By: Pam Lau on November 12, 2024
“Good relationships will keep you healthy and happy, healthier and happier than anything–including being right.[12] Chris Voss, a former FBI hostage negotiator, recommends using what he calls a “late night FM DJ voice during a hostage negotiation, which is a calm, soothing, and slightly downward inflected tone of voice designed to create a sense of…
By: Chad Warren on November 12, 2024
In a world where social media glorifies instant success and extraordinary talent, the YouTube group Dude Perfect exemplifies how perseverance and consistent effort are the foundation of their remarkable achievements. Known for their fantastic trick shots, they easily achieve the impossible, captivating millions with their seemingly effortless displays of talent. However, behind the scenes lies…
By: Jennifer Vernam on November 12, 2024
I will come clean. I was the person who suggested to Jason that we read the book How to Have Impossible Conversations.[1] (HTHIC) After all, I am the person in our cohort trying to develop a methodology for leaders to facilitate conversations in which there are deep differences of opinions while maintaining community. Why wouldn’t…
By: Kim Sanford on November 12, 2024
Hi, my name is Kim. I’m an ideologue. At least, according to Boghosian and Lindsay, I think I might be. They define ideologue as “one who is unwilling or unable to revise their (moral) beliefs.”[1] And just to be clear, they portray an ideologue in, shall we say, less than complimentary terms. I found How…
By: Glyn Barrett on November 12, 2024
Jesus is GRIT! Not only does this book define the Christian life, but it perfectly summarises Jesus. Before discussing Jesus, I will highlight the central premise of Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance, [1] before drawing an analogy with a movie, Jesus and my family. Angela Duckworth’s work on grit is absorbing and, in…
By: Jonita Fair-Payton on November 11, 2024
Let Them Be Wrong I have learned to let people be wrong. It is something that I have learned to do over time, after many failed attempts at trying to convince someone of something that they did not want to be convinced off. My sister is highly skilled at letting people be wrong. She and…
By: Mathieu Yuill on November 11, 2024
A few months ago, I found myself in one of those conversations you dread—an argument so loaded that it felt less like talking and more like defusing a bomb. A close friend of mine and I had stumbled into a political debate, one of those deeply divisive topics where both of us were convinced the…
By: Scott Dickie on November 11, 2024
My title is a bit over-the-top, but it captures the direction I’d like to go in this post. But first let me address what, I suspect, many of us will recognize and wrestle with in relation to this book: Peter Boghossian is someone firmly entrenched in the atheist camp and he seems motivated to use…
By: Jeff Styer on November 11, 2024
Reading Angela Duckworth’s book Grit: The Power and Passion and Perseverance reminded me of a bike ride I took this past summer.[1] It was a two-day 132-mile ride on a 71-mile crushed gravel trail in West Virginia that parallels U.S. Route 50. This was a trail that my wife and I began several years ago…
By: John Fehlen on November 11, 2024
As a Christian, I would find a conversation with Peter Boghossian nearly impossible. Hmm…I wonder if there is a book on the market that could help me with this? Oh wait, Mr. Boghossian wrote one called How to Have Impossible Conversations: A Very Practical Guide. Allow me a moment of sheer snark: I think this…
By: Jenny Dooley on November 11, 2024
A Story After checking in with the apartment management office where I’m staying in Penang, Malaysia, I was asked to wait as ID cards were made. A few minutes later, I was greeted by a friendly gentleman who worked at the facility. He welcomed me to Penang and spoke of his upcoming holiday. A few…
By: Tim Clark on November 11, 2024
I was ready to be inspired when I started reading the book How to Have Impossible Conversations: A Very Practical Guide. After the first couple of chapters, it seemed like the book might be more about “how to have any conversations” than only the impossible ones because the principles and practices I started noticing in…
By: Kally Elliott on November 11, 2024
I’ve sworn off conversations about politics with my father. I haven’t told him this but I think he’s taken the hint. I’ve witnessed him trying really hard to not talk about politics with me. I can see him squirming, beginning to say something divisive (at least it is divisive from my perspective) and then stopping…
By: Jonita Fair-Payton on November 11, 2024
I am terrified at the moral apathy, the death of the heart, which is happening in my country. These people have deluded themselves for so long that they really don’t think I’m human. And I base this on their conduct, not on what they say. And this means that they have become moral monsters…
By: Cathy Glei on November 11, 2024
Our Children’s Ministry is in the process of adopting a new curriculum. The curriculum resource we are currently using was adopted just after the pandemic. It was purchased because it fit our scope & sequence, Biblical foundation, and spiritual formation benchmarks for kids. It also had components that fit our needs during the pandemic. Currently,…
By: Esther Edwards on November 11, 2024
My daughter has two-year-old twins. It can be quite comical to see how they are learning to negotiate and converse. Without a doubt, they are beginning to see that they are not alone in the universe. The controversy is continually around what is “mine.” My toy. My food. My shoes. But skills are being taught…
By: Jennifer Eckert on November 10, 2024
“The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack in will.” — Attributed to Vince Lombardi Lombardi’s quote addresses the idea that grit is the will to keep pushing forward, and despite the difficulty, it is often a quality that determines…
By: Noel Liemam on November 8, 2024
“The Mindset: The New Psychology of Success,” by Dr. Carol S. Dweck, has a good content that I can learn from. I would love to have it in bookshelves; however, I would read it only once or twice. This book teaches about the ‘two mindsets’ which are fixed mindset and growth mindset, and the remaining…
By: Dinka Utomo on November 7, 2024
My Standpoint Colonialism and slavery, in my view, are both kinds of oppression and exploitation that are carried out by a group of people or nations against other groups or nations who are weaker. Colonialism and slavery are practices that are carried out to accrue the most significant possible benefit from the people or nations…
By: Jennifer Eckert on November 7, 2024
The contentious U.S. election has left me feeling battered and drained, much like the Oklahoma tornadoes that struck shortly before. Americans remain deeply divided in how the country should move forward, and many increasingly rely on social media headlines instead of fact-checking or thinking critically. Those who challenge misinformation are often publicly criticized or even…
