By: Jon Spellman on January 23, 2015
Is Power Taken, Or Given? Or Both? “Power-Grab!” “Absolute power corrupts absolutely!” “Global superpower!” “Overpowering!” All of these words and phrases carry with them a sense of brashness, unwieldiness, fear… A “powerful” person is one that, for most regular folk, should probably be avoided, UNLESS you need the power they possess, that is. When they…
By: Brian Yost on January 22, 2015
In her book Making Room for Leadership: Power, Space and Influence, MaryKate Morse stresses the importance of leadership, not just for a select group of individuals, but for everyone. Morse asserts, “God did not design us to be benchwarmers; we are all players. And since we are all part of this great game, with one…
By: Mary Pandiani on January 22, 2015
In an effort to build relationships between a particular local non-profit and the church in which I worked, I asked the Executive Director and her Senior Project Manager to meet the Senior Pastor and Executive Pastor. When Karen and Marsha, both women, walked into the room with me, we encountered the two pastors, both men,…
By: Travis Biglow on January 22, 2015
Leaders Helping others in the Sandbox January 21, 15 MaryKate really hit on some major issues that I have faced years ago and even now. I can’t even begin to speak about how many areas that are so relevant to my life now and even in the work I am doing here at…
By: Phillip Struckmeyer on January 21, 2015
My initial thought when seeing the “title” for our next read in class was to think this would be a leadership book for the soul. Without reading it, I would have labeled it as probably a good book to go on a “soul journey” that would have some type of “restorative” affect on your personhood. …
By: Dave Young on January 21, 2015
The infamous “they” need to start teaching entire seminary courses on power. It seems to me that Jesus—who had all power and authority, used it for others, and did not abuse it—could have zapped all those religious hypocrites with a single command. The image that comes to my mind is a Tolkien-created Elven princess who was tempted…
By: Nick Martineau on January 21, 2015
“He gives power to the weak and strength to the powerless.[1]” Tuesday night I watched the State of the Union address. I have a love/hate relationship with the State of the Union address. It’s like one of those car crashes you can’t keep your eyes off of. I always want to watch the…
By: Travis Biglow on January 21, 2015
Nationalism by Vernacularization After finding that this book was a little hard to read at times it had some important concepts to think about. I realized that nationalism is connected to languages that are more popular than others. And this is really something to think about in more areas of life than one. Unity…
By: Jon Spellman on January 16, 2015
Blame the Capitalists! There’s only so much room on this planet. If a nation is to expand, or a new one emerge, some existing borders have to be shifted around a bit. It’s just the nature of things. It’s interesting to me to watch as (even as we speak) a new nation (Islamic State) is…
By: Dawnel Volzke on January 16, 2015
Nationalism is a sentiment upon which common cultural characteristics bind a population and produces a national independence. It is also used to describe loyalty or devotion to one’s country.[1] Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism[2] by Benedict Anderson asserts that modern nations are the creation of communication networks and people’s imagination. The underlying…
By: Brian Yost on January 16, 2015
Anderson’s Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism investigates a concept of nationalism that most people, while living out the reality, rarely consciously think about. I have traveled to many different countries and have found that there is an almost universal pride in one’s nationality. Even people who disagree with their government’s…
By: Phillip Struckmeyer on January 15, 2015
Ka-Pow … that was the sound of my brain as I read “Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism” by Benedict Anderson. Each time I caught myself in the reading zone, biting off another chunk of Anderson’s thinking to try to digest, I felt as if I had to leave the current…
By: Mary Pandiani on January 15, 2015
First written in 1983, Imagined Communities illustrates the trajectory of the world’s understanding of how it functions politically as the author, Benedict Anderson, reasserts his premise in the revision of 2006, and with even more relevance today in 2015. Acknowledging that many of his comrades with a Marxist bent predicted an end to nationalism, Anderson…
By: Nick Martineau on January 15, 2015
Laying Down Your Life Imagined Communities by Benedict Anderson is such a great title to a book. I was excited to see this book on the reading list because the very title embraces two words I love. I wasn’t really sure what to expect diving into Anderson’s book but I went in with my imagination…
By: Dave Young on January 14, 2015
In Ford’s “Theology: A very short introduction”[1] an insightful concept was offered that should be considered here. In his discussion on salvation, Ford used the word ‘intensification’. After setting a pattern of discussing theology from an academic, broad-minded, critical and historical perspective, he indicates that with some topics there is an intensification of thought, passion,…
By: Travis Biglow on December 9, 2014
https://www.dropbox.com/s/tby636uzna5twmn/Biglow_dmin717_VEsynthesis.doc?dl=0
By: Dawnel Volzke on December 9, 2014
Romans 12:2 (ESV) says, “do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” I’ve come to see that sometimes one needs to venture out of their comfort zone into…
By: Brian Yost on December 9, 2014
Two days of travel with cramped airline seats and long layovers brought me to Cape Town excited, but exhausted. I was ready for a good meal, a long hot shower, and a comfortable bed… Click here to keep reading–Yost_dmin171_VEsynthesis
By: Mary Pandiani on December 4, 2014
You can check out my initial foray into using Prezi (be sure to choose the 10 second interval for the music) at this site: http://prezi.com/d2cv95ndbqeq/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy Most of the pictures in the Prezi you’ll know from the GFS Facebook blog. But this one above you might not have seen – it best expresses my…
By: Jon Spellman on December 3, 2014
Spellman_dmin717_VEsynthesis MED RES
