Have you ever seen photos of the massive waves on Oahu’s famous North Shore? A few years ago I stood on that beach and watched in jaw dropping wonder and amazement at the size, force, and impact of those waves as they crashed into the shoreline. The scene was very moving, very […]

We all have family Thanksgiving stories that fall on the scale between funny and sad and everything in between. Thanksgiving is pretty easy to mess up. Jimmy Fallon has a traditional segment on Thanksgiving fails, all of which are funny and fairly minor. The true Thanksgiving collapse is when we […]

True or false: Christians ought to be the highest performing workers in the marketplace. It sure sounds right. It feels like it should be true. Bible verses like “Work for the Lord and not for men” and the things your mother used to tell you (“I don’t care about the […]

“Trust in God but tie up your camel” reads the ancient Arabian proverb. In other words, have faith, but don’t neglect common sense. Too often we split these concepts and treat them as if they were mutually exclusive propositions. We drive a wedge between bold faith and simple common sense. […]

Ambition. It’s a concept loaded with meaning and starving for clarity. It’s been abused, neglected, misunderstood, and misappropriated. While baby boomers embraced ambition without hesitation, making it the necessary companion of hard work and elevating it to a near religious status, the attitudes of their millennial children are less clear. […]

One of my favorite people in the Bible is Grandma Lois. When I get to heaven, she’s one of the first people I want to talk with. Sure, Grandma Lois isn’t as well known as her grandson Timothy, and she’s particularly less famous than her grandson’s mentor, Paul. But she […]

I’m not a soldier. No, Colonel Jessup, I’ve never picked up a weapon and stood a post. I’ve never fought in a great battle, never landed in hostile territory, and have never really worn a military uniform of any kind. I’m also not an especially gifted athlete. I crank out a few miles every week […]

Usually, voices in your head are not a good thing, but I’ve learned about two that are. And they’re not the typical stereotype of competing voices in your head … When it comes to planning and strategy, there are two voices you always want to hold in tension. They’re the […]

Do strategy and Scripture have anything to do with each other? I’m convinced they do. Sometimes it is clearly stated in a single passage and other times it is embedded deep in the narrative or overall context. Too often we separate and compartmentalize the Scriptures from our real world of […]

The older I get the more I appreciate the trait of transparency. I want people around me who will tell it like it is. Not quite Ron Swanson level of straight talk, but straight talk nonetheless. For example, I recently needed to hire a new team member in one of […]