Year: 2013

I have mentioned several times on this blog my involvement with the Kairos Prison Ministry at Angola. We have a retreat weekend planned beginning November 7. We are very short of financial support for this weekend. If you are able to help in ANY way please email me (nick@nicksigur.com) and I will advise you where to send checks. You can find out more at kairosangola.net Preparing for this ministry and a family wedding next weekend have kept me busy. I hope to be back to regular blogging soon. Be blessed. Nick

It was an interesting weekend in college football. Four of the highest rated teams in the country lost to unranked opponents. LSU, Texas A&M, Georgia, and South Carolina all lost. They lost in what we call “Trap” games. They had either come off of great victories the week before and/or were looking forward to “bigger” games in the coming weeks. They got trapped. We are subject to trap games in our lives. We tend to prepare ourselves for the obvious challenges: operations, tough tests, difficult weeks at work. We tend to think “I got this” for the fun things, the holidays, the routine events of our lives. Like great football teams, we can get trapped. We forget some of the most important lessons of life. 1. Everyday is an important challenge. No day is meaningless. Any day can be a turning point. 2. We need Jesus for everything. We don’t have anything under control. Stop trying to grab back the steering wheel just because you think you are on the right track.  3.  No one should be overlooked. Anyone can trip us up or lift us up. Everyone is important and potentially powerful as an enemy or an ally. […]

I am no political expert and I will prove it today with this blog. It seems the government shutdown/slowdown is over. The parties have reached an agreement. It seems no problems have been solved and the agreement is really just an agreement to put off the disagreement until next year. Each side is blaming the other for shutting down the government. I don’t care who’s right and who’s wrong. I did learn a few things from this. 1. My life was not affected in any way by the shutdown. This makes me feel a little better. I think we are way too dependent on government. It seems the government had to really go out of it’s way to make the shutdown noticeable. I understand it wasn’t really a shutdown, but any sign that our dependence on government is not complete is a good thing. 2. This country is run by clowns.  3. I am reminded that many of those who spend time studying the end times note that there is no mention of the United States at the end. Now I think I know why. 4.  The end must be really close.  5. Some trust in chariots and some in […]

If I end up in a nursing home, I want to lead a bible study. Max Lucado When I read Max’s words yesterday, they summarized for me so many thoughts I have been having lately.  1. It’s all about service. Max is a really smart guy, but it’s not about what he knows, it’s about what he does. He has written a ton of books, leads a church, blesses the body. We are so tempted to judge our Christian experience by how we are blessed instead of how we bless. Some of us think Christianity is a school of thought. Although we can always learn more, at some point we need to put it into practice.  2. Our obligation to serve never ends. He isn’t looking forward to a “rest” home. He intends to serve just as long as he is able.  3. Fewer words are best. Max has written a lot. I have always enjoyed his books. They are short, readable and convey a simple message. His one sentence above is a great example. 4. We don’t know the end of the story. Max begins his thought with “if.” We really don’t know what  lies ahead. I don’t […]

Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. — Acts 4:12 Have you ever told an older person how you hope you have their energy and clarity of thought when you get to be their age? Have you ever really meant I wish I had those qualities NOW? That’s how I feel about Billy Graham. At his age he has written yet another book. In what could be his final book, Billy Graham presents in The Reason for My Hope: Salvation the core message that has guided his life and calling for more than 70 years. Billy has never gotten “fancy” with his message. He is the most recognized Christian in the world and perhaps the most respected and his message is the basic message of the gospel. He hasn’t modified it to make it acceptable to a “modern” world. He hasn’t showcased it with flashy lights or a hip band.  Here’s just a sample: What is the ultimate victory of the cross? That it could not hold the Savior of the world, who triumphed over sin and death, winning salvation for mankind. The resurrection story of Jesus […]

I am officiating at my grand daughter’s wedding next month. She is very special to me and I really want to do a good job. I have been working on my comments for the wedding for weeks. Every time I see or hear anything good about marriage or love or weddings, I mentally add to my comments. I know, however, that I need to keep my words few. Attention spans are short.  It’s amazing how wasteful we are with words. It seems we are bombarded daily with more words than ever, yet fewer really meaningful words are spoken. We all admire the person who speaks rarely, but when they speak it is well worth listening. We don’t seem to learn from this but keep dumping out words like a garbage truck at the end of a full day of collections.  We need to learn that words are precious. They provide us with the opportunity to really make an impact and a difference. They have to be carefully chosen and wisely released. Like most things timing is everything. We can’t learn the value of our speech from television or social media. I’ve learned I can’t learn it from my fellow […]

The church is full of the obsessed.  Some are obsessed with the end times. Speaking  constantly of Christ’s return and the rapture and our country’s place in all of it. They are counting days and sharing visions. They can’t remember the last time they shared Jesus.  Some are obsessed with sin. Some with their own but most with the sins of others. They weep and moan and pound their chests and point their fingers.  Some are obsessed with Israel. They want to speak Hebrew, blow shofars, live in Israel and be Jewish. They pray for Jerusalem but forget China and the Sudan.  Some are obsessed with their churches, their ministries or their missions. It’s all they talk about. It’s on the tshirts they wear and in the words they speak. They are convinced they have it right and that most everyone else is wrong.  Some are obsessed with things of the Spirit. They follow miracles. They think in tongues. They teach only of fruits and gifts. They are lacking in love and starving for grace. Some are obsessed with politics; some left and some right. They seem to believe that salvation is in Washington and Jesus came to save […]

This week saw the series finale of the popular series Breaking Bad. Walter White, a high school chemistry teacher turned crystal meth manufacturer finally met his long expected and and well-deserved fate. The series was brilliantly written and acted but was probably too dark and stressful for most church folk. For that reason I thought I would summarize the moral lessons learned from the series and save a few the necessity of watching the series. 1. We are all capable of great evil. We are all badly broken. We sometimes forget that “but for the grace of God” there goes us. It’s popular to believe that most folks are basically good. It just isn’t so. We are all basically sinners, who fall far short of the mark. Think about what the world will be like when the church is removed post-rapture and the restraining power of the Holy Spirit is removed. It’s going to be bad. It’s going to be tribulation. 2. We are all capable of enormous self-deceit. It’s amazing how we can justify bad acts as being performed with good intentions. Walter manufactured life-destroying meth and eventually murdered allegedly to make sure his family was financially secured. […]