Well it is almost time to leave Stetson behind. Overall this has been an excellent conference. No, all the speakers weren't enlightening, or engaging. But I take away some wonderful ideas, but I think even more important I take away a rested body and spirit.
Amy Jill Levine is one of the brilliant New Testament scholars of this age. What makes Amy-Jill most interesting is the fact that she is Jewish. And when I say that I don't mean a secular Jew, she is a practicing Jew who teaches about Jesus and probably knows him better than most Christians. Her lectures were worth the price of admission.
Dr. Long is a dynamic speaker --- unfortunatly he did not have a lot to say --- but he was fun to listen to anyway.
Dr. Balentine was a lousy speaker, and he didn't have too much of value to say. He did give me an idea for a sermon so that was good.
Dr Martin Marty is finishing up his lecture right now. Kind of stream of conciousness talk --- not sure what I am supposed to be getting from it. I think it is supposed to be about why we need to change. Good from somebody around 80!
We will have to miss the last 1/2 of Amy-Jill Levine's final lecture because we have to drop "little Doug" off at the Daytona Beach airport and then we will head back down to Orlando to catch our 4pm flights.
Showing posts with label Stetson Winter Pastor's School. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Stetson Winter Pastor's School. Show all posts
Friday, February 08, 2008
Wednesday, February 06, 2008
Stetson part 2
Well, another day in paradise, but somebody has to do it.
This is day two of the Stetson Winter Pastor’s School. We have about a 45 minute drive from where we stay (on the beach in Daytona), to Stetson University. This morning we began at 9:00 so we had to get up and get going early.
The first lecture this morning was by Thomas Long. I mentioned him yesterday, he is a professor of homiletics (preaching) at Chandler School of Theology (Emory University), in Atlanta. It was an interesting lecture. He is one of the most engaging speakers that I have heard in a long time. He truly knows his art.
The only problem is, he decided to leave behind the "art" of preaching and go off into theological issues. He began by ripping into Rick Warren author of the Purpose Driven Life and it’s church campaign 40 Days of Purpose. He had three comments on it. 1) It is bad theology. (Absolutely) 2) It is bad use of the Biblical text — Rick Warren has a theory and then finds a passage and a translation of the Bible to justify his theory (he uses 20+ translations in the book). 3) Long called it a religious etiquette book.
Long then went in to rip progressive theologians calling them "neo-gnostic." Unfortunately, he did not give very good reasons whey he dislikes them so much. He made some statements that just were not true. "All of these people had bad religious experiences as children." I am pretty sure that Marcus Borg would take issue with that statement.
It is nice to know what I am theologically. Neo-gnostic he defined as people who believe in salvation by knowledge. Not sure I would totally agree with that, but it is an interesting place to start.
The sad part is, Long never articulated his theology.
I am know listening to Sam Balentine, he is a little better today. He has based his lecture around Susan Sontag’s book: Regarding the Pain of Others. It is a book that I need to pick up and read. I have added it to my Amazon wish list.
Don’t forget — it you order stuff on the web, be sure to go through the Ridge Church web site so that we can get a commission on the sale. There is no change to your price.
Tonight is the BIG GAME DUKE at NORTH CAROLINA. Should be intense as usual. Hope I can brag tomorrow!
This is day two of the Stetson Winter Pastor’s School. We have about a 45 minute drive from where we stay (on the beach in Daytona), to Stetson University. This morning we began at 9:00 so we had to get up and get going early.
The first lecture this morning was by Thomas Long. I mentioned him yesterday, he is a professor of homiletics (preaching) at Chandler School of Theology (Emory University), in Atlanta. It was an interesting lecture. He is one of the most engaging speakers that I have heard in a long time. He truly knows his art.
The only problem is, he decided to leave behind the "art" of preaching and go off into theological issues. He began by ripping into Rick Warren author of the Purpose Driven Life and it’s church campaign 40 Days of Purpose. He had three comments on it. 1) It is bad theology. (Absolutely) 2) It is bad use of the Biblical text — Rick Warren has a theory and then finds a passage and a translation of the Bible to justify his theory (he uses 20+ translations in the book). 3) Long called it a religious etiquette book.
Long then went in to rip progressive theologians calling them "neo-gnostic." Unfortunately, he did not give very good reasons whey he dislikes them so much. He made some statements that just were not true. "All of these people had bad religious experiences as children." I am pretty sure that Marcus Borg would take issue with that statement.
It is nice to know what I am theologically. Neo-gnostic he defined as people who believe in salvation by knowledge. Not sure I would totally agree with that, but it is an interesting place to start.
The sad part is, Long never articulated his theology.
I am know listening to Sam Balentine, he is a little better today. He has based his lecture around Susan Sontag’s book: Regarding the Pain of Others. It is a book that I need to pick up and read. I have added it to my Amazon wish list.
Don’t forget — it you order stuff on the web, be sure to go through the Ridge Church web site so that we can get a commission on the sale. There is no change to your price.
Tonight is the BIG GAME DUKE at NORTH CAROLINA. Should be intense as usual. Hope I can brag tomorrow!
Tuesday, February 05, 2008
Stetson part 1
Greetings from Stetson,
It is real tough being here 80 degrees and I am stuck inside. The first lecture by Sam Balentine was uggh! (if that is a word). He was a last minute fill-in and it seems like it.
Dr. Thomas Long is lecturing now and he is wonderful! He is lecturing on the narrative style of preaching and why it is under attack today. Very interesting. He is suggesting that we are moving to a "wisdom style" of sermon.
Last night as we were sitting on the beach at Daytona Beach, looking at ocean, one of my colleagues (who's name I will not mention, but he is the pastor at Crown Point) asked "what direction are we facing. Right now that is the quote of the week. I am sure that it will be replaced before too long.
Sorry to hear that you all are getting snow. I will do my best to suffer in the air conditioned lecture room. Trust me, when Balentine starts back up, I will be.
It is real tough being here 80 degrees and I am stuck inside. The first lecture by Sam Balentine was uggh! (if that is a word). He was a last minute fill-in and it seems like it.
Dr. Thomas Long is lecturing now and he is wonderful! He is lecturing on the narrative style of preaching and why it is under attack today. Very interesting. He is suggesting that we are moving to a "wisdom style" of sermon.
Last night as we were sitting on the beach at Daytona Beach, looking at ocean, one of my colleagues (who's name I will not mention, but he is the pastor at Crown Point) asked "what direction are we facing. Right now that is the quote of the week. I am sure that it will be replaced before too long.
Sorry to hear that you all are getting snow. I will do my best to suffer in the air conditioned lecture room. Trust me, when Balentine starts back up, I will be.
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