Nick’s Walk

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. Romans 1:16 The Gospel of Jesus is a powerful thing. Scripture tells us so. We don’t act like it. We must not think it’s powerful because we add things to it or try to “modernize” it or reform it to make it more palatable  to this generation. We treat it like an old car that needs an engine additive to make it roar down the highway, or last season’s outfit that needs a bit of sprucing up. If you have experienced the power of the Gospel, you don’t need any explanation. If you haven’t, or you’re not sure, here are some things to consider: Does the Gospel you have heard, or living or are preaching: Motivate you to soup it up or tinker with it, if so you are dealing with “another” gospel. Make you feel all warm and fuzzy and inoffensive in that Jesus is A way to God, but not necessarily THE way, if so you are dealing with “another” gospel. Motivate you to tell everyone about your […]

A couple of nights ago my wife and I lay in bed and took an online personality profile test. You young people can look forward to this kind of late night excitement in the future. The test consisted of lots of questions. The results produced a personality profile that was disturbingly accurate. The really disturbing thing was that for each of our profiles we were provided with a long list of people who had matching profiles. Some of these folks were admirable; others not so much. It was amazing that such a motley group of folks had matching personality profiles. Obviously what we do in life is only partly determined by our psychological makeups. Obviously some people have more opportunities or “luck” than others. The real difference seems to be in the choices that were made. “Successful” people choose to focus on their careers often over family or leisure. Some chose careers in business or professional fields, while others chose arts or sports. Choices made all the differences. I am convinced that it’s not just the major life direction choices that are important. Of greater significance are the choices we make each day. Consider that each morning we can […]

But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code. Romans 7:6 By the time most of us come to Jesus and begin to draw life from the vine, we are well tangled up in chains. Sin doesn’t end with conversion so chain addition continues. For some of us, we come to Jesus because of the pain of a chain of sin. We often experience instantaneous relief from such chains at the time of conversion. These dramatic conversions often produce the most effective followers. If we could see our complete chain involvement when we come to Christ, we would likely be overwhelmed by it all. Instead, the Holy Spirit shines the light on our chains one-by-one. He brings them to our attention so we can apply the power of grace to them and experience freedom. It’s important that we recognize the totality of our chain involvement from sin. Chains arise from the sin itself, drawing us into a habit of sin. The harm of sin causes its own chains, binding us to damaged relationships, guilt, […]

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” John 15:5 We were created to be in relationship with God. Jesus illustrated this as a vine and branches. The vine relationship is life-sustaining and power giving. When we are not in that relationship we tend to substitute other connections which are not life-sustaining but are restraining killers. They are chains. This generation doesn’t like to consider sin. Liberals will say there is no sin or that we define for ourselves what is sin. On the right we tend to pick out certain sins, usually the ones that don’t confound us, and make them the worst infractions. Modern man, therefore, tends to consider sins as a list of forbidden activities, established by an arbitrary God to test us. In fact, God defines for us those things which are harmful and not life-sustaining. The things which are chain producers in our lives. Atheism is now rampant, particularly among our youth. It is fueled by the idea that God is an old-fashioned, out of date, irrelevant idea. It is believed that sin […]

Occasionally, I like to write something that reminds me what a total radical I am. Today is one of those days. I believe that the modern church, particularly in the west, is generally a failure. The problem, I believe is fundamental and structural. The western Christian church is based on a clergy/lay, paid/unpaid, full-time/part-time model. Under this structure, full-time, paid clergy do the bulk of the ministry, make the decisions, and structure the church. The job of everyone else is to provide financial support and herd the lost toward the clergy who will then minister as they have been trained. Churches are designed so that the clergy sits up front and leads the service while the rest sit in straight rows and essentially watch. The lay Christians are often preached at and told they need to be more involved, but the real opportunities to do more than write a check are minimal. This model has forces that focus on getting the lost into church and not bringing them to Jesus. It requires adherence to a tithe plus mentality to provide a continuing flow of dollars in support of paid staff and substantial buildings. It results in exhausted ministers and frustrated […]

I’m better. My symptoms haven’t improved. In fact I think they are worse. I had a prescheduled  doctor appointment today. He told me it’s probably viral and what I was doing was about all that can be done. At least my blood pressure was great and my blood work was good. I’m better in that I am better than others. I’ve had lots of folks supporting me. I’m not alone. I’m not fighting cancer or struggling with the loss of a loved one. I’m not hopeless wondering what life is all about or what would happen if I died today. I have family are doing well. I got a visit from my grand daughter and Logan today. Watching him squeal with delight as he played with Rosemary was awesome.  I have a church I love. I’m still making a living around many who are jobless. We still have time for a decent presidential candidate to emerge. Well, maybe that’s being a bit too optimistic. I wonder why it’s so easy to focus on the few things that are not perfect about our lives instead of all the things that are really great. Look around maybe things are better than […]

I’m sick. I’m running a low fever. My throat hurts. My head and nose feel full of gunk. The holidays are over and now is the “after the first of the year” time when I planned to do stuff. I don’t feel like doing stuff.  I feel like laying in bed all day. I’m not sick very often. I really don’t like it. It disturbs my schedule and makes me feel very vulnerable. How do people who are often sick handle it? What’s sickness about? Is its purpose to make us appreciate health? Is it an opportunity to savor hot drinks and chicken soup over meat and potatoes? Is it like dreary rainy days that make clear skies and sunshine so great? Is it about recognizing our dependence and morality?  Is it God saying “Stop and just be with me a moment and listen before you dive into all you think you have to do.”? Is it a closed-door to stop us from going somewhere we should not? Is it training in empathy to enable us to better minister to those who suffer greatly?  Is it a chance to see the miraculous power of prayer? I think I will […]

I began 2016 by removing a bumper sticker from my truck. The sticker proclaimed my support for a particular candidate for president. I didn’t remove it because I no longer support the candidate; it’s part of my new year’s resolution to be careful about where I place my trust. I still think this candidate would be best for the country, but I feared that the bumper sticker was an expression of trust in the ability of any candidate to really make a difference. That I don’t have. To me “trust” is a two-fold proposition. I have to trust the intentions of the trusted and the ability of that person to do what is necessary. I know longer believe that anyone in politics can do what this country needs; hence, the bumper sticker is gone. It’s strange whom we trust. For years I thought Bill Cosby was a great guy. One of the few comedians that didn’t rely on vulgarity for humor. He portrayed a wonderful family man on television. I would have trusted him with any woman in my family. Although I firmly believe in “innocence until proven guilty,” it certainly seems that such trust could have been greatly […]