Head-dibs

The first course in my doctoral program began by allowing us a discussion on "What is the significance of identifying books as original sources of data?" My contribution is as follows: Books are simply the concentrated efforts of authors and editors devoting attention to the development and discussion of one subject. Books will be the original source of data in this writer's particular research as articles and other sources were not developed or known until times more modern; therefore, this technicality already establishes the kind of material one must handle in research. This writer intends to make Marcus Aurelius’ “Meditations”, the centerpiece of the project. The “book” is simply a piece of ancient literature from which one intends to develop an index of contents as well as extrapolate applicable principles for Christian leaders. "Meditations" itself is the original source of data; therefore, it is crucial that works that were written on the subject be corr...

With the Doctoral program starting in the Fall, my goal is to complete a handful of outstanding projects that not only relate to personal development but also inform the subject of leadership, which will be the heart of my capstone project. Projects to finish ("front sight focus"): Donald Roberston's short introductory online course on Marcus Aurelius based on his new book, "How To Think Like A Roman Emperor."  John Maxwell's " Momentum Breakers and Momentum Makers " podcasts (momentum is a leader's best friend) followed by " Core Values for a Winning Team "  Finish notating leadership principles from Marcus Aurelius', "Meditations" Meeting with my mentor to discuss narrowing the topic in order to make a unique contribution to the field of leadership study and practice Ongoing projects ("bullet-proof the mission"): Leadership Handbook series (personal, skill and relational development); Review Ma...

"Indeed how could exile be an obstacle to a person's own cultivation? Or to attaining virtue when no one has ever been cut off from learning or practicing what is needed by exile?" (Musonius Rufus, Lectures, 9.37, 39) Is one bettered by what sits on one's shelf, or by what one reads? Having invested so much time, money and space to the collection of so many books (and there are fewer in possession now than in time past), one wonders how many are for the sake of personal vanity and not personal cultivation. A person may not necessarily read a title but having it close it hand "for reference" brings a level of personal comfort--but when will that time come? And if that time never comes, then what is the purpose of collecting the title? Ever walk into an office and see a collection of books on a side table and notice how out out of place those books seem? Why does an insurance office have a embossed copies of "Moby Dick" and "Jane Eyre...

(ht: Open Culture) " Matthew Might , a computer science professor at the University of Utah, writes: 'Every fall, I explain to a fresh batch of Ph.D. students what a Ph.D. is. It's hard to describe it in words. So, I use pictures.' In his Illustrated Guide to the PhD , Professor Might creates a visual narrative that puts the daunting degree into perspective. Anyone who has already pursued a Ph.D. will see the wisdom in it. (Or at least I did.) And young, aspiring academics would be wise to pay it heed." Find the Illustrated Guide here .

τούτου μὲν τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἐγὼ σοφώτερός εἰμι· κινδυνεύει μὲν γὰρ ἡμῶν οὐδέτερος οὐδὲν καλὸν κἀγαθὸν εἰδέναι, ἀλλ᾽ οὗτος μὲν οἴεταί τι εἰδέναι οὐκ εἰδώς, ἐγὼ δέ, ὥσπερ οὖν οὐκ οἶδα, οὐδὲ οἴομαι· ἔοικα γοῦν τούτου γε σμικρῷ τινι αὐτῷ τούτῳ σοφώτερος εἶναι, ὅτι ἃ μὴ οἶδα οὐδὲ οἴομαι εἰδέναι. “I am wiser than this man, for neither of us appears to know anything great and good; but he fancies he knows something, although he knows nothing; whereas I, as I do not know anything, so I do not fancy I do. In this trifling particular, then, I appear to be wiser than he, because I do not fancy I know what I do not know.” (Plato’s, "Apology”) My world is mostly academic. Five years of study has gained both a Bachelor’s and a Master’s degree and the last 17 years has been filled by my continued employment at a University. We have educated all our children at home and though this is the graduating year for our youngest from High School, this has also been my wife’s freshman year in college....

Ok, so the other night my wife and I visited our local Chinese Buffet and as customary, received our fortune cookies with our check. My wife's said: "Education's purpose is to replace an empty mind with an open one." My fortune cookie was empty.

The South Carolina Senate honored two Columbia International University professors who passed away in February. In resolutions offered by Richland County Senator Darrell Jackson, a CIU alumnus, Dr. Terry Hulbert and Dr. Bill Larkin were remembered for nearly eight decades of impact on students and evangelical scholarship. Read the resolutions which detail the lives of Dr. Terry Hulbert and Dr. Bill Larkin .

Dr. Jerry Rankin provides an overview of Summer 2014 events hosted by the Zwemer Institute For Muslim Studies at Columbia International University . 

Longtime Columbia International University professor and friend Dr. Bill Larkin passed away on Feb. 18, 2014 following a battle with cancer. Dr. Larkin taught for 38 years at CIU until his retirement in 2013. His life included a long list of accomplishments. He was an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church in America and joined the faculty of CIU after a year of pastoral ministry in Philadelphia and the completion of graduate studies in England. He authored or co-authored several books, including Bible commentaries. More information will be posted as made available .

The 2014 Southeast Regional Conference of the  The Evangelical Missiological Society  will meet Saturday, March 29, 2014 on the campus of Columbia International University . The theme will be “Missions and Diaspora.” The conference is open to professors, students and mission practitioners.   Session speakers include:  CIU alumnus Leiton Chinn , (international student ministry organizer with the Lausanne Movement) will speak on “Reaching the International Student Diaspora in North America.” CIU alumnus Ken Katayama (President of Crossover Communications International ) CIU alumna Jessie Udall  who recently defended her thesis, “Preparing Ethiopians for Cross-Cultural Ministry: Maximizing Missionary Training for Great Commission Impact.” CIU professors making presentations include: Dr. Jerry Rankin, the director of the Zwemer Center for Muslim Studies   Zwemer Center Assistant Director Trevor Castor,  Dr. Mike Naylo r, New Testame...

It can happen very quickly, the swing from “what’s on your mind?” to “are you out of your mind?”. The look on one’s face is easy to read: the contemplation is deep, but the expression of the thought--often-times, our thoughts are received in unexpected ways. The apostle Paul reminded the Corinthian believers that, “ we have the mind of Christ ” (1 Cor. 2:16). The Philippian Christians were encouraged to demonstrate Christ-mindedness toward one another (Phil. 2:1-2, 5). When one who is hard after God shifts from living “ under the sun ” to learning “ under heaven ” and applying heavenly wisdom, the world does not know how to receive the lessons. Like Festus to Paul’s ears, “ you are out of your mind; your great learning is driving you out of your mind !” (Acts 26:24) The mind of Christ is not the mind of the world. Learning the mind of Christ is to gain the viewpoint, understanding, wisdom, thoughts, feelings, purposes, the desires of God’s anointed Messiah. Paul had the mind...

I’ve spent the last couple of days thinking about learning and the Christian worldview. Past blog posts have considered the difference between learning “ under the sun ” and learning “ under heaven ” as explored by wise King Solomon. We now he did not turn out so well in the end because of compromised worldview. Is it possible to learn, to pursue education, to grow in wisdom in the context of the world in which we live? Long after Solomon’s golden age ended and the kingdom was divided, we read in the historical literature that Israel was carried away in Babylonian captivity. Caught up in the capture were some notable young men that receive this assessment of their captors: “ And in every manner of wisdom and understanding about which the king [Nebuchadnezzar] inquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters that were in all his kingdom .” (Daniel 1:20). Consider the situation: these young men were uprooted from their homeland and transp...

“ And I set my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all that is done under heaven; this burdensome task God has given to the sons of man, by which they may be exercised. I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and indeed, all [is] vanity and grasping for the wind .” (Ecclesiastes 1:13-14, NKJV) There, you see! Don’t waste your time reading and pursuing knowledge! King Solomon himself said that seeking wisdom is burdensome (“evil business”) and vanity! Actually, Solomon said everything under the sun is vanity, striving after wind so if we follow the logic, we should stand perfectly still with our hands by our sides, eyes closed and holding our breath. Solomon states a conclusion from a lesson learned: wisdom pursued apart from God is vanity. Learning is hard work and has a reward in the end--but learning must be done correctly. Solomon only increased in wisdom by learning in context, by learning “under heaven.” Look again at those who followed Jesus--...

One great reward of translation work is seeing words as they are. The truth of a word in its original brings unexpected surprises, sometimes a shock--like licking a 9-volt battery. Once you do it, you don’t want to do it again . . . or do you? Especially when you have few to choose from and your guitar needs a replacement. But I digress . . . (who puts old batteries back in a drawer?) We grow up saying it--”learning stinks” (or something to that effect). Hardly a day goes by when a Junior High schooler expresses his or her heart-felt woes concerning education. As home- schooling parents, we’ve heard our share of learning woes. There’s nothing new under the sun with this sentiment. Which brings me back to that place from which I began: the unhappy business of learning. Old Solomon said it plainly. “ And I set my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all that is done under heaven; this burdensome task God has given to the sons of man, by which they may be exercised .”...

Youth Ministry specialists are noticing that as technology accelerates, spiritual apathy among young people is increasing. Many teens are biblically illiterate, bored, and find the church to be irrelevant. Parents are frustrated. Youth leaders are burned out. And high school and college students — if they ever attended — are leaving the church by the droves. What on earth has gone wrong? Dr. David Olshine , director of the  Youth Ministry, Family and Culture  program at Columbia International University explores what needs to change and offers practical advice to youth ministry leaders in his new book, “Youth Ministry: What’s Gone Wrong?”   Olshine is the author and co-author of 19 books and is a regular contributor to  Youth Worker Journal . He is ordained in the United Methodist Church and has served for over 30 years as a youth pastor and lead pastor of a college-town church. He is also the co-founder of Youth Ministry Coache s, an organization that helps ...

Here upon this graduation as I write congratulations upon my laptop like a homework chore; I think back to those books and reading, finding lessons in flour kneading doing math till eyes were bleeding-- You can say to High School, “nevermore.” We’ve reached the end, though weak and weary (the world’s your oyster now, my dearie) and your brother’s not quite Soph-o-more; It’s time to put to use that learning, go on to college if you’re yearning, or perhaps a living, earning-- But you can say to High School, “nevermore.”

It was to be a simple exercise, an experiment, a group demonstration--a team-building exercise . For some reason it did not work. Well, perhaps it did work; but, I still can’t get my mind around the outcome.  See, we were supposed to lower a stick and we failed. Miserably.  Someone brought a 10 foot section of quarter-round molding and laid it in the floor, forming a line that divided the room. Ten volunteers stepped forward, five on each side of the “line.” We were told to hold out our index fingers and the stick was lifted from the floor and set on our out-stretched digits. We were to lower the stick to knee-height, provided that 1) the stick was not grasped in any way (it must only rest on the index finger); and 2) no finger could leave the stick, or we would have to start over.  The stick rose. The stick wobbled. Some lowered too fast and departed from the stick and we had to start again. The group never lowered the stick three inches in unison.  M...

Since the outset of His ministry on earth, Jesus has been called ( among other things ) “Rabbi (which means ‘teacher’)” (John 1:38). Most often Jesus is still called, “Good teacher,” or is referred to as the man revered as a model for humanity. My question is this: what is He teaching? What is He modeling for us? What lessons have you learned? 

Today is a popular holiday in Russia (i.e., not an official public holiday) and is celebrated two different ways depending on who you ask; or more precisely, on which party you attend. This is “Student’s Day” or “St. Tatiana’s Day” and no matter how one observes the day (or with whom), the feast remembering a christian martyr is oddly coupled with a landmark in education. Think of the day as the last day of finals exams (that is probably enough to explain the reason to party). Students in the Universities have been taking exams since the first of the year, and now they are done! Interestingly, the day falls on the birthday of the University of Moscow, so toss that into the mix. This is the largest and oldest educational center in the country, founded in 1755. The celebrations actually started as “The Day of Moscow University,” a simple acknowledgement that education was accessible to all countrymen. Years later, the Russian Orthodox Church built the Church of Saint Tatiana on the camp...