There has been a lot of interesting stuff written and published in the past couple of weeks.  These all deserve their own post by me, but for the sake of time and in an effort to share this good stuff, I entrust these links to you for your reading and hopefully thought provoking pleasure.

Leadership

If you are like me, and you are always looking for new creative ways to think about leadership and how to be a leader, then you will definitely enjoy Shara Alexander’s look at how to be a leader James Bond style.

If you are trying to get a hold of someone, finding information about a job, or just trying to get some work done and be collaborative, then likely you have had the challenge of leaving voice mails.  Stephen Key offers some secrets to get a call back.

 Vocation

A question that I know I have asked myself before, and I am sure most of you have or are currently asking yourselves, is how do you find work that you love and that inspires you and feels like you are in the ‘sweet spot’ while doing it.  Nadia Goodman offers her thoughts.

When I come across a good story about one’s calling and vocation, I like to include it.  This edition of the links includes a story from Ed Sherman at the USA TODAY about timeless sports announcer Verne Lundquist. 

There are now statistics to prove apparently that the “Protestant Work Ethic” actually exists. The research looks at the physic harm from unemployment and finds that it is 40% higher among Protestants according to HBR. 

Theology

One of the biggest life lessons to learn is that it is important to be able to say three things:   “I was wrong.”  “I’m sorry.” and “I love you.”  Dr. Terri Elton asks, how can we bring these life lessons into our daily life?  What do you think?

Rev. Dr. John Nunes offers a reflection on Luke 14:25-33, with thoughts on life transitions and changes, as well as mentoring.

Church News and Thoughts 

As has been written about on this blog previously, the ELCA is celebrating its 25th anniversary.  Dr. Norma Cook Everist, from Wartburg Seminary, offers a helpful look at where the church was and how it came to be 25 years ago, and a look at some of the challenges that she sees ahead.

One of the results of the recent Churchwide Assembly of the ELCA was the election of a new bishop.  Pastor Nadia Bolz-Weber offers a wonderful open letter tribute to Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson.  If you haven’t read this yet, you should.  As far as I am concerned Pastor Nadia sums up my thoughts and feelings far better than I ever could.

Dr. Terri Elton at Luther Seminary lays out the plans for this year’s First Third Conversations with a reflection on Rally Sunday and the hopes, dreams, joys, and challenges, that lay ahead for the new program year in congregations.

About a month ago, Ministry Matters offered a funny but all too real list of nine things that churches still ask of visitors, much to their detriment.  It’s good for for thought, especially as we begin and imagine new ways of doing ministry and creating programs/ministries as congregations. 

Many congregations have figured out that social media matters and is imperative to do ministry in this day and age. However, there are still some late adopters who haven’t figured out that only having a 1990s style website is not acceptable to be welcoming and missional.  Josh Burns offers a good reflection about this.

For those who take an interest in expressions of faith and worship in an undergraduate setting, take a peek at what Gustavus Adolphus College is up to.

In honor of the start of the new academic year, here is one resource’s list of their top 20 “most brilliant Christian professors.”  What do you think of their list?

In this week’s story about the intersection of religion, politics, and media, consider this story about a Nun, a garage, and a global television network.

Minnesota Public Radio offered this quick reflection on the emergent church movement.  What do you think? For those of you immersed in emergent church thought, what do you think of this media coverage?