Speaker notes from @dcbfantastical conference

Late last night I returned from David Crowder's Fantastical Music Conference in his hometown of Waco, TX. Situated on the beautiful (and large, if you’re walking) campus of Baylor University, the Fantastical Conference was absolutely (ok, I’ll say it this one last time)… fantastical. From the selection of musical artists, to the fold-out-conference-information-kit-in-an-Altoids-can, to the keynote speakers, it’s near impossible for me to relay the awe, wonder, and inspiration this conference put in my heart and mind. But i'll try my best.

Since the main auditorium we participated in did not have wifi (and I wasn’t willing to pay insane 3G roaming charges), I wasn’t able to tweet the most interesting tidbits of information as they came to us. Instead, I opted to take as many notes as I could on my iPad and share them as a whole later on. So, here are some (certainly, not all nor the most inspiring) of the main points of my favorite 3 keynotes speakers: Francis Chan, Rob Bell, and Louise Giglio. Please keep in mind these aren’t exact quotes, but certainly the gist of what I thought they were speaking to me and my own experiences:

Chan:
- After reading the account in Exodus 15 where the people praised after the Red Sea miracle: “imagine the affection the people of God would experience is we witnessed a miracle of such extravagance in front of our own eyes today."
- ”The goal is not that we leave church feeling that our worship experience was “good”. The goal of a worship experience is God looking down to us and saying "that was good"
- Just because we cry out to God in our worship doesn't mean he's listening; our lives and relationships must be right as well (directed us to Acts 5)
- God wants us to sing in unity and encourage one another. When we can march side by side in unity, that’s when people will know our salvation.
- If we put ourselves and our story in the bible how would it look? Radical? Normal? Tame? Are our churches congruent with New Testament living?
- If we take care of the poor, oppressed, and needy as part of our worship God will answer us immediately.
- Repentance is important for the spiritual life of an affective worshipper

Bell:
- Rob Bell’s speaking was based around the importance of words. The worship leader places particular words on people’s lips; guiding the breath and stops/starts of people’s voices. Words are breath put together create a magnificent space
- Bell had a very interesting concept saying we should approach the bible more literately, not literally. The importance of metaphor in our worship language is used to explore our feelings and puts forwards our thoughts in a more concise manner.
- we need to have our worship experiences & art reflect the feelings, culture, & emotions of our culture; people can understand the gospel easier is they understand it in a way that is understandable to them (much like Jesus did using parables)
- Bell says there are three kinds of biblical language:
1) atonement language (to be biblical is to be an acute observer of the world around you using images, metaphor, and experience) – as leaders, we need to come up with new metaphors and images that speak to the wolrd around us
2) enthronement language (that language of Christ as kind, majesty, splendor, drown, etc.) – may be difficult for non-Christians to understand this language because royalty is unfamiliar to us
3) three-tiered universal language (putting value on the omnipresence of God; up/down, above/below, grave/depth, etc) – these are the kinds of metaphors we want to replace to make the Word understandable to people around us; in/around, oxygen, on, with us, etc.
- Be careful not to stifle the people who are using current experience, language, and image that can reach the unsaved, unchurched, and unsure. Letting the world know “WE ARE GOING TO BE FINE” is the sacred task ahead of us.


Giglio:
- we are cosmologically insignificant yet divinely prized
- “Creation literally sings and boasts of God's wonder”. Giglio showed a great example of this by displaying sights and sound sounds/noises that created objects like stars and flowers make. These objects were spoken into existence by a creative and beautiful God.
- So, we should sing because we are part of God's universe. Why not join with all creation when it sings?
- We operate on such a thin line of worshipping a creator/maker though everything around us worships Him right now.
- “I sing because I live in god’s universe.”
- “Why not join it?”