By: Jana Dluehosh on October 18, 2023
We are human beings, not human doings is a phrase I have found myself using almost weekly as I work with those dying. When we come to the end of our life it is natural to do two things, one is life review: How did I live my life, did I do it right? Am…
By: Kristy Newport on October 18, 2023
Who would you like your children to emulate? I have often considered this as a parent and have wanted to surround my children with good role models; without role models close at hand, I have wanted to encourage my children to read biographies of those who have loved God and endured hardship well. When Martin…
By: David Beavis on October 18, 2023
The creation story of Genesis 1-2 depicts the Creator of all known reality ordering the nonfunctional, nonordered (“formless and void”) world. The Creator then creates in his image the human representatives, Adam and Eve, to co-rule with him as his vice-regents. The divine order involved humans exercising dominion (Genesis 1:28) under the supreme reign of…
By: Pam Lau on October 18, 2023
Pictured above is a copy of the original painting, The Moneychanger and His Wife[1], by Quentin Matsys who was inspired by the two types of moneychangers in the sixteenth century Low Countries. The city’s money changers made payments on the city’s behalf. Commercial money changers exchange foreign coins for local currency keeping benches at the market fairs.…
By: Jonita Fair-Payton on October 17, 2023
Not For Me I struggled with The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. From start to finish, I had a hard time following Max Weber’s writing style. I’m not sure if I’m built for 100-year-old literature, certainly not literature that is extremely dense and filled with so many references to other writers. I have…
By: Jennifer Vernam on October 17, 2023
Our reading of Max Weber’s The Protestant Ethic and the “Spirit” of Capitalism[1] underlines for me the unplanned effects that social movements can have on society. In addition, it serves as a reminder of the challenge we have as leaders and participants in these movements to strive to be aware of the impact of our…
By: Kim Sanford on October 17, 2023
“The unexamined life is not worth living.” The famous quote by Socrates, points us to the value of reflection on our lived experience, past and present. Each of us have first-hand experience with evangelicalism as well as living in a capitalist society. Whether we’ve ever thought about it or not, we are affected by both…
By: Kally Elliott on October 16, 2023
Achieving the “American Dream” is baked into the culture of the United States. We are told to “pull ourselves up by our bootstraps,” to make enough money to provide a 2000 square foot roof over our heads and an SUV to hold our 2.5 kids and Golden Retriever. If we can accomplish this “dream” we…
By: Tim Clark on October 16, 2023
I have long heard about the Protestant Work Ethic and applied the term as a generalization about evangelical Christians, including myself, who are hard-working but who carry a little bit of a guilt complex against ever becoming too lazy “because God created us to thrive and make the best use of our gifs for His…
By: Sara Taylor Lattimore on October 16, 2023
I hold a worldview, a theology, a philosophy that dignity is an innate human right. That we are all created with worth and dignity. As I have observed and learned about dignity is also an action a way of being and a way of interacting with others. It is innate and yet also an intentional…
By: Travis Vaughn on October 16, 2023
In The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, Max Weber described the capitalism of today – a “today” in which Weber wrestled with the subject shortly after the turn of the 20th century – as “an immense cosmos into which the individual is born,” inevitably forcing someone, “in so far as he is involved…
By: Sara Taylor Lattimore on October 14, 2023
“My boss is younger than me!” Have you ever said this or maybe heard it said by someone. This is something that I often shrugged off as a a young leader in my field, because I was thinking, “What did my age have to do with anything?”. I often thought to myself “well good for…
By: Greg McMullen on October 13, 2023
I rather enjoyed The Sound of Leadership from Jules Glanzer.[1] In this fast paced world, often we forget we are leading the orchestra. In our own ego we strive to be the best, or to satisfy the crowds, we sometimes forget we have control over the war drums pushing the ship, inspiring and encouraging the…
By: Chad McSwain on October 13, 2023
“A clergy person is more like a parent or step-parent”[1]. This was the moment I leaned in to the words of Martin Percy. Not that he lacked my attention before, but I had never heard these words applied in such a matter-of-fact way. I had said them in moments of frustration, yet now these were…
By: Daron George on October 13, 2023
There is a continuous quest for growth and development in the realm of leadership. Forbes said as of 2019 (four years ago) that, leadership development was a 366 billion dollar industry[1]. Everywhere you turn, leaders are trying to discover how to lead better. It is a journey marked by the pursuit of excellence and the…
By: Jana Dluehosh on October 13, 2023
“We are the medicine”. This was a quote from a physician at the beginning of my study as an Anam Cara apprentice. Anam Cara is a celtic phrase that means “soul friend”, basically a midwife of the soul. This physician spoke to us on the importance of this phrase, “we are the medicine” as a…
By: Laura Fleetwood on October 12, 2023
What is the best way for our church to help people live and love like Jesus? That’s the question keeping me up at night ever since I accepted a new leadership role at Messiah titled Director of Discipleship. Not only is role new for me, it’s an entirely new role within our organization. It also…
By: Caleb Lu on October 12, 2023
“Leadership is not about being perfect. It is about being willing to learn and grow”.[1] This quote from the beginning pages of Marcus Warner and Jim Wilder’s Rare Leadership: 4 Uncommon Habits for Increasing Trust, Joy, and Engagement in the People You Lead stuck with me as I read the rest of the book and…
By: Shonell Dillon on October 12, 2023
Introduction For as long as I can remember as a child every Friday was “Family Matters” night. The Song would start with “It’s a rare condition this day and age”. The words sang by Jesse Fredericks were explaining that family love is rare. The song writer defined the word rare in the same context that…
By: Jenny Steinbrenner Hale on October 12, 2023
In 2020, I took a rejuvenating three-month sabbatical. I was expecting profound insights to emerge over the course of this time, but at the end of my sabbatical, all I had were three simple thoughts to carry forward: 1.) Do whatever it takes to get enough sleep. 2.) Do one thing at a time, instead…
