By: Darren Banek on March 20, 2025
As I launched into this educational journey, I have become increasingly aware of my tendency for Elementary reading, getting bogged down and stuck on trivial details, and losing sight of the overarching themes and direction of the books I am reading.[1] To combat this, I have tried to establish creative habits in preparation for reading…
By: Graham English on March 20, 2025
I have been in two minor earthquakes that left me safe but scared. Both were strong enough to shake the house, rattle pictures off walls, and break dinnerware. Once they were over, while they did cause momentary anxiety, life continued as normal. Neither was even close to being as life-altering as the big earthquakes that…
By: Robert Radcliff on March 20, 2025
This week, I read Bobby Duffy’s book, Why We’re Wrong About Nearly Everything: A Theory of Human Misunderstanding. By doing surveys of public perception compared to statistics on issues, Duffy showed the human propensity to be wrong. Through a vast amount of research, he showed without “massive misinformation campaigns by automated bots… we’re still very…
By: Joel Zantingh on March 20, 2025
In reading, Stephen Hicks, Explaining Postmodernism: Scepticism and Socialism from Rousseau to Foucault, one gets a clear sense of the amount of time it takes to root ideas into the very fabric of a society. What started in the 1950s and 1960s among French philosophers [1], became the University texts in the 1990s and early…
By: Betsy on March 20, 2025
About eight years ago one of my staff team, who I still employ, made me a T shirt that said in big bold black words, ‘I AM NOT YOUR MOTHER’. Why did she do that? Because as a woman leader it can be what happens., just like for male leaders and father wounds. It is…
By: Glyn Barrett on March 20, 2025
Stephen Hicks’ book, Explaining Postmodernism: Skepticism and Socialism from Rousseau to Foucault [1] takes the reader on a deep dive into the origins of postmodernism, tracking its philosophical development and highlighting its connections to Marxist ideology. As someone who values Judeo-Christian principles and upholds the Bible as the Word of God, I find his analysis…
By: Adam Cheney on March 19, 2025
The village I lived in along the southern coast of Kenya had a socialist nature to it. Within that village, commodities were communal and meant to be shared. If I bought a ladder, it naturally was for the collective use of the entire village and can be returned to me upon request. There was a…
By: Jennifer Eckert on March 19, 2025
For nearly a decade in the fifties, American television showcased the comedy sitcom I Love Lucy, which remains an icon and one of the most beloved shows ever. In the starring role, Lucille Ball plays Lucy Ricardo, a silly and lovable housewife who gets herself into ridiculous and humorous situations. The line, “Lucy, you have…
By: Joff Williams on March 18, 2025
“He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.” Ecclesiastes 3:11 Living with tensions is part of the human experience. The reflections of the author of Ecclesiastes reveal a man who…
By: Jeff Styer on March 17, 2025
I have had two formal philosophy courses in my life. The first one, Critical and Creative Thinking, focused on logic. The second, Introduction to Philosophy was taught by a former Nazi soldier with a thick German accent that was difficult to understand. Based on these two courses, I failed to develop a love of philosophy. …
By: Christian Swails on March 15, 2025
The ego is our dominant personality. The ego is not a bad thing, in fact it is part of our survival and protection. It is our persona (Latin for mask worn by an actor) that has been formed over years and decades, to get us what we want and need out of life. The ego…
By: Ivan Ostrovsky on March 14, 2025
Simon P. Walker’s concept of undefended leadership highlights how authentic leaders foster growth in others, even when self-doubt arises. My experience playing soccer in seminary serves as an excellent example of this. When I first joined the team, I was eager to play with my fellow seminarians and test my skills. Even though I knew…
By: Joel Zantingh on March 14, 2025
In The End of Race Politics: Arguments for a Colorblind America, Coleman Hughes calls for an end to racial identity as a primary marker for people, because it has not produced a more flourishing and equal society. His argument is “that colorblindness is the wisest principle by which to govern our fragile experiment in multiethnic…
By: Julie O'Hara on March 14, 2025
An acquaintance recently shared that she left a mutual group because it was too white. Her perspective was that it was a “sea of white faces.” I experienced the same group as wonderfully diverse. I thought the group looked less like me than the typical Oregon demographic. At over 30% non-white, it was easily twice…
By: Daren Jaime on March 14, 2025
Race has been a factor in my life since my childhood. I remember interacting in multiple cross-racial settings and feeling like everything was peachy. I believed race was just a differentiation of skin color, but as time progressed, I found it to be the source of controversy and conflict. Growing up as a child in…
By: Noel Liemam on March 14, 2025
Introduction What is ‘race’ to me personally? Well, I am a Micronesian from the Pacific Islands which has a certain geographical location on this planet. Race to me refers a group of people with a certain likeness, way of living, same or at least similar language and history or backgrounds. This is not based on…
By: Elysse Burns on March 13, 2025
I grew up in Los Angeles, California, in a pastor’s home where the vision for a multicultural church, united by faith in Jesus, was central to our community. It wasn’t until I was in junior high, attending a school where I was one of the few white students, that I began to understand what it…
By: Jess Bashioum on March 13, 2025
Reading Leading Out of Who You Are[1] by Simon P Walker was life changing. I found myself moving through reflecting on profound truths, tears, self-awareness, inner healing and my identity in Jesus. The undefended leader, who has deliberately chosen weakness and true self-sacrifice,[2]is the kind of leader I want to be. To become an undefended…
By: Judith McCartney on March 13, 2025
Leadership is often defined by strength, empowerment, control, and authority. Have we wondered what leadership might look like through the lens of authenticity and vulnerability? Hello. My name is Judith, and I want a world where leadership strength is about vulnerability, transparency, self-awareness, openness, and emotional intelligence. These are wonderful tools for building trust among…
By: Michael Hansen on March 13, 2025
In 2010, I entered a new senior leadership role with an organic produce distributor in Portland, Oregon. As part of my onboarding and development, the Board of Directors requested that I attend a 3-day class with Josh, our CEO. It was called “Speaking with Conviction.” We were introduced to our instructor and a dozen other…
