Rick Nier...Woo!

Have you heard the one about the Good Samaritan? A guy gets beat up and left for dead along the road. A pastor and a church leader both pass him by without helping. Then along comes a___. (Fill in the blank with anyone you think very little of; foreigners, politicians, Miley Cyrus, etc.) When Jesus first told the story, He used a Samaritan, the hated distant cousins of Jewish people. And as Jesus tells the story, the Samaritan helps him out, even paying for his medical expenses. Jesus tells this story to an ‘expert in the law’, which means He’s talking to a guy who memorized the first 39 books of the Bible. The ‘expert’ had asked who his neighbor was. This story shows that Jesus’ answer equates to anyone we see in need. What’s interesting here is that the ‘expert’ didn’t just strike up a conversation with Jesus about neighbors. He asked that question when Jesus said loving God and loving your neighbor was a correct answer. The real question was “What must I do to inherit eternal life?”...

It's amazing how quickly old habits can be broken. I know it usually works the other way around, but perhaps it's different with little girls that are 3. We had quite a week with our 3-year old, as her stomach refused to keep anything down for 6 straight days. One trip to the hospital and an IV later, she is doing fine. Except... Now she thinks the norm of her life is not eating, sleeping in my bed and watching TV all day. When she does decide to eat, she wants ice cream for breakfast since that is what they gave her in the hospital. After all, if doctors are approving this kind of diet, why should the parents fight it? It makes me think of hard seasons in my life, last week included. When your days become long and your nights become longer, and it happens for a long enough period of time, it can be difficult to remember what life was like before the hard season. Just ask anyone who has had or has lived with someone with a long-term disease. These burdensome thoughts make the ...

I wish there was a way to spell the response I get from my children when I confront them on disobedience. The grunt that comes from them is best visualized with shoulders shrugged and eyes looking anywhere but me. It most closely resembles the phrase ‘I don’t know’, but it is like all the vowels have been removed. I ask why questions a lot. Why did you do that? Why did you think that was okay? Why, God, why? When asked of my children, I normally receive the aforementioned, guttural, non-vowel response. It’s difficult for me because I don’t see a lot of gray in the commands I give to my children. Putting your clothes in the hamper does not mean putting them somewhere else. Brushing your teeth does not mean lying down on the bathroom floor. And being nice to your siblings will never involve weapons. In the first chapter of Mark, we find Jesus healing a leper. Unlike other times that Jesus did this, when all He expected was a simple thanks, this time He asks the cured leper to do a few th...

I was listening to ESPN radio, as the experts began to weigh in on Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones. It would appear that Jerry made some disparaging remarks about Tim Tebow. To be sure, I’m not here to jump on any Christian bandwagon to ensure the supremacy of Tebow, an outspoken Christian over Jerry Jones. I actually couldn’t care where Tebow gets picked up in the draft and I care less what happens to the Cowboys. It is the source of this story that intrigues me. Apparently Jones was talking with some friends, thinking himself to not being watched by the public when he made these not-so-nice remarks. But make them he did. And they were made public. And the ESPN ‘expert-of-the-hour’ commented that he did not think Jerry meant to be hurtful. He further opined that if Jerry Jones and Tim Tebow were to find themselves in the same room, Jerry would possibly apologize, saying he meant nothing by it. After all, he only said it because he never thought the words would be made public, much le...

On a mostly weekly basis, I write a thought or two out for teens to read, along with weekly announcements and perhaps a joke or two. I assume, stupidly, that at least some of them are reading it. A couple of weeks ago, I put it to the test. I was teaching on forgiveness and used the Old Testament idea of the Cities of Refuge to do so. This is an idea I blogged about just a few weeks before that. After teaching about the idea, I asked the teens if they had ever heard about this idea before. You've never seen so many blank faces looking back at you. Not one even vaguely recognized the idea. This made me wonder about what I'm including in the weekly email. If a man writes about something and no one is there to read it, was I really that funny? It reminds me of the classic question like that; if a man speaks in the forest and no woman is around to hear him, is he still wrong? Actually, it does make me stop and think of the kind of person I am even when no one is looking. Because t...

Forget Me Not is certainly a page turner by Vicki Hinze. Just reading the synopsis on the back cover had me wanting to start turning pages. In short, the owner of a crisis center, Ben, finds himself in a crisis when a woman shows up who bears a striking resemblance to his murdered wife. Oh, and she's wearing his dead wife's necklace. I hope she plans on returning that. To be honest, I have mixed feelings about this book. I really enjoyed the overall idea and the mystery that kept me turning pages late into the night. On the other hand, sometimes I would find myself turning pages backward in order to see if I had missed something. Maybe I'm just dumber than I think myself to be, but it felt, at points near the beginning, that too many characters were doing too many things all at once, making it somewhat hard to follow. Rest assured, it all made sense in the end. I won't play any spoiler, but I did like how much faith played a role in the lives of the main characters. Eve...

To the half dozen of you that read my blog and care enough to help a brother out, I'm actually going to try and shame you for a moment. Do you remember watching the Jerry Lewis Labor Day Telethon? As a kid, this was one of the annual events I watched on television. This was before live streaming, or even the internet, so the fact that one thing could consume a channel for an entire weekend was quite remarkable. I recall Jerry Lewis singing and dancing and telling jokes. Every so often you'd see a bunch of numbers flip on the big board, showing how much money was coming in for a worthy cause, the Muscular Dystrophy Association. And if you stayed tuned long enough you would see the end of the telethon. This was when Jerry would stop dancing and singing. He stopped being funny hours ago. And there was a lot of sweating, as if he'd went and collected the money by himself...on foot. I feel that way right about now. I've committed to trying to raise $1600 for MDA. So far, I...

This children's book was a good read with my children. Quite simply, it's a prayer from the perspective of a child. Written poetically, which my children noticed and liked, it opened up some good discussion, especially with my 8-year old. We talked about fear, loneliness, greed, sharing and doing the right thing. And all in about 30 pages. My children enjoyed the illustrations as well. I suppose the best review comes from my 3-year old who said, 'Me's wants you to read it to me again.' To purchase this book, please visit http://waterbrookmultnomah.com/catalog.php?isbn=9780307458049 This book was provided for review by the WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group.

This I my thirty-fourth Easter celebration. Admittedly, I do not recall the first few. And several more are clouded by a rabbit-shaped haze of chocolate. For some of you, this is your eighty-fourth Easter. It is possible that Easter has become review for you. A man raising himself from the dead should never become mere review. But if we’re being honest, for some, it has. But let’s go back a few years before the very first Easter. After Joshua (the Old Testament guy with the book named after him) gives his famous ‘Choose For Yourselves’ speech (you can check that out in Joshua 24) he goes into review mode. Josh reminds the Israelites of everything God had done for them since the great Egypt escape. It’s kind of like recalling crazy youth trips with old friends. Remember when Pharaoh got really mad and drowned in the Red Sea and then bread fell on our heads for the next 40 years? Yeah, good times. After story-time, the Israelites all affirm their love and devotion to God. Then Joshua giv...

I think every young boy and girl dreams about the kind of pastor they would like to be someday. Actually, that probably isn't true at all. But from comments I hear from church members, you might think they know exactly what a pastor should be doing. But I digress. I often think about the kind of pastor I am and the kind I want to be. I think I've found a good example in the Old Testament prophet Samuel. Consider the following examples of his leadership; 1 Samuel 12:20. Samuel has anointed the Israelites a king in Saul. Then Sam reminds them how sinful they were in asking for a king. Reminding them that God should have been enough, he gives it to them straight. Sinners. 1 Samuel 15:31-33. If you've never read this story, go read the whole chapter. Saul disobeys direct orders from God to totally destroy the enemy Amalekites and so Samuel steps in. Agag, the king of the Amalekites, assumes a pastor won't do him any harm. Wrong answer, Agag. Samuel, like a great pastor, mak...