A few disclaimers before I launch into my ranting and raving. I fully understand that people come to impasses that they refuse to negotiate. There are non-negotiables in life; things we simply will not budge on. Also, there are behaviors, attitudes and actions that are widely and generally viewed as […]
What is the best ice cream? What is the greatest country in the world? What is the right way to read the Bible? From Jesus, “Who do you say that I am?” Each of these questions is a trap! They tempt us to state opinion as fact. This, my friends, […]
“All information is misinformation.” I have been fortunate in my ministry to receive excellent training in conflict mediation, but the best I ever had came from FBI hostage negotiators from Quantico. This is where the quotation comes from – all information is misinformation. Unpacking this a little, there is some […]
Well, friends, it has been awhile. Almost six years. When I became the Assistant to Bishop Hee-Soo Jung, he asked me to cease blogging so that “our voices will not be mixed.” I felt this was a reasonable request; I am an opinionated so-and-so who speaks his mind and sometimes […]
Here is a sermon Barbara and I delivered at the Hudson UMC on December 4: (sorry about the formatting) Dan Oh, man, I cannot believe it is December already! This year has just flown by. Barbara I know, and it isn’t going to get any better. I have two projects that absolutely MUST […]
Last Day. The End of Times. Don’t count on Jesus coming back any time soon. If he is anything like most of the delegates to this year’s General Conference, it may take him a few days to recover. There has been so much attention (I’m as guilty as anyone) on […]
General Conference has taken a nasty turn and an unfortunate direction, with ascribing malice and assuming negative intentions. Civility is at a minimum, and people are now on the attack. My sense is that we are witnessing ineptitude, incompetence and ignorance, not intentional malpractice. We are not being led well, […]
We are engaged in a fascinating bog here in Portland. There are strong and many calls to draw a definitive line in the sand to say who is right and who is wrong, who will win and who will lose. We have come to the place where no one can […]
A question United Methodists seem to love to hate is about our rules. Are our rules, mainly delineated for us in our Book of Discipline, made to be followed or to be broken? Are rules absolute and unquestionable or are our rules evolving and bendable? Why have rules if we […]
Well, it took me over two hours and frequent stops to do it, but I made my five miles in spite of the deep tissue trauma in my lower back! I also had to walk closer to home, not knowing how well I would hold up, but I fulfilled my […]
United Methodeviations 