Two years ago I didn’t know I needed to be able to check my email on my phone at a red light. I didn’t know I needed to be able to play Angry Birds at the dentist office. I didn’t know I needed the weather radar and 10 day forecast whenever I wanted it. But […]

Get the right legs, under the right table, asking the right questions

When I read the USA Today article I was hoping I had time-traveled back deep into the previous century.  A few weeks ago a Southern Baptist Church in Mississippi refused to allow an African American couple to be married in its sanctuary because of their race.  The bride had been attending the church for a year, the […]

I’m not sure if you heard, but the Super Bowl was yesterday.  In the last 10 days, some 150,000 visitors came to downtown Indianapolis to be part of the festivities in Super Bowl Village.  That’s great for Indy tourism, but local businesses told their employees to hit the road or stay at home and work […]

One of the best things to come out of the economic downturn of the last four years is that consumers are working hard to get out of debt.  The Federal Reserve reported that last year the amount of debt held by the average household in this country shrunk to its lowest level since 1993. And […]

Coming down the new and improved Route 8 north of Akron I see a lot of companies I understand, like Schwebel’s Bakery or all of the hotels and gas stations.  But there was one with an interesting name that I had no clue about.  I Googled the company name and an on the front page […]

Yesterday my wife Chris wrapped up her participation in the Susan G. Komen 3-Day for the Cure.  From early Friday morning until yesterday afternoon she and about 1,000 others walked 60 miles around western Cuyahoga County. Many of you are familiar with the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure, a 5k (3.1 mile) walk […]

I have a hunch that there are lots of churches in our Conference that have put off capital campaigns in the last four years or so.  With a struggling economy and plate income a challenge, it just did not seem like the right time to take on a major campaign. But those churches still have […]

If you want to rile up some United Methodists bring up either casino gambling or the use of Native Americans as mascots.  Today I’m doing both.  I hope you’ll look past these offenses to find the message behind my post. Saturday was Faith Day at Progressive Field.  So I packed four Sheetzes in the minivan and headed […]

Last week I heard a business guru give his tool to assess the success of small businesses given the difficult economy the last few years. “If you’re still open, you’re a success.”  But then he admonished them to get out of survival mode and plan for the future. I think that’s where we are with […]