Rick Nier...Woo!

So as I'm reading through Exodus, I came across something that made me think twice. After God put the total beat down on Pharaoh and the Israelites were on their way to freedom, we read of an inside glimpse of God's thinking. We're told that God did not lead the Israelites through Philistine country because God thought if they faced war, they might cry and go back to Egypt. (Of course, if God was looking to avoid crying, He probably should have chosen another group.) God leads the people down toward the Red Sea specifically so they will not face war. This makes the next line confusing. "The Israelites went up out of Egypt armed for battle" (Exodus 13:18). Why are they armed for battle? Couldn't God have seen them getting their armor on and told them there would be no need? Or... If you have the Type-A mom, surely you've experienced getting ready for a trip. The packing list comes out and everybody has a checklist. Clothing, toiletry, books to read, games t

In the most recent Relevant Magazine's articles titled 2020 In Focus , Brendan Case writes the following in the science section. "New developments in genetic sequencing, nanotechnology and synthetic biology point to a future in which it may be possible for people to mold the very fabric of their being." I'm no bio-nano-geneticist, though my viewing of Spiderman and the X-Men franchises does make me a bit of an expert, doesn't it? But I know this is going to lead into a whole host of questions about cloning, organ harvesting, and more. The author cites several movies which have already tried to answer these questions or, rather, bring the questions to the forefront. Movies like AI , Minority Report , and My Sister's Keeper are all great examples, though we shouldn't neglect the possibilities of astronauts becoming The Fantastic Four . It seems to me that we as Christians should know what we believe before the question comes up. Because someone who is in

"You're the best builder in the world." That's what my daughter said. To me. Before you start laughing, allow me to acknowledge my deficiency in the area of building. But in this case, I actually felt like I knew what I was doing. Never mind that that I was only building a bunk bed...with pre-drilled holes...and easy-to-follow instructions...and that it took me 4 hours. Never minding all that, my accomplishment looked fairly impressive. After all, I only had to re-do a couple of steps, and that was due to the instructions being faulty...seriously. As my wife watched, she reminded me several times that our oldest daughter would be on the top bunk and that our baby would be underneath her. I guess she's seen some of the other things I've built. But my confidence would not be shaken. After all, I was using my drill. What could possibly go wrong? (The answer is nothing as my daughters have slept safely and soundly for 3 nights at the time of this writing.) My daug

So I'm reading through the Bible in chronological order this year (with 150 of my best friends) and I came across Genesis 27 this morning. It's the story of Jacob and Esau. If you're familiar with the story at all, you might recall that Jacob is a lying cheat and Esau is a bit slow on the uptake. At least, that's my perspective. For anyone less familiar, you got Jacob dressing up like his brother in order to deceive their blind and aging father to give him the good blessing. I guess it's a good thing Jacob didn't have a sister whose blessing he was trying to steal. But I digress. Jacob is successful in deceiving his father and getting the blessing. Esau comes later and cries a lot, but it doesn't do any good. As Isaac says, "I blessed [Jacob]-and indeed he will be blessed" (Genesis 27:33). Here's my question. Do we really think that God couldn't have changed this? After all, tell this story to children and they might get the idea that lying

I have an idea for toothpaste companies. Actually, I got the idea from my 6-year old son. We were at the store looking for a toothpaste that he would use and not throw a fit about. Unlike many other children, my son does not like any fruity flavors. (This also makes taking medicine a wonderful experience with him.) We were checking out all the toothpaste flavors; bubble-gum, strawberry, double-fruity. None of these made my little dirtball excited about brushing his teeth. Then I saw some kid's mint-flavored paste. I told my son that mint was not fruity. I also told him, a few times, that mint might not taste great, but the purpose of toothpaste isn't to taste great. He's lucky, I continued, that he's not using my toothpaste, which is a combination of toilet cleaner and that taste at the back of your throat after a night when you've slept with your mouth open. By comparison, I explained, he could survive mint flavored toothpaste. That night I brought out the new mint

I was never great at making New Year's resolutions. I used to feel bad about this. I can remember I would get back to school, usually on January 5 or 6, like this year. One of my friends would list off the 50 ways they were going to better themselves and the world that year. Then they would ask me about my resolutions. (Gulp...) Well, I plan to make some resolutions next year. But each year I'd forget. As I got older I would make some lame resolution about exercising and then feel bad as I heard others who had given much more thought to their resolutions. This is also true when it comes to giving things up for Lent. We'll be a week into that season before I realize I haven't even thought about what I could give up. Like I said, I used to feel bad about this. I no longer do. It's not because I've gotten very good at making or keeping resolutions. I haven't. Here's what I've learned. 1. Most of the people who made resolutions only made it halfway throu