Lee Smith, ND

“Come Expecting.” It’s Not About This.

A Common Theme: Expectation. It’s not unusual for annual business meetings, conventions, graduations, or special church functions to depend on a charged atmosphere of anticipation to capture our attention. Evangelistic crusades attract outsiders with the potential for the miraculous. (Come to the big tent: see God’s man of faith and power! Miracles.  Signs. Wonders.) Live concerts draw crowds because of the unknown. (Will they get arrested? Play... Read More

Voldemort and the Zen of Marketing:

We’ve all been there before. (It doesn’t matter what business you’re in…the same rules apply.) You’re calling on a potential customer and that fatal moment arrives in the introduction, right after you tell them a little bit about what you do. You ask them who they’re doing business with now. They answer. They utter a name that seems to grow in power and prestige every time it reverberates in your ears: Consolidated takes care of our... Read More

Goose Bumps: Opportunities Everywhere for Offense. A Fair and Objective Review

Until about a month ago, no one in my household had even heard of Wild Goose, or virtually any of the speakers that were slated to talk at the event.  (My wife had read a book on Christian mysticism and started following the author’s blog, only to learn that this festival would be taking place “in our backyard” a mere two hours from our home.)  We bought the tickets and made plans to attend, based solely on her approval of that one gateway. ... Read More

Repentance: Flipped Hierarchy

The early churches of the Bible had one central message, “Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.” The present day church has (in my opinion) a contorted perspective of the early message.  Today’s vision is one of existence near the bottom of Maslow’s  hierarchy of needs: repentance is necessary for continued physiological existence and mandatory for entrance into the next level of eternity. Repent to avoid Hell. Repent to “make... Read More

Remain Steady In Troubling Times: Go THROUGH Storms of Opposition

I actually read the financial statements that come in the mail, because I want to become more financially literate. Here is a magnificent quote from my ROTH IRA investment (which by the way is down 8% since my purchase over two years ago). Am I concerned, or thinking about pulling money out? NEVER! This is exactly why I chose THIS mutual fund…the manager has gray hair, but not very much of it…and market downturns are opportunities to... Read More

Riches, Deception, and the Dirty Little Lies We Tell Ourselves

Yes, it’s true the Bible calls riches deceitful however I will not indulge in the scriptures for this expose…because they are filled with lighter things, and to divulge the truth we must sometimes dig into the dirt.  Why do we find it so hard to get out of debt? Are we stupid? We tell ourselves as newlyweds that we can afford the $20 monthly payments on that new front-loading washer and dryer set at TEARS, so we figure that we’ll save some... Read More

Sustainability Solutions to Share with Linchpins # 35

I’m sharing some “million dollar” creative sustainability ideas and you can have them for free.  Be a Linchpin and develop something: ship, ship, ship! Get a Guru: No matter what you do, or how well you do it…it’s probably a good idea to have some sources of inspiration. Here’s a snapshot of Carlos Santana’a guru…the picture appears during the opening act, and then remains while Carlos plays incredibly powerful shows. Where’s... Read More

Sustainability Solutions to Share with Linchpins # 30

  I’ve been sharing some “million dollar” creative sustainability ideas. You can have them for free. Be a Linchpin and develop something: ship, ship, ship! HEALTH: In an ever-polluted world, the prospect of becoming healthy is getting harder to achieve.  The journey is as important as the destination, but reaching the goal is not like swimming from a boat to the beach. It’s more like swimming from the beach to the boat, while the boat... Read More