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You will recall that yesterday I had a bad day. Today was much better. I spent time with my Wednesday morning prayer group and had lunch with the leader of our next Kairos. That helped because today through them I had more of Jesus. I also read a wonderful column which was a report on Anne Graham Lotz’s recent book, Pursuing More of Jesus, (Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2009).  The report listed 13 ways to pursue more of Jesus. I recommend reading the report here which may move you to read the book. I would like to share just one of the thirteen ways with you today. Go for the maximum, not the minimum. Choose to go after more than just the bare minimum God has to offer you. Make your faith about more than just trying to escape hell and get your ticket punched to heaven. Invite God to completely transform you: bending your will, awakening your conscience, breaking your heart, transforming your mind, overcoming your prejudices, soaring in your spirit, and conforming you into His glorious image.  We all want to escape hell, but our feet begin to drag when we consider inviting God to change us. Why is that? […]

I had a bad day. I wish I could look at the calendar and know in advance when I was going to have a bad day. I could go hide somewhere.  It doesn’t work that way. It doesn’t work that way because we don’t always control how our day will go. We are at the mercy of others. I wish I knew in advance who would turn my day around. I could avoid them; but we don’t know that either. It would seem after all these years I would have learned how to respond to turn a bad day good. I haven’t. Just a word from someone, out of the blue and unexpected,  can turn things bad. I guess I should consider that I, no doubt, cause others to have bad days. That really doesn’t help. I guess all we can do is our best. If we are expecting appreciation, we are sure to be disappointed. Tomorrow is another day. It’s got to be better. Doesn’t it? I hope so. There aren’t that many days left. Be blessed. Nick

For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; 4 And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. 2Tim 4:3,4  “In answer to your inquiry, I consider that the chief dangers which confront the coming century will be religion without the Holy Ghost, Christianity without Christ, forgiveness without repentance, salvation without regeneration, politics without God, and heaven without hell.” William Booth After the recent date-setting incident, it is fashionable to scoff at those who insist we are in the last days. The scripture is full of prophesy about the last days and certainly the time does seem full and the return of Jesus surely is not far away. Perhaps most significantly is the drift of the church from sound doctrine and the tendency to political correctness in preaching. When the century turned from the 1800s to the 1900s, William Booth, the founder of the Salvation Army was asked about his concerns for the coming century. His response is quoted above.  Consider the church today. Are not those who preach the power of the Holy […]

We had a wonderful Memorial Day Service at Amana on Sunday, including a segment in which all veterans were asked to stand. We were thanked and honored. It wasn’t like that when I came back from war. It wasn’t an  honored war; it was Vietnam. I remember our ship coming under the Golden Gate Bridge with all hands on deck with garbage being thrown at us from the bridge. I remember shipmates wearing wigs to go into town to try to avoid being identified as military. I remember many years later at a Promise Keeper event, being thanked for the first time for my service. My experience is years old and I’m well over it. But I am concerned about those serving now as the country wearies of the War on Terror. These men and women are serving in an undermanned armed forces. They are having to spend way too much time deployed in dangerous war zones. The fervor of 9/11 is a distant memory. I pray that we not forget to spend some time tomorrow amongst the cookouts and general relaxing to spend some time considering their sacrifice and praying for those who serve and their families.  But […]

His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.2 Peter 1:3 Is your life chaotic, at least sometimes?  Demons thrive in chaos. Stability is the condition God creates in our lives. When we feel everything is chaotic, it isn’t usually because circumstances are chaotic, but rather our perception is chaotic. What I mean is we are unable to focus. While trying to deal with problem 1, we become distracted by problem 2 and so on. Example. A woman is home all day with the kids. She has had it up to “here” with the problems of the household. Dad shows up bringing his own world of problems. His focus is entirely different. If he can’t quickly readjust and focus on where is wife’s life is and if she can’t do the same, it’s going to be a long night. How do we avoid this chaos? by focus on Him. As Peter tell us in this verse, He has granted us everything pertaining to life and godliness. Notice what that means. “Life” includes all that happens in our day-to-day natural world. […]

Yesterday we considered accepting Scripture as the truth, the word of God, unfiltered by tradition or human reason. There are many reasons to believe the bible.  Max Lucado touched on several in a recent column. Our bible was composed over sixteen centuries by forty authors; yet it has one central theme. Some of the authors were scholars, but others were soldiers, shepherds, and fishermen. Begun by Moses in lonely Arabia, finished by John on lonely Patmos. Penned by kings in palaces, shepherds in tents, and inmates in prisons. Yet there is a consistency of theme and purpose united by inspiration by one Holy Spirit. The bible is durable. It is the single most published book in history. The top seller for three hundred years. Translated into twelve hundred languages. The possession of a Bible is a crime in some countries and it has been condemned and burned in others. Yet is survives. The Bible contains more than three hundred fulfilled prophecies about the life of Christ. His biography was written by a multitude of authors before his birth. No other writing can make that claim.The Bible works. Apply the principles of fidelity to your marriage, and see if you […]

Lately there has been much discussion about hell. Is there a hell? Is it a real place? Who ends up there? Does anyone end up there? This isn’t a discussion that just came up. It’s the logical result of a process that’s been ongoing for years. When Christianity started, the followers of Christ were still around and recalled and recorded what He said. There is amazing consistency between their recollections recorded in the gospels and the letters they wrote. What he said was what he said and that was the end of it. But soon students of the gospel began to treat scripture simply as literature, traditions developed and mankind moved into the “Age of Reason.” Man began to respect his intellectual ability and his traditions. Eventually, these became as important as scripture giving rise to concepts such as the “three legged stool.” This was the idea that, in evaluating what is true,  equal weight should be given to scripture, reason and tradition, like a stool that could only be stable if all three were equal. As time went on, Man began to give his intellect and traditions more weight than scripture. Today, for many, biblical concepts are only […]

Give unto the Lord the glory due to His name (Psalm 29:2) Do you ever critique Sunday service on the way home? Have you ever heard yourself say: “”I didn’t get anything out of that today.” If so, sadly, you’re not alone. Do you realize that you’re not suppose to “get anything” out of the service? Worship is about Him not us. We are in church to give and not to get. Does “Give God the Glory” sound familiar? It isn’t surprising that we are self-focused on Sunday mornings. We hear about God meeting our needs. We are preached to and sung to. We are prayed for and served. Put yourself in the Pastor’s place. He faces a group that has had a variety of experiences in the previous week. Some good, some bad. Many are happy for a variety of reasons. Many are down for a variety of reasons. He’s suppose to meet all those folks just where they are? Isn’t that considerably unreasonable. Even if God has been speaking to Him all week (and with all the issues he has faced there’s no guarantee that He has), that word may not be the word for every person […]