Nathan Key

Last night, Beth and I decided to attend Northland Church again (for the second week in a row). I'm really glad that we did. It was inspiring to say the least.

At the beginning of his sermon, Joel Hunter (the senior pastor), ascended the stage and revealed that it had been a very difficult week. His granddaughter has been in hospital due to brain cancer. He was noticeably shaken as he related the story to the congregation.

Two things really struck me about what he said.

He began by telling us that he's been praying for his church all week because of the situation. "Although our family is under a lot of stress," he said, "we're confident that our God is a God who heals. He may wish to heal her physically here on earth, or he may choose to heal her completely by bringing her into His presence. But either way, we're confident that God will do what's best for our family."

If that weren't enough, he continued...

"Our family is under stress, but we are not shaken. But that doesn't mean that everyone who goes through something like this isn't. In fact, I know that Satan would like nothing better than to use something like what's going on in my family to shake you to the core and cause you to question God's goodness and mercy. And so I've been praying for you this week. I've been praying that your faith will be strengthened whether you're dealing with your own personal pain or if you're seeing pain in the life of a friend or a pastor."

And that's about when the tears began to creep into the corners of my eyes and my throat got that feeling... you know, the one where you're on the verge of sobbing.

Why was I suddenly about to burst out crying?

Well, I was in the presence of a man who is so in tune with the church he shepherds, that even his own very personal pain is a cause to pray for and encourage his flock. Instead of being more self-focused, he became more other-focused.

That said, I think we've decided to put some roots down at Northland. Mainly because we bo I want to learn from a man like that. And I want to be like that, too.

I was humbled to discover that I'm featured on Weebly today!

Humbled, because I haven't blogged enough lately to make me feel like I live up to my old slogan: "your daily dose of philosophy, politics, and religion." (so I changed it)

About a year ago I took a job where I was training every day- giving thoughts, feedback, and coaching to new sales and service reps with Liberty Mutual Insurance Company and it drained my ability to do the sort of research and planning it takes to actually articulate thoughtful posts each day. I wasn't able to put the time and dedication into it as I had in the past without regurgitating things that no one really wanted to hear about again. Then, last November our second son was born and it became even more difficult. I realized that the most important thing outside of working wasn't coming up with new thoughts and ideas, it was spending time with the two most terrific kids a man could hope for.

Thus, my posts have become very few and far between.

And while it makes me sad that an area of my life that I'm VERY proud of and excited about has had to take a back seat for a while, I think it's actually proof that I've been growing. You see, my wife told me a few months back that she thought I was a much more selfless person than the man she married, and I honestly wasn't really sure that I could put my finger on what she meant. Today, I figured it out. If this site- which is my pride and joy- can be placed aside in favor of my wife and my two kids, then I feel very good about my priorities.

In fact, the place in life that I find myself a part of right now is in some ways the end game of this entire blog anyway! For what else are Philosophy, Politics, and Religion good for if not to point us toward a life worth living.

I think I've found that. My life is very worth living.

If I to spend too much time here, crafting my ideas on what the good life means and why it's so great would actually diminish the enjoyment that I'm having right now. So while I've enjoyed that many of you have stopped by today to view my blog and figure out what's happening in my neck of the woods- I need to make it clear (mostly to myself) that this site is going to be somewhat bland for the next couple of months/years. There are two little boys and an amazing woman who have captured my affections and chronicling my own ideas on God or Life cannot come close to the thrill of loving them.

Have fun on your journey!
I hope to hear from you soon.

Cheers,
Nathan

When you murder a man and he comes back to life a few days later and interposes the following:

"I still love you and I'll be patiently waiting for you to open yourself up to a relationship with me."

I believe that's a God worth having.

Two days ago, I wrote a post that became more thought provoking than I had originally considered. It got me thinking about the "Consent of the Governed" and what that really means. Here are some thoughts from Thomas Jefferson (I posted these in the comments section of my previous post):

"Government exists for the interests of the governed, .... There is an error into which most of the speculators on government have fallen, ... Governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. ... A court has no affections; but those of the people whom they govern ..."

From a libertarian perspective, this has always been used to argue for limitations on government- since powerful governments are often oppresive governments. But what if the governed ACTUALLY want intervention, regulation, and control? What if the governed don't consider these things oppressive, but liberating?

If consent is given to totalitarianism or facism, does the government have an directive to respond accordingly?

As you may or may not know, Rob McKenna, Attorney General in Washington State is joining his friends in the GOP to file a lawsuit against the healthcare bill that was passed in the House this week. While I praise McKenna's bravery in standing up against the majority of the voters and politicians in Washington (for what he believes in), I must agree with Washington Democrats that using the state's money to do so is a misappropriation of taxpayer funds considering that he doesn't have legitimate consent of the public.

Get that first McKenna, and then you can sue away if you want.

Peter Schiff on the decadence of the 2000's:

"Yes, we had spectacular problems like September 11, 2001, and the invasion of Iraq in 2003 - which were horrific for those who were directly affected - but for most Americans, it was a time of unexpected wealth and unearned prosperity. Up to the days of the stock market crash, the economics of the decade will be remembered for cash-out refinancing for millions of homeowners, no-doc liar loans, no-money-down car purchases, eight-figure Wall Street bonuses, cheap Chinese imports, and trample-to-death holiday sales. In other words, the decade now closing gave us the biggest and most irresponsible spending orgy in US history. The past decade was the party; the one ahead will be the hangover."

Read the entire Peter Schiff article at here: http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Global_Economy/LA05Dj05.html

I was reading a book called "Super Freakonomics" by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner last week. There is a passage in the chapter called "Why Suicide Bombers Should Buy Life Insurance" where the authors come out and admit that one of the unfortunate things about terrorism is that they win even when they lose.

So the other day, when some guy tried to blow up a plane- I was primed to be looking and thinking about what this guy's actions would cost the American People. What would the event mean for the rest of us?

You see, terrorists are able to put us into a position of irrational fear. Irrational fear is the sort of thing that makes people willing to give up rights in order to secure freedom.

Try to board a plane this holiday season and watch out- you'll be searched and frisked and scrutinized up and down all because some Nigerian man who claimed to be working on behalf of Al Qaeda FAILED to blow up the plane he was on. FAILED. Yes, we have to put up with a loss of freedom simply because he attempted the attack.

Don't get me wrong, I want to be safe and I'm willing to give up some of my rights in order to ensure that people aren't blowing each other up. But I'm wondering if a better way to stick it to these hoodlum terrorists would be to bask in the glory of Freedom rather than allow even their failed attempts to transform us into a Police State where everyone is safe but no one is free.

This is good news. In a few moments, we'll have a computer at home again. Lugging this work laptop back and forth isn't as fun as it sounds. And on top of that, I won't have to deal with PC problems anymore!