Gibson Direct

Gibson Direct blogs about business and life and how faith intersects both of them.

Gibson Direct tells us the remarkable story of a woman named Tiny. It’s worth your time.
aaaaaaaaaaaGordon Atkinson

Tiny Brown just turned 99. She’s a small, thin lady whose mind is like a steal trap. She lives in the same retirement community as my dad, which is how I got to know her. When I ask her friends about her real first name, they simply shrug their shoulders. She’s been called Tiny for so long, no one knows her real first name….Click here to read the rest.

A Casual Observer

A Casual Observer - Observations about the parenting, church, mental health, and the alien race we call teenagers

A Casual Observer has an absolutely fascinating piece online about an adolescent phenomenon known as clusters.

Cluster, while not in adolescents’ vocabulary, is a group of adolescents who identify themselves as a defined relational unit. Adolescents describe such a grouping as “friends.” The word friend has been used for centuries to describe everything from a casual acquaintance to an intimate soul mate. In today’s adolescent world, friends represent something much different from what was meant in the late 1970s….Click here to read more.

Slow Boat From Adramyttium

Slow Boat From Adramyttium After 15 years in the business world, Seth Jones has gone to seminary.

What’s a minister in training to do if he finds that he is plagued by doubts and uncertainty?

Today, I read something in one of the books I am reading for one of my seminary classes (I can’t remember which one) about doubt and faith. I thought about that crazy disciple Thomas and I remembered a conversation I had with a friend who has a pretty literal take on the Bible. He presumed Jesus was condemning Thomas when He says to Thomas, “Blessed are those who believe without seeing.” (Jn 20:27-29)…Click here to read more.

Up From the Basement

Up From the Basement

Up From the Basement wonders if what is often called a good business model might actually be poor management.

Publishing itself has become more of a business–book publishing too. Journalism is becoming more of a business, as everyone knows. Even churches–when operating on the “church growth” paradigm–become more fully “business propositions”: if a church plant doesn’t show profits–numbers–in a certain tally of years, the roots are pulled and away we go to another teeming field….Click here to read more

C. S. Humble

C.S. Humble The Self-Defeating Man Searching for The Everlasting Man

One of the most difficult things for Christians to deal with is doubt. Many Christians are plagued with doubts but are ashamed to talk about them. Ironically, people of our world are often touched and ministered to when they hear the stories of our own struggles. C.S. Humble writes humbly about his own doubts.
aaaaaaaaaaaaaGordon Atkinson

Have you ever sat awake in the dark, lying in your comfortable bed and been on the verge of tears because in your heart you questioned the existence of God? Hoping with all your strength that the prayers you send heaven-side are actually reaching out to a beautiful and loving God, who delights in hearing your inner-most thoughts… Click here to read more.

What the Dirty

What The Dirty - A youth minister in a small Canadian town

When you are faithful with your life at work, you never know what kind of effect you will have on those around you. Paul Morgun writes about his youth minister and her wife and what they meant to him long ago. He has a picture of the youth minister then and now. This is the way the Kingdom works. This is how the Good News gets passed along. One life to another, intimately and authentically. This is Church.
aaaaaaaaaaaaaGordon Atkinson

Monday Night Jessica and I spent hanging out with Dennis and Karen Skoworodko, who were my youth pastors when I was in high school, and man what a time! We love this couple to pieces, the input and love that they poured into my life cannot be described. The patience and sheer acceptance they had for this renegade punk is indescribable. I know one thing for sure is that apart from my parents I had never seen Jesus more clearly then in the lives of these two…Click here to read more.

A Casual Observer

A Casual Observer - Observations about the parenting, church, mental health, and the alien race we call teenagers

Chap Clark spoke at Laity Lodge this summer. I was there, and his idea of adolescent abandonment hit me like a ton of bricks. I have two adolescent daughters, and Chap helped me to see their lives the way they really are. Things are most definitely NOT the same as when I was a boy. Chris Schaffner at A Casual Observer has run into Chap Clark through his book “Hurt.” If you are a parent, it is worth your time to check out this posting.
aaaaaaaaaaaaaGordon Atkinson

“There’s no respect anymore, and kids don’t seem to care about anybody but themselves.”

“Teenagers have never had it easier - they’ve got more money than we did, more freedoms,, more options, and yet they are more defiant and more arrogant than we were.”

The above are common statements that Chap Clark encounter while doing research for his bestselling book HURT. These comments are nearly identical to one’s I myself hear when trying to explain the current state of adolescence.

Chap goes on to explore and explain what he calls the “Systemic Cultural Abandonment” of our youth and why the statements above are erroneous when thinking about teenagers in today’s culture…Click here to read more.

Every Square Inch

Every Square Inch - Conversations on the glory of Christ in business and culture.

Every Square Inch offers advice to what considers the hardest season of life to “be salt and light in big organizations.” 28 years old. No longer novices, but not yet given corporate power. Living for Christ in a huge organization can seem like an impossible task.
aaaaaaaaaaaaaGordon Atkinson

In a prior post, I’ve mentioned the work of Gideon Strauss, the editor of Comment. Comment is an online publication focused on promoting a Christian worldview on work and public life. In a recent issue, Gideon addresses the challenges facing 28 year old Christian professionals in big corporations. Here’s Gideon’s take on their dilemma…Click here to read more.

His Work in Progress

His Work in Progress - A blog to encourage Christians in the workplace.

Tom Peterson has an article published at Christianity Today’s Faith in the Workplace Channel. Good stuff. The article is about leadership in the workplace. It’s called “Lead With Respect.”
aaaaaaaaaaaaaGordon Atkinson

You probably can recite the story of the Good Samaritan. Jesus’ gospel parable is a staple of Sunday school classes and Bible studies. By contrasting the generosity of the Samaritan with the actions of the other travelers, Jesus uses the story to teach a core element of Christianity (I tried to use it once to entice my son to share his candy bar with me, but he missed the theological premise).

The parable also offers lessons for leaders. Jesus included details in his story that can guide us in caring for the people we lead… Click here to read more.

Seedlings in Stone

Seedlings in Stone - Memoirs of an urban author. LL Barkat.

LL Barkat of Seedlings in Stone muses on the bloggers drive and desire for traffic. People tell her “you need traffic to your blog.” She thinks about this, and comes to another - better - conclusion.
aaaaaaaaaaaaaGordon Atkinson

All over the blogosphere, well-meaning bloggers tell me how to increase my blog traffic. Sometimes I get sucked in. I spend two hours (when she promised it would be less than one) to add “Most Popular Posts” to my sidebar. Apparently, this “simple” exercise increased her traffic. But me? It simply ate two hours of my precious time.

Other times, I remember who I am. A writer first, a blogger second (or maybe tenth). I’m not about traffic; I’m about words… finding them, tackling them, molding them, sharing them… Click here to read more.

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