Best-selling author Donald Miller to speak on Oct. 11
Janel Shoun |
Few Christian authors have inspired more conversation and controversy among Christians in the last few years than Donald Miller, author of Blue Like Jazz and the recently released To Own a Dragon.
Miller will bring his refreshingly down-to-earth speaking style and self-deprecating humor to local audiences at Lipscomb University on Wednesday, Oct. 11, at 7 p.m., in Collins Alumni Auditorium, 3901 Granny White Pike. The event is free and open to the public.
This is the second Lipscomb-appearance for Miller, a Portland writer whose shockingly honest reflections on life and spirituality in his 2003 memoir Blue Like Jazz have captivated the hearts of Christian readers nationwide. Last year at Lipscomb he gave readings from To Own a Dragon and answered questions from the audience.
Blue Like Jazz, which has sold more than 550,000 copies, and its follow-up Searching for God Knows What asserts that modern churches have boxed Christianity into a limiting formula when it should be a personal relationship providing the ultimate fulfillment. Chapters chronicle his growing understanding of the nature of God, grace and worship.
His latest book, To Own A Dragon, is about his childhood growing up without a father in Houston. Miller is the founder of the Belmont Foundation, a not-for-profit organization that partners with churches to create mentoring programs for boys growing up fatherless.
He left home at the age of 21 and traveled across the country until he ran out of money in Portland, a cross-country adventure chronicled in his book, Through Painted Deserts. In Portland, he came into his own spiritually while working with a fledgling campus ministry at liberal Reed College, an experience mentioned often in Blue Like Jazz.
Miller is currently working on a book about Adam Bybee, Adam's wife Kate and their adopted mentally disabled adult Dagner. Adam is a performance artist whose work focuses on social justice issues. The book will be called A Map of Eden and will be released in late 2007 or early 2008.