DLGP

Doctor of Leadership in Global Perspectives: Crafting Ministry in an Interconnected World

A Cult of Sexuality

By: on March 16, 2017

Adrian Thatcher’s very thorough work, God, Sex and Gender: An Introduction dives into the 21st century world to offer a look at the sexual ethics we have and tries to bring a theological and historical understanding to the world of sexuality.  The author tackles this difficult subject with three main ideas: – To introduce students…

12 responses

ABC…..1,2,3….or is it SAVE?

By: on March 16, 2017

Introduction The Jackson 5 (of Michael Jackson fame) had a song in the 1970’s that said: “ABC, it’s as easy as 1-2-3, As simple as do re mi, ABC, 1-2-3, Baby you and me”.  Oh, how times have changed.  Now, it is not as simple as ABC or 1-2-3 or who gets to be “baby”…

12 responses

The Age of Cultural Christianity

By: on March 16, 2017

Two years into my doctoral program and the inescapable relational conversation is staring me in the face. Thatcher’s book God, Sex, and Gender dives into the sensitive sex talk, much similar to the one you will be engaging shortly. Yes, my cohort finally gets a chance to share our conviction on sexuality with clear, theological…

6 responses

Subject To Interpretation

By: on March 16, 2017

Summary: God, Sex, and Gender An Introduction by Adrian Thatcher is just that that on the subject, an introduction. The author introduces the issues, the ideas, and the connection between the three. Thatcher does a good job in clearly and in plain vernacular express the secular and the sacred positions as well as the historical…

11 responses

Christian Ethics

By: on March 16, 2017

Introduction Adrian Thatcher’s book, God, Sex and Gender: An Introduction, is an engaging account by a highly respected theologian. The author is well known for his works related to human sexuality and theology[1] and has become an important voice on these themes.[2] The book is written with the aim of comprehensively introducing readers to the…

6 responses

Talking about God, Sex, and Gender

By: on March 16, 2017

True story: After church a few years ago I eavesdropped in on a conversation a few Hub pre-teens were having about homosexuality. The youngest in the circle, my 9-year old son exclaimed, “Of course there is gay marriage in the Bible! It says in Genesis that God created Adam and Yves.” I laughed so hard…

8 responses

LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR–WHOEVER IT IS

By: on March 16, 2017

Adrian Thatcher—God, Sex, and Gender: An Introduction This book is a great educational resource in which Adrian Thatcher provides readers with complex, comprehensive, and compelling arguments surrounding the theological implications of sex and gender as they have been understood and controverted throughout ancient times and the history of the church. I think the overall value…

8 responses

I Want To Be a Power Lifter

By: on March 15, 2017

In God, Sex, and Gender Adrian Thatcher covers a number of topics under the enormous umbrella of God, Sex, and Gender. He discusses “desire” in general and how it pertains to our sexuality and our desire for God. “You may have just agreed with me that desire has an object.” [1] Following Taylor and Luhrmann,…

11 responses

How do I know?

By: on March 11, 2017

One day a psychological anthropologist from Stanford University shows up at your church with a brilliant idea. She wants to spend two years attending your services and participating in your small groups in order to better understand how people experience their Christian faith. She attends Bible classes, church retreats, and everything that can help her…

14 responses

Does God Still Speak?

By: on March 10, 2017

All leading to this thought, Does God still speak? How? God speaks through thoughts and we must learn to discern between our thoughts and His thoughts.  The authors wrote about developing a “new theory of mind.”[2]  This concept of hearing things that are perceived is a very clinical perspective of how God speaks.  Learning to…

10 responses

How Many Times Have I Been Asked?

By: on March 10, 2017

As a pastor with a Pentecostal persuasion, I cannot tell you how many times I get asked the question, does God speak to us today?  I have been asked in a variety of different ways.  Whether it is being asked the question directly or when people ask me to speak in tongues on command, people…

13 responses

To Hear or Not to Hear and To Be or Not to Be; That is the Question

By: on March 9, 2017

Introduction Tanya Luhrmann’s work, When God Talks Back: Understanding the American Evangelical Relationship with God, is one woman’s perspective and premise on, “How can sensible, educated people in an invisible being who has a real effect on their lives?”[1]  My first objection is her broad use of the “American Evangelical” Church when her reality her…

12 responses

But Are WE Crazy?

By: on March 9, 2017

When God Talks Back, Understanding the American Evangelical Relationship with God by T.M. Luhrmann is a compilation of stories, interviews, scientific data and research gathered and assembled from people of all walks of life and backgrounds. The pages are the result and assimilation of Luhrmann who is a an accomplished author and award winning psychological…

8 responses

Doctor Doctor Give Me the News

By: on March 9, 2017

Tanya Luhrmann shows how the Vineyard is attempting to create social imaginaries to break out of Charles Taylor’s immanent frame that was created as the secular solution to the problem of how humanity 500 years ago started the transition from not making sense of the world without talking about God and arrived at our current…

8 responses

Counterpoint

By: on March 9, 2017

It is as if a secularist, who’s “immanence” world view can’t allow for the possibility of transcendence is trying to figure out how people claim a personal communication with the invisible Being who is transcendent. As such this books stands as a counterpoint to Taylor’s A Secular Age. [1] When God Talks Back: Understanding the…

10 responses

ABIDE IN THE PRESENCE OF GOD

By: on March 9, 2017

Tanya Marie Luhrmann—When God Talks Back: Understanding the American Evangelical Relationship with God Introduction In his book, A Secular Age, the philosopher Charles Taylor’s investigation seeks to answer the question, How did we become a society “in which it was virtually impossible not to believe in God, to one in which faith, even for the…

13 responses

Sometimes I Listen With My Eyes

By: on March 9, 2017

Reading this book brought a smile to my face because I realize the journey in this doctoral program has afforded me the opportunity to appreciate a well-written book, regardless of the denominational influences (or biases). Luhrmann introduces each reader to the world of the Vineyard Christian Fellowship, a denomination the author believes represents a shift…

6 responses

God Want To Talk To You

By: on March 7, 2017

Introduction Tanya Luhrmann presents When God Talks Back: Understanding the American Evangelical Relationship with God to illustrate a distinctive description of anthropology in regards to the perceptions and motives held by contemporary Evangelical Christians.[1] According to Bielo, it contributes significantly to the movement by different anthropologists who are attempting to understand the nature of Christianity…

5 responses

Genie-In-A-Bottle Theology

By: on March 3, 2017

What is the relationship between trials and Christian leadership? What is the purpose of sitting on the bench while everybody else is engaged in the game? In Isolation: A Place of Transformation in the Life of A Leader, Dr. Shelley Trebesch explains how God uses a diversity of difficult circumstances to make the leader a…

7 responses

Isolation: God’s Plan

By: on March 3, 2017

One early morning I was sitting with a pastor friend enjoying a cup of coffee.  I was pastoring in a metro area, and he pastored in a small rural town.  For some reason, he must have thought that pastoring in a city was the pinnacle of success.  I remember him asking me or rather telling…

10 responses