Pentecost – Solidarity
I often am asked what’s going on here in San Francisco regarding the pandemic and riots. For that I encourage you to listen to these words from two colleagues of mine, Kirk Davis (starting around minute :13) and Tim Svoboda, who directs Youth With a Mission in SF’s Tenderloin neighborhood. I’ve spent years meeting, praying,…
Read MoreBoth in Heaven; Why not here on earth?
So far, two people who have had an impact on my life passed away during this world-changing COVID-19 pandemic. I’ve been a part of both of their communities, but never at the same time because I’ve not found a space where BOTH these two men would be welcomed and fellowshipping together here on earth, not the…
Read MoreWhy I kissed “Evangelistic Programs” Goodbye
My church signed onto this program in the early 2000’s when it was fairly new. Like many evangelical churches, we “wanted to reach the lost” and thus ordered it for our church because of its promise to equip Christians to confidently lead anyone to repentance. And with a name like “The Way…” who would not…
Read MoreAbout Art, Storytelling, and Entropy
I love that San Francisco has ample spaces to dive into conversations of depth with complete strangers. Its parklets, small locally-owned coffee shops, and walkable neighborhoods invite such interactions. In one such recent conversation, a stranger turned friend and I quickly got into sharing some of our passions around our respective storytelling initiatives. I say that…
Read MoreWork as Worship
This art installation was simply called “Work.” If you could see this art installation up close, especially the table, you’d see a timeline of my various vocations through the years. I’ve worked in theaters, Radio Shack, as an electrical engineer, and more. Most of you know I’ve also spent a lot of years in Christian…
Read MoreThe Chinese Grocery Stores of my Childhood
I grew up at this corner, 8th Avenue and Balboa. This particular picture was taken 1939. Though this grocery store predates me by some 30 years, It was still a grocery when I was growing up. In fact, we had lots of grocery stores in the 1970s, seemingly on every corner. Besides this store, I…
Read MoreFalling Upward: Wilderness
(Credits: Art installation and portrait credit Bethany L. Herron Photographer ; Photographer Event Photo credit SMG Foto “There is no greater disaster in the spiritual life than to be immersed in unreality.” – Thomas Merton My unreality was thinking that people would accept me more if I knew more, if I did more. Unreality was ultimately…
Read MoreFalling Upward: Authenticity
I’ve spent so much of my life trying to prove myself to others. And a lot of this proving has been done on a stage, as I wrote about in the second paragraph here. In the picture above the lamps shining on me denote stage lights, to represent how the stage was a place…
Read MoreThe Book I’ve Waited over 20 Years to be Written
A Book Review of “Ministering in Honor-Shame Cultures” by Jayson Georges and Mark Baker The “Dark Ages” of Ministry for me in the 1990’s Where was this book when I needed it over twenty years ago? At the time, I and ministry colleagues who were called to reach Asian, Latino, and African-American students … Continue reading The Book I’ve Waited over 20 Years to be Written
Read MoreFalling Upward: Work
“Work” is the name of this art installation. This being my first post of 2017, it’s not because my writing has gone dormant. If anything, I’ve done my most significant, painstaking, yet rewarding writing this past year. I’ve been busily casting my story into words, art, and video that I presented at a dinner and…
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