One of the challenges of life is that most of it happens in the mundane.  You know, like today.  Not much happening today.  Today’s not special, spectacular, not wonderful, really no opportunities to be amazing today. Just get up and do the work.

But that is the treacherous nature… More

I know what you’re afraid of.  No I am not talking about, bugs, gators, snakes, spiders, all those common things we say we’re afraid of. There are as many phobias, it seems, as there are people who populate the planet.  But I know what you’re afraid of, really, really at… More

One thing that’s been true with every person I’ve ever met is that they want to be heard.  I mean really heard; not just add to the noise, not just politely stand in line to earn the right to say something.  But to be heard for who they are and… More

When life hands me a set of circumstances out of which I can make no sense, by God’s grace, I will face it in one peace.

When people that don’t even know me oppose me, I will respond, still in one peace.

When my goals go unmet and my… More

It’s no secret I am a big fan of Dave Ramsey.  It’s not just because I like his stuff, but I know the man and have a great deal of admiration for him.  So I listen to what he has to say more carefully than I do most other public… More

We’re trained from the very earliest in our lives to not make good decisions.  It’s not a conspiracy to keep us down.  It’s just the way we’ve chosen to organize the world.

As a result, we’ve raised a generation of permission-seeking conformists who are looking to plug into the system… More

One of the number one causes of quitting is feeling overwhelmed. Overwhelmed in your marriage, overwhelmed at work, overwhelmed with a new idea that you’re trying to get off the ground, but there are just so many moving parts, you feel like you’re never going to get a handle on… More

There are a lot of problems that face our world.  We see them reflected in the eyes of the people we meet every day.  And because there are so many overwhelming problems, we are at times, left with the feeling that there is nothing we can do.

I was in… More

When we start out in life, we are curious, daring risk-takers. But over time, with the guidance of our fearful parents and the faithful, diminishing effects of education, we get in line.  We finally see our lives as something small and insignificant.  We’re a customer, a number, a name, a… More

Churches, organizations, businesses, anyplace where there is a mission and a passion to extend that mission and its influence, are places populated by people, at first, just a few true believers.  And as the mission takes hold, and as you grow larger and larger, more and more people begin to… More

One of the most popular trends in a down economy is to blame everything on the economy. If business is bad, the future looks bleak, we can sit around and comfort ourselves knowing that everyone else is sucking wind because, of course, it’s the economy.

But the problem with that… More

I make it a point every year to be in front of the television when the acceptance speeches are given by the seven inductees to the Football Hall of Fame.  Not just because I like football a lot, but because there is always a lesson in human achievement.

This year,… More

What I’m getting ready to say, I say not as a pessimist, not as someone who sours on life, but as someone who wades knee-deep in the pain of average people every day.  Too many of us allow the stresses, strains, and anxieties of life to rob us of our… More

I just came from a lunch meeting with a really great friend; the kind of friend who comes into your life and makes a huge impact.  As we were talking through what’s been going on in our lives, we finally got around to discussing how much weight we had lost… More

There are three basic issues in life, it seems to me.

• The internal me who struggles to be happy, whole, and excited about who I am and where I am.
• The relational me, the personal me, how I deal with navigating the relationships in my life.
• The public me,

… More

You would think that with all the technology available to us, all the systems that allow for cheap entry into different spaces, that excellence would be on the rise.  But oddly enough, it seems the opposite is true.  How many times have you gone to a restaurant that claims to… More

One of the challenges that guys like me have in the current world is to communicate the importance of ethics and morality without sounding prudish, self-righteous, or condemning.

We live in a time I can best describe as the March of the Morally Moronic.  Now I know that sounds like… More

It was good to see a “no-name” win the U.S. Open.  That’s probably a little bit harsh but let’s face it.  Who had heard of Graeme McDowell before yesterday – professional golfer from Northern Ireland who played his college golf at University of Alabama, Birmingham?

He went up against the… More

I’ve listed below, some connection-points for those of you who want to get involved.  Many of us have been working this week in Bellevue, River Plantation, Pennington Bend, and other hard-hit areas to help people recover.

We’ve had so many people ask us, “What can we do?” Here are… More

By now the whole world knows that Nashville and surrounding areas have experienced what the Weather Service called a “once in a thousand years” event.

It’s like an inland hurricane where, in less than a 48-hour period, between 15 and 20 inches of rain have been dumped on our area. … More

I am a firm believer; an avid advocate.  You might say I’m obnoxious about this truth: getting older is a privilege; getting old is a choice.

Maybe it’s the stage of life I’m in.  But I seem to be hearing more and more people in their thirties, forties, and fifties… More

Why is it that good people let pride stand in the way of getting the help they need?

I think oftentimes we confuse pride with principle.  We somehow think there is a principle we can’t violate like not asking for help: not reaching out and confessing that we’re hurting, or… More

Today on the David and Paula Show we are going to be talking about the power of being who you are.  Often times we pose and present a picture-perfect image to those around us to get them to do business with us, like us, even to marry us.

And… More

All of us are overwhelmed and stunned at the images we see on TV about the devastation in Haiti.  It is a nation into which billions and billions of aid have been poured and yet the money doesn’t seem to have made the kind of dent we would expect.

So… More

I read a statistic the other day that shocked me.  That is, in 1930 over 84% of all Americans were married.  But today, the number of married people has dropped to below 50%.

This is shocking.  I am amazed that no one… More

Is it just me, or does it seem that everything today is now an addiction?  We have names for diseases that I’m not all that convinced are diseases.

We live in a therapeutic society that gives us excuses for being the way we are, rather than understanding that… More

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the Tiger Woods issue.  I want to learn something from this just because it seems to happen all too often.  Our heroes fall and somehow we celebrate it.  But something inside of us is glad that there is this all too… More

Is it me, or are people hurting more than ever before?  I’m not just talking about the economy and the changes going on in society.  These are simply symptoms of a greater problem.  People are hurting and in deep pain. And it seems as though we’re content to ignore it.… More

But remember.  There is always an… More

I love movies, all kinds of movies – good, bad, or indifferent. So for me, this summer has been a great time to watch big-time movies.

One of my favorites, even though I do have mixed emotions, is the movie called Hancock. It’s about a super-hero who has an identity… More

Have you ever thought something was just you? This is such a pervasive feeling. I think the whole economy is built on the idea.

Over the years I’ve owned 4 Gateway computers. All of them were the latest and greatest when I bought them. And all of them had great… More

Since we’re still in the first few days of 2008, it’s always a good thing to assess where you are and what you’re doing. I was amazed to hear Mike Holmgren, coach of the Seattle Seahawks in an interview say that each and every year, no matter how well his… More

Every great company, great church, great endeavor has an engine at its core; something that drives it, sustains it, pushes it forward and then upward. It’s called a vision. It’s like an engine that sets the thermostat around which all the other systems and processes of an organization revolve.

A… More

I am glad to say that the firing did nothing to diminish our dream of creating a… More

Rocky Balboa is the final film in the “Rocky” series. An aging Rocky is inspired to fight his last match against the undefeated heavyweight champion. Many people, including his son, believe Rocky will be humiliated.

In this scene, Rocky and his adult son are standing outside Rocky’s restaurant. His son… More