Nick’s Walk

While going to and from church on Sunday I noticed that crews had been clearing tree growth from around power lines. (Notice how I cleverly snuck in the fact that I went to church on Sunday even though I was quite ill on Friday and Saturday. Thus establishing my spiritual superiority. I am so clever I amaze myself). The work of the crews reminded me that hurricane season is approaching and we are overdue having one that severely affects this area. I have to admit that I kind of enjoy hurricanes, not completely but there are positive elements. Storms are evidence of God’s power. I believe storms come from God. He does a much cleaner job of clearing away debris than road crews due. The work I saw on Sunday (when going and coming back from church) left trees looking misshapen and strange. Like a young boy with a bad haircut. God does a much neater job. Storms break our routines. It’s good to be shaken from our routines; no work and no school. We get stuck in our ruts and storms are kind of like snow days up north. Storms gather us together. During storms we usually gather […]

As the end times draw near, it will be tougher to be an effective Christian. We can’t stand alone. There will few enough of us as it is. Those of us determined to finish the race must be united, in our churches, in our communities and in our world.Unity requires Common Purpose, Communication, Competence,  Consistency and Jesus.Common PurposeAll who call themselves Christians are not on the same page. We can’t even agree who are Christians. For this discussion, let us say that unity requires coming together of all Christ’s disciples,  who believe our commission is to make more disciples for Christ. That should be simple enough.CommunicationWe must commit to talking to each other and not about each other. Communication is not just the job of leaders. We must all communicate at every level and between levels. Communication requires honest vulnerability. We have to admit that we are not perfect. That we really don’t like each other that much. But that doesn’t mean we can’t love each other. If we talked a little more with honesty and vulnerability we might find that we’re not as awful as we think. Competence Some of us are awful at our jobs. We need to […]

Now the eleven disciples worshiped him, but some doubted. 18 And Jesus came and said to them, in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 make disciples of baptizing them the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them I have commanded you. And behold, the end of the age. Matthew 28:16-20 I didn’t do anything yesterday. I had planned to spend the day in Baton Rouge at a Kairos meeting, but didn’t. I had a pretty good excuse. I was sick. But our intentions and our excuses aren’t important. We are defined by what we do, not what we don’t do. I remember a little saying that went something like “We don’t smoke or drink or chew and we don’t go with girls who do.” Sometimes I think we in the church think that’s what defines us: The things we don’t do. When Jesus left us final instructions they did not include a list of “don’t.” But more importantly they didn’t include the things we now believe define us as Christian. He didn’t say to go to church every Sunday or, in fact, to go to church […]

It’s a great thing to find someone who agrees with your position. The older I get the less often I find agreement out there in the world. For years I have had a somewhat contrary view about Mother’s Day. Don’t get me wrong. I love mothers. The mothers in my family have (and are) great mothers. But they are not saints. The fathers in my family have been great too. There are just too few of them. But they aren’t saints either. If you spend much time in church on Mother’s Day and Father’s Day. You could conclude that all mothers are saints and all fathers deserve a public whipping. The support I found was in an article “Pastors, Don’t Use Mother’s Day to Bash Dads.” There is a general consensus that the quality of fatherhood is down. I don’t think that’s true. The problem is that there are too few kids being raised by a mom and a dad. They need both. If anything the quality of motherhood is slipping. Face it ladies. Are you as good a mom as your mom or grandmother was? Today moms are under great pressure. They are under pressure to work. Too […]

I got a mailing from the Honda dealer yesterday advising me that they could put me in a new Accord for the same monthly payment I have on my old Accord and without a further down payment. I threw the letter away. I’m not in a market for a new Accord. You and I get pitched for a variety of goods and services everyday. Most of these pitches we ignore because we are not “in the market” for what is being sold.  I have recently come to the realization that telling folks how great my church is is not unlike the pitch from the Honda dealer. The ones who really need what my church can offer aren’t in the market. They don’t perceive that they have a need for what I am selling. They are perfectly happy spending their Sunday mornings reading the newspaper, enoying a lazy breakfast or catching some sun at Starbucks. I’m not impressing them by telling them about our great worship, kid’s programs, or fellowship. Most of them have ipods, pads or iphones and can listen to all the music they want any time they want, while playing a game or catching up on the news. There […]

I had a strange dream last night. I was a child visiting a home with other children in a very poor place. It was the kind of dream that was just a flash, a very small snippet. I must have asked for a glass of water and the children told me there was none, but there was a place “down town” where you could get water. It flowed all the time. The dreamy look on their faces as they told about this place where fresh water always flowed was haunting. We are so blessed we are spoiled. We are so blessed that many of the references of scripture, originally delivered at a poorer time, have lost their power. I think of Jesus describing Himself as “Living Water.” He gave that description to a woman who was drawing water from a well at the hottest time of the day. We learn more about her through the story. We learn she is there because she is a woman of poor reputation. She can’t draw water in the cool of the morning or evening when most of the women of the town are there. She is a woman “with a reputation.” The […]

My grandson reminded me yesterday that women are “sometimes” smarter than men. As proof he offered that fact that men will not ask for directions. They will wonder aimlessly refusing to ask for directions or to even admit that they are lost. It’s a guy thing. Face it, we all lose our way some time. In fact, for me, I know I am in the Lord’s perfect will a lot less often than I feel that I am on course. He sends us signs when we drift from the path. Like the rough areas along the side of the highway that cause our tires to make rumbling noises, he sends us messages that we are drifting off track. Sometimes, however, we don’t drift, we simply make a wrong turn or fail to turn when we should. That’s a tougher situation. When we realize that we have made a mistake we are often far afield. We can try to get back on course, but sometimes our attempts simply get us further lost. We may have to return to the spot when we last knew for certain we were on course. Our time off course can cause damage to ourselves and […]

I recently read an article on leadership designed to encourage church leaders. It stressed the importance of finishing well. It occurred to me that its lessons are applicable to all Christians living at the end of the Christian age. As it becomes less politically correct to be a Christian, it becomes all the more important to lead as Christians. So consider these points adapted from the article. If we are to be salt and light leaders, there are things we must do. 1. Never stop learning. The leader isn’t the one who knows it all. He’s the one whose teachable spirit is an inspiration to others. Besides although biblical truth never changes, circumstances due and we need to keep up.2. Be a light. Be salt. Be loving. Leaders sometimes get so caught up in being the boss, that they forget to lead by example. How many leaders can you name who crashed and burned when they failed to maintain character? It’s not our knowledge and wisdom that is needed most (but it is needed) it’s our love. Our savior told us that by our love will others know us. Keep loving. 5. Once salt and light, always salt and […]