Nick’s Walk

Next Saturday I will be participating at a one-day retreat at Angola. It will consist of eight talks on the Beatitudes. Perhaps you need a retreat to start your summer. Join me for the next eight days as I summarize the talks and take the retreat journey with me. “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs of the kingdom of heaven.” Matt.5:3.  You are not God. It’s a hard truth that some never grasp. We act out our God complex by trying to control. Trying to be God is humankind’s oldest problem. In Genesis 3, Adam and Eve tried to be in control. They only had to stay away from the forbidden fruit, one tree! There were in Paradise! Satan said to them “…If you eat this fruit, you will be like God.” And, they wanted to be God! Today, we still want to be God We attempt to play God by denying our humanity, and trying to control everything for our own selfish reasons! a.       We Try To Control Our Image. We care so much about what other people think of us. We wear masks and play games. No worry, no fear. We don’t want others to see the real us. “If I tell you who I really am […]

Statistics, thanks to my wife who shared this article. America has the highest percentage of single-parent families in the industrialized world and The highest abortion rate. The highest rate of sexually transmitted diseases. The highest rate of teenage birth by far. The highest rate of teenage drug use. The largest prison population per capita than any country in the world.In the last 50 to 60 years: The divorce rate has doubled. Teen suicide has tripled. Reported violent crime has quadrupled. The prison population has quintupled. The percentage of babies born to unmarried mothers has risen sixfold. Couples living together unmarried have increased sevenfold. In spite of this moral decline: Eighty-four percent of the inhabitants of this nation say they believe Jesus Christ is God. 45 percent claim to be born-again Christians.Seventy-seven percent believe their chances of going to heaven are excellent. Thirty-three percent believe one day everyone will go to heaven.  I can’t help but believe that many are deceived about who they are in Christ and where they will spend eternity.

Those of you who follow me on Facebook are probably aware that I attended my great granddaughter’s dance recital last night. These things are long and since I only knew one of the seemingly hundreds of kids that paraded across the stage, I was not always completely focused and entertained. It is amazing what kind of following a cute kid can garner. There were over a dozen tickets sold based solely on my offspring’s participation. I guess I’m a little jealous. I have never, as child or adult, had a dozen folks show up to watch me do anything. Of course, I’ve never dressed in a tutu and danced around a stage. I like to think that if I did I could surpass the audience Kaydence drew, and give at least as entertaining, if not as cute, a performance. The performers get a very enthusiastic reception. I’ve heard quieter crowds at a football game. There is much clapping, and whooping and shouting throughout. When it’s all over the performers are showered with flowers, balloons and gifts. Like I said, I guess I am just jealous. The young dancers are cute and most of the older ones are pretty good. Some […]

“To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lamp stands. 2 I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false.3 You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary. 4 Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. 5 Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lamp stand from its place. Revelation 2   Passion seemed to be the topic of my weekend. I watched a lot of baseball and softball. I watched with passion, teams playing passionately. Then on Sunday my pastor talked about passion. It has made me consider what it takes to have passion. I’m a passionate Florida Gator fan. That’s pretty easy to explain. I graduated from Florida Law School. My undergraduate degree was obtained from Pepperdine without ever attending class on that campus. So […]

I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” Revelation 21: 2-4 NIV “I believe we and mainly you have an incredible opportunity to lead in shaping a new world order for the twenty-first century in a way consistent with American interests and common interests,” Vice Pres. Biden said this week to the 995 members of the Air Force Academy class of 2014. Biden and many others seem to believe that a New World Order is something man can create.  “New World Order” is an interesting phrase. Conspiracy theorist have for decades claimed that a secret group of powerful men are working toward a one world government that will be a “New World Order.”  The phrase strikes […]

“The truth is the more intimately you know someone, the more clearly you’ll see their faults.” I came across this quote on Facebook today. There are a lot of truths in this statement and flowing from it. It explains why so few marriages last, why family vacations are so tough, why you don’t want to get stuck in a crowded elevator, and why true love is so great. True love doesn’t grow out of a satisfactory evaluation of the good versus bad traits of the person loved. If that were true everyone would love the perfect people and no one would love you and me. True love seeks and relishes intimacy. It’s not turned off by the faults uncovered because it’s overcome by the goodness discovered. It’s not a goodness that was alway present,  but one that is created. Love marvels at how the power of grace can both forgive and then correct imperfection. True love can only exist in the presence of Christ, because only He brings the miracle of grace which makes intimate relationship not only possible but marvelous. True love is truly supernatural. Without Jesus and His grace, there can be acceptance and compromise. We can […]

While scanning Facebook for no particular reason, feeling pretty low and oppressed, I came across an obituary of a man I knew. I can’t say I knew him well. He was a lawyer I had dealings with. I knew he was a Christian. His obituary is written in part in the first person. Here are some quotes: “By God’s grace, I had a totally unexpected encounter with His love back in 1986. Life has never been the same since, for which I am deeply grateful. I’m a convert to Catholicism but first of all, a committed follower of the Risen King of Kings, Jesus Christ.  I spend a lot of time thinking, writing, and talking about how to introduce others to Jesus, the most important person they’ll ever meet! ” It’s very significant to me that I always knew Graham as a Christian. He was an accomplished lawyer and broadcaster, but I knew him as a Christian. I know his obituary to be true in that he did spend a lot of time thinking, writing and talking about how to introduce others to Jesus. If you knew Graham, you knew about his faith. He wasn’t shy about it; but he wasn’t obnoxious […]

My dad was a war hero. I didn’t really know that until a few weeks before he died. He never talked about the war during most of his life. On his death-bed, under the influence of pain medication, he spoke of it to me for the first time. When the flag was raised at Iwo Jima, the act which was captured in the most famous photo from World War II, my dad was at the base of the mountain. He told me the picture was actually a recreation. Guys were asked to volunteer to climb the hill again just so journalists could take the picture. There were not a lot of takers. There were still plenty of enemy around, still firing live rounds. My dad never won a bunch of medals. He talked about being scared to death as he did his job running telephone line from one fox hole to the next. He talked of his high school buddy from Abbeville who ran with him and who was killed in a fox hole next to him. He talked about getting his high school diploma, also in a fox hole. He talked about lying about his club foot to […]