Nick’s Walk

Looks like we are in for a few stressful days ahead. There is an excitement in the air as plans for the week are completely altered by Isaac. Stress will be prevalent; but we’ve got an advantage. It’s interesting to have a hurricane named after a biblical figure. At some point in Isaac’s youth, his father Abraham brought him to Mount Moriah. At God’s command, Abraham was to build a sacrificial altar and sacrifice his son Isaac upon it. After he had bound his son to the altar and drawn his knife to kill him, at the very last moment an angel of God prevented Abraham from proceeding. Rather, he was directed to sacrifice a nearby ram instead. In scripture, Isaac was a faith tester. Isaac the hurricane is likely to be a faith tester as well. Our true character emerges in times of stress. Let’s not forget who we are in Jesus in the days ahead. In stress, we have a peace that passes all understanding. Let’s not let go of that.  Let’s continue to be salt and light. Let’s spread some calm in busy stores. Let’s think about homebound sick and elderly. Let’s make sure our neighbors aren’t going to be […]

I am often blown away by the faith of some folks I run into. Their walks seem to be steady and confident. Storms don’t shake them. They are stable on the mountain tops and rock solid in the valleys. You would have to describe them as “people of faith.” They seem to understand that, no matter what, God has their back. On the surface, these folks don’t seem to have much reason to be so confident. They are often poor, imprisoned, handicapped, young, even kids . . . losers. How do they get to have such faith? What’s the secret?  People of faith seem always to be people of the Word. Scripture never seems to be far from their hearts or their lips. Words that flow from them are often words of scripture. It’s not just that they can quote scripture, but the appropriate scripture always seems to “pop up.” From this we can conclude that these folks read the word. It’s amazing how many Christians rarely pick up the bible. They may read Christian books or Christian blogs, but seldom go directly to the Word.  Romans 10:17 (NKJV) says, So then, faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. We […]

My grand daughter came home with a new car last night. She bought it all on her own. She arranged the trade, the financing…everything. Her boyfriend was with her, but she did it all. She did a great job. She got a good deal on a very appropriate car for her needs. I’m mildly upset. She didn’t need me. That’s a message I’m getting a lot of lately. In many ways, I’m really not needed, at least not like I used to be. That’s not a bad thing. My wife handled things beautifully when I was in the hospital and “out of it.” My daughter is moving on smartly with her life. My daughter-in-law has a great new job which she is handling very well. Her kids are happy and functioning well in school. I am at the end of a three year term on the Advisory Council for the Kairos Ministry at Angola. My “advisory” functions will end at the end of the year. The ministry will do just fine with me as a “simple volunteer.” My church is about to have a new pastor who is young enough to be my son…maybe my grandson, but then I […]

I stared at the 23 on the face of my watch. I knew the number was significant but it took me a few moments to make the connection. It’s August 23rd, one month since my knee replacement surgery. What a month it has been. I have a full day today. I am preparing my blog at 3 a.m. Then I have some office work to do. I will hit the gym close to 5. Thereafter, I will meet two of my Kairos buddies and travel with them to Angola to inspect Camp J for a possible Kairos weekend in February. I will lunch in Baton Rouge with two of my favorite clients and at 4 this afternoon will have coffee with the man who will likely be the next pastor of my church. That means I will be returning to Lafayette in 5 p.m. traffic, a good opportunity to spend with praise music and God. It’s a full day and it will not include canes or pain pills or handicap parking (well maybe handicap parking, after all my placard is good for a couple more years). It’s a good thing to be focused on things to do rather than […]

What was the best date you ever had? Yes, I mean “date.” You know: time with another person just to be together. You remember dates don’t you. Well, try to remember your best one ever. I can. It was my first date with Rosemary. It’s a pretty funny story but I can’t tell it all. Too much is just between us. The highlight, important for my point here, was that we talked a lot. I had never talked that much to a girl or listened that much either. The circumstances weren’t great. She had to work that night so our date started late. Neither of us were very experienced daters. We went to a pretty lousy place. But by the time I brought her home I knew that I was in love and I had met the girl of my dreams. I had gone into the evening just hoping for a good time and got so much more. What made this such a great life-changing date? What separated this time of two people together from so many others that are awkward or uncomfortable? Part of it was kairos. I don’t mean the prison ministry, but the greek word that […]

On Thursday, Brandon Scott Lavergne and I will both be at Angola. You know why Lavergne will be there. I will be present as a guest of the warden and the chaplain co-ordinator for Kairos Prison Ministry. Many of you have supported the ministry with prayer, money, and our famous cookies. The ministry has been serving at Angola for nearly twenty years and we are trusted friends of the prison. I have had coffee and frank discussions with Warden Cain. All he really knows about me is that I’m “with Kairos.” That’s all it takes. The administration of Angola respects what Jesus has done through Kairos and other prison ministries. On Thursday, members of the Kairos Advisory Board will be looking at expanding our ministry to Camp J. The prison has asked us to do this. We are short of volunteers, but long on Jesus. We currently serve Camps C, D and the main prison. We do retreats in these camps and encourage weekly prayer and share meetings with the residents. We call them “residents” and not inmates, cons, prisoners or whatever. Camp J is a disciplinary camp. It houses those who haven’t learned to follow the many rules […]

Ten years after September 11, 2001, the press declared the War in Afganastan to be the longest war. . . in American history. It’s by no means the longest war in world history. There have been so many long wars that “experts” can’t agree which was really the longest. Why so many wars and why do they last so long? Because everyone, it seems, wants to be the boss. Every war is about “Who’s the boss?” The very first war still goes on and is clearly the longest. Like all wars it was fought over control, being the boss. The original combatants, God and his angels and Lucifer and his, are still fighting. It seems defeat hasn’t convinced the losers that God is boss. When God created Man to be his friend, we became Satan’s enemy. The friend of my enemy is my enemy. Satan isn’t bothered by those who talk about friendship with God, just with those who really enjoy it. So the friendlier you are with God, the meaner your enemy becomes. We are called to put on the whole armor of God not because God needs soldiers, but because to be a friend of God means […]

I am not afraid of gyms or exercise. That would be ridiculous. In fact, I exercised at a gym just yesterday and plan to do so again before the sun rises. Jesus said “Do not be afraid” quite a lot. He was also fond of encouraging us to do things. There must be a connection. We all know people who do all kinds of “crazy” things. We tend to say that they aren’t afraid of anything. Is it fear that keeps us from doing things? Yesterday, feeling pretty fine from my gym and exercise triumph, I was standing in line at Albertsons. In front of me was a young man with about a dozen different kinds of beer he was checking out. He was not my kind of man. You know, “We don’t smoke or drink or chew and we don’t hang with those who do.” It goes something like that. But I was feeling kind of crazy and spoke to him, “Nice variety pack you have there.” I am really quite glib when I get started. I didn’t lead him to Christ, but we had a nice conversation and I think we would exchange pleasantries again if we […]