Nick’s Walk

Only informed citizens should vote. You won’t be informed if you: Trust the media. Media outlets are businesses that need to make money.  They will run any ad and stir up any mess to get audience. They tend to fail to separate news from opinion from advertising. Count signs. Signs don’t vote. Do you really want to vote for the guy or gal with the most signs? Even if signs represented votes, would you really want to vote based on what the most think? Trust what a candidate says about his opponent. If you want to know what a jerk I am talk to my enemies. If you want to know what a saint I am talk to my acquaintances. If you want to know the truth, talk to my wife. It might be informative to talk to spouses of the candidates. Rely on the opinion of others. Really. Can’t you think for yourself. Be particularly careful about ads put out by groups not associated with the candidate. They may or many not express the views of the person seeking office. So what can we do? If you get a chance to see, meet, or hear the candidate in […]

Today’s church is already wired, and if your parish isn’t taking full advantage of all of these ways of touching people throughout the week, it is becoming increasingly irrelevant. http://www.nicksigur.com/why-i-post-and-tweet/

All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. Romans 3:23-24 Sin – Let’s Talk I’ve heard complaints that we don’t talk enough about sin anymore. If that is said about me, I don’t want it to be justified. So I’m going to talk about sin. Get ready. Everyone reading this is a sinner. I don’t mean once was a sinner. I mean a sinner today. I include Mother Theresa, the Apostle Paul, Barrack Obama, and Rush Limbaugh. Okay, so those guys probably aren’t reading this, but I hope you get the point. Sorry if you feel insulted, but you are a sinner. I don’t care what prayer you might have said or if you had water sprinkled on  you or you got dumped in it. You are still a sinner. Those events were, no doubt, of great significance in your spiritual journey, and mandated by Jesus, but they didn’t make you a non-sinner. Saved and Sinning Perhaps you are confusing being a sinner and being saved from your sin. The death of the sinless one, Jesus, makes it possible (not […]

My pastor handed me a magazine after I met with him this week and was headed out the door. He’s always handing me things. I think he believes I have room for improvement. Silly man. It turned out to be an impressive publication. It has a profession, national look and feel, but is local in focus and distribution. Covenant Spotlight is distributed throughout the Lafayette area in businesses and churches. If you can’t get a copy at your church on Sunday, maybe you should change churches. Okay, that’s a bit severe.  Here are some places that have them. There is, of course, a web-site: http://cspotlight.com/  and a Facebook page. You can even follow them on Twitter.   If you get a chance to pick a copy, you’ll likely see someone you know or have heard about. You might even get blessed. My grandson was excited to see an article about his Sensei Micah at Cajun Karate. Last Saturday I watched his training session, that included workout, self-defense, scripture, positive reinforcement and encouragement. Nicky had trained before at a different facility. He hadn’t gotten that kind of Christian-based training. Sadly, some of us have gotten the idea that a “Christian” business is […]

A few nights ago my wife and I were watching Mrs. Miniver. I commented that the last scene would make great blog material. When I woke up the next morning I found that my wife had transcribed the short sermon from the scene and a copy was on my chair. That’s just the kind of partner I have. I was moved by the sermon because it reflected a nation brought to single purpose in response to an unprovoked attack from an enemy.  I was a bit jealous of folks who found themselves, at least for a time, in a united, single purposed nation even if it took a war to do it. We are, for all practical purposes, at war now. we are under attack but we stay as divided as the east is from the west. Folks on both the left and right nest in their own worlds where no contrary view or thought is permitted. If you doubt it, spend some time on Facebook, not with your normal “friends” but with some folks from “across the aisle.” It won’t be long before you will realize that  you aren’t in Kansas anymore. I know we can’t expect to be one, […]

A life hack is a strategy or technique adopted in order to manage one’s time and daily activities in a more efficient way. There are websites devoted to life hacks. lifehacker.com and lifehack.org or 1000lifehacks.com for example. I came across a great article this morning. It was written for pastors, but applies to all of us, just a few suggestions to make us more efficient. I could be more efficient, a lot more efficient. I have added my own thoughts, as usual. 1. Fill The Gaps With Meaning I have developed the habit of picking up my iphone when I have an idle moment. These include: At a stop light. (happens all the time) When my wife stops talking. (hardly ever happens) When the food takes more than 30 seconds to arrive. When a commercial comes on TV. (more on TV later) When the pastor gets a bit boring. (hardly ever happens when it does I hope people think I am studying my digital bible) When I’m in the bathroom. . . waiting. (use your imagination) I could use that time a bit better, for example: Praying. Talking to my wife. Reading a bible verse. Listen to worship music. Admiring our […]

Thanks to a friend for this. As a Florida fan I couldn’t let the last hit be against the Gators. I had to add something about LSU. Ohio State’s Urban Meyer on one of his players: “He doesn’t know the meaning of the word fear. In fact, I just saw his grades and he doesn’t know the meaning of a lot of words.” ___________________________________________ Why do Tennessee fans wear orange? So they can dress that way for the game on Saturday, go hunting on Sunday, and pick up trash on Monday. ___________________________________________ What does the average Alabama player get on his SATs? Drool. ___________________________________________ How many Michigan freshmen football players does it take to change a light bulb? None. That’s a sophomore course. ___________________________________________ How did the Georgia football player die from drinking milk? The cow fell on him. ___________________________________________ Two West Virginia football players were walking in the woods. One of them said, “Look, a dead bird.” The other looked up in the sky and said, “Where?” ___________________________________________ A University of Mississippi football player was almost killed yesterday in a tragic horseback-riding accident. He fell from a horse and was nearly trampled to death. Luckily, the manager of […]

12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities,against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Ephesians 6:12 We have much to learn from the Muslim radicals. Before you hit “delete” or try to digitally decapitate me, think about it. The radicals are all out, 100% for their faith. I’m not talking about the ones who are just in it for excitement, or attention or a love of violence. I am talking about the ones who believe every word of the Koran. They believe it’s their duty to kill all the infidels, i.e. me and you. That’s what the Koran demands. The believe to secure eternity they must kill. That’s in their book, too. The so-called moderates aren’t really Muslim at all. They have picked the parts of the faith they like (and there are some positive parts). Some of the “moderates” are cultural muslims. Their parents were muslim. Their friends re muslim. It’s politically correct and economically wise to be muslim, so they are muslim. They are not “sold out” for Islam. They are muslim by default. Christian have the same […]