When your interests are many, it is easy to get lost in the great sea of “must read” books. Perusing the bookstore can be agonizing for us bibliophiles, as we discover the sheer volume of books demanding our attention. Upon reaching the cashier, I must often shed books collected during my journey through the bookstore.

What could possibly go wrong?

I always laugh when I hear someone say those words because of course anything can go wrong. Or it can go right. But much of that depends on how well we are prepared. In both my personal and professional life, I believe in planning for contingencies. When my kids were little, I didn’t leave the house without extra clothes and diapers. I knew the likelihood of needing them was high. In the professional world, the failure to plan for contingencies can lead to catastrophic failure.

The value of discussions and other interactive strategies in online instruction is to get the student active in exploration, discovery, and deep learning which leads to critical thinking. Learning that enables critical thinking is a collaborative process in which content is generally constructed or discovered rather than transmitted.

In a May 30, 2014 issue of Faculty Focus , Rob Kelly mentioned five things that online students want from their instructors. Let’s look at those five points and consider how we can integrate these concerns into our online courses:

You may ask, why should we care about our ability to communicate? Well, that’s easy. We should care because we want others to understand what we mean. We want to improve our relationships. We want to make sure things get done and in many cases, we want to advance our careers. One of the job skills employers desire most is effective communication. When people communicate effectively, they can build a productive working relationship, solve problems, supervise others, and create trust in the workplace.

Let’s face an unfortunate truth – American culture is fixated on beauty.

That obsession carries into marketing and design. Some privileged souls work in organizations steeped in a “planning” culture where a project never begins without a clearly defined creative brief. Others wander a busy highway of squirrel-chasers.

In our journey of “two steps” we have already seen the two steps a pastor must take (grow himself, build a team) and the two steps that only the congregation can take (face reality, create an embracing environment). So what’s left?

In the final installment of this series, we will discuss the two steps that the pastor and people must take together.

We have already seen the two steps a pastor must take to help the congregation get stronger – self-growth and build a team . But there are also two steps the people of the church must take to contribute to the same health journey. Many congregants know the frustration of a revolving door of pastors with their unique visions, ideas, and strategies. A frequent change in pastors can lead the congregation to forget that they, too, have some responsibility for what their church is becoming.

With thousands of churches plateaued or in decline, many of which are aging with the future growing more ominous each day, I’ve been searching for simple and powerful steps in a new direction. Many struggling churches are overwhelmed by a culture of “can’t.” They hear the ideas that turn around other congregations, but find most of these beyond their current abilities, resources, and people. There has to be a “can” out there with every church’s name on it.

There is!

The last decade of the 20th century brought new vistas of adventure to the world of Bible study.  The word of God was unleashed from the printed page to the digitized screen.  For those pioneers who first encountered digital Bible study, it has been a fast-paced turn of events to a day where the Bible is now available for instant word-studies on the phone, quick word searches online, and sermons that can be shared to multiple platforms.  Whether you get your devotions from a web page, your lessons from a digital platform or the tried and true method of paper and pen, consider these advantages to the new options in digital Bible study.

All of us tend to use the most significant dates in our lives as reference points for all the others. For example, we think of our age in reference to the year we were born, and while we may give names to wedding anniversaries (silver, gold, etc.), we determine them by counting from the year of the marriage. Indeed, the root of the word anniversary is the Latin for “year.”

One of the business buzzwords that garnered stream back in the early 90s was the term Emotional Intelligence or EQ as it is referred to in business. This concept was studied and developed by Daniel Goleman in his book titled Emotional Intelligence. He makes the case that our definition of intelligence as measured by IQ is too narrow and ignores a critical range of abilities that matter immensely to our success in life. Such factors are self-awareness, impulse control, personal responsibility, and social adeptness.

Many of us have heard the story of Christ’s burial and resurrection. Sadly, since we are removed from the historical context of this event, some of the details of the story can be lost to us. For example, the gospels tell us that Christ was buried in a tomb for three days. Have you ever given any thought to what the tomb of Jesus was actually like? Was it a gravesite like we use today or was it something different?

How does it feel when someone praises your accomplishments? Do you suddenly feel inspired, sharp and ready to take on new challenges? Science shows that there are many psychological effects of praise. Used correctly, praise can boost self-esteem, increase performance and supercharge productivity. Used incorrectly or not at all, it can tear down and render the most high-powered team impotent.

Have you solved any quadratic equations lately? Chances are you have. In fact, many Americans spend several hours each week not only solving quadratic equations, but watching other people solve them as well!

If you haven’t guessed by now, I am talking about watching sports on television. You didn’t pull out your pencil and paper and work through the quadratic formula to solve the equation, but your brain still makes an attempt to do it just by watching.

In “marked” contrast to the adopted practice of most modern historiographers who are fond of supplying graphic details of heinous events (compare, for example, Bill O’Reilly’s magnificent KILLING LINCOLN), Mark’s account of the crucifixion is striking in its silence regarding the physical torture of the cross.

As discussed in a previous post, venting is a two-way process that involves the person venting and the person hearing the vent. Healthy, positive venting is focused on how the person hearing the vent shows empathy, creates safety, and participates in active listening (Kurz, 2017; Bryant, 2009; Egan, 2007). Research has concluded that negative venting can lead to higher stress levels and other physical health concerns. Negative venting is not associated with the person venting but rather the active listener and his or her response (Bodie et al., 2015; Goldsmith, 2004).

Venting. We all have done it. As a matter of fact, we probably have done it within the last 24 hours. Have you ever vented and was angry with yourself for doing so? Do I know those times all too well…? So why do we vent? Is it healthy to vent? What can we do when others want to vent? Let’s unpack these questions.

Offense. We have all been there. The time your boss joked about your proposal. The time your good friend spoke truth about your new haircut. The time your in-laws commented on your parenting efforts. We take offense. It’s a verbal phrase. Take. Because it is an action, we make a choice. To take or not to take?

In a world before social media and the internet, how did the United States encourage and promote American citizens in the 1930s and 1940s to contribute to the war effort? The answer-propaganda and lots of it. While propaganda took many forms, perhaps its strongest and the most effective channel was Hollywood films. In this Thought Hub vlog, Rob Price, M.F.A., shares the impact of these films in America during this era and how many young filmmakers put their careers on hold to contribute to the war effort.