iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Nick the Nevermet @nevermet.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

I will make a deal with the universe: I will listen to this podcast ep if @albertaadvantage.bsky.social gets to interview Kenney also.

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Nick the Nevermet @nevermet.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

@leecasebolt.bsky.social ? I just saw this pic, and just in case you hadn't yet... uh... here:

Pro wrestlers bob backlund and Harley Race dressed like samurai

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Nick the Nevermet @nevermet.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

(to be clear: Not Maclean. Gelsinger)

A picture of Swiss theologian Karl Barth (1886-1968).
A caption reads, "Karl Barth is now confused. And Disgruntled. Because of you."

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Nick the Nevermet @nevermet.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Got the ebook. Should be fun. The Table of Contents is eclectic. I was NOT expecting Bourdieu to make an appearance.

CHURCH LEADERSHIP IN THE AGE OF
HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Discerning a Forgotten History
Rahel Siebald

CONTENTS
Acknowledgements?
vii
INTRODUCTION?
1
1. When Bill Hybels came to Germany?
1
2. Making sense of leadership?
5
3. Chapter outline?
8
Chapter 1
A CONTESTED RELATIONSHIP: LEADERSHIP AND THE CHRISTIAN
CHURCH?
13
1. Leaders as heroes: A myth of origin?
17
2. Pastors as CEOs: A chronology of ordained ministry?
20
3. Church as machine: A metaphysics of management?
36
4. Conclusion: Forgetting and remembering history?
39
Chapter 2
TRACING BACK ORIGINS: EXPLORING LEADERSHIP HISTORICALLY?
41
1. In search of greatness: Thomas Carlyle on heroes and hero-worship?
42
2. Calculating the best way: Frederick W. Taylor on manufacturing
heroes?
50
3. Creating the spirit: Oliver Sheldon on the visionary leader?
57
4. Conclusion: Revisiting Hybels’s courageous leadership?
62
Chapter 3
LABOURING IN PAIN: LABOUR, CAPITAL AND THE MEDIATION OF
MANAGEMENT?
69
1. The labour conflict and the emergence of leadership?
69
2. Controlling humans: Coercion, compensation and commitment?
82
3. Conclusion: The age of Human Resource Management?
100
Chapter 4
KATHRYN TANNER: WHEN CAPITALISM RUINS SOULS?
107
1. A theological study of late modern economies?
108
2. When Bourdieu meets your doctrine of God?
123

3. Conclusion: How to resist total commitment
136
Chapter 5
JACQUES ELLUL: WHEN TECHNOLOGY SILENCES COMMUNAL
DISCOURSE?
139
1. Ellul on technique and technology
140
2. Ellul’s theology for uncertain times
145
3. Conclusion: On hope
155
Chapter 6
DISCERNMENT AND PROPHECY: CHURCHES IN THE AGE OF HUMAN
RESOURCE MANAGEMENT?
161
1. A brief typology of discernment
163
2. Prophecy in the Reformation
167
3. Prophecy and discernment in the Old Testament
180
4. Conclusion: The church’s task of discernment
191
CONCLUSION?
195
1. Economic theory, leadership and discernment: What is covered
and what remains
195
2. The tower of division and the open city
198
Bibliography
201
Index
213

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Nick the Nevermet @nevermet.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

So, uh.... Canadian nationalism... I got nothin

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Nick the Nevermet @nevermet.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

This is very relevant to my interests. I hope it's good.

"Should churches adopt the modern practices of leadership theory?

Rahel Siebald delivers a compelling analysis of how modern leadership discourse, rooted in industrial-era labour conflicts, has transformed the way churches understand ministry, decision-making, and community. This work reveals key features uniting modern leadership. It then highlights how leadership theory, instead of reconciling conflict, can often avoid or silence it.

Drawing on historical sources and the theologies of Kathryn Tanner and Jacques Ellul, Siebald uncovers that these efficient but silencing techniques are still at work in contemporary leadership theories. She traces their origins from Thomas Carlyle's romantic heroism, through Frederick Taylor's scientific management, to Oliver Sheldon's focus on motivation. Siebald then offers a fresh theological account of prophecy and discernment, rooted in Old Testament traditions, and provides practical insights for resisting the pressures of Human Resource Management in faith communities.

This important and sweeping book equips advanced students, scholars, and church leaders with tools to navigate the complex relationship between leadership, management, and faith."

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Nick the Nevermet @nevermet.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

Welcome to Bluesky, please familiarize yourself with the range of opinions it is permissible to express.

A very large genealogical chart from the tabletop roleplaying game, Runequest Glorantha, entitled, "Catalogue of the Gods."

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Nick the Nevermet @nevermet.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

Is this before or after he becomes mayor of Metro City?

The character Mike Haggar, from the video game Final Fight

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Nick the Nevermet @nevermet.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

This question asked, on a 5 point scale, how people viewed democracy, free market economy, democratic socialism, capitalism, socialism, populism, communism, & authoritarianism. I am deeply curious how people personally define these terms, as I strongly doubt the definitions have general consensus.

Chart of a poll from Abacus Data entitled "Impressions of economic and political systems"

DEMOCRACY
Very Positive: 41%
Somewhat Positive: 31%
Neutral: 16%
Somewhat Negative: 5%
Very Negative: 3%
Unsure what it means: 4%
Overall Positive: 72%

FREE MARKET ECONOMY
Very Positive: 18%
Somewhat Positive: 33%
Neutral: 26%
Somewhat Negative: 8%
Very Negative: 4%
Unsure what it means: 11%
Overall Positive: 51%

DEMOCRATIC SOCIALISM
Very Positive: 12%
Somewhat Positive: 24%
Neutral: 28%
Somewhat Negative: 12%
Very Negative: 10%
Unsure what it means: 14%
Overall Positive: 36%

CAPITALISM
Very Positive: 10%
Somewhat Positive: 23%
Neutral: 28%
Somewhat Negative: 18%
Very Negative: 14%
Unsure what it means: 7%
Overall Positive: 33%

SOCIALISM
Very Positive: 9%
Somewhat Positive: 20%
Neutral: 31%
Somewhat Negative: 16%
Very Negative: 15%
Unsure what it means: 9%
Overall Positive: 29%

POPULISM
Very Positive: 3%
Somewhat Positive: 12%
Neutral: 33%
Somewhat Negative: 14%
Very Negative: 13%
Unsure what it means: 25%
Overall Positive: 15%

COMMUNISM
Very Positive: 3%
Somewhat Positive: 9%
Neutral: 19%
Somewhat Negative: 20%
Very Negative: 44%
Unsure what it means: 6%
Overall Positive: 12%

AUTHORITARIANISM
Very Positive: 2%
Somewhat Positive: 7%
Neutral: 19%
Somewhat Negative: 16%
Very Negative: 46%
Unsure what it means: 10%
Overall Positive: 9%

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Nick the Nevermet @nevermet.bsky.social · 19/06/2026

This is a fun pic, no argument. However, it is SLIGHTLY worrisome that we feel genuine relief when our leaders act like, you know, human beings. I get that's where the bar is, but that's ... hmm.

An image of Prime Minister Mark Carney and his wife at the World Cup Canada match. She is taking a picture, and he has both arms raised while cheering. A comment from "kikkiplanet" says, "NGL, kinda love that the PM is a sporty nerd."

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Nick the Nevermet @nevermet.bsky.social · 12/06/2026

I think so, yes? As I understand things, it would be antithetical to organize the United Church around something like the Synod of Dort, the Augsburg Confession, or the Westminster Catechism. From Janet Gear, Undivided Love (2022), P. 18:

There are times when faith expresses itself not in a neat and tidy statement, but in a blind and blinding trust in the confounding mystery of it all. In these moments, it feels as if faith is carrying us more than we are carrying, or at least articulating, faith. Because the faith of the church comes to us not only in creeds and confessions but also in those pauses and queries, those “let me try to put it another way,” “perhaps, it is more like this,” moments, there are among us what we call “noncreedal” Christians who can’t settle on quite the words to use for what for them is less an assent to belief as a surrender to it. Like other united and uniting churches, the United Church of Canada is officially “non-creedal,” by which we mean that on the occasions in which faith is confessed (adult baptism, confirmation, and membership to orders of ministry, for example), it is just as acceptable to use our own words as to employ the creeds of the church. We understand them both to be equally proximate and provisional ways of wrapping words around mystery, variously revealed. We refer to those words as theology and to the place they arise from as faith.

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Nick the Nevermet @nevermet.bsky.social · 11/06/2026

I mean, that’s definitely true and has been for a while. I was mainly referring to poll aggregation charts like this that suggest Liberal support has topped out, partly because it can’t go higher 338canada.com/federal.htm

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Nick the Nevermet @nevermet.bsky.social · 10/06/2026

I know! Also, the questions are exactly as frustrating as you would expect. Oh! And you'll be amused this appeared on my screen when I was replying to you:

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Nick the Nevermet @nevermet.bsky.social · 27/05/2026

The reactions as Kinew speaks are just fun And by fun, I mean I involuntarily cringed

Politicians reacting in various ways as the Premier of Manitoba jumps in to disagree with the Premier of Alberta. Most look uncomfortable to say the least.

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Nick the Nevermet @nevermet.bsky.social · 18/05/2026

Travel reading So far, not bad. I am in a place where I appreciate any book that starts with proudly proclaiming affiliation the United Church of Canada

Book by J Aaron Miller entitled, Witnesses of these Things: Faithfulness here and now

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Nick the Nevermet @nevermet.bsky.social · 03/05/2026

Well... not YOU as much as that report.

Karl Barth (1886-1968) was a very influential theologian from Switzerland who worked within the Reformed tradition. He rejected biblical inerrancy, supported a version of universal salvation, and opposed nationalism in WWI and fascism in WWII.

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Nick the Nevermet @nevermet.bsky.social · 02/05/2026

And just to use the other one...

A photograph of a statue of the Roman Emperor Constantine . The caption is “This is some Constantinian BULL shit.” Constantinianism is a theological concept from the Anabaptist tradition of Christianity that is a label for the conflation or unification of Christianity with Empire. It is viewed as a bad thing.

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Nick the Nevermet @nevermet.bsky.social · 28/04/2026

Without downloading anything new, where are you mentally?

A picture of sociologist Pierre Bourdieu (1930 - 2002) with his face in the palm of his hand. The caption reads, "Bourdieu Just Can't Today."

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Nick the Nevermet @nevermet.bsky.social · 27/04/2026

www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/4/... This is accurate.

“The problem with conflicts like this is always you don’t just have to get in – you have to get out again. We saw that very painfully in Afghanistan for 20 years. We saw it in Iraq,” he said.

Merz said Iranian officials were “obviously negotiating very skilfully” and appeared “clearly stronger than one thought”, adding that “an entire nation is being humiliated by the Iranian leadership”, particularly by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Merz urged a rapid end to the war, warning that the fallout was already hitting Germany’s economy.

“It is, at the moment, a pretty tangled situation,” he said. “And it is costing us a great deal of money. This conflict, this war against Iran, has a direct impact on our economic output.”

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Nick the Nevermet @nevermet.bsky.social · 26/04/2026

I feel like you're having a conversation with this guy from Disco Elysium

A picture of a character from the video game, Disco Elysium. The Deserter, an old communist who has been living in secret on a small island for years. Calls everyone a liberal.

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Nick the Nevermet @nevermet.bsky.social · 25/04/2026

Also, actual question: just looking at this logo, I intuitively know it’s a rightwing Christian thing. The cross being front & center is IMHO a necessity but not sufficient explanation for why. Any opinions?

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Nick the Nevermet @nevermet.bsky.social · 12/04/2026

www.cnn.com/2026/04/11/w... Is @cnn.com aware there is an apparent contradiction between saying the talks are going well, but the debate about opening the Straight is a "sticking point?" If CNN knows, have they posed that question to anyone, or are they just stenographers?

Screen capture of a bullet point.

"• Sticking point: Pakistani sources say the discussions have been positive overall, but a stalemate persists over control of the Strait of Hormuz, the vital waterway where the US said it began mine-clearing operations on Saturday."

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Nick the Nevermet @nevermet.bsky.social · 03/04/2026

The maps, they continue #Glorantha #Maniria (I am assuming this is the first Maniria hashtag ever) (Also, its kinda sad how much pride and emotional investment I have in a 40mb Inkscape file, but here we are)

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Nick the Nevermet @nevermet.bsky.social · 22/03/2026

There are days where the most healing thing I can do is play around with Inkscape and make RPG maps for Glorantha.

Map of the region of Maniria in the fictional setting of Glorantha. Map includes elevation, rivers, settlements, and forests.

Map of the region of Maniria in the fictional setting of Glorantha. Map includes rivers, and different sub-regions, each with its own concerns as the Ragnorok-esque Hero Wars begin.

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Nick the Nevermet @nevermet.bsky.social · 15/03/2026

Is Vance winning the competition?

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Nick the Nevermet @nevermet.bsky.social · 14/03/2026

If you see this post a vampire that isn't dracula

Paul Ruebens in the movie, "Buffy the Vampire Slayer"

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Nick the Nevermet @nevermet.bsky.social · 14/03/2026

This article is very confident in saying what all Christians over the last ~2,000 years have all 100% agreed on. Also, it gets AWFULLY CLOSE to saying we are justified by nature.

Christianity makes certain claims about what it means to be human. We are created in God’s image and made as man and woman, distinguished by the sexual characteristics and complementarity of our bodies. Our bodies are, in a deep sense, who we are. I am not a soul that dwells in a body as an astronaut exists in a spacesuit. I am a body-soul unity.

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Nick the Nevermet @nevermet.bsky.social · 06/03/2026

Good times... Or, you know, whatever the Hell 2026 is.

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Nick the Nevermet @nevermet.bsky.social · 01/03/2026

The United Church of Canada has "grave concern" over the attack of Iran, for many reasons including its apparent violation of international law. For those same reasons, it isn't especially happy with the Canadian government either, as it supports the attack. united-church.ca/news/united-...

"All governments, including Canada, should take every step possible, in accordance with international law, to uphold and demand respect for state sovereignty including control of all national resources, and prevent further escalations. The church is concerned by the statement of Prime Minister Carney and Minister Anand that condones the attack on Iran instead of upholding international law and condemning military actions in the midst of ongoing diplomatic talks between Iran and the US."

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Nick the Nevermet @nevermet.bsky.social · 09/02/2026

sigh leger360.com/wp-content/u...

Polling data suggesting that the UCP is getting more popular in Alberta.

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