Rick Nier...Woo!

So I had this idea and then I saw it wasn't original. Buuut, that isn't exactly new to me. I'm often slow to the hip things. For instance, have you seen this deal called the iPhone? I hear it's got some great application. I went looking for one online and discovered that they just keep upgrading these things. Sorry for that lttle tangent. Let me get to the idea. I'm going to take a break from blogging. Before you thank me, hear me out... I'll be breaking until the new year. For starters, you're much too busy to be reading all these blogs. Second, I've once again left Christmas shopping for my wife until the home stretch. Sooo, add it all together and you'll see I'm doing this for both of us. Now, I've seen where some blogs will post their most popular blogs during their off-time. Here's why I won't be doing that. Again, if you're too busy to read blogs, why would I assume that you have time to read a better blog? If I assume...

This is part 4 of my God First, Man Second: Christmas Editions . You can find the other 3 here , here and here . No matter what you do at Christmas time, no matter what your traditions, I hope that you will take some time to remember why we even get to celebrate this season. “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” ~Luke 2:14 This is what it all comes down to. The whole heavenly host come out just to sing it. Glory is given to God. This is right, because God is deserving of our glory. In fact, God is the only One deserving. What do we get? Peace. This is beyond our undertanding. We can think we understand it. But we know, deep down, we don't. See, we come to this God-man relationship offering nothing. I could sugar-coat that for you since it's the holidays and all, but let's be honest. We're in a big heap of trouble and we have no actual solution. But God, planning as only He can, prepares and foretells and giv...

To say that this book was read would be a misnomer. This is a book that you experience. That is on purpose by author Mark Scandrette. The title of this book is Practicing the Way of Jesus: Life Together in the Kingdom of Love. I experienced this book with a small group at my church. The book comes complete with study guide in the back, giving a schedule for which chapters to read and in what order. There was thought put into this. The basic premise that Mark puts forth is the idea that the Christian life is not one lived while sitting in a pew, but one that is lived out. Mark divides the book into 5 main sections. These are areas that he believes all of us must work on in growing deeper in our faith. Those areas are: Identity, Purpose, Security, Community and Freedom/Peace. He wrote one chapter on theory and one on practice for each area. One of the first things I said when I read the first chapter was that the book scared me. I believed it was gong to be too fanatical in its ...

But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” ~Luke 2:10-12 Even as a baby, God comes first. It's really amazing when you think about it. The God of the universe, in a way that only God can fathom, left Heaven, a place we can only imagine, and came to Earth. But Jesus did not come as a grown man, regal and ready to rule. He did not come as an adult. Jesus came as a baby. He entered the world, yes the world He created. He came as a mortal and left as a Messiah. The good news for us, in fact the only reason we are a part of this story, is that we receive a Savior. We are on the receiving end of the greatest gift ever given. God gives. We get. We no longer have to fear. We have received good news. We now get to live with great joy. G...

Each child is a gift. They are to be prized and protected. They should never be mistreated or neglected. (Did a tear just shed? I was going for a tear...) If we're up on our Bible-reading, then we'll be familiar with Bible verses that say "with painful labor you will give birth to children" and "he will not give to one of them any of the flesh of his children that he is eating." Wait, not those verses. These verses. "I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread. They are always generous and lend freely; their children will be a blessing" (Psalm 37:25-26). Oh, and "And he took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them and blessed them" (Mark 10:16). It would seem that children are, in fact, the future and should be valued as such. All of them. (Any tears yet? Dang, you are a tough crowd.) Given all this, it makes this one little story seem a bit odd. We're to...

I received an ebook copy of Church Outside the Walls by Raj Samuel. Raj is a house church planter who is committed to education and church unity. Raj has written this short book, just over 100 pages, for the purpose of educating Christians back to their original purpose. But he begins his whole book with a quote by a Hindu. "Christianity has failed in the West. Christians should not try to promote their religion in other parts of the world when it has not worked here in the West." There are so very many things wrong with thsi remark, none the least of which is the fact that Christianity did not originate in the West, so it is philosophically unsound to argue for it not to be spread farther from here. Since Christianity was begun in Jerusalem and the spread everywhere from there, we should not be so elitist in the West to assume that our successes or failures have any bearing on Christianity worldwide. Leaving that thought for the moment, Raj spends the rest of his word...

Always be prepared. It's a lot more than just a slogan for the Boy Scouts. It's great advice for anyone hoping not to get caught off guard. Hey, it's even a command given by the Apostle Peter when he tells us to always be ready with an answer for the hope that we have. My senior pastor was prepared this past Sunday when he discussed being prepared. It would have just been ironic if he hadn't been prepared. But thankfully he was as he discussed the many ways that God prepared Mary for being the mother of the Son of God. That's a tall order. Aside from being prepared to play the role of such an important mom in history, her and Joe were first time parents. Have you ever considered what it was like for them in this regards? For instance, when they had to flee to Egypt, how hectic was that? I remember packing up for trips with my first child. There was the diaper bag, complete with enough baby food for 3 days, in case we got stuck someplace where Walmart has yet t...

   “My soul glorifies the Lord  and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,   for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me— holy is his name. His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation. He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble. He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful to Abraham and his descendants forever, just as he promised our ancestors.” Luke 1:46-55 Well, here we are in week 2 of the Christmas series. God should come first all year long. Christmas is no different. But this isn't how we always deal with Christmas, it is? When it's our birthday, we get gifts. And when it's...

Have you ever thought about the perfect gift for that special someone you love? You know, the person you hold most dear? That person that you spend hours just wondering what the absolutely best gift could possibly be? And, of course, I’m talking about me. I’ve wondered about what I would gift to myself. This is despite childhood training that runs in the opposite direction. See, growing up in my family, gifts only happened on 2 occasions. Christmas and birthdays. This worked out alright for me because my birthday is in June. So I was showered with gifts every 6 months. But one of my sisters has a birthday 4 days before Christmas. (Read: short end of the stick.) If it wasn’t Christmas and it wasn’t our birthday, our days were marked with rations and needs, but not gifts. Long, arduous days until the next season of gifts appeared. (When you read this, Mom, I’m kidding.) But seriously, we were raised that gifts were for special occasions. You shopped for the other members of your famil...