Nielsen Family Update ~ Autumn Two Thousand Twenty One
Nielsen Family Autumn 2021 UpdateDear Friends, It’s mid-October and we are well into Autumn. For us here in Lake Chapala, this means our beautiful rainy season is coming to an end. Clouds still lace the sky, but rainstorms have slowly come to a stop. To us, this has...
Christians and Russians Are Conspiring to Ruin the World
The 5 part mini-series “The Family,” launched by Netflix last month, is presented in the trailer and intro as an expose of some secretive quasi-Christian cult that operates under cover in Washington DC and other places of power. I decided to watch it out of sheer...
The Right Side of History
“The Right Side of History: How Reason and Moral Purpose Made the West Great” by Ben Shapiro is scholarly, no-holds-barred analysis of where we are and where we have come from. His contention is that Judeo-Christian values and Greek reasoning are the twin pillars upon...
Tribe: You Belong Here
This is a stunningly beautiful poem that speaks so much to me of the power of godly friendship. The author and narrator is Cori Jean. You can hear and see more of here work at: the Cori Jean Blog
Why Does Evil Exist?
I was asked the question once again the other day. It came from one of my kids, all who have helped me hone my theology to a shard edge over the years. “Daddy, why do bad things happen? Why doesn’t God stop all bad things from happening so we can all be happy?” Leave...
Carrying the Right Lesson Forward
As I watched the movie “The Passion of the Christ,” I finally got the answer to a question my 10 year old daughter has asked me countless times: “Daddy, what if you could go back in time and be any one you...
The Power of Showing Up
The older I get, the more I have come to believe that just showing up is 90% of the solution to life’s problems. Though a great deal may hang in the balance of the remaining 10%, not enough can be said for the simple art of engagement. So much of life is in just...
The Bitter With the Sweet
Easter is just around the corner and my heart is overflowing with appreciation for the death and resurrection of my Lord and Savior. Who Jesus is and what He did seems more precious to me now than ever. Once again, as I focus on the story of the cross, I am captivated...
Oskar Schindler Made A Difference
It was the best part Liam Neeson ever played, the best film Steven Spielberg ever directed, and the Best Picture of 1993. So good was this film that it is ranked 8th among the 100 best American films of all time. It showed us all that even in the darkest of times a...
On Tiptoes With God
If I thought God wasn’t the most exciting and interesting person in the universe, I would probably look elsewhere for another God. After all, that is what worship is all about: finding someone worth giving your all and “throwing down” all you have and putting it all...
Power Encounter in Cebu
I’ve never ventured to share this story before. It’s one of my my “naked faith” experiences I had while on the mission field in Asia. As you will see (if you bear with me through the long narrative) it is “Outside the Box” of normal human experience, at least in the...
Life Is In The Journey
The longer I live, the more convinced I become that life is about the journey and not the destination. It’s about the little things that go on from day to day and week to week that put the color in story of our lives. The “marrow of life” is really, when you think of...
Why the Gypsies Loved Aimee Semple McPherson
There are countless stories surrounding Aimee Semple McPherson. Hers is a truly amazing life story. Few public figures have been as loved as she was by so many people from so many walks of life. If you would like to read an outstanding biography, I would highly...
The Fourth Turning
Every once in awhile I read a book that is so captivating I feel compelled to go back and read it again and again, eventually locating it on the top section of my book shelf for further reference. Invariably I end up giving it away to someone, and have to...
Olympic Outreach Musings
My first Olympic outreach was in 1984, just a couple months after I married Stasia. For a couple of years a call to missions had been burning in my heart. In 1982, 30 days before his plane crash, Keith Green held a concert in Long Beach auditorium. Keith shared...
Tribute to Bonnie Jean
On September 7, 1999, my Mom breathed her last breath and went to be with Jesus. She’s home now. After years of beaming for the One who died for her (my Mom beamed—I mean she smiled and her eyes revealed a joy that only Jesus could have placed within her) she is now...
Our Daughter Did It!
Our oldest daughter Brittany became the first person to conquer California's Condor Trail last month. Quite a feat. We have always know Britt to be one persistent young lady who likes a challenge. Here is another example of that: [button...
A Profile In Courage: The Amazing Story of Aimee Semple McPherson
love a good story, and all my life I have been connecting with heroes who inspire and motivate me. People who battle through the contradictions of life and swim upstream to make a mark on the world hold a...
One Billion Young People
Here is a powerful quote from the early 90's that is as relevant today as when I first heard it: One billion young people will pass between the critical ages of thirteen and twenty three this decade. One billion young people on the move. They will rarely...
Seize The Day
Gather Your Rosebuds While You May https://youtu.be/G2e_M06YDyY
About Me
Having served all of my adult life championing young people on four continents, I am now depositing my life into my kids every chance I get, loving and serving my wife, and daily taking baby steps into the unknown realm of God’s call. Out there, beyond the horizon, through the smoke and dust and noise, I have a glimpse of the place called True North. This blog is my discovery journal.