By: Aaron Peterson on May 11, 2017
African Theology Matters The stated thesis of How Africa Shaped The Christian Mind by Thomas Oden is simple. African theology matters because, “Africa played a decisive role in the formation of Christian culture” (P9). I think the real impetus for this book though is a call to young Africans to rediscover the importance and influence…
By: Claire Appiah on May 11, 2017
Thomas Oden—How Africa Shaped the Christian Mind: Rediscovering the African Seedbed of Western Christianity Introduction The late Thomas Oden was a theologian affiliated with the American United Methodist Church. He was a prolific author of major theological works relating to Christian doctrine, orthodoxy, and spirituality. Oden was formerly the director of the Center for…
By: Christal Jenkins Tanks on May 11, 2017
“Whether you’re a writer, marketer, consultant, or lawyer: Your work is craft, and if you hone your ability and apply it with respect and care, then like the skilled wheelwright you can generate meaning in the daily efforts of your professional life.”[1] My Challenge: My workday begins when my alarm wakes me up at…
By: Rose Anding on May 11, 2017
How Should a Christian Think? “Just as the twinkle of stars was reduced to nuclear explosions, and life itself to biochemical reactions, so the brain may one day be explained by the same forces that run the rest of the universe.”[1] “What’s the matter? Never mind. What is mind?…
By: Jason Kennedy on May 11, 2017
A few years ago I was invited to speak at a pastor’s conference in Rwanda. Hundreds of pastors attended from the Congo, Tanzania, Uganda and of course Rwanda. I had prepared a topic that was theological. I spoke on the role of the Holy Spirit in both the Old Testament and the New Testament. After…
By: Marc Andresen on May 11, 2017
It has become very popular recently to submit personal DNA to ancestry.com in order to explore one’s origins. Should the Church wish to engage in this process the search through our theological DNA must begin with How Africa Shaped the Christian Mind: Rediscovering the African Seedbed of Western Christianity, written by Thomas C. Oden. Oden’s…
By: Jim Sabella on May 11, 2017
Newport, Cal. Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distract World. Grand Central Publishing, 2016. Summary We face distractions today that ten years ago did not exist. According to Newport, being distracted is a trend to be resisted; it is a trend that it hinders us from functioning and creating at a high level…
By: Mary Walker on May 11, 2017
“A commitment to deep work is not a moral stance and it’s not a philosophical statement – it is instead a pragmatic recognition that the ability to concentrate is a skill that gets valuable things done.”[1] Cal Newport’s book is based on the hypothesis that performing deep work is becoming increasingly rare at the same…
By: Katy Drage Lines on May 9, 2017
By page 8 I had deleted Facebook and Twitter from my phone. By the end of an evening’s read (with my sons’ video games as background accompaniment), I’d resolved the following: silence, not news or music on my drive to work, and walking to work once I move; removing the Facebook tab on my work…
By: Pablo Morales on March 24, 2017
Andrew Marin has written an insightful book. Just like an anthropologist can help us increase our cultural intelligence, Marin gives us insights into the GLBT community that can increase our ministry intelligence. In his book Love is an Orientation, the author challenges the evangelical church to engage the hurting lives of the GLBT community with…
By: Jason Kennedy on March 24, 2017
My daughters, Clara and Ellie, sleep in the same room although Ellie does have her own room. Being ten and six, they go through the same routine. They brush their teeth, we pray and tuck them in to bed. I always forget some of the routine, and it happened again last night. As I tucked…
By: Chip Stapleton on March 24, 2017
Leadership is an Art by Max De Pree is one of those rare, wonderful books that is a quick and easy read – but a book that you find yourself not wanting to get through too quickly, because you worry that you might miss something good. And there is certainly a lot of good in this…
By: Geoff Lee on March 24, 2017
The Art of Leadership – Max DePree In “An Hour on Sunday”, Nancy Beech quotes Gordon MacKenzie on the tension between creative types and management types: “He asks the reader to imagine a serene pasture where a dairy cow is quietly eating grass, chewing her cud, and swishing her tail. Outside the fence stands ‘a…
By: Kevin Norwood on March 23, 2017
Life is filled with issues. What if? What if I am? What will people think about me? What will others say about me? What will I worry about the most? Whose opinions really matters? What is love? What is an orientation? Who determines what is right or wrong? Is there such a thing as truth…
By: Kristin Hamilton on March 23, 2017
Everything in Max De Pree’s Leadership is an Art, should be common sense. Placing people over structures, reveling in creativity, allowing experts to take the lead, and discovering that challenges are really opportunities are all things that are seemingly “Duh” statements when it comes to leadership. De Pree captures these ideals in a winsomely simple…
By: Phil Goldsberry on March 23, 2017
Introduction The “lens” that we look at life through, are “prescribed” by a myriad of practitioners: family dynamics, socio-economics, religious involvement/affiliation, and a host of other catalytic influences. We embrace the fact that we cannot control to whom and where we are born. We express our DNA through skin, hair and eye color, detached/attached ear…
By: Katy Drage Lines on March 23, 2017
While we have been exploring the relationship of our faith with our social and economic context this spring, our exploration has primarily been theoretical, abstract and imaginary. Our discussions have been rich and our readings deep, but still hypothetical. Our final text, however, (perhaps the capstone of this course??), pulls ideas from many…
By: Aaron Cole on March 23, 2017
Summary: Love Is an Orientation, Elevating the Conversation with the Gay Community by Andrew Marin is a contemporary approach to the intersection of same-sex attraction and the Church. Marin skillfully lays out the opposition and the tension that lie on both sides of this issue. He does not shrink back from ultimately answering bottom line…
By: Marc Andresen on March 23, 2017
Introduction I am nearly convinced that the Samaritans for conservative Christians today are the GLBT community. I suspect that if honest, conservative Christians would express the same disdain for this community as the Jews of Jesus’ day did for the Samaritans. To move to righteous resolution should we not be challenged by the fact that…
By: Lynda Gittens on March 23, 2017
ART is based on one’s opinion. It is the imagination and philosophy of the designer. It is defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary as: skill acquired by experience, study, or observation, a branch of learning, an occupation requiring knowledge or skill, the conscious use of skill and creative imagination, or decorative or illustrative elements in printed…
