Living Above The Norm

The pursuit of a simple truth by an analytical mind.

Entries Tagged ‘faith’

When Habits Talk on Your Behalf

In a comment to my post on My Experience or The Bible, Peter wrote something that caught my eye – “But is it really possible to interpret Scripture without any sort of tradition.”
Every day I make decisions about how to live my life based on my beliefs. These decisions (often unknowingly, and simply by [...]

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 [...]

Why This Is Harder Than You Thought

Procrastination can be a tough thing to overcome, especially when it comes to our spiritual life.  After all, we have time to fix that, right?  Or better yet, “I’ve got some other things I need to get right before I deal with that.“  What’s worse is that often times when we do start to address [...]

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 [...]

Even These Guys Face Temptation

Recently, our Life Group has been following Pause, a Series that @andystanley did at Northpoint Church a while back. It’s great stuff. It’s been great talking about how each of us handles temptations in different ways and it has been reassuring at times to learn that other people deal with the same temptations [...]

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 [...]

Using Twitter and Facebook to Listen with Your Eyes

There’s a big debate in the Twitter-sphere and Facebook world. It’s essentially the same question in two different vernaculars. “Do I have to follow everyone that follows me?” In short, no you don’t. I do, and some. I’d like to take a moment to tell you why in hopes that [...]

It’s What You Do Differently That Counts

I can think of no better way today for you to live above the norm than for you to take a break, turn off the computer, put the phone on vibrate (or off completely), and go spend some time with your family. I’m going to.
- Take your family to the movies (yes, in the middle [...]