Rick Nier...Woo!

“LORD, the God of our ancestors, are you not the God who is in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. Power and might are in your hand, and no one can withstand you. Our God, did you not drive out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel and give it forever to the descendants of Abraham your friend? They have lived in it and have built in it a sanctuary for your Name, saying, ‘If calamity comes upon us, whether the sword of judgment, or plague or famine, we will stand in your presence before this temple that bears your Name and will cry out to you in our distress, and you will hear us and save us.’ “But now here are men from Ammon, Moab and Mount Seir, whose territory you would not allow Israel to invade when they came from Egypt; so they turned away from them and did not destroy them. See how they are repaying us by coming to drive us out of the possession you gave us as an inheritance. Our God, will you not judge them? For we have no power ...

I have a great wife. Before you assume I did something wrong and needed to do something to fix it, hear me out. She likes watching sports with me. Sometimes we play a game while watching a game. We do it mostly while watching basketball or baseball. It's called What Else Would He Do? You see, there are some athletes that don't look like athletes. They look like bankers or businessmen. Take John Stockton for example. John Stockton looks like a math teacher. If you saw him on the street and never watched sports, you might not believe that he leads the NBA all-time in assists. But he does. Here are a couple of others that we've pegged with different careers. Brad Miller would be a banker. Brian Scalabrine would be a red-headed step-child. Christian Laetnner could be the lost member of the Backstreet Boys. I think I like this game because I realize that none of us neccesarily looks like the typical version of the job that we have. Yes, I am a youth pastor and yes, ...

The big assignments seem to avoid me. I don't mean that there is nothing for me to do. I mean that my assignments don't always seem very significant. Even at home. I was coloring with my 5-year old yesterday when I once again got the small assignment. We were coloring from the same book, which meant we would have to choose a 2-page spread to color. Below is what my 5-year old chose for herself. Ok, that is alright. She chose a ballerina bear. I could do something like that. I've got years of coloring experience, after all. But what do I get? Candy wrappers? And not just one candy wrapper. Four candy wrappers. Except for the one which is slightly different than the others, this assignment did not leave me much creative input. This kind of thing happens to me all the time. Perhaps you feel the same way. If we're to believe all the hype, then where does that leave us with regular assignments? If we were made for more, then how come it seems like we get less. I'm...

The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them. And the LORD God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.” So the LORD God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life. ~Genesis 3:21-24 Each Monday I like to start with scripture and ask what it says about God, then what it says about us. You might think today's selection is a bit odd, since it consists mainly of God's judgement on Adam and Eve. But I think we do learn some things about God here. First, God makes garments of skin for the sinful duo. That tells us that in the midst of His disappointment that He still has compassion. This is still true today. We...

The other morning a bird flew right into our bay window. My wife commented that the window must be too clean and that the commercials are correct. My two young girls, 10 and 5, both started crying. We looked as the bird just dropped to the ground and sat there. Its neck was a little to the left. Anything could have caused that, right? Just because it wasn't moving didn't mean anything. It was right before we were leaving for school, so I didn;t want them leaving upset. So I was trying to think of a soothing scripture to share. So I said, "You know that God saw that too, right?" While that was technically true, I can't help but wonder if, in her head, my 10-year old asked why bad things happen and God does nothing. God saw it too? Ok, it's true that a bird does not fall from the sky without God knowing it. And while I believe that God may have chuckled at one of His birds doing such a stupid thing, that was probably not the verse to use with my children. ...

Enemies of the Heart is the newest title from pastor and author Andy Stanley, although this is the first I have read. Sorry, Andy. But if this book is any indication of the punch that Andy delivers, it won't be the last. The subtitle is Breaking Free from the Four Emotions That Control You . Andy cuts right to the point in this book, expressing what I feel are some deep ideas in a way that everyone can relate to. That doesn't mean he dumbs it down. He tells it like it is. Stanley's theory is that we have tried forever to fix ourselves by fixing our behavior. As you may have noticed, in yourself and others, it's not working out so well. The problem with behavior modification is that this is not the core of our problem. The problem is our heart, where everything stems. This can be a bit hard to swallow, as all of us want to assume we're actually good people. But again, experience begs to differ. So does the Bible. The Bible clearly teaches that we are a people ...

Of all the wild prophets, Elijah set the bar pretty high. Elijah was kind of a head-case. He did some great things for God, even got a get-out-of-death card. But there's a scene or two where he goes all narcissistic on us and thinks it's all about him. It's not just that it happens, but when it happens that surprises me. It's right after he defeated 450 Baal prophets in a God-contest. Yeah, he won. He should be high-fiving the king or chest-bumping other prophets. Instead, we find him all alone on a mountain, wanting to die. When asked why, he said he was the only one following God. He said he had done all he could do. He said he was done. What's admirable is the passion he put into what he did. But he misses the point here, if only for a moment. Elijah assumed he was all alone. But God had 7,000 just like him. When your count is off by 7,000, that's a pretty big deal. Try it sometime. Mess up your checkbook by 7,000 and see how your spouse reacts. Bette...

“When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place. I have chosen and consecrated this temple so that my Name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there. ~2 Chronicles 7:13-16 Revival! The very word breeds energy. It gets the juices flowing. And nothing speaks of revival more than this interchange between God and Solomon. This happens just after Solomon finishes the Temple of God, although I imagine, as king, Solomon did not actually get his hands dirty. But whatever... I'm also quite sure that this little conversation happens long before Solomon writes Ecclesaistes, when everything is meanin...

I don't know about you, but I sometimes struggle with what to say right after a Church service. Be it a youth group, small group or especially the Big Show, I am usually at a loss as to the best transition into what feels like 'the rest of the week'. It feels weird to follow a Sunday morning worship service with, 'Hey anybody up for the Pizza Hut buffet?' Shouldn't something from the previous hour with god have affected me more than that? Shouldn't my focus on hunger be more spiritual than physical? As much as I internally struggle, it would appear that King Ahab had none of these problems. He has a front-row seat to one of the greatest Old Testament displays by God. You can read all about it in 1 Kings 18. The Cliff-notes version is that King Ahab just saw 450 Baal prophets slaughtered after losing a my-god-is-better-than-your-God battle with Elijah. Now he's told that rain is coming, something not seen in Israel for 3 years. What's his rea...

It's not about me, it's not about me, it's not about me. Sometimes I have to say that a lot to keep reminding myself. I found that to be true while reading Mystical Union: Stuff They Never Told You About the Finished Work of the Cross . In fact, I hate to admit just how much I struggled with this book. The book is by John Crowder, an advocate of supernatural Christianity, although I have to wonder if there is any other kind. I write this review as a member of a holiness movement myself, which is one of the reasons I hate admitting my struggle. I believe in God's complete and victorious work on the cross. I believe that, by grace alone, I have been saved by God. I believe that this life is all about God and Jesus and, therefore, not about me. I'm comfortable with all of that. In fact, I have often taught and confused the next generation with what I was taught was a second act of sanctification. This work being the entire removal of sin from our lives. Some call...

Oh, Bill Shakespeare, you really called it like you see it, didn't you? Perhaps you reflected life in your art. I'll agree with that much. However, I am quite sure that as much as you saw life as it is, you did not see life as it should be. Yet people seem to accept your words as gospel truth. That could be due to your plays sounding like the King James version of a particular Holy Book. But just because your plays contain thee's, thou's and verily's does not make them equal to the Bible. Take, for instance, your words that the world was a stage and that we are merely players. Many people may recognize that they are words from a play, but we live like they are gospel truth. For if the world is indeed a stage, then isn't somebody looking for someone to play the lead role? Why shouldn't that person be me? Ironically, the famous line comes from Shakespeare's play titled As You Like It . I believe that a starring role is just what we would like. This...

Each Monday I start my week out by looking at a few verses from the Bible and answering two questions. First, what do these verses say about God? Second, what do these verses say about us? In case this is your first Monday on my site, I'll let you in on a little secret. I believe the order that we ask tthose two questions is very important.   1 Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. ~Colossians 3:1-4 Right away I get the idea that Christ is the subject. Why? Because Paul, the writer of Colossians, says we have been raised with Christ. He is the focus. To assume otherwise would be like telling your friend that you went to see Justin Bieber in concert and wondering why he didn...

Sometimes I have a Boyz II Men moment and feel like I've come to the End of the Road . I suppose that's better than having a Backstreet Boys moment and always wanting it that way, whatever that means. But I digress, I've come towards the end of a long few weeks and feel like I have nothing to blog. Which is to say I have nothing to say. But I want to offer something. When you put a type-A personality into the life of a blogger, you get a blogging schedule that doesn't always match up with real life. So, even though I have mapped out for myself when I want to blog, which you can read here , sometimes life (and an idea) doesn't always flow that way. So I will not force you to read my nonsense any further. In my continuing search for insignificance , I am discovering many nuances about how I make life about me. This is one of those nuances, always wanting to be the giver and never the one who disappoints anyone at any time. At its core, that is pride willing its w...

I believe it was Elijah who asked for something to believe in. Or maybe it was Poison. Either way, it was a catchy tune. Besides that, it's pretty good theology. After all, we all want to believe in something. Many will say that we may not even realize it, but we all believe in something. I think they are probably right. If it's not God, then it's someone else. If it's not someone else, then it's probably yourself, the last person you expect to be hurt by or disappointed in. I've seen enough of myself to know that I can't place all of my eggs in my basket. I don't even have to take that by faith. It's simple fact. Don't think for one second that I'm being self-deprecating to feel the love from you. I happen to believe that you shouldn't have faith in yourself either. That may be less about hard evidence I've seen or more intuition about people. That is to say I'm very much planted in the camp of having faith in something hig...

Each Monday I am posting a scripture and asking the simple questions; what does this say about God? What does this say about me? I am cooming to believe that the order in which we ask those questions is vital to getting the correct answers. I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.  ~Galatians 2:20 What this tells me about God is quite simple. God loves me. He loves me so much, in fact, that He gave His Son, Jesus, for me. I know that we're about 2 days away from seeing Christmas decirations hit the stores and there are some sweet toys out there that I want. For my kids. Really. But nothing I give or get this Christmas will compare to this gift that God has already given. It won't. It can't. So I know that God knows how to give great gifts. I also know that this was not a simple one-and-done kind of gift. Paul, who write Gal...