I am the lead pastor at People's United Methodist Church in the Wisconsin Conference of The United Methodist Church, husband of my beautiful wife, Barbara, dad to my fantastic son, Josh and his wife Caroline, step-dad to my phenomenal son, Greg, his wife Hannah and our fabulous/glorious/perfect granddaughter Evie, author of seventeed books on spirituality, stewardship, congregational development, research, and spiritual gifts discovery, and an advocate for a more loving, inclusive church for the 21st century and beyond.
In Greek theater, both tragedy and comedy, “indecision” or “quandary” was personified by dubitatio. In tragedy, dubitatio faced life or death decisions, crippled into a vacillating loop of second guessing about which option to choose. In comedy, dubitatio parodied the simple ordinary choices (which clothes to wear, which salad dressing […]
As a church consultant, one of the most frequent suggestions I made to church leadership boards and councils was to declare a moratorium on negativity. Some thought this was cute, many more found it funny, but all sobered up when they realized I was serious. Our Christian witness is being […]
What follows is a conflation of three different recent conversations, but my responses were consistent within all three. I merge them for the sake of the message, so if anyone involved reads this and thinks, “I don’t remember saying that,” they are probably right. “Uhm, someone left a negative comment […]
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 […]
Well, picking up where we left off with Faye — Faye may have heightened my knowledge and acceptance of the supernormal and the unexplained, but Hazel keeps me believing in Santa Claus for the simple fact that she IS Mrs. Claus. Singer/songwriter Richard Shindell has a song called, Hazel’s House, […]
Nativity scenes crack me up. No, there’s nothing inherently funny about them, and I recognize and honor the symbolic appeal and power they have, but having visited farm and village sites in Israel that are still essentially pre-modern, and knowing what stables look, feel, and smell like in general, I […]
I often hear a rumor, unsubstantiated (though with impressive evidence), that many adults no longer believe in Santa Claus. Oh, many profess to believe in the “spirit” or “essence” of Saint Nicholas, but to believe in the real, physical, meat-and-potatoes jolly old fat man is no longer acceptable among the […]
