This month's list of the best books I've read over the last 30 days that were published this year is among the most diverse. (5.0) Palaces for the People: How Social Infrastructure Can Help Fight Inequality, Polarization, and the Decline of Civic Life by Eric Klinenberg (Crown, 2018) (4.5) Winners Take All: The Elite Charade of Changing the World by Anand Giridharadas (Knopf, 2018) (4.5) Healing Our Broken Humanity: Practices for Revitalizing the Church and Renewing the World by Grace Read More …
The Bible Doesn’t Say That (#1756)
Yesterday, I worshipped at Cathedral of Hope United Church of Christ in Dallas, Texas. I heard the Rev. Dr. John Dorhauer, General Minister and President of the United Church of Christ preach "Everything Happens for a Reason" as part of the Cathedral's current sermon series: The Bible Doesn't Say That. The two earlier messages in this series are You've Got to Forgive and Forget Love the Sinner, Hate the Sin And, the remaining message will be "God Won't Give You More Than You Read More …
What Students Think of Me (#1755)
A few weeks ago I shared some reflections on my life as an adjunct professor. Since writing that post, I've spent some time looking back over the last eight years. Student Evaluations In higher education, students are usually afforded the opportunity to evaluate their professors. In my case as an adjunct professor at Hodges University, my students were provided an opportunity to complete an optional online questionnaire near the end of the semester. These anonymous Read More …
Book Recommendations – September 2018 (#1754)
This month's list of the best books I've read over the last 30 days that were published this year is filled with authors who have never before appeared on my blog. (5+) Loving and Leaving a Church: A Pastor's Journey by Barbara Melosh (Westminster John Knox Press, 2018) (4.5) 8 Steps to High Performance: Focus On What You Can Change (Ignore the Rest) by Marc Effron (Harvard Business Review Press, 2018) (4.0) Solus Jesus: A Theology of Resistance by Emily Swan and Ken Wilson Read More …
7 New American Religious Types (#1753)
A few days ago the Pew Research Center published The Religious Typology: A New Way to Categorize Americans by Religion. For those not inclined to read the full 99 page report, Pew also provides an in-depth blog post that effectively communicates the main elements of the research. Research Basics Started in 2014, "The American Trends Panel (ATP), created by Pew Research Center, is a nationally representative panel of randomly selected U.S. adults" who "participate via monthly Read More …
My Life as an Adjunct Professor (#1752)
Education has long been a central part of what I do and who I am. A few weeks ago I shared the news that I was starting my twentieth professional position since graduating from college. Adjunct Life, Part 21 Today, I completed my responsibilities for teaching an undergraduate survey of world religions summer semester course. Submitting grades was my final responsibility to complete twenty-one consecutive semesters as an adjunct professor. Over that time, I've Read More …
Search for a Church 2.0: Three Bonus Visits (#1751)
Our search for a new church continues. The original plan called for visits to 10 Mainline Protestant congregations relatively close to our new home. And, we did just that. I summarized those experiences in two earlier posts: First Five Visits and Five More Visits. 10 Became 13 Project planning in all areas of my personal and professional life is increasingly agile and benefits from rapid development thinking. This new search follows that sort of Read More …
We Say Yes (#1750)
I'm often discouraged by individuals, congregations, and even denominations who define themselves more by what they are against than what they are for or what they say "yes" to. Saying Yes Earlier this summer the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) approved the following statement as part of its consent agenda. As confessing Christians, we trust God, whom we know through Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray as others pray in other names. We are obligated to declare our Read More …
Book Recommendations – August 2018 (#1749)
I was fortunate to read many books (published in the last twelve months) worth recommending over the last month. (5.0) The Most Beautiful Thing I’ve Seen: Opening Your Eyes to Wonder by Lisa Gungor (Zondervan, 2018) (4.5) Outside the Lines: How Embracing Queerness Will Transform Your Faith by Mihee Kim-Kort (Fortress Press, 2018) (4.5) Never Stop Learning: Stay Relevant, Reinvent Yourself, and Thrive by Bradley R. Staats (Harvard Business Review, 2018) Read More …
Changing Jobs For the 20th Time (#1748)
People change jobs. 1979 Frequent job changes are common today, but holding many jobs over the course of one's adult lifetime has actually been common for quite some time. While a snapshot of any given point in time is helpful, a longitudinal consideration of a given cohort across time paints a more complete picture of job changes. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported findings from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979, which is a survey of nearly 10,000 men and Read More …