By: Adam Harris on October 31, 2024
It’s the season for chili here in Tennessee. It’s getting cool; the leaves are changing, and chili recipe videos are now a part of my algorithms. Last week, I ran across a chili recipe that looked amazing and had great reviews. It inspired me! I got all the ingredients and made it for the family.…
By: Kari on October 31, 2024
Eric Liddell was a Scottish runner known for refusing to run his preferred race in the Olympics because it was on a Sunday. He, instead, trained for a different race on a different day and broke a world record.[1] As a kid, I first heard of his story in the movie Chariots of Fire. His…
By: Ryan Thorson on October 31, 2024
In today’s complex and shifting world, what defines a good leader? And as a Christian leader in the Pacific Northwest, how can I embody a healthy, mature approach to guiding others in faith during such uncertain times? Reflecting on these questions led me to choose Invisible Jesus, a new book by Scot McKnight and Tommy…
By: Elysse Burns on October 31, 2024
Uninspired. If I were to choose a word to describe the past few weeks for myself, this would be it. I am afraid of this word. I’m not too fond of the feeling. Perhaps this is why I chose Andrew Peterson’s Adorning the Dark: Thoughts on Community, Calling, and the Mystery of Making. This book,…
By: Joel Zantingh on October 31, 2024
Don’t be confused by David Ehrlichman’s direct title, Impact Networks: Create connection, Spark Collaboration, and Catalyze Systemic Change. Behind this simple and straightforward framework for network leadership are a leadership mindset and a set of behaviours that can attend to the complexity of our world. Ehrlichman wastes no time to express, Across the globe, we…
By: Todd E Henley on October 30, 2024
Hunting in the harsh winter of Alaska presents significant challenges, and for an Eskimo, the risks can be life-threatening. In these extreme conditions, the threat of frostbite or freezing can become a reality in less than thirty minutes. This is why it’s crucial for hunters to be innovative and resourceful. One such practice involves coating…
By: Jennifer Eckert on October 30, 2024
Background People have divided themselves and others into groups for millennia. Ancient tribal and clan structures allowed families to share resources and protect one another from harm. As knowledge of agricultural practices took root, nomadic lifestyles were replaced with settlements. Social hierarchies formed organically and were based on wealth, land ownership, and labor. A major…
By: Jennifer Vernam on October 30, 2024
It is hard to challenge the tribe in which you have been raised and built your career. Doing so without whitewashing your own contribution to the dysfunction requires hard deconstructive work. Take, for example, Russell Moore’s critical self-assessment when reviewing the Southern Baptist Convention’s policies regarding Women’s leading in the Church: “A new generation of…
By: Graham English on October 30, 2024
Our peer, Glyn Barrett, shared in our syntopical Zoom chat that his father told him that the three greatest temptations for a pastor were, “gold, girls and glory.” All of these temptations are related to the issue at hand in the book I chose for my reading this week, “Reckoning With Power: Why The Church…
By: Adam Cheney on October 29, 2024
Over the weekend I hosted my workshop as I continue work on my project and my NPO. The problem I am working on is the lack of welcoming hospitality offered by Evangelical Christians to Somali Muslims. Thanks to Bebbington I have a better descriptor now for Evangelicals. I presented the group with a word picture…
By: Russell Chun on October 29, 2024
Part 1: Introduction Russell Moore in Losing OurReligion: An Altar Call in Evangelical America [1] has sparked active discussion in our class. Pastors from different denominations have waded in and grabbed Moore’s book to evaluate and critique themselves and the churches in this highly politicized presidential year. Part 2: What my peers are saying.…
By: Esther Edwards on October 29, 2024
As I read Losing Our Religion by Russell Moore, I was once again saddened by yet another book that broadcasts the state of the Evangelical Church at large. Moore speaks to those wounded and disillusioned evangelicals who have walked away or are thinking of walking away. One critique calls it “not only a memoir, but…
By: Kim Sanford on October 29, 2024
On the first day of my first class in my master’s program, I learned an important lesson, namely what it feels like to cross cultural boundaries. The professor of this Intercultural Communication class ran a simulation. Students were divided into groups to play a silent card game. At the end of each round the winner…
By: Scott Dickie on October 28, 2024
I think I’d like Russell Moore if we hung out. Although he’s theologically conservative (some of which I appreciate and some of which I’d respectfully disagree with), he seems to land closer to the ‘middle’ in his expression of faith—drawing critique from the progressives and criticism from the conservatives—which I appreciate. His book, Losing our…
By: Glyn Barrett on October 28, 2024
Mark Sayer’s book, A Non-Anxious Presence, [1] is simply brilliant. Has there ever been a more applicable book that speaks to the zeitgeist of a time? 1 Chronicles 12:32 speaks of the men of Issachar who understood the times and knew what to do. Sayers would fit well into the description of those men. Sayers…
By: Jeff Styer on October 28, 2024
The book I read was called Estranged Pioneers: Race, Faith and Leadership in a Diverse World.[1] In this post, I am going to talk about this book in relation to Brett Fuller and then focus on an impactful quote from the book. My brother-in-law read this book this past summer as he may soon be…
By: Pam Lau on October 28, 2024
“Facts in isolation are false . . . A fact is true in the absolute sense only in association with all facts.” -Wendell Berry[1] The Japanese railway system is regarded as one of the best in the world. If you ever find yourself riding a train in Tokyo, you’ll notice that the conductors have a…
By: John Fehlen on October 28, 2024
I love giving people the opportunity to commit their hearts and lives to Jesus. It’s safe to say that over the last 30+ years of pastoral ministry, I have had the great honor of leading thousands of people into a public profession of trust in the Lord. Those “altar calls” have happened in a myriad…
By: Joel Zantingh on October 28, 2024
Karl Polanyi died in 1964 about 100 Kilometres from my home, in Pickering, Canada. He managed to survive two world wars, sickness, difficulties of life as a Jewish member of Hungarian society, migration to England and the USA, all the while bridging the worlds of the elites and the commoners. One of his life’s most…
By: Tim Clark on October 28, 2024
As a teenager and young adult, I was an avid fan of the post-punk/alternative rock genre, and I discovered REM in the mid eighties. I used to blast them in my car on my morning drive to High School, and then again on my drive home. Radio Free Europe. The One I Love. It’s the…
