Life Matters...Committed to a cause

You ever think about what you are really committed to in life? First off, I'd have to say I'm committed to my family. As a husband and dad, I'm committed to working to pay the bills so we can have a place to live, food to eat, etc. And I'm committed to my work. It seems you have to be committed to work, I mean after all, you spend more that 1/3 of your time at work. I do like my job, like what I do, but sometimes it can overwhelm you. There are times when it feels like work is taking over who you are.

The basics...but what about people who are really committed to a cause.

I don't know that I'm really committed to a great "cause". Sometimes I feel like I'm living in Safe Mode. Which in America really isn't that bad of a thing, I'm just not sure that's the way God wants us to live. We've become so comfortable with our way of life, we make God fit into our life and not the other way around. Think about it...we want such and such for a car (or nice little red truck). We need to live in a nice house in a nice neighborhood. We need to work for a company that provides great benefits like good pay and health insurance. Oh yeah, we need to also be stashing away money in a 401k for that early retirement we are planning on.

But is that what God really wants for us? Is that how we as Christians should be living our lives?To be comfortable all of the time? Jesus didn't live a comfortable life and neither did the guys that followed him. He gave up everything. They gave up everything. I've got a lot of questions about this subject and not a lot of answers.

Life Matters...what do you call God?

I just started reading a book this summer, along with my two girls. It's by Craig Groechel and it's called "Christian Atheist". One of the things he talked about was the relationship we have with God and what do we call him. When we talk to him, how do we address him? Is he "Provider"? Or "Father"? Or do you call him "Friend"?

This was interesting for me to think about. God wants us to talk to him all of the time. Not just when we sit down for dinner. Not just when we are in a pinch or need something. He wants us to talk to Him all of the time. "God, what do you think about this?" "God, how should I handle this?" He wants all of us all of the time. Let's try talking to Him and see what happens...

Todd Nincehelser

Life Matters - Life as I see it...

I haven't posted a blog for quite some time. It's been a struggle finding the extra time to just sit down and put my thoughts into words. So, I'm going to try and get back into the swing of things and hopefully I can be more consistent. At least for a little while... :)

Do you ever feel like life is passing you by? I'm 45 years old now and I kid you not, it just seems like a couple of years ago I was in high school playing basketball, driving up and down Main Street in my Mustang, living in the moment.

Now, twenty plus years later, my kids are growing up right before my eyes. My son doesn't shoot baskets with me anymore. I no longer have my little girls crawling up on my lap when I come home from work. There was an instant peace I felt when I sat in my chair and just held them. I miss that.

Even so, I'm excited to see what God has in store for me in the future. While the older I get, the more I look forward to His ultimate return, my earthly desires want to see my children grow up and have their own families.

God has so blessed my family and me. I take it for granted and really shouldn't. While things don't always seem to go the way "I" think they should, hind-site has proven God to be true to His word and His promises. He never fails to prove to me He is in control and knows what He's doing. Do I question him? Yep. Do I doubt? Yep. Thankfully He forgives and forgets.

**For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.

~ Hebrews 8:12

Life matters...and so does tennis

Hey folks,

How’s your week going? I hope it’s going good. It’s Thursday and we’re on the downhill side to a three day weekend…woo-hoo!!

My daughter and I went over to the lake yesterday and played tennis and it brought back some fun memories. I really like tennis. The first time I played (I was probably in the 5^th grade) was when my neighbor took his boy and me over to the tennis courts off of 21^st street by Hi-Crest Community Center. This is how old I am…we played with wooden racquets..ugh. That doesn’t even register to the younger folks. It’s like saying you rode a horse & buggy to school or you communicated on a telephone via “party line”.

Well, after a few times playing, I talked my dad into buying me a real aluminum racquet and he & I would go play tennis at the junior high. What I really remember about playing back then was my dad would come home from working 10 hour days (he was an electrician) and there I would be waiting holding my racquet ready to go play. I can remember only a couple of times when my dad said he didn’t feel like going. I’m sure there were more times than that when he didn’t “feel” like it, but he did anyway. As a parent, I think about that often. I hope I’m as giving of “my time” as my dad was.

All of that just to share a good message I read this week from the New Rebellion devotional. It’s called “Imitate That Serve”. (Get it? Serve? Tennis?...)

Basically what the devotion talked about was that people usually imitate the people they admire. Our kids can quite accurately emulate their parents. Teens model their piers in dress, talk, and values. Young professionals climbing the corporate ladder find a leader and imitate them. But Paul said that we need to follow the example of Christ and His passion for the world.

There are many important things Jesus did, and as Believers, we should be imitating the things of Christ:

Compassion, willingness to give up personal comfort to reach the lost, prayer life, discernment, passion for the truth, faith of miracles, reliance on His Father, joy during hard times, kindness, relationships with friends.

Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. Ephesians 5:1-2

Have a great rest of the week!!

Todd Nincehelser

Ps – My youngest daughter is pretty good at tennis. She’s the only member of my family that can hit it over the net consistently and not make me feel like a ball boy at Wimbledon. : )

http://www.shawneeheights.org

Various thoughts

Various thoughts...

Hey folks...in Sunday morning Fear No Evil Bible Class, we'll be finishing up the "God is Compassionate" chapter and moving on to Chapter 3 - "How Long, O Lord?" A little more study on suffering and evil from the old testament books that include the Prophets and Writings. Hope to see you there Sunday morning @ 9:30.

Pray for our country...we are living in historic times. Our country needs God...

Pray for people who have lost their jobs.

Pray for a chance to share the Gospel with someone...soon.

Below is a link to a short video. It's called Plastic Jesus. I think you'll "get it" after you watch it.

http://www.tangle.com/view_video?viewkey=e52499be711fb54303ff&utm_source=newsletter0826&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=weeklytopvideos

Have a good rest of the week!

Todd Nince

http://reslehecnin.blogspot.com/

http://www.shawneeheights.org/

Life Matters - evil in the world, being a dad (not the same thing)

I just want to tell you a couple of things that were an encouragement to me this past week. On Sunday morning in our Bible class (that's at 9:30 am), we are studying "suffering & evil". You might say, "I get enough of that during the week, why in the world do I want to hear about gloom & doom on Sunday mornings too!". Well, it's not exactly like that. We really had some good discussion about who's responsible for the evil and suffering that happens on earth. Is it God's will? Is it because man has messed everything up? Is God punishing us?

In fact, the discussion was so good, that we didn't get too far into the lesson. So, I want to give you a couple of things we didn't cover so you can be thinking about them...

Read Daniel 3:13-18. We know the story about Shadrach, Meshach, & Abednego. Here are three guys who refused to bow down to the king's golden image. These guys believed that their God had the power necessary to deliver them. But the most amazing thing I get out of reading the story now is in verse 18..."but even if He does not (deliver us), let it be known to you, O king, that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up."

These guys were willing and ready to go to the mat for their God. They knew what the consequences would be if they refused to bow down to the false god, but they chose their God.

This story also blends right in with the scripture from Sunday morning worship. Proverbs 3:5-7 -Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.

Sometimes things happen that we don't understand. This past week my uncle, 63 years old with no major physical problems, was stung by a wasp and died within a couple of hours. We question, "why did this happen?" How come? What's the purpose? Why now?

Sometime things occur through the process of life. My daughter left for college this past week (gulp!). The little girl that used to sit on my lap, run and hug me when I got home (well she still does do that) is now starting the next chapter of her life, and "dad" just doesn't think she's ready for the the nasty, evil world that's waiting her...There are too many unknowns out there. She's too naive. She's not ready for college. She won't know what to do. I won't be there to hold her when she's sad..."trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding...He shall direct your paths."

God is in control and get this...He know's what He's doing. Our plans are not His plans. Are we really, truly giving everything over to Him. Do we really trust Him to take it?

Have a great rest of the week!! Hope to see you Sunday!

Todd Nince

http://www.shawneeheights.org/

http://reslehecnin.blogspot.com/

Life Matters - job, kids, ...priorities

Hey folks...I hope everyone is having a great week. Those of us who have kids are realizing that summer is just about over and the school year is just a couple of weeks away. There are even a couple of us who will be taking our daughters to other states far away from home (gulp!!). I'm sure I'll be sharing some of my feelings about that in the near future.

I had a change in my job this week that will require me to stretch myself in some ways that might not be comfortable. Pray for me. I hope I will allow God to use me in whatever way He shows me. Easier to say, harder to actually follow through...

I found this devotional that really spoke to me this week. I hope it makes you think like it did me...

Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but on thing I do; forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:13-14 NASB

Priorities

Paul had about as many responsibilities as you can imagine--dozens of churches needing his oversight, new cities yet to head the good news, life-threatening opposition all around. But in the midst of these cares and concerns, Paul's heart was gripped by one consuming passion; the person and presence of Jesus Christ.

That all-compelling prize motivated Paul to lay aside all the fears, all the uncertainties, and fix his attention on God. Obedience to this call was his one thing. What's your? To hold on to Christ as Paul did, you also will have to dispense with lesser things. You, too, will need to forget what lies behind and reach for the goal. Salvation isn't the end; salvation is the beginning! - The Book of Days - Living the New Rebellion, day 185

Have a great weekend!!

Todd Nince

http://reslehecnin.blogspot.com/

http://www.shawneeheights.org/