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...

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...

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?

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...

I’m almost an adult.  I’m sure I’m not the first parent in history who is sick of hearing that phrase. For those who may not have experienced such a thrill, it happens when your child is seventeen and decides the rules and limitations you have placed on them should no longer apply.  Because, after all, they are almost an adult. What’s So Special About Eighteen? Ah, eighteen, that magical age when you suddenly become capable of making every decision for yourself. Why? Because the government, that institution we trust with so many important decisions, declares you to be an adult. After all, you’re able to die for your country. You’re qualified to help decide the next leader of our nation. And you can smoke.  Welcome to the club! You’re an adult! Woohoo! You’re now free and independent, with no authority left to rule over you and give you any restrictions. No authority except for landlords, bosses, police officers, and the aforementioned government o...

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...

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...

My youngest daughter is in sixth grade, which around here means it is her last year of elementary school. I'm not sure how I can be so young and have children so old, but I guess crazy things still happen. When the papers started coming home, asking for parental involvement, I said yes. This is why I found myself in an elementary school one day, playing games with sixth graders. And it was fun. Exhibit A The challenge was simply explained. The students had to get in pairs and sit back to back against each other. One student was given a simple drawing, like Exhibit A here. The other student was given a pencil and a piece of paper. The student who could see the drawing had to explain to the other student what to draw. There was to be no peeking and no stating what the drawing was. So, in this instance, the student could not tell their partner to draw a dinosaur. While the challenge was simply explained, it was not easily performed. As you can imagine, there was some frust...

Like so many people, I end each year thinking about the year that was, and perhaps even resolving how I want the new year to go. But I guarantee you, no matter how much time I put into thinking last December, I never could have guessed how 2017 was going to go . For starters, here's a couple of sentences I never thought I would speak. I’m dropping the kids off at youth group.  I’m ok being without a job for a few months.  Both sentences go together, because as many of you know, I told the church I had youth pastored at for 15 years that God was telling me it was time to go. Now I know that when someone invokes the voice of God into a decision, it can sound like they're passing the blame onto the Deity. After all, who's going to argue with the voice of the Lord? I imagine people largely fall into 2 categories on this matter. Group #1 imagines the youth pastor just wants a change, but doesn't want people to dislike him for making the choice to leave. Group ...

These days I am a substitute teacher. Given that I am wanting to work as much as possible I have made myself available for every elementary, middle and high school in our area. Some people, forgetting that I have loved being a youth pastor for half my life, cringe at the idea of subbing for middle and high school.  But I know teens to be awesome people. I digress. Let me tell you what I enjoy about being a substitute teacher. Variety. In one week I taught middle school p.e., a first grade class and a fourth grade class. If a sub doesn’t like first graders, just hold on for a day. It’ll change tomorrow. Variety means meeting lots of people and getting to touch the lives of many children. Maybe they struggle with their regular teacher and you can be a breath of grace filled air. On the other hand, I have no idea what to expect each day as I get up. Will the class be full of basically good kids or a room filled with untamed mutants? Will I find myself dealing with little child...

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...

As I've said before , I'm looking for a new place to do youth ministry. Job searching in itself can be a full time task. Unfortunately, no one is paying me to look for a job. And when you haven't had to find a job in 15 years, the whole experience can feel brand new. And nerve-wracking. And quiet. So very, very quiet. I may spend a few hours here and there sending out my resumes and writing cover letters. But the churches I'm sending my information to have their own timeline. And sometimes that timeline does not involve acknowledging my presence. Which is fine, especially if one of the churches I've applied to is reading this right now. I understand those looking for youth pastors will have their own agenda and their own timeline. But it leaves me sitting here with a deafening quiet around me. I am choosing to walk by faith through these days, picturing God working behind the scenes (always behind the scenes) and holding His voice very still, until He is re...

I prayed for my kids today. I prayed that they would avoid or rise above the tools, the jerks, the mean kids that populate our schools. As I prayed I wondered where those kids come from. What is their home life? What makes them tick? Then I prayed that my own kids would not be the type of kids I was praying for their protection from.  You see, if we accept the fact that we're all sinners, then we have to accept that our own little angels might not always be angels. There is no one righteous. We all needed the sacrifice of Jesus for our salvation. That mean that each of us need strength to not be the reason another person has to endure. For awhile, way back when I first had a child of my own, I assumed these monsters grew under rocks and were the spawn of some wild dingoes that were allowed to integrate into regular society.  But then Jennifer and I had a second child. And we encouraged them to play together. That is, until we didn't. There were moments when we sud...

Like many other pastors, and especially youth pastors, I like to pick a title that catchy, and perhaps bordering on irreverent. Here was the idea I had for my most recent sermon. People Jesus liked hanging out with more than he liked hanging out with people at church. Maybe that's too wordy a sermon title. But read through the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John and you’ll discover a list of people that Jesus liked spending time with; sinners, kids, smelly fishermen, prostitutes, drunks at weddings, women with shady pasts, tax collectors, .... I speak slightly with tongue in cheek because the truth is that we are those sinners and people with shady pasts, no matter how much we try to play dress up. The truth is we worry about a lot of stuff. If the stuff we tend to worry about had as much impact on the kingdom of God, compared with the commandments and commission of Jesus, then maybe we’d have a reason to stress ourselves out. But it doesn't. Sorry . It just doesn't. D...

This is something I shared with my youth group recently...because not even a Christmas party is an excuse to stop pursuing teens with the clarion call of Christ.  I found a list of the "must-have" gifts for Christmas for the past 30 years. This is what  http://www.statisticbrain.com/ had to share. In 1983 everyone had to have a cabbage patch doll. In 1985 we just had to have an $18 Pound Puppy. In 1989 American households scrambled to get a new Game Boy, followed by the 1995 Beanie Baby craze, and the 1996 Tickle Me Elmo frenzy. In the ensuing years American consumers knocked themselves out to buy the following top yearly must-have Christmas gifts: a new iPod (2002), A Wii (2006), a Kindle (2010), the Angry Birds Board Game (2011), the Doc McStuffins doll (2013), and the Frozen Sing Along Elsa Doll (2015). Not much over the past 30 years has changed. We’ve proven over and over again that we’ll buy lots of garbage in mass quantities. Except for the serious collecto...

I just know that some of you saw the title and are reading now, hoping for lyrics to a Taylor Swift song. My apologies. Yes, T. Swifty does have a song titled Blank Space , where she writes about her ex-lovers and the apparent vacancy for the next ex-boyfriend. But I have a different picture of what a blank space can offer. Blank space offers a space for grace. I have conversations with people all the time where the unspoken request is for grace. Deadlines weren't met, relationships need to be restored, wrongs have been committed. While there is certainly an understanding of consequences in most people's minds, it occurs to me that the blank space we can offer provides a way out. This way out is not something people immediately consider. After all, what's done is done and there's no going back, right? But I see a blank space that says otherwise. New deadlines can be established. Relationships don't need to remain broken. Wrongs can be made right. The Church should a...

In my youth ministry, we're discussing the last week of Jesus. We started last night by discussing Jesus' entrance into Jerusalem. Unlike other times when Jesus came into the holy city, this time He was announcing His kingdom. He proclaimed Himself King. And, of course, he did this with much pomp and circumstance by riding in on a....baby donkey? Um....yeah. As he came to the towns of Bethphage and Bethany on the Mount of Olives, he sent two disciples ahead. “Go into that village over there,” he told them. “As you enter it, you will see a young donkey tied there that no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks, ‘Why are you untying that colt?’ just say, ‘The Lord needs it.’” (By the way, I had my group take parts and act out this scene. Few things are funnier than seeing one teen on the back of another as they play the parts of Jesus and the donkey. I'd like to see a senior pastor try this in Big Church.) Jesus was unexpected when He came to Earth. ...