Author: Nick

Mardi Gras caught me by surprise again this year. I realized it was upon us  when  the UL Basketball game was rescheduled to avoid conflict with Mardi Gras. Heaven forbid we have Mardi Gras conflicts. I don’t do Mardi Gras. The reasons are many. I don’t drink. My wife suffered through an alcoholic father and to honor her and to avoid bringing up painful memories, I don’t drink for Mardi Gras or anything else. I don’t find it fun anyway. From what I can see of Mardi Gras, drinking is a key part. I wonder if people would dress up like they do or act like they do during carnival if they were sober or if they could see what they look like to sober people. I don’t dance. I never have. Seems dancing is an important part of the whole thing. Of course, many of those I see “dancing” can’t dance either, but don’t seem sober enough to realize it or care. I’m not a Catholic. In case you don’t know, Mardi Gras is supposed to be an opportunity to let it all hang out before the austere days of lent. Funny thing is I see a lot more […]

Consider how our view of life is formulated by how we view God. Is he a formidable bearded old man seated high upon a throne? Is He sitting there with a note pad making plus and minus marks for every moment of our lives? It is difficult for mortal men to form an accurate image of our creator. It’s one of the reasons that God became a man. When we consider God we need to visualize Jesus. It was important to God that our image of Him be something we could relate to. After all, we were created to be in relationship with the creator. That’s tough if we can’t envision Him. One day we will see God as we are changed at the end of days. We will be in a form capable of comprehending and loving His incredibleness. For now, we need to understand Him as loving enough to become man and to die. We need to see Him and understand Him as what we need now,  as healer, and savior and lover. Satan and a world that doesn’t love God continues to try to distort our vision of Him. They want to make Him distant, formidable, […]

I can’t say that I’ve ever heard the audible voice of the Lord directing me. When we read in scripture about the Lord “speaking” to  men we assume an audible voice was involved. I’m not so sure. When Abram was told by God to leave his home and go to a land the Lord would show him, was there an audible voice involved. I bet not. Imagine Abram explaining to his family that they should pack up and move to an undisclosed destination. It seems Abram was successful where he was and there wasn’t any rational reason to leave. He was dealing with a voice from a God that neither he nor his family was familiar with. I think much more often God speaks to us in a still small voice. Sometimes it’s really not much more than a “feeling” that we should do a certain thing or head in a certain direction. It’s often accompanied by situation changes that close or open doors in our lives. Sometimes it’s just that our current situation feels uncomfortable or “not right.” I think hearing the voice of the Lord is an act of faith. If he spoke to us in clear […]

Occasionally, I like to write something that reminds me what a total radical I am. Today is one of those days. I believe that the modern church, particularly in the west, is generally a failure. The problem, I believe is fundamental and structural. The western Christian church is based on a clergy/lay, paid/unpaid, full-time/part-time model. Under this structure, full-time, paid clergy do the bulk of the ministry, make the decisions, and structure the church. The job of everyone else is to provide financial support and herd the lost toward the clergy who will then minister as they have been trained. Churches are designed so that the clergy sits up front and leads the service while the rest sit in straight rows and essentially watch. The lay Christians are often preached at and told they need to be more involved, but the real opportunities to do more than write a check are minimal. This model has forces that focus on getting the lost into church and not bringing them to Jesus. It requires adherence to a tithe plus mentality to provide a continuing flow of dollars in support of paid staff and substantial buildings. It results in exhausted ministers and frustrated […]

I’m better. My symptoms haven’t improved. In fact I think they are worse. I had a prescheduled  doctor appointment today. He told me it’s probably viral and what I was doing was about all that can be done. At least my blood pressure was great and my blood work was good. I’m better in that I am better than others. I’ve had lots of folks supporting me. I’m not alone. I’m not fighting cancer or struggling with the loss of a loved one. I’m not hopeless wondering what life is all about or what would happen if I died today. I have family are doing well. I got a visit from my grand daughter and Logan today. Watching him squeal with delight as he played with Rosemary was awesome.  I have a church I love. I’m still making a living around many who are jobless. We still have time for a decent presidential candidate to emerge. Well, maybe that’s being a bit too optimistic. I wonder why it’s so easy to focus on the few things that are not perfect about our lives instead of all the things that are really great. Look around maybe things are better than […]

I’m sick. I’m running a low fever. My throat hurts. My head and nose feel full of gunk. The holidays are over and now is the “after the first of the year” time when I planned to do stuff. I don’t feel like doing stuff.  I feel like laying in bed all day. I’m not sick very often. I really don’t like it. It disturbs my schedule and makes me feel very vulnerable. How do people who are often sick handle it? What’s sickness about? Is its purpose to make us appreciate health? Is it an opportunity to savor hot drinks and chicken soup over meat and potatoes? Is it like dreary rainy days that make clear skies and sunshine so great? Is it about recognizing our dependence and morality?  Is it God saying “Stop and just be with me a moment and listen before you dive into all you think you have to do.”? Is it a closed-door to stop us from going somewhere we should not? Is it training in empathy to enable us to better minister to those who suffer greatly?  Is it a chance to see the miraculous power of prayer? I think I will […]

I began 2016 by removing a bumper sticker from my truck. The sticker proclaimed my support for a particular candidate for president. I didn’t remove it because I no longer support the candidate; it’s part of my new year’s resolution to be careful about where I place my trust. I still think this candidate would be best for the country, but I feared that the bumper sticker was an expression of trust in the ability of any candidate to really make a difference. That I don’t have. To me “trust” is a two-fold proposition. I have to trust the intentions of the trusted and the ability of that person to do what is necessary. I know longer believe that anyone in politics can do what this country needs; hence, the bumper sticker is gone. It’s strange whom we trust. For years I thought Bill Cosby was a great guy. One of the few comedians that didn’t rely on vulgarity for humor. He portrayed a wonderful family man on television. I would have trusted him with any woman in my family. Although I firmly believe in “innocence until proven guilty,” it certainly seems that such trust could have been greatly […]

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. Lamentations 3:22-23 My wife and I are celebrating New Year’s Eve in our traditional fashion. We are staying home. I am watching football and she is researching on the internet. I pretty usual night. It all started back in 1970 when we were dating. Rosemary got all dressed up to go out on New Year’s Eve and I showed up to pick her up in jeans and a t–shirt. She ended up agreeing to marry me anyway and we’ve never gone out on New Year’s eve for the last forty-five years. I’ve never understand the big deal over New Year’s anyway. I understand the fondness for newness. Who doesn’t like the smell of a new car or having anything “new?” The “newness” of the first of the year is pretty artificial. Frankly, for most of us, our lives are no different on January the first from what they are on December 31st. Even when we used to write a lot more checks it would take me weeks to update to the new year. I don’t know anyone who really makes long-standing […]