Author: Nick

Make my joy complete by being of a single mind, one in love, one in heart and one in mind. Nothing is to be done out of jealousy or vanity; instead, out of humility of mind everyone should give preference to others, everyone pursuing not selfish interests but those of others. Make your own the mind of Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, did not count equality with God something to be grasped. But he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, becoming as human beings are; and being in every way like a human being, he was humbler yet, even to accepting death, death on a cross. –Philippians 2:3-8 Having decided that following Jesus is the only way to go, how exactly do we do that? We know it’s more than a social media follow. We are not just interested in Jesus. It’s not just fan; it’s follower. Following Him means becoming like Him. How is that possible. He’s God. We can’t see Him. He’s seated at the right hand of the Father. Is following the Son of God even possible? Is it just a carrot dangled before us that we can never reach? […]

34And He summoned the crowd with His disciples, and said to them, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. 35“For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. 36“For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul? Mark 8 We don’t like this verse. We try to blot it out of our minds. That failing, we claim not to understand its meaning. We say things like, “It just means we all got problems.” It’s why we don’t like to be called “followers.” Just call us “Christians.” Lots of “Christians” aren’t followers. If you look close, they’re not even believers. “Christian” is meaningless. Forget it. Today it simply means someone who calls himself a Christian.  It’s a status word. It describes what someone is or says he is. It means no more than what the speaker intends. It doesn’t communicate a unique idea. Follower is an action word. It implies selfless action. It implies actions along a path determined by another. It implies a singularity that […]

 24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds,25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching. Hebrews 10:24-25 In a few minutes I’m going to head off to church. Today that’s not incredibly popular. Why, you might say, are you going to church? I’m so glad you asked. Missing folks. For various reasons I haven’t been to my church in three weeks. I really miss my brothers and sisters there. So I’m going. If you don’t miss the folks at your church, maybe you are in the wrong church. Encouragement. It’s a scary world out there, and getting scarier every day. Folks are being killed for being Christian in some places. In others, Christians aren’t acting Christian enough to even get noticed as Christians. Like I said, it’s a scary world out there. I need some courage which I get at my church were there is encouragement. If you aren’t being encouraged at your church, maybe you’re going to the wrong church. Encourage. I know the folks at my church pretty well and I know […]

Those of us who are truly blessed have at least one someone who can turn things around by their presence. Rainy becomes sunny. Hopelessness becomes hope. Panic becomes calm. Confusion becomes direction. Perhaps above all else, sorrow becomes joy. They do it by their presence alone. Sometimes there’s a plus: a word, a verse, a cool drink or a sweet treat. That’s pure extra. The presence is what we desperately need. We are completely thankful for it. Such is the work of the Holy Spirit. His function is to be present in the life of the believer.  When that presence is experienced, joy flows. The presence is constant. Our experience is learned and varies. Sometimes our circumstances are so dark and overwhelming that the presence can’t be recognized. Sometimes we are so self-absorbed, we can notice anything else, especially not the spiritual presence of God. The Holy Spirit is like the wind, unseen and recognized only by the effects of its movement. When things in our lives change, especially without natural cause, the Spirit is working. The Spirit is at work whether we recognize it or not. His guidance, however, requires our recognition of His presence and our sensitivity […]

16“I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; 17 that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you.… John 14 I woke up this morning and thought of the Holy Spirit. I’m afraid it was a unique thought for me. I don’t give much thought to the Holy Spirit. That’s just not right. That puts me in the “in the world” class. Not good. I suppose there are lots of reasons why I don’t give much thought to the Holy Spirit. For example, I don’t remember the last time I’ve heard a teaching on the Holy Spirit. I guess this is understandable. The Holy Spirit seems hard to explain. I have heard much about the “gifts” of the Holy Spirit or the “fruits” of the Holy Spirit, but not a lot about the Holy Spirit. I know the Holy Spirit isn’t a dove. Although you would think so if you google “Holy Spirit.” Perhaps this is one of the reasons I don’t think a lot […]

I think I want to be a prophet. I have been an attorney for over thirty years. I am pretty good at it and enjoy it, but I think it’s time to expand. Plus my legal experience helps qualify me as a prophet. I want to be useful in the church and all the teaching and pastoring positions seem to be taken. They don’t pay that well anyway. So prophet it is. Here is my prophet resume’: White Beard: It seems all prophets are men with white beards. Check. Old men: It seems all prophets are old men with white beards. Check. Disliked: It seems all prophets are old men with white beards who often have to run for their lives from angry mobs. I have been a lawyer for thirty plus years. Check. Legal. It seems all prophets are old men with white beards who often have to run for their lives from angry mobs because they go on and on about the law and law breaking making folks uncomfortable. I have been a lawyer for thirty plus years. Check. I think there is a real need for prophets in the church. Name all the prophets who are […]

Recently a link for Viagra appeared on my website. I didn’t too much mind the link being there, but I wasn’t set up to get any income from those who clicked on it. It wasn’t very well done. Clicking on the link did not take you to a drug store. My apologies to those who were scandalized by the thought I had gone into the drug business. I really don’t want to hear from those of you who weren’t surprised. I am still working to rid the site of the link. It may be a long fight. It keeps coming back. Some research indicated that I have been under a “brute force attack.” I learned that means that hackers set up automated attempts to log onto my website. Someone apparently succeeded and thus the Viagra link.  Under my new security system, I am advised every time someone attempts to log onto my site. It happens multiple times each day. I am somewhat honored that a hacker, probably in some third-world country, finds my site worthy of attack. I hope he reads some of my posts and has a life change as a result thereof. I realize that is probably wishful […]

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” Jeremiah 1:5 Dear Logan James: Hi. I have a few words for you. I know you won’t be born until July, but I have seen your picture and know you are a person. I mainly wanted to tell you how lucky you are. Your parents are two of my favorite people. They love to have fun, but they are responsible and hard-working. They already love you and, most importantly, they love and are committed to each other. You don’t know yet how rare and important that is these days, but you will come to appreciate it. You have a great big sister. She’s a very special person, although it may take you years to appreciate that. That’s how sisters and brothers go. The most important thing she did for you was act as a lab rat for your parents. They have already made most of their parenting mistakes on her, and, because they are pretty smart I figure they have learned from those goofs. Your parents have great support from their families […]