By: Jenny Dooley on November 2, 2023
The Sound of Leadership: Kingdom Notes to Fine Tune Your Life and Influence, by Jules Glanzer, presents a pause from the intense readings of the past few weeks. The title of the book grabbed my attention immediately as it hinted at further insights to the importance of listening, a thread I’m following throughout our readings.…
By: Jonita Fair-Payton on November 1, 2023
“I firmly believe that kingdom-seeking, God-honoring, biblically rooted leadership needs to learn how to hear God’s voice. Leaders must lead from a divine center with a heart in tune with the heart of God, forming a holy partnership that results in fulfilling the purposes of God on earth.”(1) Leadership Vibrations This book was music to…
By: Kim Sanford on October 31, 2023
After a little more than a year of doctoral studies in leadership, I don’t suppose we’re experts yet, but I do think we can draw a few solid conclusions. Can we all agree that a good approach to God-honoring leadership might be:1. Leading by means of compelling vision2. Maintaining an unimpeachable character 3. Influencing rather…
By: John Fehlen on October 30, 2023
I don’t recommend being in Las Vegas on a Friday night. Overall, Vegas is a dumpster fire wrapped in a train wreck. That is, unless, you are in Las Vegas with your best friends, to see [arguably] the best band in the world, U2, at the best venue currently in the world: The Sphere. Google…
By: Dinka Utomo on October 27, 2023
“Poverty was nature surviving in society; that the limitedness of food and the unlimitedness of men had come to an issue just when the promise of boundless increase of wealth burst in upon us made the irony only the more bitter.” -Karl Polanyi- On every occasion when I contemplate international travel, my preparations include…
By: Jenny Dooley on October 26, 2023
The books assigned in recent weeks are difficult. I am not understanding every concept, nor reading them in their entirety. However, I am being challenged and hopefully changed by authors I never would have discovered on my own. I am noticing connections and pondering many questions with little time to answer them. My questions currently…
By: Todd E Henley on October 26, 2023
All societies face the economic task of producing and providing for all members of society. Modern market societies are unique in assigning this responsibility to the marketplace, thereby creating entitlements to production for those with wealth, and depriving the poor of entitlement to food. All traditional societies have used non-market mechanisms based on cooperation and…
By: Adam Harris on October 26, 2023
I’ve been in full time ministry most of my vocational life, but while getting my master’s degree I took a detour into the business world for a few years. While working as a fitness trainer, a sales manager position opened that sold fitness training packages for a national gym chain. I was hesitant at first,…
By: Mathieu Yuill on October 26, 2023
I live near Lake Ontario, about 350 metres (or 400 yards). Almost 30 kilometres north (or 19 miles), my colleague lives in Stouffville and her backyard borders the southern side of what is called The Greenbelt[1], a vast expanse of protected land around Lake Ontario. When visiting her one day and looking over the fence…
By: Cathy Glei on October 25, 2023
“Ours is not a historical work; what we are searching for is not a convincing sequence of outstanding events, but an explanation of their trend in terms of human institutions.” Karl Polanyi [1] “The Great Transformation: The Political and Economic Origins of Our Time” is a seminal work by Hungarian-American economist and social theorist Karl…
By: John Fehlen on October 23, 2023
Many agree that in the realm of economic and social thought, Karl Polanyi’s seminal work, “The Great Transformation,” has left an indelible mark. Although awed by his incredible level of intellect, that mark for me will be, well, delible and unremarkable. Published in 1944, this exhaustive (!) work explores the complex interplay between economic systems,…
By: Dinka Utomo on October 20, 2023
“Beware of thinking all your own that you possess, and of living accordingly. It is a mistake that many people who have credit fall into.” -Benjamin Franklin- Assurance and anxiety stand as polar opposites. Throughout history, individuals have striven for assurance through a multitude of guarantees that offer a sense of confidence. Anxiety is…
By: Jenny Dooley on October 19, 2023
In The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, a key question that author Max Weber raised was, “How can we live under modern capitalism, which gives priority to the laws of the market over longstanding traditions, ethical values, and personal relationships?”[1] That is a very good question for us to ask ourselves today. In…
By: Todd E Henley on October 19, 2023
July 20, 1996, I was being interviewed for a Youth Pastor position. The one question I remember from the lead pastor was, “Are there any topics you tend to emphasize more than others on a consistent basis?” I felt the atmosphere in the room change after that question. No one had ever asked me that…
By: Adam Harris on October 19, 2023
Reading a book like Max Weber’s, The Protestant Work Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, makes for a difficult blog post, at least for me. Books like these remind me of just how much I don’t know, and I still don’t think my mind is completely wrapped around everything Weber proposes. I think I would…
By: Mathieu Yuill on October 19, 2023
My introduction to Calvinism occurred in my 40s, quite by chance, through a conversation with a pastor I had become acquainted with. To my initial bewilderment, he confessed his affiliation with Calvinism, a theological doctrine. At that moment, I mistakenly believed he was referring to his affinity for the popular comic strip “Calvin and Hobbes.”…
By: Cathy Glei on October 19, 2023
“We are interested rather in something entirely different: the influence of those psychological sanctions which, originating in religious belief and the practice of religion, gave a direction to practical conduct and held the individual to it. Now these sanctions were to a large extent derived from the peculiarities of the religious ideas behind them.” [1] …
By: Jonita Fair-Payton on October 17, 2023
Not For Me I struggled with The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. From start to finish, I had a hard time following Max Weber’s writing style. I’m not sure if I’m built for 100-year-old literature, certainly not literature that is extremely dense and filled with so many references to other writers. I have…
By: John Fehlen on October 16, 2023
My copy of Max Weber’s book has a blurb on the back cover. It says “First published in 1905, “The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism” is listed by the International Sociological Association as the fourth most important book of the 20th century.” Personally, if this is true, then I would hate to read…
By: Dinka Utomo on October 13, 2023
The inner self is the basis of human dignity, moreover the inner sense of dignity needs recognition -Francis Fukuyama- Identity politics seems to be a scourge in our national and state life. I still clearly remember the moment of the Governor’s election for our nation’s capital in 2017. Of the three pairs of candidates…
