Millennial Leadership People, Participation, and Plurality

This study attempts to find and describe a leadership style for a church organization that matches the needs and expectations of the generation called “Millennials.” Lessons are drawn from the work-place where employing entities have had to adapt to the strengths, weaknesses, demands and expectations of a generation that carries particular cultural trends. Leaning on research from the employment context and adding insights from two major theories on leadership, conclusions are drawn on how to lead, involve, engage and include Millennials in the life of the church. Conclusions point in the direction of a “softer” and more “feminine” approach to leadership, emphasizing collaboration, consensus, cooperation, accepting personal autonomy and participation – displaying modesty and humility

“Remote sensing, predictable storage of agricultural commodities and advances in hermetic storage”: Poster

Modified atmosphere hermetic storage, now used in over 115 countries for fumigant-free storage of dry commodities from coffee to rice and maize, has been available for almost three decades. This paper describes the progress in the field use of hermetic postharvest storage systems and of recent innovations in this technology which include the introduction of remote monitoring of temperature, humidity and O2 or CO2 levels in large, sealed hermetic containers. Also, introduced in 2018, is the Cocoon Lite™, a 2nd generation multi-tonne container with major improvements in the permeability, weight and cost of high performance, large hermetic storage systems. Early examples of the uses of these innovations and data obtained from their study is expected by year end. The GrainPro EcoWiSe™ is a remote sensing system that enables monitoring of temperature, moisture and oxygen/carbon dioxide levels, thus providing real-time data on the conditions of the stored commodity involved without manual intervention. One (or more) low-cost, remote, wireless sensors/transmitters placed inside sealed. Postharvest hermetic storage units can be read remotely on laptops or cellphones. Data collected and accumulated over time enables development of an “algorithm” for a stored commodity to define an alarm, where the user can be notified immediately of any unsafe humidity or oxygen storage conditions. A substantial advance in large hermetic storage containers known as Cocoons™ is the new Cocoon Lite, a 500:1 improvement in permeability to oxygen as well as a unit weight only 28% of existing Cocoons with the same capacity and a significantly lower cost. The paper also discusses prevention of the public health hazard of exponential growth of aflatoxin levels in conventional postharvest storage such as in rice, maize, and groundnuts; field data is provided on the control achieved through hermetic storage.Modified atmosphere hermetic storage, now used in over 115 countries for fumigant-free storage of dry commodities from coffee to rice and maize, has been available for almost three decades. This paper describes the progress in the field use of hermetic postharvest storage systems and of recent innovations in this technology which include the introduction of remote monitoring of temperature, humidity and O2 or CO2 levels in large, sealed hermetic containers. Also, introduced in 2018, is the Cocoon Lite™, a 2nd generation multi-tonne container with major improvements in the permeability, weight and cost of high performance, large hermetic storage systems. Early examples of the uses of these innovations and data obtained from their study is expected by year end. The GrainPro EcoWiSe™ is a remote sensing system that enables monitoring of temperature, moisture and oxygen/carbon dioxide levels, thus providing real-time data on the conditions of the stored commodity involved without manual intervention. One (or more) low-cost, remote, wireless sensors/transmitters placed inside sealed. Postharvest hermetic storage units can be read remotely on laptops or cellphones. Data collected and accumulated over time enables development of an “algorithm” for a stored commodity to define an alarm, where the user can be notified immediately of any unsafe humidity or oxygen storage conditions. A substantial advance in large hermetic storage containers known as Cocoons™ is the new Cocoon Lite, a 500:1 improvement in permeability to oxygen as well as a unit weight only 28% of existing Cocoons with the same capacity and a significantly lower cost. The paper also discusses prevention of the public health hazard of exponential growth of aflatoxin levels in conventional postharvest storage such as in rice, maize, and groundnuts; field data is provided on the control achieved through hermetic storage

Frank Hasel. Living for God: Reclaiming the Joy of Christian Virtue. Nampa: Pacific Press, 2020. 119 pp.

This is a very spiritual book. As a sequel to the author’s volume titled Longing for God: A Bible-Prayer Journal (Pacific Press, 2017), it continues its personal character and focus on practical piety. It is also a book with a personal back-ground. Hasel recounts numerous details of the tragic loss of his wife Ulrike, who died of cancer, and his struggles in other realms of life, such as the envy he once felt regarding a cousin who seemed “more successful.

Seeing is Believing: The Digital Bible and Bible Verses Online

Millions of Bible verses are shared on Twitter every year. This article examines the Bible on Twitter, by looking at Bible verse images produced by three organisations: Faithlife/Logos Bible Software, Dutch Bible Society, and Graceway. I examine the way these three organisations mediate the Bible on social media. The outputs of these companies form the basis for an analysis of the hermeneutics of a visual, digital Bible. I analyse the way engagement with the Bible changes due to digitalisation, and in which ways the digital Bible influences (theological) authority. Ultimately, the power that the illustrator has in influencing the interpretation of biblical texts is emphasised

Tihomir Lazić. Towards an Adventist Version of Communio Ecclesiology: Remnant in Koinonia. Pathway for Ecumenical and Interreligious Dialogue. Cham, CH: Palgrave Macmillan, 2019. 314 pp. (e-book version) (review)

Professor Mark Thomas of Oxford University, who is one of the editors of the series in which Tihomir Lazić’s book Towards an Adventist Version of Communio Ecclesiology: Remnant in Koinonia is published, has high praise for it: “The book is a groundbreaking and highly original piece of work that seeks to bring the distinctive ideas of Seventh-day Adventist theology into dialogue with one of the dominant theological themes of modern ecclesiology: koinonia or communion” (p. vii). Having read Lazić’s book, I concur with this appraisal. In 2016 the author, a Seventh-day Adventist theologian of Serbian origin, who now teaches Systematic Theology at Newbold College of Higher Education (Binfield, Berks., UK)

René Gehring. Die Dreieinigkeit in Bibel und Adventgeschichte. Wien: Top Life Wegweiser-Verlag, 2021. 168 S.

In der Einleitung seines Werkes weist der Autor auf den zweiten Artikel der Glaubensüberzeugungen der Kirche der Siebenten-Tags-Adventisten aus dem Jahr 1980 hin: „Es ist ein Gott: Vater, Sohn und Heiliger Geist, eine Ein-heit von drei gleichermaßen ewigen Personen.“ Doch dieser Satz stehe bei manchen Adventisten so sehr in der Kritik, dass ganze Gemeinden darunter leiden. Besonders seit den 1990er Jahren könnten innerhalb der Kirche der Siebenten-Tags-Adventisten verstärkt sogenannte antitrinitarische Tenden-zen beobachtet werden (S. 9). Aber zunächst soll die Bibel als „einzige Glau-bensgrundlage“ der Adventisten für sich allein sprechen. Schon das Alte Testament enthalte eine Vielzahl deutlicher Belege dafür, dass der Glaubens-artikel über die Dreieinigkeit korrekt ist. Das Neue Testament wird hier noch deutlicher und erschließt insbesondere die Göttlichkeit Jesu und die Persön-lichkeit des Heiligen Geistes noch umfassender, so der Autor (S. 10)

Nostalgia, novelty, and the subversion of authority in "The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs"

The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs, by negotiating the authorship and authority of its derivative readings, discusses the place of Israel vis-à-vis Christianity through almost fannish retellings of the lives of the patriarchs of Israel. The text thereby walks a line between nostalgic and novel readings of foundational narratives, in some places perpetuating canonical authority and in others subverting it. The outcome of this interplay is the displacement of the Israelite author and Christianization of Israelite history. Contemporary fan fiction studies discourse provides tools for analyzing this negotiation of textual authority

The Haunting of Jesus: Reading Mark through the Gothic Mode

Spirits and the associated messianic secret play a central role in the Gospel of Mark. In this article I present a Gothic reading of the gospel. In the beginning of Mark, Jesus is driven by a spirit into the wilderness. In this Gothic, liminal space—filled with beasts, demons, and angels—he battles and overcomes the forces of darkness. Yet evil powers continue to make their presence felt in the rest of the narrative. Gothic literary criticism provides a fruitful domain in which to explore the way the spirits haunt Jesus. Utilising the concept of hauntology, I examine the interplay between Jesus and those that haunt him: the demons and his messianic secret. Gothic theory and hauntology elucidate the dark side to the good news Jesus preaches, demonstrating how Jesus and his good news haunt his followers and Mark himself

A.J. Swoboda. Subversive Sabbath: The Surprising Power of Rest in a Non-stop World. Grand Rapids: Brazos Press, 2018. 256 pp. (review)

The Subversive Sabbath, as the subtitle indicates, is mostly a semi-popular and pastorally written book which aims to suggest to readers the surprising power Sabbath observance can bring to busy 21st century Christians. “How is the Sabbath subversive?,” asks the author, and answers by effectively giving the gist of the book: “Sabbath is an alternative lifestyle that goes against every-thing our world knows” (p. xi). Thus, the pragmatic orientation of the book is established from the beginning

Second Journey

This article describes in an essay-style the spiritual journey of the author since mid-life. It includes changes in ideas, practices, questions, and also answers. This whole journey is guided by the desire to encounter God on a personal level and to be authentic at every step. A relentlessly honest essay about the love of God and a love for God’s family