Nick’s Walk

If you want to get over a problem, stop talking about it. Your mind affects your mouth, and your mouth affects your mind. Joyce Meyer I love the frequent home spun talk of Joyce Meyer. She has a great way of restating biblical wisdom.  I have noticed that when folks have a problem, it can be all they talk about. Which is just reflecting that it’s all that they are thinking about.   Even sympathetic friends lose patience and interest if we go on too much about our problems. Their eyes glaze over and soon they begin to look for someone else to spend their time with.  What have you been talking about lately? Is it something positive and uplifting? Pray that the Holy Spirit will take control of your mouth for in the process he will take over your heart and your spirit. Watch what you say and  Be blessed. Nick

I love a good road trip. The key elements are a fun destination, good friends to travel with, excitement along the way, a bit of adventure. I had a great road trip yesterday. Pastor Reed, Gary Herman and I went to visit Kairos regulars at Angola. That means a couple of hours on the road to get there, a good meal in St. Francisville, a good time at the prison, and, with poor navigation and distracted driving, more like three hours to get back.  I know that Angola doesn’t sound like a “fun destination.” What if I describe it as a reunion with good Christian friends. That’s much more descriptive. Our retreat weekends are exciting. But our reunion weekends include the very faithful. The residents who are really trying to follow Christ in a tough environment show up for these monthly meetings. It’s great to be with them. If you feel like you need something from the Lord, then go minister to someone else. In my experience, the one “ministering” never fails to be blessed. It amazes me how men with no earthly reason for hope will be examples of how to follow Christ. No matter what I may […]

2 Corinthians 12:9 New International Version (NIV) 9 But he said to me, “My grace is made perfect in weakness. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. There are many passages of Scripture which you will never understand until some trying experience shall interpret them to you. The other evening I was riding home after a heavy day’s work; I was wearied and depressed; and swiftly and suddenly as a lightning flash, this text laid hold of me: “My grace is sufficient for you!” When I got home, I looked it up in the original, and finally it dawned upon me what the text was saying, MY grace is sufficient for THEE. “Why,” I said to myself, “I should think it is!” and I burst out laughing. It seemed to make unbelief so absurd. It was though some little fish, being very thirsty, was troubled about drinking the river dry; and Father River said; “Drink away, little fish, my stream is sufficient for you!” Or as if a little mouse in the granaries of Egypt after seven years of plenty, feared lest it should die of famine, and Joseph said, “Cheer up, little mouse, my […]

Years ago, after I had just graduated from Law School, I worked in downtown Atlanta. I would take the bus each morning from our suburban apartment to downtown. In the evening I would gather with other suburbanites and wait for my bus to take me home. Near the bus stop there were always street preachers strongly advising the gathering multitudes that they were headed, not just for home, but for hell. As a Christian these guys made me very uncomfortable. For the year I lived there I never saw a single person positively affected by the street preachers. I’m not saying it never happened. I just never saw it.  A recent survey reveals that most Christians agree with me; only nine per cent said that street preaching was an effective way to talk about Jesus, eighty per cent said that the intimacy of a group of friends was a safer and more effective place to share their beliefs. I certainly agree that sharing with friends is safer and, it seems to be more effective.  Fifty-seven per cent said it was their actions that would point people to Jesus, rather than their words, with 55 per cent saying they had seen […]

The Christmas Season has officially kicked off.  All the Thanksgiving leftovers are gone. Names have been pulled for gift giving. For some, decorations are up. For others, the boxes of decorations are at least out of the closet. What next? Stress. Admit it. You are already starting to feel the stress. The resolution to not get stressed out this year is already faded. The idea that you will have a simple, Christ centered Christmas this year…already forgotten. It’s not to late to have a stress free Christmas.  Here are some ideas: Pray – When  you start to feel that stress rise within, pray. Start each day asking God to tell you what to do today. Ask Him for His priority for your day. All that needs to get done, will get done. It may not be that you will do more, you just might realize that there is a lot less that really NEEDS to be done. Schedule – Before you rush off shopping stop and make a schedule. List the things you want to accomplish this holiday season. It can include a list of gifts you have to buy or at least persons you have to buy for, […]

Last night I watched the movie “Fireproof” on CMT.  It was great to see a movie promoting faith in Christ so directly on a television network. I had heard about the movie for years but had never seen it. Don’t know how I missed it but I had. If you haven’t seen it, check it out. I won’t be a spoiler, but the movie is essentially about a man taking the 40 day “love dare” and experiencing God putting his life and marriage back together.  The dynamic that struck me was what the wife, and I guess most folks, really want to see in a partner.  In the course of the film, the struggling husband slowly begins to display these characteristics. We want to be men of God and we want to be known as men of God. What does that require? 1. People need to see your faith. It’s much too common for folks, especially men, to believe that it’s important to be seen as self-reliant. The problem is we aren’t everything we need to be and can’t do everything, or even anything. on our own. It’s important that we are seen as relying on God. 2. People […]

“I wrote you in my earlier letter that you shouldn’t make yourselves at home among the sexually promiscuous. I didn’t mean that you should have nothing at all to do with outsiders of that sort. Or with crooks, whether blue- or white-collar. Or with spiritual phonies, for that matter. You’d have to leave the world entirely to do that! … I’m not responsible for what the outsiders do, but don’t we have some responsibility for those within our community of believers? God decides on the outsiders, but we need to decide when our brothers and sisters are out of line and, if necessary, clean house. (I Cor. 5:9-13, The Message) Sometimes I love the direct language of The Message. Since the election, it has been fascinating to see all the articles about how bad our country is. Some are saying the culture war is lost. Others bemoan the loss of our status as a “Christian Nation.” Some are saying judgment is upon us. God destroyed cities when he couldn’t find 10 righteous folks. As I read somewhere today, I have more than that on my Facebook page.Jesus never suggested that we were in a war we could  win in the […]

2 Timothy 4:3 New International Version (NIV) 3 For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine.