A Typical, or not so typical, Day.

This is a completely fictious story.  The elements are true in that you will often find a backpacker change his plans for the sake of the unexplored but the story itself is made up.  God is moving in the lives of these young travelers but they need followers of Jesus to be there in their moment of questioning. 

"The bus leaves at 6:00 am.  I guess I had better get up if I'm going to make my train."  The hostel room is a bit chilly this early in the morning and the stumbling around in the dark looking for a clean pair of underwear and a not so smelly t-shirt seems to make more noise than it really does.  Fortunately most of the other travelers in the room are sleeping off a late night of partying.  There is that clean pair of underwear, down in the bottom of the backpack.  After getting half dressed in the dark the somewhat awake backpacker decides it is just plain easier to get dressed in the hall way where he can see what he is doing.  Once out in the hall he sees that another traveler had the same thought.  She is just pulling on her jacket but looks down in time to see that she forgot her shoes.  The holes in her socks show that she has been on the road for a few months now. 

"Are you catching the 6 o'clock bus too," asks the young man?

"Yes, I'm going down to the coast. They have some interesting ruins down a somewhat hidden stretch of beach.  The guy in room 12 was talking about them in the pub last night.  I thought I would catch 'em early, you know, before the rush of last night's partiers."  She smiles and continues to tie her shoes.  "Would you like to come along," she asks? 

He thought about it for awhile.  He had planned to go on to the next big town but the thought of a hidden stretch of beach sounded appealing.  "Sure, why not," he said.  "I'll be down in a minute."  He walked down to the bathroom to brush his teeth.  The girl walked in behind him and walked into one of the stalls.  It used to bother him, using a co-ed bathroom.  But four weeks on the road in Europe had broken him of that uncomfortableness.  She came out and washed her hands and walked out.  He spit and wiped his mouth and walked out. 

At the bus stop he lit a pipe he had picked up on his travels and looked through the morning fog for any signs of the bus.  Buses in this part of the world were rarely late.  But this one was, by about 10 minutes.  The girl went to get a schedule and see if there was an attendant with any answers as to the reason the bus was late.  She came back with neither a schedule or an answer.  "There is no attendant this early in the morning," she said.  They stood there together in silence.  "Thank you for coming," she said.  "I saw your train ticket.  Were you going on from the station?"

"No where particular.  Besides the sound of some hidden ruins sounded exciting.  I could put my journey aside for that.  Thanks for asking me along.  So what are these ruins anyway?"

"The bus is here.  lets get on and I'll tell you what the guy told me about last night."  For the next few hours they talked about the ruins and other things.  Apparently they were the ruins of an old monastery that was attacked by vikings back in the day.  The history was fascinating.  Eventually the conversation turned to religion.  "So what do you believe," she asked him?

"Well my parents took us to church but they were never very serious about what they believed in.  My mother later got more into her religion but it was a little late for the rest of us.  I realized that god could be any god you choose.  As long as your belief doesn't hurt some one else then anyone can get to heaven.  I just don't want someone pushing their belief on me."

"Well I don't have much use for religion although I certainly see the value in some of these missionaries who go into the little African countries and take food supplies and the like.  At least they care enough to do what others won't do.  I spent a year in Africa about two years ago and worked with some real great people, however they were never able to convince me that god existed," she replied.  Suddenly the guy in front of them turned around and spoke up.

"I couldn't help but over hear your conversation.  My name is Hank.  I am also on my way to the ruins.  A friend of mine saw them last year and said they were worth it.  But I heard your views on God and was wondering if you wanted to hear a third opinion."

"Why not," the other two travelers said.

"Well I heard you talking about the monks who were at this monastery but you haven't heard the whole story.  From what I have read they were missionary monks who were going to the surrounding isles carrying with them food, furs, supplies, and tools.  They also helped the villagers to read and write.  When the vikings came the monks tried to save as many villagers as they could that came to the monastery.  The monks hid the villagers in some nearby caves, which by the way are said to have some interesting wall paintings still there.  But to draw away suspicion from the caves the monks went back to the monastery to try and turn the vikings away.  In the end every monk was killed in brutal ways.  When the villagers came out the next morning the vikings were gone but they had left the monks bodies hanging up on pikes in the monastery court yard.  The Father of the order was in the center with a cross clutched in his hand.  The villagers knew what had happened and buried the monks right there.  Then they all bowed and accepted the Jesus the monks talked about.  No king or ruler of theirs ever put their life on the line for the sake of the villagers and yet these monks did so to the end.  Today their is a small church in the village because of the sacrifice of the monks.  The ruins are left unnoticed but there have been many artifacts found and are now on display in a small museum in the village and in the national museum.  It is pretty interesting stuff.  I have been on a pilgrimage for the past month taking in most of the pilgrim trail."  The Christian traveler ended his story because the bus arrived and he got off and went on his way.

The other two travelers walked down the beach together talking about what Hank had told them.  They both seemed touched but unsure about what he said.  When the reached the ruins they saw Hank sitting in the court yard, or what was left of it.  He was reading a small black book.  He looked up and told them it was a bible.  He asked them if they liked the ruins, which of course they said yes.  He then asked them a very strange question.  He asked them if they understood the sacrifice made by the monks.  They were unsure how to answer.  He told them to ask the townspeople in the nearby village.  Then he gave them his email and said if they wanted to talk further to shoot him an email.  Then he was gone.

That night sitting in the hostel the backpacker was sipping his tea.  The story moved him in ways he didn't understand.  He had many questions.  The townspeople had very interesting stories and the girl and him talked the whole way to the next city where they were both heading, but they could not seem to find an answer.  Just then an older man sat down with a Cup 'o Noodles and a Bible.  "Can I sit here," he asked.

All our tomorrows.

Dear Family and Friends, thank you so much for praying for this vision of the Prodigal Son Project. In case some of you maybe aren’t to clear about this mission here is a good source of information from a group of people who had the same vision and right now they are in Spain doing it: http://oasistrails.org/en/reli-reizen/backpackers/ . This is a very interesting website and we encourage you to look around on it, and for your information the two flags in the upper right hand corner are for Dutch or English. Just click on the flag of your choice and the page will re-load in that language.


This target people group has been on our hearts for several years, as some of you know. We as a family been praying and waiting and we feel like this time we just have to run with it. I know some of you probably wonder if your money will bring fruit in this mission. But remember in Philippians chapter 4 Paul encouraged the church for the gifts that they gave to him and spoke of the fruit added unto them. With a lot of prayer and hard work we believe we will see much fruit from The Prodigal Son Project because the fields are ripe and ready for the harvest.

Backpackers are a restless people who are looking for a “good time” and many of them are on a spiritual journey looking for some kind of enlightenment. When they come to us we will show them the light, the love, what it means and what joys there are when living in the freedom of Christ. We accept them as prodigal sons and daughters and disciple them and bring them back to our Father. When they move on they will carry that light and that love, to city, town, or country where they are going and spread that love and light. This way they become a torch to places where missionaries cannot or will not go to and as travelers they can very easily enter places because they are considered a tourist but at the same time they are meeting people and sharing the change of heart they found. New believers are the best missionaries because they can’t contain their joy and they have to share it to someone. With lots of prayer and faithful believers along the way we hope they will be kept in the heart of their Father.

Why did we pick Europe? Europe is the starting point for many backpacker trails. Many pilgrim trails and hiking trails, not to mention the great Hippie Trail, all originate from Europe. Many backpackers start in Europe for “pleasures” and or history, then move onward to Asia for cheap drugs, enlightenment and Nirvana, which we all know Nirvana is not in Asia it’s in Hawaii. Just Kidding!! And on all of these travels they meet people searching for the same things they are searching for: truth, life, sex, and drugs. In Europe it gives us the advantage of reaching them with the true life of Jesus before they find the more appealing doctrines that come with many of the eastern religions. Can we all see the possibility of the gospel spreading like a wild fire through this restless people? I myself get exited just thinking of the gospel reaching out to Muslim countries not to mention all the Hindu and Buddhist nations. Or if they decide to stop with the wandering and come home and then tell their family and friends about the change they met on the road. It is truly exciting.

As a family this ministry is beyond our reach and capabilities. We do not understand how God is going to work. As a family we let go of this ministry last year and surrendered it unto God. So we got a place in Albuquerque, Nate got a steady job, I stayed home with three little monkeys who I am constantly losing my mind over but I won’t give them up for the world or change anything about them. But deep down in our hearts we know God has not let the vision of these backpackers die in our heart. So we start praying casually and waiting on God while we are doing our daily routines. I like the routines and the income that comes in and being a light to our neighbors and being patient with Wal-Mart employees.

Then in April God brought this vision back and since then we’ve been praying more than ever. As a wife and mom I worried a lot hoping secretly that God will somehow change His mind by not sending us because that means uprooting this family again right when I am enjoying having a bathroom in my own house, a car to drive and convenient restaurants and groceries that carry my brand of cereals. The boys have friends who speak their language and there is an awesome park nearby. Yup, this is way different than Africa.

I know many moms out there are not freaking out so much when their husband comes home and says, “Honey, God wants us to move”. I struggled for a while but I realized I have crowded my life with junks, material things, and I have push God into a tiny corner of my life and I don’t trust him as much as I used to. God has woke me up from this and we are trusting God to provide for this mission and we really believe that this mission will bring fruit and we will see God’s hand moving through the backpackers. I urge everyone to please consider standing with us in prayer and in financial support. We have a big God and to be His children is to trust in Him for our needs. We will let you all know what we expect for our monthly needs and we are in the process of finding a good estimate on the cost of living in Scotland. Please let us know if you would like to receive our newsletters.

We will be working with YWAM Scotland as staff for two years. They have accepted us and are very excited about this mission. During this time we will be working on the base in various jobs like cooking and doing other work duties, we will be learning about the culture, and visiting the hostels and establishing relationships with them. We will also be staffing on their Discipleship Training School as part of our two year transition, and praise the Lord they don’t speak Gaelic!! This is part of their new staff transition as we have been told from the new leadership team over there. This will also be a good time for us to reacquaint ourselves into missions work again. If you have any questions or suggestions for this mission please let us know. Thank you again and God Bless.

The Vision, Mission, and Goal of the Prodigal Son Project.

Hello again everyone.  We wanted to share something with all of you in hopes that you will let us know what you think either through email or by posting a comment on our blog here.  This vision statement is the result of some recent prayer and words from the Lord regarding our mission that we shared with all of you about three years ago when we came home from Africa.  Well, as we said in an earlier post, we still have the vision for the mission The Prodigal Son Project.  So here is our vision statement.  Please read and tell us what you think.  We are not starting any kind of fund raising at this time, just trying to see what peoples thoughts are.  Thank you.

• The Vision- “My son,” the father said, “you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.” Luke 15:31-32

This is the foundation for our mission, the calling back of the prodigal children of God, these wandering backpackers. Many years ago God gave Nate the vision of these backpackers coming to salvation in Jesus and taking the gospel to the world on the trails wherever they might roam. On a few occasions we had the opportunity to share the gospel with some backpackers. While we did not see any accept Christ we saw a willingness to hear the gospel and share about different beliefs. This openness is the key to get into their minds and hearts with the message of Jesus.

• The Mission- The mission of the Prodigal Son Project will be a two step plan. First will be the home side. This plan consists of regular bible study/discussion times during the week in our home with backpackers from around the nearby hostels. This will be done by putting up notices in the local hostels inviting backpackers to our home on certain nights of the week to participate in religious study/discussion. Food will also be provided as a means to draw people in and as a way to show hospitality.
The second step is to reach the backpackers where they are, in the hostels and on the trails. This plan involves three backpacking trips throughout the year. These three trips would fulfill what our Lord commanded by reaching our Judea, Samaria, and the uttermost ends of the Earth.
The first trip would be our family traveling together. This would be primarily a research trip to find new information about hostels and sites of interest to backpackers so we have updated information to share with the backpackers we meet. The idea is to go somewhere close to home and gather this information while also sharing the gospel should the opportunity arise thereby reaching our Judea. The second trip would be primarily to share the gospel so our children can also learn how to take part in the ministry but would also be a bit further abroad. This would mean traveling a farther distance from our home, thereby reaching our Samaria, and staying in hostels for a period of time. The last trip would also be primarily to share the gospel but would be reaching out to other parts of the world such as main land Europe, Asia, and the Middle East for example. Until our children get old enough for such a trip this would be only Nathan traveling alone. This trip would thereby reach the rest of the world.

• The Goal- The goal of the Prodigal Son Project is to reach the Backpacker community with the gospel of Christ making disciples who will then take this same gospel out into the trails and roads they travel thereby spreading the good news of Jesus wherever they go and thus fulfilling the great commission to go into all the world.

Thank you again for taking the time to read this.  Please pray with us about this mission and let us know what you think.  You can also check out our page titled The Prodigal Son Project and watch a short slide show there on backpackers.  You can find the pages on the left hand side of our blog.  Thanks again and God Bless.

Happy is the man who knows who he is.

What makes a man? What is a man for? Better still is what man knows the answer and knows that he is a MAN? In this day and age of masculine suppression and tolerance of unacceptable substitutes it is hard for a real man to come forth as he is often looked down on for trying to be a man. But when a real man does come forth how can we be sure he is in fact a Real Man? How can he be sure he is a Real Man? A much harder question to answer this is.

Walking down the mall I have seen many different forms of acceptable (and I use the term very loosely) examples of men today. We have all seen a tough guy before, you know which ones I'm talking about. The ones who think that being a man is dressing and acting the part. Foul language, a tough persona that shows no emotion, a rock that can take on anything. And at the other end is the man who is not sure if he is in fact a man. He is the one who for whatever the reasons has made a choice to be more of a woman than a man. Emotional, feminine, not aware of his masculinity. And then there is everything else in between. These are the board men, the weak men, the copy cat men who think that following the styles of this world will make them who they are. Then there are the lazy men, afraid in their hearts to do anything for fear they might actually prove something of themselves, or the ones who work, work, work in hopes that drowning themselves they will finally feel like they have proven themselves and maybe earned a little glory for themselves before the end.

But is this what being a man is all about? Is this all that any man has to look forward to? I do not believe it to be so, and I know in my heart there is more. To know for sure we must look to Jesus, the one true man to have ever walked this earth. Yes there have been a few men along the way but it is getting to be precious few as we travel the length of time. Jesus showed us that shedding a tear can show strength, courage. Taking time for the children can show honor, humility. Taking time to drive out the money makers in the temple could show us passion, boldness. And dieing for those he did not even meet, at least as the man, could show us nobility, love. Jesus was a real man but he did not drive himself to the grave from work. He waisted time at a well just so one woman might come to feel true love for the first time in her life. He cried over the pain and stupidity of others in a city because he knew that they were lost. He showed strength in a hot moment of passion and what it could do when controlled. Jesus was a man. And yet today we are afraid of him. So we change him to fit our own image, or rather we change him into something we no longer need to fear.

"Safe? Who said anything about being safe? Of course He isn't safe, But He's good."

What happens when a good man comes along? I will use a bit of scripture here to say what I think. I know it is a bit out of context but I still think it works. I think that when a real, or good man comes along the world is not worthy of him. The prophets spoken of in this passage from Hebrews were real men. Yes they made their mistakes and plenty of them, but they all had an unflinching faith in the one true man which is God. So when we see a true man today even with all of his mistakes I firmly believe the world is not worthy of such a man. Such a man knows what it means to live, not survive, but live. Such a man knows how to fight, not brawl, but stand firm in the face of the evils of this world and not flinch from duty, honor, valour, and truth. Such a man knows how to love, not the love of this world which is fleeting, childish, built on a selfish desire for one's own pleasure, but love, selfless, committed in the face of all trials and losses, sacrificial, strong and gentle to the very end, love. I hope one day those who knew me will be able to say those things of me.

I have met and known a few such men in my life and my life is the better for it, but there is one in particular I would like to call attention to. His name in this earth was Vince Bierly, but to me he was always "Pap". A few weeks ago my Pap went to be with his Creator, Jesus the Messiah. I know that right now he is happy as a lark to be in that wonderful place with no more pain or fears or problems. And I envy him, I know I would like to be there with him, but for the time being I am needed here to raise my own boys to become men and to love my wife with all the love I can give.

I do not know much of my Pap's life apart from the short span of it I was around. From the funeral service I learned of things like how happy he was about five years ago when he was in the hospital. He was never in the hospital so he thought it must have been serious and he was thrilled to think he was about to die to go be with Jesus. He didn't go just then though. And a few years ago he was talking in a group meeting or bible study or some such thing and he was sharing how much he still loved my Gram, even called her his little chickadee. During the war he helped to work on experimental engines for airplanes and helped to fix the air conditioners on troop trains bringing wounded home. If he had gone he might not have made it back from Europe. According to my Gram most of his unit did not return. He stood for what he believed in and had wisdom that was from a lifetime of walking with his God. He was a mountain man and loved the nature around him, the nature he knew came from his heavenly father. He was a man, a man after God's heart. Would such a man be recognized today?

I love my Pap, my Dad, and all the other men I have met in my life who have shown an integrity in their actions that the world would never understand. Do all these men make mistakes? I guess another way to answer that question is to ask if any of us are perfect? Since no one is perfect until death then yes, all these men make mistakes. What we do with our mistakes is the key to what kind of men we are. Do we love our wives forever, constantly pursuing them even when they are fifty, sixty....and do we stand for truth even if it gets us in trouble, looses a job....do we see our time as money, or time we can never get back so we should use it wisely? There is a whole host of things demanding our life and strength. Our noses were not made for a grindstone and our strength was not made for money. Our hearts, souls, strength, and character was made for God. What does He ask of us? You might say it is easier to give up, blend in, disappear, so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for us to decide.

"All we have to decide is what to do with the time that has been given to us."

We still have the vision...

Hello folks. How is one and all? It has come time to let you all know a sad bit of news. We want to first say thank you to all who stood with us both prayerfully and financially during our time at home while raising awareness for our backpackers ministry. It was a big encouragement to us, especially with trying to settle back into life in America and finding a job and all. So we really appreciate it. We regret to inform you though that we will not be heading to Scotland for the time being. We were not able to raise the funds we needed to support the mission over there and as such we do not feel it is right to draw out any longer the fund raising we have been doing for the last two years. We are sorry to see this mission not happen but we know and believe that God is in control and that He has a reason for everything He does. The vision has not died. We still have a heart to see the backpackers hear the gospel of Jesus, but we understand that it is not to be right now. So we thank you again for all your prayers and we hope to keep in touch so that you may know when the time has come for us to go to the backpackers. Thank you.

In other news this is where we are at right now and how you can be praying for us. For now we are living in Albuquerque New Mexico. Nate is working hard to find a good paying job that can support our little family. I(Nate) have my New Mexico state license for practicing as an EMT-Basic but for whatever reason I have not yet been able to find work with it. But we also want to have something that will keep us involved in ministry if God wills. Nate has put his resume in to several churches looking for work as a youth pastor. So far it has not been very encouraging but he keeps trying. It is our desire to help young people as this would keep us as a family involved in a church besides just attending on Sundays and according to studies done by groups like Answers in Genesis at least 70 percent of young people today are leaving the church once they graduate from high school. That number is appalling. We want to be able to reach these kids to give them a look at Christ and see that He is real and relevant to their lives. We are also hoping that this might give us a bit more experience for our future with the backpackers of Europe.

As for our boys William has started homeschooling. He is very smart and learning to read and can even write his name without any help. He loves puzzles and video games. Josue can say most of his ABC's and can even count to 10 by himself. He loves Cars(Pixar that is) and Thomas the train. Gabriel is learning how to say all kinds of words. Some of his favorite words are pizza and poopy. Why those two we don't know. He also loves Thomas the train. They are a handful but they are our little blessings.

So this is where we sit right now. We are just trying to pay our bills and serve God while doing it. We are still waiting for Nate's book to take off. We are hoping for it to get out there and start reaching people with the Gospel of Christ. It was from God's leading that I decided to write it so we are hoping it will really minister to those who find it. Please keep it in your prayers, or if you should decide you would like to get a copy for yourselves you can find it at https://www.createspace.com/3697273 or on Amazon.com. The title is This Pilgrim's Journey: and his thoughts on what he has learned and it runs for 15 dollars. Also please be praying for Nate as he tries to find work. It is not an easy time to find a good job and he has put in many resumes and applications all across the country for EMT or youth pastor, even applications at Wal-Mart and Starbucks.

Again we thank you all so much for your prayers and support and we love you all so much. Thank you and may God bless you all.

A new book

Greetings to one and all. I thank you all for your time to check out this blog and see what news our family is up to. I am sorry I have not written in a while but I have been a bit busy. In August I (nate) was in California for two weeks taking a class for becoming an EMT Basic. I am now nationaly registered and I hope to be state certified by the end of the week and should soon after that be working for an ambulance company in Albuquerque. Although I am not sure if it will happen that fast. I say Albuquerque because for those of you who do not know we have moved to Albuquerque just last month. We are living in a little three bedroom apartment for the time being while we wait to see when we will be moving to Scotland. Yes we are still aiming for Scotland as that is where our heart is. So in the mean time I have done something to try and raise some money for our mission.

If anyone is interested I have written a book and had it published. Yes that is right, I have published a book. It is called This Pilgrim's Journey and is available at this address: https://www.createspace.com/3697273 and in about another week it will be available on Amazon.com. The book covers various topics from Creation vs Evolution, to Love, Sex, and Marriage, and even answers questions such as Does God Exist?

Here is a small piece of the book taken from Chapter two, What Defines our Life?:
What about madness? Was Jesus crazy? Again how could a mad man deceive so many people into thinking He knew what He was talking about? If you have ever met a mad person you would know there is no chance of Jesus teaching the crowds the Bible says He taught without being found out. I have seen many mad people in Africa as a missionary and I can tell you there is no way to hide such mental instability. And again, the ones who say that Jesus was not God but a good moral teacher are basically saying that a mad man is a good moral teacher. Wow, what a claim, a mad man as a moral teacher. That would be like saying that we could look to someone like the Joker as a good source of morals. Jesus has truly deceived many if He was indeed mad.

We hope that you will spread the word and even buy a copy for yourself as it will help us in our fund-raising for Scotland. We do recieve a higher royalty if purchased from the web address above than if it is purchased through Amazon so we recomend buying from there. The price is for 15.00 plus the shipping. It is a made to order so the printing is done when the order is placed.

We hope you all enjoy it as it is very close to our hearts. Thank you all again for all of your prayers during the last couple years we have been in the states. God Bless you all and again, Thank You.

Freedom from what and for what?

Happy 4th of July everyone, or I should say to all of my fellow Americans out there. I hope you are all enjoying your BBQ's and fireworks displays, and if you are in different countries where these things aren't happening well happy 4th anyways. God Bless you all and especially our soldiers out there far from home and away from your families. May the good Lord bring you home soon.

But on this day it makes me wonder what is our freedom about and what is it for? America gained it's freedom through a rebel war. There is no way to put this without offending some, sorry. The bible tells us to obey the leaders over us. The early Christians did not try to overthrow the Roman empire but rather just faced persecution knowing a better life was coming. Rebellion is the seed of America's freedom. And in the way that we have our organizations such as the ACLU, or the NCSE, the National Center for Science Education, or even the Gay rights activists, we are clearly a nation in rebellion to our Creator.

So why did God allow our freedom from the tyranny we were facing from Britain? While we don't know all of God's ways or all of His plans we do know that God will always use all things for His glory. A bad situation can be used as a means to teach a lesson or bring about a good thing later. Such as the case with Job. His own pride and arrogance was revealed to him and in the end God blessed him with even greater riches. So what good could come from our freedom?

None can deny that America has been a major world power for many years and although it seems like God may be lifting his blessings from us we still are a major influence in the world. Not so much now but in the past we have sent out some of the biggest missionary movements into the world and had such notable men as D.L. Moody, and Billy Graham. Clearly God used the rebellion of America to bring about a major push for Christ in the world.

But what is freedom for? Freedom as this world sees it is to do whatever you want that makes you happy. Drugs, alcohol, sex outside of marriage, all of this is outside of God's will, but not outside of the "freedom" that this world thinks is okay. So freedom as God sees it is to serve Him. Is serving someone else really freedom? Well, what does God ask us to do? To love Him and to love others. If you have a wife then you want to love her, buy her flowers, take care of her, please her. If you have kids you want what is best for them, you want to provide for them, and give them good things. If this is what it means to love someone else then is this a chore or is it freedom? God wants us to love Him, give him our best, worship Him. And in return He gives us life, both now and in the future world to come.

Yes it is true that in this world we will suffer many things for the name of Christ. But the rewards are of eternal value. But if we follow the freedom of this world we may suffer temporal pains like sickness, withdrawal, pain, and if we have not followed Christ then eternal pains to come. So which freedom is really worth it? Temporary pain and eternal happiness or temporal pain with eternal pain to come? If someone gives you a gift that is of inestimable value do you not wish to thank that person? Or what if someone saves your life from drowning? Do you remember the old war movies where the soldier who gets saved always would say to the other guy that he would pay him back?

Like in Saving Private Ryan where Tom Hanks looks at Matt Damon and tells him to "earn this" meaning the death of all his men just to save one man, Damon's character. See, we know that to be saved by someone means we are indebted to that person who saved us. Often we are ready to do what pleases that person who saved us. So if Christ saved us from an eternity of suffering in Hell then would we not want to do what pleases Him? And since His will is to live a life that is filled with goodness and thankfulness is that really a life of punishment or does such a life bring freedom, true freedom. It is time we "unlearn what we have learned" about what freedom really means.

I hope you have some good hamburgers, hot dogs, or steaks, and that fruit salad with those little marshmallows. Have a happy 4th of July everyone, and God Bless you.