Living Above The Norm

The pursuit of a simple truth by an analytical mind.

Entries for the ‘Developed Thoughts’ Category

My Experience or The Bible – What Came First, the Chicken or the Egg?

Recently, in a discussion with another Pastor about some of the more difficult areas of the Bible (difficult as in hard to interpret), I heard a phrase that has had me thinking:
“Instead of letting what you haven’t experienced and your current understanding about what the Bible says define what you can experience, there might be [...]

Picking the Better of Two Priorities

Ever heard the phrase, “Picking the lesser of two evils?” This is a little different. I’m sure if I were to ask you to list your various roles and relationships in order of importance or priority each of you could give me some very good answers with little thought. It would likely start [...]

Is Experience Really the Best Teacher?

I recently came across a pretty cool site, Someone Once Told Me So.  Every day, give or take, they post a picture of someone holding a quote.  The premise is this, “Someone once told me… [then they fill in the blank]“.  I’ve subscribed to the RSS feed so I don’t have to keep going back [...]

Preparing for an Abundance

Managing your finances can be a tricky thing. It seems like now, more than ever, people are being cautious of their spending. I’m always amazed at how “fiscally responsible” and frugal people can be when they start having more month at the end of their money. Why is it that we’re only [...]

First Week on the Job… What it’s Like Being a Father

By no means do I consider myself an expert.  For all intents and purposes, I’m about as new a rookie Dad as you can find.  But this I do know: things in life are made with purpose.  As I shared when talking about …Life Purpose In 20 Minutes…, anytime that something is made or used [...]

Anything You Can Do I Can Do Better… Incorporating Mentors in Your Everyday Life

In a country full of self-made men and home grown businesses, how is it that some people are at the top of their game – giants in their areas, while others are not? There has to be something unfair about the American dream. Do some people just have what it takes while the rest of us have to live with what we have? Here’s how I develop mentors and relationships to help me develop myself as a leader.

This is Where We’re Going; Like it or Not

Ever known someone who argued with you over a new idea or way of doing things, only to find out you were right – and now all of a sudden they act like it was their idea and “what they were saying all along”?  Yeah, me too.  Consider this my “I told you so.”  The [...]

Confessions of a Problem Solver

Maybe I’m just wired this way.
I can remember bringing my broken toys to my dad (he can fix anything).  On one occasion I must have been particularly distraught.  I remember him telling me this, “Son, if a man made it, a man can fix it.”  I remember being challenged by that.  I carried it into [...]

Discover Your Life Purpose in 20 Minutes or Your Money Back

I’ve often heard it said that the two greatest days in a person’s life are 1) the day they are born, and 2) the day they found out why.
Who doesn’t want to know what their purpose in life is?  Authors and publishers have made millions off of people’s insatiable hunger to fill that longing, that [...]

Sometimes Improving Means Starting Over

Somewhere along the line, we became stuck in a rut.  Sure, we wanted to get better.  We wanted to grow. In fact, we even had meetings about how we could improve.  It wasn’t for a lack of great ideas.  There seem to be new ones popping up left and right.  Every book, conference, seminar, even [...]