There are lions outside. There are good reasons to stay secure in our hideouts. It’s a rough world out there. Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: 1 Peter 5:8. Everyone will understand if we don’t go where it’s dangerous. The truth is that the “lion” is not as dangerous as he sounds. His roar is worse than his bite. Further, we don’t go out there alone. In fact, the battle is already won. Yet He counts on us to act. He waits for us to make a move, before He engages the enemy. We live in enemy territory. We reside in a battle zone. As the end draws nearer, the fighting becomes fiercer. There is a lion out there but it’s no big deal. Go confront him.
Author: Nick
Christian, Husband, Father, Grandfather, Great Grandfather, Attorney, Blogger in that order. Love my life with my loving wife Rosemary, and all our family. I enjoy helping folks with my forty plus years of legal experience representing health care providers at Gachassin-Gaines Law Firm.
Rescue Story
As Christ Followers, we are supposed to have a story. I remember a pastor, years ago, saying that we need to keep it simple: Before Jesus. Jesus. After Jesus. The problem is that, for me, the story isn’t that simple. There is not a clear, clean rescue. There isn’t a one-time rescue. There is rather a series of rescues. As I look back upon my life I see multiple rescues. I see times when I knew I should turn left and He rescued me and pushed me to the right. There were times when I made a wrong turn and wandered for a while before the Rescuer came, but He always came. There are probably those who have a classic: Before Jesus. Jesus. After Jesus story. I suspect that they are in the minority. Many of us can point to the “big” rescue, but our lives are stories of drift from the path, then rescue. Zach Williams song, Rescue Story, seems to capture this. He talks about “battles” plural. He refers to “songs” plural, of redemption. He remembers “every time” that he ran away. Most importantly, he knows, “you never gave up on me.” Don’t be confused if, like […]
The Whole Truth
Sometimes when I’m feeling silly I like to watch different news channels on the same day. You would think they are reporting on completely different events. When I was a kid the “news” used to tell us what happened. It’s true there was some editorializing based on what stories were covered and which were not. Today the “news” does that but more. The talking heads leave out pertinent facts, add their own spin, or just out and out lie. You probably think that there is some news source that you can trust and that you rely on, but the truth is that source probably is just better at telling you what you want to here. It seems no one gives us The Whole Truth. As Christ Followers, we are supposed to go to His Word for The Whole Truth. Even there we have to be careful. We can’t pick and choose what to read. We can’t filter out what we don’t like. We can’t just focus on what we believe are the good parts. When we do that we become our own newscasters, telling ourselves what we want to hear, failing to absorb The Whole Truth. If we focus […]
Walking Worthy
There’s a whole lot of talking going on. I have noticed that there seems to be a lot more talking than ever before. On television, we watch “talking heads.” These are “experts” who are paid to tell us what we ought to think about just about any topic. If we include the things we “say” on social media, the talk is overwhelming. Anyone can get on social media and pontificate on any subject. There is no need to have “credentials” or “expertise.” Sadly, not only is the talk not very informed; it’s often not even true. The talking heads are paid to say what that particular network thinks their audience wants to hear. If you believe what is posted on social media, everyone prepares meals right from the cooking shows and spend their weekends doing nothing but fun things with their kids. We need to be reminded that God doesn’t focus on our Talk but on our Walk. That’s not to say that what we say isn’t important. Words can be powerful, encouraging or devastating, but we are encouraged to walk “worthy of God.” That’ a high bar.
Kansas City “Christ Follower” Chiefs
One of my most embarrassing moments occurred a few years ago when a fellow worker, of several years, said, “I didn’t know you were a Christian.” Wow. Do the people you work with know you are a Christ Follower? According to decisionmagazine.com, some prominent athletes are not shy about their faith. The Kansas City Chiefs won the Super Bowl Sunday night. But for several Chiefs players, a Super Bowl isn’t as important as their relationship with Jesus Christ. Chiefs, Dustin Colquitt, believes winning the Super Bowl is about showing the world the love of Jesus. “My faith in Christ is something that’s unwavering. Special teams can come and go, and eventually I’m not going to play in Kansas City or the League, but my faith in Christ is going to take me all the way to the other side—to eternity,” he said during a press conference before the game. “That’s something I share with coaches, with teammates, with anyone I come in contact with, because that’s the one thing I can count on never changing.” Chief’s CEO Clark Hunt, a Christian since he was 10 years old, says that encouraging team members in their walk with Christ is a […]
Secure Relationship
This year I will celebrate my 50th anniversary. In 2020, that’s a pretty big deal. There have been good times and bad times. There have been days when we weren’t thrilled with each other. At no time in those 50 years, did I consider ending my marriage. More importantly, at no time could have I conceived of my wife walking away. That has created the security that has cemented our relationship. I’m not saying there is nothing one of us could have done to force the other to end it. Certainly, intentional harm to the other or one of our offspring or abandonment or infidelity might do it. Such things seem unthinkable. Yet even in such extremes, the thought of forgiveness isn’t out of the question. Why do we think less of our relationship with Jesus? To talk of “once-saved-always-saved” is to invoke charges of heresy. My response is to ask that if there is something that can break my relationship with Him, exactly what is it? I’ve never gotten a satisfactory response. Maybe it’s like marriage and walking away from Him would do it. Why would I ever do that? I find Father Richard Rohr a bit “out […]
A Bad Day
Have you ever had a really bad day? I don’t mean a day when you wake and there’s no coffee or your team loses or you burn supper. I’m talking about days you want to crawl under a table or back into bed. These are days that are not just gray but black and stormy. These days tend to grow and become, like the theme from Friends, a week, a month or even a year. A bad day, week, month or year can disable us. Bad days aren’t just unpleasant. They can kill our joy and blunt our purpose. They are disabling and disturbing. They are bad enough when we think we know the “why.” They are much worse when we can’t really put our finger on the cause. I find that to break the funk I need to ask some questions. Am I being a Winnie baby? This is always my first question because the quest usually ends here. My funk is usually based on my ingratitude, my failure to live in Thanksgiving. When I recognize the cause, I have some tried-and-true solutions. I have some pictures of life in a dump. Recently I came across this: I […]
Demonic Disunity
This is a very divided world. In Washington, votes seem to be 51-49 most of the time. There is talk about “breaking ties.” The divide is wide. Folks on either side can’t seem to understand or even hear what’s being said across the chasm. There has almost always been more than one side to anything, but, it seems to me, the divide has never been so deep. It’s not as if we believe we are choosing between reasonable alternatives. For each side, it seems it’s the difference between good and evil. They just can’t agree on which is which. My side is 100% right and the other is 100% wrong. Those in urban areas differed from the country folks. Half of us love the President and half hate him. Half get their news from Fox and the rest from the “mainstream media, which isn’t really “mainstream” but more like midstream. Half believe Fox isn’t “real news” and the rest believe the MSM is mostly “fake news.” Who’s to blame? Each side points to the other. Here’s my take: It’s not flesh and blood; it’s Satan. Before half of you call me “fundamentalist fanatic” while the other half shouts “Amen.” […]