As I went to bed Saturday night I knew I needed to worship Sunday morning.  But I also knew that five days of more than 1,000 United Methodists was at least enough, so Google and I discussed my options.  I found a promising Presbyterian Church half a mile from my hotel. As I got to […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

Mastercard’s “Priceless” ad campaign is world-famous and fairly well satirized at this point.  In those ads you might expect to see Friendship identified as “Priceless.”  But a survey by the Gallup folks in 1998 puts a definite value on friendship, $118.  That is, that for every friend a church member has in his or her congregation, […]

Last week’s stock market fluctuations aside, the economy seems to be on the upswing.  Economists point to statistics like orders for durable goods and slowly easing unemployment rates as their proof. I knew it was better in late December by the mail we didn’t receive. At the Foundation we have investments from about 160 local churches […]

I was blessed to be able to preach yesterday at Orchard Path UMC, one of our new church starts.  Reverend David Rittgers is leading a great group in suburban Cleveland and asked if I would talk stewardship with his people. Having been part of a new church start years ago, I have great empathy for […]

I really like Mike Slaughter.  He’s the first United Methodist pastor I was ever aware of with “rock star” status.  He’s the pastor at Ginghamsburg Church in Tipp City.  That’s just north of the Dayton airport and half an hour from downtown.  In spite of its remote location, it is the largest United Methodist Church in […]

Last summer I had the chance to hear some of the most insightful leaders who are thinking about United Methodism.  One of them was Reverend Gil Rendle. Rev. Rendle worked his career as a pastor and is now on the staff at the Texas Methodist Foundation.  I hung on every word he said for his […]