DLGP

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

The cost for Christianity

By: on April 7, 2024

Introduction The great cost of Christianity is clearly described in this captivating book by Tom Holland. I have found an incredible source of information and I intend to continue reading as the Blinkist gave me a quick summary of the book. “Whether or not you believe that Jesus was the son of God, Christianity has…

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Too many actors, too much noise & not enough space. 

By: on April 7, 2024

Focusing so much on reading, writing, and synthesizing this semester ( all things im not exceptionally skilled in) meant learning new skills, creating new processes of support, and facing many unknowns. Doing this meant utilizing what Daniel Kahneman calls  System 2 thinking, which requires much more consideration, awareness, energy exertion, and conscious thought than System…

6 responses

Dominion and Dignity

By: on April 6, 2024

I’m not sure where to begin. I initially listened to “Dominion” on audiobook, but an hour into it, I knew I needed a physical copy to fully engage with it. Tom Holland’s exploration is a captivating journey that reevaluates Christianity’s role in shaping Western civilization. While the book has its critiques, it undeniably sheds light…

7 responses

Despite Me

By: on April 6, 2024

“Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing… and in you all the families of the earth shall…

7 responses

It’s Just My Brain!

By: on April 6, 2024

Dr. David Rock kindly reminds his readers that our brains have performance limitations. He writes, “As you learn more about your brain, you begin to see that many of your foibles and mistakes come down to the way your brain is built.” [1] In Rock’s Your Brain at Work, he explains the mechanics and purpose…

13 responses

Return of the Gods

By: on April 6, 2024

Introduction This week, I read Dominion: How the Christian Revolution Remade the World by Tom Holland. Although it was a huge book, it was an interesting read. Holland explains that his book explores what made Christianity so “subversive and disruptive” and how it saturated the West so that many of its “good and ill instincts…

8 responses

Embracing Love and Justice

By: on April 5, 2024

“It is only through love that a warfighter can flourish as a warfighter qua just warfighter” -Marc LiVecche-   Some Christians have an understanding of original sin, the sin resulting from acts of violation of God’s commands committed by the first human parents, Adam and Eve, as something that has a destructive impact, not only…

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The Contradiction Behind It All

By: on April 5, 2024

“Do you know who painted this paining?” I was asked this as a friend held up my copy of Dominion: How the Christian Revolution Remade the World. “Salvador Dalí.” I replied. While I knew the artist, I did not know how fitting this cover art truly is for the hardback edition of Tom Holland’s expansive…

6 responses

The Water Was Warm

By: on April 4, 2024

After five days of lying in the dark, something surprising happened. I washed my hands and I noticed how the warm water flowing over my hands and wrist and it was good. I realized I was present in the moment.  How long had it been since I experienced being present? I remembered chewing an apple…

14 responses

Weight and Balance

By: on April 4, 2024

I remember being the last person seated and taking my seat at the back of the plane. Exhausted from the conference, I quickly buckled in, began to rest my head against the window, and fell asleep before takeoff. In the midst of my sleep, the flight attendant woke me up and said, I’m sorry, sir,…

16 responses

Moral Injury Healing: Not a Mission Impossible

By: on April 4, 2024

Monday, July 12, 2021, my new client showed up to his first session and the first words out of his mouth were, “I heard you can help people heal from the devastating impact of trauma. I am going to tell you things I have never told anyone. After you hear my shitful story, I am…

10 responses

WAR…What is it Good For?

By: on April 4, 2024

My best friend, who I’ve known since kindergarten, was in the U.S. Marines. If you’ve ever seen the show Reacher, he is a leaner more charismatic version of Alan Ritchson’s character from the show. We attended the same church, went to the same school,  and played football together in a “Friday Night Lights” kind of…

13 responses

Unlocking Brain Power for a Flourishing Life

By: on April 4, 2024

I was at a loss. At an impasse, actually. I had read most of David Rock’s Your Brain at Work over the last couple of days. I could see lots of connections to my NPO project. But when it came to starting a blog article with a story about this book I was stuck. When…

10 responses

Lookin’ for Fun and Feeling Groovy

By: on April 4, 2024

“Slow down, you move too fast You got to make the morning last Just kicking down the cobble stones Looking for fun and feelin’ groovy” (The 59th street by Simon and Garfunkel) One of the reasons I decided to enroll in a doctoral program was because I wanted to learn the discipline of writing. As…

20 responses

What is Your Brain Telling You Today?

By: on April 4, 2024

In 2013, I was bedridden for 6 months. Not only did I need to step away from my work as a missionary, I couldn’t do much of anything but lie in bed. The energy needed to sit up was sometimes too difficult. With so much free time, I began to search the internet for answers.…

16 responses

Between Faith and the Frontline

By: on April 4, 2024

I found Portland Seminary when a classmate from the masters program I attended posted some really interesting thoughts online about an assignment she was working on. I messaged her to find out what she was doing and she told me about the doctor of semiotics she was perusing. She encouraged me to take the same…

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Pastors Can Party

By: on April 4, 2024

We all have some level of influence over the circles in which we live and operate. The amount of influence, the impacts of the influence, and the lasting effects of our influence varies and sometimes can’t even be felt in our lifetime but, is discovered when looking back at our history. Dominion The book Dominion…

3 responses

The Cognitive Dissonance of War

By: on April 4, 2024

Then he rose, grenade in hand. He was pulling the fuse. He cocked his arm back to throw— and then he saw me looking at him across my rifle barrel. He stopped. He looked right at me. That’s where the image of his eyes was burned into my brain forever, right over the sights of…

9 responses

Hit and Miss During A Crisis

By: on April 4, 2024

On December 18, 2016, the church that I was pastoring experienced a devastating church fire. The fire department fought valiantly but the building couldn’t be saved. Unfortunately, the fire was caused by a person in the church who was later charged with arson. As a result of the fire, we had to move a congregation…

10 responses