By: Harry Fritzenschaft on March 7, 2019
Volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity (VUCA) are widespread, according to Garvey Berger (Changing on the Job: Developing Leaders for a Complex World, 2013) and Johnston. Garvey Berger and Johnston cover accepted leadership practices, such as obtaining feedback, skilled listening, and expressing a clear vision, but their unique value added is how they broaden the discussion.…
By: Chris Pritchett on March 6, 2019
Jonathan Grant’s Divine Sexis a compelling approach to the relationship between the Christian faith and human sexuality. Grant joins many other pastors and church leaders who have sought to forge a pathway forward for the church through this most complex issue that has both gripped and divided the Church around the globe for nearly half…
By: Mike on March 6, 2019
Johnathan Grant’s Divine Sex offers solutions to the problem and challenges of contemporary sexual relationships from a Biblical focus within a holistic context of what he calls the “Christian vision of sexuality.”[1] This post will examine how sexual temptation, personal freedom, and immorality contributes to the underlying theme of spiritual warfare and see if there…
By: Karen Rouggly on March 5, 2019
Last week, we hosted an annual event on campus called Missionaries on the Walk. Cougar Walk, named after the University’s mascot and the main campus thoroughfare, was occupied by 30 different mission organizations for three days, culminating in a night market event, and a student-led open mic night. An incredibly high turnout the Night Market…
By: Shawn Hart on March 5, 2019
I have been looking forward to reading this book; just reading the forward made me even more interested. Aside from the fact that “physical touch[1]” is dominantly my primary “Love Language,” I have been used to teach others about biblical sexuality since I was in college; which is strange, since I was a virgin until…
By: John Muhanji on March 4, 2019
It is very challenging when one reads the book by James Hunter “To change the World.” It put Christianity to question and how the world can be changed through the moral values of Christianity by those who profess the faith. It is very saddening when you see the origin of Christianity to African countries behaving…
By: Harry Fritzenschaft on March 3, 2019
Hunter is a sociologist based at the University of Virginia who has spent much of his academic career analyzing the ‘culture wars’ within the US. In his To Change The World, the author summarizes the irony of the Christian right, the Christian left, and the neo-anabaptist movement interacting with culture. Hunter ultimately calls for a positive…
By: Shawn Hart on March 3, 2019
I have always been cautious when people describe the Church by saying, “It needs to be run like a business.” I have searched the scriptures long and hard, and have yet to find that to be a biblical practice. However, I am also not naïve when I recognize that we have real business problems when…
By: Wallace Kamau on March 2, 2019
The story is told of the boy on the sea shore who was throwing fish that was washed to the shore, back to the ocean. As he threw them back into the sea, one by one, a stranger came by and criticized him citing the time it will take to finish. The boy was quick…
By: Mary Mims on March 2, 2019
The campus ministry I joined in the 80s was focused on the Great Commission of Jesus Christ. Everyone knew Matthew 28:19-20 by heart and everyone knew they must give up everything for this great cause. Nothing was to get in the way of reaching the world with the gospel; not what you were studying, or…
By: Nancy VanderRoest on March 1, 2019
I love the parable of the Good Samaritan. It is one of my favorites. Of course, it is about the traveler who was stripped of clothing, beaten, and left half dead along the side of the road. First a priest and then a Levite come by and ignore this injured man along the side of…
By: Trisha Welstad on March 1, 2019
I love working on teams. Actually, that’s not true. I love working on highly effective teams. It is incredible to co-create with a group of people who are highly capable, motivated and collaborative with the same goals. I can remember multiple times when I have been on teams like this: a mission trip with Royal…
By: Jean Ollis on March 1, 2019
Having just returned from an inspiring leadership conference, Jennifer Garvey Berger and Keith Johnston’s text, Simple Habits for Complex Times: Powerful Practices for Leaders, resonates positively with me. Berger and Johnston offer twenty-first century insight into leadership practice. Specifically the authors focus on the importance of active listening (this is a social work term but…
By: Kyle Chalko on March 1, 2019
Recently I’ve read a handful of books about habits. I love the word habits and rituals. And I need more habits… good habits to be precise. I also have 30 or so students I am to be investing in, and many of them are desperate for better habits. Of all the books I’ve read recently…
By: Jason Turbeville on March 1, 2019
I chose simple change as the title to my blog post this week because it seems to me like an impossibility within the church. The problem I am working on for my dissertation is how do you change the culture of a church from being inward focused and me centered to a focus on what…
By: Greg on March 1, 2019
“I love change, as long as I can control it” I have jokingly said this many times talking to people about the uncertainty that we face living in a world of change. I used to spend a day every few months moving the furniture in our apartment around to give me a sense of change…
By: Sean Dean on February 28, 2019
November 9, 2016 is a day that I will remember for a long time. The previous day the United States had elected a new president – Donald Trump. I was in shock and I did not know how to process this information. A man who from all accounts envisions himself to be Tony Soprano had…
By: Dan Kreiss on February 28, 2019
Please don’t read this on an upset stomach. Another book from the business world. What could it possibly have to say to the church or those interested in Christian leadership? There is no denying that the 21st century represents a level of complexity unmatched by previous generations. The church would do well to consider…
By: Mark Petersen on February 28, 2019
Jennifer Garvey Berger and Keith Johnson have written a book for the “VUCA” world we live in.[1] Volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity are key traits that define these times. We are learning to lead within a high-stress, constantly-changing environment, as we are pulled in many divergent directions. Multiple options and polarizing stakeholders often paralyze leaders who…
By: Jenn Burnett on February 28, 2019
This week’s reading of James Davison Hunter’s To Change the World: The Irony, Tragedy and Possibility of Christianity in the Late Modern World took some important twists before landing on it’s recommendations. He begins by easily identifying a common belief from both the American Christian left and the American Christian Right that Christians are called to…
