I went to go see Tony's seminar about "Apologetics...and some more title that I forgot." Tony was amazing as always and gave me enough to think about for the rest of the convention. Here are some of his thoughts, but reader beware, I still need to journal about some of this and sort it out myself.
"If truth could be found with reason, then the most intelligent would have the truth and the stupid wouldn't, but this isn't true."
Speaking at a conference, he gave a lecture, and a person afterwards questioned him about his Christianity. He asked, "How can you believe the Bible is truth?" Tony responded that he decided to believe it and since then he has been finding arguments to support it. The man said, "That's what I thought." Tony said, "Why do you not believe that the Bible is truth?" The man said, "There are too many contradictions." Tony said, "Name Ten for me right here." The man couldn't respond, so Tony said, "9…I'll settle for 8..how about 7..6…5..4..3..2………Can you even name one?" He then said to the man, "You see you decided that you weren't going to believe the Bible is truth and since then have been finding arguments to support it."
"In art throughout the centuries you can look at it and learn more about the cultural ideas about Jesus than about Jesus."
Tony came across a homeless man on the street who looked rather crazy and had a nasty looking cup of McDonald's coffee. The man came up to Tony and asked him if he wanted some of his coffee. Tony didn't want the coffee, but he didn't want to turn down the generosity. So, he took a drink of the coffee. He asked the man, "Why would you give me some of your coffee, you don't have much to give?" The man said, "Well, today's coffee was especially good and I think that when God blesses you with something then you should share it." Tony thought that this guy had set him up and said, "You want something from me don't you?" and the man said, "Yes…….I want a hug." Tony went to him and the man wrapped his arms around him, then Tony wrapped his arms around the man. Tony realized that this man wasn't going to let go, people passed by and were looking. Tony felt embarrassed at first, but as time passed he began to feel awe and reverence.
"We are not supposed to be trying to get youth to find something, we are trying to get them to commit to something."
These are just copied from my notes, so if there are typos...don't blame me.
I'll think out some of this and journal about it soon.
"If truth could be found with reason, then the most intelligent would have the truth and the stupid wouldn't, but this isn't true."
Speaking at a conference, he gave a lecture, and a person afterwards questioned him about his Christianity. He asked, "How can you believe the Bible is truth?" Tony responded that he decided to believe it and since then he has been finding arguments to support it. The man said, "That's what I thought." Tony said, "Why do you not believe that the Bible is truth?" The man said, "There are too many contradictions." Tony said, "Name Ten for me right here." The man couldn't respond, so Tony said, "9…I'll settle for 8..how about 7..6…5..4..3..2………Can you even name one?" He then said to the man, "You see you decided that you weren't going to believe the Bible is truth and since then have been finding arguments to support it."
"In art throughout the centuries you can look at it and learn more about the cultural ideas about Jesus than about Jesus."
Tony came across a homeless man on the street who looked rather crazy and had a nasty looking cup of McDonald's coffee. The man came up to Tony and asked him if he wanted some of his coffee. Tony didn't want the coffee, but he didn't want to turn down the generosity. So, he took a drink of the coffee. He asked the man, "Why would you give me some of your coffee, you don't have much to give?" The man said, "Well, today's coffee was especially good and I think that when God blesses you with something then you should share it." Tony thought that this guy had set him up and said, "You want something from me don't you?" and the man said, "Yes…….I want a hug." Tony went to him and the man wrapped his arms around him, then Tony wrapped his arms around the man. Tony realized that this man wasn't going to let go, people passed by and were looking. Tony felt embarrassed at first, but as time passed he began to feel awe and reverence.
"We are not supposed to be trying to get youth to find something, we are trying to get them to commit to something."
These are just copied from my notes, so if there are typos...don't blame me.
I'll think out some of this and journal about it soon.
2 Responses to “Tony Campolo”
Leave a Reply
i read your post here sometime early in the event and it came up in conversation a couple of times, thanks for sharing. tony's 'in your face' style can be a bit unsettling but that might only because it is brutally honest and that's a scary thing for many.
Cool stories, dude...