These posts were originally written for my Doctor of Ministry, each post reflects on a leadership book or theme. More can be found on the blog at George Fox University.
Communism and Christianity – a learning experience
I headed to Hong Kong with a different perspective than our Cape Town advance. My heart and mind was filled with expectation of being with dear friends. I knew we’d be learning and experiencing fantastic things but it paled in comparison with the camaraderie and intellectual stimulation of friends—if not family—crazy uncle and all
God breathed
Many things that carry great weight in Christian thought are eventually challenged by a surge in a contrary view. In The Sacred Gaze, David Morgan argues that the study of images has been undervalued in our understanding of religion.
Head, Heart, Hands
One of the numerous times that Jesus’ detractors tried to trip him up he was asked “which is the greatest commandment?” His response is a summary of all God’s instructions: “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.
Open church
I want to live in a different world. I long for the world that would have been if Adam had said to Eve “Oh, honey—let’s not listen to that snake in the grass. After all, God has shown himself to be completely trustworthy.” Or even if his theological discernment was a little off that day, couldn’t he at least have said “Honey, step aside while I make you some snake skinned cowgirl boots.”?
What’s your EQ?
Manfred Kets De Vries, in “The Leadership Mystique,” contends that emotional intelligence (EQ) is actually more substantial in higher levels of leadership than IQ. He writes: “And people who possess emotional intelligence are more effective at motivating themselves and others.
Valuing exit, voice and loyalty at church
Hirschman’s “Exit, Voice and Loyalty” may have been written as social theory to be consumed by economists and politicians, but having watched the EXIT door of the church for a couple decades I can see correlations to the church.
Either/and thinking
If I could open up a window into our church’s leadership meetings you would find that much of what we discuss, wrestle with, and act upon is about who we are, where we’re going, and how we get there.
Good to great for churches?
I’m a sucker for contrarian insight and paradoxes; it seems Jim Collins, author of Good to Great, is as well. The author advocates that the best leaders—what he calls “L-5 leaders”—have a duality.
Hong Kong: Gateway to China or Asia’s World City
Almost four years ago Maryanne and I had the opportunity to visit Hong Kong and get more of an insider’s view than typical tourists. I had an opportunity to candidate for an international church, and the elders packed our itinerary.
Ode to shame. . . and honor
The more I read of “Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother” by Amy Chua, the more I liked it. It was written with honesty and self-parody, by a woman with a keen mind for the absurdity in both eastern and western cultures, as well as bravery in the face of how her Chinese parenting would sound to western minds.
Method vs. Mission
My previous post said “Bad Religion” is my favorite book this term; James Davidson Hunter’s “To Change the World: The Irony, Tragedy, & Possibility of Christianity in the Late Modern World” is a close second. My affection for Hunter’s book isn’t because I’m wholeheartedly agreeing with his views on culture or cultural change, but because he’s taken hold of my assumptions on culture and kicked them around a bit and shown me some weaknesses in them.
Civility and Confidence
In my view, books like “Spirit of the Cities” and “The Bible, Justice and Public Theology” don’t offer a clear vision for the role of public theology. But with the reading of Ross Douthat’s Bad Religion: How we became a Nation of Heretics[1], I can envision the robust and essential role of the public theology.
The commodification of church
I live in a world of religious commodification and it has birthed the fruit of abstraction and ultimately spawned fragmentation. In my world, ‘community’ has become ‘community groups’, following Jesus has become ‘service projects’ and knowing God has become an hour on Sunday.
Rebel, Radical, or Real
I imagine Heath and Potter may have lost some of their left-leaning friends as they attempted to expose how the anti-consumerism, counter-cultural movement since WW2 didn’t live up to its billing and in fact likely added to the furtherance of consumer capitalism.
Dave Young 