Tuesday on the blog means that I get to share some of what I have seen, read, and found interesting with all of you. To help make sense of these links, I have grouped them by the following categories: Church and Ministry Thought & Practice; Cross-Sector Collaboraton; Leadership Thought & Practice; Millennials; Neighbor Love; Social Media & Blogging; Stewardship; Vocation and Miscellaneous. I hope you enjoy these links!

Church and Ministry Thought & Practice

For those of you planning a sermon or preparing for worship this coming weekend using the revised common lectionary, check out these thoughts on “Pentecost 12B” from Bishop Michael Rinehart. Friend and professor Rev. Dr. Karoline Lewis offers thoughts on the gospel reading from John 6:51-58 in “A ‘Living’ Bread.” Also in thinking about this coming weekend, Rev. Dr. David Lose shared, “Pentecost 12B: Meeting the Carnal God.”

If you are preparing for worship or writing a sermon for this coming weekend and following the narrative lectionary, check out this “Commentary on Hebrews 2:10-18,” from Rev. Dr. Craig Koester.

Speaking of lectionaries, I have been meaning to write a blogpost on my experience using the Narrative Lectionary this past year. As I contemplate that post, blogger and pastor Chris Duckworth may have beat me to the quick in writing, “Why I Left the Revised Common Lectionary Behind.”

Friend and director of LEAD, Peggy Hahn, shared, “Three things I learned about being a Christian leader by traveling in Turkey and Greece.” Peggy’s insights included thoughts about: Biblical perspective; God’s love; and our part.

Pastor and blogger Clint Schnekloth asked, “What do we have here?”

Church and Social Media (#ChSocM) shared a transcript of its weekly Twitter chat which last week focused on, “Prepping for Autumn,” and was moderated by Katy Dunigan.

Joanna Piacenza and Robert Jones from the Public Religion Research Institute shared findings about “The Top Two Religious Groups that Dominate American Cities.”

Friend and pastor Kent Shane shared this related article by Antonia Blumberg outlining “The Largest Religious Groups in American Cities.”

Last week I was formally approved toward being an Associate in Ministry in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), and shared a more detailed update about that here on the blog.

Check out this post on Young Lutherans joining together from around the world in “Workshop Wittenberg,” from The Lutheran World Federation.

Cross-Sector Collaboration

Friend and professor Dr. Mary Hess shared this interesting look from Zeeshan Aleem at last week’s Republican debate, featuring, “The 6 Most Surprisingly Un-Republican Moments from the Republican Debate.”

Also with the Republican debate in mind, Robert Christian at the Millennial Journal shared about “The Wisdom of Donald Trump.”

Tom Murphy at The Humanosphere shared that the “World Bank (is) regressing on environmental and social protections, critics charge.”

Friend, professor and mentor Dr. Terri Elton shared this intriguing post by Monica Anderson and Andrew Perrin from the Pew Research Center noting and sharing, “15% of Americans don’t use the internet. Who are they?”

Julian Stodd shared about, “3 Organizational Change Curves: Dynamic, Constrained, Resisted.”

Leadership Thought & Practice

Steve Keating shared thoughts about, “Assumptive Leadership,” and “The Look of Leadership.”

Anne Loehr shared about “The Future of Work: (with) 13 Tips to Prepare Your Organization.”

Dan Rockwell shared a number of intriguing posts over the past week, including: thoughts about “The Real Work of Leaders“; “12 Secrets for Successful Coaching Conversations“; and “How to Hold People Accountable.”

Lolly Daskal wrote about, “The Secret Source of Great Leadership,” which she believes is love. I tend to agree. What do you think?

Tanveer Naseer wrote about “Understanding Leadership and the Meaning of Life.”

My friend and mentor, Dr. Jean Lipman-Blumen is cited in this article, so you should check out why, “Everything we bash Donald Trump for is actually what we seek in leaders,” as written by Jeffrey Pfeffer.

Brian Dodd shared, “44 Leadership Quotes from Jim Collins.”

Kristof De Wulf at Switch & Shift shared, “7 Provoking Questions Critical to Your Purpose in Business.” Check out this post from some great leadership and purpose questions.

Jon Mertz at Thin Difference asked, “What Are Your Aspirations?”

Thin Difference also shared a guest post by Andrew Cravenho who wrote about, “Leading from Behind in the Business World.”

Millennials

Molly Page at Thin Difference shared about Tru Pettigrew, Millennials, and vocation when writing about, “When Gifts, Passion, and Purpose Collide.”

Stefanie wrote, “Dear 20 Somethings, Build Your Identity Capital.”

Friend Kari Osmek shared this post by J.T. O’Donnell featuring “3 Reasons Millennials Are Getting Fired.” The reasons noted include: employers don’t want to be parents; the anti-work attitude isn’t appreciated (or tolerated); Millennials’ happiness isn’t the employer’s responsibility. What do you think?

Chelsea Krost shared this post by Samantha Massaglia who asked, “Can Millennials Change the World?”

Claire Cain Miller wrote that, “Millennial Men aren’t the Dads they thought they’d be.”

In a related post the Millennial Journal shared, “Helping Millennial Dads live out their family values, egalitarian ideals.”

Neighbor Love

This past week there has been a great deal written and shared in response to racism, one of the biggest neighbor love challenges we all need to confront in our own lives. I think part of what has spurred on this conversation was a webcast broadcast last week on “Confronting Racism.”

Friend, pastor and blogger Diane Roth shared about “A Nice Person, and Racist.”

Blogger and pastor Lura Groen reflected about “Authentic Relationships and Racism.”

Ulysses Burley III wrote and shared over at The Salt Collective, “Justice for #MikeBrown: 4 Ways White Allies Can Get in the Game.”

Friend, pastor and blogger Aaron Fuller reflected and shared, “‘It’s not a problem, it just is’: Race, Ethnicity, Culture & the Church, Part 2.”

Goodwell Nzou shared some important and good food for thought in writing that, “In Zimbabwe, We Don’t Cry for Lions.”

Friend, blogger, and artist Vonda Drees shared a number of beautiful posts over the past week. These posts included: “the peace of wild things“; “rhythm and harmony“; “eternal love gives“; “un cielo nuevo y una tierra nueva“; “we are story“; “with’ness“; and “Great Commandment breaks into Psalm.”

My brother Thomas shared some long and deep thoughts about society, neighbor love, and faith, writing, “I Claim…We Claim.”

Friend and pastor Diane Roth also reflected about “Being Here, Not There.”

 

 

Social Media & Blogging

Monica Anderson at the Pew Research Center shared, “6 takeaways about teen friendships in the digital age.”

Michael Hyatt shared thoughts about “How to Blog if You Don’t Have Time.”

Stewardship

Friend and director of the Ecumenical Stewardship Center, Marcia Shetler, asked and reflected, “Will Our Children Be Generous?” What do you think of these ideas for generosity and stewardship across generations?

Erin at Young Adult Money shared “6 Questions to Ask Yourself Before Making a Purchase.”

For those of you in development, cultivating stories, or building relationships with donors and potential givers, read this take from Simone Joyaux at Nonprofit Quarterly, writing that, “Fundraising Isn’t about Money…Neither is Giving.”

Vocation

Friend and professor Dr. Ron Byrnes wrote, “Don’t Ask Me How to Raise Teenagers.”

In celebrating my wife Allison’s and my anniversary last week I shared some thoughts in writing, “What a Wonderful World.”

Meet Danita Abiola, one of LEAD’s interns this summer, who shared all about that in writing about “A Day in the Life of a LEAD Intern.”

Friend, world traveler and blogger Ben Tully shared about his recent travel adventures in writing, “From the Eastern Hemisphere to the East Coast.”

Miscellaneous

Football and broadcasting legend Frank Gifford passed away over the weekend. Ken Fang shared a nice overview and tribute to Frank here.

If you like visiting state and national parks, check out this article which my wife Allison shared with me from Kristin Jackson about “Free day coming up at Washington state parks,” with added info about National Parks as well.

Finally, join me in wishing my sister Tamara (who is on Twitter now), a Very Happy Birthday today!

—————————————————————————————

That concludes this week’s edition of the links. I hope you have enjoyed them. As always, if you have particular questions or topics for me to think about on the blog, please share them. Also, if there are things you would like to see included in the links, please let me know that too. Until next time, thank you for reading and being part of the conversation. Blessings on your week! -TS

Image Credits: The Links; Jean Lipman-Blumen; and “we are story.”