By: Bill Dobrenen on March 21, 2014
What do you see in the picture above? What you see may depend on what you are looking for. Also, what you see one moment may not be there the next moment, or it might be the opposite of what you saw in the first place. Or perhaps you see two different things at the…
By: Mitch Arbelaez on March 21, 2014
As I read this weeks book Bad Religion: How We Became a Nation of Heretics, I was awed by the author’s writing ability, not simply by his ingenious craftiness of sentence structure but by his incredible ability of synthesis – taking many historical facts both positive and negative and reconstructing in a few pages the…
By: Carol McLaughlin on March 21, 2014
Heresy is a word that seems to be thrown about with too much ease, almost like a ball tossed in the air for a tennis serve. Struck with passion and force it is upon its opponent quickly resulting in a defensive response. A noticeable similarity between tennis and heresy is in the volley. Yet surprisingly…
By: Phil Smart on March 20, 2014
“Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the fairest of them all?” We all remember this phrase from the fairy tale Snow White. Mirrors that could tell us what we want or what we envision, whether true or false, would probably sell out quickly at the local retailer – if they existed. But this was a…
By: Ashley Goad on March 20, 2014
I am the ultimate optimist. The glass is always half-full. See a basket of lemons? Let’s make lemonade. And there is always a silver lining, or something to learn from a difficult situation, even when there seems to be no hope at all. Some may call me naïve or an idealist, but I pray to…
By: Richard Volzke on March 20, 2014
The rise and decline of the church’s influence in the 20th century was affected by various factors and trends of that day. Political, economic, geopolitical, and inner self-awareness all effected how Christianity was viewed in society, either positively or negatively. Douthat, in his book Bad Religion, explains that every human being is religious and believes…
By: David Toth on March 20, 2014
“Sudsy” was his nick name, used only by the students and only behind his back! He was an average looking guy except he always was a bit disheveled. His nickname came from gossip, though quite broadly substantiated, that he drank a bit to much beer, or “suds” as it was called back in the day…
By: Sharenda Roam on March 20, 2014
The topics of discussion today in my Biomedical Ethics class were Natural Law Theory, the Doctrine of Double Effect, the Principle of Totality, and Animal Testing. Whew! A great debate ensued between my students about ideas, ethics and if there are “natural laws” as Aquinas might define them. In our doctoral reading this week, “A…
By: Garrick Roegner on March 20, 2014
Reading A Brief Guide to Ideas by William Raeper and Linda Edwards reminded me of the Coen Brother’s existential masterpiece The Big Lebowski. Jeff Bridges as The Dude (aka Jeffrey Lebowski) stars as the protaganist on an epic odyssey of sorts through the absurdity of modern Los Angeles. As Raeper and Edwards introduce the reader…
By: Chris Ellis on March 20, 2014
I feel like I often write about my fundamentalist past with regards to my assigned reading from George Fox, and unfortunately this week isn’t an exception. InA Brief Guide to Ideas: Turning Points in the History of Human Thought, Raepar and Smithtrace the history of epistemology throughout much of Western thought. He grapples with questions like,…
By: Deve Persad on March 20, 2014
What would your response be, if you walked into a car dealership and the salesperson, instead of telling you all the reasons why a particular make or model would benefit you, lacked knowledge, seemed indifferent or was continually tending to other tasks while under the pretense of listening to your needs? Chances are that you…
By: Sandy Bils on March 20, 2014
The way we question life and response to these though challenges consist a multitude of approaches. Every person utilizes different methods. Especially in our postmodern times we are used to connect heterogeneous systems into a patchwork of approaches to meet the challenges in our lifes. Philosophy is one of them; Theology a different one. In…
By: Fred Fay on March 20, 2014
Young adults are asking questions about faith as they transition in life. One young lady wonders how she can really know God. Another young man is asking questions about morality that doubts traditional answers. Is there a place for their questions in the church? Questioning beliefs and authority in church can seem threatening to some…
By: Garrick Roegner on March 16, 2014
We have all had THAT experience. Seeing power used in a ministry setting in a negative way. I have a good friend who had his first pastoral assignment, the head pastor made him preach his sermons in private just to the head pastor for feedback and approval, and to make sure they would be adequate…
By: rhbaker275 on March 15, 2014
On the one hand, Making Room for Leadership by MaryKate Morse[1] is a challenging read. One cannot read the book without being introspective and evaluative of one’s own leadership. We see ourselves; we are confronted with misconceptions, ignored inadequacies, and confronted with the need for change. On the other hand, Morse writes with interminable clarity…
By: Stefania Tarasut on March 15, 2014
Book: Making Room for Leadership by MaryKate Morse Leadership is a skill to be learned and a gift that must be stewarded properly. Without intentional learning and diligent stewardship leadership can, and more often then not it is harmful to the leader and hurtful to the people being led. What struck me the in reading…
By: Mark Steele on March 15, 2014
MaryKate Morse’s book Making Room for Leadership; power, space and influence describes in great length about the importance and practice of leadership presence. MaryKate says there is a marriage between the leader’s presence and the reception of the group. The China business and political culture is an excellent example of this statement. I have been…
By: Richard Volzke on March 15, 2014
Nature of Influence Leaders influence others more than they influence themselves. Just because people follow you, doesn’t mean you are a leader. Leadership involves stewardship of one’s own physical being and the physical being of others. [1] Morse’s book, Making Room for Leadership: Power, Space and Influence, provides a thorough overview of how one can…
By: Telile Fikru Badecha on March 15, 2014
Recently I was invited to sing at one of the church conferences in Ethiopia. There were two male singers also invited to sing at this event. The program leader told me that I was scheduled to sing in the afternoon session right after one of the guys, I will call Ufarga, sang. I was fine…
By: John Woodward on March 14, 2014
As I read MaryKate Morse’s book Making Room for Leadership: Power, Space and Influence, one person kept coming to mind: Roy Weece. He was a man greatly respected and highly influential, who exuded personal warmth that made one feel special in his presence. I first met him thirty years ago during a time in my…
