Rick Nier...Woo!

September, for whatever reason, had an uptick in traffic, so a few of September's posts could have won other months, in terms of being re-read-worthy. Enjoy a few more of 2013 as we bring on the New Year! The Bible has all the answers, including staving off death.

It should have been obvious to me when looking for popular posts from the year that one including a  quote from Miyagi would make the cut. Continue to enjoy some highlights from 2013 as I take a short break.  Live or Die, Man? It's a question we all have to answer.

It seems like so long ago, but the weariness I remember. New posts will be coming in January.  To make it through a week of camp, you may need some surprises.

I'm re-gifting you some of my best posts from this year while you celebrate more important matters with your loved ones. Here is one from a series I will likely have to bring back in 2014.  When reading scripture, it's hard to get past the idea that God comes first.

It is an interesting process for me to look back and see which posts were most popular. Here's one that combines my ministry and my search.  Tell me something. Who are you building into?  Merry Christmas!

Don't look now, but it looks like a serious post got taken seriously. I'm re-gifting popular posts from 2013. Happy Christmas Eve! Here's the best of April. Do you disagree?

I know, I know, you have no extra time to read today. Shopping days are about to get singular. That's why it's review time around this corner of the internets. You're welcome. Here's my best from March. Do you believe in ghost stories?

It's almost a New Year and I'm gifting you with the best of what I got from this year. Apparently I'm volatile during the winter, because the Best of January was also a rant. But the traffic doesn't lie. Here is the best from February, my rant about Ketchup.

Well, 2013 is almost out the door. Will you be resting the final days of this calendar year? Probably not and neither will I. That's why I won't bore you with new stories. I'll let you play catch up until after the New Year begins. But I'll make it easy on you. I'll select one of my posts from each month, likely the one that received the most traffic.  It's my Christmas gift to you....more of me! Here is January's post, a rant about tooth fairies.

Is it possible to like and hate a book at the same time? I suppose so, if you realized that the truth is what you needed to hear. And when I hear truth, I know it calls for a response. This is not truth like water is wet. I don't need a response to that, except maybe to have a towel handy. This probably is more truth than 'these cookies are life-changing'. In 7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess, Jen Hatmaker has written truth that calls for a response. An actual, life-altering change of course and direction. The premise is simple. Throughout her own life and circumstances as a pastor's wife, she came to realize her family had too much. As she writes about the need for a balance between feasting and fasting, she decided to go through 7 months of fasts from different areas in her (and her family's) life. This included one month of only eating 7 foods and another of only wearing 7 articles of clothing. As you read through her book, written in interesting

Klout. I'm not even sure how I discovered it. It may have been an ad from another social networking site. Or I may have been invited by a friend. But now I have it. Sort of. Klout is a differently spelled version of clout, meaning influence we have. Not to be confused with the first definition, that being a blow to the head. This, of course, would be the kind of clout I need more often than attaining any sort of influence on people. But I have Klout. It's a site where I plug in all my other social networking sites and Klout tracks all my activity. Here's their purpose statement:  We’re helping millions of people unlock their influence and grow their Klout.  Let me say right away I have no problem with the makers of Klout. The rest of what I have to say is also not an indictment of my friends who I know use Klout. However... For me, Klout became just another game. Why? Because Klout takes all of your social networking site activities and measures it. Then it gi

One might imagine that a smaller youth group would not suffer some of the same headaches that a larger youth group has. To a certain degree, it's true. I don't have to worry about the sound system working so every teen can hear me from the stage. I don't have, or need, a sound system. I don't concern myself with where all the driving teens will park. We have a parking lot large enough for us and for the adult evening service that runs at the same time. I never think about budgeting enough for a speaker or band. The most I do would involve joining with another youth group, probably the larger group that is going to do so with or without my help. But there is a problem for large and small groups alike. Cliques. Honestly, I didn't give it much thought because I barely have enough teens to form a  clique, much less several. But it crept in uninvited and made itself at home. Apparently cliques from outside of youth group feel free to come on in and join the

May we all embrace our inner Rudolph. One of the most beloved songs of the Christmas season started out as an advertising gimmick. In 1939 Montgomery Ward tapped advertising executive Robert May to write a poem that their store Santa Claus could give away to children who came to visit him. "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" first appeared in a little booklet published by the department store chain. More than 2.5 million copies were handed out. And by 1946 more than 6 million copies of the poem were distributed. Rudolph's story came to musical life in 1949 when May's brother-in-law, Johnny Marks, wrote the music. After it was turned down by Bing Crosby and Dinah Shore, singing cowboy Gene Autry recorded it. Today "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" is the highest-selling Christmas carol, at more than 25 million units. What makes this little carol so loved? Some people might say that it's the pluckiness and courage of Rudolph, the alleged hero of the st

Is it just me, or do other people kind of freak out when driving through towns with multiple wind farms? I'm not talking about one or two wind turbines. I'm talking about a small Indiana town with at least fifty. I'm not sure I believe in the power of wind, first of all. If it were really effective, my children could eliminate my electric bill in no time. Seriously! There is so much nonsensical talking going on in my home that I will discover a way to plug them in and bottle some of this energy. Ok, no I won't. But if I really believed in the power of wind, I would so try. But let's face it, wind is much less reliable than the magic holes into which I plug all my stuff. Hot air doesn't do any good coming out of your mouth, so it doesn't do any good in large quantities either. What I think is the sight of unseemly large metal knives cutting through the air gives me the distinct feeling that a scary movie is about to take place. Especially when there i

I have been a fan of Mark Steele since reading his book Flashbang . That still remains a book I try to read once a year. I find Mark to be the hilarious sort you can hear tell stories over and again. But this. This was different. All the other books I've read by Steele were non-fiction. The Most Important Thing Happening was a novel. Or, as the sub-title suggests, a novel in stories. I wasn't sure what that meant. After reading a chapter or two, I still wasn't sure. And if you think you're getting the story out of me, you've really misjudged who you're dealing with. I don't believe in spoilers. Sadly, that means this review will be short. But this is a book you should check out. While reading, you should pay attention to the minor details. And the minor characters. Because there's no such thing. Come to think of it, that's a pretty good rule for life.

My wife and I were talking in the bathroom, which is the only place since having children that we can have a private conversation. This time we weren't talking about anything major when my wife said my name. I instantly changed the subject and told her I liked when I heard my name from her lips.  She rolled her eyes, something I get a lot. Then I noted it was because I didn't think she said my name a lot. She does call to me, just not with my name. Hey you! Boy. Dork. What's that smell? (Technically that's not a name she's calling me, but I know who she is referring to.) She also agreed that she does not use my name a lot but calls me  daddy . No, not for the dirty reason you just thought of. She's normally directing our 3 children to go ask their dad for something.  But I digress, I say my wife's name a lot more than she says my name. The reason is clear. I need her a lot more than she needs me. I'm always walking around calling her

It's Monday morning and this post could easily devolve into a rant about the power of sports. But it won't. If you follow college football, or just listen to ESPN radio casually (like I do), and you have heard the name of Jameis Winston recently. He's the star quarterback of the #1 ranked Florida State Seminoles. He's also the young man who was accused of raping a female college student last year.  It's being talked about (a lot) by the ESPN talking heads because Jameis is a candidate for the Heismann trophy, the biggest award in college sports. It's being talked about because Jameis is the quarterback for a team likely to be in the national championship game. So ESPN was talking about the court case, only in connection with how it would affect the championship game and the potential award.  I don't want to get into the nitty gritty of it all. Like I said, this post could quickly devolve into hating on sports and the industry it has become. That'

It's part of the greatest story ever told. Yet, details seem to be lacking. No, not enough to keep us in the dark of what happened and what we need to know. But, enough has been left out to make us wonder. Susan Fish has written a story to fill in some of the blanks. Seeker of Stars, a fictional look at one of the Magi who came to worship the baby Jesus fills in some possible back story. Have you ever wondered what the wise men were thinking? Have you ever wondered about some of the details that led them in and out of Israel? I am guessing Susan has wondered that and a whole bunch more. She provides real depth to these astronomers and their families. Offering some twists and turns, she surprises us in some places but leaves us with a traditional and realistic look at the Magi's visit to our King. Even if you've never wondered at the details, I would recommend this as a short read, offering insight as to how God leads people from every corner to eventually fall at Hi

The Oxford word of the year is selfie . There are so many things wrong with that sentence, where to begin? How about the fact that Oxford even has a word of the year. Seriously, what's this all about? Do the words campaign for votes? Do they give speeches? If they give speeches, do they get extra points for using previous words of the year? Will the previous word of the year present the award? You might be wondering how many more questions I could possibly have along this line of thinking? Oh, I have a few more? If a word becomes scandalous, can it lose the award? Will the runner-up step in and carry out the duties of the word of the year? Has there ever been scandal about how a word rose to victory? So many questions. But I must admit being surprised about a word like selfie winning this. After all, I hear Oxford and I assume a panel of college profs with cigars and suit coats with the elbow patches. I imagine a group of people who know words that no one else uses, much l

I'm really surprised the people of God made a stupid decision ~said no one ever. If people in the Church ever get tired of smacking their heads, we can at least take comfort in knowing that we come from a long line of people of God making dumb decisions. If Hebrews 11 gives us the members of the Faith Hall of Fame, the rest of scripture provides us with plenty of the opposite.  In Exodus 32, we find another instance of the Israelites performing an Almighty no-no. No big surprise, right? Maybe. This instance involved them getting impatient waiting for Moses to bring down the 10 commandments, so they made a gold cow to worship. That sounds about right. Why wait for God, who is busy saving you, when you can worship something else right now? Meanwhile, up on the mountain top, God tells Moses that He is giving up on these people. This is the equivalent of when your parents have had it 'up to here' and the belt is coming off and the consequences are going to begin. (

I'm not sure where you stand on Christmas music. I personally think hearing 57 different versions of  Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer  in one month is more than enough.  But as I was selecting music for our church's first Sunday of Advent, it dawned on me. We're sick of Christmas music because of what it represents to us.  We just fought over a new toaster with built in MP3 player on Black Friday.  We'll hear everyone and their brother sing  Silent Night  for the next month. We've dreaded pulling out the Christmas decorations, already knowing it will be mid-January before we find a chance to take them down. We don't know how we'll make enough desserts for all the parties we're going to, or enough money to pay the credit card for all the gifts we want to buy.  We're sick of Christmas before it ever comes around because it means adding one more thing on top of our already too-full schedules. But this isn't what it is supposed to br

Ministry Mondays, what's that? Well, as random as my blog can be, why not allow a little of what I do in the mix? I'm not saying it will happen every Monday. I'm also not saying other youth ministry blogs should watch their backs. I'm just saying this is something. And that's not nothing. Here we go... That's just dumb.  When you hear that, many things happen. You hope someone is not talking about something you just said or did.  If you know it is something you said or did, you instantly feel regret. You start thinking of a way to fix this so you don't feel so...uh....dumb.  But what if it didn't have to be that way? What if you could be  dumb without having to feel  dumb? This is my most recent goal with my youth group. Clearly it should be a constant goal.  Why? We can feel dumb everywhere we go. School is just a breeding ground for dumb things to happen. From not knowing how to do what the teachers want you to do to not knowing h

Blogging is stupid. Yes, I said it. Yes, I realize the irony of saying this on my blog.  Please notice that I did not say  bloggers  are stupid. While I may be stupid, I certainly do not think you are stupid because you blog. I may think you are stupid for other reasons. (Of course I don't mean  you , but let's keep that between us.) But yes, blogging is stupid. I agree with the demotivational poster which once described blog in this way: never before has so much been read by so few.  Ouch! When one thinks about this, they'll realize that there are 7 billion people on this planet and 9 billion blogs. Most of them, mine included, are a secluded wasteland of one person's thoughts. I think there are probably 8 blogs in total which generate conversation. Half of those are primarily written in order to start the argument about to begin in the comments section.  Go Internet! But at least they begin a conversation of sorts. Everywhere else consists of peop

I want to thank Jim Gaffigan for being the sole source of joy in an otherwise dreary day. My apologies to anyone who might do the math and realize that they were with me on the day I listened to this book. But I'm not backing off my words. Jim Gaffigan, who you may know as the 'Hot Pocket' comic, did everyone a favor when he read his own book. Because now his book became a longer version of his stand-up shows. I, for one, am a big fan. Jim is mostly clean (warning: there are a few spicy parts that I could do without). He avoids the pitfalls of many of today's comics while actually being funny. I don't want to overstate this, but give credit where credit is due. The fact that so many comics seem incapable of being funny and clean must make Gaffigan a genius at his craft. Dad is Fat is great parenting advice, which is to say there is very little you, as responsible parents, should try to implement. However, if you appreciate the fact that parenting is likely the ha

So there is a special rest still waiting for the people of God.   For all who have entered into God’s rest have rested from their labors, just as God did after creating the world. ~Hebrews 4:9-10 There are certain times of the year where particular verses mean more. For me, it's after all of the freshness of a new school year has wore off. It's when every reason you had at the beginning for thinking this might be easy is gone.  But whoever said we wanted what was easy? Whoever said that our goals should be handed to us on a silver platter? It wasn't me. I don't use phrases like that, except when asking questions not really meant to be answered. Does all this sound a bit dark and brooding? I know, that's not really my style. Forgive me, I just watched  The Dark Knight  movies again recently. You can read my latest book review to see what made me do that.  But Hebrews 4 does bring me a promise I hold to closely. Because life isn't always easy. B

Holy good reads, Batman! Paul Asay has written a great book for growing Christians and avid Capped Crusader fans alike. Seriously. God on the Streets of Gotham is a page-turner for anyone who has followed Bruce Wayne for any number of years. While I have never met Paul, I can only assume he is a huge comic book fan, or is incredible at research. I suppose it could be both, but my guess is that his fanboy personality leads to the drive to be thorough. 'No honey, I must watch the movies again for that book I'm working on....it's for Jesus!' Paul covers everything from the original comics and the days of Adam West all the way through the Christopher Nolan series of late. He even shows himself to be true by calling the George Clooney version 'regrettable.' Good call, Asay! Along the way, he writes about Batman's origins, his call and his armor, even referring to the Bat-Belt of Truth. As I am also a big fan of the Bat, I believe Paul does a good

I'm a youth pastor. I play a part. Every once in a while, it's good to be reminded of that. Here are some great thoughts from Adam McClane over at adammcclane.com. Rick Nier says Woo! One the one hand, youth ministry plays a critical role in the faith development of teenagers.  It’s incredible to be part of life transformation at such a defining point in their lives. On the other hand you are only reading one chapter on a teenagers life. You get–  Chapter 3: The Teenage Years . Finish this article here.

I am experiencing a change in how I spend my time this week. For the last 2 months, I had been spending large amounts of time preparing for a 6-week sermon series while my senior pastor was away.  You could say I did a few things....uhhh....differently.  As a finale to the series, I organized the entire worship service backwards. That's right! I put the sermon at the beginning and the singing at the end. You can go here for part of the why. A lesser reason for doing so was to keep people guessing. I wouldn't do something drastic just for kicks and giggles, but it is interesting, to say the least, to see people deal with change. Here's a few of the things that happened.  Our church has a bulletin. We print the order of service each week. Truthful to my plan, I printed the service order backwards. I had no less than 4 people come to me before the service, bulletin in hand, and ask if we were starting at the bottom of the bulletin. I corrected them and said we

How do you teach people the Bible? It's an important question. After all, we're not dealing with how to make a chicken pot pie. We're discussing life and death matters as people learn about...well....life and death. So it matters. So when my friends at Youth Worker Journal offered me a copy of Michael Novelli's book Shaped by the Story: Discover the Art of Bible Storying , I grabbed it. Michael is quite open about his connections to Sparkhouse and Echo the Story and how resources are sold with his name on it. But he doesn't come across as writing a long advertisement. He writes about his journey, how he has taught and the several stops on his own journey that have led him to where he is. Through it all, we see the heart of a youth pastor, wanting to ensure that teens not only hear the word, but retain it enough to live it out. Divided into sections, Michael begins with his own story, then continues to theories of why stories make a difference in teaching. In

Here is the heart of my sermon from this past Sunday, taken from a great Old Testament story. Elisha replied, “Listen to this message from the Lord! This is what the Lord says: By this time tomorrow in the markets of Samaria, five quarts of choice flour will cost only one piece of silver, and ten quarts of barley grain will cost only one piece of silver.” ~2 Kings 7:1 I’m not an expert in exchange rates, but Elisha is stating a miraculous thing, that prices will drop…drastically. The officer assisting the king said to the man of God, “That couldn't happen even if the Lord opened the windows of heaven!” But Elisha replied, “You will see it happen with your own eyes, but you won’t be able to eat any of it!” ~2 Kings 7:2 Here is the first truth; Our view of God makes a difference. (7:2) The messenger of the king said it couldn't happen even if the gates of Heaven opened up. It is one thing for us to doubt our own strength and power, the power of man or governments but when w

This last Sunday, I finished my sermon series by doing the entire worship service in reverse order. Why would we do the entire service backwards? For starters, it keeps people guessing. But it is an image of what we are as Christians. Compared to the society at large, the things we do are backwards, they are opposing. There is no getting around this truth. Christians don’t act, speak or think like non-Christians. Consider some of the things we see form people in the Church; Why would people invest every Sunday morning into teaching? Why would so many volunteers invest their Wednesday nights to kidZone, their weekends and vacation times to youth group trips, their afternoon cooking for college students, their evening spent in committee work, their early mornings at prayer meetings? Why would people invest their extra money to projects that may or may not directly benefit them? Why would they invest so much thought and energy into the larger body of believers? When writing about the me