Just wanted to post a follow up blog to yesterday's sermon so everyone has the facts.  The former ACE Hardware building is going to be auctioned off on September 2nd, which is a very short window.  We have spent the last week seeking preapproval for loan financing and working hard to schedule some due diligence activities pre-auction, such as asbestos audits, surveys, appraisals, structural/zoning reviews, etc., etc.  As these processes move forward, we are also seeking to raise some capital funds to put us in a better position at auction.  In today's environment, a very significant down payment is required to finance any piece of property and therefore we need additional capital to make us competitive at auction.  Based on our best estimates of the building's potential selling price, we need an additional $110,000 of capital to add to our existing cash reserves in order to bid competitively for the building. 

Of course, this is just an estimate.  The actual amount needed may be either north or south of this number, as we are dealing with a live auction on a commercial piece of real estate that has been on the market for the last 2 tumultuous years.  Therefore, no one will really know what it's worth until it sells.  We, of course, have a ceiling price that we will not exceed on the property, which is based on appraised value, our financial position and our core value of extravagant generosity.  We would love to share more financial information with you, but the reality is that in an auction scenario we have to keep our cards close to our chest and not let any information about our bid threshholds leak out, as that would be very harmful to us.  Our elders have discussed all of this and we have sought good outside counsel as well, so we feel very comfortable with our decisions in this realm.

As for making capital contributions, we ask that all of you consider doing whatever you can to help us raise this capital over the next 18 days.  We will provide envelopes for this purpose the next two weeks and you can also mail in contributions and simply note on the memo section of the check "ACE Auction" and we will designate it for that purpose.  Our intention is to gather these capital funds and simply escrow them until we go to auction on September 18th.  If we are successful and win the auction, we will invest all of this capital and then some more moving forward in making this empty warehouse our home for the next few decades.  If we are not successful and someone else acquires the building at auction, it is our intention to refund to everyone their capital investments designated for the ACE building.  It is an awkward situation, as we need the capital up front to go to the auction, as you have to close within 28 days, but we might not win it and in that case we don't want anyone feeling like we pulled a bait and switch with their capital designated gifts.  It is perhaps the first and only time you will get a money back guarantee at church!!!

Finally, now that you know all the facts, we simply ask you to pray.  We would love to have this property, but we are not and will not be defined by it.  It would be an awesome tool for us and it would propel us forward in this community as a whole, but it is not indespensible to God's Kingdom or to Radius Church.  So we will pursue it with zeal and energy, but let's not get out of balance.  Our business is the business of souls, not buildings.  Buildings are nice tools but are not absolute requirements in the pursuit of Kingdom initiatives, as evidenced by the current existence of Radius Church.  So here is what we must do.  We must follow in the footsteps of the persistent widow in the days to come, continually talking to our God about this opportunity and asking Him to provide it for us, but to provide it in such a way that we would all realize that He is ultimately the one that accomplished the task.  I don't know what that looks like, but I want it to be clear.

If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to talk to any of our elders about this scenario.  They are Jerry Dominic, Chris Seeby, Lin Keesey, Brian Kirklan, Salim Khalil, and Jeremiah Jones.  This is going to be yet another roller coaster ride for us as a church as there area lot of variables in the equation, but I hope and pray that we never become the church that longs to sit on a shaded bench instead of riding the 'Scream Machine' one more time!

The renowned author, Anne Rice, has recently written the following:

"For those who care, and I understand if you don't: Today I quit being a Christian. I'm out. I remain committed to Christ as always but not to being "Christian" or to being part of Christianity. It's simply impossible for me to "belong" to this quarrelsome, hostile, disputatious, and deservedly infamous group. For ten ...years, I've tried. I've failed. I'm an outsider. My conscience will allow nothing else.   As I said, I quit being a Christian. I'm out. In the name of Christ, I refuse to be anti-gay. I refuse to be anti-feminist. I refuse to be anti-artificial birth control. I refuse to be anti-Democrat. I refuse to be anti-secular humanism. I refuse to be anti-science. I refuse to be anti-life.  In the name of ...Christ, I quit Christianity and being Christian. Amen."

Sounds devastating, right.  Well, read on as she explains her comments above . . . 

"My faith in Christ is central to my life.  My conversion from a pessimistic atheist lost in a world I didn't understand, to an optimistic believer in a universe created and sustained by a loving God is crucial to me.  But following Christ does not mean following His followers.  Christ is infinitely more important than Christianity and always will be, no matter what Christianity is, has been, or might become." 

Hey Anne, I just want you to know that I hear what you are saying.  I think it is easy to get frustrated with Christianity, as there are so many voices out there claiming to speak on behalf of Christianity.  That's the problem.  Joel Osteen seems to speak for Christianity in our day, so does TD Jakes, and Rick Warren and Jeremiah Wright and then there are the guys yelling vociferously at the gay parades and Islamic festivals and on and on it goes.  But who really has the right to speak for Christianity . . . that is the burning question.  I think only Jesus and his apostles have that right, and they have spoken already in our New Testament.  So if you want to quit Christianity, go ahead and quit it, just hold on to Jesus and his teachings and call it what you like.

What do you think?

Below is a guest blog by John Reeves (pictured here with his wife Cheryl), founding Pastor of Radius Lexington and Radius Greenville.  He is pursuing another plant in the upstate now and here is some info about it and a way for you to help.



Breakpoint Blog Link - The Courage to be Bored

When an unmarried couple is in a 'committed relationship', what they mean by that is they are committed to dating only one another.  This type of commitment is honorable and necessary at a certain point in a relationship, but it is simply a commitment not to date and shop around and stay in this relationship as long as this relationship is healthy, enjoyable and beneficial.  Marital commitment, however, is something entirely different.  It includes this baseline commitment not to date or pursue others, but it is so much richer than that.  Marital commitment is a commitment to stay in this exclusive relationship till death, regardless of how joyful or beneficial it is to me personally.  For example, a couple in a 'committed relationship' could have a very rough year together, have lots of arguments, and at the end of that year one of them could become clinically depressed and withdraw from all intimate relationships.  Will the other partner stay committed to this relationship where he or she is getting very little to nothing out of it but having to pour out each and every day?  Would he look to his partner's parents to step in and handle this situation because it was simply too much and obviously their relationship was not going to work out with the other party in this state?  Would society expect any more than that of him?  The simple answer is no and that is what happens in a so-called committed relationship.  In reality, each party is committed to the relationship as long as it is beneficial to them and moving forward, but if it 'no longer works' for any number of reasons (health, geographical change, change in disposition or religion, etc., etc.), they feel free to politely excuse themselves from the relationship based on the fact that it no longer works, meaning it no longer works for them.   Besides, it wasn't like they were married or anything like that!

On the other hand, if you take the scenario above and impose it on a marriage, the expectations and often the outcome are dramatically different.  If my wife and I have a very bad year and then she becomes clinically depressed for 6 months and can give little to nothing to our relationship, my marital commitment doesn't wane, but rather it becomes a source of strength and reminds me that I am in this for life.  This depression would not be an issue for my wife's parents and friends to handle, it would be mine to handle.  I made a commitment, not to a relationship beneficial for me, but I made a commitment to a relationship for better or for worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health.  That is a different kind of commitment that requires me to look out for my wife's best interest no matter what benefit I might gain.  And the beautiful part is that the opposite of this is true as well.  She has that same commitment to me so that if I ever reach a spot where I can't contribute to the relationship, she will stay with me even though it is no longer easy or even joyful for her.  Her commitment to me is stronger and more important to her than her commitment to her own happiness.  That is marital commitment and it is the perfect environment in which two people can build previously unknown levels of happiness, joy, intimacy, and security.  These attributes actually grow out of the safety of the marital commitment and they can't be nourished without that type of lifelong commitment.  God set it up that way. 

So for all of you out there in 'committed relationships', I am in no way demeaning what you are currently doing.  In fact, I think it is a good and honorable thing to be in a committed relationship.  However, committed relationship does not equal marriage.  The levels of commitment are radically different and that is why the Bible commands you to refrain from life's most intimate act, sex, until you are ready for a lifelong commitment to marriage.  And to all of you married readers out there, remember that you are not married to seek your own happiness, but rather for the joy and happiness of your spouse.  If you prioritize that, you will see that your greatest joy will come as you look out for the interests of your spouse, as it is always more blessed to give than to receive.

As I read about these two people and thought of the radically different punishments being levied against each, I was more sad than anything else.  Here is this man in Georgia who will face no retribution from the state, but he has just dropped a 500 pound shrapnel bomb into this own living room by his boyish behavior and his wife and children will walk away with gaping burn wounds.  Forgiveness and restoration are possible, but scars will remain.  On the other side of our planet, I think the stoning of this lady is an act of barbary that should be condemned regardless of her guilt or innocence.  Her guilt is questionable, as no man is being stoned for this act of adultery and last time I checked it did take two to tango!  But in these repressive Islamic scenarios women are generally scapegoated, beaten down, abused and discriminated against.  That sounds harsh, doesn't it?  The truth is often harsh.  Don't let anyone fool you, wearing the hijab and/or the burka brings no protection from the sexual advances of wicked men in these societies. 

This just reminds me of why we have to address the issue of sex so much in the church.  I never want to be that church which always addresses sexual issues for the 'buzz value' or just to be 'edgy' for the sake of being edgy.  However, there just isn't any way to escape the fact that sex is a huge force in everyone's life and it often gets 'out of bounds' and brings more pain and destruction than anything else in life.  That is why it is so often addressed in the New Testament . . . in the majority of the books.  And the way we are told to defeat it is simply to stay away from it.  Our sexual desire is a beast and if you feed it long enough, it will break out of its given place and cause you to do the unthinkable.  The verses I think of off the top of my head are the following: "flee sexual immorality", "give no opportunity to your flesh (sinful desires)", "let there not be a hint of sexual immorality among you", "put sexual immorality to death in your body", etc., etc. They are all verses of action and force, as this battle for sexual purity is not for the weak or the wimpy. 

Today I pray for the reconciliation of this family in Georgia and I pray for an international uprising to save the life of this dear lady in Iran.

I just bought a Macbook and this news makes me want to buy an iphone.  And here is an idea - why doesn't someone create a new web browser that automatically filters all pornography.  A free browser like Firefox that is an automatic porn filter.  Do you think you could sell that idea to families with kids in the house, and then do you think advertisers would beat your doors down to get access to those millions of families?  I am glad to see a man of power and influence in the cyber realm show some moral fiber.

Coburn Family from Josh Sliffe on Vimeo.

Good Memories of dad:

The times we spent together on all my school field trips and church camps. Going to the park. Going to the movies. Going to the beach together. Practicing Basketball together. Daddy/Daughter dances. Taking me to Clemson games! Sitting on Daddy’s lap. When Dad saved my life when I was drowning. Dad bought me a turtle. When he took me to the Bahamas. When he would take me to the fair. When he would take me to the beach. Coaching my softball team. Watching wrestling together. Dad carrying me on his shoulders everywhere! When we go out and spend quality time together. Working together in the backyard to improve my sports skills. Staying up really late watching ESPN together. When he took me on my first roller coaster. Daddy/Daughter dates to bfast and the movies. Jumping the waves @ Myrtle Beach. Being at my baseball games. Going to Carolina football games together. Riding the four-wheeler. Going to the pool together. Disney World together. Laughing together at our family. Boy’s night out. Taking me to a MUSE concert. Shopping together when Mom was too busy. When Dad baptized me. Taking me bass fishing.

Things I appreciate about my dad:

The fact that he has always and still does go with us on vacation. He is very nice to me. He takes me where I need to go. He spends his free time with me. His unconditional love for his family. He is always there for me. He would never leave me. He would always tell me how proud he was of me. He protects me. He doesn’t mind spending money on me. He supports my ambitions. He helps me with schoolwork. He gives me more dessert than I deserve. He looks out for my needs. He makes me feel better when I am hurting. He makes sure to spend time with the family. He is patient about living with three girls. He makes breakfast in the morning when I ask him to. He is always thinking of others. His effort within our family. His faithful dedication to Jesus. His leadership. He always encourages me. He disciplined me when I was wrong. He always set a good example. He always made time for me even when he was too busy. He would listen to me go on and on about bad relationship. He is supportive. He works very hard.

Doesn't that just make you want to go out and do all of those things with your kids today!!  Contrary to popular belief, they don't need the very best of everything in life and we don't need hundreds of thousands of dollars to bring them joy . . . which is a relief.  But we all want to be good dads and the job is tough.  It is 24/7/365 so it catches us at our best, and at our worst.  But there is no greater joy than that of being a dad, it is an honorable title and one that I cherish. 

If you are looking for some Scriptures about being a dad and how you can improve in that arena, check out some of the thoughts of our men at Radius below when asked, "Where do you go in the Bible or what do you think of when asked about being a dad?"

Chris Seeby - Radius Lexington

I believe it is no coincidence that we share the title of Father with God Almighty.  He could have called us any other name, but he chose to honor us with this great title, Father. 

Brian Kirkland – Radius Lexington

Two passages quickly come to mind for me: 

Zephaniah 3:14-17 (especially v.17)... the imagery here of God our Father enjoying his children, rejoicing over us and singing songs over us is quite powerful, and I think about this often when I'm tucking in the kids at night and praying over them. We all love our kids a ton, and how amazing is it that our Heavenly Father loves us even more!

Psalm 78:1-7 (especially 4-7)... the older I get the more I feel the weight of teaching my kids about what God has done for us. This passage reminds me that as we instruct our kids to put their hope in the Lord, we're actually impacting not just them, but multiple generations for the Kingdom.

Stuart Fuller – Radius Greenville

I.I think about shepherding from John 10, specifically v4

The sheep follow him because they recognize his voice.

In a sense I think of my role as a father is to be a voice in their lives that is for them, and (at this stage) is the deepest, truest voice of reality.  My hope is that my girls begin to turn down my voice as the father and listen to the voice of the Father...and that the transition to me to Him will be relatively seamless b/c I've lived His Word as an under-shepherd. 

II. I also think about Jesus in the temple at 12 (Luke 2)

I won't so badly to hear my girls say to me "you should have known that I would be doing what God wanted me to do...and not just following you, sissy."  Ok, not the sissy part.  I long for them to become independent of me and dependent on God.  As a father, it challenges me to ask the question "Am I making disciples of me....or of Jesus?"

III. Last one--- I imagine Paul kind of looked at the church at Ephesus as his kids...check this from ephesians 3.16:

I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

If I had boys, I'd be picking some obscure OT passage about goin gangsta like Exodus 2:11-12, or 2 Kings 2:23-24, or Deut 25:11-12). 

But, since I have girls, I think my role is to make them feel precious and priceless and worth dying for.  So this verse gives me courage and reminds me to inject them with the beauty of being loved in spite of the knowledge of this world that says you have to be a skanktified, insecure, superficial, shell of a person in order to survive. 

Pete Murphy – Radius Lexington

Cool question.....and one that was recently discussed with some of the guys. We were talking about how God goes about the process of conforming us into the image of His Son. It's different for everybody. In my life it was getting married and then each child.....especially Hannah. I was self-centered, selfish, and prideful when Christ tackled me. With each addition to my family He chipped away and my selfish nasty self. It was these verses (I understand the context is not family.....but it is my story):

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.

Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:

Who, being in very nature[a] God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,

but made himself nothing, taking the very nature[b] of a servant, being made in human likeness.

And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on

a cross!  Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name,

that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.  PHIL 2:2-11

SERVING my family has been my greatest joy and brought me better understanding of my Father's love and sacrifice.

But here's the deal . . . why did 31,000 women sign up the day after Mother's Day, as a normal Monday would only register 3,000 new married women?  I think it is because 31,000 men are cruisin' through life, working too much and playing golf with their buddies while they take their wives for granted.  They don't honor and esteem them as wives and mothers and mistakenly assume they will be ok with that.  These ladies didn't go to an altar and sign up to be casual, sexual roommates for the next 50 years!  They expect and NEED romance, honor, words of kindness and adventure in their marital relationship.  And if they don't get it at home, they will usually persevere for several years, maybe even a decade, but eventually many of them cave in to slick marketing and silver tongues, which is even easier now that you can do it via the internet for only $249 plus tax.  I've seen it happen more times than I care to recall . . . .

What I found significant, though, is this spike the day following Mother's Day.  I interpret it to mean that many married women are tired and bored and feel that they don't get the romance, respect and recognition they deserve for the honorable tasks they fulfill as wives and moms, not even on Mother's Day!  They are so desperate, in fact, they are now willing to turn to adultery as the primary means to their happiness in life!  Let me ask you something - do you know of any bubbly, happy adulterers in your circle of friends?  Anyone remember Mark Sanford, Tiger Woods, John Edwards or Brittany Spears at the height of their sexual escapades?  Were they dancing around in joy or looking like someone that hadn't slept in weeks because of their shame and guilt?

But if you carefully take note of the marketing spin they put on it, it is really not about the sex, but rather about women desperately seeking someone who will esteem and cherish them for their instrinsic value, which they obviously didn't receive on Mother's Day.  So thousands of ladies go to this website daily seeking to find the very best of the lying, cheating homewrecking men registered on the site, only to find narcissistic men adept at using their silver tongues to say all the right things on the way to the bedroom filled with forbidden fruit - the ultimate bait and switch.

So men, let this post put you on notice!  YOU MUST PROTECT YOUR HOUSE!  I am not talking about protecting it against robbers or thieves or things of that nature, you must protect it from rust, neglect, apathy, ingratitude and lack of romance.  If you allow these things to infiltrate your marriage, don't be surprised to find your wife joining the more than 5 million deceived seekers on ashleymadison.com.

Finally, let me say this.  If you are a man or a woman that has believed the lie that real joy is found in adultery, and you have gone for it and had that affair, I want you to know that there is a path out of the guilt and shame you feel.  Jesus is not done with you and He will gladly forgive and accept you if you are ready to walk away from this deceit.  Our church is here to help you with that and thousands of other churches stand ready to help you as well, not condemn you.  This post is written as a stern warning to those who haven't crossed that line yet, but let it be to you an open invitation to overcome this destructive force in your life through the power of Jesus and the support of His Church.  For help, feel free to write to contact us confidentially at radius@radiuschurch.com.

If our society would simply consider this tazing on national TV appropriate punishment for this young man's testosterone surge, I think everyone would be better off.  The young man would realize that there is cause and effect in our universe and if you want to BE THE MAN, you are eventually going to get tazed by the MAN.  Even knowing that, some 17 year-olds are willing to pay that price and we should let them . . . some young men only learn by painful experiences.  For others, just seeing him fall like a jello castle is more than enough to deter them from copy cat performances, as I am sure he was looking for a litter box about the time those electrodes hit him in the back.  

However, our society will not function that way.  Lawyers will line up to sue the Phillies, the security firm, the taser manufacturers, the artificial turf manufacturers, the 20 fans around him who could have stopped him from going over the wall, the Coke manufacturers who had too much caffeine in his drink, etc., etc. ad infinitum.  And they will get some type of settlement that will encourage this young man's continued immaturity and the immaturity of countless others.  That is how it works today and that is why we can no longer produce men in our society, only very large boys - boys who can't overcome their boyish desires, testosterone impulses and selfish cravings for the greater good of their wives, their children, and their communities. 

So don't get me wrong.  I like the young man's moxie.  He obviously has the courage to take risks and do the things others are afraid to do, which are both great qualities for young men.  But if those traits are not 'tazed' into a more productive channel, he will just become a large, immature boy and we already have plenty of those.  But through the appropriate use of tasers and mentors and other authority figures, he could channel his courage and moxie into more productive pursuits.  That is how a boy becomes a man. 

I remember one of my early, risky testosterone rushes.  I was 16 years old and got into my first real adolescent fist fight.  Growing up in a tough, blue collar town, fist fights were a proving ground for all young men.  At that time, I had a very quick tongue and I was pretty good at using it.  To make a long story short, I was used to talking a big game and scaring off most of the competition before the punches started.  In this one particular instance, though, talking wasn't enough for my ego.  So after all the normal mouthing, I gathered myself and delivered my best punch to the left eye of an offensive lineman from an opposing high school in the bank parking lot, arrogantly thinking that would begin and end the fight.  Well, that night I got 'tased', so to speak.  The lineman actually hit me back!!  The nerve of the guy.  We rolled around on the asphalt for a minute or less and when all was said and done, I had a bleeding gash under my eye.  I showed off the battle wound for a while and tried to spin my loss into a victory, arriving home around midnight. 

When my 'cut man' (i.e. my father) checked me out, he decided to take me in for stitches, 5 or 6 of them.  I will never forget his words of fatherly advice that night, which he said while he laughed - "I knew that smart mouth of yours was eventually going to catch up to you."  He was exactly right.  He wasn't blaming the other kid, the people around us or anyone else.  He knew this was a foolish testosterone surge on my part and he knew it was going to be a great lesson in my life, which it was.  I learned a lot about cause and effect that night.  I also learned a lot about arrogance and the quick hands of offensive linemen.  But most importantly, I learned that a boy becomes a man when he can channel that inherent energy and drive to conquer into something a lot more noble and meaningful than running around a baseball field or stroking your ego by attempting to dominate others.  Those boyish pursuits come at a high cost, so if you decide to go that route and pursue those things, I hope they TAZE YOU BRO.  It worked for me and it will work for you as well.

"Spare the taser, spoil the child" - somewhere in the Apocrypha I think . . .

But here is the crux of the matter . . . the very word 'Gospel' is a Latin term meaning Good News.  The Gospel, the central message of Jesus and thus the central message of Christianity, is a message of Good News, not one of religious rules.  The message is that Jesus, the very son of God, came from heaven to earth in order to give his life as an offering, paying the penalty for the sins of all men.  He did this 2,000 years ago and then rose from the dead, conquering death.  All a person has to do in order to receive this forgiveness and power over death is to choose to believe in Jesus' death and resurrection and choose to follow him, which means to live according to His teachings.  Those who do this can have their sins totally and freely forgiven.  Now that is good news if you are like me and have a huge pile of sins in your life, and even now can't do live perfectly for even one day so the pile continues to grow. 

However, the vast majority of our culture views The Gospel and The Church as a place of religious rules.  They see the Church as a place of "do this and this, don't do this, or this, or that, etc., etc.".  In other words, they look straight past the Good News of the Gospel and see only the demanding teachings of Jesus.  Now Jesus was a very demanding teacher.  If anyone tells you differently, they are lying to you.  He said things like love your neighbor, love your enemy, live generously, never seek vengeance, rejoice when you are persecuted and excluded, etc., etc.  His commands are definitely stringent.  But what was/is the purpose of these commands?  Are they put there to burden us, or are they put there to bless us?  Are they just religious rules or are they the very paths to joy and abundance in this life?  That is the question we need to be asking when we see Jesus or the Church as just a set of religous rules.

I would argue that the very difficult commands that Jesus laid out for us are there because they are the path to a joyful and abundant life.  Greed is easier than generosity on the front end, but generosity is the path to joy while greed leads to discontentment and misery.  Sleeping around in today's world is very easy and cavalier and obviously brings some sporadic joy, but sexual purity brings a deeper lasting joy that lasts for decades, not minutes, and brings physical and emotional health to the children born out of purity and fidelity.   Honesty is better than deceit and commitment better than individualism.  The list goes on and on.

I am now 40 years old and I spent the first 21 years of my life viewing Jesus as a set of religious rules I couldn't follow, so I made up my own set of rules and lived by those (well, I lived by them most of the time, except when it was advantageous to break them).  There was some joy in that "life by my own rules", but the carnage and pain that it brought to me and all the people around me was immense in comparison to the fleeting moments of fun.  Then, when I was 21, I saw the Gospel as good news for the very first time.  My sins were killing my conscience and my future and taking over my life through addiction and meaninglessness in life.  And it was there, in that moment, when I heard that in spite of all past failures Jesus would come inside my life and liberate me if I would only commit myself to him.  It was good news indeed.  I didn't worry about the rules, I just needed the freedom, the liberation from addiction, from fear of death, from a narcissistic existence that looked really cool on the outside but in reality was very lonely and miserable.  Following that decision, I immersed myself in the rules of Jesus, but I never viewed them as overbearing or burdensome, but rather as the means and the path to freedom, as I still do today. 

If you view Jesus as a mere set of rules, you have never seen him for who he really is, a great liberator.  Got Freedom?

And this led me to a deeper thought.  This is exactly how it looks from heaven when mere men choose to pick a fight with God.  A simple piece of dirt looking up at the Creator of the universe and firing a BB gun at the Commander in Chief of the heavenly armies, which unfortunately happens all the time.  God says do 'A', and we reply, "I don't want to do 'A', that is not how I am designed and that is too stringent, I choose to do 'B'."  So we drive around on our skiff and fire our BB guns at the commands of God and they bounce off without causing so much as a scratch, but we feel justified in doing it.  Eventually, however, we fire one round too many at God and He has to unload a laser guided shell in our direction, just as the Navy ship did here.  But here is the difference - His intention in firing the shell is not to destroy us, but rather to discipline us, to get our attention.  As a Heavenly Father, He is more than happy to destroy our little boat and disable our weak weapons (i.e. our arguments against His commands) so that He can lovingly come and pluck us from the waters of destruction and display to us His kindness.  For it is the goodness of God that leads men to turn and love Him.  However, some people don't give up so easy and even after this display of love they continue to fight against Him and refuse to surrender to Him.  For these, there is no hope and no forgiveness, only justice.  But for those who embrace God and finally submit, even if it took a great battle to get to the point of surrender, there is hope, forgiveness and adoption into God's family.

Some of the best advice I have ever received was the following: If you ever find yourself in a wrestling match with God, the only way to win is to give up.