Bible study
Difficult conversations in Academia
Academia is not immune to difficult conversations, as a recent article in Inside Higher Ed illustrates. In the article, Stephen J. Aguilar notes that: “Misunderstandings in academe are common and often innocuous, yet they can create conflict. Perhaps someone misheard something you said, and now they are angry with you. Perhaps they heard your words…
Read MoreWhy don’t we talk about racism?
As part of our study at Campus Edge on difficult conversations, we talked about racism. It was an important topic as part of recognizing how God cares about justice and because not caring about racism takes away from our witness to who God is. During our discussion, one of the questions that came up is…
Read MoreMillennial Burnout
A recent article on millennial burnout points to the challenges that millennials face in growing up in a culture that has valued being busy over one’s well-being. The author, Anne Helen Petersen, notes the following: Why can’t I get this mundane stuff done? Because I’m burned out. Why am I burned out? Because I’ve internalized…
Read MoreHow do you talk about faith?
Despite Christians being called to share the gospel many of us feel inadequate to the task. It doesn’t help that most people have had strange and awkward experiences when it came to sharing faith. This Saturday and Monday, as part of our study on having difficult conversations, we’ll be focusing on what it might look…
Read MoreDifficult conversations
Conversations that matter are often difficult. Stone, Patton, and Heen do a good job of explaining what makes a conversation difficult: “Anytime we feel vulnerable or our self-esteem is implicated, when the issues at stake are important and the outcome uncertain, when we care deeply about what is being discussed or about the people with…
Read MoreNew Study: Conversations that Matter
As it’s so hard to have conversations about things that matter, we’re choosing to focus on that in the coming weeks at Campus Edge. We’d love to have you join us!
Read MoreSo maybe it is about economics?
In our studies on the parables of Jesus, I’ve been struck by how often the parables talk about money and economics. Perhaps, though, as Jesus’ teachings tended to make people upset, it’s not that surprising: nothing quite gets people as upset as challenging them about money, power, and their self-importance. The parable of the laborers…
Read MoreWhy talk about difficult topics?
The studies in the second half of the spring semester focused on difficult topics in Christianity and the Bible. As many people avoid these conversations because of potential conflict, it’s not always obvious why we should talk about these things. Yet, studying these difficult topics can help us love God and those around us. Reading…
Read MoreWorse than the nations around you
Ezekiel 5:6-7 says that Israel has been worse than the surrounding nations. Such an accusation seems strange, as it doesn’t seem merely to say that Israel was worse in not obeying the special laws that God gave them, but instead that Israel was objectively worse than those around them. How is this possible? First, Ezekiel…
Read MoreApplying Ezekiel to today
We’ve started a study on Ezekiel. The stories in Ezekiel are fascinating and peculiar, and so it is a joy for me to talk about what is going on in the text. However, the strange-ness of the text makes it difficult to see how the text might apply to our lives. Going out and being…
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