DLGP

Doctor of Leadership in Global Perspectives: Crafting Ministry in an Interconnected World

Category: Uncategorized

Envisioning an Organic Society of Global Citizens

By: on September 28, 2012

In the second half of Elliot’s Contemporary Social Theory: An Introduction, I was drawn to the contemporary theories of Castell, Beck and Urry’s describing societies as ‘Network, Risk and Liquid’ Societies.    Although these theories have received their fair share of criticism, particularly, for being exaggerated and confined to today’s ‘bourgeois’ in the Mega cities, they…

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“It is what it is”

By: on September 28, 2012

Often I hear the phrase “It is what it is”. It is a way to respond to stressful personal and political situations. The phrase is one of acceptance for the way things are instead of becoming overly anxious about them. But it is so prevalent that it seems like an attitude of disengagement. Recently, I…

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“Globalization Snapshots”

By: on September 28, 2012

Globalization impacts the majority of people. In other words, most of the world is being impacted by the rest of the world either directly or indirectly. This effect can be seen in biblical history, modern detestable social settings, and in major fast food giants. King David Prior to becoming king of Israel, David experienced the…

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Sliding On The Surface of Things

By: on September 27, 2012

This week in our D.Min cohort we finished the last half of Anthony Elliott’s Contemporary Social Theory: An Introduction.  One theme that particularly resonated with my life and ministry is postmodernism.  I have personally been reflecting on and interacting with postmodernism for much of my life.  Furthermore, one of the key topics of the last two…

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Only twelve followers but a high level of retweets

By: on September 27, 2012

My church has an own Facebook account for six month now. It was hard to convince the church board of the purpose and sense of this new media endeavor. My point was quite obvious, to me social media profiles are unavoidable in our high technological and interconnected world. We have to rather discuss the HOW…

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The Wall

By: on September 27, 2012

It was a beautiful morning in late May as we worked our way through the streets of Jerusalem.  For most of our students there was not a care to be had. For myself and my co-leader we understood the gravity of what we were about to experience.  All of sudden off in the distance we…

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Reconciling in the Public Sphere

By: on September 27, 2012

  In the second half of Anthony Elliott’s book, “Contemporary Social Theory: An Introduction,” I found myself intrigued by much of the writings of Jurgen Habermas and how his views with media, the bourgeois, theology and feminism. In his work entitled, “Reconciliation through the Public Use of Reason,” Habermas makes a powerful statement. He writes,…

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Cut off the end of the Ham!

By: on September 26, 2012

There is a joke that has been around for quite a while.  A young man is helping in the kitchen, watching his new bride prepare a ham for Sunday dinner.  As the wife cuts off an inch from each end, the husband asks why.  She replies that it must make the ham more delicious.  She…

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The Power of Spin in Politically Consumed America and The Power of Silence in Oppressive Regimes

By: on September 26, 2012

I found the section, “Baudrillard: postmodernity as simulated media culture” a fascinating read (even though I struggled to understand the interrelated intricacies of the fragmented views that make up the post-modernity social theories).  In particular, I was very interested in his theory that viewing social interplay as “signs and spectacles” leaves simulation the only reality.…

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Women, Sexuality & the Church

By: on September 26, 2012

Abstinence before marriage has long been held as an ideal; from the tribal Middle East origins of the monotheistic traditions to contemporary Christianity.  Even the “mother of God” was abstinent as well as a virgin when she delivered Jesus.  As the Christian church evolved, some traditions like polygamy and arranged marriages were left behind; while…

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Globalization and the Churh

By: on September 26, 2012

The world is getting smaller, or at least it seems to be, because of globalization (or maybe it’s because I’m sitting in South Africa with 24 people from the United States).  Globalization is the intensifying of relationships around the world, be it economic, technological or others. We might answer the age-old question of, ‘What does…

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Who Is Responsible for Our Children Receiving a Quality Education?

By: on September 23, 2012

Even the mention of social agendas can frustrate the common man, especially when politics are involved. However, one leading issue of our day, the education of our children, is an elephant in the room that we cannot ignore. It is an issue with international impact, one that effects how future generations will find their place…

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Society isn’t a One-way Street of Either/Or

By: on September 20, 2012

Experiencing our Indian traffic can be quite an adventure. An outsider would easily assume that the average Indian is well versed with an extreme sport. And to a westerner, particularly, it would be completely chaotic, reckless, and dangerous. At first glance, there seems to be no order or structure to the way the traffic flows.…

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Past, present and future

By: on September 20, 2012

Two things, one from the past and one from the present weigh heavily on me during this present reading and even as I write now.  Having had very little exposure to the study of social theory in the past, the initial reading of ’ Contemporary Social Theories’ by Anthony Elliot was a little tough but…

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Signs of the Times

By: on September 20, 2012

“Sign, sign, everywhere a sign Blockin’ out the scenery, breakin’ my mind Do this, don’t do that, can’t you read the sign?”   This song by Five Man Electrical Band coming out of the 60s in the U.S. represented a huge social shift in the culture. Some say this message was the youth culture reacting…

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Is Marx Right About Our Society?

By: on September 20, 2012

Is Marx right in his critique of capitalism? When we examine the current situation that exists in the U.S. at first glance, it may appear the Marx’s point is well taken. For example, on the one hand, Marx argues that the obvious economic inequities that are visible in our capitalistic society are due to structural…

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