By: John Fehlen on March 13, 2023
Our family is a “Lord of the Rings” family. Some families are more “Harry Potter.” No judgement from me, except that you are wrong, and we are right. There, I said it. Cancel me. When all the kids, and by “kids” I mean grown young adults, are home, and by “home” I mean the place…
By: Dinka Utomo on March 9, 2023
Read deeply. Stay open. Continue to wonder. -Austin Kleon- Impostor syndrome is a familiar experience for me. I’ve noticed that it tends to surface whenever I embark on something significant and meaningful. I vividly recall feeling extremely anxious about homiletics, a subject during my undergraduate studies twenty-three years ago. As part of the curriculum,…
By: Adam Harris on March 9, 2023
I don’t watch a lot of movies these days, but several months ago I had some time and felt the urge to watch the new Elvis movie with Austin Butler. Austin ended up winning the Golden Globes Award for Best Actor in his portrayal as the “King of Rock”. I had a new appreciation for…
By: Todd E Henley on March 9, 2023
Born in Circleville, Ohio, in 1983, Austin Kleon’s work focuses and rambles around non-fiction and “motivational” niche. Being a millennial himself, Austin realizes the cursory attention span of the internet generation and therefore, he keeps it short and hurls doodles and illustrations frequently just to make sure that the focus stays intact. [1]. This millennial…
By: Mathieu Yuill on March 8, 2023
Several years ago I was at a conference and came across a book by Ken Wytsma titled Create Vs. Copy[1]. It explored the value of copying others as a learning tool but warned against relying on it as you progressed – especially if you were seeking to copy something purely for personal gain. I picked up a…
By: Cathy Glei on March 7, 2023
Okay. . . confession time everyone. When you read the title, Steal Like an Artist, did the word “steal” entice you to read more? Or for a quick minute did you wonder if you were being led on a path to breaking a commandment? Confession, I wanted to read more. The book convinced me that…
By: Esther Edwards on March 7, 2023
While studying music education in my undergrad, I had become quite fascinated with the jazz genre. In my quest to learn more about complex jazz chord structures, I signed up for jazz lessons with a well-known jazz instructor in the Philadelphia area on one of my summer breaks. I thought there would be a wealth…
By: Jonita Fair-Payton on March 7, 2023
Oh, so much good stuff in one small book. Steal Like An Artist was the perfect feel-good read for me. I am convinced that Austin Kleon and I would be best friends if we met, and please be advised that from this point on I will refer to him as my best friend in my…
By: Kim Sanford on March 7, 2023
I’ll start today with a confession. I love art in all its forms, but I didn’t know this about myself until recently. Growing up in a rural community with parents in medical and business professions, I’d never visited an art museum. My dad’s hunting trophies were the decor that graced the walls of our home.…
By: John Fehlen on March 6, 2023
I have a robust, running list called “My Life Goals.” It has a wide variety of bucket list-like items that I am excited to accomplish at some point in my life. It’s exhilarating to check the box “done.” I can feel the endorphins rushing through me. Some of My Life Goals, in no particular order,…
By: Dinka Utomo on March 3, 2023
The illusion that we understand the past fosters overconfidence in our ability to predict the future. -Daniel Kahneman- Becoming a pastor and church leader who is successful and liked by the congregation in the long term is a dream for many ministers. I also hoped for it and fought hard to achieve it. Therefore…
By: Jonita Fair-Payton on March 2, 2023
I discovered that my approach to completing the assignments this semester needed to change. The volume of reading, even done inspectionally, can easily become overwhelming. I realized in the first few weeks that I needed to make a shift. Making a shift from getting it done by the deadline to creating a meaningful experience that…
By: Todd E Henley on March 2, 2023
If you are reading this blog, go back and read the title. If you continue to read this blog, my apologies to you! January 31, 2023, I said to myself, “February is going to be the hardest month of the year.” February 6, I began teaching a four-week, “Entrepreneurial Leadership” class at Fresno Pacific Biblical…
By: Adam Harris on March 1, 2023
Daniel Kahneman’s, Thinking, Fast and Slow, brings awareness to what is happening continually within the human brain and how it effects our judgements and perceptions. The brain is extremely efficient at processing and interpreting information rapidly, but Kahneman warns that its ability to process information quickly (system 1) can cause misjudgments and wrong associations if…
By: Mathieu Yuill on March 1, 2023
I make a lot of decisions on instinct and I rely on my memory a lot to inform how I will approach given situations. The fault in this system has become pretty apparent as I look at my classmates’ blog posts with several references to the other books we have read and are intentionally weaving…
By: Cathy Glei on March 1, 2023
Leaders make a lot of decisions. After reading Thinking, Fast and Slow by the economist, psychologist and professor, Dr. David Kahneman, not only are a lot of decisions made on a daily basis but my decision making process involves the interplay of two systems. System one is the automatic system that acts without conscious…
By: Kim Sanford on February 28, 2023
My younger son is freakishly good at making mental connections. Since he was little, he’s been surprising us by blurting out the most random and absolutely on-point knowledge. We used to ask him, “How did you know that, Zachary?” Or “Who told you that?” and he would say in his high-pitched 3-year-old voice, “My BRAIN…
By: John Fehlen on February 27, 2023
Nobel Prize recipient, Daniel Kahneman’s landmark book “Thinking, Fast and Slow” has been in publication since 2011. This groundbreaking work explores the two systems that drive the way we think. Simply put (as if!), System 1 is fast and emotional, while System 2 is slower and more logical (Kahneman, 20). For over 12 years, since…
By: Dinka Utomo on February 25, 2023
“Someone who has clarity about his or her own life goals…, and therefore, be able to take stands at the risk of displeasing” -Edwin H. Friedman- Being a leader who leads sincerely is not easier than being a leader who only wants to seek his own security. During my vicariate tenure for two…
By: Tim Clark on February 23, 2023
I’m going to start this post with a confession. As I was reading A Failure of Nerve, Leadership in the Age of the Quick Fix [1]by Edwin H. Friedman, I thought about the people at church who approach me after a sermon and ask, “have you been reading my mail?” Most often I have no clue what…
