Nick’s Walk

I am tired this morning and it will be a long day. Kaydence had a bad night with her asthma. She was up coughing most of the night, coughing to the point of vomiting. Rosemary was the one who stayed up with her. I tried to sleep; but I knew Rosemary would need relief by early morning and there would be no daycare today. I finally gave up and got up about 4:30. Even tired my heart melts when she coughs and cries, wanting to sleep but unable to. I know her Dad will be back on Friday and she will leave us for three weeks and I will miss her even the vomit and the sleepless nights. It’s times like this that I feel I don’t really love the Lord like I do my “loved” ones.  “Paul says he is overruled, overmastered, held as in a vice, by the love of Christ. Very few of us know what it means to be held in a grip by the love of God; we are held by the constraint of our experience only.” No matter how grateful we are for what God has done for us, our relationship with Him […]

Five years ago today my son Jason died unexpectedly. Like most of us, he could be a difficult man; but I could see Jesus in him when he was with his children. In those moments, he functioned as God means us to function: as projectors of the image of His Son. OC reminds us today. ” Paul did not say that God separated him to show what a wonderful man He could make of him, but “to reveal His Son in me.”” John Bevere in Extraordinary talks about our images: Our projected image is the front that we attempt to put up. That image we want people to see when they see us. We often fool ourselves that we are successful in that projection. But we are not. There is a second image: our perceived image; that is what people see us as. It’s not the same as what we think they see; but it’s also not who we really are. What we really are is what Bevere calls the actual image.It is sad to think that for most of us for most of our lives, no one, not us and not others, knows who we really are. I […]

Yesterday I stopped by Academy. I thought maybe I needed another piece of Saints gear. I have a black sweat shirt and a Number 9 Jersey. I thought maybe a nice golf shirt with an understated logo would be good to wear the rest of the time. You know when it’s too warm for a sweat shirt and a jersey is a bit too tacky, like when I’m in court. I resisted the temptation. I couldn’t believe the prices. This morning I resisted the temptation to wear the Jersey; but I thought about it. I am proud of the Who Dat Nation who rose up in arms when their right to proclaim “Who Dat” was challenged. Less than ten percent of all “Christians” ever share their faith with someone else. Only two percent share their faith on a regular basis. Lot’s of reasons are given; click here to see if your reason is listed.  We think we’re pretty bold if we wear a t-shirt that identifies us in any way as a “Christian.” “Everyone who is saved is called to testify to the fact.” Today OC isn’t really talking about witnessing. He is talking about resisting the call of […]

Remember Mission Impossible. Not so much the movie but the television series. At the beginning of each episode the Peter Graves character would receive his assignment on a cassette tape (remember those) which would self destruct after being played. Remember Leonard Nimoy pre Star Trek? The Mission Impossible Team would be given an “impossible” mission which they nevertheless completed. It always seemed to me that the assignment itself wasn’t so impossible; but that the team carried out the mission in such a complicated way that they made it seem impossible.We do that with out mission.  Our assignment is to lift up Jesus, nothing more and nothing less.  That’s a straight forward assignment; but we make it near impossible.  “We are nowhere commissioned to preach salvation or sanctification; we are commissioned to lift up Jesus Christ (John 12:32). It is a travesty to say that Jesus Christ travailed in Redemption to make me a saint. Jesus Christ travailed in Redemption to redeem the whole world, and place it unimpaired and rehabilitated before the throne of God.” When we try to do more than our assignment, we accomplish less than our goal. If we believe our job is salvation, we are […]

One of the prominent complaints about Christians is that they are “Holier than Thou” or self-righteous. The sad truth is that the complaint is often justified. A real Christian is the last person to be self-righteous. A Christian knows that he is worth something only because of Christ. Part of the problem is that we continue to focus on cleaning ourselves up. We need to get out of the bath and into the street. OC reminds us: “Our calling is not primarily to be holy men and women, but to be proclaimers of the Gospel of God.” Some of us need to hear that again. “Our calling is not primarily to be holy men and women, but to be proclaimers of the Gospel of God.” If we didn’t spend so much time in the tub maybe the dust on others wouldn’t offend us so. But you might say, and are probably saying, “But aren’t we to be holy?” Of course but,  “[p]ersonal holiness isan effect, not a cause.” Our holiness is an effect of His redemption of us. Our holiness doesn’t cause anything. Isn’t it just like us to come to God recognizing we can do nothing about our […]

I remember when Rosemary and I  first fell in love. On our very first date we talked like I had never talked with any other person. As our relationship developed we would talk with each other almost constantly. During our early years together, I was in the Navy and our separations were frequent. The letters and tapes we exchanged during those separations are priceless momentos. Even now I brighten at the sound of her voice. Communication is the fuel for the fire of romance. The intensity of the relationship can be measured by the quality and frequency of the communication. OC today advises, “Get into the habit of saying, “Speak, Lord,” and life will become a romance.” Before I knew the Lord, His word was often grating. It made me uncomfortable. His written word sounded archaic and cold. Not like now. A word from Him, written or heard, can brighten the darkest day or cure the deepest concern. How’s your love life? Is your communication constant, warm and lively or is it rare, chilly and dead? A vibrant relationship places the words of the loved above all others. “Never ask the advice of another about anything God makes you […]

I had a tough meeting this week. Other participants at the meeting had engaged in misrepresentations and unethical tactics. I had the “goods” on them; enough to blow them out of the water. I was prepared to come in guns blazing. The Lord checked me. I came in with the truth but with a loving spirit. All worked out well. I shouldn’t be surprised. Having the truth on our side, having the “right words” isn’t enough. Our message is never effectively delivered if it is brought in the wrong spirit. The Great Commission is about spreading the Word in His Spirit. Anything less is destructive. “We have shown our ignorance of Him in the very way we determined to serve Him. We serve Jesus in a spirit that is not His, we hurt Him by our advocacy for Him, we push His claims in the spirit of the devil. Our words sound all right, but our spirit is that of an enemy. “He rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of.” The spirit of our Lord in an advocate of His is described in 1 Corinthians 13. (The Love Chapter) Have I been […]

We have gone “rights” crazy. We believe we have the “right” to practically everything. Even animals and plants now are proclaimed to have “rights.” There is much complaining and protesting over a perceived loss of our “rights” to the government.  In this atmosphere, OC’s words seem strange, “Every time we stand on our rights, we are persecuting Jesus.”It is easy to see rights abuse in others; but we need to look in the mirror. Are we entitled to all that we have or all that we want? Being “rights” focused is being self-focused.In the purest sense, we have no rights. We deserve nothing. Everything we have is a gift. This is not to say we should not fight to live in a “free” country or to preserve our heritage. These are good and proper battles. Let’s not forget the founder’s words when referring to  basic “rights” of all men, they were “endowed by their Creator.” What God has given, we should not allow man to take away.But as OC says, “The Spirit of Jesus is conscious of one thing only – a perfect oneness with the Father, and He says, “Learn of Me, for I am meek and lowly […]