Rick Nier...Woo!

My kids play soccer. We could have opted for an inside sport, but then there's no chance of watching your kids play in the rain while you freeze on the sidelines. Who wants that? Is that mud in our van ever going to come out? Probably not, but at least we watched 3 scoreless games. Hooray soccer! Have you ever seen a litter of kittens all go after the same ball of yarn? If so, you know what watching 7 and 8-year old girls looks like. As they get older, it looks pretty much the same, just with less cute. One of the things we start talking to all the players about, early and often, is to keep their heads up. A skill they must learn is how to kick the ball without looking at the ball. They can get so focused on kicking the ball in front of them that they become oblivious to everything else around them. Look up! But once they learn how to maintain control of the ball while keeping their heads up, the game changes. They can see where the opposition is coming from. They can see where the...

Who do you call on when the wife and mother are sick and the family still needs to eat? Normally I'd say my good friend Papa John. But we'd already called him. The illness lingered on and the children demanded to be fed more than once in a week's time. (Remind me to write about this demanding entitled generation, wanting to eat every single day.) So anyway, back to the original question. Who do you call when the wife is sick and stuff still needs to be done? That's right! You call the dad! So I decided to go grocery shopping. I could have made the list myself, but my wife thought I might not always make the best decisions. I'm not sure what she's talking about. Keebler is a quality product, am I right? List in hand, I trudged alone into the aisled wilderness. And I wandered. And wandered... Recognizing products that were often found in my kitchen, I threw them into my cart. Was there backtracking due to a poorly organized list? Maybe. But don't...

The church I am a part of, Winona Lake Free Methodist, turns 80 this year. We're having a big celebration on April 26. Learning more and more about this church has me thinking about legacy. I don't remember every moment in my life. Some moments are quite foggy. But three moments stand out with clarity. If you're counting my kids, then you know where I'm going. And at the risk of embarrassing my teenager at just the very mention of baby pictures, I'll tell you that’s exactly what I’m thinking of. Naked they all came from the womb. There was wiggling and noises and Jennifer and I were suddenly thrust into new roles: Parents! It was a great moment, to be repeated twice more, when I would hold a newborn baby that God had given to me. In those moments, I remember having a lot of hopes for my children. I remember having dreams of what they would become. Looking back, I know there was no way I could have predicted what Jacie would become 13 years later. Nor did I se...

I want to be fair here. I know things are not always as simple as they seem. But I want to be fair. Most things are not as complicated as we make them out to be. I received a book from my friends at SpeakEasy blogging. They often have books that stretch me. To be honest, I disagree with much of their theology, and Father Dark by Steven L. Case was no different. This novel centers around a dark angel. Only because I dislike spoilers will I not go into more details about how far off track I think this book goes. If this were all that bothered me about this book, I could look past it. After all, fiction can be fun. But.... This book has profanity. Not just the one or two examples used by some authors to show they are relevant or cool, or whatever reason Christian authors choose to grab low hanging fruit. This book has a lot of profanity. Much of it appears to have no purpose except to remind you the author knows profanity. For those who haven't heard me rant about profanity in book...

Here is what I find interesting. As Christians, we talk about Christmas in December, but that’s about it. To hear a lesson in July about the baby Jesus is like listening to Christmas music in January – nobody wants to hear about it anymore. It’s not that we don’t believe the story, but we basically read about it once a year. But Easter is different. As Christians, we talk about the resurrection story of Jesus all year long. Why? Because Jesus dying for our sins, and rising again (showing He had power over death) is the whole reason we are who we are. Paul wrote that without Jesus rising from the dead, we have nothing and our religion is pointless. Go ahead. Say those words out loud. Pointless. Nothing.  Say those words out loud while considering what it is you really believe. I can't speak definitively for you, but I know how I feel about things I believe. I know that I certainly don't want anyone considering my beliefs to be worthless or a waste of time. Think abou...