Nick’s Walk

No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love Him… I Corinthians 2:9 How’s your day going? No matter how badly or how well, it’s going to get better. At the end of the road lies heaven; where everything lasts forever, where love fills every heart, where praise never stops, where pain never enters. This is not all there is. The great things in this life are just a taste of what God has prepared for those who love Him. We need to keep our focus on heaven while our feet are firmly planted in the lives we are living. Be encouraged and be blessed. Nick

I haven’t posted on  my blog in several days. I’ve been busy. But the real reason is that I haven’t had anything to say. I have been observing. People are easily distracted. They are bombarded with information and if you want to be heard, you better have something worth saying and you better just say it.  Maybe these thoughts are birthed in two weeks of watching political conventions. After a few hours of that I just want to scream, “Just tell us the simple truth.” “What’s really important? What are you trying to say?”  I was in a restaurant last night with my wife, grand daughter and her boyfriend. I noticed that within minutes of getting seated out came the smart phones. Not just at our table but throughout the restaurant. We’ve got cable TV, high speed Internet, instant messaging, smartphones, video games, Facebook, Twitter, and satellite radio with 150 channels. We live in an age of communication overload. Yet we don’t seem to get the point. We don’t give even those we love much chance to reach us. Because we are easily distracted, if we are to make a point, even with those we love, we better get to […]

Genesis 2:15 15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. Proverbs 24:30-34 30 I passed by the field of a sluggard, by the vineyard of a man lacking sense, 31 and behold, it was all overgrown with thorns; the ground was covered with nettles, and its stone wall was broken down. 32 Then I saw and considered it; I looked and received instruction. 33 A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, 34 and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man. Colossians 3:23 23 Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, Labor Day is an American federal holiday observed on the first Monday in September (September 3 in 2012) that celebrates the economic and social contributions of workers. Labor Day pays tribute to the contributions and achievements of American workers. It also symbolizes the end of summer for many Americans, and is celebrated with parties, parades and athletic events. Wikipedia Yesterday about 4 in the afternoon it clouded up a bit and seemed (at least from my air conditioned living room) that it had cooled a bit outside. I donned […]

1 Timothy 3 1-7If anyone wants to provide leadership in the church, good! But there are preconditions: A leader must be well-thought-of, committed to his wife, cool and collected, accessible, and hospitable. He must know what he’s talking about, not be overfond of wine, not pushy but gentle, not thin-skinned, not money-hungry. He must handle his own affairs well, attentive to his own children and having their respect. For if someone is unable to handle his own affairs, how can he take care of God’s church? He must not be a new believer, lest the position go to his head and the Devil trip him up. Outsiders must think well of him, or else the Devil will figure out a way to lure him into his trap. I love the plain speaking style of The Message. If anyone wants to provide leadership then GOOD. We need leaders. Note not just A leader but leaders. Perhaps as we consider the qualifications of those who would be leader, we should consider ourselves. Are we willing to lead or just take shots at the leaders? If we would lead, do we qualify? As we consider the qualifications of 1 Timothy perhaps what […]

It’s been an interesting week. I’ve combined storm watching with convention watching. It’s hard to decide what was scarier. We have a strange way of selecting leaders in this country. We say anyone can grow up to be President and, I guess, theoretically that’s true. You would hope in a country of this many  million people that the “best” candidate would, like cream, rise to the top. The best man for the job, it would seem, should be obvious.  Watching this weeks Republican convention and the responses to it demonstrated how deeply flawed the system is. Roughly half of America thinks Mr. Romney should take over and roughly half believe President Obama should keep his job. Each half thinks the other half has lost its collective mind. A handful of folks who aren’t sure and who probably don’t care as much as the rest of us will make the decision.  It’s the tyranny of the undecided and uncommitted. We Christians will hang on to the hope that God is in control and He is guiding the whole process. Looking at the process makes that a real stretch of faith. I am living through this process on a smaller scale […]

Yesterday I took Nicky and Sammie to the movies so their mother and grandmother could shop. It was a foolish move in so many ways. Why should I make it easier for those ladies to spend money? To make it worse I took the kids to the movie they wanted to see, ParaNorman. In ParaNorman, a small town comes under siege by zombies. Who can it call? Only misunderstood local boy Norman , who is able to speak with the dead. In addition to the zombies, he’ll have to take on ghosts, witches and, worst of all, moronic grown-ups, to save his town from a centuries-old curse. But this young ghoul whisperer may find his paranormal activities pushed to their otherworldly limits. Maybe this was not my finest moment as a Christian grandparent. I’m glad I was with them. Before you take little ones consider this review from a Christian perspective. I’m glad I took them because I know kids think about death, especially kids who have lost a parent or someone else close. ParaNorman presents the world view about death which is that the best you can hope for after this life is a peaceful sleep. You don’t want […]

I am no good at waiting. As a kid I didn’t like waiting for Christmas. I don’t like waiting in lines or for football season to start. It turns out I don’t like waiting for Hurricanes. Isaac has made land fall, twice. So far we have had a little rain.  We have enough supplies for the entire neighborhood. Everything that can blow around outside is secured. I got so bored watching the weather channel last night that I watched the  GOP convention.  It’s like we’re all dressed up and no place to blow. After days of dire warnings, I’m now listening to the local weather men discussing how this is a minimal storm, the tornado threats are very low. They obviously don’t know exactly where the storm is going, but it really doesn’t seem to matter.  Is there a spiritual lesson here? I guess there is. It seems we waste so much time waiting and, often worrying, about things that might happen. It’s so important to enjoy the day. For example, yesterday I was honored to spend some time at a local nursing home. Members of our church have been meeting with residents at two nursing homes for some time. […]

So encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing. 1 Thessalonians 5:11 NLT So watch your step, friends. Make sure there’s no evil unbelief lying around that will trip you up and throw you off course, diverting you from the living God. For as long as it’s still God’s Today, keep each other on your toes so sin doesn’t slow down your reflexes. If we can only keep our grip on the sure thing we started out with, we’re in this with Christ for the long haul. Hebrews 3:12-14 The Message If you have an encourager in your life, that’s your best friend, a great gift from God. If you want to have value in the life of another, be an encourager.  There are lots of verses in scripture that encourage us to encourage. Here’s just ten. In fact, if we give it any thought, encouragement is really our mission. When we encourage the non-believer (sometimes we call it witnessing or sharing our faith) we fulfill the great commission. If we remember that it’s really encouragement we are about, we will do it properly. We won’t bible bash. We won’t come across as holier-than-thou. […]