Monthly Archives: September 2019


30
Sep 2019
Rethinking Happiness, Values, and Success

This fall, I am teaching an undergraduate course at Vanderbilt focusing on the notion of success and the American Dream, a concept defined in many different ways.  We started the semester with some basic working hypotheses. First, in the Declaration of Independence, the Founding Fathers say that there are certain inalienable rights from our Creator, including “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”  But what is happiness and how do we pursue it? Second, research has shown that the “birth lottery” plays a significant role in determining an individual’s starting point in......

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27
Sep 2019

Enneagram expert Hunter Mobley returns to Woodmont with a 3-week series “The Enneagram and Relationships.” Week 1, Sept. 25: “Relationship to Self” Week 2, Oct. 2: “Relationship to Others” Week 3, Oct. 9: “Relationship to God” The Enneagram is a centuries-old tradition that describes nine personality-based approaches to life. Focusing on motivation, rather than behavior, the Enneagram helps us discern both our brokenness and our path toward healing. By understanding our Enneagram type (one of nine numbers, 1-9), we begin a lifelong journey of spiritual work to move beyond episodic meaning and......

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25
Sep 2019
The Enneagram and Relationships

On Wednesday nights, we are starting a brand-new series with Hunter Mobley focusing on “The Enneagram and Relationships.” Dinner will be at 5:30 and his talk will begin at 6:15 pm. This will take place on Wednesday nights, September 25th, October 2nd, and October 9th. The Enneagram is an ancient personality typing system that helps us better understand ourselves and each other. It is over 2000 years old but it was not thoroughly written down until the 1970’s and has become very popular in recent years. It helps us to come to......

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16
Sep 2019
7 Key Challenges for 21st Century Christianity

I recently gave a talk about the church of the future. This is a subject that I think about often and it’s on the mind of many church leaders. Within mainline Christianity, denominational decline and statistics are depressing. Many churches are aging and struggling to reach younger generations. However, some churches are thriving and bucking the trend. What have these churches discovered that needs to be shared? I’d like to identify seven key challenges that represent opportunities for growth and change. First: Authenticity matters. Younger generations can sniff out phoniness and superficiality.......

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