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

Church and Ministry Thought & Practice

For those of you preparing for worship for Palm Sunday or writing a sermon, I have a number of helpful links for you. First of all, if you are following the revised common lectionary friend and professor Rev. Dr. Karoline Lewis wrote about “Holy Week Grace.” Karoline also joined friends and professors Rev. Dr.’s Matt Skinner and Rolf Jacobson on the “Sunday of the Passion (Palm Sunday)” Sermon Brainwave Podcast to discuss the day and its readings. Also spend some time with Bishop Michael Rinehart’s thoughts on “Passion/Palm Sunday.”

If you are following the narrative lectionary, consider this “Commentary on Mark 11:1-11 or Mark 14:3-9” from C. Clifton Black. Also be sure and listen to friends and professors Rev. Dr.’s Rolf Jacobson, Craig Koester, and Kathryn Schifferdecker on the Narrative Podcast discussing the “Triumphal Entry (or Anointing at Bethany).”

Thinking about Palm Sunday, friend, pastor, and blogger Diane Roth writes about “Palm Sunday now.”

If you are looking for a great Maundy Thursday litany and following the Narrative Lectionary, Martha Spong put together this one.

Luther Seminary put together this good and helpful resource for congregations, worship and music ministers, and other musicians on “Public Domain Hymns.”

Friend and professor Rev. Dr. Karoline Lewis also shared her thoughts from this past weekend on “Simultaneous Smells.”

My latest post as mission developer at Messiah Lutheran Church is all about what’s new at Messiah North County.

Church and Social Media (#ChSocM) shared a transcript of its weekly chat which was moderated by Meredith Gould. The topic which the chat focused on was, “Engaging with Negative (and Good) Online Behavior. How we define what’s ‘good’ and ‘bad’ behavior and how we might develop a more nuanced understanding of it.”

Blogger and pastor Clint Schnekloth wrote about how “Holy Week Dilates and Contracts Time.”

Brian Dodd highlighted what he sees are “4 Things Every Church Planter Should Know.” The things that Brian highlights are: focus on self-leadership; from the very start put systems into place, not silver bullets; speak to business leaders; and some thoughts about how to pick elders.

Rev. Dr. Joelle Colville-Hanson wrote that, “ELCA World Hunger Grants help Synod Congregations fight hunger in our own communities.”

Friend and mentor Dr. Terri Elton shared exciting news about the “Fortress Spring Book Sale,” featuring 50% sales on nearly 2,000 books.

Even though the group Lost and Found has “retired,” they are still checking-in from time to time, recently sharing these “Couple of Things, FYI.”

Todd Buegler and the ELCA Youth Ministry Network Team dug in a bit to these “Extravaganza Demographics.”

My wife Allison shared this look by Neil Ellis Orts, “Restarting at Zero: Introducing the Pastor at Kindred Montrose.”

I’m excited to share about the Academy of Religious Leadership (ARL) and its publication, the Journal of Religious Leadership. All articles written in the journal through the Spring of 2015 are now available both by volume and author at the ARL website. The Annual Meeting of ARL is next month, and you can find out more and register here to attend and participate.

Cross-Sector Collaboration

KPLU shared a “Save KPLU Update” last week including exciting news about upcoming events as part of the campaign including April 28th in Poulsbo.

Friend and professor Dr. Ron Byrnes sums up many people’s thoughts when it comes to surveys writing about “Survey Scourge.”

Leadership Thought & Practice

Social leadership theorist Julian Stodd wrote and shared, “#WorkingOutLoud on ‘The Social Leadership Handbook’, Second Edition,”  “Aspects of Social Leadership #1,” and “Aspects of Social Leadership #2 Curation.”

Seth Godin shared about “The difference between confidence and arrogance.”

You hear a lot about passion in vocation, life, and leadership. Recently Ted Bauer brought up a good question though, “What If ‘Follow Your Passion’ is Actually Bad Advice?” What do you think? Ted also pondered and shared in writing, “Leadership and Judger Questions vs. Learner Questions.”

Skip Prichard writes, “Don’t Let Leadership Go To Your Head.”

Terri Klass shared, “Five Coaching Tips for Leaders.”

Dan Rockwell shared a number of great leadership posts over the past week. These posts included thoughts about how “Authenticity is at Least Four Things“; “The Question No One Asks Leaders“; thoughts about “The 13 Toughest Challenges of Leadership“; and “The Secrets of Compassion for Leaders.”

Brian Dodd shared a look at the “Top 10 Leadership Posts” he read last week.

I am always impressed when a leader shows that they are human enough to apologize. Honesty and integrity are important to me in leadership, and being willing and able to admit when you’re wrong is also important. That’s why I was impressed and glad to see former Secretary of State and current presidential candidate Hillary Clinton write and apologize in, “On the Fight Against HIV and AIDS — and on the People Who Really Started the Conversation.”

Lolly Daskal wrote about “The Dilemma of the Servant Leader.”

Anne Loehr continued her series of looks at “Five Women Shaping the Future of Work,” including this profile of “Jessica DeGroot, Third Path Institute,” and a summary of the whole series about how “These Five Women are the Future of Work.”

Lesley Symons writes that “Only 11% of Top Business School Case Studies Have a Female Protagonist.”

Steve Keating unpacked, “Two Possibilities of Leadership.”

Jon Mertz at Thin Difference shared good perspectives on leadership which also are useful for Millennials from the expert “Ken Blanchard: Conversations for New Managers.”

Millennials

Thin Difference shared a guest post by Daniel Weinzveg about how to “Spark Engagement Through Cultural Values.”

Jon Mertz wrote about “Emboldening Millennials for Social Good.”

Ken Fang at Awful Announcing notes an interesting observation that “Urban millennials (are) not necessarily cutting the cord, but watching Netflix in addition to Live TV.”

The Guardian shared a whole set of resources and perspectives about “Millennials: The Trials of Generation Y.” The topic heading sums up many of the challenges facing Millennials, “Millennials: The perfect storm of debt, housing and joblessness facing a generation of young adults – and what is to be done.” Check out this series and the different perspectives within.

Neighbor Love

Friend, pastor, and blogger Aaron Fuller shared his sermon from this past weekend based on Mark 13 and entitled, “Life among Signs of the Apocalypse.”

In horrible news from Hood River, Oregon, here’s a story of racism and religious bigotry displayed recently about how a “Buddhist monk, apparently mistaken as Muslim, attacked in Hood River.”

Friend, blogger, and artist Vonda Drees shared a number of beautiful posts over the past week. These included: “bread of life“; “God…Is…With…In…Us“; “200 million displaced sacred encounters“; “concrete promise“; “extravagant love“; “life-giving water“; and “beyond our walls.”

Rachel Held Evans wrote and shared about, “The Absurd Legalism of Gender Roles, Exhibit D: ‘Biblical’ Manipulation.”

Friend Kandice Boettcher shared this piece by Lindy West who wrote that, “The macabre truth of gun control in the US is that toddlers kill more people than terrorists do.”

The editors of The Christian Century wrote that, “Jesus trumps tribalism.”

Parker Palmer asked, “Will Fascism Trump Democracy?” This is both a neighbor love and leadership question.

John Pavlovitz wrote about “Why An Apolitical Christian Faith Doesn’t Exist (If You Listen to Jesus).”

Friend, pastor, and blogger Frank Johnson shared his sermon from this past weekend based on Mark 13. Frank wrote that, “The end of the world isn’t just coming; it’s here.”

Caitlin Zimmerman wrote and reflected about, “Gospel Across Boundaries.”

Friend and blogger Rozella White wrote about “Intersectionality.”

Social Media & Blogging

Friend and blogger J.W. Wartick shared his version of the links with his “Really Recommended Posts.”

Vocation

Friend, pastor, and blogger Diane Roth shared some life and vocational reflections in writing about “Saturday Night With Scout.”

Miscellaneous

Ed Ronco and Matthew Brumley shared something helpful to travelers everywhere, “3 Steps To Finding Elusive Good Deals On Ever-Changing Airfare.”

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That concludes this 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. Thank you for reading and being a part of the conversation! Blessings on your week-TS

Image Credits:  The Links; “follow your passion” and “extravagant love.”