Archives

Archives of past luncheon talks and other events are here.

IVCF-GFM Midwest Live Interactive Video Symposium – How does what you do in academia shape your relationship with God?

Saturday, November 4, 2017

Recordings

Audio only recordings are much smaller and suitable for playing when you don’t want to or can’t watch the screen. Like when listening in a car.

Friday Evening. Session for Pittsburg Area, St. Cloud, Northwestern, University of North Dakota, Washington University

Saturday Morning. Session for Pittsburg Area, University of Cincinnati, University of West Virginia, Case Western University, Bismarck State University, Miami University, The Ohio State University

Handouts

Shaped by How We Engage

We’ll explore the Christian practices that form us, the academic practices that shape us, and points of commonality between the two. Featured speaker Tish Warren will speak about concepts in her book, The Liturgy of the Ordinary, adapting and applying them to academic life.

Tish will unpack the word “liturgy” and how it impacts working academics. You’ll learn encouraging strategies to live more like Jesus.

We’ll discuss how common, everyday practices and issues of the academic life shape those who engage in them. And we’ll examine practices that might address those issues and shape grad students, faculty and staff in other ways; e.g. sleep, loneliness/friendship, tight finances, mental rigor, and more.

During our time, Tish will offer short presentations followed by Q&A and local site discussions. We invite lively discussion to facilitate an environment of learning together!

Featured Speaker: Tish Harrison Warren

Tish Harrison Warren is a priest in the Anglican Church in NorthAmerica and author of The Liturgy of the Ordinary (IVP, 2016). After eight years with InterVarsity Graduate and Faculty Ministries at Vanderbilt and The University of Texas at Austin, she now serves as co-associate rector at Church of the Ascension in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She writes regularly for The Well, CT Women (formerly her.meneutics), and Christianity Today. Her work has also appeared in Comment Magazine, Christ and Pop Culture, Art House America, and elsewhere.

Flyer for the Symposium.

May Luncheon

Thursday, May 19, 2016
OSU Faculty Club Junior Colleagues Room
An audio recording go the talk is here.
A copy of the manuscript is here.

The Biblical Foundation Of #Blacklivesmatter And The Role Of The Christian In The Movement
Robert L. Solomon, II

Assistant Vice Provost
The Ohio State University Office of Diversity & InclusionPhoto of Robert Solomon, II

Christ will bring ultimate justice but he also calls us to work for justice here and now. We need to see injustice in our community and work to bring relief. Robert Solomon will share from the Bible our call to meet the need for justice.

Robert is a graduate of  Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tennessee and The Ohio State University Moritz  College of Law.   He began his legal career as an Assistant Attorney General for the state of Ohio. He also served as a Franklin County Municipal Court Magistrate before joining The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law to work in administration. During his tenure at the College of Law, he has served as Assistant to the Dean, Director of the Moot Court and Lawyering Skills Program, Assistant Dean for Admission & Financial Aid, an advisor to the Black Law Student Association and the Christian Legal Society, and as an adjunct professor focusing on Evidence, Trial Advocacy and Appellate Advocacy. In 1999, he left the university to work as an Assistant United States Attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice. In 2001, he returned to the College of Law to assume the role of Senior Assistant Dean for Admission and Financial Aid and to establish an Office of Minority Affairs within the law school as its Director and Chief Diversity Officer. In 2015, Robert assumed his current role as Assistant Vice Provost in the main University’s Office of Diversity & Inclusion.

Robert has also been active in the community, currently serving on the Board of Trustees for the Mansion Day School. Past Board service has included the Equal Justice Foundation, the Law School Admission Council (LSAC) and the Columbus Academy. Robert has been an active volunteer with LSAC in other capacities as well, including service on the Misconduct & Irregularities in Admission Sub-committee, Finance & Legal Affairs Committee,  Diversity Committee and the 2011 Annual Meeting Planning Committee. He also served on the Diversity Committee of American Bar Association. Robert has been active in the local Bar as well, having served  as Chair of the Law School Liaison Committee for the Columbus Bar Association(CBA), the Long Range Planning Committee and the Minority Clerkship Task Force. He has served on the Executive Board of the John Mercer Langston Bar Association( the local National Bar Association chapter) as Parliamentarian, Chair of Professional Development Committee and as President. Robert is  a President Emeritus of 100 Black Men of Central Ohio and is the Board Chair Emeritus of the Africentric Personal Development Shop.  His past honors have included being appointed by former Ohio Governor Ted Strickland to serve on the Ohio Ethics Commission in 2010,  selected by Congress to represent the District at the 2006 National African American Leadership Summit in Washington, D.C., and the 2015 National Hispanic Bar Association Region X President Award.

Robert has also served as Associate Minister for the Genessee Avenue church of Christ in Columbus since 1990, first as the youth minister and currently as the marriage & family minister.  He and his wife, Dinessa Solomon, co-founded the non-profit organization, Foundations for Families, which focuses on strengthening marriages and families.  Robert chairs the Ohio State Youth Conference, another organization he helped to establish more than 30 years ago. OSYC which host  a weekend retreat for Christian youth on a college campus each Summer and coordinates youth event throughout the year for Christian youth all over Ohio.  Robert and Dinessa have two children.

April Luncheon

Thursday, April 21, 2016
OSU Faculty Club – Faculty Club Junior Colleagues Room
An audio recording of the talk is here.

The 16 Strivings for GodPhoto of Steven Reiss sitting on a stool
Dr. Steven Reiss

Why are people attracted to religion? Is it fear of death? “People are attracted to religion because it provides believers the opportunity to satisfy all their basic desires over and over again. You can’t boil religion down to one essence.”

Dr. Steven Reiss is professor emeritus of psychology at The Ohio State University. He and his wife Maggi have two grown sons.

Dr. Reiss lead the team that discovered anxiety sensitivity, is a leading authority on the co-occurance of mental illness and intellectual disabilities know as “dual diagnosis”, and done much work on the care and treatment of people with developmental disabilities. He has also studied intrinsic motivation and identified 16 psychological needs or “basic desires,” which are goals common to everyone and deeply rooted in human nature. This work lead to his developing a theory of the psychology of religious experiences.

The cover of 16 Strivings for God by Steven ReissDr. Reiss’s book The 16 Strivings for God (Mercer University Press, 2016) describes his theory of what attracts people to religion is based on his research in the 1990s on motivation. He and his colleagues surveyed thousands of people and asked them to rate the degree to which they embraced hundreds of different possible goals.

In the end, the researchers identified 16 basic desires that we all share: acceptance, curiosity, eating, family, honor, idealism, independence, order, physical activity, power, romance, saving, social contact, status, tranquility and vengeance.

While the theory can tell us a lot about the types of people who are attracted to religion and different religious experiences, it cannot say anything about the truth of religious beliefs, Reiss said.

“I’m not trying to answer theological questions about the existence or nature of God,” Reiss said. “What I’m trying to answer is the nature of why people embrace religion and God.”

Quotes from the OSU Newsroom.

Bob Trube has posted a review of The 16 Strivings for God on his blog Bob on Books.

Veritas Forum at OSU

IS THERE EVIDENCE FOR GOD?

Poster for Veritas Forum at OSU 2016Atheist & Christian Professors Examine Faith, Facts and Why it Matters

February 24, 2016 at 8:00 pm
Mershon Auditorium

PRESENTERS:
William Lane Craig
Kevin Scharp

For more information see the Veritas Forum web site.

February Luncheon

Wednesday, February 24, 2016
OSU Faculty Club – Faculty Club Junior Colleagues Room

An audio recording of the talk is here.

God and Time
William Lane CraigWilliam Lane Craig photo - face shot

Is God timeless? If God is beyond time how does he relate to our time space continuum? Does it makes sense to talk about a timeless person? Does time affect God? Or does God affect time?

William Lane Craig is Research Professor of Philosophy at Talbot School of Theology and Professor of Philosophy at Houston Baptist University. He and his wife Jan have two grown children.

At the age of sixteen as a junior in high school, he first heard the message of the Christian gospel and yielded his life to Christ. Dr. Craig pursued his undergraduate studies at Wheaton College (B.A. 1971) and graduate studies at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (M.A. 1974; M.A. 1975), the University of Birmingham (England) (Ph.D. 1977), and the University of Munich (Germany) (D.Theol. 1984). From 1980-86 he taught Philosophy of Religion at Trinity, during which time he and Jan started their family. In 1987 they moved to Brussels, Belgium, where Dr. Craig pursued research at the University of Louvain until assuming his position at Talbot in 1994.

He has authored or edited over thirty books, including The Kalam Cosmological Argument; Assessing the New Testament Evidence for the Historicity of the Resurrection of Jesus; Divine Foreknowledge and Human Freedom; Theism, Atheism and Big Bang Cosmology; and God, Time and Eternity, as well as over a hundred articles in professional journals of philosophy and theology, including The Journal of Philosophy, New Testament Studies, Journal for the Study of the New Testament, American Philosophical Quarterly, Philosophical Studies, Philosophy, and British Journal for Philosophy of Science.
Read more: http://www.reasonablefaith.org/william-lane-craig#ixzz40CYMJWEq

February Luncheon

Lessons (Re)Learned about Procrastination
Lauren Hensley

Thursday, January 28, 2016
OSU Faculty Club – Faculty Club Junior Colleagues Room

An audio recording of the talk is here.

The PowerPoint is here.

It is challenging to overcome the urge to procrastinate, despite the behavior’s negative impact on learning, sense of accomplishment, and life satisfaction. From the perspective of a decade of work in higher education, Lauren Hensley will explain her motivation for studying the topic of procrastination and present key findings from the scholarly literature. She will also explain how faith in God’s promises can help us address the fear of failure, perfectionism, and need for immediate gratification that are at the core of many forms of procrastination.

Photo of Lauren HensleyLauren Hensley is Senior Associate Director of The Ohio State University’s Walter E. Dennis Learning Center. Her current efforts focus on developing and managing college success courses, leading the Dennis Center’s instructional team, conducting educational research, and collaborating with other university units on initiatives that support students’ learning and motivation. She has been with the Dennis Learning Center since 2006 in roles including Graduate Teaching Associate, Coordinator of Learning Services, and Interim Director. She is a graduate of Ohio State’s Educational Psychology doctoral program, where she received the Loadman Dissertation Award (2014) for her research on procrastination. She also received her master’s degree in Higher Education and Student Affairs (HESA) from Ohio State. Her contributions have been recognized by The Ohio State University Board of Trustees, who awarded her a Student Recognition Award for leadership and scholarship (2012), and Student Life Disability Services, who designated her a recipient of the office’s Special Recognition Award for exceptional service (2009). In addition to learning and helping others to learn, Lauren loves to sing. She is grateful to serve on the musical worship team at Vista Community Church and to be a member of Capriccio Columbus, an 85-voice adult choir.

November Luncheon

Books that have changed your life: Our annual sharing

Thursday, November 19, 2015

OSU Faculty Club – Faculty Club Junior Colleagues Room

Sue Collins led us in sharing with each other brief reviews of books we have read recently and how have helped us grow spiritually.  Some of the books we discussed included

  • The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence
  • The Book of Blessings by R. Scott Osborne
  • The Cross of Christ by John Stott
  • Jesus the King: Understanding the Life and Death of the Son of God by Timothy Keller
  • Jesus the King: Understanding the Life and Death of the Son of God by Charles H. Spurgeon
  • The Spirit of the Disciplines by Dallas Willard
  • Paul, Apostle to Nations, An Introduction by Walter F. Taylor
  • Forgiveness is a Choice, A step-by-step process for Resolving Anger and Restoring Hope by Robert D. Enright, PhD

Sue noted that she had read that J. K. Rowling had put in clues in the early Harry Potter books that foreshadowed events at the end of the series. When she read the Harry Potter books she looked for they clues. She has also found that a helpful skill in reading the Bible.

Faculty Stories – Terry Gustafson from InterVarsity twentyonehundred on Vimeo.

Dr. Terry Gustafson, Professor of Chemistry at The Ohio State University, integrates science and faith, with great care for his students.

Past Luncheons – 

May 16, 2015

Thursday, May 14, 11:30 AM
OSU Faculty Club – Rooms A-D second floor

Between Heaven & Earth:  My journey from life to death to life again.

Lonnie G. Thompson
Distinguished University Professor in the School of Earth Sciences and a Research Scientist in the Byrd Polar Research Center

The presentation covered a quick personal story of Dr. Thompson’s journey from a small farm in West Virginia to the challenges of exploring the highest mountains on Earth and the lessons he has learned on that journey. He discussed the challenge of facing a heart transplant and coming to terms with the fact that we all must die. His saga of four months in the Ross Heart Hospital where he spent many weeks between life and death has led him to relate his near death experience and how that has changed his vision and quest for purpose in life.

An audio recording of the talk is available here.

The PowerPoint is here.

A video recording is coming.

Lonnie G. Thompson is a Distinguished University Professor in the School of Earth Sciences and a Research Scientist in the Byrd Polar Research Center at The Ohio State University. His research has propelled the field of ice core paleoclimatology Photo of Lonnie Thompson by glacierout of the Polar Regions to the highest tropical and subtropical ice fields. He and the OSU team have developed light-weight solarpowered drilling equipment for acquisition of histories from ice fields in the tropical South American Andes, the Himalayas, and on Kilimanjaro. These paleoclimate histories have advanced our understanding of the coupled nature of the Earth’s climate system. Special emphasis has been placed on the El Niño and monsoon systems that dominate the climate of the tropical Pacific and affect global-scale oceanic and atmospheric circulation patterns. His observations of glacier retreat over the last three decades confirm that glaciers around the world are melting and provide clear evidence that the warming of the last 50 years is now outside the range of climate variability for several millennia, if not longer. He has published over 185 peer-reviewed publications including several in the journal Science, led over 54 field programs, and has been funded by the National Science Foundation, the National Ocean and Atmospheric Association, and NASA. Lonnie has been recognized with many honors and awards including the National Medal of Science, the Tyler Prize (the World Prize for Environmental Achievement), and the Dan David Prize. In addition, he is an American Geophysical Union Fellow, an American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellow, and a member of the National Academy of Sciences. From the Geology Department website.

A Columbus Dispatch article from May 21, 2013 provides a brief description of Dr. Thompson’s heart failure, transplant, and recovery

April 16, 2015

Passion and Purpose in Music and EducationMilton RuffinPicture of Dr. Ruffin holding electric bass
Principal and director of the Fort Hayes Metropolitan Education Center
Lecturer, Music Education, OSU School of MusicDecisions and inspirations that ultimately aligned my passion with my purpose. Trials and victories that demonstrate God’s power in His promises. Audio of talk is available here.

November 20, 2014

Pastor Appreciation and Briefing Luncheon

The luncheon was presented by the Fellowship of Christian Faculty and Staff (FCFS) at OSU, a ministry of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, in partnership with the Christian Graduate Student Alliance at OSU.

This was an opportunity for our pastors to hear about Christian groups on campus, and also hear from some of our faculty and staff about the realities of living out their Christian faith in their university roles.

Dr. Bob Gillespie (School of Music) was the MC. The program included, introductions, sharing, and guest speaker Professor Jeff Chalmers describing some tensions between being a church member and being a faculty membe

October 16, 2014

Books that have changed your life

We  shared with each other brief reviews of books we have read recently and that could then be used to start discussion groups on campus. A list of the books discussed is linked below as is a list of books read by the Dead Theologians Society.

Books Discussed October 2014

Dead Theologians Society Reading List

Bob Trube posted on his blog about this luncheon with Amazon links to all the books: http://bobonbooks.com/2014/10/21/books-that-have-changed-your-life/

Audio available here.

September 18, 2014

What the Bible says about creation care

      ~ Living Faithfully To Live Sustainably

Speaker Dr. Greg Hitzhusen,
School of Environment and Natural Resources

Photo of Greg Hitzhusen

Handout EcoTheology, Genesis, Dominion & Christ
An audio recording go the talk is here.
A copy of the manuscript is here.

The Biblical Foundation Of #Blacklivesmatter And The Role Of The Christian In The Movement
Robert L. Solomon, II

Assistant Vice Provost
The Ohio State University Office of Diversity & InclusionPhoto of Robert Solomon, II

Christ will bring ultimate justice but he also calls us to work for justice here and now. We need to see injustice in our community and work to bring relief. Robert Solomon will share from the Bible our call to meet the need for justice.

Robert is a graduate of  Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tennessee and The Ohio State University Moritz  College of Law.   He began his legal career as an Assistant Attorney General for the state of Ohio. He also served as a Franklin County Municipal Court Magistrate before joining The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law to work in administration. During his tenure at the College of Law, he has served as Assistant to the Dean, Director of the Moot Court and Lawyering Skills Program, Assistant Dean for Admission & Financial Aid, an advisor to the Black Law Student Association and the Christian Legal Society, and as an adjunct professor focusing on Evidence, Trial Advocacy and Appellate Advocacy. In 1999, he left the university to work as an Assistant United States Attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice. In 2001, he returned to the College of Law to assume the role of Senior Assistant Dean for Admission and Financial Aid and to establish an Office of Minority Affairs within the law school as its Director and Chief Diversity Officer. In 2015, Robert assumed his current role as Assistant Vice Provost in the main University’s Office of Diversity & Inclusion.

Robert has also been active in the community, currently serving on the Board of Trustees for the Mansion Day School. Past Board service has included the Equal Justice Foundation, the Law School Admission Council (LSAC) and the Columbus Academy. Robert has been an active volunteer with LSAC in other capacities as well, including service on the Misconduct & Irregularities in Admission Sub-committee, Finance & Legal Affairs Committee,  Diversity Committee and the 2011 Annual Meeting Planning Committee. He also served on the Diversity Committee of American Bar Association. Robert has been active in the local Bar as well, having served  as Chair of the Law School Liaison Committee for the Columbus Bar Association(CBA), the Long Range Planning Committee and the Minority Clerkship Task Force. He has served on the Executive Board of the John Mercer Langston Bar Association( the local National Bar Association chapter) as Parliamentarian, Chair of Professional Development Committee and as President. Robert is  a President Emeritus of 100 Black Men of Central Ohio and is the Board Chair Emeritus of the Africentric Personal Development Shop.  His past honors have included being appointed by former Ohio Governor Ted Strickland to serve on the Ohio Ethics Commission in 2010,  selected by Congress to represent the District at the 2006 National African American Leadership Summit in Washington, D.C., and the 2015 National Hispanic Bar Association Region X President Award.

Robert has also served as Associate Minister for the Genessee Avenue church of Christ in Columbus since 1990, first as the youth minister and currently as the marriage & family minister.  He and his wife, Dinessa Solomon, co-founded the non-profit organization, Foundations for Families, which focuses on strengthening marriages and families.  Robert chairs the Ohio State Youth Conference, another organization he helped to establish more than 30 years ago. OSYC which host  a weekend retreat for Christian youth on a college campus each Summer and coordinates youth event throughout the year for Christian youth all over Ohio.  Robert and Dinessa have two children.

April Luncheon

Thursday, April 21, 2016 11:30 AM
OSU Faculty Club – Faculty Club Junior Colleagues Room
An audio recording of the talk is here.

The 16 Strivings for GodPhoto of Steven Reiss sitting on a stool
Dr. Steven Reiss

Why are people attracted to religion? Is it fear of death? “People are attracted to religion because it provides believers the opportunity to satisfy all their basic desires over and over again. You can’t boil religion down to one essence.”

Dr. Steven Reiss is professor emeritus of psychology at The Ohio State University. He and his wife Maggi have two grown sons.

Dr. Reiss lead the team that discovered anxiety sensitivity, is a leading authority on the co-occurance of mental illness and intellectual disabilities know as “dual diagnosis”, and done much work on the care and treatment of people with developmental disabilities. He has also studied intrinsic motivation and identified 16 psychological needs or “basic desires,” which are goals common to everyone and deeply rooted in human nature. This work lead to his developing a theory of the psychology of religious experiences.

The cover of 16 Strivings for God by Steven ReissDr. Reiss’s book The 16 Strivings for God (Mercer University Press, 2016) describes his theory of what attracts people to religion is based on his research in the 1990s on motivation. He and his colleagues surveyed thousands of people and asked them to rate the degree to which they embraced hundreds of different possible goals.

In the end, the researchers identified 16 basic desires that we all share: acceptance, curiosity, eating, family, honor, idealism, independence, order, physical activity, power, romance, saving, social contact, status, tranquility and vengeance.

While the theory can tell us a lot about the types of people who are attracted to religion and different religious experiences, it cannot say anything about the truth of religious beliefs, Reiss said.

“I’m not trying to answer theological questions about the existence or nature of God,” Reiss said. “What I’m trying to answer is the nature of why people embrace religion and God.”

Quotes from the OSU Newsroom.

Bob Trube has posted a review of The 16 Strivings for God on his blog Bob on Books.

Veritas Forum at OSU

IS THERE EVIDENCE FOR GOD?

Poster for Veritas Forum at OSU 2016Atheist & Christian Professors Examine Faith, Facts and Why it Matters

February 24, 2016 at 8:00 pm
Mershon Auditorium

PRESENTERS:
William Lane Craig
Kevin Scharp

For more information see the Veritas Forum web site.

February Luncheon

Wednesday, February 24, 2016
OSU Faculty Club – Faculty Club Junior Colleagues Room

An audio recording of the talk is here.

God and Time
William Lane CraigWilliam Lane Craig photo - face shot

Is God timeless? If God is beyond time how does he relate to our time space continuum? Does it makes sense to talk about a timeless person? Does time affect God? Or does God affect time?

William Lane Craig is Research Professor of Philosophy at Talbot School of Theology and Professor of Philosophy at Houston Baptist University. He and his wife Jan have two grown children.

At the age of sixteen as a junior in high school, he first heard the message of the Christian gospel and yielded his life to Christ. Dr. Craig pursued his undergraduate studies at Wheaton College (B.A. 1971) and graduate studies at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (M.A. 1974; M.A. 1975), the University of Birmingham (England) (Ph.D. 1977), and the University of Munich (Germany) (D.Theol. 1984). From 1980-86 he taught Philosophy of Religion at Trinity, during which time he and Jan started their family. In 1987 they moved to Brussels, Belgium, where Dr. Craig pursued research at the University of Louvain until assuming his position at Talbot in 1994.

He has authored or edited over thirty books, including The Kalam Cosmological Argument; Assessing the New Testament Evidence for the Historicity of the Resurrection of Jesus; Divine Foreknowledge and Human Freedom; Theism, Atheism and Big Bang Cosmology; and God, Time and Eternity, as well as over a hundred articles in professional journals of philosophy and theology, including The Journal of Philosophy, New Testament Studies, Journal for the Study of the New Testament, American Philosophical Quarterly, Philosophical Studies, Philosophy, and British Journal for Philosophy of Science.
Read more: http://www.reasonablefaith.org/william-lane-craig#ixzz40CYMJWEq

February Luncheon

Lessons (Re)Learned about Procrastination
Lauren Hensley

Thursday, January 28, 2016OSU Faculty Club – Faculty Club Junior Colleagues Room

An audio recording of the talk is here.

The PowerPoint is here.

It is challenging to overcome the urge to procrastinate, despite the behavior’s negative impact on learning, sense of accomplishment, and life satisfaction. From the perspective of a decade of work in higher education, Lauren Hensley will explain her motivation for studying the topic of procrastination and present key findings from the scholarly literature. She will also explain how faith in God’s promises can help us address the fear of failure, perfectionism, and need for immediate gratification that are at the core of many forms of procrastination.

Photo of Lauren HensleyLauren Hensley is Senior Associate Director of The Ohio State University’s Walter E. Dennis Learning Center. Her current efforts focus on developing and managing college success courses, leading the Dennis Center’s instructional team, conducting educational research, and collaborating with other university units on initiatives that support students’ learning and motivation. She has been with the Dennis Learning Center since 2006 in roles including Graduate Teaching Associate, Coordinator of Learning Services, and Interim Director. She is a graduate of Ohio State’s Educational Psychology doctoral program, where she received the Loadman Dissertation Award (2014) for her research on procrastination. She also received her master’s degree in Higher Education and Student Affairs (HESA) from Ohio State. Her contributions have been recognized by The Ohio State University Board of Trustees, who awarded her a Student Recognition Award for leadership and scholarship (2012), and Student Life Disability Services, who designated her a recipient of the office’s Special Recognition Award for exceptional service (2009). In addition to learning and helping others to learn, Lauren loves to sing. She is grateful to serve on the musical worship team at Vista Community Church and to be a member of Capriccio Columbus, an 85-voice adult choir.

November Luncheon

Books that have changed your life: Our annual sharing

Thursday, November 19, 11:30 AM

OSU Faculty Club – Faculty Club Junior Colleagues Room

Sue Collins led us in sharing with each other brief reviews of books we have read recently and how have helped us grow spiritually.  Some of the books we discussed included

  • The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence
  • The Book of Blessings by R. Scott Osborne
  • The Cross of Christ by John Stott
  • Jesus the King: Understanding the Life and Death of the Son of God by Timothy Keller
  • Jesus the King: Understanding the Life and Death of the Son of God by Charles H. Spurgeon
  • The Spirit of the Disciplines by Dallas Willard
  • Paul, Apostle to Nations, An Introduction by Walter F. Taylor
  • Forgiveness is a Choice, A step-by-step process for Resolving Anger and Restoring Hope by Robert D. Enright, PhD

Sue noted that she had read that J. K. Rowling had put in clues in the early Harry Potter books that foreshadowed events at the end of the series. When she read the Harry Potter books she looked for they clues. She has also found that a helpful skill in reading the Bible.

Faculty Stories – Terry Gustafson from InterVarsity twentyonehundred on Vimeo.

Dr. Terry Gustafson, Professor of Chemistry at The Ohio State University, integrates science and faith, with great care for his students.

Past Luncheons – 

May 16, 2015

Thursday, May 14, 11:30 AM
OSU Faculty Club – Rooms A-D second floor

Between Heaven & Earth:  My journey from life to death to life again.

Lonnie G. Thompson
Distinguished University Professor in the School of Earth Sciences and a Research Scientist in the Byrd Polar Research Center

The presentation covered a quick personal story of Dr. Thompson’s journey from a small farm in West Virginia to the challenges of exploring the highest mountains on Earth and the lessons he has learned on that journey. He discussed the challenge of facing a heart transplant and coming to terms with the fact that we all must die. His saga of four months in the Ross Heart Hospital where he spent many weeks between life and death has led him to relate his near death experience and how that has changed his vision and quest for purpose in life.

An audio recording of the talk is available here.

The PowerPoint is here.

A video recording is coming.

Lonnie G. Thompson is a Distinguished University Professor in the School of Earth Sciences and a Research Scientist in the Byrd Polar Research Center at The Ohio State University. His research has propelled the field of ice core paleoclimatology Photo of Lonnie Thompson by glacierout of the Polar Regions to the highest tropical and subtropical ice fields. He and the OSU team have developed light-weight solarpowered drilling equipment for acquisition of histories from ice fields in the tropical South American Andes, the Himalayas, and on Kilimanjaro. These paleoclimate histories have advanced our understanding of the coupled nature of the Earth’s climate system. Special emphasis has been placed on the El Niño and monsoon systems that dominate the climate of the tropical Pacific and affect global-scale oceanic and atmospheric circulation patterns. His observations of glacier retreat over the last three decades confirm that glaciers around the world are melting and provide clear evidence that the warming of the last 50 years is now outside the range of climate variability for several millennia, if not longer. He has published over 185 peer-reviewed publications including several in the journal Science, led over 54 field programs, and has been funded by the National Science Foundation, the National Ocean and Atmospheric Association, and NASA. Lonnie has been recognized with many honors and awards including the National Medal of Science, the Tyler Prize (the World Prize for Environmental Achievement), and the Dan David Prize. In addition, he is an American Geophysical Union Fellow, an American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellow, and a member of the National Academy of Sciences. From the Geology Department website.

A Columbus Dispatch article from May 21, 2013 provides a brief description of Dr. Thompson’s heart failure, transplant, and recovery

April 16, 2015

Passion and Purpose in Music and EducationMilton RuffinPicture of Dr. Ruffin holding electric bass
Principal and director of the Fort Hayes Metropolitan Education Center
Lecturer, Music Education, OSU School of MusicDecisions and inspirations that ultimately aligned my passion with my purpose. Trials and victories that demonstrate God’s power in His promises. Audio of talk is available here.

November 20, 2014

Pastor Appreciation and Briefing Luncheon

The luncheon was presented by the Fellowship of Christian Faculty and Staff (FCFS) at OSU, a ministry of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, in partnership with the Christian Graduate Student Alliance at OSU.

This was an opportunity for our pastors to hear about Christian groups on campus, and also hear from some of our faculty and staff about the realities of living out their Christian faith in their university roles.

Dr. Bob Gillespie (School of Music) was the MC. The program included, introductions, sharing, and guest speaker Professor Jeff Chalmers describing some tensions between being a church member and being a faculty membe

October 16, 2014

Books that have changed your life

We  shared with each other brief reviews of books we have read recently and that could then be used to start discussion groups on campus. A list of the books discussed is linked below as is a list of books read by the Dead Theologians Society.

Books Discussed October 2014

Dead Theologians Society Reading List

Bob Trube posted on his blog about this luncheon with Amazon links to all the books: http://bobonbooks.com/2014/10/21/books-that-have-changed-your-life/

Audio available here.

September 18, 2014

What the Bible says about creation care

      ~ Living Faithfully To Live Sustainably

Speaker Dr. Greg Hitzhusen,
School of Environment and Natural Resources

Photo of Greg Hitzhusen

Handout EcoTheology, Genesis, Dominion & Christ
An audio recording go the talk is here.
A copy of the manuscript is here.

The Biblical Foundation Of #Blacklivesmatter And The Role Of The Christian In The Movement
Robert L. Solomon, II

Assistant Vice Provost
The Ohio State University Office of Diversity & InclusionPhoto of Robert Solomon, II

Christ will bring ultimate justice but he also calls us to work for justice here and now. We need to see injustice in our community and work to bring relief. Robert Solomon will share from the Bible our call to meet the need for justice.

Robert is a graduate of  Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tennessee and The Ohio State University Moritz  College of Law.   He began his legal career as an Assistant Attorney General for the state of Ohio. He also served as a Franklin County Municipal Court Magistrate before joining The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law to work in administration. During his tenure at the College of Law, he has served as Assistant to the Dean, Director of the Moot Court and Lawyering Skills Program, Assistant Dean for Admission & Financial Aid, an advisor to the Black Law Student Association and the Christian Legal Society, and as an adjunct professor focusing on Evidence, Trial Advocacy and Appellate Advocacy. In 1999, he left the university to work as an Assistant United States Attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice. In 2001, he returned to the College of Law to assume the role of Senior Assistant Dean for Admission and Financial Aid and to establish an Office of Minority Affairs within the law school as its Director and Chief Diversity Officer. In 2015, Robert assumed his current role as Assistant Vice Provost in the main University’s Office of Diversity & Inclusion.

Robert has also been active in the community, currently serving on the Board of Trustees for the Mansion Day School. Past Board service has included the Equal Justice Foundation, the Law School Admission Council (LSAC) and the Columbus Academy. Robert has been an active volunteer with LSAC in other capacities as well, including service on the Misconduct & Irregularities in Admission Sub-committee, Finance & Legal Affairs Committee,  Diversity Committee and the 2011 Annual Meeting Planning Committee. He also served on the Diversity Committee of American Bar Association. Robert has been active in the local Bar as well, having served  as Chair of the Law School Liaison Committee for the Columbus Bar Association(CBA), the Long Range Planning Committee and the Minority Clerkship Task Force. He has served on the Executive Board of the John Mercer Langston Bar Association( the local National Bar Association chapter) as Parliamentarian, Chair of Professional Development Committee and as President. Robert is  a President Emeritus of 100 Black Men of Central Ohio and is the Board Chair Emeritus of the Africentric Personal Development Shop.  His past honors have included being appointed by former Ohio Governor Ted Strickland to serve on the Ohio Ethics Commission in 2010,  selected by Congress to represent the District at the 2006 National African American Leadership Summit in Washington, D.C., and the 2015 National Hispanic Bar Association Region X President Award.

Robert has also served as Associate Minister for the Genessee Avenue church of Christ in Columbus since 1990, first as the youth minister and currently as the marriage & family minister.  He and his wife, Dinessa Solomon, co-founded the non-profit organization, Foundations for Families, which focuses on strengthening marriages and families.  Robert chairs the Ohio State Youth Conference, another organization he helped to establish more than 30 years ago. OSYC which host  a weekend retreat for Christian youth on a college campus each Summer and coordinates youth event throughout the year for Christian youth all over Ohio.  Robert and Dinessa have two children.

April Luncheon

Thursday, April 21, 2016 11:30 AM
OSU Faculty Club – Faculty Club Junior Colleagues Room
An audio recording of the talk is here.

The 16 Strivings for GodPhoto of Steven Reiss sitting on a stool
Dr. Steven Reiss

Why are people attracted to religion? Is it fear of death? “People are attracted to religion because it provides believers the opportunity to satisfy all their basic desires over and over again. You can’t boil religion down to one essence.”

Dr. Steven Reiss is professor emeritus of psychology at The Ohio State University. He and his wife Maggi have two grown sons.

Dr. Reiss lead the team that discovered anxiety sensitivity, is a leading authority on the co-occurance of mental illness and intellectual disabilities know as “dual diagnosis”, and done much work on the care and treatment of people with developmental disabilities. He has also studied intrinsic motivation and identified 16 psychological needs or “basic desires,” which are goals common to everyone and deeply rooted in human nature. This work lead to his developing a theory of the psychology of religious experiences.

The cover of 16 Strivings for God by Steven ReissDr. Reiss’s book The 16 Strivings for God (Mercer University Press, 2016) describes his theory of what attracts people to religion is based on his research in the 1990s on motivation. He and his colleagues surveyed thousands of people and asked them to rate the degree to which they embraced hundreds of different possible goals.

In the end, the researchers identified 16 basic desires that we all share: acceptance, curiosity, eating, family, honor, idealism, independence, order, physical activity, power, romance, saving, social contact, status, tranquility and vengeance.

While the theory can tell us a lot about the types of people who are attracted to religion and different religious experiences, it cannot say anything about the truth of religious beliefs, Reiss said.

“I’m not trying to answer theological questions about the existence or nature of God,” Reiss said. “What I’m trying to answer is the nature of why people embrace religion and God.”

Quotes from the OSU Newsroom.

Bob Trube has posted a review of The 16 Strivings for God on his blog Bob on Books.

Veritas Forum at OSU

IS THERE EVIDENCE FOR GOD?

Poster for Veritas Forum at OSU 2016Atheist & Christian Professors Examine Faith, Facts and Why it Matters

February 24, 2016 at 8:00 pm
Mershon Auditorium

PRESENTERS:
William Lane Craig
Kevin Scharp

For more information see the Veritas Forum web site.

February Luncheon

Wednesday, February 24, 2016
OSU Faculty Club – Faculty Club Junior Colleagues Room

An audio recording of the talk is here.

God and Time
William Lane CraigWilliam Lane Craig photo - face shot

Is God timeless? If God is beyond time how does he relate to our time space continuum? Does it makes sense to talk about a timeless person? Does time affect God? Or does God affect time?

William Lane Craig is Research Professor of Philosophy at Talbot School of Theology and Professor of Philosophy at Houston Baptist University. He and his wife Jan have two grown children.

At the age of sixteen as a junior in high school, he first heard the message of the Christian gospel and yielded his life to Christ. Dr. Craig pursued his undergraduate studies at Wheaton College (B.A. 1971) and graduate studies at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (M.A. 1974; M.A. 1975), the University of Birmingham (England) (Ph.D. 1977), and the University of Munich (Germany) (D.Theol. 1984). From 1980-86 he taught Philosophy of Religion at Trinity, during which time he and Jan started their family. In 1987 they moved to Brussels, Belgium, where Dr. Craig pursued research at the University of Louvain until assuming his position at Talbot in 1994.

He has authored or edited over thirty books, including The Kalam Cosmological Argument; Assessing the New Testament Evidence for the Historicity of the Resurrection of Jesus; Divine Foreknowledge and Human Freedom; Theism, Atheism and Big Bang Cosmology; and God, Time and Eternity, as well as over a hundred articles in professional journals of philosophy and theology, including The Journal of Philosophy, New Testament Studies, Journal for the Study of the New Testament, American Philosophical Quarterly, Philosophical Studies, Philosophy, and British Journal for Philosophy of Science.
Read more: http://www.reasonablefaith.org/william-lane-craig#ixzz40CYMJWEq

February Luncheon

Lessons (Re)Learned about Procrastination
Lauren Hensley

Thursday, January 28, 2016

OSU Faculty Club – Faculty Club Junior Colleagues Room

An audio recording of the talk is here.

The PowerPoint is here.

It is challenging to overcome the urge to procrastinate, despite the behavior’s negative impact on learning, sense of accomplishment, and life satisfaction. From the perspective of a decade of work in higher education, Lauren Hensley will explain her motivation for studying the topic of procrastination and present key findings from the scholarly literature. She will also explain how faith in God’s promises can help us address the fear of failure, perfectionism, and need for immediate gratification that are at the core of many forms of procrastination.

Photo of Lauren HensleyLauren Hensley is Senior Associate Director of The Ohio State University’s Walter E. Dennis Learning Center. Her current efforts focus on developing and managing college success courses, leading the Dennis Center’s instructional team, conducting educational research, and collaborating with other university units on initiatives that support students’ learning and motivation. She has been with the Dennis Learning Center since 2006 in roles including Graduate Teaching Associate, Coordinator of Learning Services, and Interim Director. She is a graduate of Ohio State’s Educational Psychology doctoral program, where she received the Loadman Dissertation Award (2014) for her research on procrastination. She also received her master’s degree in Higher Education and Student Affairs (HESA) from Ohio State. Her contributions have been recognized by The Ohio State University Board of Trustees, who awarded her a Student Recognition Award for leadership and scholarship (2012), and Student Life Disability Services, who designated her a recipient of the office’s Special Recognition Award for exceptional service (2009). In addition to learning and helping others to learn, Lauren loves to sing. She is grateful to serve on the musical worship team at Vista Community Church and to be a member of Capriccio Columbus, an 85-voice adult choir.

November Luncheon

Books that have changed your life: Our annual sharing

Thursday, November 19, 11:30 AM

OSU Faculty Club – Faculty Club Junior Colleagues Room

Sue Collins led us in sharing with each other brief reviews of books we have read recently and how have helped us grow spiritually.  Some of the books we discussed included

  • The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence
  • The Book of Blessings by R. Scott Osborne
  • The Cross of Christ by John Stott
  • Jesus the King: Understanding the Life and Death of the Son of God by Timothy Keller
  • Jesus the King: Understanding the Life and Death of the Son of God by Charles H. Spurgeon
  • The Spirit of the Disciplines by Dallas Willard
  • Paul, Apostle to Nations, An Introduction by Walter F. Taylor
  • Forgiveness is a Choice, A step-by-step process for Resolving Anger and Restoring Hope by Robert D. Enright, PhD

Sue noted that she had read that J. K. Rowling had put in clues in the early Harry Potter books that foreshadowed events at the end of the series. When she read the Harry Potter books she looked for they clues. She has also found that a helpful skill in reading the Bible.

Faculty Stories – Terry Gustafson from InterVarsity twentyonehundred on Vimeo.

Dr. Terry Gustafson, Professor of Chemistry at The Ohio State University, integrates science and faith, with great care for his students.

Past Luncheons – 

May 16, 2015

Thursday, May 14, 11:30 AM
OSU Faculty Club – Rooms A-D second floor

Between Heaven & Earth:  My journey from life to death to life again.

Lonnie G. Thompson
Distinguished University Professor in the School of Earth Sciences and a Research Scientist in the Byrd Polar Research Center

The presentation covered a quick personal story of Dr. Thompson’s journey from a small farm in West Virginia to the challenges of exploring the highest mountains on Earth and the lessons he has learned on that journey. He discussed the challenge of facing a heart transplant and coming to terms with the fact that we all must die. His saga of four months in the Ross Heart Hospital where he spent many weeks between life and death has led him to relate his near death experience and how that has changed his vision and quest for purpose in life.

An audio recording of the talk is available here.

The PowerPoint is here.

A video recording is coming.

Lonnie G. Thompson is a Distinguished University Professor in the School of Earth Sciences and a Research Scientist in the Byrd Polar Research Center at The Ohio State University. His research has propelled the field of ice core paleoclimatology Photo of Lonnie Thompson by glacierout of the Polar Regions to the highest tropical and subtropical ice fields. He and the OSU team have developed light-weight solarpowered drilling equipment for acquisition of histories from ice fields in the tropical South American Andes, the Himalayas, and on Kilimanjaro. These paleoclimate histories have advanced our understanding of the coupled nature of the Earth’s climate system. Special emphasis has been placed on the El Niño and monsoon systems that dominate the climate of the tropical Pacific and affect global-scale oceanic and atmospheric circulation patterns. His observations of glacier retreat over the last three decades confirm that glaciers around the world are melting and provide clear evidence that the warming of the last 50 years is now outside the range of climate variability for several millennia, if not longer. He has published over 185 peer-reviewed publications including several in the journal Science, led over 54 field programs, and has been funded by the National Science Foundation, the National Ocean and Atmospheric Association, and NASA. Lonnie has been recognized with many honors and awards including the National Medal of Science, the Tyler Prize (the World Prize for Environmental Achievement), and the Dan David Prize. In addition, he is an American Geophysical Union Fellow, an American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellow, and a member of the National Academy of Sciences. From the Geology Department website.

A Columbus Dispatch article from May 21, 2013 provides a brief description of Dr. Thompson’s heart failure, transplant, and recovery

April 16, 2015

Passion and Purpose in Music and EducationMilton RuffinPicture of Dr. Ruffin holding electric bass
Principal and director of the Fort Hayes Metropolitan Education Center
Lecturer, Music Education, OSU School of MusicDecisions and inspirations that ultimately aligned my passion with my purpose. Trials and victories that demonstrate God’s power in His promises. Audio of talk is available here.

November 20, 2014

Pastor Appreciation and Briefing Luncheon

The luncheon was presented by the Fellowship of Christian Faculty and Staff (FCFS) at OSU, a ministry of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, in partnership with the Christian Graduate Student Alliance at OSU.

This was an opportunity for our pastors to hear about Christian groups on campus, and also hear from some of our faculty and staff about the realities of living out their Christian faith in their university roles.

Dr. Bob Gillespie (School of Music) was the MC. The program included, introductions, sharing, and guest speaker Professor Jeff Chalmers describing some tensions between being a church member and being a faculty membe

October 16, 2014

Books that have changed your life

We  shared with each other brief reviews of books we have read recently and that could then be used to start discussion groups on campus. A list of the books discussed is linked below as is a list of books read by the Dead Theologians Society.

Books Discussed October 2014

Dead Theologians Society Reading List

Bob Trube posted on his blog about this luncheon with Amazon links to all the books: http://bobonbooks.com/2014/10/21/books-that-have-changed-your-life/

Audio available here.

September 18, 2014

What the Bible says about creation care

      ~ Living Faithfully To Live Sustainably

Speaker Dr. Greg Hitzhusen,
School of Environment and Natural Resources

Photo of Greg Hitzhusen

Handout EcoTheology, Genesis, Dominion & Christ

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