Rick Nier...Woo!

I recently officiated a wedding. The ceremony was simple, lovely, and ended with another couple professing to keep the covenant of marriage. But it all started with a clarification...from me. At our first premarital counseling session, as I have done with every couple I have agreed to marry, I clarified a couple of matters. First, I officiate Christian weddings, where both spouses-to-be are professing Christians. I firmly believe that marriage is difficult enough, without adding disagreements about God into the mix. Second, as a minister of Jesus Christ, I believe the pastor’s role in a wedding is to represent the blessing of God on that union. So we have several sessions of premarital counseling where we discuss married life. It’s not that I have this imaginary card in my head, with a picture of me on the front and my stats on the back. (You know, like a baseball card.) Ok, I do picture cards. Pastor cards! And being a competitive guy, I want my stats to look good. The number of coupl...

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...

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...

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 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...

In the beginning there was an idea. It wasn't our idea. The idea stemmed from the Creator of all things. Being relational, God let His idea come to fruition. This idea, to create people who would love their Creator, was a good idea. It is a good idea. But it was not the only idea.  Some may have assumed the idea's next part. Because we were made in the image of One who loves, we were also intended to love one another. This idea was also good . And it makes sense. If we love our Creator and understand that He meets all our needs, we are then set loose to freely give of the love born in us.  via GIPHY In theory, these ideas can work together seamlessly, with the creation crying out to the Creator. This alone should fill us up. At the same time, we can express unique qualities given to us by a very imaginative Creator. After all, we are better off when each part of the body does as intended. "This makes for harmony among the members, so that all the members car...

Oftentimes it’s the right thing at the right moment that sets us forward on the right path. I’ve detailed for you the many emotions, struggles, and answered prayers as my wife and I stepped out in faith this past year. I have watched God work in personal ways that defy logic, leaving me sharing stories that, admittedly, sound ridiculous . When I ask God, on those long days, how I have come to find myself substitute teaching, it doesn’t take long to recall the moments where I have definitively seen God directing our footsteps. Sometimes the right thing is a right book. Recently I read Whisper: How to Hear the Voice of God , by Mark Batterson. When I read books, I mark up the pages with quotes I want to be able to find again. Then I turn the corner of the page for easy access. I have turned the corner of so many pages in Whisper that I probably should have stopped. Batterson gives us 7 love languages that God uses to speak to us; God's Word, Desires, Doors, Dreams, ...

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...

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...

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...

This is what I shared with my youth group just before the halftime spectacle of Super Bowl 50. Coldplay and friends will have 11 minutes to perform. Does that sound ridiculously short to you? It does to me. We have this big game that everyone wants to be a part of. The NFL teams work all year to make it to this point. Broadcasters and analysts desire to be a part of this game. Companies pay millions of dollars to show a 30 second commercial at this event. People plan ahead to be a part of a party to watch it all. And bands are honored to be selected as the half-time show. 11 minutes. That’s all the time they have. No wonder too, because there are commercials to show, game analysis to talk about, interviews to be done, field prep and stage set-up….and don’t forget about that game needing to be played. The planners of this game squeeze it all in because they want to grab our attention. The companies want us to notice and purchase their product. The band wants us to like and purch...

Do you want to know the best way to be ready to return to work after a vacation? I've discovered it. Consider this. You've worked for a while (perhaps a long while) to save up money to get away. Family vacations are nice and all, but going anywhere is going to cost you some cash. And for the sake of argument, let's assume you added some extra time off. You won't be at your destination all that time. You just added a few days at home, in order to get some stuff done. There it is. You just gave your wife unfettered access to your skills and labor around the house. That garden won't weed itself. The thorough cleaning and reorganization of a kitchen needs a partner, right? For us, it was cleaning out the garage. Because when you clean out any other area of the house, the garage becomes the new catch-all. Let's just put this stuff we don't want to look at in a bin in the garage. Cleaning it out later became cleaning it out now. When moving the vehicle a...

Were there Associate Pharisees? I like to think I have some experience with being an Associate Pastor. Even though I've only worked at 2 churches, I have worked with 8 different Senior Pastors. Yes..., I know that's a lot . Yes..., I have wondered if it's me . But being an Associate means different things to different people. It means different things to the people working with the Associate and it means various things to each Associate. What I have discovered is that it primarily means being willing to follow the leader. Leadership comes from the top and to become a good complement, one must be willing to follow the vision being given from the top. So one day I wondered if there were Associate Pharisees. We read about these religious leaders all the time. Surely there were some junior members. There had to be someone to work with the kids, right? Someone had to lead those overnight trips with camel racing and Dodge Scroll. (The trick to Dodge Scroll is to avoid be...

My kids play soccer. We could have opted for an inside sport, but then there's no chance of watching your kids play in the rain while you freeze on the sidelines. Who wants that? Is that mud in our van ever going to come out? Probably not, but at least we watched 3 scoreless games. Hooray soccer! Have you ever seen a litter of kittens all go after the same ball of yarn? If so, you know what watching 7 and 8-year old girls looks like. As they get older, it looks pretty much the same, just with less cute. One of the things we start talking to all the players about, early and often, is to keep their heads up. A skill they must learn is how to kick the ball without looking at the ball. They can get so focused on kicking the ball in front of them that they become oblivious to everything else around them. Look up! But once they learn how to maintain control of the ball while keeping their heads up, the game changes. They can see where the opposition is coming from. They can see where the...

I shared this with my teens lately. Make no mistake about it. Teaching on the hard sayings of Jesus means grappling with those hard sayings myself.  As they were walking along, someone said to Jesus, “I will follow you wherever you go.” But Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens to live in, and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place even to lay his head.” He said to another person, “Come, follow me.” The man agreed, but he said, “Lord, first let me return home and bury my father.” But Jesus told him, “Let the spiritually dead bury their own dead! Your duty is to go and preach about the Kingdom of God.” Another said, “Yes, Lord, I will follow you, but first let me say good-bye to my family.” But Jesus told him, “Anyone who puts a hand to the plow and then looks back is not fit for the Kingdom of God.”  ~Luke 9:57-62 It is interesting to me how we respond to the words of Jesus. I think Christians like to say Jesus was a wild man who said audacious things to p...

But I didn't know. It's an excuse I hear from my kids when I call them out for not doing something that was expected of them. For example: Me: Why is your room still dirty? Them: I didn't know you wanted it clean. Me: When I asked you to clean your room, that wasn't a clear representation of my expectations? Yeah, I use big words with my kids. It usually confuses them so they do what I want. I'll walk away mumbling about how they should have known. I didn't know?  This is not an excuse that works real well anymore. I think this applies to many areas of life. Holidays? No one can get to October 30 and say they didn't  know Halloween was coming. Costumes have lined the aisles of stores since just after Labor Day. Don't even get me started on Christmas. I've already seen Christmas trees peeking out in certain stores. Yep, better buy fake trees before all the good ones are gone. They won't plant more until after Valentine...

Check this out... One day as Jesus was preaching on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, [ a ]  great crowds pressed in on him to listen to the word of God.   2  He noticed two empty boats at the water’s edge, for the fishermen had left them and were washing their nets.   3  Stepping into one of the boats, Jesus asked Simon, [ b ]  its owner, to push it out into the water. So he sat in the boat and taught the crowds from there. 4  When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon,  “Now go out where it is deeper, and let down your nets to catch some fish.” 5  “Master,” Simon replied, “we worked hard all last night and didn’t catch a thing. But if you say so, I’ll let the nets down again.”   6  And this time their nets were so full of fish they began to tear!   7  A shout for help brought their partners in the other boat, and soon both boats were filled with fish and on the verge of sinking. 8  When Simon Peter realize...

Most of us live in a what-if kind of dream world. I don't mean that in the way most children dream. As kids, do you recall dreaming about what you would do if you won a million dollars? This is not the kind of dreaming I mean.  We're adults, right? Our dreams are perhaps a bit more grounded. (I said perhaps, because I know someone out there is still dreaming of that million dollars.) We dream about  what  we will do  if  certain things happen. For instance; I'll go grocery shopping if it stops raining. I'll have plans on Friday if somebody invites me to something.   Our dreams, to varying degrees, are based on things that could actually happen. But the mass effect of this kind of realistic day-dreaming is that we daydream multiple possibilities for our day, our week, our month and even into our distant future. I'll move to Chicago if I get a job there. I'll marry that girl if I work up the courage to ask her out. There's only one prob...

On a recent vacation, we had the chance to be contestants on Double Dare Live. Children of the 1980's will remember the Nickelodeon show  Double Dare , a quiz and challenge show that pitted families of four against each other. It was a test of mental prowess. It was moms and dads and children pushing themselves to the physical brink. It was a great excuse to get messy from the gallons of green slime this show produced.  As a child, I remember yelling at the screen as these inept families failed time and again. I was positive my family, led by me of course, could conquer anything that came our way with the ease that would make us look like Olympians tasked with simply running in a straight line.  Now would be my opportunity to prove that the beast I imagine within actually existed. Since it would be messy, my wife declined. And since you had to be at least 8 years old, that left my youngest out.  Teams required one adult and one child, which left me with ...