A Warning Against Disharmony

I had coffee this morning with a friend who is a fellow co-laborer in ministry. As we bantered around various social issues confronting Christianity–gender identity, social justice, and the like–as well as the reality that COVID has led many to conclude they no longer have a need for the church, I was struck again by …

The Monkey and the Fish

During my doctoral studies in the early 2000s, Paul Hiebert shared a story that I have never forgotten.  Dr. Hiebert was a master at using illustrations and case studies to highlight essential missiological principles. His years of experience in India and as a world renowned missiological anthropologist made those attending his classes sit on the edge of …

Something New is coming – Are you ready for a shift?

You’ve probably heard the phrase, “paradigm shift.” But do you know where it comes from? Coined by author Thomas Kuhn in his 1962 classic, “The Structure of Scientific Revolutions”, the American physicist and philosopher noted that “paradigm shifts arise when the dominant paradigm under which normal science operates is rendered incompatible with new phenomena, facilitating …

The Call for Courageous Leaders

The global west is now on the front lines in the battle against COVID-19. The epicenter of the novel coronavirus has shifted from our distant shores to our communities. After a sudden two-week blitz in the United States of implementing extreme social distancing measures that included closing stadiums, canceling large events, shutting our borders, closing …

Leadership and Wine Tasting

When I was in my second year at Texas A&M University, our architectural design class took on a project to work with a local vineyard on a design for a new facility outside of College Station. As we began the design process, we had the vinter make a presentation on the science of winemaking. We …