By: Mary Pandiani on October 22, 2015
Years ago, a friend of mine was laying cement for a new driveway on a cul de sac where he and his family lived. In addition to their family, nearly 20 neighborhood kids played outside every Saturday, in particular a band of young boys who loved to ride their bicycles up and down the street.…
By: Phil Goldsberry on October 22, 2015
Introduction “Christian Theology”, by Alister E. McGrath, is a comprehensive look historically and theologically at the foundational tenants of the Christian faith. McGrath says in the opening “To the Reader: How to Use this Work”, “You must not be frightened by the amount of material the volume includes; you do not need to master…
By: Kevin Norwood on October 22, 2015
Introduction I love theology. As much as anyone can love a subject that is so expansive, complicated and deep. I have grown so much as I have studied systematic theology over the past few years. Knowing theological history helps me to better understand Christianity since Jesus walked the earth. Jesus encountered those who knew and…
By: Aaron Cole on October 22, 2015
Introduction: An Introduction to Christian Theology by Alister E. McGrath is a comprehensive reference on Christian theology. This resource takes you from theological arguments like the challenge and controversies of Gnosticism facing the early church to the tension that lies between a secular philosophy and Christian theology. The material is divided into three major sections:…
By: Colleen Batchelder on October 22, 2015
Are we simply pawns in God’s hand – waiting to be placed – waiting to be positioned on the checkered board? We look down and grip onto His grasp – praying that His desire will match our desire. His hands release and we’re scattered across the chess board – without reason, without cause and without…
By: Marc Andresen on October 22, 2015
Many of us may remember attending our first school dances: perhaps in junior high school. Observing such events now is very humorous because of the obvious discomfort of 13 year olds figuring out how to navigate across that expansive dance floor in order to ask someone to dance. It was not so amusing when I…
By: Aaron Peterson on October 22, 2015
As my dear friend strolled through the Louvre last year, he spotted this 7th Century icon and immediately thought of me. The astounding thing about this tile is that Jesus is presented as a friend to St. Mina (a 3rd century Coptic ascetic and martyr). The title: I Call You My Friends (http://www.monasteryicons.com/product/christ-the-true-friend-icon-166). Before…
By: Anthony Watkins on October 22, 2015
Introduction Alister McGrath’s “Theology: the Basics” is just that, the very basics of theology. Perhaps because it’s about the basics, I found myself getting frustrated and asking myself the following questions: Why am I reading about the basics of theology again, and how is this connecting to my program of leadership and global perspectives? Summary…
By: Pablo Morales on October 22, 2015
INTRODUCTION Recently, at the center stage of international news was the discovery of an ancient church in Chiapas, Mexico. Ever since a dam was built in the region, the ancient building was covered with water, disappearing not only from sight, but also from the memory of the faithful. In these past days, however, the water…
By: Jon Spellman on October 22, 2015
“Liquid Modernity.” That phrase by Zygmunt Bauman is emblazoned in my mind as, perhaps, the most spot-on accurate description of the world in which we all now live and lead. Fluid, ever-changing, morphing, these are words I find myself using a lot when helping leaders understand the nature of the world surrounding their organization, the…
By: Phillip Struckmeyer on October 22, 2015
Becoming a Different Kind of Leader For the last three years I have operated under a job title I have made up for myself. I am the “Network Catalyst” for Nitrogen, a church health and multiplication network within The Wesleyan Church denomination. I live in Lowell, Michigan, a four hour drive from The Wesleyan Church…
By: Nick Martineau on October 21, 2015
Just think about how much has changed in the last 50 years. Just over 50 years ago, the fictional married couple, Lucy and Ricky Ricardo, starred in the number one television show, I Love Lucy, but they couldn’t dare sleep in the same bed. Even though showing the married couple in one bed would be…
By: Dave Young on October 21, 2015
I want to live in a different world. I long for the world that would have been if Adam had said to Eve “Oh, honey—let’s not listen to that snake in the grass. After all, God has shown himself to be completely trustworthy.” Or even if his theological discernment was a little off that day,…
By: Claire Appiah on October 20, 2015
Christian Theology: An Introduction by Alister McGrath Introduction Stanley Grenz and Roger Olson in Who Needs Theology? make it clear that everyone needs theology and everyone engages in theologizing on some level. But, good Christian theology which is the theology that characterizes students in the dminlgp program entails critical thinking and reflection on core values…
By: Brian Yost on October 19, 2015
In his book Visual Faith: Art, Theology, and Worship in Dialogue, William A. Dyrness reminds us of the need to embrace the visual arts and incorporate them into our worship. Visual arts have been embraced for centuries in the church. While not without conflict, it was understood that beauty and artistic expression could be used…
By: Rose Anding on October 19, 2015
Introduction In most cases, we go to church, sing worship songs, read scriptures, dance, preach or listen to preachers. Some of us have Christian songs in our iPods, laptops or even mobile phones. Some of us attend night concerts organized by various preachers across the world. It’s obvious that if I sample 2000…
By: Anthony Watkins on October 18, 2015
Friends and fellow students, thank you for all your thoughtful comments to my blog on Grenz and Olson’s “Who Needs Theology?” Forgive me for taking so long to respond to you. I’m grateful to be a member of this cohort. Several of you brought up the same points. You spoke about my terms: Hermeneutics, Doctrine…
By: Jon Spellman on October 17, 2015
Rational behavior… I have often asked myself, “What in the world are you doing?” Or, “what did you get done today?” I can’t count the number of times that a person has asked me (quite innocently enough) “hey, so what do you do?” and almost immediately I feel the anxiety creeping up the back of…
By: Travis Biglow on October 17, 2015
No Mystery October 15th 2015 (I posted this thursday dont know what happened) I never feel that we are where we are for no reason. I think God ordains us for what we are created for. “People are products of their past”[1] As much as I want to not associate with my past I know…
By: Brian Yost on October 16, 2015
While it is true that a good leader will have a clear vision for the future, it is important to recognize that our past will inform our present as we move into the future. A leader does not just arrive onto the scene. A leader and each person with whom the leader works will function…
