Rick Nier...Woo!

Imagine being in the best place ever. Don't get hung up on it looking like other people's best place ever. Just imagine a place that you never tired of, never grew weary of being and could never imagine some place better. Best place ever. Now imagine the best person ever. Don't make this about a boyfriend or girlfriend. Forget the possibilities of tension. Just imagine a person that you never grew tired of, never grew weary of being around, and could never imagine someone better to hang out with. Best person ever. In the best place ever. Now imagine a scenario in which I could give you something to stop hanging around with the best person ever, in the best place ever. What kind of trade would it take? What kind of deal could I make you? Seems ridiculous, right? What could I possibly have to trade you for being in the best place with the best person? You'd have to be a fool...or at least be fooled into thinking there was something else...something more. May...

It seems everyone is busy all the time these days. And then December comes and we all believe we have some superhuman ability to squeeze 25 hours worth of stuff into a 24 hour day. Sorry, I don't know how well you math, but it doesn't work so well. As a church, we often attempt to remove some of our regular programming to afford families more time together. So what do we do when Christmas lands on a Sunday? How do you cancel when the holiday is supposed to be about Jesus? I have seen larger churches do so, and I understand. When you depend on a large volunteer group week in and week out, giving them a break seems like the right thing to do. We also depend on volunteers, but somehow it doesn't feel the same. So, if you look below, you'll see an invite to a Birthday Party on Christmas morning. I know you have your normal Christmas traditions. So does my family. I'm encouraging you to join us as part of your family tradition this year.

In Matthew 2, the Magi come to visit King Herod. They ask about the King of the Jews. We’re told King Herod is disturbed and all Jerusalem with him. He asks the chief priests and the teachers of the law for details on where the Christ was to be born. Why are the chief priests disturbed? Why all of Jerusalem? King Herod being disturbed, I get. He was a king, and the mention of another king coming would naturally be seen as a threat. King Herod responds and acts throughout this story just as we should expect him to act. But the teachers of the law? Were they not focused on the prophecies at all? Jesus came quoting the Law and the Prophets. I assumed God’s people would be about looking for the Messiah. They knew enough to tell Herod the Christ was to be born in Bethlehem. And why didn’t they go to Bethlehem? They hear that a star has been seen, and that foreign kings are coming to see this baby born, but we have no record of them checking it out for themselves. Understand, this is before ...

I came across a song that used the phrase 'God of Jacob'. I wondered why. Why that phrase to refer to God? I mean, I know Jesus referred to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. But if you were to rank them, wouldn't Jacob come in a distant third?  Let's think about this. I know Abraham wasn't perfect, but he did have that whole faith thing going on. Isaac, except for maybe missing his mom too much, was boring enough not to lose this 3-man race.  But Jacob? Not only does his name actually mean 'deceiver', he seems to work hard to live up to the name. Yet as he gets older, we start to see a change of heart, which brings him back home. And that's when we run across this story. That night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two female servants and his eleven sons and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. After he had sent them across the stream, he sent over all his possessions. So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. When ...

The email said it was a book about hearing God. The subtitle is How to Recognize His Voice Everywhere . How do you turn that down? I like conversations. I believe in the idea of a relationship with God being important. So if I could do that even better, I want to hear the idea. I'll admit I was a bit skeptical when I got the book. I was afraid I would be halfway through when the weird would come out. But it didn't happen. Samuel shared his story, which involved listening for God's voice in natural ways. He share about how meditation can work, how to study God's Word, and why we should be trusting God more than we trust ourselves. Along the way, Samuel discusses the difficulties, the roadblocks and the detours we take in a relationship with God. But through it all, he points us to what can be. Knowing that doubters gotta doubt, Samuel even goes the extra mile, with two appendixes to answer potential arguments. All in all, I would recommend this for anyone who t...

At our church we have a preschool. As one of the pastors, I go in about twice a month and lead a chapel time, where I share a teaching with them. In the past few years, I have found a list of verses to bring a focus for the entire year. For example, I've done the Fruit of the Spirit, 1 Corinthians 13, and one year I told them many stories of Jesus interacting with people. Each year, we work on memorizing several verses along the way. And even though these kids are all age 2 through age 5, they can do a great job. This year, I've decided to go through the Armor of God with them, found in Ephesians 6:10-18. I'll post them here, or at least some printable version of what I say here. Be strong in the Lord.   That's where we started. I came in, complete with sweatbands around my head and wrists, and told the kids I was getting swole for Jesus, because the Bible said to be strong in the Lord. As the silliness subsided, I talked to them about depending on God for th...

Hey Parents. I'm going to be a little blunt today. This post may sound self-serving, but there's a truth you need to hear. I was reading Barna research today. You can see the article here . They have done their homework and found that 73% of us Americans identify as Chistians. Woo Hoo, let's celebrate! That means 3 out of every 4 people in American are professing to follow the commands of Jesus. Never mind that most of us can turn on the evening news or look at our newspaper and readily see that 3 out of 4 people are certainly not following the commands of Jesus. 73%. That's a lot. Even if that many people were simply trying to be like Christ, we would have a pretty good thing going on. Oh....wait a minute.... Barna doesn't stop with asking people what they profess to believe. They ask them how they are practicing their professed beliefs. So Barna defines a 'practicing Christian' as someone who identifies as a Christian and attends a church service...

I want to remind us what Church can look like, by viewing a few different examples of the early Church in the book of Acts. Before Paul was standing before Festus, a group of people were making a name for themselves, living out their mission, sometimes in ways that look very differently than anything we would be comfortable with. As we glimpse at these truths, it will be up to each one of us to decide what we will do. And my hope is that if we, like the crowd in Acts 2, ask 'what shall we do?', then we'll be quick to respond as well. For when Peter told that crowd they should repent and be baptized, they did, and 3,000 people were added to the Church that day. Point 1 - We should never shy away from the Truth. Tell the Truth In Acts 3, Peter and John are heading to a prayer service (something Rick Hurley is wishing more people would do) and they run into this guy who was totally lame. I mean, really uncool. Just kidding, the guy couldn’t walk. So Peter heals him in the name...

I got the privilege of preaching this past Sunday. This was just the intro...if you like it, I may post more of it later this week.  Do you want to hear one of the saddest verses in all the Bible? Let me tell you a story. Paul had been arrested for preaching Jesus and he is being tossed from one court to another as Roman judges spent their time coaxing one another's egos and skirting around justice by passing the question of what to do with Paul on to each other. In Acts 25, we find Paul standing trial before Festus, who is planning to pass him along to Caesar. Before he does, King Agrippa comes along and they discuss Paul's case. Festus admits that Paul's case has to do with religion. 17 “When his accusers came here for the trial, I didn’t delay. I called the case the very next day and ordered Paul brought in. 18 But the accusations made against him weren’t any of the crimes I expected.19 Instead, it was something about their religion and a dead man named Jesus, who Paul ...

I used Psalm 42:1-2 as a call to worship yesterday, but as I said then, it wasn't the whole story. The first 2 verses might seem like a nice scripture to put on a pillow, or a painting with a deer in a forest, to simply indicate we love being with God. But if you read the rest of Psalm 42, this is written by a guy who has felt abandoned by God and longs desperately to be in His presence. Better than picturing a deer, peacefully roaming the forest, we might rather picture a critically wounded person reaching out for one last grasp towards life. He recalls a time when he was happy, singing praises to God. He was with all of his people, singing, dancing and generally having a great time. Now, in verse 5, he asks his soul 'why are you so downcast?' One can almost hear the painful mock, as he knows why he is disturbed. Unlike many who abandon any hope to be found in God, this guy reminds himself that hope is eternally to be placed in God. Though the times are tough, a...

I couldn't believe it, even as it was happening. We bounced a rubber ball against a bell for an hour. Before you scoff, I believe you've been there yourself. Maybe it was before Netflix was a thing, and there were no Olympics to watch. Perhaps you were bored beyond belief. But all of the sudden you found yourself doing something that should be simple over and over again. Add a twist, and you suddenly find yourself challenged to do something admittedly less than spectacular. I doubt Whaley Ball will ever find its' way into the Olympics. (The game is named after the person at camp whose memorial bell we were using to play the game. Yes, we played on a memorial bell.) I also don't see myself training to get better. But on that last night at camp, teens and leaders worked together to bounce a small rubber ball against a bell. How was this challenging? We couldn't let the ball drop to the ground. And we had to throw the ball again while the sound of the bell still ...

There's something that I have never fully come to grips with in youth ministry. It's how there don't seem to be enough opportunities to eat pizza. Just kidding . It's parents. Sort of.... Let me explain. When I was a teenager, I was in church whenever the doors were open. Actually, my parents were such sticklers for time management, that I was often there even when the doors were not yet opened, because we would beat the pastor there. Eventually, my parents received keys to the church. Now, instead of simply waiting for others, we could be useful  and set up chairs or tables for whatever event was about to happen. Thanks mom and dad! Now, don't get me wrong. I wasn't rebelling against anybody and not wanting to go to church. I had friends there and I liked my youth pastor and I wanted to be there, generally speaking. But I also knew that it didn't really matter what I wanted  to do. Unless I was sick, I would be in church. Fast forward a couple o...

The Atonement of God; Building Your Theology on a Crucivision of God is the latest book I have read. Written by J.D. Myers, it is about a new way to view the crucifixion of Christ, which Myers argues is actually a very old way to view things. Starting out by arguing why the Penal Substitution theory is incomplete, Myers presents to us the Nonviolent view of atonement. For the sake of space here, I will drastically over simplify things this way; the nonviolent view of atonement says that God did not will Jesus to the cross, but we humans did. God then used the sacrifice to defeat sin and death, but apparently this was not necessary for forgiveness, since God had already given us that. The theory is needed, of course, to help us make sense of a God who is love but also demands justice. At least, this is what J.D. Myers argues.  The book is set up with alternative views of the atonement, with some discussions, some very important discussions, left out, ostensibly for other book...

I turned 40 over a year ago. I'll give you a moment to process that. I know you're not supposed to ask a youth pastor how old he is, but I offered. Why is that significant? Except for the increasing pain in my knees, it's not. Really . I think I handled turning 40 better than I did turning 30. Don't ask me why. The best I can venture is that by the time I reached 40, I understood I was viewed as older by the teens I work with and I simply stopped caring what other people thought. I feel good. Honestly . The worst part is increasing the exercise to compensate for the amount of cookies I eat. One might wonder why I don't just eat less cookies, but I don't really have time for people who ask questions like that. Here is what has changed. I now have 2 of my own children who are part of my youth ministry. So when other teens look at me and marvel that I'm old enough to be their dad, they're not wrong. In fact, I'm older  than some of their parents....

Hey Rick, remember when you used to post more than just book reviews to your blog? Ummm....yeah? So, what about that? Are you ever going to do that again? What? Are you ever going to blog an original thought again, or are you simply going to review other people's thoughts for us? When you put it like that, it sounds kind of harsh. It's the voices in your head, so you should be used to that by now. Good point. So, stop avoiding the question. Are we ever going to see you blog regularly again? This question leaves so much room for disappointment. In my head, there are 3 groups out there. Those who fear I'll say no and be faced with a blogosphere without my drivel. Those who are scared I'll say yes and be faced with reading more of my drivel.  Those who wonder if a 'yes' from me is only temporary. So I am going to answer with a maybe. I intend to. I have some more thoughts to inflict on share with the world. But if you're looking for a...

Have you ever heard someone say, "I really like Jesus. It's His bride I can't stand?" Yeah, I used to laugh at that. Because it's ironic, right? Loving Jesus, yet disliking the people He has called us to love, which, by the way, includes you. Then someone asked me to consider saying that to any other man on the planet. Go ahead. Walk up to any guy, tell him how much you like him, then tell him you can't stand his bride. Better yet, try doing this on someone's wedding day. I can't imagine it goes over well. I also can't imagine any scenario where Jesus simply shrugs off the comment and laughs. So when I saw the title of this book by Ted Kluck and Ronnie Martin, I was hooked fast. The subtitle helped; What To Do When God's People Hurt God's People . Like anyone else who has been a part of a church for longer than 18 verses of I Surrender All , I have seen God's people hurt God's people. Ted and Ronnie have been a part of t...

Have you ever felt like you were falling short of all your parenting goals? Ever recalled all your statements of what kind of a parent you'd be before you had kids, and then realized you were striking out on all of them? Ever looked around at other parents and wondered what kind of voodoo magic they were using to create such normal human beings who contributed to society? Are you a parent? If your answer is yes to this last question, then it has, in your most honest moments, been yes to all the previous questions as well. Parenting Without Regret: Raising Kids with Purpose, Not Perfection  is a book by Jimmy and Laura Seibert, which may or may not help. I know, I know, that doesn't sound like a glowing endorsement of a book. But hear me out. I liked this book. I think you should read this book. If other books read more like practical how-to's, then this was more like a book on theory, which is very important. We all need parenting hacks, but we also need to stop an...

Yes, please! That's the answer to the question of whether every parent should have this book in your hands. It also answers the following questions; Can any and every parent put this book into practice? Will this book give me a renewed focus and energy into my parenting? Will this book give me a few ideas for asking questions? (How about hundreds!) Jonathan McKee has offered up a tool with parents, teens, and all of our busy schedules in mind. Each chapter is concise, full of stories, ideas and lots of good discussion starters.  I'm not exactly sure how he does it, but somehow McKee manages to show his expertise and experience while still making the reader feel like he is just one of us. I'm sure he would say that he IS just one of us.  By sharing his successes and his failures, he opens up the possibilities of what could be happening between parents and their teens. Giving us each hope that today's drama doesn't have to be tomorrow's certai...

College Rules! That's why I am going back! Ok, not really....at least, not anytime soon...that I know of... But College Rules is the latest book I've been reading. It's called College Rules!: How to study, survive, and succeed in college . Here's part of what it says on the back; College can be the most exciting time in your life, but it also throws you into the deep end, with new academic and social responsibilities often seeming impossible to juggle.  Honestly, I requested the book because of the college ministry I lead. I thought it might be a great book to pass along. I was right. This book, by Sherrie Nist-Olejnik and Jodi Patrick Holschuh, both PhD's, is packed with all sorts of great stuff. Since both authors are college profs, they have seen many a student succeed, and many a student fail, in college. This fourth edition offers all the advice on what to expect, how to choose a major, how to study, handle stress, manage your time and money, and e...

It's not going to come to that. That's what I told myself. I would turn out to be incorrect. I have been wrong plenty of times in my life, but in this particular instance, I was travelling south on I-65 with my family. We left northern Indiana for the middle of Tennessee, telling ourselves we would stop when we were a) close to Murfreesboro and b) tired of driving for the day. Having run into several traffic jams and being reasonably close to fulfilling both a and b of our requirements, my wife started to search for hotels on her phone. Her search turned into despair quickly as we realized that apparently everyone in the Midwest decided to travel south in I-65 on the same day. A few phone calls revealed there were no vacancies within 50 miles of where we were. At this point, we had reached Murfreesboro. I went into the last few hotels around, only to be told, "Sorry, we have no more room in the inn." It was like being told, "Welcome to your new l...

If someone were to make a realistic movie based on the book of Judges, no responsible parent would let their teens see it. That's how I started my discussion with my youth group last night. We looked at the life of Samson, a guy with such anger issues, he makes the Incredible Hulk seem rather friendly and docile by comparison, And let me just say how much fun it can be to introduce teens who clearly only think they know the Bible stories. Just telling the story of Samson left so many shocked looks on their faces, and his story is only 4 chapters long. Judges 13-16 if you want to read it yourself . I told the teens over and over again how we all have to make a choice. God vs BAE. For those of you wondering what BAE means, it's slang for before anyone else . We're discussing how each of us has to make a choice to put God before everyone, including the crush and the guy and the date and, yes, even the spouse. BAE gives you a narrow focus where you only have energy for ...

Jesus tells this story of a guy who gets beat up along the road to Jerusalem. Maybe you have heard the story. In case you haven't ever heard the story, here it is in a nutshell.  guy gets beat up and left for dead. Then, as Jesus tells it, 3 people pass along this road. Two of them claimed to be followers of God, leaders even, and they saw him and just kept walking. The third guy, a Samaritan, came along and helped the man.  Maybe you know the point Jesus is trying to make. I have heard, and even taught, many lessons distinguishing those who think they are religious from those who actually practice loving their neighbor.  But do you know what led to the guy getting beat up? What if the guy who got beat up made a poor choice that led to his downfall? Does that change how we see the situation? Do we at least understand how otherwise religious people might do nothing? See, it started out with my van getting towed, while I was in a restaurant, in another cit...

Acts 13 lists a guy by the name of Manaen and we are told he was a childhood friend of a Herod who would be King. Manaen is listed in Acts 13 among the prophets and teachers of the church in Antioch. If these two facts combined don’t raise some eyebrows, then maybe you’re not familiar with the name Herod. From the Bible, we’re not given anything more about the life of Manaen. He was a leader in church and he used to play tag with Herod, who was decidedly not a leader of the church. Can you imagine the background of Manaen? Did he go over to play at Herod’s house? What was that like? What did he overhear? Did he know about some baby Messiah? Were there rumors? What did this guy grow up believing about the world? About Judaism? About John the Baptist? About Jesus? Using other ancient texts, some believe Manaen’s family and Herod’s family had been connected for a few generations. Manaen was likely educated by private tutors along with Herod and his brother. What brought...

Here is the advice I gave to my wife yesterday morning.   Happy Leap Day wife!  Yes, I often call her wife.  It's February 29. This only happens once every 4 years. So take advantage of it. Live it to the full. It's a gift from God.  But if you feel like you need to correct somebody who comes to you expecting a little too much from Leap Day, then feel free to remind them that today is not actually an extra day. That's right! Today is not Leap Day! How can you say that, Rick? It's Leap Day. This day only comes along once every four years.  Assuming we are all going to survive this year, and yes I realize that's an assumption, today is not the extra day. For all of us living this day, we would have lived this day even in a non-leap year. We simply would have called it March 1.  If every year has 365 days, then the extra day we are given this year will be the 366th day. That would be December 31. So the extra gift is not coming our wa...

Have you ever come across someone who was really bold, but not necessarily in the good way? It's the person you agreed to give a ride to, and along the way they ask you if they can make a second stop. It's someone asking for money and then you watch them spend it on something they didn't need. It could be the child who comes to the dinner table and announces why they don't like what you cooked. Maybe it is the people who refuse to help, yet criticize the work being done. The nerve of some people, right? It's the guy being crucified next to God. This guy being crucified for being a thief. Yeah, the guy who, according to Roman rule, deserved to be there. We're given no indication that this guy, this thief, had anyone there who was about to miss him. That guy. He turns to Jesus and asks if he can get into Heaven.  Do you believe that? The only thing more incredible than his request is the answer he receives from Jesus.  Yes. Yes?  Are you k...

About once a month I go into our preschool and teach a lesson to a group of 2-5 year olds. There are about 60 of them, so question and answer time can be pretty fun. This year I am taking them through 1 Corinthians 13 and we're learning about love. Love is patient, love is kind, it does not envy, it does not brag or boast.                          ~1 Corinthians 13 The next part of the verse we’re learning is ‘love is not rude.’ I asked them what it meant to be rude. One kid said when you blow someone up with a tank. Yes, I suppose that would qualify as rude.  Another way to say it would be that love does not dishonor. This means that we should treat people with respect and show them, by what we say and do, that we value them. I asked a volunteer to squeeze a tube of toothpaste for me until the tube was empty. I picked a sweet young girl, who squeezed until the tube was empty. Then I said, "Now I need you to put all...

This is what I shared with my youth group just before the halftime spectacle of Super Bowl 50. Coldplay and friends will have 11 minutes to perform. Does that sound ridiculously short to you? It does to me. We have this big game that everyone wants to be a part of. The NFL teams work all year to make it to this point. Broadcasters and analysts desire to be a part of this game. Companies pay millions of dollars to show a 30 second commercial at this event. People plan ahead to be a part of a party to watch it all. And bands are honored to be selected as the half-time show. 11 minutes. That’s all the time they have. No wonder too, because there are commercials to show, game analysis to talk about, interviews to be done, field prep and stage set-up….and don’t forget about that game needing to be played. The planners of this game squeeze it all in because they want to grab our attention. The companies want us to notice and purchase their product. The band wants us to like and purch...

Much is said about the rush of the Christmas season. Do we even take time to slow down and remember why we asked for new tech from our wife? Or why we gave out gift cards when we didn't know what else to get our friends? What I think gets missed is that the New Year comes in with as much noise as all the Christmas songs ever could. Even if we had slowed down to read again about God become a man, the hectic pace picks up exactly where it left off once the calendar year turns over. And why not? The work our boss was kind enough to let slip in the last week of December will now require our full attention the first week of January. And those resolutions aren't going to write themselves. While I have no problem with people challenging themselves to new things this year, I wonder if we should start by resolving to know why we're resolving. My fear is that the new diet, the new exercise habit, the new reading goal, the scary business opportunity, the money saving idea....along wit...

As we were driving along one day, I told my teenage daughter that the decisions she made today would have an impact for years to come. Specifically, the choices she made now to work hard on her classes and her grades would have a direct impact come time for high school graduation. Nobody thinks about what the valedictorian is doing on an average Friday night in October their sophomore year. In fact, nobody wants to think about the hours of research and study that it takes to earn high grades. But when it comes time for the awards and recognition, then everyone wants a piece of the action. I told her to consider now how she wanted to feel later on. Life works in a similar fashion. There will be some rewards handed out for all eternity. Nobody wants to think right now about the work, the self-control, the earnest longing it takes to be a committed disciple of Jesus. But some day....