Rick Nier...Woo!

You know those posts that talk about Jesus and then attempt to shame us into sharing? They are the ones that talk about how we share jokes every day but when something talks about Jesus, we just scroll on by.  Never mind they might be a repeat of an email we were forwarding to all our friends twenty years ago, the shaming is ridiculous. As if Jesus would only be convinced of our love for Him when we hit share on a social media post. But... There’s something they get right.  via GIPHY What Will We Hate on this Week? I was thinking about this the other day when I had a Nickelback song stuck in my head. (That’s right, I said it.) Everyone loves to hate on Nickelback, saying all their songs sound the same. That might be true. But if you like that one Nickelback song, then you’ll enjoy all of them.  The thing is Nickelback is the band everyone loves to hate...right now. But twenty years ago it was someone else. And isn’t there always a recent boy band...

My kids are all teenagers now, but I can still recall the bedtime routines we had when they were younger. It was pretty much the same routines you have likely had. Brushing of the teeth, reading of books, last hugs and kisses, and mooing like cattle from the living room to the bedroom. via GIPHY What, you never did that last one? Hmmm, ok. I guess that’s a story for another post.  Now that my kids are 18, 16, and 13, the routines have changed. For instance, on nights without school, I’m the first to go to bed. But I digress. One routine has remained. And it happens because of my youngest child asking for it every night before she goes to bed.  Will You Pray With Me? It’s prayer. Every night she asks us to pray with her. Now I’m not saying she’s more spiritual than her siblings. She would say that, but I’m not saying that.  In fact, the manner in which she sometimes asks us to pray reveals it. Feels more like her ticket to sleep than an actual desire ...

The email said it was a book about hearing God. The subtitle is How to Recognize His Voice Everywhere . How do you turn that down? I like conversations. I believe in the idea of a relationship with God being important. So if I could do that even better, I want to hear the idea. I'll admit I was a bit skeptical when I got the book. I was afraid I would be halfway through when the weird would come out. But it didn't happen. Samuel shared his story, which involved listening for God's voice in natural ways. He share about how meditation can work, how to study God's Word, and why we should be trusting God more than we trust ourselves. Along the way, Samuel discusses the difficulties, the roadblocks and the detours we take in a relationship with God. But through it all, he points us to what can be. Knowing that doubters gotta doubt, Samuel even goes the extra mile, with two appendixes to answer potential arguments. All in all, I would recommend this for anyone who t...

I like my lists. They help keep me organized. Aaaaand, I probably get a bit too much pleasure out of checking things off my lists. But, like I said, they help keep me organized. There's really only one weakness to a list. You do have to look at this list in order for it to remind you. Last week I was preparing to take my youth group on a ski retreat weekend. It was a perfect time to make a list, which I did. But the thing about making a list is that it sometimes helps me to remember more clearly what  I need to accomplish. In this case, I had a packing list. As I was packing, I was visualizing what I had written down. I packed and packed and...never looked at my list. It wasn't until hours later, while driving a noisy bus with even noisier teens that I was feeling I had forgotten something. And that's when it hit me. Snow boots?!? Really...snow boots? I didn't forget extra socks...or a magazine...or a charger for my phone. I didn't neglect to bring sno...

I am teaching a series on prayer to my youth group this month. Here's part of what I said to them. I want you to know God even better than I know my wife.  Let me tell you what happened the other night. She had a phone call the other day that didn't go well. Once she gave me some details of what happened, I told her why she was upset.  That sounds weird, like why didn't I let her just talk? Seriously Pastor, you don't get enough time to talk? Now you tell other people what they're thinking and feeling? Do you have any useful superpowers? I wanted her to know how much I understood her. After 18 years of marriage, I wanted her to get that when there is no one else in this world who gets her, I get her. I understand.  Whether or not I actually received any awesome husband points, I don't know. Not that I'm worried about that kind of thing. Having someone who you know understands is important. On top of that, having someone you know cares ...

Perhaps you have heard a church mouse. But this was no mouse, despite the fact that it was loose in the church. This was a rat. Or, at least, so I thought.  Is that glue on his fur? The infestation was noticed a couple of weeks ago. 3 men with brooms were unable to stop it. An innocent child noticed it on a Wednesday night. Then a lot more children noticed it on a Sunday morning, while it waved its little arms and arrogantly pumped its chest, as if to say, 'Come and get some!' Taking up the challenge, one man stepped up to solve the eliminate the problem. Much to the chagrin of ladies everywhere, 'eliminate' was used like the mafia might use the term. Unfortunately for that one man, he was not just battling a rodent. He was battling the prayers of my 7-year old daughter, lover of all God's creatures, no matter how vermin-like they may be.  I knew we were all in trouble when she named him Frank. Frank the Rat. Tears flowed as I explained why Frank h...

I'm teaching my kids the Lord's Prayer. It leads to some fun conversations. We're purposely taking our time discussing the different aspects of this prayer. How it begins is interesting. Our Father in Heaven Hallowed be Your Name I want them to really own this prayer. Too many of us only know this as the prayer we say during a service. Depending on your tradition, you say it during communion, after the pastor prays or some other set period of time. But Jesus wasn't giving us something we could all say in unison. So we read the prayer. Then I asked them to imagine to use their imaginations, much like I want you to do now. Imagine I invited you to my home. Upon entering, you saw that I had a giant picture of myself placed prominently in the living room. As you might guess, it's a glamour shot. Once you came in, I also told you there was one house rule. It was simple. I rule. Oh, and you should tell me I rule. (In case you're wondering, I am using the 80's ve...

You have got to love a guy that has the courage to question God, right? Actually, I think he's a bit of an idiot myself, but maybe that's just me. We meet a guy by the name of Ananias in Acts 9 who gets a visit from God, telling him to go do something. Except the thing he is supposed to do is go and heal the temporarily blind Saul, who has been going around arresting Christians, guarding coats while Christians get killed and generally making a nuisance of himself. But God has other plans. But what I actually love is that God has confidence that Ananaias is going to eventually obey, because God has already given Saul a vision of a guy named Ananias healing him. So unless God had another healing disciple by the name of Ananias who lived in Damascus, it was going to be this guy. I'm not saying Ananias didn't have a choice. I'm saying God knew what that choice would be. More importantly, Ananias was clearly the kind of guy who felt close enough with God to at le...

I have a couple of woo's to give today. The first, and more important, is to the lady I woo'ed long ago. It's my lovely wife's birthday tomorrow and I just wanted all my fan to know. That is fan in the singular (I know you're out there.) It is also my oldest daughter's birthday. She'll be turning 11. I won't give my wife's age, but just be assured that she is older than my daughter. I say that only to quell the rumors that can run rampant. Compared to the birthdays, my second woo will have to be content with second place. Yet, while it won't garner the celebration that my wife and daughter's special day will, this link is worth a look. Scott Linscott writes a blog chronicling his journey through a liver transplant. He gives great thoughts while dealing with stuff that would make me curl into the fetal position and just tune the world out. Not only does he share his highs and lows, but he even shares opportunities to be there for someone ...

Without really talking about it, I've done my first ever series on my blog. I know it all seems to be quite aimless and drifting with a few cute stories of children and my long-standing insignificance. I guess it is that. However, if I had to choose something to create a series around first, I'm glad it was prayer. I didn't actually choose it. It all started because of some ideas I had about Pharaoh . Then it got me thinking some more. I revealed those thoughts here , here and here . The reason I like it being about prayer is that I am not an expert on prayer. I don't know if anyone actually can be an expert on prayer, but if there is an expert, it's not me. In fact, most of my lessons about prayer come from actually feeling guilty that I don't pray enough. I don't keep my insignificant role in view nearly enough. If I did, I would pray more. If I wasn't so focused on my own needs, I would be praying more. It's simple, really. I focus on myself. I ...

I'm Type-A. I've only recently come to accept that, even though people have been calling me that for a while. For awhile I assumed that the 'A' in Type-A stood for Awesome. So I was pretty stoked when people would gawk at me and ask me if I realized how Type-A I was. I'd puff out my chest, pause for dramatic effect, then humbly respond, 'That's what they tell me." But then I found out that's not what the 'A' stands for. (By the way, it also doesn't stand for arrogant, although I've been accused of that as well.) Type-A is for people who like order. While my life does not always glow with nuclear levels of organization, I do enjoy having a list to check off each day. I hit the general areas of order pretty well. My movies and music are all stored in alphabetical order. The books in my office are arranged topically. Even my strategy for keeping clothing neat and folded has an order to it. But what I have come to realize is that as much...

Driving to school one day, I had to move into the opposite lane of a 2-lane road. A truck was coming from the opposite way but it was easily a football field away. After safely making it back into my own lane, my daughter, ever the drama queen, cried out, 'Whew, God saved us again!' My immediate reaction was, 'I'm not sure I needed God on that one.' Fortunately I said it only to myself. Otherwise, one the preacher's kids in the back were sure to give me a 3-point sermon on how we need God for everything. Which is true. And which I should have remembered. The Bible tells us a story of a business man, and a successful one at that. He worked hard and he saved. Then he saved some more. In fact, he saved so much that there came a day when he stopped saving. He stepped back, breathed a sigh of relief and patted himself on the back. What happened next was not the thing of romantic comedies. No guy would be kissing a girl in the rain. No girl would come back and choose ...

Growing up, I did not know very much about the financial situation of my parents. Actually, that's a bit of an understatement. Everything I knew can be summed up by what they told me about money: 'We don't have any.' Clearly this wasn't true. They weren't keeping things from me, but whether it was Christmas-time or vacation time, expectations were balanced with the idea that we had enough for what was needed, but maybe not everything that was wanted. If you're getting the idea that I went to school in cereal box shoes or that meals consisted of small bowls of porridge, you've gone a bit too far. I had everthing (and more) that I ever needed. Plus, as a teenager, my Mom was always magically able to make a $20 bill appear when I asked for some cash...although I still don't know if my Dad was aware of my Mom's ability. But I became quite confident that if I asked Mom, she would be like an ATM machine. Fast forward almost 20 years and I am wondering ...

Last year I was on a Bible reading plan that would take just 1 year. Many days had me zooming through four and five chapters at a time. It was a great read. But this year I've started a new plan. To say it is a tad slower than last year would be like saying that Katy Perry has skewed just slightly off the path her parents planned for her. Three months into this year I am in the middle of Exodus. I'm not a math whiz, but 1 book of the Bible each month has me finishing in about 2016. (Though I could probably crush some of those Minor Prophets in less than a month.) One positive from all this is that I am paying more attention to smaller details. Recently I breezed through the 10 Plagues on Egypt. In Exodus 8, frogs have overtaken the land. Clearly there were no French chefs in the land, because no one seemed to think this was a good thing. But a couple of things stand out in this story. First of all, why did the Egyptian magicians make more frogs? If they wanted to show their pow...

My children have been a wonderful source of joy and laughter. Most of the time, they do that simply because they are fun to be around. But many times throughout their short little lives, it is because of what they have heard incorrectly. Here's just one example from each, all from when they were 4 or 5. Jacie: She used to listen to a kid's tape of Bible verse songs at night to go to sleep. One morning she came out singing 'Bagel eat, and not the weeds, bagel eat, ooo ooo ooo.' After some thought, we realized the song said 'Be the wheat and not the weeds.' Although eating bagels is a good thing too. Luke: His music was a little more rock-n-roll. He came out of his room one day playing the air guitar while sing-shouting 'White Giddy Up! White Giddy Up!' If not for the tune being close to perfect, I would not have figured out he was singing Skillet's Waking Up . (Say it out loud to yourself a few times, add that rock star mumble, and you can see how it ...

Kids and praying are a funny thing. Jennifer and I have tried, from very young ages, to instill in them an urgency to pray. I have taught them to be confident that God hears their little voices. Yet, despite my confidence that their Heavenly Father turns His ear when they begin to pray, I have noticed some interesting habits in their prayers. For instance, they tend to naturally lay prostrate in church when we pray. They also have a tendency to sound very penitent when praying. And one should be careful when giving them a request to pray about, for they will do so for the next 3 months. But our youngest has taken upon herself to let Jesus know where she's praying and what she's praying about. For instance, if we're sitting down to a meal, she'll pray, 'Jesus, food, thank you for...' and then she'll list all our family members, some of her stuffed animals and Jen twice. If it's bedtime, her prayer begins, 'Jesus, bed, thank you for...' and the res...

Prayer time around my house is not always what you might expect to happen in a pastor's home. Prayers range from thanking God for the food we eat to thanking God the little ones are in bed. But it gets really interesting when our 3-year old prays. This was last night's exercise in calling upon the Holy One; "Thank you God for my friend Lauren that she have a brother Landon. Thank you for Ty-Ty not biting me. Thank you (pause to look around the room)for my barbies and my books, thank you 4,6,7, Chicken Little, Amen." I simply pray silently and patiently as my penitent daughter talks to Jesus. Her older brother is slightly better, even though I at first did not see why. Whenever he would pray, he would begin every sentence with Thank You. It did not matter if he was praising or requesting. 'Thank you for this day.' 'Thank you for this food.' 'Thank you for the Christmas gifts I'll get in 3 months.' Because prayer is such a holy thing, I have ...

Disclaimer: This is my story, but it is not a story about me. This is about what God can do. Oh, one more thing (a disclaimer within a disclaimer). While I am prone to exaggeration in my stories, I am not prone to exaggeration in my life. The very fact that I am hesitant to write about this says more about my lack of faith than about one answered prayer. Undoubtedly God has answered many of my prayers. But I am guessing there are many boxes of unanswered prayers waiting because I have simply not asked. Here's what happened. My wife and I have been planning the gala event of the year; our son's 6th birthday party. It means a lot to us that it goes off well because he lives in a world largely dominated by estrogen. He has two sisters and a church full of girls his age. While this will might be deemed a good thing in his mind in about ten years, right now he lives to play with and wrestle boys. So we set the date and plan for outside water games. We also buy some blow-up boxing gl...