News & Updates

Do you know who Caryn Johnson is? What about Eldrick Tont Woods? If those legal birth certificate titles don’t ring a bell, wait for it. I’ll tell you at the end of this email. With the right, recognizable name, we attach great value. Cases in point: Tommy Hilfiger. Ralph Lauren. Sofia Vergara. Levi Strauss. Michael Jordan. Martha Stewart. A savvy marketing campaign combined with name recognition equals higher price tags and greater profits. It really is amazing. A carpet friend…

“Where the rubber meets the road.” Have you heard that quirky phrase before? When you get in your car, pull it out of the garage from where it’s been sitting, and drive to your destination — THAT is where the rubber meets the road. Your tires are giving themselves to the unforgiving asphalt. Because the rubber is meeting, greeting, and heating the road up, your body will be carried to where it needs to be. This is where the rubber…

Another Republican brawl… uh, er… debate was held last night. Wow. I am stunned by how much our politics have turned into a reality TV show sporting record ratings. This past week, I voted for decency, life, values this country was founded on, and convictions beyond who I thought would win. My choice, after the results on Super Tuesday were in, all but suspended his campaign. (sigh) Last night I could only take one hour of the two-hour boxing match.…

Global Mission week at Cumberland has begun. What a joy and a challenge. We have the privileged of having Dr. Hong Yang and his wife Ester who have ministered in communist China for many years and seen the hand of God miraculously move in the way of miracles to see many turn to Jesus. Melanie Hutchison from India is with us who serves the most broken of women in helping them regain their dignity and personhood through job skills training…

Here’s a great story for this Valentine’s Day weekend… Russell Wilson, star quarterback for the Seattle Seahawks, has gone public with his celibate, God-pursuing relationship to singer, Ciara. People magazine reports how Wilson, a long-time believer and strong Jesus follower, openly admits his actions (or lack thereof) stem from his faith convictions. Ciara, who shares Wilson’s spiritual passion says, ““We get to have really healthy conversations and focus on each other as people. That is very important to me and…

Super Bowl 50 is all but here. Wow. Did you know there’s only one lucky guy with a recording of the very first Super Bowl televised on CBS and NBC? Troy Haupt’s father did an ahead-of-his-time video taping of the very first NFL championship. Neither CBS nor NBC retained any of their original broadcast recordings. Haupt has been sitting on this secret for years hoping the price would be driven to an all-time high. His lawyers believed he could possibly…

Just about the time you’re checking into a motel room for a few days away, 20/20 comes out with another ultra violet light scandal. You’ve seen these programs before, right? Why do they always seem to air when you’re actually in a motel room? The ultra violet light exposes the nasty past of a room disguised by freshly made beds and toilet seat bands promoting “sanitized.” The undercover news program makes you squirm as you slide beneath the suspiciously named…

Preparation is everything. Without it, whole cities come to a frozen crawl. Just ask the mayor of Washington, D.C. A couple nights ago, the city was blanketed by a couple inches of snow. The mayor admitted they had prepared poorly, and things were just an icy mess. Now D.C. is bracing for close to thirty inches of snow. Without decided preparation, the two inches of snow from a couple days ago will seem like a mere municipal hangnail. On Sunday,…

I’m not sure I’ve used the familiar “use your inside voice” line on my kids. However, I’m quite confident I’ve shushed them a few times when the volume started to drift towards eleven. In fact, my younger two got a shush just last night when Trump and Cruz, at the Republican debate, went into attack mode on the value of New Yorkers. I had to hear that! There are inside etiquette rules, but also definitive outside, acceptable manners. You would…

What a terrific holiday break my family enjoyed. Traveling to Indiana to Ohio and back to the ATL was a great break for my soul. Our time was so rich. Sherry and I mourned the kids returning to school. But returning things back to a semblance of normal in a new year is always hard. Slow. Painful. To put one foot in front of the other can be incredibly challenging as a new year unfolds. Ask my kids about the…