Rick Nier...Woo!

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...

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...

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...

I have had some extra time to read books lately. While I allowed myself a short break into the world of fiction, I have also been reading Recovering Redemption  by Matt Chandler and Michael Snetzer. Here's a quote: For unlike the rest of humanity, Christians are not confined to grief responses that can never do anything but make us die a little more each day: trying so hard to act like we're not sinners, or to act like our sin is not really a big deal - at least not as bad as it seems when we're the most bummed out about it. But, yes, it is. It's bad. Majorly bad.  (Emphasis mine) If we stop to consider this, it makes sense. For those of us who live on this side of the greatest sacrifice in all of history, Jesus is like the greatest spoiler to a story where we can know the end. Yes, we're sinners. But we know Jesus came to die for our sins. Because we know the solution from the start, we minimize the problem. But imagine life before Jesus walked the Eart...

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...

Last week I shared about a recent discussion I had with my youth group about how we can know we are saved. You can see that here. Coupled with that discussion, I also offered them Ask Me Anything  cards, an anonymous way they could ask tough questions without asking it out loud.  One teen asked: How do you know for sure that Heaven and Hell exist and aren't just a 2,000 year old marketing scheme? After reminding the group that our room is safe haven from the way the outside world treats one another, I asked them to share their thoughts. Then I offered this: How do we know for sure that Heaven and Hell actually exist and are not just a 2,000 year old marketing scheme? This is a great question, especially in our jaded culture and age. When you think about it, what better way to get people to do what you want than to threaten that if they don’t, they will burn in hell forever? My answer might seem simplistic, but be assured I don’t assume it’s easy. I believe we can kn...

Below is the intro of a discussion I had with my youth group. It occurs to me that this vital question often gets left unanswered as youth pastors can be tempted to be satisfied with teens showing up each week and being involved. I have, at times, hoped that enough positive peer pressure and enough Bible would miraculously soak in by way of osmosis, that just by being a part of my program would change a teen's life. To be sure, being a part can change a person's life, but it's not automatic, and it shouldn't be assumed. Make sure you know! Have you ever wondered if you're really saved? (Saved is such a churchy word. We use saved in other areas of life, i.e. you found my iPhone, I'm saved. But when we use it in church, it takes on a higher level of importance.) So have you ever wondered? Because you've been raised on this perhaps, or you just started attending a youth group or a church, and you just kind of assumed we handed get-out-of-Hell-free cards. (See m...

If you recall any camp or conference you ever attended, usually there is a 'salvation night'. Who am I to mess with that method? Pray for us all as we worship God together tonight. Pray for the children and teens to hear, really hear, about God's love for them.  God is Awesome! Pirates and Ninjas Romans 5:12, “ When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone 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 a doofus for messing it up for all of us?  But then we scroll down to Romans 5:18-19 18  Yes, Adam’s one sin brings condemnation for everyone, but Christ’s one act of righteousness brings a right relationship with God and new life for everyone.   19  Because one person disobeyed God, many became sinners. But because one other person obeyed God, many will be made righteous....

Since God is for us, who cares who is against us? I'd heard this worded in this way a long time ago, but thoughts of Easter week brought it back once more. Plus, the irony of this day and its' title always makes me pause. Good Friday. Think about the last time you came home or met up with a friend somewhere. They probably ask how your day has been. Now think about all the many, eternally insignificant, things that you consider when giving your answer. I got to sleep in, the weather is nice, it's a good hair day, my cat didn't cough up a hair ball, so on and so forth.  I'm not saying I don't have better days than others. But when we consider what was done on this one particular Friday, all our days got that much better.  It was this line of thinking that clearly got the Apostle Paul fired up. Whenever someone asks questions and provides their own answers, they are either horrible conversationalists or they are ramped up about the topic at ha...

  I used this analogy with my youth a week or so ago. I doubt I'm the first to think of this analogy, but my family was doing some thorough cleaning and it struck me how futile it was. The kids are just going to dirty it up again. Germs are funny things. Once they are out there, they continue to multiply and spread and are seemingly everywhere. And once they’re out there, they are seemingly impossible to get rid of. Which is why all the cleaning bottles tell us they get rid of 99.99% of germs. But .01% remain. And you know what that .01% will do? They will multiply and spread! I want you to imagine that you could be in a perfectly clean room. It’s spotless, not even .01% of germs live in here. If you’re a germaphobe, this is your paradise. This is the one room where you can relax and know that all is right in the world. If you were ever a fan of the TV show Monk, then you remember his obsession with cleanliness. But let’s say you leave the room, even just for a minute. ...