Rick Nier...Woo!

If I told you that you needed to trust in God, you might assume that you already do. After all, you've went to church, or at least you did before a global pandemic hit our planet. Now you watch church and you're doing your best to balance the realities of our new normal with the lessons on trust you remember from your past. After all, God never said you shouldn't go see a doctor, and I'm not advocating that you only practice home healthcare.  But considering all the many amenities available to us, even during a worldwide crisis, it's fair to ask ourselves if we're living lives of trust or simply living with enough less to differentiate ourselves from those gluttonous monsters who never acknowledge God.  Do We Really Want to Compare? If comparisons are your game, let's play this game we can't possibly hope to win. Would you spend 100 years of your life building a boat in preparation for a worldwide flood? Never mind that Noah had previously never heard of...

Do you know what would make a great name for an epic hero? Nimrod. That’s right. Nimrod. The name you might hear relatives and friends calling someone they find to be stupid. Oh, wait, that doesn’t sound epic, does it? It didn’t to me either. But at one time... “Cush was the father of Nimrod, who grew to be a mighty warrior on the earth. He was a mighty hunter before the Lord; that is why it is said, “Like Nimrod, a mighty hunter before the Lord.” ~Genesis 10:8-9 Nimrod was such a warrior that the next few verses detail the cities he built and the kingdom he established. Warrior, hunter, hero. Thy name is Nimrod. Making Your Own Great Name One would assume the name of the first mighty warrior to walk the earth would still be revered. But go ahead and tell someone they remind you of Nimrod and see how that goes over for you.  via GIPHY See, unlike other biblical names which are hard to spell and harder to pronounce, Nimrod now has a negative con...

Here is how some conversations with myself go.  Me: I should post a new article on my blog a couple of times each week. Also me: You haven’t posted an article in over a month! Me: This time could be different. I could be more focused. Sarcastic me: Yep, because that’s how life works.  Really Sarcastic Me: Please hurry because dozens of people are waiting on pins and needles to hear your thoughts.  The really sarcastic me can often be quite mean. And, to be honest, some conversations with myself are way worse than this one.  The truth is, I have no promises to myself, nor guarantees to you, on how often I am going to post. An honest review of my posts reveals too many that start with “Wow, it’s been a while since I posted...remember when I said I wanted to write?”  Here is what I am telling myself, while pushing the mean and sarcastic voices down. I have something to say. I have something to offer. Encouragement, hope, insight. S...

I have told a few people about my family’s word of the year. You know about this trend, no doubt. Equal parts resolution and trendy reminder to oneself of something you want to achieve. For my family, it came almost as a whim. We had chosen the word adventure the year before. It fit within the context of what we were going through.  Honestly, the adventure hasn’t ended, but I felt a need for us to grow in the place where this adventure had taken us.  Extra.   It was fun to me because of how my teenagers were using the word. Extra. If someone is doing anything they view as unnecessary or over the top, they are considered extra. You'll have no problem imagining that my kids see me as extra several times every day. If you want to see extra, come and watch a teenager react when you tell them something they don’t want to hear.  But we chose the word  extra . We said we wanted to engage in life more than we had before. We wanted to represent C...

There are many benefits of the job I have working for a Christian college. One of them is to pull out the trump card and say, I thought you loved Jesus , whenever they say something I don’t like. Ok, I’m kidding. I don’t actually say it out loud.  The real benefit is working among like-minded believers who know we are all in this mission together to serve the King. Oh, we surely forget from time to time, and we all have our levels of maturity in the faith. But when we stumble, we’re surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses who can pull us aside and say, I thought you loved Jesus . (Kidding. Again, no one says it out loud.) But here’s something that, seriously, does keep us all grounded. The faculty and staff are encouraged to attend the chapel services alongside the students. Yes, we all have much to keep us busy and it would often be easier to keep plugging away on a project or two.  Yet there is no greater equalizer when people of different levels of authority g...

Hey Parents. I'm going to be a little blunt today. This post may sound self-serving, but there's a truth you need to hear. I was reading Barna research today. You can see the article here . They have done their homework and found that 73% of us Americans identify as Chistians. Woo Hoo, let's celebrate! That means 3 out of every 4 people in American are professing to follow the commands of Jesus. Never mind that most of us can turn on the evening news or look at our newspaper and readily see that 3 out of 4 people are certainly not following the commands of Jesus. 73%. That's a lot. Even if that many people were simply trying to be like Christ, we would have a pretty good thing going on. Oh....wait a minute.... Barna doesn't stop with asking people what they profess to believe. They ask them how they are practicing their professed beliefs. So Barna defines a 'practicing Christian' as someone who identifies as a Christian and attends a church service...

Hey Rick, remember when you used to post more than just book reviews to your blog? Ummm....yeah? So, what about that? Are you ever going to do that again? What? Are you ever going to blog an original thought again, or are you simply going to review other people's thoughts for us? When you put it like that, it sounds kind of harsh. It's the voices in your head, so you should be used to that by now. Good point. So, stop avoiding the question. Are we ever going to see you blog regularly again? This question leaves so much room for disappointment. In my head, there are 3 groups out there. Those who fear I'll say no and be faced with a blogosphere without my drivel. Those who are scared I'll say yes and be faced with reading more of my drivel.  Those who wonder if a 'yes' from me is only temporary. So I am going to answer with a maybe. I intend to. I have some more thoughts to inflict on share with the world. But if you're looking for a...

This is what I shared with my youth group just before the halftime spectacle of Super Bowl 50. Coldplay and friends will have 11 minutes to perform. Does that sound ridiculously short to you? It does to me. We have this big game that everyone wants to be a part of. The NFL teams work all year to make it to this point. Broadcasters and analysts desire to be a part of this game. Companies pay millions of dollars to show a 30 second commercial at this event. People plan ahead to be a part of a party to watch it all. And bands are honored to be selected as the half-time show. 11 minutes. That’s all the time they have. No wonder too, because there are commercials to show, game analysis to talk about, interviews to be done, field prep and stage set-up….and don’t forget about that game needing to be played. The planners of this game squeeze it all in because they want to grab our attention. The companies want us to notice and purchase their product. The band wants us to like and purch...

This is a portion of something I shared with my teens a couple of weeks ago. Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? ~Galatians 1:10 Let me tell you what I see going on. There are a lot of conversations that end with people responding “Oh, that’s cool.” I know you like sports, but I think grown men being paid millions to throw or catch a ball is stupid. “Oh, that’s cool.” I know what most people think, but I think Nickelback had some good music. “Oh, that’s cool.” I am a grown man and I like watching My Little Ponies. “Oh, that’s cool.” I was offended by something a pastor said to me, so I don’t go to church anymore. “Oh, that’s cool.” I think we should all worship goats. “Oh, that’s cool.” Okay, I could keep going. You could tell me things you've heard and we could do this all day. And in our societal attempt to not offend anyone, we might keep responding with “Oh, that’s cool.” But some things aren't cool. There are people out there who want u...

I shared this with my teens lately. Make no mistake about it. Teaching on the hard sayings of Jesus means grappling with those hard sayings myself.  As they were walking along, someone said to Jesus, “I will follow you wherever you go.” But Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens to live in, and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place even to lay his head.” He said to another person, “Come, follow me.” The man agreed, but he said, “Lord, first let me return home and bury my father.” But Jesus told him, “Let the spiritually dead bury their own dead! Your duty is to go and preach about the Kingdom of God.” Another said, “Yes, Lord, I will follow you, but first let me say good-bye to my family.” But Jesus told him, “Anyone who puts a hand to the plow and then looks back is not fit for the Kingdom of God.”  ~Luke 9:57-62 It is interesting to me how we respond to the words of Jesus. I think Christians like to say Jesus was a wild man who said audacious things to p...

I'm a sucker. I'm not proud of it, but it's true. As everybody gets more desperate to have others click on their story links, the measures have become, to put it mildly, manipulative. For example; A guy asked a girl out. What she said will inspire you... An insignificant man started a blog. What he wrote about will shock you... A cat licks itself. What the owner did next will amaze you... The fact is, I click on more of those links than I am willing to admit. Because I want to be amazed and inspired and shocked. Sometimes I want my day to actually be made by one silly video. But what if what I have to offer isn't mind-bendingly awesome? What if what I have to give is just what you need, albeit something simple?  I think I see one such instance from the Bible, in Acts 3. It could have been titled, A guy denies a homeless man some change. What happened next will change how you see life. Pete and John were just headed to church, but you never know what's going...

Love does not always mean acceptance as the world thinks about love and acceptance. 'Just accept me and leave me be...' seems to be the mantra of this world. However, when we love someone, we often change our habits when we are around them. Consider a guy trying to attract a girl. Body spray will only get you so far. At some point he will have to move beyond one-liners and Chuck Norris jokes. Change must come. She may accept him, but he will have to make some choices along the way if he will show his love.  Consider how we adapt to family members. For those that smoke, they may take it to another room, even in the winter, to appease the family that doesn't. They do this to show love. The needs of others trump the desires of self.  Consider roommates. They may keep their music down or their dirty clothes contained. They do so because they have accepted this relationship. They continue to do so out of love, even if just a desire to love God through the loving act...

Luke 4:42 tells us the people begged Jesus not to leave. "Early the next morning Jesus went out to an isolated place. The crowds searched everywhere for him, and when they finally found him, they begged him not to leave them." He had just healed many and cast out demons the day before. This response is a nice change from the reception Jesus got in Nazareth, but still Jesus refused. Jesus was in isolation, praying from the night before. I can imagine that refusing to stay with people would have been difficult. What strikes me on this story is the people begging him to stay. That's not just a courteous invite for more lunch. I understand they were receiving something from Jesus and possibly they wanted more, but still. That response is in sharp contrast to the way many of us deal with Jesus. When is the last time you begged to be with Jesus? Seriously think back and consider when you couldn't wait to go to church. Can you name a time you woke up early, unable...

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...

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. (...

For all my friends in ministry, I couldn't say this any better myself. Who knows, maybe hearing it from someone else will help you understand it better. I got this from the  www.downloadyouthministry.com  blog. If you're in youth ministry, connect with the work they are doing over there. They have what they call the greatest deal in the history of youth ministry, and I'm apt to agree with them. Back to the article. Here's the teaser; the before and after of any ministry event is just as important as what happens during the event. If you volunteer in any ministry of my church, here's what I want you to understand. http://downloadyouthministry.com/real-ministry-15-minutes/

I've been thinking about Psalm 139 the past few days. At the end of acknowledging that God knows all about him, David expresses a desire for more. Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life. ~Psalm 139:23-24 It is one matter to discover everything God knows about us. But it is another matter entirely to respond as David does, baring his soul for a complete and thorough check. This is so much more than the dentist finding out you don’t floss regularly or the doctor finding out your cookie intake exceeds any amount of exercise you tell people you participate in. This is more than the teacher finding out what you have been working on all semester. It is even more than your parent finding where you hide things when you ‘clean’ your room. This is God. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes, and he i...

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...

My family passed a field of crosses, each one representing four lives that have been taken in our county since 1972. My kids asked. Inside, my heart sunk. Innocence was about to be broken once more.  You know about that, right? When you have to first tell your kids that mean people exist. When you have to confess that even you aren't perfect. When you tell them that death happens. That crime happens. Why flags are sometimes flown at half-staff.  A little more of their innocence is chipped away from the beautiful sculptures that they once represented. You wonder where jaded people come from? They are made by parents having to tell children about sin.  In this case, the sin was abortion. As we explained to our kids that sometimes fear, sometimes confusion and sometimes a lack of love, cause people to kill babies. Tears filled my eyes, even as I drove, as my 3 children spilled with questions and contempt for anyone who could think that killing a baby was okay. ...

“It was a big responsibility,” the 30-year-old admits. “It was very important to represent the character’s physicality in the right way. I was living and breathing ___________. I just wanted to do this right.” I'm leaving the name blank on purpose for a moment. I would like you to consider, just for a second or two, who should be saying this. You may realize the quote is from an actor, but disregard that. I think this should be a quote similar to what Christians say about representing Jesus every single day. I'm not one to keep you waiting. The quote is from Henry Cavill and the blank should read Superman. It was from an article where Henry talked about physically getting ready for the role. Since Superman has often been a Christ-figure in the world of comics, I instantly saw the comparisons. Cavill immediately began work with 300 trainer Mark Twight. He recalls the first meeting, when Twight peppered him with workout questions. “Then he asked, ‘Would you like to u...