Nick’s Walk

 24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds,25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching. Hebrews 10:24-25 In a few minutes I’m going to head off to church. Today that’s not incredibly popular. Why, you might say, are you going to church? I’m so glad you asked. Missing folks. For various reasons I haven’t been to my church in three weeks. I really miss my brothers and sisters there. So I’m going. If you don’t miss the folks at your church, maybe you are in the wrong church. Encouragement. It’s a scary world out there, and getting scarier every day. Folks are being killed for being Christian in some places. In others, Christians aren’t acting Christian enough to even get noticed as Christians. Like I said, it’s a scary world out there. I need some courage which I get at my church were there is encouragement. If you aren’t being encouraged at your church, maybe you’re going to the wrong church. Encourage. I know the folks at my church pretty well and I know […]

Those of us who are truly blessed have at least one someone who can turn things around by their presence. Rainy becomes sunny. Hopelessness becomes hope. Panic becomes calm. Confusion becomes direction. Perhaps above all else, sorrow becomes joy. They do it by their presence alone. Sometimes there’s a plus: a word, a verse, a cool drink or a sweet treat. That’s pure extra. The presence is what we desperately need. We are completely thankful for it. Such is the work of the Holy Spirit. His function is to be present in the life of the believer.  When that presence is experienced, joy flows. The presence is constant. Our experience is learned and varies. Sometimes our circumstances are so dark and overwhelming that the presence can’t be recognized. Sometimes we are so self-absorbed, we can notice anything else, especially not the spiritual presence of God. The Holy Spirit is like the wind, unseen and recognized only by the effects of its movement. When things in our lives change, especially without natural cause, the Spirit is working. The Spirit is at work whether we recognize it or not. His guidance, however, requires our recognition of His presence and our sensitivity […]

16“I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; 17 that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you.… John 14 I woke up this morning and thought of the Holy Spirit. I’m afraid it was a unique thought for me. I don’t give much thought to the Holy Spirit. That’s just not right. That puts me in the “in the world” class. Not good. I suppose there are lots of reasons why I don’t give much thought to the Holy Spirit. For example, I don’t remember the last time I’ve heard a teaching on the Holy Spirit. I guess this is understandable. The Holy Spirit seems hard to explain. I have heard much about the “gifts” of the Holy Spirit or the “fruits” of the Holy Spirit, but not a lot about the Holy Spirit. I know the Holy Spirit isn’t a dove. Although you would think so if you google “Holy Spirit.” Perhaps this is one of the reasons I don’t think a lot […]

I just finished cutting my grass. After all the temperature is in the 70s, why not? I know cutting grass the first days of March, when all that gets mowed are clover and leaves,  may make me an extremist in the lawn department but that’s okay. According to the Weather Channel, the temperature tomorrow morning will be forty degrees cooler than it will be when we go to bed. Okay so I go to bed pretty early, but you get the the point…extreme. I saw some extremes on line yesterday as the left and right commented on Israel’s Prime Minister’s speech to  Congress. Talk about  your differences of opinion. Without going into specifics I think both sides went to extremes to express their views. Neither Israel’s Prime Minister nor America’s President is quite the low life scum portrayed on line. If that last sentence offended you, you really need to read the rest. I can assure you that no one switched sides as a result of the speech or the online debate. No one was converted or convinced. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not against extremists. Jesus was an extremist. It was His way or the highway. I intend […]

Remember when you were a kid and Christmas seemed to take ten years to arrive and a school term lasted nine years instead of months and it seemed you had to sit in church all day on Sunday? That was a long time ago. Time has accelerated at an alarming pace. Friday seems to come the day after Monday and Monday comes the same day as Friday. Christmas occurs every quarter instead of every year. When you count the candles on your birthday cake, which seems to happen about once a month, you sit back to avoid the heat from all that fire andwonder where the years went. Remember when you had the energy to chase the kids seven days a week? Now you are calling for the kids to pick up the grandkids after an hour. Surprised when you look in the mirror and an old person is staring back at you? Find yourself saying the things your parents used to say, or worse, your grandparents? Remember when you used to party hearty and now you hardly party, just not worth the effort? I know it’s hard to believe but these phenomena are gifts from God. When we […]

Last Sunday I took a vacation from church. Well just from my church. We joined family members at another church which they attend. It was nice. Like most vacations it was a refreshing change of scenery. Like most vacations, I was ready to return to my home church the following week. However, this week I took another vacation. I just stayed home. I didn’t have a particular reason. I just did. It seems taking a vacation can become a habit. I looked over my blog and noticed I had only posted 8 times in February. February is a short month, but not that short. I like to think of my blogging as “almost daily.” Apparently another vacation. I’m not sure my reduced blogging schedule was missed by anyone. I do the blogging principally for me. I like to do it first thing in the morning and it helps me start me day in the Word and “seeking the kingdom first.” Vacations are nice. They can be refreshing and stimulating. We need them. We do need to keep them in their proper place. Our mission is not to be refreshed or stimulated. It’s not to do something different. It’s to do […]

Historically prophets were thorns in the side of the establishment. God used them to set the king straight. In Israel, God gave the people a king only because they insisted. In many instances, it was an insistence, they lived to regret. Many of the kings were bad men and worse kings. There is something about wearing a crown that goes to your head. Kings tended to get full of themselves thinking that they were responsible for any good thing in the land. Prophets reminded them that all good things come from God and remain only with obedience to His will. Jesus made it possible for us all to be royalty, to be children of the king. Like the kings of Israel we tend to let it go to our heads. We forget it’s His kingdom and start to act as if it’s ours. The modern day prophet, like the prophet of old, is charged with setting the royal family straight. As royalty we need to remember that it’s not about who we are, but about what He’s done. It’s not about what we’ve done, but about who He is. We aren’t called to lives of privilege but of purpose. Because […]

I think I want to be a prophet. I have been an attorney for over thirty years. I am pretty good at it and enjoy it, but I think it’s time to expand. Plus my legal experience helps qualify me as a prophet. I want to be useful in the church and all the teaching and pastoring positions seem to be taken. They don’t pay that well anyway. So prophet it is. Here is my prophet resume’: White Beard: It seems all prophets are men with white beards. Check. Old men: It seems all prophets are old men with white beards. Check. Disliked: It seems all prophets are old men with white beards who often have to run for their lives from angry mobs. I have been a lawyer for thirty plus years. Check. Legal. It seems all prophets are old men with white beards who often have to run for their lives from angry mobs because they go on and on about the law and law breaking making folks uncomfortable. I have been a lawyer for thirty plus years. Check. I think there is a real need for prophets in the church. Name all the prophets who are […]