Why dont we just outlaw ALL religion and solve All of our problems? Just a thought...

If you click on the word "essay", it should give you a link to the article I'm talking about.

I guess I don't get the essay you are referring to.....Is something missing?

That is so true Nate...My priorities are so messed up.Thanks for sharing this, it's very eye opening.

Hey Nate. As a fellow natural introvert, I completely agree. It's easy for us to use that as an excuse to shy away from assignment ("Oh, that's not my gift, someone else should do that"), but can can bring an introvert out of his shell. He's still working on peeling mine off of me, but the shell is much thinner than it used to be.

Hey Nate, this is very intriguing, and thought provoking. Thanks for sharing the epiphany with us.

I'll try my hardest to apply it with my life, and I really mean that. It's sometimes easy to overlook a relationship with God until a message comes by like this and slaps you in the face.

Again, thanks.

~Joe

Great post Nate. Very convicting and challenging. It is so easy to overlook the relational aspects of our relationship with God. I like how you highlighted that here. It is a good reminder for me as well.

There's got to be a sermon or radio show in this. We need "Spiritual AAA". :) Great post Nate.

Well put! I like the way you think!

Your post immediately had me thinking of Leviticus. Not so much the idea of telling one story in a different way, but as a book that is often picked apart.

I know it's a book of rules, essentially. However, the main reason it jumped into my mind was that taking something out of it's original context because provides a nice answer, is kind of similar to what you're talking about. The whole concept of "pick and choose" doesn't and can't work when it comes to the Bible.

I just wanted to say that I read this blog and took on the adventure of Watching amovie and relating it... At first, I thought it would be complicated and it wasn't!!! Thanks for the insight..

Very cool Nate. I like it. I was wondering if you could use some of those movie examples? Movies are one thing that I can very closely relate to.

Nate, what has always bothered me is why a "hedge." I mean seriously, is Satan going to stop and say "Whoa, I can't attack him now - look at this shrubbery! And a nice shrubbery it is!" How about a concrete wall with broken glass on the top? Or razor wire? Seriously, a "hedge" of protection? Won't Satan just come with some demonic hedge clippers? I refuse to hedge my bets on a hedge. I won't beat around the bush - it "leafs" me feeling vulnerable.

Totally agree with you Nate. Have reached the same conclusions but still find myself praying for protection, especially for Sarah or the kids. It is very ingrained. Had some fun looking up the hedge tonight. Satan accused God of putting a hedge around Job, so I guess that would be the hedge of protection. In Hosea, God said he would hedge in his unfaithful wife Israel with thorns so that she couldn't find her way. That was punishment, not protection. So both verses prove your points. In God, you are already fully protected, outside of Him, watch out.

Nate: I really liked your thoughts on this. It really made me think. I think people tend to pray like this to make themselves feel better, especially if it is a loved one that is in danger. I know I have done this, especially when you or Kirsten have been in a situation I thought was dangerous. It was more my fear of something bad happening to you as I struggled with my motherly instincts. Saying this to God and asking him to protect you helped me trust God more. But I think all your points are right. We really probably don't need ask God for that, but it just helps us work through our fears sometimes.
By the way, I am glad you understand what those spankings were for. It always hurt me to have to give them, but I was hoping and trusting God that I was doing the right thing. Maybe the Lord helped me do a few things right, since you have grown into such a Godly young man. I am so proud of you!

Sure do, almost each and every day!

Easier said than done!
Do you ever feel like the sacrifice that keeps crawling off the altar?

Thank you Nate!! Hard subject to blog in a nutshell.....but you managed to do so....I couldnt agree more with your closing words....very encouraging.....

Agreed, and two more things to point out, quite often other religions are the first to to point out Christians seem to be close minded and exclusive to say there is only one God, and only one path to salvation, and yet most other teachings in other religions also claim their god, or their belief system is the only way. Seems a bit hypocritical to me.

Something I told my roommate once, was that eternity cannot be a choose your own adventure chapter book. What I mean by that is, each person can't end up in their own eternity (or lack thereof if you're atheist) simply because thats what they believe. Don't get me wrong, I'm all about tolerance for what others believe, but the notion we can all be right is absurd. So if you believe in reincarnation that's what happens, but at the same time if you think nothing happens you just die and that's it, or if you believe in Jesus Christ, and accept his forgiveness for sins you can be redeemed, and all three can pan out at the same time? No way, not possible, only one way can be correct, and there are a million different philosophies and religions and belief systems, and it's fine to practice or believe what you want, but in the end, only one path can be right. He had to do some thinking, but I like to believe he understood my point. Jesus said he was the only way, and yet the world turns to a million other dead ends, for, as you said, the simple reason that they don't want to be confronted about their lifestyle and they don't want to imagine they're mortal, that time is fleeting.

This is a very good post. I agree with you Nate. We need to stop predicting the world's end and just start living in today. We take away from our lives if we continuously live in the future like that. We need to live in the here and now. A future may not even exist!