Author: Nick

Last week I “celebrated” my 68th birthday. Principally because I have a great family, I had a wonderful day. I did take pause to consider how birthdays change over a lifetime. As a kid, we enjoy birthdays as “me” events. The day is all about us. We get gifts and cake and ice cream. It’s a day that’s all me.  As we get older, we see birthdays as milestones on what seems a very slow march to adulthood. It’s amazing how long a year used to be when I was 8. It seems like barely a month at 68. Once we hit adulthood, the birthdays begin to come quickly and the youth we didn’t appreciated when we were in it, begins to spin away. I laugh now at folks who get black balloons at 40. Kids are so silly.  As retirement years approach, we experience a bit of panic as we begin to realize that our time is limited and that life has not been all we imagined and we feel we better start really living. These are the years of mid-life crisis. At 68, I realize I could have gone on social security years ago. I finally got […]

Yesterday I went to see “The Shack.” I loved it. I really loved it. Before you pan me or the movie, please see the movie. I am NOT endorsing the book or the theology of it’s author, William P. Young, who has also written an awful non-fiction book Lies We Believe About God . I would have to re-read “The Shack” to analyze all the differences between it and the movie. I would rather just see the movie again. We don’t fully know God. I understand the discomfort in seeing Father God portrayed as a full-figured black woman. We have no problem accepting God as a Jewish carpenter or described as a lion or a lamb in scripture or portrayed as a lion in literature. I guess our discomfort about the black woman thing says more about us than about God. We don’t know all about God. We forget that.  Critics claim the movie portrays God as we would like Him to be and not how He is. I think the truth is that God is so much greater than we know or, in this life, can imagine. The movie dramatically lays out some truths about God that the world, and a […]

On Sunday, my pastor did a good job of explaining the Power of Fellowship.  God’s desire for humanity is that we be Saved and Sanctified. In other words, that we come to know Him and to be more like Him.      That second thing,  the sanctification, is a process of being set apart. His goal for us is that we make a difference. It’s hard to make a difference if we are not different.   He accomplishes this “difference,” through the work of the Holy Spirit who spurs us through fellowship with His Word, His Presence, and His People.      Fellowship is life-changing. We are changed by what surrounds us, our environment. Our moms were wise to be concerned about where we were and who we were hanging around with. Our sanctification, our change occurs, when we surround ourselves with the Word of God, the Presence of God and the People of God. We are creatures of mind, spirit and body. The Word of God impacts our minds and our thinking, the Presence of God communes with our spirits and the people of God hang around our natural fleshy selves. We are balanced in our transformation into Christ […]

About a decade ago, when The Shack the book came out, it was pretty much universally slammed by “the church.” It was viewed as  inconsistent with scripture and main stream theology. The movie is out this month and it’s being proclaimed a tool for evangelism. What changed? Apparently the movie isn’t the book. Check out the outreach.com statement.  However, I think the world and “the church” have both changed in 10 years. The world is much less “Christian” and the church is much less “orthodox.” That’s too much a subject for a blog. It would take a book to fully discuss that. I’m going to see the movie and I have my reasons. It’s topical.  People I love, people I know, and people I want to reach for Jesus are all going to see the movie. I want to be able to discuss it intelligently and accurately. I’m open.  I am open to fresh perspectives about God.  Please don’t excommunicate me or demand I return my “Follower of Jesus” credentials. I still believe Jesus is the only way. I am just open. I don’t know everything there is to know about God and I don’t know anyone who does. There […]

I want to be loved for myself. I want the folks I love to want to be with me. I love doing things for my loved ones, but I don’t want to be loved for what I do,  but for who I am. In that way, I’m no different from God.  We are made in the image of God and this mirror image is no clearer than in the way we love and want to be loved. Loving relationships include doing for each other, but FIRST comes the desire for each other. The essence of love is the pleasure of being WITH. The lyrics of Lauren Daigle’s song FIRST expresses this wonderfully.  Before I bring my need I will bring my heart Before I lift my cares I will lift my arms I wanna know You I wanna find You In every season In every moment Before I bring my need I will bring my heart And seek You… FIRST We have little patience with those who claim to care for us, but who seek us only when we have something they need. God is so much more loving, and patient, than we are. How often do we go to […]

We know that we should put God First. The verses come easily to mind. You shall have no other gods before me. Exodus 20:3 In everything you do, put God first, and he will direct you and crown your efforts with success. Proverbs 3:6 TLB  So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’  For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.  But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Matthew 6:31-33 God first is a command with promises: Direction, success, food, drink and clothing. It would seem putting God first would get our every effort. It’s not so.  It’s just hard.  I’ve tried. Each day I have intentions to pray and write a blog post before anything else, yet I end up checking my email, the weather and Facebook first. In fact, I start my day worrying about what I will eat, drink and wear. Not only do I not do my God stuff first, sometimes I don’t do it at all.  I understand that putting God first is more […]

Do you sometimes think God is yelling at you? I do. I’m not sure that He’s necessarily angry. I think I’m just not listening. It usually comes up with a convergence of coincidences. Take yesterday for example. I am sitting in line at Comeaux High waiting to pick up my grandson. I am also talking to a client on the phone. Suddenly there is a tap on my window and an irate woman angrily questions my ability to read and advises me I am blocking traffic. Knowing I can read, she advises me that the sign I am parked under advises no parking before 2:30. Of course, it’s after 2:30, but when you’re angry facts are irrelevant. I didn’t respond. I would like to say it’s because I am a cool guy who thinks before he responds. Sadly, not always so. The truth is my client heard it all. I didn’t want to embarrass him further. I was caught by surprise and all my smart ass responses didn’t come to mind until later in the day. Don’t you hate it when that happens? Now for the coincidences: Since then I have seen an article that suggests waiting a day […]

One of my favorite movies is Close Encounters of the Third Kind.  The title of this 1977 classic comes from a classification of close encounters with aliens. The third kind denotes human observations of aliens. Actually observing an alien would be a really big deal. As far as I know, it’s only happened in movies, yet millions believe in creatures from “somewhere else.”  I don’t know anyone who has seen God, yet I completely believe in Him. I know that many saw Jesus, the God-man, but I haven’t gotten a chance to chat with any of them and I haven’t seen Jesus myself, yet. My belief in God is certainly largely faith-based, but not entirely. Although I haven’t seen Him, I have had many close encounters. I didn’t always realize I was having an meet with the divine while it was happening. My encounter perception seems to work better through the rear view mirror. Looking back I can see many divine interventions in my life. I have had conditions cured. Only God could have rescued me from certain bad decisions. I have had moments of joy so intense that they were unearthly, or more precisely divine.  I have also had moments so dark […]