houston graduate school of theology

When I was invited to speak at Texas State University, I gave a speech entitled “The Case for a Zero Gift Policy.” The subject matter was ethics. Therefore, I spoke on what an employee can do when a local government has no guidelines or ethics policy.

Mission statements are essential for organizations. Clearly stating an organization’s purpose sets expectations, creates standard for evaluating institutional activities, and helps in decision-making. A mission statement can do that for families too.

When people begin looking into Houston Graduate School of Theology for the first time, they often stumble upon this tidbit from the school’s history: “Houston Graduate School of Theology had its beginnings in the Friends Institute of Religious Studies which offered continuing education courses for students and pastors in the Evangelical Friends Church (Quaker) beginning in 1976.”

I am preparing to teach a class on Psalms in July, so I am reading Walter Brueggemann’s Praying the Psalms: Engaging Scripture and the Life of the Spirit. Brueggemann wrote the book in 1980, revising and republishing it in 2007. The book serves as an early example of Brueggemann working out his schema for understanding, studying, teaching, and using the Old Testament Book of Psalms.

Change is all around us and within us. Situations, such as the loss of a job, the death of a loved one or a serious medical diagnosis, are examples of change being thrust upon us. There is also a change that comes from within. A desire to improve health habits such as increasing exercise, improving eating habits, and establishing or improving spiritual practices would be changes from within. Change from within also follows a pattern of realization that change needs to happen, gathering tools to make the change happen, taking steps to make the change happen, and keeping the change going.