What can I say. I want to communicate what a great time I had at Poets, Prophets and Preachers and how grateful I am to Rob Bell for not only inviting me to speak but standing side by side with me on the stage in an act of solidarity. In the battle for what Christianity will look like in our current epoch Rob Bell is an important figure and one who I hope we heed. For, as I hinted at in one of my talks, some of the alternatives are frightening in their impotent violence.

Anyway, there were a couple of practical things that I wish I had mentioned at the conference but totally forgot about. The first concerns the album I mentioned called ‘Hymns to Swear By’. Lots of people have been asking me about it. I am hoping that Pádraig Twomey (the singer/songwriter) will have it recorded by October and that we will be launching it during my pub tour. However ikon has produced a CD called ‘Dubh‘ (Irish for ‘Black’) on which Padraig has a couple of songs. Here is a taste of Pádraig on the CD (it is not by me, despite what it says on soundcloud),

The second thing i wanted to remind people of is that I am running a parable competition as part of the launch of my new book, ‘The Orthodox Heretic‘. There is still a few weeks for you to write something before the deadline so please do get writing. More information here.

I am very excited and honored to be speaking alongside Rob Bell in his upcoming conference Poets, prophets and preachers. Rob Bell possess a unique ability to blend penetrating insight, intelligence and accessibility in a way that has rightfully earned him the reputation of being amongst the most influential Christian voices in the world today. Apart from anything else I am looking forward to the conference because, on a personal level, he is a great guy.

I will be offering two sessions,

• Returning to the New: An introduction to Transformance Art

• For those with Ears to Hear: Parables and the Lost Art of Provocation

If you are able to attend I would recommend it. You can find out more here and register here