Author: Nick

I gave up on the word “Christian” quite a while ago. It just doesn’t mean anything anymore. Well, maybe it just means too many things. When I refer to someone who is trusting Jesus for their salvation and following Him, I call that person a Follower. Like most of my thoughts, it’s not original. I stole it from Kyle Idleman and his book Not a Fan.  If  you haven’t read it, I highly recommend you do so – after your read this 🙂 I think lots of us are Followers. We try to follow Jesus. Francis Chan has some great thoughts on this subject. I’m learning that it’s always a good thing. Often we do it on a “grand” scale. We are trying to follow as a basic principle of life. I find what works best is if I follow on a minute-to-minute basis. I wish I could give you specific instructions on how to do that. If I could I would have the best seller book that my wife thinks I will write one day. I can’t do that because I don’t have enough data. I have succeeded in following Him, minute-by-minute in short spurts. It’s always a blessed […]

I had a great time at Amana Christian Fellowship last night discussing “Knowing God.” Thanks to all of you who made it. I hope you enjoyed it and, more importantly, got something out of it. If you couldn’t be there you might enjoy listening to the session. Listen here.  I began with a discussion based on my blog post, The Miracle of Knowing God.  We are really intimidated by the thought of spending time “in the holy of holies.” It certainly is a privilege available only through a miracle. But God is eager waiting to visit with us. It keeps coming back to me how often Jesus spoke of Prayer and Faith. Prayer is talking to God. Faith is trusting what He reveals to us. Consider how Jesus stressed to his disciples that knowing him, Jesus, was knowing the Father. It’s vital to know God because it’s the only way we can know ourselves. No one else will honestly show us who we are. We walk through life carrying labels that the world and it’s ruler has placed on us. We all bear lies that weaken our resolve, crush our ambition, and cripple our mission. I love Jason Gray’s “Remind […]

Doxology 33 Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!     How unsearchable his judgments,     and his paths beyond tracing out! 34 “Who has known the mind of the Lord?     Or who has been his counselor?” 35 “Who has ever given to God,     that God should repay them?” 36 For from him and through him and for him are all things.     To him be the glory forever! Amen. Romans 11 The starting point of the study of God is the recognition that He is unknowable. When we seek to know God, we should begin by acknowledging what we seek is not possible. Knowledge of God is a gift of God; the greatest gift He gives. For whatever reason, God decided that He wanted a relationship with beings that He created. The basis of relationship is mutual knowledge. The created is seemingly unlike the creator. Yet, somehow is an image of Him. The beginning of scripture proclaims that He made us in His image. How can this be true? We are so different from Him. We are finite; He is infinite. He is holy; we are not. He knows it all; we seem to know nothing at all. He is love; We […]

“For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.” 2 Timothy 4:3-4 There are a lot of lies out there, in and out of the church. Is there some fundamental, really big lie that is the cornerstone of lies? I think there is. It’s all about what I do. I think this is the cornerstone lie. The big lie is that it’s all about what we do. Think about it. We admire or disdain others based on what they do. When things go wrong don’t we think we should have done more. When things go well, we pride ourselves on what we did to cause the good result. As we age we regret the things we didn’t do and the things we did. From the pulpits we are told what we should and shouldn’t be doing. It’s a hold over from the Law Era. The truth is it’s all about whom we know. It’s all about relationship and not just any relationship. It’s about relationship with Jesus. […]

I remember seeing, at least once, a sign upon entering a small community, “Home of 5000 nice people and I old grouch.” It took me up to the last morning in Branson to find one, perhaps two old grouches. I was buying ice and gassing up the truck. When I went to check out the bill was $4.07. I had a ton of change in my truck but none on my person. I looked hopefully at the Add a Penny – Take a Penny display. There were at least ten pennies there. “No sir.” The cashier warned. That’s take a penny, not seven pennies.” Although it seemed reasonable that there be a limit on taking pennies, seven didn’t seem to me to be it. She gave me my change and I put the pennies I received into the jar. “Maybe you can be more generous to the next person whose a bit short,” I said. She just grunted. I had found my old grouch. I returned to the truck and then to the condo. I then took the car for gassing up to the same place. I took dozens of pennies out of my penny place in the truck. […]

Wouldn’t we be so much happier if life met our expectations? Is it that life is meant to be this disappointing or is it that our expectations could use a bit of adjustment? Is it that we are unrealistic about life? Do we spend too  much time watching “reality” television. Do we live in romance or adventure novels that have no resemblance to life? Do we expect our spouses to compete with fictional characters? Do we idealize “personalities” and wail in disappointment when our own lives don’t measure up. The Duggar family didn’t meet up with  “expectations” for  some, Christians and Christian bashers alike. For some, their family tragedy is an opportunity to celebrate the “fall” of too-good-to-be-true Christian lives. For others, there is a strange comfort in knowing personal family failings aren’t unique. Perhaps, we mourn that the ideal family we thought we knew, is far from perfect. What did Jesus teach us to expect? Certainly not perfection,  either in our conduct or in our lives. We should expect those we admire to fall and to see the same in the mirror. We should expect trouble, even persecution. We should expect things to be new every morning, and pretty […]

“Vacation” is an interesting word. The root is “vacate” or to empty. The word originated in the era in which the well-to-do would “vacate” their normal residences during the “season” and move to seaside or mountain second homes. They were said to be “on vacation” or “vacationers.” The usage eventually spread to the masses, you and me. It seems not only our normal residences are emptied during vacation. The vacation process is an emptying of the day-to-day junk that seems determined to fill our lives. I know with smart phones and tablets it’s hard to leave all of our usual lives behind, but we still try to empty out as much junk as possible. When the junk is all cleared away, what’s left? Looking at the vacant faces of many of my fellow vacationers, I have to think, “not much.” What if we empty ourselves of the junk and there is nothing left, no substance, nothing to hang on to or be proud of? What should be left when the junk is cleared? I like what Casting Crowns sings in their song “Thrive.” “We know we were made for so much more than ordinary lives It’s time for us […]