Rick Nier...Woo!

Imagine a world, perhaps centuries farther into history than we are now, where there is no concept of satire or sarcasm. First of all, it’s a world I would be incapable of living in. But more importantly it is a world in which this book I’m about to describe could never be appreciated. I present to you  How To Be a Perfect Christian; Your Comprehensive Guide to Flawless Spiritual Living. This literary gem is written by the good humored people at The Babylon Bee. If you haven’t been introduced to their satirical, fake-news style coming across your social media news feeds, you’re missing out. Or you might be the people of which they are making fun. What they’ve brought us here is a fantastic look at the wonderful subculture we call American Christianity, poking fun at some of our more...er...endearing qualities. Giving us insights like how to pick a church that will focus on us to the finer points of how to look spiritual online, they really have thought of everything. Worshippi...

She said to pray for a student who was standing near us. To be clear, she asked all the students in the building to nod so that people near them would know they were a middle school or high school student.  Since I’ve reached the age where everyone under 30 looks like they could still be in high school, this was a smart thing to do. It would be awkward to start praying for someone’s high school career and find out they graduated in 2012. But, for me, it was also unnecessary, because I was standing next to my middle school aged son, with his two sisters just beyond him.  She directed us to pray for these students in light of what recently happened in Parkland, Florida. No problem!  I pray for my three, and several others, every single day. It’s not just guns I fear. It’s temptations of every variety, the peer pressure that comes from every side, the stress of trying to perform well academically and socially, and on and on and on. It’s also that they would stay saf...

If you will indulge me, I will be honest with you. To say last year brought about a little bit of change would be like saying the Titanic’s first voyage was a bit of disappointment. Or that Tom Brady has found a level of success throwing around a football. Or that millenials communicate better through memes than words. Yeah, the changes were big. If you weren’t sitting around, just watching me live my life, let me give you the Sparknotes version; My wife and I each got new jobs, after having worked in the same building, together, for 15 years. After a couple of months of unemployment, my wife got a new job at a new church. After a few more months than that, where I dabbled in construction and pretended to enjoy substitute teaching, I got a job in marketing. All of these changes have left me thinking plenty of thoughts about who I am, what I do, and just how I have come to find myself where I find myself. Be assured, this isn’t about gratitude. I love the story I get to share about ...