Rick Nier...Woo!

I am more than halfway through the last year of dropping one of my children off at school. It's my eighth grade daughter, for anyone keeping track of my family.  See, next year she will be at the high school, and her brother will drive her. He says that it's not cool for seniors to drive their freshman sister to school, but I bet it's cooler than being dropped off by your mom in a minivan.  So rather than groan about this daily responsibility, I've been reminiscing about what the drop-off line used to look like, way back in elementary school. Once our children were about halfway through their elementary years, the drop-off line became a test of patience.  Do you know which group you do not want to get caught behind in the parent drop-off line at an elementary school? The kindergartners. These little ones are barely able to walk, but now we put them in the high-pressure situation of trying to unbuckle their seat-belt, grab their backpack (which might be as tall as they a...

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...

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...

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 a whipping boy is? I looked it up. It's  a person who is blamed or punished for the faults or incompetence of others.  The problem with a whipping boy is that he is whipped so often people begin to assume he deserves it. Or the boy just accepts his fate and acts into the very nature of who people believe he is.  But who is defending the whipping boy? Who is taking a second look and asking if the boy really deserves all of the ire he is receiving? Today, it’s me.    via GIPHY Social Media is the Whipping Boy  Social media is just entering its adolescent years, and like many adolescents, it is acting in some strange and unconventional ways that make people question what is going on.  Many words have been written about the dangers of social media, none the least of which would be the supposed separation from real life interactions. But it doesn’t take a highly educated look to put some things together and no...

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...

In Luke 7, we read about Jesus having dinner with a Pharisee. There's a lesson to be had there, because I rarely eat with those whom I disagree, but that may be part of the problem we see in our politically divided country today. But I digress.  On this occasion, dinner was interrupted by a woman, known to be sinful, coming in and anointing Jesus  with perfume and then crying all over His feet. What's telling is what Luke wants us to remember about this story, because he focuses on the subsequent conversation between the Pharisee and Jesus and not the awkwardness of a woman interrupting dinner to wash the feet of a dinner guest with her tears and her hair. But the bigger problem is that I imagine most of us read this story and say something like, I need to love God more. While this is true, what we really need is to understand how depraved we really are. I'm convinced if we understood the depth of our depravity, we would be moved to chase after God more than we ar...

There are many benefits of the job I have working for a Christian college. One of them is to pull out the trump card and say, I thought you loved Jesus , whenever they say something I don’t like. Ok, I’m kidding. I don’t actually say it out loud.  The real benefit is working among like-minded believers who know we are all in this mission together to serve the King. Oh, we surely forget from time to time, and we all have our levels of maturity in the faith. But when we stumble, we’re surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses who can pull us aside and say, I thought you loved Jesus . (Kidding. Again, no one says it out loud.) But here’s something that, seriously, does keep us all grounded. The faculty and staff are encouraged to attend the chapel services alongside the students. Yes, we all have much to keep us busy and it would often be easier to keep plugging away on a project or two.  Yet there is no greater equalizer when people of different levels of authority g...

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...

God died for me. Say that to yourself a few times. Perhaps highlight each word in your mind...or allow me. God died for me. God died  for me. God died for  me. God died for me . I struggle to allow other people to get the check at a shared meal. Well, at least let me get the tip.  I refuse small gifts all the time, either from some false sense of deprivation or some feeling of not wanting to put the other person to any trouble. Normal gifts; a cup of water, help with a small project, time spent listening to my problems. Normal amounts: nothing life changing like a kidney transplant or buying me a home. Normal people: with apologies to people who want to feel extraordinary every single day, I'm talking about people who are basically just like me. They're not better or worse...just people. Yet I struggle to accept their gifts. So what makes me so readily willing to accept this gift of God? God, not like me in any way. Better in every way. Inconceivably mor...

Here's a quick recap if you're just tuning in this week. You have a bunch of people acting as if they're drunk who aren't drunk and a spokesperson explaining it as Jesus. Then you have a crowd asking what should be done about this. This begs the question of what you might do if you had the attention of a crowd and they were asking for your opinion. Now may be your one shot, your 15 minutes of fame. This opportunity set before you is golden, where you just might be able to get even half these people to listen to your advice. If there's anything you want, now is your time to mention it. So what would you say? If you are Peter in Acts 2, you are quick to focus again on Jesus. He’s kind of predictable like that! 38 Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the...

I want to play a little game. I’ll give you a scenario and you tell me what your first assumptions are. 120 people are all gathered in one place. It’s windy. Everyone starts seeing things. Then everyone starts speaking in foreign languages. They are speaking in foreign languages they didn't previously know. Another large crowd gathers. Some in the second crowd assume the first crowd is all drunk. When have you seen someone who appeared drunk, only they weren't drinking? Okay, maybe you have heard this story before, but the best part is still to come. Peter turns the focus to Jesus. “‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. 18 Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy. 19 I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood a...

I've never been a drinker. I've never even tasted beer. It's just not an interest of mine. But, even with my inexperience now clearly stated, I want to take a guess about something. Most people don't want to be referred to as drunks. Call it a hunch or whatever, but since drunkenness is, at the very least, associated with looking stupid, I'm guessing I'm right about this. If you're with me so far, then picture this. There's a large group of people gathered. The wind is howling and all of the sudden, there's a whole lot of talking. It all sounds like nonsense to you, but everyone in the crowd seems to be understanding each other, sort of the way two different animals seem to understand each other. Then someone tapes the animals, the video goes viral and girls around the world say ' awwww !' All it would take is for some guy to come along and say how stupid the video is for girls everywhere to stand up and make a defense. This is exactly what h...

You had one rule! One. Rule!!!! That's what I would say to Adam and Eve. I imagine that's what a lot of people would say to Adam and Eve.  We have lots of rules. In fact, you can even find books of ridiculous rules that have been made. For every dumb thing that has been done, a dumber rule has been made to keep it from happening again.  For example... In the state of Florida, if an elephant is left tied to a parking meter, the parking fee has to be paid just as it would for a vehicle. Well....yeah! In the state of Indiana, it is illegal to catch a fish with your bare hands. So much for the days of letting men be men. We have so many rules, in fact, that we have arguments over interpretations of these rules. Adam and Eve broke their one rule. We break every rule. Perhaps rules are not the problem. My belief is that they are not the solution either.  For the solution, we turn to Ephesians 2:8-10. Recently I shared this with the youth of our church, telli...

Have you ever experienced that moment when your parents are so mad they don’t even spank you? That moment when they are so angry they sputter and stammer and don’t actually say anything? Or maybe they were so furious with you they said something like, “Get out of my sight before I do something I regret!” Geez Mom, that escalated quickly. God had a moment like that. It happened in Exodus 33. God said to Moses: “Now go. Get on your way from here, you and the people you brought up from the land of Egypt. Head for the land which I promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying ‘I will give it to your descendants.’ I will send an angel ahead of you and I’ll drive out the Canaanites, Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. It’s a land flowing with milk and honey. But I won’t be with you in person—you’re such a stubborn, hard-headed people!—lest I destroy you on the journey.” Exodus 33:1-3 ‘If I were to go with you I might destroy you.’ That might cause some conce...

I have to be gut-level honest here. I know that many pastors and people and churches can be all over the place when it comes to our focus. I have always been a grace kind of guy. I will always be a grace kind of guy. I have, at times, felt guilty about this, as if grace is somehow inferior to law, inferior to deeper thinking, somehow a 1 st -grade mentality to our Christian discipleship. But I don’t agree. I believe even the Law that God gave Moses had grace in it. How else do you explain that a man can commit a sin, which is so heinous to God that death is required, but God steps back and says, ‘You know what…kill this goat and a couple of birds and we’ll call it even.’ How is that even close to even? Fair? No, it’s grace. However you interpret salvation and end-times and works and faith, the whole system is based on grace, an undeserved gift from God. Where am I getting this from? James chapter 4, that's where. Check it out.  4  What causes fights and quarrels ...

But he gives us more grace. ~ James 4:6 I have to be gut-level honest here. I know that many pastors and people and churches can be all over the place when it comes to our focus. But I have always been a grace kind of guy. I will always be a grace kind of guy. I have, at times, felt guilty about this, as if grace is somehow inferior to law, inferior to deeper thinking, somehow a 1st-grade mentality to our Christian discipleship. But I don’t agree. I believe even the Law that God gave Moses had grace in it. How else do you explain that a man can commit a sin, which is so heinous to God that death is required, but God steps back and says, ‘You know what…kill this goat and a couple of birds and we’ll call it even.’ How is that even close to even? Fair? No, it’s grace. However you interpret salvation and end-times and works and faith, the whole system is based on grace, an undeserved gift from God.

I shared this following story with my youth group on Sunday to demonstrate the idea that fair is not an issue in the Gospel story. Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned— We can read verses like Romans 5:12 and be pretty bummed. We didn't choose Adam to represent all of us. What's Adam's deal, anyway? Isn't he kind of stupid for screwing it up for all of us? But then we scroll down to Romans 5:18-19 and we read about Jesus taking all the bad stuff away. Consequently, just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act resulted in justification and life for all people. For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous. That happened a long time before we were born as well. We also didn't choose Jesus or know what ...

I have seen a lot of talk about guns and gun control. I know it's not an issue that's going away anytime soon. I know this post will not end it all. But I did like this and so I offer it my Woo of Approval. by Matthew L. Kelley The issue of gun control in the United States is once again at the forefront of our national conversation due to last month’s school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut—one of many similar incidents whose frequency is on the rise. A lot of people are giving passionate and articulate cases for their particular position, and as I am neither a constitutional scholar nor an expert on firearms or public safety, I will leave those arguments to those that speak on them with authority. I do, however, believe that the church has a significant role to play in this conversation, and I believe that the biblical witness and our theological heritage give us reason to support restrictions on firearms such as those currently being debated by the President and C...

One night I allowed my kids to have cookies and milk. As it was getting late, I only allowed for 1 cookie. That's my soft side meeting my stone cold side. I offer good things, but only. so. much.  After all, I can't go letting the kids think I'm on their side. They'll go around telling their friends about how I'm their cookie source. I have a reputation to protect, plus I need to make sure there's plenty of cookies left for me.  I digress.  But my oldest didn't hear me, with bedtime prep being a bit of a crazy time at our house. So after the other two were done, I found her with a stack of cookies and a glass of milk. I informed her I had limited to the others to one cookie. She put the extra cookies back, without complaint, but then asked me, "What am I going to do with all this milk?" She's a smart cookie and poured an amount of milk that would be proper to soak up the stack of cookies she had. Of course, she heard what sh...