Rick Nier...Woo!

via GIPHY I don't know about you, but I have a lot of questions when I read the Bible. Even from the very beginning. I'm four chapters in and there is a lot happening. Adam and Eve have become the scapegoats for all of us to blame. Cain became the first in a long line of cases of sibling rivalry. Then we read about some of Cain's descendants. Then some interesting commentary happens. Adam and Eve have another boy. Seth grows up and he has a boy. And check this out; "When Seth grew up, he had a son and named him Enosh. At that time people first began to worship the   Lord   by name." ~Genesis 4:26 Excuse me?!? This is when people first began to worship the Lord by name. Really? How is that even possible? I'm one of those guys that accepts we don't know how long Adam and Eve were in the Garden of Eden. How much time passed between Genesis, chapter two, and Genesis, chapter three? It could've been weeks, coul...

In the beginning there was an idea. It wasn't our idea. The idea stemmed from the Creator of all things. Being relational, God let His idea come to fruition. This idea, to create people who would love their Creator, was a good idea. It is a good idea. But it was not the only idea.  Some may have assumed the idea's next part. Because we were made in the image of One who loves, we were also intended to love one another. This idea was also good . And it makes sense. If we love our Creator and understand that He meets all our needs, we are then set loose to freely give of the love born in us.  via GIPHY In theory, these ideas can work together seamlessly, with the creation crying out to the Creator. This alone should fill us up. At the same time, we can express unique qualities given to us by a very imaginative Creator. After all, we are better off when each part of the body does as intended. "This makes for harmony among the members, so that all the members car...

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...

There’s a pivotal scene in the superheroes movie The Avengers, which I think we can all agree is now a classic, along with other greats such as Gone With the Wind and Rocky.  That's right, I just compared a superhero movie, to a classic sports movie, to simply a classic. That's the kind of ridiculous I am. Without revealing all of my geeky knowledge of superhero movies, suffice it to say there is a bad guy, Loki, who is bringing an army to earth. And there are the good guys, the Avengers, who are trying to stop him. One of those good guys is Iron Man. And just before the big battle begins, Iron Man makes a speech to Loki, where he concludes, It's all on you, whether your plan succeeds or fails. How is our focus on God like this? Not in a combatant way, of course, but our whole trust should be in God. This is His plan, His mission, and it's all to His glory. So the plan, whether it succeeds or fails, is all on Him. And of course, we can have confidence that it wil...

This is a portion of something I shared with the teens recently. You still have stuff to learn. So do I. Have you had those conversations with your parents where everything seems fine and then, out of nowhere, you’re in the middle of a lecture? You know, you’re all laughing, perhaps playing a game, when the conversation takes a turn. Maybe you’re all laughing and having a good time when your dad says, ‘See, why can’t you always be like this? You’ve had a bad attitude lately and I want you to respect your mother!’ Well, that is a little bit like what this songwriter does here in Psalm 95. “Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the LORD our Maker; for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care. Today, if only you would hear his voice,” ~Psalm 95:6–7 We often use Psalm 95:6-7 as a call to worship. It’s even got a song that we’ve sung. But watch what happens when we continue through verse 8-11. If only you would listen to his voice today...

Most of us live in a what-if kind of dream world. I don't mean that in the way most children dream. As kids, do you recall dreaming about what you would do if you won a million dollars? This is not the kind of dreaming I mean.  We're adults, right? Our dreams are perhaps a bit more grounded. (I said perhaps, because I know someone out there is still dreaming of that million dollars.) We dream about  what  we will do  if  certain things happen. For instance; I'll go grocery shopping if it stops raining. I'll have plans on Friday if somebody invites me to something.   Our dreams, to varying degrees, are based on things that could actually happen. But the mass effect of this kind of realistic day-dreaming is that we daydream multiple possibilities for our day, our week, our month and even into our distant future. I'll move to Chicago if I get a job there. I'll marry that girl if I work up the courage to ask her out. There's only one prob...

Sometimes we talk about the Apostles as if everything was kittens and rainbows for these guys, as if everything they touched turned to gold. Yes, they had amazing displays of the Holy Spirit power. But let’s not pretend there weren’t obstacles to their mission, which, by the way, is also our mission. It is interesting how the book of Acts begins and ends. In Acts 1 we have the disciples barely wanting to start their mission. Do you remember Acts 1? Jesus tells them to wait in Jerusalem for the Holy Spirit. Instead of asking what that might be like, they ask when he’s going to come back. Jesus gives them the equivalent of ‘Don’t worry about it!’ Then He ascends right before their very eyes. Then they stand there with jaws dropped, like a bunch of Gomer Pyle stunt doubles, until an angel has to ask them what they are standing around for. When the Holy Spirit comes on the disciples in Acts 2, it becomes a line in the sand. Goobers no more, the disciples become a force to be reckoned with....

Do you know why people ask what you think? So they can tell you what they think. There are times when people ask my opinion. That is just stupid, for so many reasons. But I have come to realize that what they really want is to give their opinion. That's why they ask. In my opinion, they should simply ask me if they can present me with their thoughts. They would get to talk and I would get to save my breath. Someone, anyone really, and I will have a conversation that goes like this. Someone: What did you think of this book? Me: I liked it for the following reasons. Someone: Well, I hated it. Or they may ask about a movie we both recently saw. Someone: What did you think of that movie? Me: I thought it was epic for the following reasons. Someone: Here's why it wasn't good at all. Oh, ok. Perhaps if I took the advice given in James 1:19. "Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to g...

I have never been a huge fan of yard work. I like it to look nice but anything beyond mowing is just not something I am going to see the need for. Lucky for me, I have a wife who sees the need. Yep....lucky. for. me. I am so lucky, in fact, that my wife and I decided our kids should be involved in the care and maintenance of yard work. We decided this because misery loves company  we believe in the power of teamwork. So while my wife would yield the larger power tools (think mower and trimmer) we'd show our kids sticks that needed to be collected or weeds to be pulled. What's going to work? Teamwork! This past weekend I was teaching my older two kids to use the lawn mower. I dream of a day when I will sip lemonade and watch the servants, or as my wife likes to call them, the children, mow the lawn. So I showed them how to pull the string to get it started, to press on the handle to propel the motor, etc. I showed them back and forth and then handed them the mower. What I didn...

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...

We have all seen them. They stand out like a sore thumb. But they stand out for a reason.  I am talking about missionaries.  You may have known them before they left for the mission field. You may have even prayed over them in a special service just before they boarded a plane for some distant country and culture. They looked like you, dressed like you, ate at similar restaurants.  But upon their visit back stateside, you are wondering what happened. Guest speaking at your church, you see them wearing clothing native to the mission field. They are teaching yo strange sounding vocabulary and possibly introducing you to new foods.  This is not the same person. They're odd. (Disclaimer: I don't think missionaries are odd. I am saying some people, other than me, might think you're odd. If you're a missionary, don't shoot the messenger. In fact, I know the first missionary who will comment about this post to me.) When missionaries are odd and speak the l...

I got to preach again recently. I don't know why they keep giving me a microphone. Here's some more of what I shared.  So let’s make sure we’re on the same page. John 20 records the events of the very first Easter Sunday. The actions of the disciples are a bit curious. Here’s the timeline we’re given. · Mary Magdalene shows up at the tomb, to find the stone rolled away. · Mary runs to find Peter and John and shares the news with them. · John outruns Peter to the tomb (Pete would later say John got a head start), where they see the tomb is empty and the burial clothes are folded. (Note to children; even Jesus folded His stuff when getting up from the dead, so perhaps you can make your bed.) · According to John 20:10, after seeing an empty grave, the disciples went home. Of course they did! Maybe it was time for lunch. Jesus will still be resurrected after we eat, right? · Mary stays around and Jesus shows up and tells her about His impending resurre...

My next few posts will be portions of my sermons from the past couple of weeks. When the senior pastor is away, the youth pastor doesn't play. He gets to preach! Well, that was a nice story. Jesus loved me. He died for me. He rose from the dead and told the Easter Bunny to leave me some eggs with chocolates in them for me. That was nice. I guess we can relax now until Christmas for the other big story. Or, for the fanatical, we could look ahead to Pentecost Sunday and celebrate the Holy Spirit for a Sunday. We could do that. Not many of us would be so bold as to say that, at least not here inside these walls. I do wonder if we think it. But no, we profess to believe this. We profess God come to Earth, lived, crucified and rose among us, this ultimate of love stories. (And if I just said that last line without you thinking twice about it, then maybe you’re not a Christian, or perhaps you’ve been a Christian for too long. We profess God…come to Earth….lived, crucified and risen.)...

I would like to give you an insider's look at what pastors do during the week. I really would. It actually pains me not to be able to do so. Alas, I cannot.  You might wonder why. That I can share. If I were to tell you the secrets of Monday through Saturday as lived by a pastor, then I wouldn't be honored to hear the skepticism is people's voices asking what we do all week, as if the week is just one long hop from communion-filled clouds to soft mounds of Bibles.  I'm not complaining because I know you can relate. You have each had 40+ hour work weeks. There are many weeks where you wonder if you can continue to drag your body in and out and about. Then you have  those  weeks. You know the kind; where big deadlines approach or the corporate heads decide to make an appearance. (If anyone shows this to the superintendent, I  obviously  don't mean him.)  Easter, which we just celebrated last week, can be that kind of week for pastors. Fr...

This weekend I presented a lesson I called Stop and Go , about how we pursue relationships. I'll break it up into 2 parts for you, my loyal blog-fellows. I'll post the Stop portion today and the Go portion on Wednesday. ___________________________________ So the whole idea is that we want to be Happily Ever After. As I said at the beginning, many people are after the Fairy Tale story and ending. But the Disney picture is not realistic. So the first step is realizing that we’ve been handed a distorted picture by Hollywood. I say that and realize that many of you know, with your heads, that it’s a lie. But we don’t always think with our heads, now do we? We have been sold a belief that living with your heart is better. Put your heart into it. Follow your heart. It’s all about emotions with us. Even when it makes no sense, we say ‘the heart wants what it wants.’ We say things like this, as if it excuses us from considering truth. I imagine that many of us assume reality is for o...

When we hear preachers that use strong language or offensive illustrations, it would be good of us to read the Old Testament before we pass judgement. Malachi 2 offers as vivid and offensive (and stinky) an illustration as I have seen. God is speaking through the prophet and hopefully not at mealtimes. The audience is the priests, that special tribe called for a special purpose. “Listen, you priests—this command is for you! Listen to me and make up your minds to honor my name,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, “or I will bring a terrible curse against you. I will curse even the blessings you receive. Indeed, I have already cursed them, because you have not taken my warning to heart. I will punish your descendants and splatter your faces with the manure from your festival sacrifices, and I will throw you on the manure pile. Then at last you will know it was I who sent you this warning so that my covenant with the Levites can continue,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. ~Malachi 2:1-4 ...

This is a re-post from a couple of years ago. My feelings on Fat Tuesday haven't changed much. Enjoy the paczki (doughnuts times two), but also prepare for the coming season.  I’ve been thinking about something. It all started with a paczki. What’s a paczki? You might know what one is, but didn’t realize it was spelled this way. It’s pronounced poonch-key. Still confused? It’s the delightful ‘doughnut on steroids’ that only comes out on Fat Tuesday. I look forward to it every year. I may be guilty of forgetting Valentine’s Day, but I don’t forget Fat Tuesday. I celebrate it. But celebrating Fat Tuesday was never meant to be a 1-day affair. Of course, Fat Tuesday comes right before Lent, the season that seems to have lost all meaning except for giving up stuff. What we see is many people celebrating Fat Tuesday without celebrating Lent. This is a problem. First of all, is it celebrating when you give something up? This may just be semantics, but every time I celebrate some...

I have, at times, not liked how I have done youth ministry. It is easy, too easy, to look around and see something being done by someone else, somewhere else, and assume you should be doing the same. But I am not someone else. I am not somewhere else. I am me. I am here. Now that the obvious has been stated, allow me to go deeper. Ministry, much like any other career in life, is work. It takes strategy, sweat, creativity, effort and personality. Yes, personality. Every CEO has a personality that, at least to a small degree, determines the direction of their company. The same is true for every church and every ministry within that church. The personality of the leader is not the only factor, of course, because there are plenty of other...ummm...personalities that will affect the shape and direction of the ministry. But accepting who I am, and who I am not, will be crucial to how I see my ministry. This is where my continued search for insignificance connects to my ministry. (It's al...

This is the time of year when people who died will be remembered. That's not a bad thing. Lists will abound of famous people, actors and actresses, athletes and others, reminding us of the legacy they left behind. World figures will be named and applauded for what they accomplished in life and left behind in death. But its only a partial list of those who left planet Earth in 2013. It does not include everyone who made an impact. Media outlets cannot possibly list everyone who died last year, along with the impact they made on those left behind. It would be ludicrous of us to expect them to do so. But perhaps this small corner of the world wide web is perfect for a reminder that no impact is so small that it shouldn't at least be acknowledged. It's why God included the genealogies in the Bible. You know, those parts of the Bible you've never seen in a Bible study and the chapters no one wants to read aloud. Yeah,those chapters. I like to think God included them and made...

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.