Thank-you to the Emerging Scholars Network’s Urbana Liveblog Team for enabling our online ministry not only to finish 2015 strong, but also to begin the new year with a strong, missional vision! For a summary of their posts visit 15 Posts on Mission, Justice, and the University from Urbana 2015, a few more (completed after this post) can be found under the Urbana tag (with other good material from not only Urbana15, but also several of the earlier Urbanas). 

Furthermore, what a joy to hear the growing appreciation for Scholar’s Compass: a devotional for academics, by academics at the Urbana Student Missions Conference and elsewhere. Over the past several months we have received requests for sharing the material not only from friends in the the United States, but also friends in engaged in higher education across the globe. What is so refreshing about these devotionals?

1. They explore how academic callings and spiritual lives can intertwine.
2. They show how God is at work in us in our everyday lives in the university.
3. They share the stories of believers at work in different places, disciplines, and historical times.

Not wanting you to miss the opportunity to read and bless others with This Month’s Most Visited Posts (and I pray that they are not only Visited, but also Read), I’ve included them below. As time permits, I encourage you not only to enjoy/share the wealth of the blog, but also to join the steady stream of people by . . .

• letting me know what readers would benefit from ESN addressing/exploring in 2016.
• exploring the opportunity to write for the Blog and/or Scholar’s Compass in particular.
• joining ESN, updating their membership information, and inviting friends to become part of the growing network.

Stay tuned. More on ESN in 2016 is coming soon.

To God be the glory!

Top Five this Month

1. Finding a Postdoc in the Sciences: Nailing the Interview by Kelly Seaton
2. 15 Posts on Mission, Justice, and the University from Urbana 2015 by Nathan Matias
3. The Secular Academy as a Mission Field: Urbana Panel Discussion by Nathan Matias
4. Scholar’s Call: A Theologian Praying by David Russell Mosley
5. Book Review: A Change of Heart, by Thomas Oden by Mark Hansard

Bonus: Top Five over the Course of the Past Year . . .

1. Finding a Postdoc in the Sciences: Nailing the Interview by Kelly Seaton
2. Advent Awakening: How The Story of the Wise Men Can Transform Our Worship Once Again (Scholar’s Compass) by Bryan Stoudt
3. Writing a Christian Personal Statement by David
4. Henri Nouwen: From Loneliness to Solitude by Micheal Hickerson
5. What I Wish I’d Known About Graduate School: Surviving the Workload by Hannah Eagleson