Methodist Blogger Profile: Mark Winter

Mark Winter of Mark's Remarks

Howdy! I live in Ft Worth, Texas with my wife of 25 years, Laura. Laura is from Southern California and I’m from Oklahoma, a mixed marriage if there ever was one. We have three children. My two sons are basketball fanatics. Paul, 20, attends the University of Texas at Arlington and wants to go into sports management. Sam, 15, plays basketball and when he isn’t, he’s thinking of basketball. Abby, 11, loves to sing, shop, draw and talk a lot on her cellphone. We also have two goofy rat terriers, Checkers & Sampson.

I am a fulltime General Evangelist of the United Methodist Church. Most UMs cock their heads funny when I tell them I’m a Methodist evangelist. We are ordained elders who operate our own ministries. My One Man Show is a drama ministry. In the Old Testament, God used a jackass to speak through, so I figured he could use a ham. I portray over 30 characters, including Lazarus, Simeon and a Methodist circuit rider. UM evangelists travel to any church that will host us. Besides my blogsite, I have two other websites: www.onemanshow.org and www.francisasbury.com

Why do you blog?
When I first heard about blogging, I thought it would be a great promotional tool for my ministry. Now I see it as a playground for all my hyperactive thoughts.

What has been your best blogging experience?
When my sister told me I was a good writer. She made me feel that my journalism degree wasn’t in vain.

What would be your main advice to a novice blogger?
Ask yourself, “If I were a complete stranger who happened across my blog, would I want to read what I just wrote?”

If you only had time to read three blogs a day, what would they be?
I pretty much hang around the Methodist blogosphere. I also like World Mag Blog because of the fast-paced news items and the gloves-off comments that people leave.

Who are your spiritual heroes?
Francis Asbury—for his unwavering self-sacrifice to ‘reform the nation and spread scriptural holiness across these lands.’
C.S. Lewis—for drawing me and countless others to Christ through his imaginative and honest writings
Mother Teresa—for her deep love of Jesus and commitment to the poor

What are you reading at the moment?
I’m picking my way through An Introduction to the Devout Life by St. Francis de Sales. I’m also going through a one-year Bible reading plan and reading the daily devotional from My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers. On top of that, I’m reading a children’s book about a talking hamster—uh, my daughter’s making me do it.

What is your favorite hymn and why?
I love the classic, awe-inspiring hymns like Holy, Holy, Holy, A Mighty Fortress, Immortal Invisible, God Only Wise. Plus Christmas hymns, because they make me feel all warm and tingly inside.

Can you name a major moral, political, or intellectual issue on which you've ever changed your mind?
I used to be a libertarian. Now I think it’s naïve to believe we can have such limited government when it’s grown so big and complex.

What philosophical thesis do you think is most important to combat?
Hedonism because it focuses squarely on sensual, selfish pleasure and getting rid of pain—one of the biggest idols & illusions in our nation.

If you could effect one major change in the governing of your country, what would it be?
I have to take out a bank loan to fill up my gas tank, so channeling more resources into finding cheap, renewable forms of energy would be helpful.

If you could effect one major policy change in the United Methodist Church, what would it be?
Financially support our fulltime evangelists (not that I have an ax to grind).

What would be your most important piece of advice about life?
Cultivate friendships.

What, if anything, do you worry about?
Wow, this could turn into a counseling session. I’m a melancholy personality, so I tend to worry a lot, though I know it’s not good for me. Mainly I worry about the salvation and safety of my children, but I am learning to pray it over to God. Other than that…no, you don’t have the time.

If you were to relive your life to this point, is there anything that you'd do differently?
would’ve drank less beer in college and actually studied.

Where would you most like to live (other than where you do now?)
Hmmmm…..I go to Mexico on mission trips and would like to live down there for a while so I could become fluent in Spanish. Plus they have killer tacos. If I could take away all but one week of winter, I’d like to live in Vermont. Such beautiful scenery.

What do you like doing in your spare time?
I like to write, listen to music, read and watch movies. A while back, I enjoyed gardening, but my hectic travel schedule turned my garden into a hell of weeds. Maybe when I retire…

What is your most treasured possession?
My baseball card collection. I have vintage cards from my childhood and have actually put them in my will for my boys.

What talent would you most like to have?
Either play the piano so beautifully that it would move women to tears—or dunk a basketball like Shaq and move men to tears.

If you could have any three guests, past or present, to dinner, who would they be?
Frank Sinatra (to provide dinner music)…Mickey Mantle (my all-time baseball hero)…my father, whom I reconciled with on October 7, 1994 and then lost him to a sudden heart attack three hours later….