Author: Nick

Although 83 percent of American adults identify themselves as Christians, only about 20 percent attend church on any given Sunday. Only 2 percent of church members invite others on a regular basis. Yet, a study by LifeWay Research and the North American Mission Board of more than 15,000 Americans found 67 percent say a personal invitation from a family member would be effective in getting them to visit a church. Sixty-three percent say an invitation from a friend or neighbor would likely move them to respond.  Someone you know needs to be back in church. Pick up the phone now and invite them. Don’t make it a once a year thing. You can invite someone back to church anytime. Ask your waitress and check out person where they attend church. You are likely to hear that they used to go to church but something happened that gave them the excuse not to return. Ask them to come back. you will bless them and you. Nick

6 Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 7 Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7 I began a conversation with my grandson, “You know I’m having surgery…” “Then we need to pray,” he responded before I could finish my sentence. I eventually completed my thought and our conversation. But his prompt response should be our response to everything. Good news, bad news, no news…pray. We can’t expect that response from the residents of the natural world. Their response to everything is fear. That’s just part of the sin nature. That is not the “natural” for the saved. We all were designed to be faithful and fearless. Adam and Eve, when they knew no sin, knew no fear. They knew God intimately and that knowledge produced a complete faith (can we say “trust”) in Him. They lived the lives we were designed for. Then came sin and with it faith vanished and fear was born. Christ came to restore faith and to banish fear. […]

At my church I think I am thought of as a Kairos Guy. To many, I am sure, it must seem that Kairos is all I talk about. I serve on the Angola Advisory Board and the State Board as well. I talk about Kairos until folks’ eyes glaze over. The truth is I haven’t served on a Kairos weekend since February of 2010. That’s 20 months, over a year and a half. To my amazement the ministry has continued to function without my hands on participation. I missed being on teams lead by some of my closest friends. I have good reasons. We do a considerable amount of babysitting, the law practice, etc. I thought June would see my return but God had another plan. I have had an ace of an excuse the last 6 months. I have been “handicapped.” I injured my knee on my birthday on March 16 and haven’t been able to walk without pain for exactly 6 months today. I have great faith and hope that excuse will vanish next week as I have surgery for the problem. The next Kairos is at Main prison. It’s a long walk from the gate of […]

I have 232 friends. I’m a friendly kind of guy. Gary Herman only has 26. Which is kind of surprising because he’s the friendliest guy I know. Even Sally has over 100 and you may know Sally. My granddaughter has nearly 600, but then she has the advantage of being young and pretty. My friend Ed Roy has 1228 and he’s not much prettier than I am, but he was a weather man on tv. That doesn’t seem fair. A comedian I never heard of has over 200,000; but everyone loves a funny guy. Okay I’m talking about Facebook. Well, those are not real friends, you may say. But I know more about some of my Facebook friends, some of whom I have never seen face to face (and they call it Facebook) than I do about those who sit next to me in church. Now it’s true that much I know about my Facebook friends is TMI (too much information). Nevertheless, Should I be as close to my church family as I am to my Facebook family? I’m happy that many are in both groups. But I shouldn’t have to get to know my brothers and sisters in […]

Anyone who has spent any time on the water has seen “slow no wake” signs. I always thought such signs were dumb. A boat always leaves a wake. The signs should read “minimize wake.”. But I guess that would leave too much to interpretation. We leave a wake. Consider a room after a three year old has passed. We leave a wake. The child may leave a physical mess behind but also likely lights up the room leaving behind smiles and good feelings. We leave wake, physical, emotional and spiritual. When we pass through we change things. Some may try to minimize their wake. Others seem to relish stirring up the water. Like the unthoughtful boater, many give no thought to the wake they leave behind. You are changing your world every day. You impact people around you. The amount of change varies with the frequency of your contact and the power of your motor. Some folks seem to create more wake than others. You are making a difference, for better or worse. There are no “no wake” zones. Be blessed, Nick

1 Corinthians 2:1-4 (NLT)  Dear brothers and sisters, when I first came to you I didn’t use lofty words and brilliant ideas to tell you God’s message. For I decided to concentrate only on Jesus Christ and his death on the cross. I came to you in weakness—timid and trembling. And my message and my preaching were very plain. I did not use wise and persuasive speeches, but the Holy Spirit was powerful among you.  I met a great and powerful and ordinary guy yesterday I tell my grand kids that I am “The Great and Powerful.” The humor is in the obvious inaccuracies in that title. As my grandson says “Only God is great and powerful.” He is a pretty sharp kid and is usually right. This guy was ordinary. He spoke at church. By the time he got to “preach” there wasn’t much time left. He spoke simply and plainly and briefly. Not only was he like the Apostle Paul; but he taught us how to be Pauls. The secret is to be down to earth, focused on Jesus, weak, and plain. In other words, what we really are instead of what we try so hard to […]

Perhaps you’ve heard about the man who spent his life savings on a cruise. He cut his expenses close. He packed crackers and snacks to eat on the cruise not realizing that the fabulous food came with the price of the cruise. We sometimes live our lives that way, ignorant of the bounty that is ours as children of God. I’m not talking here about the sheep on a thousand hills that are His. I am not even focused on spiritual gifts. Let me give you an example. I drove to Butte Larose today to pick up my three year old great grand. My mission was to drive her from there to Rayne. What could have been a tense and painful trip turned out to be the highlight of my day. I tossed my iPhone and iPad into the truck and picked up my grandson. We picked up drinks from CCs. Opened the top. Put on 60s music and struck out. Nicky sang along in the front seat playing with the iPad. Kaydence held down the back playing with my phone. I led the singing, praying I didn’t get an important call, text or email, that no one could […]

I saw “The Help” this afternoon. For those who don’t know, the film looks at race relations in Jackson, Mississippi in the early 60s. Before you hit the delete key, give me a moment. It is a painful look at a period in our history that I remember well. My family was pretty poor, but not as poor as our help. It is painful for anyone of any race to watch because it is so wonderfully accurate. Some will say things weren’t that bad; others may remember it as worse. But deep within each will know the truth It is done with beautiful poignant humor. You need to see it. Not because it is beautifully done cinema which it is, but because those who forget history are doomed to repeat it. We are rapidly approaching a political season in which race will be involved. Don’t deny it. There will be real and substantial differences between the parties. There will be valid differences of opinion. Anything more wouldn’t be fair to the Nation we’ve become and to the one our children deserve. If we ask “What would Jesus do?” We will likely get different answers. What’s important is to seriously […]