Nick’s Walk

I have been a member at the Fontana Center since my knee replacement surgery in 2012. I am the kind of member that makes these places possible. I have a couples membership and hadn’t been at the facility for years until last week. They have to love monthly fee payments from people like me who write a check every month saying, “I’m going to go this month” but don’t. Several factors sent me back. I lost 15 pounds between checkups. I swam with my grandkids on vacation. I remembered there was a pool at the Center. So on Monday I began my “get healthy” campaign. I went to “work out” every day this week. It’s been great. I’ve lost another 5.2 pounds. I have been more relaxed, had more energy and have been sleeping great. The one thing I hadn’t done is join any of the many classes that are offered at the Center. The timing just wasn’t right. However, I noticed that there was a PowerWaves class on Saturday mornings at a good time. I should have noticed a couple of things. First, the name, PowerWaves. That should have been a tip off. Second, it’s a ninety-minute class. […]

It was a strange coincidence that I learned about the Supreme Court’s decision on Gay Marriage while distributing this month’s Covenant Spotlight magazine.  Part of the focus of this month’s issue is “Church and State.” Talk about good timing. Let me begin by saying that, as a lawyer and as a Christian, I believe the decision is legally wrong. The reasons are many and others are better than I at articulating them. I’d like to offer something else. I’m hoping and praying that this decision will shake up the Christian community and maybe not in the way you might expect. Move on. I think in many ways some of us Christians need to move on. The whole “gay rights” thing has occupied a ton of “Christian” energy and focus. It has distorted the view of many in the church as well as the view of many on the outside about the church. I understand the concern about societal changes. I understand all about sin. I am way too personally familiar with sin.  I’m not saying there are not important issues here. I am saying these are not the only issues. These issues deserve some, but not all, of our focus and […]

I sleep with my phone. I don’t mean I sleep with it on the nightstand. I sleep with it. It’s in the bed with me. It’s attached to me by headphones. How weird is that? Now on the positive, I do that partly so I can go to sleep listening to music and, yes, it is mostly praise music. Yet I have to wonder if I’m sleeping with the enemy. For example, today I woke at three a.m. and immediately started tapping icons on my phone. I quickly came across this article, Six Wrong Reasons to Check Your Phone in the Morning.  That’s kind of eye-opening when you are checking your phone at three in the morning. The article was pretty good. In summary, the author feels there are three “candy” reasons and three “avoidance” reasons that it’s wrong to check your phone in the morning. In the “candy” group are: Novelty Candy. We want to know what’s new and we want to be one of the first to know so that we can be tellers and not “tellees.” Ego Candy. We want to know if someone “liked” us. Did we get reposted or retweeted. Did someone comment on our […]

I have these periodic compulsions to take on “manly” projects. I guess it’s an attempt to prove my manhood in a society that doesn’t give a lot of such opportunities. Recently it was my “cable” project. I decided that all of the paraphernalia that comes with cable service, and which had for years been in my upstairs office at home, needed to be in our den. I boldly disconnected every device attached to the cable. I bravely moved the modem, wi-fi, ATT signal booster, TiVo,  signal attenuator, and telephone connection to the den. There are now miles of cables in the room. I insist that just because the “cable” guy has paid many visits to our home since my project began, this is not because of any inadequacy in my project execution.  After several weeks, we now have fully functioning television, phone, internet and security service, like we used to have when it was all upstairs. I feel very macho. The feeling doesn’t last so just a couple of hours after the cable man left I felt the need for a new project. We have done major work in our yard, tearing down the kids’ rotting playhouse, removing landscape timbers, trimming […]

You need a miracle. In some segment of your life, only a miracle will address the need. How do I know? It’s the nature of God. God is always trying to get our attention. He wants us to know He is there and that He is the answer to what we need. We don’t always recognize our need for a miracle. We tend to be self-reliant. We know we have problems. We know there are parts of our lives that need change. We figure that everything will be fine, if only we try a little harder. If we just let the problem lie for a while, something will happen. If the problem can’t be corrected, we can do something so we don’t have to deal with it. There are plenty of drugs, or drinks, or distracting activities that can take our minds off of the problem. It doesn’t change the fact: we need a miracle. How do we get our miracle? We don’t get it by sending some “seed money” to a television evangelist. We don’t get it by behavior modification. We get it by going to the miracle maker. He creates or allows the situation which gets our […]

For most of my life I have struggled with the differences between Mother’s Day and Father’s Day. I don’t think I’ve gotten wiser over the years; but I have gained more experience. With that has come some understanding about this difference. Men and Women are Different.  I guess I should start with what should be obvious, but which I often forget. Dr. Emerson Eggerichs says love best motivates a woman and respect most powerfully motivates a man. As he says, “Though we all need love and respect equally, the felt need differs during conflict, and this difference is as different as pink is from blue!” I have heard it expressed a bit differently: For men, what we do is important, For women, who they are is dominant. This difference helps explain the Mother’s/Father’s Day differences. Expressing love is easier than expressing respect. Give mom a bouquet and a kiss and she’s good to go. Just check out Albertson’s on the morning of Mother’s Day. Dad’s are tougher. How do we express respect? We are just not use to it. If we try to do Father’s Day, like we do Mother’s Day, we miss the mark. It’s tough. What we […]

I gave up on the word “Christian” quite a while ago. It just doesn’t mean anything anymore. Well, maybe it just means too many things. When I refer to someone who is trusting Jesus for their salvation and following Him, I call that person a Follower. Like most of my thoughts, it’s not original. I stole it from Kyle Idleman and his book Not a Fan.  If  you haven’t read it, I highly recommend you do so – after your read this 🙂 I think lots of us are Followers. We try to follow Jesus. Francis Chan has some great thoughts on this subject. I’m learning that it’s always a good thing. Often we do it on a “grand” scale. We are trying to follow as a basic principle of life. I find what works best is if I follow on a minute-to-minute basis. I wish I could give you specific instructions on how to do that. If I could I would have the best seller book that my wife thinks I will write one day. I can’t do that because I don’t have enough data. I have succeeded in following Him, minute-by-minute in short spurts. It’s always a blessed […]

I had a great time at Amana Christian Fellowship last night discussing “Knowing God.” Thanks to all of you who made it. I hope you enjoyed it and, more importantly, got something out of it. If you couldn’t be there you might enjoy listening to the session. Listen here.  I began with a discussion based on my blog post, The Miracle of Knowing God.  We are really intimidated by the thought of spending time “in the holy of holies.” It certainly is a privilege available only through a miracle. But God is eager waiting to visit with us. It keeps coming back to me how often Jesus spoke of Prayer and Faith. Prayer is talking to God. Faith is trusting what He reveals to us. Consider how Jesus stressed to his disciples that knowing him, Jesus, was knowing the Father. It’s vital to know God because it’s the only way we can know ourselves. No one else will honestly show us who we are. We walk through life carrying labels that the world and it’s ruler has placed on us. We all bear lies that weaken our resolve, crush our ambition, and cripple our mission. I love Jason Gray’s “Remind […]