Essential Strategies for Leaders to Develop a Healthy Church

Many churches are dying as they fail to grow and produce disciples. As with the human body, a church’s overall health must be maintained to operate effectively for the Kingdom. In today’s world, experts predict that nearly 4,000 churches will close every year in America, and well over 3,500 people will leave churches every single day. Although these numbers are staggering, many churches still produce disciples, grow, and remain vibrant year after year. The overall health of a church plays a critical role in retaining and spiritually growing members. This thesis project will give biblical definitions of the spiritual health and purpose of the church described by experts. This thesis will present a brief history and vision of Miracle Faith Ministries Church while evaluating its current condition based on Becoming a Healthy Church by Stephen Macchia. Pastors will also be surveyed to determine the overall health of their churches. Finally, this thesis will offer strategies to help pastors and leaders develop a healthy congregation

The Evolution of Microaggressions Against Native Americans in Montana History Books

Microaggressions are a relatively understudied phenomena in psychology and are often not immediately recognized by even keen observers (Sue, 2010). Microaggressions are defined as any verbal, behavioral, or environmental statements or actions that are derogatory or hostile and insulting in nature, specifically targeted at a person or people (Sue, Capodilupo, Torino, Bucceri, Holder, Nadal, and Esquilin, 2007). Microaggressions are a form of racism that gradually chip away at a person’s well-being in a nearly unseen manner (Sue, 2010). Furthermore, Sue (2010) separates microaggressions into three types: microinvalidations, microinsults, and microassaults. However, it should be noted that an individual does not need to be a “racist” to commit a microaggression (Sue et al., 2007). The current study examines how the number of microaggressions in eighth grade Montana history books have evolved over time. Studying existing data from within the lab revealed the occurrence of many microaggressions against Native Americans in eighth grade Montana specific history books (some published as early as 1951 and the most recent being published in 2008). However, the reviewed study did not examine the specific changes in microaggressions over time. Consequently, this study seeks to enhance the growing body of research by examining the shift in microaggressions in textbooks over time and further analyzing how these microaggressive statements have evolved. Previous research has identified that having a history curriculum that includes biased information about a person’s ethnic origins can be damaging to the way they perceive their school climate (Banks, 2016). This study will be beneficial to educators to help them recognize institutional racism within textbooks across time and combat this racism in their classrooms. Method This qualitative research project will use previously coded data and nVivo software to categorize the types of microaggressions presented across time in eighth grade Montana history textbooks

Pineocytoma with diffuse dissemination to the leptomeninges

Pineal parenchymal tumors are rare. Of the three types of pineal parenchymal tumors, pineocytomas are the least aggressive and are not known to diffusely disseminate. In this paper, we report the successful treatment of a case of pineocytoma with diffuse leptomeningeal relapse following initial stereotactic radiotherapy. A 39-year-old female presented with headaches, balance impairment, urinary incontinence, and blunted affect. A pineal mass was discovered on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). A diagnosis of pineocytoma was established with an endoscopic pineal gland biopsy, and the patient received stereotactic radiotherapy. Ten years later, she developed diffuse leptomeningeal dissemination. The patient was then successfully treated with craniospinal radiation therapy. Leptomeningeal spread may develop as late as 10 years after initial presentation of pineocytoma. Our case demonstrates the importance of long-term follow-up of patients with pineal parenchymal tumors following radiation therapy, and the efficacy of craniospinal radiation in the treatment of leptomeningeal dissemination

Seeing Patterns in Randomness: A Computational Model of Surprise.

While seemingly a ubiquitous cognitive process, the precise definition and function of surprise remains elusive. Surprise is often conceptualized as being related to improbability or to contrasts with higher probability expectations. In contrast to this probabilistic view, we argue that surprising observations are those that undermine an existing model, implying an alternative causal origin. Surprises are not merely improbable events; instead, they indicate a breakdown in the model being used to quantify probability. We suggest that the heuristic people rely on to detect such anomalous events is randomness deficiency. Specifically, people experience surprise when they identify patterns where their model implies there should only be random noise. Using algorithmic information theory, we present a novel computational theory which formalizes this notion of surprise as randomness deficiency. We also present empirical evidence that people respond to randomness deficiency in their environment and use it to adjust their beliefs about the causal origins of events. The connection between this pattern-detection view of surprise and the literature on learning and interestingness is discussed

Examination of Parent Understanding of YETI Evidence Based Practices

Parent Training for the Understanding of YETI Evidence Based Practices Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is defined as “persistent deficits in social communication and social interaction across multiple contexts…” (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). The most effective treatment to teaching children with ASD is using evidence based practices (EBP’s), which are….this includes the best available research in the field along with practitioners personal experiences of what is most effective (Stoltenberg & Pace, 2008). Youth Engagement Through Intervention (YETI) is a group-based treatment that integrates EBP’s in practices and strategies to enhance social skills for children with ASD. In a previous study, parents whose children participated in YETI were surveyed post treatment and it was found that they have a limited understanding of EBP’s and were unsure as to how to implement EBP’s within the home (Shindorf, 2016). Studies show parent training has been found more effective than parent education as training implements specific strategies to be applied in practice by parents whereas education only provides basic information about the topic (Bearss et al,. 2015). Thus, further research is needed to understand how best to prepare parents in using EBPs in the home setting. There were two primary goals of this study: 1) to examine parent’s understanding of EBP’s using existing data collected from Shindorf, 2016 and 2) based on these data, propose a parent program in which parents would be trained in using EBP’s for their child with ASD in the home setting. In the study conducted by Shindorf data was collected using self-report surveys from the parents whose children were enrolled in YETI. These surveys explored barriers to treatment for these specific children engaged in YETI. Through this study we hope YETI will be more beneficial with parents being able to continue the implementation of EBP’s in the home. References American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Neurodevelopmental Disorders: Autism Spectrum Disorder. In Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). Washington, DC:Author.http://dsm.psychiatryonline.org.weblib.lib.umt.edu:8080/doi/full/10.1176/appi.books.9780890425596.dsm01#x98808.2728600 Bearss, K., Johnson, C., Smith, T., Lecavalier, L., Swiezy, N., Aman, M., Scahill, L. (2015). Effect of parent training vs parent education on behavioral problems in children with autism spectrum disorder: A randomized clinical trial. JAMA: Journal of the American Medical Association, 313(15), 1524-1533. Shindorf, Z. (2016) Exploring barriers to the generalization of social skills interventions for children diagnosed with ASD: a qualitative analysis of ‘youth engagement through intervention.’ University of Montana. Stoltenberg, C. D., & Pace, T. M. (2008). Science and practice in supervision: An evidence-based practice in psychology approach. In W. B. Walsh (Ed.), Biennial review of counseling psychology: Volume 1, 2008 (pp. 71-95, Chapter xiv, 337 Pages