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Last night Rosemary and I attended the SALT meeting at our church. It’s the ministry for the over-fifty group. Although we have long qualified as far as age goes, we have not attended. This has been a mistake. We had a great time last night. The format is pretty simple. A pot luck meal and an activity. The food was great and we sat at tables set up in the sanctuary. At our table were three folks we really didn’t know. It was a great pleasure getting to know these people a bit better. The activity was watching The Letter Writer, the kind of great award winning movie that doesn’t seem to make it to the theatre or the general population. One of the main characters lives in a nursing home and spends his time writing letters of encouragement to folks he doesn’t know. He teaches a young girl the importance of finding a purpose in life by discovering a talent and sharing it with others.  All in all it was an inspiring evening, with a great lesson. I could write letters to folks I don’t know and most of them could be people I go to church with. […]

Some things are completely enjoyable.  There is no aspect to them which detracts from them. They are not “guilty pleasures.” They are not something that is fun, but that you know you really should be doing something else.  They don’t make you fat. They don’t add to  your pleasure at the expense of someone else. It seems that you were created to do that thing. You look forward to it and remember it fondly. It’s pure joy. Last night I got to fill in for my pastor for our Wednesday night teaching. He has been teaching from Ephesians. I got to cover the second half of chapter 2. I enjoyed the research and every moment that went into the preparation. I enjoyed the nervous tension that comes in the moments before I began. I enjoyed the teaching. I enjoyed the reaction. I enjoy now remembering the experience and thinking that maybe someone got something out of it. Find something that gives you pure joy. Let me suggest that it will probably be something that advances the kingdom if only a tiny bit. It will probably be something that you aren’t perfect at and that can only be accomplished with […]

I have a friend who is spending some time this summer ministering in Cambodia. He is conducting Bible Schools, visiting prisoners, just being Jesus. Earlier a friend went to Mexico, and spent a week helping children in a desperately small village. I was getting the feeling that I was really wasting my summer.  I haven’t been any place that you could call exotic. I haven’t really done anything that you could call extraordinary. It takes some planning to do a trip to Cambodia or even Mexico. I’m not much of a planner these days. I seem to just move from day to day. That doesn’t mean I can’t grow where I’m planted or make a difference in the very non-exotic place where I live. The summer is half way over. I really haven’t done very much. But it’s better to be a half full guy than a half empty guy. There is half a summer left and there is plenty left that needs to be done. Be blessed. Nick

I have a morning routine. I wake up and lay in bed for a while. This seems to be the time when the Lord speaks to me. Sometimes He tells me what I should blog about that day. Sometimes we focus on what needs to be done. It’s a special time. I enjoy it because spending 11 years in the Navy after a year and a half in seminary, I grew up thinking that you had to jump out of bed as soon as your eyes open. I now, in my older age, find lingering in bed is really cool. When I do get up I check my email, Facebook, Twitter, then write my blog. I admit it doesn’t sound like a very spiritual routine, but I’m trying to be honest this morning and not spiritual. I do all that electronic checking up on folks because it reminds me, after spending time with the Lord in bed, that others are very important. In fact, while doing my Facebook review this morning I noticed the above quote, “We need to give others hope. We need to give others a second-chance. We need to forgive others.” That may involve different groups […]

John 14:27 New International Version (NIV) 27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. and do not be afraid. At one point in my life, I thought I wanted to be a weatherman when I grew up. I’m glad I didn’t follow that path, but I am still fascinated by weather.  Storm centers are areas of low pressure. Because the pressure in such centers is low, air tends to flow toward them. The lower the pressure the more intense the flow. This is the reason why hurricanes are so powerful. Their centers have very low pressure. Did you ever notice that some people are like that. Their lives seem to be a perpetual storm and the lowness of their existence tends to suck everything and everyone around them into their storm.  I guess that the natural tendency is to avoid such folks and thus avoid getting “sucked in.” But Jesus has another solution. In fact, I guess our ministry as Christians to to be sources of high pressure. One thing that will kill a storm, is a high pressure center. It pumps pressure into the storm area and evens out the pressure.  It’s what Jesus did. He was […]

16 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, 20 and teaching always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28 VBS ended with a flourish last night. The kids were taught that God loves them and that we should love each other. The final message was to tell others about Him. As the last few minutes of the VBS ticked by the tents were taken down. Although the VBS was held in a building it seemed appropriate that the activities were all in temporary structures: tents. I think there is an important lesson there. Church is not a stationary building but a mobile force. We gather to worship, to learn, to enjoy each other and our God but all for a purpose to take it to the world. As the final songs were song, the parents who had come to pick up the kids were invited into the sanctuary and many joined with the kids as they sang and danced in circles. There were more than 100 kids registered during the week, but those kids have friends and family. According to God’s plan for spreading […]

Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” Matthew 13:14 The substitutionary death of Jesus on a cross, salvation, redemption, repentance, forgiveness of sin, these are not fun things. They have confounded theologians, but they are at the heart of Christianity. How can they be presented to children ages four to eleven? How can something so serious be presented in a forum in which joy and fun have reigned? I have learned my pastor is great at pumping up kids and making them scream and laugh and sing and dance; but can he make them understand, in any way at all, the death of God on a cross? He can and he did. He (greatly aided by the Holy Spirit) was able to transform a sea of jumping, happy, children into a serious group of young faces. He told them the story of the sin of Paul before He was Christ’s. He explained to them how we all sin. He had them write or mark on little paper hands one thing they felt bad about, one sin. He had them personalize the nature […]

On the third day of VBS I continued to observe and be amazed. I’m afraid that I’ve come to the conclusion that church could not be ever like VBS for some folks because it would be too radical, consider: Kids praying for Kids – The pastor had kids praying for kids and, in fact, laying hands on each other. These kids are not ordained or even trained prayer partners. This kind of thing, if done on Sunday morning would be too nontraditional, i.e. radical. If allowed to continue and expand, they might be doing this kind of thing at home. Casual dress – I noticed that everyone was very casually dressed. In fact, at some points I saw folks without shoes. Everyone knows that Sunday is for your Sunday Best. That’s why it’s called your Sunday best. Informal dress, in some cases folks dressed like Jesus did, would be way too nontraditional, i.e. really radical. Jokes – On some occasions, the Pastor told jokes. Thank the Lord they were not very funny. If there had been laughter, this would have been really radical. The lay out – The chairs were not in rows, all pointed to the stage. This […]