Rick Nier...Woo!

Here is how some conversations with myself go.  Me: I should post a new article on my blog a couple of times each week. Also me: You haven’t posted an article in over a month! Me: This time could be different. I could be more focused. Sarcastic me: Yep, because that’s how life works.  Really Sarcastic Me: Please hurry because dozens of people are waiting on pins and needles to hear your thoughts.  The really sarcastic me can often be quite mean. And, to be honest, some conversations with myself are way worse than this one.  The truth is, I have no promises to myself, nor guarantees to you, on how often I am going to post. An honest review of my posts reveals too many that start with “Wow, it’s been a while since I posted...remember when I said I wanted to write?”  Here is what I am telling myself, while pushing the mean and sarcastic voices down. I have something to say. I have something to offer. Encouragement, hope, insight. S...

It's true, we can find ourselves doing the wrong thing. As I have been in the midst of searching for what's next, I have looked at various opportunities for work and tried to imagine myself doing those things for 40+ hours a week, for the next several years. Because while every job might not be comparable to a day at an amusement park, it beats searching for a job. I asked myself what a youth pastor does when he's no longer vocationally pastoring youth. How do the skills of a pastor translate to a world outside Sunday morning? One such opportunity, a very temporary one, seemed to garner attention from those who know me. They seemed concerned, though not necessarily for me. One such friend was talking with my wife, heard the word construction and immediately asked why anyone would let me build something. To be fair, it's a good question, only bested by, why would anyone pay  me to build something? That's right, people heard I was doing construction and they w...

A lot can happen in a year. In the book of Numbers (yes, people do actually read Numbers), we find the Israelites celebrating the second Passover. That means they had been travelling in the wilderness for a year since leaving Exodus. And a lot had indeed happened; They watched Pharaoh's army drown in the Red Sea. They worshiped God at His holy mountain. They received the 10 commandments, along with all the other details of God's Law.  They built the Tabernacle, along with the Altar and all the other pieces of furniture God commanded. They learned about proper sacrifices for any and every occasion. They assigned the Tribe of Levi as priests and numbered every other tribe, to organize the men of fighting age. Besides this, in Numbers 9, we learn they came and went at God's leading. The very presence of God came in a cloud that covered the Tabernacle. When it lifted and moved, so did the Israelites. When it stayed where it was, so did the people.  We're not...

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...

Seven months ago, I never saw this coming. We had just told our kids that we were going on an adventure , one that began with informing the church we'd been a part of for 15 years that God was moving us elsewhere. We told our kids that we didn't know yet where we were going, but that we would trust God to lead us where He wanted us. We acknowledged there would be difficult parts of this adventure. We knew saying goodbye to friends would be hard. My wife and I prayed about the transition and what impact it would have on our children. There were parts of this adventure I'd have preferred not to have experienced. There were hard conversations, doubts, lots of prayer and more conversations. I've shared some of the experiences here , here and here . Actually, there's a few more, but you can find them for yourself. I wouldn't want to be accused of over-linking. The entire time, whenever I prayed, I told God an answer would be a good thing, because He would rece...

It was an interesting read this past December. My daily reading in the Bible had me in 2 Chronicles. In case you're unfamiliar, 2 Chronicles, much like 1 Chronicles, or 1 & 2 Kings, gives us glimpses into the lives of Israel's and Judah's kings. Good, bad, short rule or long, we're given relatively brief stories when one considers these guys lived for 40 years or more. What we have is their legacy. It's an elongated obituary. Having read their stories, I didn't think much of it until I came across an article in USA Today, where they were recounting the many people we lost in 2014. The actors and actresses, the athletes, the politicians and others who had contributed something considered worthy to our society. The list was interesting enough. It included names I recognized and names I did not recognize. What struck me was how short the whole article was. I imagine it was the standard length for a newspaper article, but considering the many names t...

I could be the public relations guy for God. I'm smart. I know what looks good. I'm not saying God doesn't, but who couldn't use a P.R. guy every once in a while. Someone to explain why the Flood was a good idea. Someone to extrapolate as to why Pharaoh had to go. Someone to talk to the press when things get a little out of control. Or perhaps someone to kindly suggest things to God. Listen, I work in a church. I see things. I watch the ups and downs of lots of lives. I see how it impacts the lives of others and how the general mood of an entire church family can move. There have been moments when I believed it would have been a perfect time for a miracle. Yeah, a nobody-could-do-this-but-God type of miracle. I'm not talking about a Lifetime Movie kind of miracle where the bad boy decides to make a good decision. I'm talking proven, walk-on-water, heal-the-sick, turn-water-into-wine, there's no way that could happen, kind of miracle. I'd even coordinate ...

This is going to sound a bit like a first world problem, and I suppose it is. Yet I'm telling you this story to share, not complain. Here's what happened. My daughter has an iPod Touch, something she got after saving lots of nickels and dimes. And in a twist of fortune, when it stopped working, it was one week before the warranty ended. Even better, we were headed to Chicago and an Apple store. The process was quite delightful as they happily replaced the product and my daughter walked away with a new iPod. Just a week later she shared how quickly the battery was draining. I took it as a sign she was using it too often. But such was not the case. So I placed a call to the Apple store. They told me to restore it. This, of course, meant emptying it of all its data and restoring it to factory settings. Suddenly, I realized that for all the jokes we make about Microsoft (fix every problem by restarting), this was, in essence, the fix for the Apple product. But isn't restarting ...

I may have posted this here on my blog before, but I'm up at camp teaching and I'm using this story as part of a lesson on God's holiness. I'm teaching my kids the Lord's Prayer. It leads to some fun conversations. We're purposely taking our time discussing the different aspects of this prayer. How it begins is interesting. Our Father in Heaven Hallowed be Your Name I want them to really own this prayer. Too many of us only know this as the prayer we say during a service. Depending on your tradition, you say it during communion, after the pastor prays or some other set period of time. But Jesus wasn't giving us something we could all say in unison. So we read the prayer. Then I asked them to imagine, to use their imaginations, much like I want you to do now. Imagine I invited you to my home. Upon entering, you saw that I had a giant picture of myself placed prominently in the living room. As you might guess, it's a glamour shot. Once you came in, I als...

I was reading through Genesis 5. That's the riveting story where we learn the ages of Adam and the next 7 generations, when they had their first baby boy and when they died. Yeah...riveting.  If you actually sit down and focus on the numbers, it's kind of funny. Adam had Seth when he was 130. Even if you account for Cain and Abel being around 20-30 when 'the incident' happened, that means Adam became a father first at around 100 years old. (And we shouldn't assume that Cain and Abel weren't teenagers when things got out of hand.  Seth was 105 when he had Enosh. Enosh was 90 when he had Kenan. Kenan was 70 when he had  Mahalalel.  Mahalalel was 65 when he had Jared. I imagine there was some unrest when this happened. Only 65? Are you sure you're ready to be a dad,  Mahalalel? After all, you're only 65.  But then Jared waited until 162 to have Enoch. That's more like it. Become stable and live a century and a half before settling down ...

If you've been following me lately, you know I've had a busy 6 weeks. My senior pastor has been away, teaching in the Middle East. Don't get me wrong, I love preaching. But this schedule was full. Different things kept me going. Here's one message I needed deep into week 5 from youth ministry guru Rick Lawrence. In case you're wondering, it's the warhorses verse I quoted until my tasks were done. Thanks Rick! [PERSONAL GROWTH] RENOUNCING YOUR WARHORSES by Rick Lawrence You’re probably pretty darn good at your job—whether or not you hear that affirmation from your students or their parents or your supervisor. You’ve done some pretty great things under some pretty difficult circumstances—I’m pretty sure of it… And, after all, one of our tacit pursuits is “excellence”—we’re a culture that worships excellence in all o...

So what do you do if you realize that someone is about to kill you? As I read my Bible, the answer is to tell a long story. Acts 7 is a perfect example. Stephen, a guy hired to help distribute food (read: waiter) was pulled before the religious leaders of the day to answer some accusations. Apparently Stephen was looking at the situation and decided his chances weren't good. So he began to tell a story. From the beginning. From the very beginning. The question was about what Stephen believed about Jesus. If someone asked me what I believed about Jesus, I might answer simply that He is the Son of God. He died for my sins and now I live for him. Even conservatively speaking, that's 2 Bible verses, tops. But Stephen had a different idea. They ask him the question and he begins by talking about Abraham. Yeah, father Abraham. The guy with many sons. Then Stephen takes these religious leaders on a walk through the Old Testament, something I am sure they adored. He spok...

Soooooooo, I wear a few hats at my church. It's really quite amazing all the things you can fit under the title Associate . Who's in charge of the youth ministry? ~That would be the Associate. Who's in charge of small groups? ~Ummm, the Associate. We need someone to meet with the greeters. ~I'll get the Associate. How about someone to call Bingo numbers for the monthly game? ~The Associate would love to. That is somewhat of a stretch for most, I hope. But I do oversee a number of different things at my church, and the schedules do not always work kindly with each other or wait their turn patently. I'm not complaining. I'm just saying that if some of my recent posts seem less than focused, it's because I'm a bit busy with several details. I wondered about writing this and putting it out there. After all, do you really want to read this? When I don't have any pre-planned ideas of what to post, I'm prone to wonder if I have anything ...

I remember. Its a funny thing about memories. We seem to recall what we want to recall. If we have fond memories of a time or place, we forget what was unpleasant. On the other hand, if we do not have fond memories, then nothing good could have possibly happened in relation to said time, person or place. This graphic does a pretty good job of explaining this. (visit  http://survivingtheworld.net/  for more of these fun comics.) I remember my childhood. I grew up in Florida. I remember warm weather, fun vacations, lots of boisterous noise and many hours spent playing outside. But memories can be tricky. If I'm honest with myself I also remember sunburns. That sun was hot. I remember 40 hours driving in a van to our destination. My parents didn't believe in planes. The boisterous noise may have been, at times, sibling rivalry. Oh, and during one of those hours outside, I was almost kidnapped, though I'm sure they would have brought me back. Memories, right...

You should have seen my kid's faces when I told them there was a second season to the Scooby Doo series they were addicted to. They'd discovered Season one while we were on vacation and quickly got hooked when they found it on Netflix. They devoured it, and honestly, it was cleverly written. I could go on describing it, but I think we both know I'm about to spiritualize it.  I think this hungering for more is what God is looking for from us as well. I think God is honored when we get excited about worshiping Him...again. I think God is honored when we look forward to opening His Word...again. I think God is honored when we encourage a brother or serve a sister...again.  We may think we know what to expect. Certainly we did with the Scooby-Doo series. The Scooby gang is going to be scared. Scooby will want a snack. They'll solve the mystery.  We may think we know what to expect. God will be good. Jesus will be the Savior. The Holy Spirit will rock all...

I mentioned yesterday  that my kids sailed with me back to my childhood when we discovered  Scooby-Doo Mystery Incorporated . It has been an entertaining jaunt, one I'm glad my kids have had an opportunity to experience. After all, my childhood worked out well for me. (Shout out to my mom!) So if my kids can get the same upbringing I did, they should end up alright as well. Now if I can only convince the police my kids will be fine riding free in the back of a conversion van, their childhood would be complete.  Anyways, the Scooby-Doo cartoons have recently got me thinking about people and the Church.  We are creatures of habit. For starters, my Saturday mornings feel better somehow now that I can tune in and see the Mystery Machine tooling around town. But the show itself offers many constants. Honestly, the only thing that changed in the 70's version of Scooby-Doo was the villain, but even then some things stayed very much the same. The mystery w...

I read part of a book not too long ago that talked about rhythm versus balance. In a nutshell, it said balance should not be our goal. Balance, in this person's opinion, was not even the prize we should be after, as it wasn't realistic. It talked of seasons in life where focus had to be given more towards one area rather than evenly divided, even amongst other things that were deserving of our attention.  I hope that's right, because that is how Easter week feels. The schedule is full as we throttle forward to the big Sunday of celebration. After all, Easter egg hunts don't just plan themselves.  And while I am in no way comparing how I am spending this week with how Jesus spent His final week, I do look forward to the rest which will come...next week. I imagine, in spite of the impending pain Jesus no doubt new was coming, there had to be a part of Him that was forging ahead, knowing victory...and rest, would soon come afterward.  Thinking about t...

How do you handle life when it gets real and life-like? Life has a tendency to do that, you know, to become more real than Reality TV. How do you handle the changes to your schedule, the stresses from work and home, the bitterness and discouragement that can come when dreams are dashed and hopes are shattered? When loved ones are lost while the wild world just keeps spinning on, seemingly out of control? I think Psalm 5 can help us out. The fact that this is a morning prayer reveals that sometimes life’s troubles will follow us, even after we’ve had a night’s sleep. But notice that David began his day by crying out to God. 1  O   Lord , hear me as I pray;      pay attention to my groaning. 2  Listen to my cry for help, my King and my God,      for I pray to no one but you. It sounds like David knows his audience. I’m not talking to anybody else here, but you God. And addressing God as King was to appeal to the covenant relat...

Watching the news, my wife and I came across 2 interestingly timed segments. The first was of a woman, Lindsey Stone, who took a picture that went viral. She was standing next to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, near a sign that read 'silence and respect.' The pic showed her yelling and holding up her middle finger. What was interesting was how people were calling for her to be fired. She works at a nursing home, who separated her actions from their core beliefs very quickly after the pic went viral. My first thought was to ask how her job was connected to what she did on her own. I know this is a slippery slope and can be instantly asked of every president who made a crucial error in moral judgement that likely did not affect job performance. (Read:Bill Clinton) This question has been asked of sports stars as well. Tiger Woods, anybody? And while I wondered why others might feel the need to call for Lindsey to lose her job, I couldn't help but imagine that th...

It’s the story that never grows old. Filled with God’s special messengers, unexpected company from the field, unexpected gifts from special guests from afar. Tales of romantic twists and a marriage that almost wasn’t. Even the stars seemed to align themselves. And all of it centers in on a baby. Babies in our day are used to getting all of the attention. Company comes from all over to celebrate the new bundle of joy. Every little need they have is met with great attention by a mom or a dad. If it’s not, the cries come quickly. But this story of Christmas was more than the normal routine for a birth, even by first child standards. Yet, routine is one of the words that is unfortunately linked with Christmas. I find people can lean towards two categories when it comes to this holiday. They love it and begin to play Christmas music in late September or they will bemoan the fact that Christmas decorations pop up around the same time as Halloween stuff in all of our stores. ...