Rick Nier...Woo!

I have a couple more days in this Best Of series. Today I bring one on a favorite topic of mine...space, the final frontier. Oh...and how small we are. I have new stuff coming back on January 2.  How Big Do You Think You Are? Last Friday, as a way of celebrating one last night of freedom before school started, my wife decided we no longer needed comfort. So we went way out...to our back yard and set up the tent. The kids loved the idea. I brought my laptop. I was checking the weather to see if we needed to put the cover up on our tent when I found that a meteor shower was expected. I looked up and saw a lot of clouds. But the children looked anyway for meteors that we wouldn't see. It led us to talk about space, a favorite topic of mine. I used the laptop to search pictures of space. I stumbled upon pictures of the size of Earth, like this one to the left. This was no big deal, as they've seen pictures of Earth before. But then I showed them this one. Now I had them intrigued...

I am doing a best of series this week while taking a break. Today I am featuring the most popular book review I've posted. I review lots of books, but the author, Jonathan McKee, was paying attention to this one and drove some traffic my way. This also became known as the most exciting Wednesday I've had on this blog.  Oh, and it's still a good book that I would recommend to parents of teenagers.  Candid Confessions of An Imperfect Parent When I listen to sports talk radio, I sometimes forget I don't like commercials and listen to a promo for adopting teenagers. The voice tells me that if I ruin the punch line of jokes, make runny eggs, or wear stripes with polka dots, I could make a great parent for a teenager who needs a family. That's probably true, which means I must be a super parent because I tell great jokes, make great eggs and I can rock those polka dots and stripes like nobody's business. But if you're looking for someone to be a bit more hon...

I'm posting some of the best of my blog from the past few years. This post came in second and I have no idea why. But since seeing the popularity I am hoping to get a patent on this idea and cash in on my kid's golden idea.  My Son: The Toymaker! I don't know what you talk about around the family dinner table, but topics at my house have a wide range. From discussing why southerners have an accent to how it would be if Phineas and Ferb lived with us we pretty much cover it all. So it shouldn't have surprised me when conversation turned to baby dolls and why some of them have ugly faces. After all, some real babies have ugly faces. (Tell me I'm wrong!) My son, always quick to offer a solution, though not always a great one, offered this. "What if the baby doll smiled when you picked it up to look at it?" Can't you see the possibilities here? How could you put back a baby that smiled when you chose it? And what if the baby had some pre-recorded...

I've been blogging for a few years now and so I thought it might be time for a best of series. I've had some surprises looking back, seeing which posts got the most hits. But, it's not about me, so I'm re-gifting some of the best of for the next week. This first best post is more than double the next and I can only assume it's because of the title garnering Google search hits.  New stuff will begin again on January 2.  Enjoy!  Always Be Prepared 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 mot...

There are lots of comments being made in regards to last week's tragedy. I would not want my name anywhere near most of them. But this, this I would be okay with. We need more people making sense.

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 gi...

Let me give you a typical conversation at the Nier household. Jennifer will be cooking supper and I will be calling the children to wash up, an activity that resembles herding kittens. I will go to our 4-year-old and say that it is time for supper. She will respond, 'I don't want anything icky.' The amount of trust that our children give us is mind-numbing. But since I know which foods get defined as icky and which foods get eaten, I measure my response. I will explain to her that she should trust that her parents will only give her good food to eat, but she has seen too much broccoli to believe that. She has her own version of truth and will not allow my perception to warp her reality. Such is the case with Jesus and some Jews that we're told 'had believed him' (John 8:31). The conversation starts out innocently, with Jesus offering them freedom. Jesus breaks it down for them, even telling them why they are ready to kill Him. 'You have no room for my word...

Let me see if I have this straight. God’s Son enters this world as a baby, the ultimate in a gift to mankind. We select a date of December 25 (though let’s not get into that), and we commemorate this gift of God. We celebrate each year by singing songs, giving gifts, and keeping in mind ‘the reason for the season’. Whether through history before or after Christ, we have added details of some jelly-belly bringing gifts, drinking eggnog, and having office parties until the New Year. Added to this in recent years, we have Christmas decorations sold before Halloween is here and, despite any economy, lists as long as our legs and retailers willing to sell us the items on that list. Don’t even get me started about the 362 different versions of The 12 Days of Christmas song. Is it just me? Or does just about everything around us scream for attention to be taken from Jesus? I remember as a child in my family that birthdays were important. You may be neglected the rest of the time, but on your ...

Do you think Mary ever gave Jesus a guilt trip over the pregnancy, labor and delivery? I know you're the Son of God and all, but I was in labor for 19 hours. And don't even get me started on the smell in that place, with all the barn yard animals.  And how does Jesus begin to answer that? Is that the time to remind Mom you are going to die for her sins as well as those of the whole world? Do you remind her that labor and delivery wasn't your fault, but Eve's? What about enlightening her to the fact that you've never done anything wrong? Have you ever tried to deliver a baby with the smell of goats? Have you ever seen the ways cows don't mind their own business? I have to say, being Jesus isn't easy. And don't get me started on Joe. He just sat in a corner while I did all the work. He tried to tell me he didn't do this to me, but I still blamed him.  Let's be real. The Christmas story is a messy story. In more ways than o...

It's not the only time that I expected a call from a grocery store informing me that there was a strange lady wandering the aisles and perhaps could I help, but this time the phone call was real close. And the lady in question was my wife. Side note: I haven't talked with grocery store managers and put my name on some sort of 'counseling needed' list. So I really shouldn't ever expect calls from a grocery store. But I think the idea is worth exploring. But oh, my wife!  She's been going through a mighty struggle with allergies. But she's like a Norseman when it comes to illness. She'll just glare at the sickness and shrug it off. Or, at least, that's what happens in her mind. In reality she drags her body around while trying to keep up with our kids and her normal schedule.  The great thing about my wife is that she's not so stubborn that she won't get some medicine after being down for 2 weeks. The even better thing about my wif...

This guy doesn't need any help directing traffic to his site. If anything, Jon Acuff of Stuff Christians Like  fame, is like a superstore that uses the other smaller store around him for extra parking. My blog, on the other hand, would be where you park when you just bought a new car and don't want to get it scratched. I digress. His post from yesterday is equal parts snarky, pointed and convicting. Oh, it's also good food for thought. You can check it out here . Woo!

It was 1741 when George Frideric Handel composed the Messiah. In the mix is the song For Unto Us a Child is Born . He used Isaiah 9:6. For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders.And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. That's good stuff and hopefully you're humming the tune in your head by now. In case it isn't, listen here . And that's nice. It's got good stuff. But I like to look at the context of Bible verses. Especially the famous and popular verses, we can learn a lot by where they are found. I kind of wonder which groups might sing this song with such flourish if it began with verse 5 from Isaiah 9. Every warrior’s boot used in battle and every garment rolled in blood will be destined for burning, will be fuel for the fire. At least now you have something for the guys to look forward to as well. If you know the tune, I think you can hear how the hi...

Most people that read my blog will not care about pro basketball but there was a nationally televised game between the San Antonio Spurs and the Miami Heat. Gregg Popovich, the coach of the Spurs, chose to send his 4 best players home before the game. The Spurs as a team are older and he decided to rest his stars throughout the season so they will be rested and ready for the playoffs. Now, forget for a moment that sports mean way too much in our world and athletes are overpaid. Let's take it for what it is and allow me to give you a few more details. The Miami Heat are the defending champs and this game was highlighted on national television.  So, because people talk all the time about sports and decisions, much was made about Popovich's choice to seemingly throw this game. People argued that this was way too early to be worried about the end of the season. This was too soon to be resting players.  Really? Are choices we make in November and December too soon ...

If you had told me there was a cookbook I would enjoy reading, I'd have asked if it was about bacon. Had you told me there was a book about communion that would leave me longing for the taste of wafers in my mouth, I'd have scoffed.  Keeping the Feast  is not about bacon and while I am not craving plastic wafers, I found myself riveted as I turned the pages of this book by Milton Brasher-Cunningham. In fact, I turned so many pages over and marked so many quote that you will probably see me referencing this book a few times on this blog.  Milton has taken communion, an admittedly oftentimes habit that we Christians have taken for granted and infused the readers, at least this one, with a sense of the more that it can be. In fact, on that very point, Milton agrees that we are creatures of ritual.  "Yes, we are. On purpose. Ritual is best defined as 'meaningful repetition' - repeating those things that help you remember, as the old saying goes, wh...

Watching the news, my wife and I came across 2 interestingly timed segments. The first was of a woman, Lindsey Stone, who took a picture that went viral. She was standing next to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, near a sign that read 'silence and respect.' The pic showed her yelling and holding up her middle finger. What was interesting was how people were calling for her to be fired. She works at a nursing home, who separated her actions from their core beliefs very quickly after the pic went viral. My first thought was to ask how her job was connected to what she did on her own. I know this is a slippery slope and can be instantly asked of every president who made a crucial error in moral judgement that likely did not affect job performance. (Read:Bill Clinton) This question has been asked of sports stars as well. Tiger Woods, anybody? And while I wondered why others might feel the need to call for Lindsey to lose her job, I couldn't help but imagine that th...

People won't always like what you say. The sooner you get accustomed to that idea, the easier the internet is going to be for you. Here's a case in point: People are all worked up over Bob Costas' recent comments regarding the Javon Belcher tragedy because of his views on gun control. Okay, I get that. But what's being missed is a great quote I discovered through a friend's blog, which you can find here . I'm choosing to highlight this because I want to argue about gun control.  I'm choosing to highlight this because I needed people to be angry with me. I'm choosing to highlight this because people often miss the main point. They get stuck on a detail they disagree about and then the main point gets ignored. So, to Howie Snyder, willing to face backlash if it comes, I say Woo!

It’s the story that never grows old. Filled with God’s special messengers, unexpected company from the field, unexpected gifts from special guests from afar. Tales of romantic twists and a marriage that almost wasn’t. Even the stars seemed to align themselves. And all of it centers in on a baby. Babies in our day are used to getting all of the attention. Company comes from all over to celebrate the new bundle of joy. Every little need they have is met with great attention by a mom or a dad. If it’s not, the cries come quickly. But this story of Christmas was more than the normal routine for a birth, even by first child standards. Yet, routine is one of the words that is unfortunately linked with Christmas. I find people can lean towards two categories when it comes to this holiday. They love it and begin to play Christmas music in late September or they will bemoan the fact that Christmas decorations pop up around the same time as Halloween stuff in all of our stores. ...

My family, like many others, has a traditions of busting out Christmas decorations as a way of shaking off the turkey-induced comas. That, and my wife knows I would put it off until the weekend before Christmas if it was left to me.  There I would be, on December 21, asking if decorating a floor lamp could count, since the light bulb at the top could act as the star. But the wife, joined by the children living with us (how many of them are there?) demand this tradition be carried out in its rightful time.  Getting out the Christmas decorations meant pulling out the nativity scene, which for us means a Little People version the kids can play with. At least it was one they used to play with when they were younger. Since it remains buried away for 11 months of the year, it still draws some interest.  They will divide the characters into 3 teams, causing the shepherds to be picked last, even behind the fuzzy sheep they were in charge of. Teams picked, the storyline begi...

Wm. Paul Young has done it again. Depending on how you felt about his book The Shack , it could very well determine if you are glad it  has happened again. His new book, Cross Roads , follows Anthony Spencer through his less than perfect life. If you liked the playful depictions of God from Young's previous bestseller, you're likely to enjoy this view as well. Some of this felt familiar, but that is far from a complaint. When a good reminder is given, it often is needed to be given again. You shouldn't fear that this is simply The Shack 2.0 , for new characters are introduced in unconventional ways, including an Irishman named Jack, who will feel like a welcome friend to many. Young does a good job of keeping the story moving, bouncing between several stories. I must admit there was at least one point where the story line felt forced in order to give Young a chance to stand on a soapbox. Readers can be sure that assumptions will be questioned and beliefs challenge...