What are your hopes and plans for the New Year? This is a question I often ask others and also try to take extra time with at the end of every year. The basis of this question includes a few basic assumptions which are important to understand and also help us to better respond to…
It is interesting that each community usually takes on the personality of its leadership and its leadership is also a reflection of the values of that same community. Depending on the values of the community, this could produce very different types of leaders, leaders who only serve themselves or leaders who serve others.One approach would…
After reflecting on my posts from January a bit more, here are a few other things that come to mind… 1. It is difficult to have meaningful discussions when we can’t agree on common terms or definitions of words. Words like mother, father, marriage, love and even truth are now being twisted so that reality is redefined…
How can we build understanding with those who profoundly disagree with us? Be sure to read the previous posts on this topic from January 2022 to get the full story… So, here we are at the end of the conversation. I hope it has challenged you to think at least half as much as it…
How can we build understanding with those who profoundly disagree with us? Be sure to read the previous posts on this topic from January 2022 to get the full story… This was Derek’s 7th and last post in the conversation. I will provide my response later because this is such a long entry and I…
How can we build understanding with those who profoundly disagree with us? Be sure to read the previous posts on this topic from January 2022 to get the full story… A few comments: Now we are nearing the end of our conversation. This post from Derek reveals a continued shift in his attitude and openness….
How can we build understanding with those who profoundly disagree with us? Be sure to read the previous posts on this topic from January 2022 to get the full story… Commentary: This post shows a real shift in Derek’s attitude and willingness to open up. I was very grateful for that. He even tells some…
How can we build understanding with those who profoundly disagree with us? Be sure to read the previous posts on this topic from January 2022 to get the full story… It seems that Derek wrote this in a hurry and maybe did not even intend to post. I received a notification about the post and…
How can we build understanding with those who profoundly disagree with us? Be sure to read the previous posts on this topic from January 2022 to get the full story… Commentary: His second post in response to me was interesting and demonstrated that he was still trying to clarify several things. There seemed to be…
How can we build understanding with those who profoundly disagree with us? Be sure to read the previous posts on this topic from January 2022 to get the full story… Commentary: After my last response to Derek, I realized that maybe I did not really address the issue of Reformed theology, which he seems to…
How can we build understanding with those who profoundly disagree with us? Although Derek answered right away to my post, his tone was still quite accusatory and so he didn’t provide any real sense of gratefulness for the chance to discuss these ideas. As I read his post, I tried to consider why he communicates…
How can we build understanding with those who profoundly disagree with us? This post begins a series of posts in order to review an online conversation with Derek that began in January of 2020. As I have reflected on this discussion over many months, my intent was always to invite him to work through this…
