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 seventeen 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.
I cannot estimate the number of hours I wasted in college playing cards. I had three very different groups of guys I would sit down with, but the three groups had one thing in common: dealer’s choice. Who ever deals gets to choose the game. I think this is one […]
Globalization When you see the word “globalization,” do you immediately have a strong reaction, good or bad, one way or the other? Did you have a broad, general feeling response either positive or negative? Reactive and unreflective thinking moves us to an “either/or” engagement. An open curiosity doesn’t impose an […]
Is critical thinking hard? No, not really. Critical thinking is intentional, careful, concise, time-intensive, open-ended, and often demanding, but truly not that hard. Critical thinking is risky. It challenges the status quo, confronts sloppy, reactive, and unreflective thinking (therefore revealing flaws in assumptions and opinions), and demands change through growth […]
I thought I would share some answers to specific questions publicly in case others are curious as well. Please feel free to leave comments on the blog as well as contacting me directly. Here is some general information in no particular order: Any of the illustrations I use on United […]
The etymological roots of the word “curiosity” are “care” and “cure;” curiosity seeks to cure, to care, to heal. Every person on the planet has a seed of curiosity planted deep within them. It has been believed that formal education is the best way to feed and nurture this seed, […]
I am a trained and experienced researcher and have taught critical thinking skills for over 30 years. I am just establishing my bias and perspective up front. Through years of working in the church, with academia, community organizing, board leadership and training, and global systems, I find that most people […]
What regard do we, in our current culture, have for truth, precision, honesty, veracity, and verifiability? What makes something “true?” How do we “know” something, anything? What criteria do we use to decide whether something is credible, believable, or valid? I am going to write about critical thinking on Thursday, […]
My former boss and friend (which is better than a boss and former friend), Bishop Hee-Soo Jung spoke frequently about the “grace margin.” I first encountered this term in the 1970s when I studied Jurgen Moltmann and adopted the theology of hope as my core vision for the Christian life. […]
Due to a bad phone connection and a weird transcription, I got a voice mail from someone named Mewe Usthem (Mary Austin). At first I simply laughed at the transpositioning and transposing, but the more I thought about it, this name – Mewe Usthem – could be a metaphor for […]
Why do conspiracies always have to be darkly subversive or negative? One origin of the term “conspire” is “to breathe with,” or “to breathe together.” What if we were to form a positive, enduring conspiracy for the common good? What might we conspire together to create or achieve? I am […]
United Methodeviations 