Nick’s Walk

We had a case of growing pains with our great-grandchild this week. She had pain in her knees. A little children’s Tylenol and a heating pad and she was fine. Many of us as children remember having pains as our bones and muscles and tendons struggled to grow, especially during our “growth spurts.” There are spiritual “growing pains” as well. There are times when God stretches us. He grooms us for bigger challenges by putting us through experiences that stretch us. It may be a case of putting us in positions in which our dependence on Him is more obvious than usual. Perhaps He puts us with people who challenge us. Sometimes He works through “hard” scriptures that make us review our concepts of who He is or who we are in His universe. He may move us from a place of comfort into unfamiliar, even frightening, surroundings. The goal is the same: to grow our faith, trust and dependence on Him. When circumstances aren’t what  you would like them to be, when the things  you have relied on fall, when people aren’t there as they have been in the past, these may be growing pains. The good news […]

Every so often I come across something really worthwhile when scanning Facebook. The thoughts contained on this image qualified. A couple of days ago I posted about the blessings in my life. I wish I could get into the habit of looking back every day and being amazed at how God has blessed me over the last 65 years. There have been challenges and even some tears, but there has always been evidence of not just His presence but his loving, guiding presence. I am going to try to start each day spending at least a few moments looking back and feeling truly blessed. Just as the past is reassuring, looking forward is always intriguing. There is always a path ahead that we expect to walk. Reality is never exactly the same. Some of the great wonders of life are the surprises God has for us in the future. Almost no day goes exactly as planned. Certainly no year follows the path we have planned in our heads. The days that seem cloudy and challenging when viewed from the past, often turn out to be the brightest and the most inspiring of our lives. The ones that we think […]

Last week I had the two-year checkup following my knee replacement. I have had absolutely no pain since the surgery. I had minimum rehab. Even my other knee which had bothered me before, hasn’t since. I am so blessed. This afternoon I will be performing a marriage ceremony. This is an honor and a privilege. Thanks to Roger and Carla and to Pastor Jason. I am so blessed. I am an ordained minister at my church and get frequent opportunities to serve. In September I will be sharing with our SALT group. I get to do this blog daily and in November I will once again get to go inside Angola and see God work. I am so blessed. I have a wonderful family with many beautiful women, inside and out. I get to enjoy them with my fabulous grandson Nicky and my awesome grand-son-in-law, Tyler. I am so blessed. In the Navy we moved over 30 times. Since coming to Lafayette I have lived in the some wonderful house out in the country. It’s been almost thirty years. When my mom first saw our house she called it a mansion. She was a bit over the top. But […]

Psalm 23 A psalm of David. 1 The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. 2     He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, 3     he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths     for his name’s sake. 4 Even though I walk     through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil,     for you are with me; your rod and your staff,     they comfort me. 5 You prepare a table before me     in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil;     my cup overflows. 6 Surely your goodness and love will follow me     all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord     forever. Our complete security in Christ is wonderfully displayed in the 23rd Psalm. It’s a security that is non-conditional and flows from our relationship with Jesus. He is Shepherd. We are sheep or followers. It’s not dependent on our performance as sheep. It’s expressed in series of positive statements. Our eternal security in heaven is the last ultimate facet of our security, but by no means the only facet. We will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. The basis of our security is provision. We shall not want. We are promised […]

  I have written this blog since 2009. I have mentioned “fear” a lot. I’m not embarrassed by this. I find myself in good company. Jesus mentioned it so much that it became part of his usual greeting, “Fear not.” It’s equivalent has become a common greeting among believers, “Peace be with you.” We mention fear so often because it is such a huge problem. We have lots of fear. We fear disease, death, destruction, loss of family, loss of income, hell, and loss of salvation. Fear is Satan’s greatest weapon. If you are saying to yourself, “I’m not fearful.” Consider this, do you worry? Are you anxious? Do you have concerns? Those are just other ways of expressing fear. The opposite of fear isn’t courage or bravery; it’s peace and security. As much as fear dominates our lives; we truly seek peace and security. This is why I am so adamant about Eternal Security. It’s what Jesus came to give us. It’s not the same as “once saved always saved.” If we are secure in our marriage, it’s not that we think we could never be divorced. We just think it’s highly unlikely. If we are secure in […]

On Sunday our Pastor preached about The End Times. It was interesting because we don’t hear a lot of preaching on the subject. I’m certainly no End Times scholar. My End Times theology is very simple. I believe Jesus is coming back to reign, that will be wonderful, we don’t know when and until then things will get a lot worse before they get better. I don’t find hardly anyone who disagrees with me on these basics. With that theology I am motivated to tell others about Jesus and wait with joyful expectation. The fighting starts with things like the Rapture. Will it happen? If so when? I do mean fighting because if you google “the rapture” you will read some of the nasty things said by one group of Christians about another. People are really serious about their opinion. The truth is there is support for most opinions in the scripture and no solid proof of either. I find a direct connection between one’s basic theology and their opinions about The End Times. Grace people tend to be pretrib rapture folks. By “grace” people I don’t mean people who talk about grace, but I mean people who are comfortable […]

Life is a walk, for Christians a walk with God. Looking back on the long path of my walk, one characteristic predominates: faithfulness, not mine, but God’s. There has been much along the path: eleven years in the military without injury or fear, law school in my thirties, loss of a child, false allegations, challenges of all kind. Through it all my God has been faithful. My family has never gone hungry. I have enjoyed a beautiful family, faithful friends and a decent career. I have often wandered from the path, but God has stuck with me. Looking around at where I am today on the path I have to wonder. Is this where I should be? Was this God’s plan A for me or are we on plan B or even Z? I have walked a long way, but should I have walked faster or even run? How many times have I been turned around or had to double back? Did I fully understand and appreciate all the beauty along the way ? Have I more often helped others or stepped on toes without thinking? Will my passing be remembered with smiles or frowns? Looking ahead I can […]

It seems we are often unsatisfied or discontented because we make poor decisions. It’s understandable that this can happen when we don’t have all the facts. The strange thing is that often these poor decisions are based on bad information about ourselves. I read an interesting article yesterday about things we should know about ourselves.  Here’s my take on that. 1. Whom do you serve? We all serve someone. The problem is that we don’t always realize it. It could be ourselves, our employer, our checking account, our spouse, or someone else. We need to know the real answer to that question. 2. What do you love? At least once a day we find ourselves saying that we love something or someone. What or whom do we really love? Shouldn’t our decisions be based in significant part of whom we love? 3. What makes you angry? At least once a day we find ourselves angry or upset about something. These emotions guide us often unconsciously. It is wise to recognize what gets under our skin. 4. What motivates you? Great leaders and coaches are terrific at identifying and utilizing the motivations of others. We aren’t always that good at recognizing […]