Nick’s Walk

Having Shod Your Feet With the Preparation of the Gospel of Peace. Ephesians 6:15 I don’t know why some Christians think they are fit for battle when there is no peace in their hearts. How can you tell others “good news” when you haven’t really accepted how good the news really is? We have to have a firm grasp of the gospel before we can share it with anyone else. If Satan can plant doubt about the gospel, then our effectiveness in sharing it is shattered. It’s the Gospel of Peace. The Good News is that God has made Peace possible between Himself and Man. Jesus is that Peace. Yet so many, who called themselves Christian, don’t live in Peace. There minds are full of questions, not peace. They have fallen prey to the “different gospel” that Paul addressed in Galatians: 6 I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, 7which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to […]

Anyone who has seen Casey this week knows something is up. He’s got this silly smile on his face. He keeps singing this praise song. He’s getting “Amens” from the guys at work. If you ask him, he’ll tell you. He spent last weekend at Kairos. Lots of guys have done that. All are touched, but only a handful are moved in a life-changing way, a way that changes many lives. That’s Casey. His life will never be the same and some others will also be better.  I know. Been there done that. I have a mixture of exhilaration, envy, and anxiety. Casey now faces a huge task. People want to know what happened but that’s not easy to convey. Somethings have to be experienced. Today at church Casey will be asked to testify about his weekend. I’ll be sitting in the back like a nervous manager with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth. I will know what he’s saying. The names will conjure up real faces. The stories will remind of revealed hurts and of lonely years behind bars. It will be great to recall smiles from frowns and peace from fear. I will have to […]

The irony has not escaped me that a man who writes a blog with the word “Walk” in it, has only been able to walk with the assistance of a cane for over eight months. I don’t understand this period in my life any more than I understood the time, a few years ago, when my knee was cured while others I love and admire required surgery. I was listening to Joyce Myers last night before falling a sleep. I love that gal. I guess because we both have a mouth on us. She was lecturing people like me about moving on in your circumstances. Control your circumstances. Don’t let them control you. My wise pastor summed it up when my injured back piled on a bad knee, “You’re under attack.” I hope I’m under attack because I’m a threat to the enemy and not because the attack has effectively killed my witness. Good topic for another day. For today, just remember that a man under attack is dangerous so prepare to duck. Today I am compelled to discuss the things people say to a man with a cane? Now when someone first has a cane, it’s appropriate to […]

This morning I am riding to Angola for a day long seminar with the residents who completed the Kairos weekend. Of the 40 something team members, about 10 of us have decided to go back. It’s not part of the original commitment. To go or not is a decision. There are lots of important things for me to do here and to decide to stay in town today would not necessarily have been a bad choice, just a different one. Because of the choice I made, my life will be different. Maybe just a tiny bit, but different. Life is a series of choices. Nothing very deep there, but we need to think about that occasionally. If we could look back on our lives we would see a complex of connecting forks in the road. At any place we could have gone left, instead of right, and our lives would have been different. When we consider, and fervently believe, that God has a plan for our lives, we must acknowledge that He is a wonderfully complex God. He certainly has a lot of options to consider. The blessing is that no matter how many lefts, that should have been rights, God […]

The inmates at Angola laughingly refer to their environment as Louisiana’s most exotic vacation spot. It is exotic. Exotic may mean “not native to the place where found.” What many found at Angola was was not native to Louisiana or, in fact, to this planet: love, peace and the salvation of life in Christ. Thanks for sending me to this exotic vacation resort, and for being on the mission with me.       Paul and Barnabas set the standard for the church’s mission work when they obeyed God’s call to go forth. The local body of believers—those left behind to share Christ with neighbors and friends—equipped the men for their journey. They did so for the same reasons that apply today: 1. The spiritual condition of mankind. Romans 1:21–32 describes this sinful world. There is sin and sinners at Angola; but there is sin everywhere.2. God’s spiritual provision. The Father responded to mankind’s plight with grace: He sent His only Son Jesus Christ to save the world. On the cross, Christ bore the sin of every person—living, no longer alive, and yet to be born. The offer of salvation is for all; God’s grace is blind to race, creed, and color (Romans […]

This weekend I had the privilege of participating in a Kairos weekend. It’s one of the greatest things I am involved in, at best, a few times a year. I wish I could do it more often. During that weekend, I had the privilege of holding a man’s hand when he gave his life to Christ. Sadly,  I have had that privilege far very few times in my life. I am commissioned by my Lord to have that privilege MUCH more often. It’s great to bring men hope and love. We have to make sure that in doing so we make it clear that Jesus is the only source of that hope and love. We had a Muslim participating in the weekend. At the end, he was obviously moved and changed by the love  he felt and the story of hope he heard. But He was just as hell bound at the end as He was in the beginning. He was still a Muslim.  At least one team member was concerned that we had,  somehow distinguished Muslims and Christians and ignored the “brotherhood” between each. Ignoring the existence or non-existence of any such brotherhood, praise God that we made a distinction. There is […]

It’s the first day of Kairos #53 at Angola. This isn’t my first dance. Been there. Done that. But here I am up at three in the morning, too excited to sleep. It reminds me of trips I used to take as a child. Couldn’t wait to get started. Why is that? I know I’ll regret the early morning. Day 1 is long, lot’s of sitting around and waiting. Rushing around to get business done so I can be gone for four days. Making sure my wife has everything she’ll need. Dealing with the last minute attacks, like discovering that my truck’s inspection sticker expired at the end of last month. One more thing to do before I can leave town. Wondering what work really needs to be done before next week and what can really wait. Realizing I will miss witnessing UL’s  chance to win a conference championship. What’s the big deal? If we were just visiting guys, many of whom never get a visitor,  that would be enough. If we were just bringing meals to guys who have to survive on food you wouldn’t feed your worst enemy, that would be enough. If we were bringing home-made […]

“I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6 In the study of English “the” is known as a definite article. In one sense it is used to mark a noun as best known, most important, most satisfying. It excludes all other possibilities. In this statement Jesus is saying there is no other way, no other truth, no other life. That message is an offense in our pluralistic society. We are sorely tempted to substitute the definite “the” with the indefinite “an.” We want to be satisfied saying that Jesus is our way, our truth and our life, leaving you free to find your way, your truth and your life.  But He doesn’t permit that. Truth is truth. The truth is that the ways others are pursuing, the “truth” they are expounding, the life they are exalting are all false. That’s a hard truth but there are no small exceptions to Biblical Truth. A half-truth is a lie. Truth is objective not subjective. Truth is absolute and not a sliding scale. If we just smile and nod when others proclaim their “truth” we allow a lie to stand. […]