Dr. Tony Campolo will be the guest speaker at my church tomorrow-

[lavenderdiva]

http://www.tonycampolo.org/

He is a regular columnist at Huffington Post, has been on many TV programs, including Colbert Report, Chris Matthews, all the major news shows. He was also President Clinton's spiritual advisor.

I've never heard him speak before, but am looking forward to hearing what he has to say tomorrow-

[RevCheesehead]

1. I've heard him a number of times when he came to Duke Chapel.

I expected something far more fundy; but overall, his message was great, and his delivery was terrific!

(some of my gay friends at seminary were upset that he was there, and went with a closed mind, or simply protested his presence. Pity.)

[lavenderdiva]

2. I've never heard him speak, but in reading about him

he has very liberal views on gays and their rights. Not fundie at all. Which surprised me when I read that he is a Baptist minister, but is very liberal in his views. In a piece on Huffington Post, he calls himself an oxymoron!

[Rabrrrrrr]

4. And one of the beauties of him is that he is Evangelical,

but he is willintg to change his mind - he was for a long time anti-gay, but his wife worked on him (she is pro-gay) for a long time, and Tony finally changed his mind and decided that gays are okay.

That's one of the things I really appreciate about him.

[Rabrrrrrr]

3. He's phenomenal!

I really like him - he's a great theologian AND a great Christian.

And he is easily one of the best and most amazing preachers you will ever hear. And he's very prophetic - he won't hold anything back, but will speak the truth to the people and speak the truth to power.

I'm jealous! I haven't heard him preach live in about ten years.

[lavenderdiva]

5. oh, he was phenomenal!

What a magnetic and powerful speaker. I had never had the pleasure of hearing him preach before, but I am so glad that I had this opportunity. I felt like I was watching one of America's great preachers live! His sermon was entitled, 'Doing Greater Things', and it was wonderful. It was about not just acknowledging Jesus' in your life, but truly letting Him live through you and creating His kingdom here on earth, by being kinder to one another. He had a great sense of humor too! He told our church that we needed to get de-honkified!! I loved it! He said he is a member of a black Baptist church in Philadelphia. I had the opportunity of briefly shaking his hand afterwards, and thanked him, and told him that I had read all his articles on Huffington Post. He raised his eyebrows at that, and said 'Thank you, I am honored'. His wife was there too.

Here is a link to the video of his sermon today at our church, if you would like to listen to him: http://www.stlukes-hou.org/worship/sermons.aspx

Look at the list of available sermons to view, and click on the one dated 8/20/06 by Tony Campolo 'Doing Greater Things'.

[Rabrrrrrr]

6. I remember at the 1984 UCC National Youth Event, he spoke

and he was talking about justice and hunger and living like a Christian, and he said at one point "And there are 30,000 children (or whatever the number is) who die every day from hunger, and no one gives a SHIT!"

Then he paused for the silence, and said, "And what's worse is that a bunch of you who are here now are going to go home and be more upset that I said 'shit' than they'll be upset about people starving to death."

Been a fan ever since!

I have to watch Iron Chef now, so I'll watch the Campolo video later. Thanks!

[Critters2]

7. That was great!!

I've loved Campolo for a long time! Hope to lead a study of _Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger_ some time soon at my church.

[Rabrrrrrr]

8. Were you at that NYE? It was in Champaign-Urbana.

Or is it Urbana-Champaign? I can never remember, and I seem to always get it wrong, so i assume it's Urbana-Champaign. I probably spelled it wrong, too.

[RevCheesehead]

9. Rabrrrrr.....

You, of all people, should know that champagne ALWAYS comes first! :rofl:

[Critters2]

10. I was there for a day, because I was visiting cousins in Rantoul

near C-U. I was at the next two--which were at Grinnell College. I was a chaperone with the Illinois Conference kids. I was a volunteer, with several tasks, at the one at Ames, because I lived near there at the time.

And the university calls it Urbana-Champaign. Everyone else calls it Champaign-Urbana.

Same in Bloomington-Normal. ISU calls it Normal-Bloomington.

[Rabrrrrrr]

11. Actually, only the '88 one was at Grinnel. The '92 was in Beloit.

The '88 one was the only one I'd missed since they started in 1980, but then I had to miss the 2004 in TN as well. But it doesn't seem like I missed much more than a lot of nasty heat. But then, 2000 in Iowa was the WORST, MISERABLE, HUMID shit weather I've ever experienced. It was even worse than 1996 in Columbus, SC, which until Iowa, was the worst, godawful hot humid bullshit weather I'd experienced.

Thanks for the clarification - I was sure I'd always seen it Champaign-Urbana by pretty much everyone, and on maps, but was also sure that the occasional time I'd seen "Urbana-Champaign" and have been always confused.

[Critters2]

12. Beloit, you're right

I was there. Made a real impression! I don't remember the heat particularly at Ames, but I'm used to Iowa summers, so it may not have seemed unusual. Actually, Grinnell was the summer of the drought, and I remember that as unbearably hot. The difference may be that I slept in the (not air conditioned) dorm in Grinnell, and in my own air conditioned bedroom in 2000. And that I was serving farmers who spent the whole summer of '88 worrying about the heat and drought.

Me, I'm like corn--I thrive in hot, humid weather. I think it has to do with being a 6th generation Midwesterner.

[Rabrrrrrr]

13. Yeah, the Beloit one was really good.

The 2000 was rather a disappointment, but the youth I was with had a good time (though they saw the bullshit, which was kind of fun) and a few had moving, spiritually life-changing experiences.

My family have been in the midwest (Wisconsin) for four generations, and even so, I cannot tolerate humidity. Fucking hate it. Hate it with a passion. I've been in Arizona in dry 115 degree heat, and had no problem at all. I've been in WI in the 70s, degree wise, but with high humidity (high dew point) and felt like killing someone.

Give me fall and winter. At least they're comfortable.

[Critters2]

14. I liked 2000

but then, it was a good time in my life (why did I leave Iowa?!!), so maybe everything seemed good to me. I remember a workshop on hate groups put on by someone from Southern Poverty Law Center in a huge room in the university union. Even though the room and the crowd were beyond big, the presenter was good and kept people's attention. I also thought there was some really good worship. My youth group kids had a great time, and it really got them interested in the larger church. Two went on to serve on the Iowa Conference Youth Council.

One of my kids told me, later, that she went to a basketball game in Hilton Auditorium, and had trouble yelling at a bad call, when everyone else did--because to her it still felt like "church". :)