateboarding and things start blowing up. It doesn’t happen too often, but when it does, quite unfortunate.

“Where do sermons come from?”

We have a lack of imagination when it comes to church. We can’t break free from the centrality of the sermon. And switching to having Eucharist as central is not the answer.

“Disciplines to develop so you don’t stare at a blank screen.”

“Everyday disciplines, postures, and ways of seeing the world.”

Removing the lectern/pulpit and wondering the stage is something Rob uses very effectively.

“Working hard at it is good and glorifies God.”

“Sermon prep is all around us, all the time, everywhere, everybody.” Nice. Applies to more than sermons - any form of art or creativity.

“God wants to give you radar to see God in this place.”

“Preacher must have radar. An artist is hyper-sensitive to the world around them. They pick up things others haven’t. Make connections. Pointing out what has been there the whole time. They help people wake up to it.”

“Life - write it, take a picture of it, save it, ask for it, get it, clip it, tear it out, store it, mark it, remember it. With no edit button.” Great ideas.

“Certain things grab your attention. You must capture it. Unedited. Capture life.”

“Movie clips - write down scenes you can use.”

“When working with a text: memorize, inhale, words, location, culture, concepts, stories, time, pictures, actions, connections.”

“Inhale - what others have said about the text.”

“Accumulate so much great stuff that you eventually have to leave out great stuff.”

“Words - word studies, word pictures.”

“If a rabbi hands you a nugget, take it, go home, and store it.” Quote of the day…too early to tell.

“Location - what else happened there. Look up the location in a concordance. Be hyper-sensitive to all this.”

“Time - what else was happening in history.”

“Best help I’ve gotten hasn’t been from conservative Christian scholars. When it comes to history, time period, culture, etc.”

I wonder if Rob dances - he’s kinda graceful dancing around all over the stage as he talks. He’s also great at improv movement.

“Ask yourself: If I couldn’t use any Biblical or religious language, how would I describe this? to a child, martian, without words, using only drawings and pictures, using only actors.” Great questions to ask.

“How do I explain this to a nine year old?”

Rob is still pretty conservative it seems, but is very open. I like him.

Rob is more and more showing (but not necessarily telling…) how this is performance.

“What is the thing behind the thing, the mystery behind the mystery, the truth behind the truth?”

“Enact it, perform it, show it, do it, ignore it, circle around it, hand it out”

“Everything you can know about the universe can be known through Larry Bird.” Ok, I’m pretty sure this is the quote of the day right here.

“Sitting in front of a blank screen is death. Don’t do it.”

Rob just finished writing his first novel. Interesting. This guy is becoming prolific.

“This all happens a few minutes here and a few minutes there.”

“Revisit”

“If it isn’t hot, drop it.”

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Reflections on Poets, Prophets, & Preachers

adam moore | blog

Session 6: Rob Bell - Fumbling Around With Your Radar