DLGP

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

Category: Uncategorized

Creative Kleptomania

By: on March 7, 2023

Okay. . . confession time everyone. When you read the title, Steal Like an Artist, did the word “steal” entice you to read more?  Or for a quick minute did you wonder if you were being led on a path to breaking a commandment? Confession, I wanted to read more. The book convinced me that…

4 responses

Is Bias Wrapped In A Dopamine Taco?

By: on March 7, 2023

I have a teenage daughter that likes to speak into my life. She often shares what she learned in high school with us and how messed up the world is. She will often make suggestions in how we should do things, or even at our church. Recently she informed me that if I would not…

13 responses

Faked It Til I Made It

By: on March 7, 2023

“Pretend to be making something until you actually make something.”[1] That’s exactly what I’m doing in this doctoral program. I am pretending that I am writing a dissertation on mental health and the Church. Maybe in a couple of years and some change I will actually have written it! “Fake it until you make it”[2]…

13 responses

Some Creative Content…

By: on March 7, 2023

It feels a little ‘tone deaf’ for me to write yet another boring blog post about a book that is seeking to stimulate creativity (and justify the means through which we all become creative: theft). So…here are a few somewhat random thoughts with creative titles stimulated by the somewhat random book, “Steal Like an Artist.”…

11 responses

Gender Bias in the Bible? Yeah, but wait…

By: on March 6, 2023

Is the Bible gender biased? Are there examples in the Bible which confirm that God does not have a bias among the sexes? I have struggled with these questions and have found hope ultimately in the example Jesus gave in how he treated both sexes when he walked the earth. Reading Pragya Agarwal’s book Sway:…

7 responses

From whom am I stealing? Who is stealing from ME?

By: on March 6, 2023

Austin Kleon’s Steal Like an Artist[1] was a fun read. It was not the most intellectual content we have had this term, but I am thankful for a week that did not require a lot of what I call “thick” reading. A review I found describes the book this way: “It’s just filled with quotes…

8 responses

It’s a magical world!

By: on March 6, 2023

For academic, professional, and personal reasons this school year has been moving at breakneck speed for me; so fast at times that I’m often afraid I can’t keep up. I genuinely enjoy reading, but lately I’ve felt like I’m reading to save my life—like the bus in the movie Speed, if I let my pace…

17 responses

10 Things

By: on March 6, 2023

I’m so glad Austin Kleon highlighted Ecclesiastes 1:9: “There is nothing new under the sun”[1] in Steal Like an Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative. Therefore, in the spirit of Kleon, I’m going to follow suit. Here’s 10 things that stood out to me upon a thorough, every-word-read reading of the book.…

6 responses

A troubled sojourner

By: on March 5, 2023

As I looked at Polanyi’s work, I saw a troubled sojourner struggling to live a life of impact in a world that is so rapidly changing. Karl Polanyi’s Great Transformation: The Political and Economic Origins of Our Time is a source of great insights that can help us see more details of the complexity of…

4 responses

Cut Once, so Measure Twice!

By: on March 5, 2023

During my carpentry apprenticeship years, I heard the phrase so many as it was repeated to us (the newly hired or apprentices), “cut once, so measure twice.” When you heard something repeat and repeat so many times, it becomes annoying, but it becomes part of you. In my first year as an carpentry apprentice, I…

4 responses

Unpacking My Christian Entrepreneurial Guilt

By: on March 5, 2023

Why are you charging a fee for a guided prayer session? Talking to God should be free.” That message appeared in my DMs after I invited my social media followers to an online guided prayer session I was conducting. In spite of more than 30 people happily paying for the online experience, I never offered…

4 responses

Blessed are the flexible

By: on March 4, 2023

The Practice of Adaptive Leadership: Tools and Tactics for Changing your Organization and the World is about possibility, yet not a baseless or pie-in-the-sky sort. But one grounded in a realistic kind of possibility which demands working hard to lead in a fast-changing environment. Drawing from a total of more than 60 years of leadership…

2 responses

Ironic Reality

By: on March 4, 2023

“Do you know ____?” I had a conversation with an old acquaintance that was about 45 minutes of this question in some for or another as they ran through a list of the connections they had made during their time in ministry. It reminded me of conversations around lunch tables at large Evangelical conferences centered…

8 responses

Happy Cow Trails

By: on March 3, 2023

Have you ever heard of the concept of Cow trails?  When looking at a field where cows often graze you’ll begin to notice trails that there is no longer growth possible.  This is because Cows take the path of least resistance.  Day after day they follow this easy trail because it requires less work.  “That…

8 responses

Commodities Church

By: on March 3, 2023

“All your big givers are going to leave.” That is what an older church member leveraged over the phone one morning – my day off, no less. I had made changes to the music and it was not received well by some. Enter the threat: if you do not change it back then all your…

15 responses

Thinking about thoughts…

By: on March 3, 2023

Have you ever thought about your thoughts? Thoughts can live in the present, then suddenly think of the past, or dream of the future. They can wander to distant lands and then focus and shut out distractions[1] Well, no doubt, noted psychology professor and esteemed scientific thinker, Daniel Kahneman, has thought much about thoughts. Reading…

7 responses

Creating a culture of Adaptability is Key to Successful Leadership.

By: on March 3, 2023

The pace of changes has increased significantly since the beginning of the 21st Century, and success in organizations is becoming more about adapting to the environment.  The challenge of leadership is not just about adapting to the environment but also leading their followers to change and adapt to the environment. People have inertia and resist…

14 responses