Rick Nier...Woo!

The leadership had discussed, deliberated and decided. There had certainly been debate. People felt strongly on both sides.  ‘If we allow this to happen, everything we stand for will mean nothing.’ Honestly, both sides were saying it and both felt it was a matter of salvation. ‘Agree with me or I don’t know how you could possibly be a Christian.’ After all, all the facts support my view. If you choose to believe otherwise, it is only because of  your preconceived or ill-conceived view of matters. I cannot possibly be judged for considering you to be less intelligent, less caring, or less than Christ-like if you oppose my view.  That’s what everyone, on both sides of the argument, was saying. The issue at hand was, of course, circumcision. I’m sorry, did you assume I was talking about something else?   The Council in Jerusalem had just met. It’s recorded in Acts 15 if you’d like to review it. Everyone who was anyone was there and they made certain their voice was hear...

If I told you that you needed to trust in God, you might assume that you already do. After all, you've went to church, or at least you did before a global pandemic hit our planet. Now you watch church and you're doing your best to balance the realities of our new normal with the lessons on trust you remember from your past. After all, God never said you shouldn't go see a doctor, and I'm not advocating that you only practice home healthcare.  But considering all the many amenities available to us, even during a worldwide crisis, it's fair to ask ourselves if we're living lives of trust or simply living with enough less to differentiate ourselves from those gluttonous monsters who never acknowledge God.  Do We Really Want to Compare? If comparisons are your game, let's play this game we can't possibly hope to win. Would you spend 100 years of your life building a boat in preparation for a worldwide flood? Never mind that Noah had previously never heard of...

The other day I was talking with my neighbor, and we were discussing all the raking we had been doing. (Needless to say, I have done more, but that’s not the point.)  I wondered aloud what it would be like if God had designed all the leaves to fall off the trees at the same time. The thought of being under a tree when all of its leaves came down in one big lump amused me. Can you imagine the trauma it might cause kids who are playing outside? The thought amused me even more.  My neighbor, who takes care of his yard to a degree that most of us can only aspire to (and then some) commented that we’d all have dead grass. Thanks, Johnny Raincloud. He might be right. Seeing a pile of leaves waist-deep would be very discouraging and might keep more of us from all the raking that we do. After all, we still rake all the leaves, but the work has been spread out over weeks.  Yes, I’m getting tired of my rake now, but a pile consisting of every leaf my trees ever held would feel insu...

I think you’re going to be glad you read my blog today. I think I’ve stumbled upon a great new idea that will revolutionize all your relationships. Which is to say, I’m going to attempt to tell you in a new way the old truth that has always been intended to be a part of healthy relationships.  So let’s clearly define the problem.  (Takes deep breath and attempts informercial announcer voice) Do you find yourself struggling with people? Have you been up late at night wondering what’s going on in their heads? Does the thought of living in this mysterious middle ground of not knowing their thoughts yet not being able to help others leave you feeling distressed? Is there anything that can be done? Yes, there is! From the Maker of relationships comes this revolutionary new product called Discourse. Yessss, Discourse has been found to remedy confusion, misunderstanding, breakdowns in communication, hurt feelings, lack of emotional connection, and so much more.  Here’s the best ...

You know those posts that talk about Jesus and then attempt to shame us into sharing? They are the ones that talk about how we share jokes every day but when something talks about Jesus, we just scroll on by.  Never mind they might be a repeat of an email we were forwarding to all our friends twenty years ago, the shaming is ridiculous. As if Jesus would only be convinced of our love for Him when we hit share on a social media post. But... There’s something they get right.  via GIPHY What Will We Hate on this Week? I was thinking about this the other day when I had a Nickelback song stuck in my head. (That’s right, I said it.) Everyone loves to hate on Nickelback, saying all their songs sound the same. That might be true. But if you like that one Nickelback song, then you’ll enjoy all of them.  The thing is Nickelback is the band everyone loves to hate...right now. But twenty years ago it was someone else. And isn’t there always a recent boy band...

Do you know what would make a great name for an epic hero? Nimrod. That’s right. Nimrod. The name you might hear relatives and friends calling someone they find to be stupid. Oh, wait, that doesn’t sound epic, does it? It didn’t to me either. But at one time... “Cush was the father of Nimrod, who grew to be a mighty warrior on the earth. He was a mighty hunter before the Lord; that is why it is said, “Like Nimrod, a mighty hunter before the Lord.” ~Genesis 10:8-9 Nimrod was such a warrior that the next few verses detail the cities he built and the kingdom he established. Warrior, hunter, hero. Thy name is Nimrod. Making Your Own Great Name One would assume the name of the first mighty warrior to walk the earth would still be revered. But go ahead and tell someone they remind you of Nimrod and see how that goes over for you.  via GIPHY See, unlike other biblical names which are hard to spell and harder to pronounce, Nimrod now has a negative con...

Buckle up boys and girls. We’re about to go on a wild ride today. When we consider the early chapters of Genesis, there are basically two camps; those who believe God created other people after He created Adam and Eve. And there are those of us who believe the early years were a purer version of Kentucky. You know what I mean, where kissing cousins is encouraged. Don’t come at me Kentucky. I know it’s not everyone down there, but you know where they are. We're going to do some math today. But wait, before you tune me out, we're also going to talk about sex. That's right. You'll be glad you stayed. So what are we talking about? How much coupling could the first couple couple? Math Time! How many kids are we talking about here? So, why all the baby math? I was conversing with friends about whether or not God created other people after He created Adam and Eve. As is normally the case when this conversation comes up, the question bothering people is whether ...

Let's take driving, for example. I'm in the process of teaching my son how to drive. He's the second child I'm teaching, so I feel like I've got a good handle on what needs to happen.  It's not like the first time I took my oldest out driving, started her at a stop sign in our quiet neighborhood and assumed she would know how to turn the steering wheel. Man, if street signs could talk, they would tell you about the day a crazy, tiny ginger played chicken with them. We're only a few lessons in with my son, but so far, so good. One of the things I'm teaching him is that you have to pay attention when you're driving. This would seem obvious, but my experiences with so many other drivers tells me it isn't.  via GIPHY Nowhere is this more painful than at four-way stops. It may seem confusing, but only if you don't understand how a clock works. (You see, the driver to the left yields to the driver on the right, and then it works around the...

As a parent of teenagers, I wonder what it must have been like to have the sort of relationship God had with Noah. God talked and Noah obeyed. Build a boat, God said. Noah built a boat. Put your family and pairs of animals on the boat. Noah put his family and pairs of animals on the boat. Ride out this storm for a year. Noah rode out the storm. Get off the boat, plant a vineyard, and get really drunk. Ok, nobody's perfect. Parenting my teenagers is nothing like any of that. Clean your room, I said. I didn't hear you, they respond. Do your chores. Do I have to? Are you even listening to me? What did you just say? via GIPHY On a positive note, none of them have planted a vineyard. People often express a desire for the kind of close relationships heroes from the Bible had with God. Noah, for the most part is a good example. Genesis 6:9 says " he walked in close fellowship with God." How many of us are willing to walk in close fellowship with God...

via GIPHY I don't know about you, but I have a lot of questions when I read the Bible. Even from the very beginning. I'm four chapters in and there is a lot happening. Adam and Eve have become the scapegoats for all of us to blame. Cain became the first in a long line of cases of sibling rivalry. Then we read about some of Cain's descendants. Then some interesting commentary happens. Adam and Eve have another boy. Seth grows up and he has a boy. And check this out; "When Seth grew up, he had a son and named him Enosh. At that time people first began to worship the   Lord   by name." ~Genesis 4:26 Excuse me?!? This is when people first began to worship the Lord by name. Really? How is that even possible? I'm one of those guys that accepts we don't know how long Adam and Eve were in the Garden of Eden. How much time passed between Genesis, chapter two, and Genesis, chapter three? It could've been weeks, coul...

via GIPHY We often ask why Adam and Eve, after having eaten from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, did not eat from the tree of life. After all, surely they knew what was to be gained from doing so. God seems to indicate that He needed to evict them from the garden before they did so in order to keep them from gaining eternal life in a manner that was not intended.  One might, with evil intent, wonder why eating from the tree of life was not their very next move. Again, God admitted they had elevated their nature in knowing good and evil.  I think I found the answer. "At that moment their eyes were opened, and they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness. So they sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves." ~Genesis 3:7 They were too busy covering their shame. It makes me wonder... How often do we miss out on life because we are dealing with the consequences of our sin?

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.  Can you believe that? via GIPHY The only thing more incredible than his request is the answer he receives from Jesus.  Yes. Ye...

I've said that I'm ok with being unknown, or insignificant, in the eyes of the world around me. The truth is probably closer to me dealing with the fact that I am relatively unknown and then using that reality to spiritualize it. Ah, what a twisted web we weave, rarely comprehending that the one we deceive is ourselves.  Nevertheless, reading the stories of the Bible and attempting to learn from the mistakes of others is helpful. Recently I was reading from Luke 19. Luke says the people referred to Zack as a notorious sinner. 1 Notorious. Zack wasn’t just your run-of-the-mill sinner. He was famous for sinning. Yeah, you and I might sin, but Zack sinned with flair. It was almost like an anti-spiritual gift, he was so famous for it. The people grumbled that Jesus would choose to go and dine with Zack. After all, who we choose to spend our time with says something about us, right? My mom used to tell me that I was most like the people I like the most. I’m not t...

We often criticize the Israelites for being unfaithful while wandering in the desert, always with sinful attitudes, even while daily receiving miraculous food from Heaven. How could they be so blind? How could they be so stupid? Didn’t they realize they were receiving daily blessings from God? Didn’t they understand that, every single day, God was proving to them that He thought of them, remembered them, and was providing for them? Every. Single. Day. Of course, we could never be so blind. That is, unless we put ourselves in their shoes. Then we might not be so quick to judge. We are told they needed to go out and get the amount of food they needed for that day.  Then the Lord said to Moses, “Look, I’m going to rain down food from heaven for you. Each day the people can go out and pick up as much food as they need for that day. I will test them in this to see whether or not they will follow my instructions. On the sixth day they will gather food, and when they prepare it, there...

Trust Me. That was the message God gave us. Trust Me. Anything else, God?  *Crickets I mean, God I am trusting you. I took this first step in faith. It wasn't easy. Perhaps you would like to expound further upon what you want me to do, to learn, to experience? Nope. Just. Trust. Me. I'm learning that asking to have more faith or trust in God is akin to asking for more patience. There's only one way to get it, and it's going to take time. So while I am waiting, I have been reading about Moses and the Israelites in the book of Exodus. I knew this would give me both good and bad examples of how to learn to trust in God. The Bad Example: The Israelites In Exodus 19, we learn that their trek from Egypt to Mount Sinai had taken ' exactly two months .' Have you ever considered some of the timeline of the Israelites and their transition from Egypt to the Promised Land? Yeah, we're familiar with the fact that it ended up taking 40 years, due to thei...

One day Moses was tending the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian. He led the flock far into the wilderness and came to Sinai, the mountain of God. ~Exodus 3:1 I have already acknowledged that it is I who must seek out God , no matter His purpose or His timing. Moses is a great example of this. He may not have intended to seek out God, but he found himself at the mountain of God. And that's when God started to move. God appears in the form of a bush that burned but didn't burn up. This intrigued Moses, and why not? But check out what happens next; When the Lord saw Moses coming to take a closer look, God called to him from the middle of the bush, “Moses! Moses!” ~Exodus 3:4 Do you see what's happening here? First, one had to go 'far into the wilderness' to get to the mountain of God. Too often we miss this and assume God can be accessed right around the corner. And while God is everywhere, I believe He wants us to make more effort to be whe...

This isn't what I expected when I made the announcement . To be fair, I'm not sure exactly what I expected. I knew I was taking a step out in faith. Whereas Lebron James was able to famously say he was taking his talents to South Beach, all I could say was that I was taking my talents... To where? Who knows! So yes, I have sent out resumes and cover letters. Yes, I have followed up on those contacts. I have done my due diligence. Nothing yet. I have been to an interview that looked promising . I have heard back from churches where I didn't make the next step of interviews. Meanwhile, I'm left with my unwritten expectations of what searching for a job would look like. As it turns out, not getting a job right away to move towards might be the best thing that's ever happened to my family. And it might be the best thing for your family too. Let me explain. When I first started having this conversation with people, I got lots of strange looks. So you...

Imagine we know this guy. But he's got some problems. Everyone is aware of this guy and his problems. And like most guys who have problems, this guy's problems become other people's problems.  Maybe we didn't care to do anything about this guy when his problems were just his problems, but now that his problems are everyone's problems, we agree something has to be done.  So we do something.  We problem solve. We attempt solutions. But let's assume none of our solutions work. As crazy as it sounds, we might stop attempting solutions.  Really?!? In the Gospel of Mark, we read about Jesus and His guys coming across just such a scenario. So they arrived at the other side of the lake, in the region of the Gerasenes. When Jesus climbed out of the boat, a man possessed by an evil spirit came out from the tombs to meet him. This man lived in the burial caves and could no longer be restrained, even with a chain. Whenever he was put into chains and shackles...

Over and over again, God’s love for us has been proven by action. We are called to reciprocate. We are called to commit. And most of us will nod our heads in agreement, believing we have committed. We talk about commitment. I’ve been reading through the book of Isaiah recently and came across this little pearl. In the year when King Sargon of Assyria sent his commander in chief to capture the Philistine city of Ashdod, the Lord told Isaiah son of Amoz, “Take off the burlap you have been wearing, and remove your sandals.” Isaiah did as he was told and walked around naked and barefoot. ~Isaiah 20:1-2 Oh, ok. Now it’s not enough to simply declare and teach the Word of the Lord. There’s a uniform. But wait, there’s more. Then the Lord said, “My servant Isaiah has been walking around naked and barefoot for the last three years. ~Isaiah 20:3 Hold on. Three years?!? Isaiah walked around in nothing but what God gave him for 3 years!?! On the bright side, you’d save time doing laundry. But...

I am not yet middle-aged. At least, that's what I tell myself. If you double my life, I'll be 20 years from the century mark, which I fully plan on reaching. And while I'd like to think I'll have as much awesome then as I do now, there are probably things I won't be doing. They include, but are not limited to: Exercising. If I make it to 100, I'll treat myself to some days without getting the heart rate up. Eating healthy. All cookies, all the time. You never know when it might be your last. Going to the bathroom just once in the middle of the night. Let's just be realistic here. Working. Except maybe as a Walmart greeter. It could happen. Having more babies. I'm not saying I couldn't. I'm just saying I wouldn't. But there was a guy I read about recently who was having babies at 100, and for him it was a big deal. Reading the story of Abraham and Sarah takes only a relatively few chapters in the book of Genesis. But it stems over 2...