By: Fred Fay on February 27, 2014
Literature on effective leadership had been prolific. Ken Blanchard defines it as “the capacity to influence others by unleashing their power and impact for the greater good”.[1] Leadership is influence for mutual good is a good starting point. Kouzes and Posner add that leadership as “the art of mobilizing other to want to struggle for…
By: Sharenda Roam on February 27, 2014
“Jesus & Isolation in Reverse” While reading “Isolation: A Place of Transformation in the Life of a Leader” by Shelley Trebesch this week for my doctoral program I ran across her “Table 1 – Summary of Fourfold Processes in Isolation,” (44) and “Table 2 – Isolation Examples and Their Experience of the Fourfold Process.” (47)…
By: Chris Ellis on February 27, 2014
Isolation—A Place of Transformation In The Life of a Leader is written by Shelley Tresbesch an Assistant Professor of Leadership and Organizational Development at Fuller Seminary. She identifies two types of isolation. The first is ‘the setting aside of a leader form normal ministry involvement in its natural context usually for an extended time in order…
By: Deve Persad on February 27, 2014
For almost three years we have been a one car (notice that it starts with “C”) family. This past year my son obtained his driver’s license. As a result we needed to purchase another vehicle. We did so, gladly, even willingly. Research was done, test drives were done, we even waited for a sale and…
By: David Toth on February 26, 2014
As district church planting director for my denomination I was really enjoying the ministry! Talking with leaders, both pastors and others, who showed some interested in see an new church planted was not a chore, it was invigorating. And then, quite involuntarily, God threw a curve ball. Move to Hungary? As a Christian and Missionary…
By: Mark Steele on February 23, 2014
I became keenly aware of the emotion that comes from church splits when I tried to help a CEO friend find a consultant to lead his leadership team through a strategic planning process. Unbeknownst to me at the time, he was the CEO of a denominational split over sexual diversity issues. The strategic development consultant…
By: Richard Rhoads on February 23, 2014
With the United States having 50 independent primarily self governing States, you would assume that many have similar laws. Yet, for many states within the union, old bizarre laws still remain on the books. Here’s a few which may provide some laughter or in some cases, tears. In Ohio, it is unlawful for a…
By: Garrick Roegner on February 22, 2014
A few years ago, my church was picketed within the span of a month by both anti-gay protestors and pro-gay protestors. Our church members kindly offered both groups free coffee. We are currently, at least in the USA, and probably in the wider evangelical global church, caught up in a debate over sexuality. It has…
By: Becky Stanley on February 22, 2014
When a child is conceived the first inquiry often is not whether it he or she is healthy but whether the tiny human is a male or a female. And it is the sex of the child that goes on to define an individual’s primary identity. Society by and large continues to live by the…
By: Miriam Mendez on February 22, 2014
My copy of the book, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism is almost all marked with yellow highlighter. And almost every three or four pages has post-it tags sticking out of the pages. There is a reason why my book is marked in this manner. Is it because: (a) the yellow markings are…
By: Michael Badriaki on February 22, 2014
Weber’s book The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, was intriguing as another foundational and classical resource of understanding how modern western society might have gotten to where it’s at today. History seems replete with evidence of the West’s influence on religion and market economics. Polanyi corroborates the fact that the modern “market society…
By: Mitch Arbelaez on February 22, 2014
The work of frontier missions is the work of bringing the Gospel to a people who have not yet heard, nor have had any ability to hear, for there is no culturally identifiable Christian witness among that people group. In this work of frontier missions we look for the wonderful effects of the Gospel…
By: John Woodward on February 21, 2014
The underlying theme in Max Weber’s The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism is that capitalism needed a new ethic. The very nature of capitalism to the pre-modern Christian mind was irrational—“where a man exists for the sake of his own business, instead of the reserve”[i] – and “incomprehensible and mysterious, so unworthy and…
By: Liz Linssen on February 21, 2014
“The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat.” (2 Thess. 3:10) Weber takes the reader on a journey to understanding the strength of the connection between the drive of religious asceticism (within Calvinism, Pietism, Methodism and Baptist denominations), labour, and the rise of the spirit of capitalism over the last four centuries in…
By: rhbaker275 on February 21, 2014
There is an advertisement running currently by the venture capital branch of a large banking firm. The ad sequence follows an obviously entrepreneurial type person through several scenes of a busy workplace environment. Each scene depicts organized activity, unified effort, and the rapid transition through several scenes creates a sense of the purpose, growth, and…
By: Carol McLaughlin on February 21, 2014
Written more than one hundred years ago, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism requires the context and perspective of its translator, Talcott Parsons, even if that translation took place more than fifty years prior! I am realizing that to adequately translate material, whether it is from German to English or from modern to…
By: Telile Fikru Badecha on February 21, 2014
One of the things my ministry in partnership with the local churches in Ethiopia has been doing over the years is training local evangelists, church leaders, and young people in the church to become self-supported ministers. My ministry adapted the concept of “tentmaking initiatives” based on the apostle Paul’s mission strategy. Our tentmaking strategy benefits…
By: Julie Dodge on February 21, 2014
Once upon a time, a long time ago, a child misbehaved. The exact misbehavior is long forgotten. But at bedtime, as his mother tucked him into bed, she told him to be careful. If he was not good tomorrow, the bogeyman might come and steal the child away. Perhaps in a sack. Perhaps on a…
By: Bill Dobrenen on February 21, 2014
I have some pet peeves; we all do. Two of mine came up in this week’s reading. These pet peeves are related to the words “blessing” and “calling.” In my present understanding, these words are often misunderstood, particularly in Christian circles. Sometimes I sneeze. Sometimes I sneeze several times in a row. In the American…
By: Richard Volzke on February 21, 2014
I appreciate that Weber’s book, The Protestant ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, approaches capitalism from a Christian perspective. The focus of the creation of capitalism was a basic cornerstone for human rights. Weber points out that capitalism is not from the age of Enlightenment, which took place in the 1800s, but from the “Puritan…
