Poets, Prophets and Preachers Conference -Day 1

In Grand Rapids for a few days with my friend Sean, for a Preaching Conference organized by the much celebrated Rob Bell. A few initial thoughts: Clearly there is a hip dress code, and evidently someone hasn’t filled me in. Many tats and piercings, vintage T’s, faux-hawks, man-bags, and everyone wearing sandals.

You know you are not at your father’s Pastor’s Conference when the Official Preaching Conference Map of Grand Rapids lists the favorite local pubs. When Sean and I were getting our stuff out of the car, a group of fellow conference attendees walked past, with one guy carrying the group humidor! During the first session a guy yells out, in response to something Bell said, ‘Hell Yeah!’ We are not in Kansas anymore! Sadly these comments reveal more about me, then they do the group that I was a part of...

I had thought that this would be a smaller group, with more of a regional attendance, and yet people came as far away as Australia and Sweden as well as both coasts for this conference… testament to probably both the drawing power of Rob Bell and the sincere desire for people to step up their preaching skills.

Rob Bell spoke for the opening session, told the story of his first ever preaching experience and reviewed the various ways that people respond to our sermons. He challenged us to see Preaching in a new light, to realize that even Jesus’ first sermon in his hometown brought the people out to kill him, and that at many times, we may be faced with less-then-positive reactions to what we have to say. The main challenge was to never present the Word w/o proper preparation and a proper fire in the belly…