By: Cathy Glei on December 6, 2023
“Any act that rejects immediate gratification in favor of long-term growth, health, or integrity. Or, expressed another way, any act that derives from our higher nature instead of our lover. Any of these will elicit Resistance.” [1] I couldn’t have ended my semester in a better way than to read a book about the enemy of creativity.…
By: Jonita Fair-Payton on December 6, 2023
Most of us live two lives. The life we live, and the unlived life within us. Between the two stands resistance. ~Steve Pressfield The back cover of this book asks a question that I yelled “YES” as an answer! YES, I dream about writing the Great American Novel! Now that I’ve cleared that up…how do…
By: Jenny Dooley on December 4, 2023
The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles, by Steven Pressfield came at just the right time. Well, maybe not. It is a curious time to unpack my own resistance when I have so little time to do so. However, I am receiving this opportunity as a timely invitation…
By: John Fehlen on December 4, 2023
This is my third time reading The War of Art by Steven Pressfield. It’s a go-to book for me, and so are his other works on writing and creativity, such as Turning Pro, Do The Work, and Put Your Ass Where Your Heart Wants To Be. Like the writings of Austin Kleon (Steal Like An…
By: Dinka Utomo on November 30, 2023
Leadership is a process whereby an individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal -Peter G. Northouse- Every five years, our denomination holds leadership elections at the synodal level called the Synodal Assembly, which has 11 positions for Pastors, Elders, and Deacons. The 11 selected individuals will lead our denomination for five…
By: Todd E Henley on November 30, 2023
Terrorism, political upheaval, mass murders, world-wide pandemic, mass migration, racial strife, discord in global politics, depression era economy, mass poverty, the #Me too movement, financial oligarchies, and mass hunger. The years 2020-2022 have felt like our entire societal structures were crumbling beneath our very feet. We have entered an age of disruption. Yet the possibility…
By: Adam Harris on November 30, 2023
I feel like I dropped the ball with our new teenage volunteers recently, especially after reading Peter Northouse’s, Leadership Theory and Practice. To give some context, several months ago we made a big shift at our church to truly embody the value of service for our youth department. We still have youth classes on Wednesday…
By: Mathieu Yuill on November 30, 2023
Merriam-Wesbter’s 2023 word of the year is authentic[1]. There are many definitions for authentic but the specific use of it that resulted in the dictionary publisher giving it top honours is “Not false or imitation. Real.” One of the methods Merriam-Webster uses to determine its word of the year is by studying search trends and…
By: Jonita Fair-Payton on November 30, 2023
Leadership At first glance, this book seemed massive and overwhelming. I decided to take a different approach to reading this book. I will be honest, inspectional reading is my only option at this point in the semester as my leadership responsibilities are bleeding over into every aspect of my life, I feel like the role…
By: Jenny Dooley on November 30, 2023
I’m embarrassed to confess that I have not read many books on leadership prior to this doctoral program and I was not given to thinking of myself as a leader. I simply considered myself a good follower. Reading Leadership: Theory and Practice, Ninth Edition by Peter Northouse was fascinating and presented a thorough and broad…
By: Cathy Glei on November 29, 2023
“Both leaders and followers are involved together in the leadership process. . . . Leaders have an ethical responsibility to attend to the needs and concerns of followers.” [1] In Peter G. Northouse’s leadership textbook, “Leadership: Theory and Practice”, the author explains various leadership theories incorporated into practical applications for aspiring leaders. Each chapter includes…
By: John Fehlen on November 27, 2023
I’ve gone through a number of “leadership phases” in my 52 years of living and serving Jesus’ Church. Each season was marked by a Christian author/speaker and the volumes of work they would produce that impacted me, and so many others like me. Although written in 1967, I remember when “Spiritual Leadership” by J. Oswald…
By: Dinka Utomo on November 17, 2023
If we want to understand the unconscious —if we want to make it our friend and ally— …
By: Todd E Henley on November 16, 2023
I’ll never forget my very first client who was a former pastor. During our first session he asked, “Are you going to be using God’s word in our sessions?” I allowed his question to sink in with a five second pause and responded, “Help me to understand something?” Me: Did you preach God’s word every…
By: Jenny Dooley on November 16, 2023
Unsettling Experiences I had an unsettling experience as a social work intern in the department of child psychiatry at a major children’s hospital. In supervision a case was discussed in which the family of a child in treatment had become Christian. Over the course of therapy it was noted that great improvements had been made…
By: Mathieu Yuill on November 16, 2023
The transformation of my business, Coleraine Communications, into Leading With Nice represents a journey to a transformative process. This shift aligns closely with the wisdom found in Daniel Liebermans Spellbound and the leadership principles discussed in Simon Walker’s The Undefended Leader. This transformation goes beyond rebranding; it reflects a dedication to principles such as honesty,…
By: Adam Harris on November 16, 2023
When you grow up in a Charismatic, Pentecostal country church you get to hear stories about miracles, angels, demons, possessions, dreams, visions, words of knowledge (knowing things about people you should not know), prophecies, etc. You even find yourself experiencing some things that you can’t explain. Some of my experiences left me forever changed. Books…
By: John Fehlen on November 16, 2023
I was never allowed to watch The Smurfs. You see, growing up in Wisconsin as a Catholic, and then becoming a Pentecostal in a pretty legalistic home, there were so many cartoons, daytime dramas, bedtime network shows, and movies that my parents, pastors and youth pastors deemed to be “off limits!” Don’t even get me…
By: Cathy Glei on November 15, 2023
It was a blistery, cold Sunday afternoon. I was resting at home with my youngest daughter, Abigail, an infant at the time, while my husband took our other two daughters sledding with some friends of ours. I was awakened from an afternoon nap when I heard someone yelling from our answering machine, “Cat, I’m on…
By: Jonita Fair-Payton on November 14, 2023
Scary Start The title, the cover art and the first few lines made me a bit skeptical about what I was to read. I was genuinely confused and had to work through a few things before opening the book. First let’s talk about the title. Spellbound, sounds creepy, spooky, and instantly brought the image of…
