Eugene Peterson, in contradiction to my last post, is one of the best speakers you could find anywhere.
He framed his speaking in the general session today around this question: What are pastors good for? He shared his early romantic and militaristic views of that. He absolutely destroyed the way business thinking, marketing, and consumerism have [...]

Posted in church thoughts, npc 1 Comment »

Did you realize that just because somebody puts on a pastor’s conference, it doesn’t mean they go out and get the best seminar leaders on a given topic? That it might have something to do with the book they are trying to sell? That when Zondervan puts on a conference, there are a whole lot [...]

Posted in npc 4 Comments »

I just got out of a seminar where I was out of place.
It was helpful, though. Tim Conder was talking about bridges between established and emerging churches. The following question made me realize I wasn’t the target audience: “How many of you are senior pastors who feel like you don’t understand this new way of [...]

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The speaker in this morning’s general session was Ruth Haley Barton. Her ministry and her focus today was the need for pastors to care for their souls, to spend time in solitude in the presence of God. Lots of good stuff…which made me grateful for our Quaker circles. Her message did not strike me like [...]

Posted in finding myself, npc 2 Comments »

So how could I sleep in when I had the chance to go to a bible study led by Eugene Peterson?
Prayer and scripture, he said, go together and mutually affect each other. Scriptures shape our prayers, and without prayer, we cannot understand the scriptures. He used Zechariah’s prayer in Luke 1: 68-79 to shape our [...]

Posted in bible/theology, npc 1 Comment »

Today, I’ll be representing Quakers, thanks to Boise Friends Church. I’ll be sporting my “Quakers Rock!” shirt all day at the convention.

(Speaking of Boise Friends, they’re entering the WWW world in a big way. Check out their new church page and Tanya’s photo/blog.)

Posted in npc, quaker No Comments »

…it’s weird being at a conference by yourself, with like 1500 other people. During McLaren’s session, I asked God to help me connect with who I should connect with. So I walk out of the session at the end, and almost bump into Bob Hyatt. We’re having coffee on Friday. God is good!

Posted in misc., npc 2 Comments »

“Survival is underrated.” Brian McLaren, February 7, 2007
It’s ok to take care of ourselves, it’s ok to be a friend to ourselves, it’s ok to say no, it’s ok to have a life outside of ministry. Brian hammered these thoughts home today in many different ways, and it spoke to me.
His most thought-provoking comments [...]

Posted in church thoughts, npc, quaker 1 Comment »

Elaine and I are in San Diego for a few days…me to attend the National Pastor’s Convention, E to celebrate her birthday early by reading and relaxing and sitting by the pool.
I’ll try to blog some about what I’m hearing and thinking.

Posted in misc., npc 1 Comment »