Author: Nick

“Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good–except God alone. Mark 10:18 Ed Orgeron, the LSU Football coach, is, according to almost everyone, a good man. Someone called me “a good man” recently and, I have to say, it’s a mixed blessing. “You are a good man” is a “but” sentence. “You are a good man, but I think we should break up.” “You are a good man, but you’re fat and ugly.” “You are a good man, but a lousy coach.” See what I mean? Calling someone “good” is always conditional. Like Jesus said, “no one is good–except God alone.” So calling someone “good” is, in the purest sense, a lie.  There is more to it, however. Most folks are uncomfortable with goodness. I have been a lawyer for 35 years. I have found clients don’t want a good man to represent them, they want a good lawyer. They assume that means someone who will do whatever it takes to win, regardless of goodness. In fact, sadly, most folks think the “best” lawyers are the unscrupulous ones, that you can’t be a good man and a good lawyer.  This is part of Ed Orgeron’s […]

Something really big was supposed to happen yesterday. If it did, I missed it. Lots of the so-called “Prophesy” teachers agreed. Some said it was the “end of the world.” Most were less definitive, hinting it might be the rapture or a really big disaster. Guess they were covering their bases if nothing happened. They pointed to the recent hurricanes and earthquakes or signs in the heavens or their personal insights into the Books of Daniel or Revelations. Some made money off of all this. I’m really sick of these guys. First of all, please be clear. I do believe in the soon return of Jesus and the rapture. I was even disappointed that it didn’t happen yesterday. I also believe Jesus when He told us no man knows the date. I agree the world is getting really bad and that we haven’t seen the end of really bad things even maybe nuclear destruction. These “prophets” are telling us we should “get ready” and “tell others.” Well, shouldn’t we be doing that anyway? Shouldn’t we live lives that make us ready at any time to be giving an explanation to our Lord? I don’t know when the world will end but the […]

There’s a lot of bad stuff out there. Everywhere there seems to be exhaustion, worry, stress, anger, and hopelessness. For most, the goal has become just survival. It’s not just in the world, it seems to be the case for many in the church. Bad stuff is common. We aren’t supposed to be living that kind of life. Our lives, as Christians, should be uncommon. Aren’t we a chosen people, a royal priesthood, taking the narrow way, being the exceptions. We are called to lives of uncommon knowledge, strength, destiny, and mission. For most of us, it’s not happening. This Sunday morning at Amana Christian Fellowship, at the 9 a.m. teaching time I will be discussing the Uncommon life. Hope to see you there.

In the wee hours of this morning, I heard a discussion on the radio about a new book which apparently recommends you don’t marry your best friend. I don’t remember the name of the book and since I disagree with its basic premise I didn’t do a lot of research to find it. If you are interested, you know all about google. I didn’t marry my best friend. When I got married in 1970, I wasn’t looking for a best friend, I was looking for a hot little number and that’s what I got. It’s a blessing that she turned out to be a faithful wife, wonderful mom and grandmother and, yes, eventually a perfect best friend. If after 47 years of marriage, your spouse isn’t your best friend you are doing friendship wrong. I don’t care what any book says.  I will caution this way. Your spouse shouldn’t be your only friend. We lay way too much on our spouses, especially the good ones. There should be others that can share our emotional burdens and our whining and complaining. Most of us are too much for any one best friend to handle.  Once more chances are one of […]

I think when I get to heaven I will be shocked at how simple it all was and how complicated I tried to make it. My only consolation will be that I made it and that I wasn’t the only one who made it seem harder than it should be.  At times I have known in my head that it was simple, but I never let it stay that way. I would think things like, “Surely, there has to be more.” or “I don’t deserve it. I need to do something else.”  From the words of Jesus I should know that it’s all about relationship with Him and what He did and does through me. It’s not about what I do or deserve. I know that when I recognize what He’s done that I am compelled to do things. I can’t stop myself, but it’s not those things that earn my way; they are just evidence of what he’s done. What about when things are not so great? When I do things I am ashamed of. Those too aren’t important, for forgiveness and forgetfulness or right at hand. He knew all along I would fall. He died and planned for […]

I was eating gumbo from Chris’ last night and got to thinking about my blessed life. I know gumbo doesn’t sound like a big deal, but I remember living for years in California or Florida or Mississippi when you couldn’t get good gumbo at a fast food place. I’ve lived back home since 1981 and that’s a blessed thing. Then I came across the above photo.  I can look out my window from my air-conditioned room and see a forest of green in summer and changing leaves in the fall.  I have been able to work out of my house for years and spend most days with my lovely wife. I guess that makes up for being away for months at a time in the waters off of Vietnam. I have a beautiful daughter, grandkids and great grands. They all live around me. Harvey seems to be headed to Texas and not Acadiana. I am blessed. I think being blessed is really an attitude. It’s the ability, that I don’t always have, of spending an appropriate amount of time looking up and looking down.  I need to spend more time looking up at my great God and getting validation […]

After Moses led God’s People out of Egypt, he became their intermediary to God. He went up on the mountain and returned with God’s word for His people. Jesus changed all that and gave us the opportunity to deal with God directly, to go into His presence, learn His ways, and fellowship with Him. We aren’t always that comfortable with that. We like the distance that an intermediary provides. Someone studying Jesus movements noted that they tend to start when the leader becomes particularly close to God and they end when the followers substitute the leader for God.  Our current system makes it all about a couple of hours on Sunday. On Sunday mornings we try to provide teaching, worship, and fellowship. We make the followers think that if they made it on Sunday, they’ve done all that needs to be done. It’s just not so. Teaching – You can get great teaching lots of places. The more a pastor tries to make Sunday morning about teaching the less time there is for worship and fellowship. Group teaching has to be general. It can’t address the individual struggles and questions of each member. In some churches, sermons are pretty […]

My weird dream this week reminded me of a weird dream last week. In that one, I was   A. On foot B. In a “bad” part of town C. At night D. At Burger King E. With $1000 in cash bulging from my wallet.  As I’ve mentioned before, it’s always fun to try to tie in my dreams with what’s happening in my life. This is a tough one. I’m never on foot. It’s not just that I’m too lazy to walk (which I am), but our house isn’t really walking distance to anywhere. I try to stay out of “bad” parts of town. My grandson is afraid to go in “rich” areas. Sometimes the apple falls way far from the tree. I tend to stay away from areas where drug deals are happening. I am rarely out at night or at Burger King. Most fantastic of all I never have $1000 in cash bulging from my wallet. In my dream, I tried to pull money from the wallet with no one noticing I was “loaded.” It didn’t work as I was walking away with my Whopper in hand, and stuffed wallet hanging out of my pocket, I was […]