Author: Nick

  Sue hasn’t call and there will be hell to pay. There is no truth in Satan. It’s his nature. As Christians, we formerly had that nature, now we have the nature of Christ and all the truth that comes with it. But elements of untruth just seem to hang around and Satan clings to them to make, and keep, us useless. He drags untruth into every day life. If your friend Sue usually calls every day and on Tuesday doesn’t call, the truth is a call was not made. That’s the only truth. It doesn’t mean Sue no longer loves you or that she has died in an accident. It doesn’t mean that she’s angry about something you said to her. It doesn’t mean she is no longer your friend. It doesn’t mean she is telling everyone what an awful person you are and that you are now friendless. It doesn’t mean that she never was your friend. It doesn’t mean, that you are the kind of person who doesn’t have friends because you are so worthless. The only truth is Sue didn’t call. All over a phone call that never happened. Once you’re convinced that there is now a […]

I’m only slightly ashamed that I was scared this morning. I was having breakfast with friends at Mel’s Diner when the thunderstorm many of us will never forget hit town. No one with me (and some were even older than I) had ever seen the sky that dark during the day. We watched hail through the security camera go on for some time. We couldn’t stop commenting on the ferocity of the wind. Being all men, we sort of laughed it off, but kept checking the weather radar on our smart phones and talked about nothing else. Finally someone suggested we adjourn to the men’s room. It took a few seconds before I realized he was serious. I don’t know if you have ever been to the men’s room at Mel’s downtown, but safety isn’t the first thing that comes to mind. For a few minutes this morning I was scared. I wasn’t the only one, but that doesn’t change the fact that I was. It kind of feels good to admit that. Maybe we would all be better off if we could admit that sometimes we are scared. Maybe it’s the weather. Maybe it’s an impending medical procedure. […]

“Now I will take the load from your shoulders; I will free your hands from their heavy tasks. Psalm 81:6 I suffered with my shoulders, particularly my left, for many months. When I would deal with a drive through window I could barely lift my arm to take the coffee, burger or health food. Okay, so no health food. I eventually couldn’t handle it any longer and went to the doctor. The doc is a friend so I trust his opinion very much. After two scary (to me) MRI procedures, my friend  recommended surgery on both shoulders. One at a time, of course. I had torn rotator cuffs in both shoulders.  After some prayer I decided to put off the surgery. I would like to say being a man of great faith I rejected surgery in favor of faith healing. That would not be true. Something from my last surgery messed me up bad. I am not a friend of pain. I have a lot going on. Oh, and I guess God could heal it. I turned it over to God, sort of, and hoped for the best. I applied the medication for pain my friend prescribed a couple of times. […]

My wife and I had a great time in bed the other night. Now that I have your attention. We were looking at old pictures. This one is from early 1970. We were engaged at the time and married in May of that year.  I highly recommend looking at old pics with a loved one. It was a wonderful exercise. Thanksgiving Booster.  Sometimes we need to remember all that we have to be thankful for. Looking at forty plus years of pictures really let’s you know how much you have to be thankful for. It really has been a wonderful life. Priority shifter.  Looking at the pictures we didn’t focus on cars we owned or houses we lived in or clothes we “loved.” We looked at people and not just any people, but “our” people, each other, children, grands and great grands.  We were reminded of friends and loved ones lost. Looking at old pics really can shift your priorities that might have ever so briefly gotten out of line. Faithfulness.  In the years of pictures, I  saw evidence of the faithfulness of God and  of my spouse. We have been through a lot. We often felt God was […]

Christians shouldn’t really ever be over-stressed. A bit of stress is necessary to motivate us to do the things we need to do and to avoid the things that should be avoided.  When we talk about being stressed, we really mean over-stressed.  Too much stress is bad, really bad. It distracts us and can, in the worst cases, freeze us into dangerous inactivity. Stress is a tool of Satan. Stress summarizes all that satan tries to throw at us. He tries to rush us,  frighten us, push us, confuse us, condemn us, discourage and worry us. Aren’t these things all the elements of stress? When we say we are “too blessed to be stressed” we don’t mean our life is stressor-free? Christians have the same problems as everyone and often a lot more. We have a higher standard and calling than most. We have as much reason to be stressed as anyone.  However, as Christians we have three things going for us that non-followers don’t have. Perspective.  Satan uses “what if” to stress us. What if you lose your job? What if you lose your spouse? What if you get cancer? What if… What if… What if… Christians have […]

  Listen to the song. We pray for blessings We pray for peace Comfort for family, protection while we sleep We pray for healing, for prosperity We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering All the while, You hear each spoken need Yet love is way too much to give us lesser things (Chorus) ‘Cause what if your blessings come through raindrops What if Your healing comes through tears What if the thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You’re near What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise We pray for wisdom Your voice to hear We cry in anger when we cannot feel You near We doubt your goodness, we doubt your love As if every promise from Your Word is not enough And all the while, You hear each desperate plea And long that we’d have faith to believe Chorus When friends betray us When darkness seems to win We know the pain reminds this heart That this is not, this is not our home Chorus What if my greatest disappointments Or the aching of this life Is the revealing of a greater thirst this world can’t satisfy What […]

In my last post, I discussed how God uses a carrot and stick approach to draw us to Himself. I spoke in generalities, which I hope was useful for understanding. However, what’s important is application in each of our lives. How far will God go in my life to bring me to Himself? Unless we see God mirrored what we experience in our lives (the carrot) and unless the insufficiency of our world to truly satisfy is clear to us (the stick), we won’t be drawn to God and follow His Son in executing His plan for us. God truly has a plan for us. It’s not the bed of roses, worldly success, prosperity plan that is far too often preached. It’s a plan that includes more of Him and less of the world. It replaces temporary pleasure with eternal satisfaction. It substitutes fun with fulfillment. It can look miserable and foolish when, in fact, it’s great and glorious. It can seem fanciful, when it’s the only thing that’s real. If instead of God we seek riches, we will never feel rich enough. If we cling to youth and beauty in place of mature growth in Him, we will […]

I think as Christians most of us realize that we were created for a relationship with God. We know that God wants that relationship to be voluntary on our part. Just how far will God go to carry out this end? Consider this. Jesus told us not to fear more times than He told us anything else. We can assume being fearless is important. Yet, we live in a world with storms, disease, violence, destruction, wasps, snakes, spiders, ISIS and the IRS. How are we supposed to be fearless? We tell each other that God has a wonderful plan for our lives, but His plan for His son was humiliation, rejection and painful death on a cross. How can we expect a better plan for us? God said we, His followers, would do greater things than He did. He did some pretty awesome stuff. We can’t seem to get out of bed, lose weight, raise kids without criminal records, pay bills or invite people we know really well to church. Is there an explanation for all this plain madness? I think there is. It came to me in the middle of the night last night. I didn’t eat anything […]