nywc: inspirations from general session 4

Generally speaking...

I enjoyed connecting with Phylis Tickle again, although this time under different circumstances. (For more on the story, see this post) Before her message tonight and went over and told her and Marko that I "had their back."

More so, though, I was interested in watching the crowd interact with Tickle's talk. I expected similar content to last year's, which meant some meaty stuff packed into a short amount of time.

The big curveball, though, was that after she was done and the worship tunes started, I got a phone call from Scot McKnight (see earlier post). He'd made it back home to Chicago, only to realize he'd left his personal journal, Bible, and other stuff in his seminar room. So I huffed up four floors for him, spied it out, and then passed it to the appropriate hands.

So while I didn't get to stop someone from picking on Phyliss this year, I did get to be a joyful errand boy for McKnight.

I love NYWC.

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Inspirations from the opening comic, Taylor Mason...

• I've seen this guy's act before - several times. I didn't expect to laugh at anything new, but tonight he cracked me up through making fun of himself and the fact that he's not really talking to puppets - he's manipulating them and using his own voice. We all know that, of course, and yet so many people react as if the puppets are real. Taylor's dry sarcasm showed me yet another way to stretch source material out for a new application.

Inspirations from MercyMe...

• I like this band's honesty and humor to call out how they've become the "funeral band" due to their power ballads like "I Can Only Imagine." That's gutsy, and yet it humanizes them. I really enjoyed singing out on that last round... but again noticed that when the lyrics aren't on the screen (meaning, the band assumes everyone knows the song) it makes it hard for new people to jump in.

Inspirations from Phyliss Tickle...

• Before I translate my academic notes from the message, here are some of my favorite Tickleisms that she said tonight (which sounds awesome coming from a spunky, 70 year old gal with a southern drawl):
• "I was raised Presbyterian, so I can trash them. I got over it and you can do... but I am grateful for my 14 years as a Presbyterian."
• "I've been around the block 70-some years now."
• Describing Einstein: "He was a smart, sassy twenty year old Jew."
• "Telling an 'ass' story to children always gets their attention."
• "Now, why in the hee-haw didn't he find out?"
  
• Every 500 years or so, the church feels compelled to have a "Rummage Sale." We go through our closets and attic and decide what treasures to keep and what junk to get rid of. We are in the "Great Emergence" now - which was preceded by the "Great Reformation," and before that the "Great Schism," and before that the "Great Decline of Rome," and before that the "Great Transformation" through Jesus.
• When a shift happens and we know it, it takes about 100 years to figure out a central question - "Where now is our source of authority?"
• For Sola Scriptura to work, people had to be able to read for themselves. One of Christianity's great contributions to the world is teaching literacy.
• The IRS recognizes over 27,000 different denominations to Protestant Christianity.
• Christianity has been understood in four categories: Liturgical, Mainline/Social Justice, Conservatives, and Charismatics/Pentecostals/Renewalists. What is emerging is something that comes out of centering those all together.

Inspirations from Matt Maher...

• I missed this set while getting McKnight's stuff, but indirectly (as I was jogging through the convention center) heard a great sound.