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Wow, Gary, that is awesome. It is SO what I'm going through these days. Giving up all that stuff sounds difficult at face value but His commandments are not grievous. We talk among ourselves about living like Jesus did, with all its austerity and outsiders say, "Not me, buddy". I've often called Christianity a suicide cult. We are righteous by faith but our baptism into Christ is how we die to sin. We are baptized into His death (Rom. 6:3). We act out the ritual of baptism voluntarily. We purposely have someone bury us with Jesus into His death. You have to reach a point in your life where you are tired of living life your way. People who commit suicide reach the same emotional place. I was never so close to committing suicide until I had to stand before a judge to be declared guilty of the crime I had committed. I lost my family, my house, my self-respect. You can't ruin your life much more than I had ruined mine and I was, frankly, tired of living. In tears, I told Jesus, "You have to drive; I can't do it anymore." The gospel hymn, I Need Thee Every Hour kept playing over and over again in my head - it still does... I connected with a reality that I should have connected with 30-years prior. I wasted so much time and hurt so many people. But, they say, "Better late than never". Oh yeah? Tell that to my victim (and secondary victims - wife, child, neighborhood). What we don't know can hurt many people. And we die daily. The levels of dying to ourselves is deeper than it first appears. As you say in your blog, dead men have no rights. It's interesting to learn exactly what that means. I love you, Gary. You have shown me kindness, mercy, and acceptance. You have been Jesus to me. Thank you. Rob | 
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