By: Geoff Lee on March 24, 2017
The Art of Leadership – Max DePree In “An Hour on Sunday”, Nancy Beech quotes Gordon MacKenzie on the tension between creative types and management types: “He asks the reader to imagine a serene pasture where a dairy cow is quietly eating grass, chewing her cud, and swishing her tail. Outside the fence stands ‘a…
By: Kevin Norwood on March 23, 2017
Life is filled with issues. What if? What if I am? What will people think about me? What will others say about me? What will I worry about the most? Whose opinions really matters? What is love? What is an orientation? Who determines what is right or wrong? Is there such a thing as truth…
By: Kristin Hamilton on March 23, 2017
Everything in Max De Pree’s Leadership is an Art, should be common sense. Placing people over structures, reveling in creativity, allowing experts to take the lead, and discovering that challenges are really opportunities are all things that are seemingly “Duh” statements when it comes to leadership. De Pree captures these ideals in a winsomely simple…
By: Phil Goldsberry on March 23, 2017
Introduction The “lens” that we look at life through, are “prescribed” by a myriad of practitioners: family dynamics, socio-economics, religious involvement/affiliation, and a host of other catalytic influences. We embrace the fact that we cannot control to whom and where we are born. We express our DNA through skin, hair and eye color, detached/attached ear…
By: Katy Drage Lines on March 23, 2017
While we have been exploring the relationship of our faith with our social and economic context this spring, our exploration has primarily been theoretical, abstract and imaginary. Our discussions have been rich and our readings deep, but still hypothetical. Our final text, however, (perhaps the capstone of this course??), pulls ideas from many…
By: Aaron Cole on March 23, 2017
Summary: Love Is an Orientation, Elevating the Conversation with the Gay Community by Andrew Marin is a contemporary approach to the intersection of same-sex attraction and the Church. Marin skillfully lays out the opposition and the tension that lie on both sides of this issue. He does not shrink back from ultimately answering bottom line…
By: Marc Andresen on March 23, 2017
Introduction I am nearly convinced that the Samaritans for conservative Christians today are the GLBT community. I suspect that if honest, conservative Christians would express the same disdain for this community as the Jews of Jesus’ day did for the Samaritans. To move to righteous resolution should we not be challenged by the fact that…
By: Lynda Gittens on March 23, 2017
ART is based on one’s opinion. It is the imagination and philosophy of the designer. It is defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary as: skill acquired by experience, study, or observation, a branch of learning, an occupation requiring knowledge or skill, the conscious use of skill and creative imagination, or decorative or illustrative elements in printed…
By: Aaron Peterson on March 23, 2017
As we ended our Zoom session last Monday, Dr. Mary Pandiani challenged us with this haunting question, “Can you change your biblical doctrine?” Of course, I also heard in my head the implied follow-up question, “If yes, what would it take for you to change it?” I couldn’t help but notice that her provocation…
By: Claire Appiah on March 23, 2017
Andrew Marin—Love Is An Orientation: Elevating the Conversation With the Gay Community Introduction “Andrew Marin founded the Marin Foundation for the purpose of systematically building a bridge between the broader gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender (GLBT) and conservative Christian communities through scientific research and biblical and social education.” [1] The net result being peaceful, productive, and sustainable…
By: Christal Jenkins Tanks on March 23, 2017
“In the end, it is important to remember that we cannot become what we need to be by remaining what we are“.[1] Leadership Is an Art by Max Dupree was a very timely read for me. I have recently transitioned into a new leadership role within my company. This is an expanded role with a…
By: Stu Cocanougher on March 23, 2017
I just finished Leadership is an Art by Max DePree. DePree is the former CEO of Herman Miller, a very successful furniture maker and retailer that was founded by DePree’s father. Even though DePree served in the Army during WW2, his management style has no resemblance to a militaristic, heavy-handed hierarchy. In Leadership is an…
By: Jennifer Dean-Hill on March 22, 2017
Jam packed with leadership tips, truths, and morsels, “The Art of Leadership” is an obvious choice for classic books on leadership. It’s timeless principles are applicable for leaders as it touches on the heart and spirit of a leader, as well as the head and logic of leadership. Leadership tidbits… There were many useful take-aways…
By: Garfield Harvey on March 22, 2017
In my last semester of full academic work and the last blog posting for the semester, it seems appropriate for another controversial interpretation of sexuality. Frankly, it’s ingenious of Dr. Jason Clark to have the cohort read about the secular age and then back to back readings on how the church interprets human sexuality. Homosexuality…
By: Mary Walker on March 22, 2017
Max De Pree says that the art of leadership is “liberating people to do what is required of them in the most effective and humane way possible.” The leader is the “‘servant’ of his followers in that he removes the obstacles that prevent them for doing their jobs. In short, the true leader enables his…
By: Rose Anding on March 22, 2017
Introduction The book Love Is an Orientation: Elevating the Conversation with the Gay Community by Andrew Marin exhibits the meaning of the Gospel’s real teaching. The book quotes Billy Graham, “It is the Holy Spirit’s job to convict, God’s job to judge, and my job to love,” to highlight its controlling idea that being loving…
By: Jim Sabella on March 22, 2017
De Pree, Max. Leadership Is an Art. New York: Currency, 2004. Summary Though leadership is not a new topic, leadership is a more recent research topic within academic circles. One outcome of research on leadership, and in fact one that has often held up leadership research as an academic discipline, is the inability to produce a…
By: Pablo Morales on March 17, 2017
Agender, androgynous, cisgender, genderqueer, intersex, transgender, bi-gender, male, female. These are the gender identities included in a recent issue from National Geographic entitled The Gender Revolution. In 2015, Frontline produced a documentary entitled Growing up Trans, which explored the lives of five families with transgender children, revealing the hormonal treatments available for children who desire…
By: Kevin Norwood on March 17, 2017
In 2011, Adrian Thatcher, now an Honorary Professor in the Department of Theology and Religion at the University of Exeter, UK, and Honorary Fellow in Medical Humanities in the Plymouth University Peninsula Schools of Medicine and Dentistry, UK., wrote his book God, Sex and Gender: An Introduction.[1] He explored a subject that has always been a…
By: Geoff Lee on March 17, 2017
In this very interesting book, Douthat traces Christianity in America from its post-war golden years through its gradual decline over the following decades to the present day. He starts by highlighting four key figures that embodied this golden age: the intellectual Reinhold Niebuhr, the evangelical Billy Graham, the Catholic Bishop Fulton Sheen, and the African-America…
