By: Mitch Arbelaez on March 19, 2015
It was sixteen years later when I found myself sitting once again in the seats of my first church. I was a member of this church after my salvation at the age of 18. It was in this church where I began ministering to junior high kids, received my calling to ministry and it was…
By: Carol McLaughlin on March 19, 2015
“Abba Lot went to see Abba Joseph and said to him, ‘Abba, as far as I can, I say my little office, I fast a little, I pray and meditate, I live in peace and as far as I can, I purify my thoughts. What else can I do?’ Then the old man stood up…
By: Liz Linssen on March 19, 2015
“Finally, remember who God is. As you read the Bible, notice the many promises God gives to his people and notice his faithfulness to keep these promises.” [i] This past year has been the toughest year of my working life to date. It has brought me to new levels of trust in God and utter…
By: Stefania Tarasut on March 19, 2015
Reading through Shelley Trebesch’s book Isolation: A Place of Transformation in the Life of A Leader, this week I was reminded once again of God’s sovereignty and faithfulness, especially in the times of difficulty. I was also reminded again that God’s ways are not our ways… and God allows things in our lives in light…
By: Ashley Goad on March 19, 2015
I had full intention of writing about Haiti today. Haiti can be an isolating place, and my first lengthy amount of time in Haiti was very isolating as I sat atop a mountain surrounded by people I had never met who did not speak my language…and I had yet to make friends, even with a…
By: Deve Persad on March 19, 2015
Sitting on my bed, alone in my room. I remember the anguish that came over 24 year old me. Maybe it pushed itself from the inside of me. Maybe it was a convergence of both. At that moment, I remember expressing my frustration to God with these words: “It wasn’t supposed to be like this!…
By: Mitch Arbelaez on March 15, 2015
I have always had an attraction to learn new things. To theorize the “what if’s” of life. To read highly academic writing and truly understand the nuggets of gold couched in the elaborate formulated vocabulary. It has become somewhat of a treasure hunt. I must decipher the code and find the treasure that the academic…
By: rhbaker275 on March 14, 2015
Did you ever know anyone who was “so heavenly minded that they were no earthly good?” I am not sure who coined this phrase, but I am sure they had someone in mind who had simply lost touch with the physical, earthly world around them. They could not relate what they knew, or thought they…
By: Bill Dobrenen on March 14, 2015
Hot and cold. Light and dark. Left brain, right brain. Structure and improvisation. In each of these pairs, we need both sides. Too much of a bad thing can kill us. Too much of a good thing can also kill us. Life is about balance. In Eastern and indigenous thought, it is all about balance.…
By: Carol McLaughlin on March 14, 2015
We’ve been encouraged to engage in our reading with a lens of applicability and relevance. What themes apply to my present situations and are relevant to my dissertation research? The challenge of journal articles can be that one is withdrawn from the overall context that shapes and informs the subject at hand. However, though I…
By: Telile Fikru Badecha on March 14, 2015
Caroline Ramsey’s article on “the Management learning: a scholarship of practice centred on attention?” uncovers great insight from her own “ongoing learning in how to help managers, and other organization participants, do their work better.”[1] In particular, I am interested in the author’s remarks on the importance of “attention as a key process in a scholarship of…
By: Richard Volzke on March 13, 2015
This week’s articles were insightful and I enjoyed reading them. In her article, Management learning: A scholarship of practice centred on attention, she approached the problem of managerial learning by looking at both the academic and practical aspects of learning. Ramsey studied the attitudes, experience, and way that managers employ what they have learned. Dr.…
By: Michael Badriaki on March 13, 2015
I have a long believed that the foremost challenge in the countries in African is not a resources but a leadership vacuum. Resources do matter and what’s of greater concern is how resources are developed and managed. Natural resource reservoirs are plentiful in many countries in Africa along with some of the necessary conditions needed…
By: Julie Dodge on March 13, 2015
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. (Proverbs 9:10, NIV) A few years back, I was tasked with being responsible for the implementation of a federal grant that required the use of a specific evidence based practice for youth alcohol and other drug treatment. The project was a national implementation project. In…
By: John Woodward on March 13, 2015
There is often great discontent in smaller churches, especially when all the churches around them are experiencing tremendous growth. This was the situation I was in for over 20 years. When I arrived, my church was running 120 in attendance. When I left, it was running about 120. During those years, we saw numerous pastors…
By: Ashley Goad on March 13, 2015
I’m not going to lie. Reading Caroline Ramsey’s two articles while sitting in Haiti sent me for a bit of a loop. Provocative theory and management practices and phronesis, OH MY! I read the articles several times, and then I looked out over my surroundings. In a world where context is everything, how would these…
By: Liz Linssen on March 12, 2015
Management learning is a field in which I am in great need! Having never church planted nor led a church before, I feel like a complete novice for whom the learned theories are simply not enough. I need practice centred learning, the kind that Ramsey advocates, “where new practice is privileged, rather than knowledge that…
By: Deve Persad on March 12, 2015
Not long ago I was going through one of the piles in my office (yes, I sort by piles not by files – yes, I generally know what is in each pile) and came across a message that I had started about 12 years ago. It is based on just a few short verses in…
By: Richard Volzke on March 7, 2015
Sexuality is an issue that the church has struggled to find a balance view on over many years. I approach this topic from my understanding of the biblical viewpoint, and God’s love for every person. From my study of Scriptures, I do believe homosexuality is sin and is a lifestyle that a person chooses to…
By: Michael Badriaki on March 7, 2015
One day I received a call from one of the leaders of a group people comprised of scholars from a conservative evangelical university, a prominent abbot and Buddhist priest and a key activist from the LGBTQI community in Portland Oregon. They asked me to consult with them about their need to respectfully communicate to a…
