By: Eric Basye on February 8, 2022
On Writing is a memoir written by Stephen King. In his words, it is neither an autobiography nor an instruction manual, but more of a curriculum vitae to form a writer. In describing the art of writing, King compares the fundamentals to a toolbox. There are a few essential items, but the other tools are…
By: Michael Simmons on February 8, 2022
Oregon state law requires that that new residence obtain an Oregon driver’s license within thirty days of residency. My partner Liz and I moved to Newberg, Oregon from Indiana on June 30th 2015. I obtained my Oregon driver’s license on January 8th, 2022. My trip to the DMV took less than an hour, cost no…
By: Mary Kamau on February 7, 2022
In the bible, Paul talks about responding to the cultural context in order to share the Gospel and win the people to Christ. He was careful not to conform to the culture but he tries to find a way in which the Gospel finds expression in ways that are relevant and appropriate to the culture.…
By: Elmarie Parker on February 4, 2022
British historian David W. Bebbington, specializing in the history of modern Britain, provides a thorough analysis of evangelicalism’s development in Evangelicalism in Modern Britain: A History from the 1730s to the 1980s.[1] Uniquely, he examines both the influence of evangelicalism on society and the influence of society on evangelicalism.[2] Classified as a history book, Bebbington…
By: Denise Johnson on February 3, 2022
This week’s readings were intriguing and intimidating. Intriguing because I have a very cursory understanding of The Evangelical Movement and even less of an awareness of its historical effect on my personal faith. I am generally not much of a people pleaser except when it comes to people that I have respect for, so to…
By: Nicole Richardson on February 3, 2022
There is a widespread myth that sharks must continually swim or they will suffocate to death. In truth there are only about two dozen species[1]—including the Great White, the Whale Shark, and the Hammerhead shark—that have a need to be on the move. They have what is known as “obligate ram ventilators,” meaning they…
By: Jonathan Lee on February 3, 2022
The author of Evangelicalism in Modern Britain, David Bebbington, delivers a comprehensive historical account of the evangelical movement in British cultural settings from the 1730s to the 1980s. This historical research book highlights the impact of the Evangelical movements on the developments of many evangelical denominations. Bebbington’s research focuses on the impact of evangelicalism on society…
By: Jonathan Lee on February 3, 2022
Edwin H. Friedman, in his book A Failure of Nerve, examines the connections between rapid solutions in an age of anxiety to well-differentiated leadership. According to his lifetime research and experience in social psychology, he concluded that a well-differentiated leadership would bring progress and healing to any broken relationships, families, company, and society. According to…
By: Michael Simmons on February 3, 2022
According to author, researcher, and historian David Bebbington, an Evangelical is marked by four distinct characteristics, which form a quadrilateral: conversion, activism, biblicism and crucicentrism (Focus on the cross and atonement).[1] Conversionism, that is conversion of souls unto Christ, could be the single value from which evangelicalism was derived. Bebbington writes, “Conversions were the goal…
By: Troy Rappold on February 3, 2022
In Bebbington’s book, Evangelicalism in Modern Britain, he attempts to sketch with a broad stroke, the considerable influence that the evangelical movement has had in Britain from the 1730’s to the 1980’s. It is a comprehensive history, explaining the early beginnings and then demonstrating how the movement has diverged into so many different expressions of…
By: Henry Gwani on February 3, 2022
Focusing on major developments and key players of a significant religious movement within a leading world nation, Evangelicalism in Modern Britain is an excellent historical analysis of the growth of Evangelicalism in Britain from the early 18th century to the late 20th century. Bebbington wisely begins by discussing conversionism, activism, Biblicism, and crucicentrism as the…
By: Roy Gruber on February 3, 2022
“We need to become a New Testament church!” My predecessor recounted the numerous times he heard that statement during his tenure. I like the response he consistently gave, “Which New Testament church do you want to become? Corinth with all its issues? Philippi with its infighting? A church in Galatia with a quick turn away…
By: Andy Hale on February 2, 2022
I will trade you my Tim Keller, Andy Stanley, Tony Evans, John McArthur, and Franklin Graham cards for your John Wesley, George Whitfield, John Newton, and William Wilberforce’s rookie cards. Okay, you can have my Jonathan Edwards All American card too. While the term Evangelical has become synonymous with Conservatism, Republicanism, Fundamentalism, and Hobby Lobby…
By: Eric Basye on February 2, 2022
The author of Evangelicalism in Modern Britain, David Beddington, provides an excellent historical account of the evangelical movement from the 1730s to the 1980s. The four marks of evangelicalism provide the framework for his summary, which are: “conversionism, the belief that lives need to be changed; activism, the expression of the gospel in effort; biblicism,…
By: Kayli Hillebrand on February 1, 2022
The readings this week were centered around the birth and progression of Evangelicalism and its relationship to capitalism. D.W. Bebbington’s historical Evangelicalism in Modern Britain provided a broad context of the formation and expansion of Evangelicalism throughout Britain. A history professor by trade in both Scotland and in the U.S., Bebbington articulates what an Evangelical…
By: Mary Kamau on January 30, 2022
Leadership is probably the discipline that has attracted the highest number of authors and it amazes me the rate at which new ideas and techniques for increased productivity, are identified and touted as the latest or ‘the must have’ for success in leadership. It’s also true that every leader is on the look out for…
By: Henry Gwani on January 28, 2022
Perhaps few books on leadership compare with Edwin Friedman’s Failure of Nerve, a critical examination of contemporary American leadership against the background 15th and 16th century European leadership. Using Europe’s transition from a millennium of uneventful ordinariness to a glorious era of innovation, art, exploration, discovery and expansion[1], Friedman argues that, today like in the…
By: Elmarie Parker on January 28, 2022
In the fall, I focused on Edwin H. Friedman’s arguments regarding empathy and the ways in which empathy disempowers personal responsibility, thus contributing to toxic, reactive, chronic anxiety. As I summarized then, in A Failure of Nerve: Leadership in the Age of the Quick Fix, Friedman develops his argument for why it is a leader’s…
By: Nicole Richardson on January 27, 2022
Meaning-making or map-making is my over arching understanding of this doctorate journey. What does my map of leadership look like and how do I make meaning of it? I sometimes wish I could physically open that popup relief map and walk into it to get a street level perspective. This is one of those times.…
By: Troy Rappold on January 27, 2022
In re-reading Friedman’s book, A Failure of Nerve, my attention became directed on chapter two. The title is, A Society in Regression and it discusses at length how our American culture is unraveling. “A society cannot evolve, no matter how much freedom is guaranteed, when the citizenry is more focused on one another than on…
