By: Pam Lau on November 14, 2023
A few weeks ago, my husband, Brad, and I had dinner with a friend who moved out of state during the Pandemic. Mark sat across the table from us seemingly more at peace than the last time we saw him. He caught us up on his new job, his wife and three children. Because I…
By: Kally Elliott on November 14, 2023
“Now, go to bed and let your brain work on it while you’re asleep.” My mom frequently said this to me when I was a child practicing a new song on the piano. I would roll my eyes, believing she was just trying to get me to go to bed for the night, but she…
By: Tim Clark on November 14, 2023
The Sci-Fi novelist Arthur C. Clarke once said, “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”[1] I know that quote because it’s provided the seed for many of my favorite stories, from superhero movies like Thor and Dr. Strange, to Sci-Fi shows like Star Trek, to mysteries like Sherlock Holmes, to just about anything having…
By: Jonita Fair-Payton on November 14, 2023
Scary Start The title, the cover art and the first few lines made me a bit skeptical about what I was to read. I was genuinely confused and had to work through a few things before opening the book. First let’s talk about the title. Spellbound, sounds creepy, spooky, and instantly brought the image of…
By: Kim Sanford on November 14, 2023
I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.[1] One of the archetypes Daniel Lieberman highlights is the Journey. It’s true that as humans we connect deeply to this idea of an epic journey or even seeing life as a journey. This is evidenced by the sheer volume of vocabulary that exists…
By: Jennifer Vernam on November 13, 2023
Ten years ago, in a Harvard Business Review article[1], Susan David and Christina Congleton covered the topic of Emotional Agility in leaders. In it, they observed that it was not the negative thoughts that trips up leaders, it’s the way they respond and process those thoughts. Dr Daniel Liberman helps us to unpack this concept…
By: Jana Dluehosh on November 10, 2023
I am, was, will be, always have, sometimes am a “good girl” depending on your definition. I grew up most of my life in North Dakota, where there was not a lot to get in trouble with, except the normal teenage stuff. As an adult reflecting back, I always wondered why I didn’t do more…
By: Dinka Utomo on November 9, 2023
We will only know who we really are by the re-ordering of our agency, the transfer of object and subject of self, in relationship to the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. -Jason Clark- There was a Sunday School song that was sung quite often when I was little. The lyric quote is as…
By: Todd E Henley on November 9, 2023
Years ago, I heard a story of a middle-aged woman named Nancy who lived in Pennsylvania and one summer traveled to California to visit her sister. Nancy and her sister decided to go shopping in Tijuana, a Mexican border town below California. On their way back to the car to head to California, Nancy saw…
By: Russell Chun on November 9, 2023
အိုး၊ ပထမကမ္ဘာပြဿနာ။, Wow a 1st world problem or အခြားမိခင်မှ ညီအစ်ကိုများ, Brothers from another mother (Burmese) Part 1: What my peers and others are saying.. Part 2: Desire…End of Globalization?… Part 3: What I am learning…. Part 1: What my peers and others are saying.. In the discussion of Polanyi and capitalism[1], I made a…
By: Mathieu Yuill on November 9, 2023
Journeying through the intersection of faith and capitalism can sometimes feel like wandering through a marketplace, where each vendor seems to promote their own version of salvation. In Evangelicalism and Capitalism; A Reparative Account and Diagnosis,[1] Jason Clark provides a thought provoking analysis of this junction examining the occasionally conflicting relationship between these two realms.…
By: Adam Harris on November 9, 2023
Last week I went to the theater with our pastor and his wife’s small group to see, After Death, which is a documentary exploring NDE’s (Near Death Experiences), produced by the same people responsible for The Chosen. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I was pleasantly surprised by their approach to this complex, and…
By: Cathy Glei on November 9, 2023
There is so much that this world has to offer that deforms a person. Author and University of Dayton professor, Dr. Vincent Miller, in his book Consuming Religion: Christian Faith and Practice in a Consumer Religion says, “Our attention to the nitty-gritty materialist details of these cultural shifts will be better able to guide a…
By: Pam Lau on November 8, 2023
“Unless we attend to these deeper workings of culture, Theological reflection will miss the most profound challenge of consumerism–the commodification of culture–the reduction of religious beliefs, symbols, and values to objects of consumption.”[1] What is My Desire? Truth be told, when I saw what was scheduled on my calendar from June 28-July 1, 2023, I…
By: Jenny Dooley on November 7, 2023
Maybe it’s jetlag. My head is spinning following my recent trip to Bali, Indonesia. Memories of my life there 34-years ago are frequent companions. Moments of grief turned to joy, memories of God’s provision, and reconnection with people I hold dear fill my thoughts. Needless-to-say memories of bamboo beds, mallard ducks, and Oreos sparked by…
By: Jonita Fair-Payton on November 7, 2023
Commodification I must admit, I had no idea what commodification meant. I liked the sound of it but had no idea how to use it in a sentence. So, of course, I looked it up. Commodification the act or fact of turning something into an item that can be bought and sold.(1) If I understand…
By: Kim Sanford on November 7, 2023
Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to…
By: Tim Clark on November 6, 2023
At the start of Jason Clark’s dissertation is a question from Dan Kimball, referenced again in Clark’s fifth chapter. Kimbal asks the question, “Have we, over time and with good intentions and pure motivations, turned our churches into vendors of religious services and goods?”[1] This is the jumping off point for Clark’s research, and the…
By: John Fehlen on November 6, 2023
NOTE: The following “stream of consciousness” essay contains possible emotional triggers. I grew up devoutly Catholic. I was an Altar Boy. I attended parochial school. I was spanked by a nun. Seriously, she bent me over the edge of her desk and used the “board of education” on my hinder parts. It only happened…
By: Esther Edwards on November 6, 2023
I have 4 grandchildren ranging from 21 months to 5 years old. They are the joy of our lives. However, that joy can be brought to a halt with a trip to Target. Now, I do feel that part of a grandparent’s job is to spoil their grandchildren with added gifts and enjoy them with…
