By: Mary Pandiani on November 14, 2014
As Forrest Gump says, “Life is a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.” I’ll confess to reading Handbook of Leadership Theory and Practice like I eat See’s Chocolate Assortments. I turn over each chocolate before I eat it, dig my fingernail just a bit to see what kind it is. If…
By: Brian Yost on November 13, 2014
There is no shortage of materials on leadership. An amazon.com search on “leadership” resulted in 24,662 books and a Google search scored 59,800,000 possibilities for the inquisitive leader to explore. Nitin Nohria and Rakesh Khurana’s book Handbook of Leadership Theory and Practice is an excellent resource for anyone who is serious about the study of…
By: Phillip Struckmeyer on November 13, 2014
The “Handbook of Leadership Theory and Practice” edited by Nitin Nohria and Rakesh Khurana is an intriguing leadership compilation of great leadership writings. Birthed out of a belief in a lack of strong academic and scholarly, researched-based writing on the topic of leadership theory and practice, Nohria and Khurana have compiled a significant work addressing…
By: Dave Young on November 13, 2014
After skimming and reading several chapters of “Handbook of Leadership Theory and Practice”; chapter ten caught my interest: Mark A. Zupan’s “An Economic Perspective on Leadership.”[1] Don’t judge the chapter by its title – this is very practical. The economic perspective presented is that of the “prisoner’s dilemma” as a leader’s opportunity: “the prisoner’s dilemma…
By: Nick Martineau on November 13, 2014
Hard to believe this is the last of Jason’s books for us to read this semester. These last few months have flown by. We’ve been taken down this journey teaching us how to read books, we were introduced to ethnography, a crash course in theology and social theory, and we now close the semester with…
By: Clint Baldwin on November 10, 2014
Leadership. Especially leadership in global context(s) is an undertaking fraught with complexity and it promises pitfalls to all who enter the process (great learning and joys too, but I’ll leave that for the moment for another time). Yet, the setbacks need not happen as often as might have been and the dilemmas need not be…
By: rhbaker275 on November 9, 2014
It is difficult to find a moral voice that speaks with authority and clarity in a twenty-first century secular society. Perhaps the voice is there but is obscure, nearly impossible to hear and discern in a pluralistic society. Richard Lischer in The End of Words: The Language of Reconciliation in a Culture of Violence suggests…
By: Michael Badriaki on November 8, 2014
The words I kept on thinking about while reading Nullens and Michener’ book The Matrix of Christian Ethics: Integrating Philosophy and Moral Theology in a Postmodern Context, are the title of this post. While visiting with one of the mothers in a village Uganda, she shared with me during conservation, noting “son, if we are…
By: Mitch Arbelaez on November 8, 2014
Philosophical study is often neglected by the Evangelical and historically the Pentecostal branches of contemporary religious sects. Some say it is the very ethos of the Evangelical/Pentecostal movements being “activist, populist, pragmatic, and utilitarian” that provides the reasoning as to why they do not delve into deeper intellectual efforts. These branches of Christendom are too…
By: Richard Volzke on November 7, 2014
Ethics is a broad subject, open to much debate. I’ve found that Christian ethics is an especially touchy subject, as some people equate this with legalism or Christian rules. Yet, so much of Scripture touches on ethics or moral values. Since “ethics is a system of moral principles”[1], Christian ethics involves the way that we…
By: Carol McLaughlin on November 7, 2014
The words startled me, “Oh! Oh, no!” my mother-in-law exclaimed. Immediately I thought, “What did we forget? Did I forget something? Did Mom leave her purse behind in the doctor’s office?” All of this happened suddenly as I was driving down Seattle’s Madison Avenue away from Swedish Orthopedic Clinic and toward the I-5 freeway, the…
By: John Woodward on November 7, 2014
Whenever I pick up a book on philosophy, I always wonder how many people actual think about ethics, morals or philosophical leanings? Sadly, most people I know never stop to consider why they believe what they believe or examine the reasons for their actions. This is where The Matrix of Christian Ethics is a helpful…
By: Telile Fikru Badecha on November 7, 2014
A friend of mine, who serves in the village of Wondo, told me a story of one of his church member, Kedir, who is a teacher, a husband of two wives and a father. A couple years ago, Kedir decided to follow Jesus with his family and be a part of the newly planted small…
By: Julie Dodge on November 7, 2014
One of my roles at Concordia is to serve as the faculty advisor to the Social Work Club. The Club has decided to support the social worker at the elementary school next door – a high need, high poverty school. One challenge the school social worker faces is helping parents who live far away to…
By: Dawnel Volzke on November 7, 2014
Anthony Elliott’s book, Contemporary Social Theory: An Introduction[1], provides a solid overview of theories on how societies have changed and developed over time. Elliot looks at the relationships between individuals and societies, and themes such as gender and race. A wide range of popular theories is covered, seeking answers to how and why society and societal norms have developed…
By: Brian Yost on November 6, 2014
Anthony Elliott’s Contemporary Social Theory: An Introduction is a fascinating little book. Well ok, it may not be little, but it is fascinating none-the-less. The structure of the book makes it very usable as a reference book. The Kindle version, in particular makes it easy to navigate from the contents page to the chapters and…
By: Liz Linssen on November 6, 2014
“Jason”[1] is a compassionate and sincere man and has been a member of our church from the beginning of the church plant. He first came with his two young children until his wife, who left him for another man, decided to not only ruin their marital relationship, but take his children away from him too.…
By: Dave Young on November 6, 2014
The world is constantly changing and there are some brave people who want to understand those changes on a societal level; and there are those who want to see how those movements impact our quality of life, well-being and community. Speaking about social theory and practical impacts Professor Charles Lemert says: “For others, it might…
By: Jon Spellman on November 6, 2014
Stickin’ it to the MAN! As long as there are people living in societies there will be social classes. As long as there are social classes, there will be disparities between those classes — “haves” and “have-nots.” As long as there are “haves” and “have-nots” there will be perceptions of inequality, injustice and oppression;…
By: Nick Martineau on November 6, 2014
Most people consider Wichita, Kansas to be the global center of the world right? I might be misguided but the truth is I don’t have to go very far to see the impact of a global interconnected society. My wife and I had a sweet Guatemalan man do some work on our house. He came…
