Nathanael Philip Mosher Has Friends is a show where Nathanael introduces you to his talented, wonderful, thoughtful, and engaging friends. Each show is moved forward by an intention in the form of a question, shaping the material presented. This show's question was, “What is fun to you? This month's guests were Terrence Rutledge, Shon Williams, Kalle Pascal, Nehemiah Williams, Brittany Wilson, and yours truly.

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Nathanael Philip Mosher Has Friends is a show where Nathanael introduces you to his talented, wonderful, thoughtful, and engaging friends. Each show is moved forward by an intention in the form of a question, shaping the material presented. This show's question was, “What is fun to you? This month's guests were Terrence Rutledge, Shon Williams, Kalle Pascal, Nehemiah Williams, Brittany Wilson, and yours truly.

The fourth guest on this week’s episode is Nehemiah Williams and his girlfriend (her “title” changes in this episode), Brittney Wilson. In this episode, Nehemiah presents his original music and explains how relationships are fun. New episodes every Friday.

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Nathanael Philip Mosher Has Friends is a show where Nathanael introduces you to his talented, wonderful, thoughtful, and engaging friends. Each show is moved forward by an intention in the form of a question, shaping the material presented. This show's question was, “What is fun to you? This month's guests were Terrence Rutledge, Shon Williams, Kalle Pascal, Nehemiah Williams, Brittany Wilson, and yours truly.

The show will be released in parts and ends with a super duper special surprise. You don't want to miss it.

The third guest on this week’s episode is Kalle Pascal, a fellow musician, traveler, and camp counselor who sings some of his childhood favorites. In this episode, Nathanael finishes the story of his summer, showing you how perseverance can show somebody what fun is really made of. New episodes every Friday.

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Nathanael Philip Mosher Has Friends is a show where Nathanael introduces you to his talented, wonderful, thoughtful, and engaging friends. Each show is moved forward by an intention in the form of a question, shaping the material presented. This show's question was, “What is fun to you? This month's guests were Terrence Rutledge, Shon Williams, Kalle Pascal, Nehemiah Williams, Brittany Wilson, and yours truly.

The show will be released in parts and ends with a super duper special surprise. You don't want to miss it.

The second guest on this week’s episode is Shon Williams, a soft and sensitive soul whose poetry comes from a depth of meaning. Nathanael will read Shon’s poetry and tell of of his summer escapes as Shon couldn’t be there. New episodes every Friday.

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Nathanael Philip Mosher Has Friends is a show where Nathanael introduces you to his talented, wonderful, thoughtful, and engaging friends. Each show is moved forward by an intention in the form of a question, shaping the material presented. This show's question was, “What is fun to you? This month's guests were Terrence Rutledge, Shon Williams, Kalle Pascal, Nehemiah Williams, Brittany Wilson, and yours truly.

The show will be released in parts and ends with a super duper special surprise. You don't want to miss it.

The first guest on this week’s episode is Terrence Rutledge, a hilarious and heartfelt comedian. New episodes every Friday.

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This is the guiding question for episode 2 of “Nathanael Philip Mosher Has Friends”, which will air on Friday, January 17. In it, we explore what’s in the way of fun, and at the end of the show a very special surprise happens (hint: it rhymes with “opposal” and “disposal” and is very close to the word “prom-posal”). Hmmmm, still doesn’t “ring” a bell? Maybe you need to surrender and “get on your knees” and find out.

To get a taste of what the show entails, check out episode 1 here:

Nathanael Philip Mosher Has Friends

We also released a song from the latest show called, “Back In High School”. It’s on all streaming platforms. You can listen to it on Spotify here:

It’s very clear to us that are audience is becoming those who are exceptionally gifted, yet exceptionally sensitive. Truly, I tell you, in God’s eyes, it’s true of us all, but the Enemy seeks to devalue our gifts while overvaluing our sensitivity. We shrug away from the pain while simultaneously shrugging off our giftings. And then the Enemy wins.

Patience is long suffering and it is the ability to cultivate resilience so that we can keep going despite the pain we might endure because of our exceptional sensitivity. But it hurts. That’s why we perservere.

“Slow is smooth and smooth is fast.” - Various thinkers, most likely of Navy Seal origin

Patience is your ability to withstand suffering and suffering can refine you. It can make you smooth. To be patient does not mean to move slow, it just ends up feeling that way.

When you are patient, things slow down, your focus narrows, and the pathway in front of you becomes clearer than ever before. 

Then your path becomes smooth and you can go faster than ever before. 

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In the show, Nathanael retells his experience as a resident assistant at the “Center For Talented Youth” summer camp at Johns Hopkins University in Batlimore. His patience and resilience was tested, but most of all, he learned to truly and utterly, persevere.

His mom found an old piece of writing he wrote (with her help) back in 5th grade. It was an Exit Portfolio in three parts and he read it during the show to punctuate the act breaks of the story and show:

It flows as follows:

Exit Portfolio 1: a reflection on his elementary school experience, real

Exit Portfolio 2: a reflection on his middle school experience, imagined and projected into the future

Exit Portfolio 3: a reflection on his high school experience, imagined and projected into the future, and yet more aptly revealed as a clear indication of what was yet to come.

Here it is:

EXIT PORTFOLIO

By Nathanael P. Mosher

June 2006, Room 11, Ms. Lindsay Pomerantz

2006 Exit Portfolio #1

Nathan Mosher Room 11, Ms. L. Pomerantz

Over my past six years at El Rincon Elementary School, there are a lot of things I accomplished. Each one helped me get through school successfully. I grew and learned something new each year. The past years prepared me for Middle School in many ways. Each teacher taught something new that will prepare me for Middle School.

In kindergarten, I got in trouble for talking too much in class. I was a little bored at times and would shout out answers. My teacher, Ms. Bertie, was not pleased and I soon learned to behave better. I learned to be neater in my writing.

In first grade, I made a best friend named Justin Lee who is Korean. We had play dates and he was a good friend. Mrs. Glusac, my first grade teacher, impacted my life. She asked me to become a student teacher sometimes and I experienced a lot of critical thinking. Lots of challenges helped me bring up scholarly attributes like exercising my mind. She corrected me a lot which helped me excel in many subjects. My report card showed my accomplishments when I got an excellent report card and my parents were happy. I got mostly A's and all 4's on my report card and I was very proud of myself.

In second grade, I had Mrs. Sires as my teacher. She was an energetic teacher who was generous but strict in some ways. She gave us a reasonable amount of work along with parties for our deserving behavior. She made us take valuable notes which helped our class get good test scores. We did many projects and one of the favorite projects I was assigned was an oral report on Bravery. I did St. Francis of Assisi as my subject. I dressed up like him to portray his personality and I learned a lot about him. I was proud of my accomplishments as a second grader and I was prepared for third grade the next year.

The next year, I was assigned an intelligent and experienced teacher named Mrs. Gallegos, who had dealt with many third grade classes throughout her years of teaching. Mrs. Gallegos knew a lot about teaching and was wise with her teaching methods. She taught us moral lessons about life and made our heart grow inside. We had many projects including a diorama about a landmark in Culver City. I did a restaurant named Johnny's Pastrami and I learned much about it. We did two projects about Indians including another diorama about a tribe. We also made totem poles to represent ourselves. I liked third grade a lot and I will cherish my third grade memories.

One of my absolute favorite grades was fourth grade. Not only did my teacher, Mrs. Ames, teach me to the fullest but she pushed me to go beyond fourth grade expectations. She told me about the Center for Talented Youth test, sponsored by the Johns Hopkins University. This is a national test for fifth and sixth graders who score over 95% on the state tests. I took it in January of 2006 while in fifth grade. I received an invitation to an award ceremony on June 3, 2006, for scoring a national percentile rank of 99% on a seventh and eighth grade math test! Mrs. Ames gave me valuable information to fuel me to rocket through fourth grade and to help me get through fifth grade.

In fifth grade, I was assigned to Ms. Pomerantz, who is on her first year teaching as a non-substitute teacher. I accomplished many things including what I consider to be my three biggest accomplishments. I became Chess Champ for using logical reasoning against many opponents in Chess Tutors. I therefore became the chess team captain leading this year's Grand Match Gala (GMG) tournament against many other schools. 1 Our school won the first place in the tournament! I also qualified to be included in our school's very.st Spelling Bee. I won 1st place at El Rincon and represented our school at 1 the first District-wide Spelling Bee, along with three other El Rincon contestants. I did my best but didn't win in our city's spelling bee. I gained valuable experience.

My biggest accomplishment in fifth grade is getting elected as President of Student Council. This helped me improve my leadership skills for future situations, including Middle School. I was elected into Student Council by my class and elected president by the Student Council. I became respected in school by my fellow peers and I made my family proud. My experience with Student Council has made my last year at El Rincon special.

Being in the Student Council has impacted my life and others very much. It has helped our Student Council manage priorities and in return, has helped the school. My family is proud of me because I gained an experience to lead the school and have fun doing it. Our Student Council has done many things that have helped our school grow. While in the Student Council, I learned to choose my priorities well and be more organized. I had to learn to work and team up with others, and cooperate with a large group of people. My experience is fun and will help me a lot in Middle School.

I've formed close friendships over my years at El Rincon. My closest friends to name a few are Shon Williams, Kyle Miller, Justin Garcia and Dawit Tefera. I will always cherish my memories with them and hope to remain friends beyond El Rincon.

El Rincon Elementary School has enhanced my learning experience and led me to fulfill my dream of becoming a great student. Elementary school has been an experience that I will never forget. At El Rincon, I have gained a very enriching education, wonderful friends, valuable life experiences, memories of caring and talented teachers, and as I leave, I feel very prepared for Middle School and beyond.

2006 Exit Portfolio # 2

Nathan Mosher

Middle school will be a new experience with many challenges. There will be new teachers, new classrooms, a bigger building, and new people. There will be more rooms and hallways to get used to, so there is a high probability of getting lost in the school campus. There will be many things to learn, lots of people to meet and choices to make. In Middle school, homework is assigned by six different teachers. All of these things make Middle school seem pretty challenging.

Setting goals can help me rise to the challenges and to meet my goals in Middle school. It is also necessary to set goals in order to achieve the expectations of my teachers, parents and community. My top three goals in Middle school are to stay organized, to get into the Scholars program, and to bring up new scholarly attributes.

To me, being organized means keeping my notes clean and easily accessible, prioritizing my time, and managing my activities and schoolwork. Sometimes I have messy notes and backpack. I need to make sure that my notes are legible, filed in an organized fashion and easy to find when I need them. Since I might be assigned large quantities of homework, I need to get into the habit of saving information for future reference. If I'm not organized, there is a high risk of losing or forgetting my homework. This can adversely result in low grades. As much as I enjoy schoolwork, I also like to be involved in sports, piano lessons, other programs outside of school, and watch my favorite TV shows. By prioritizing my schedule, I can organize my day to accommodate and manage my activities without sacrificing the quality of my grades at school. Being organized will have a very positive impact on my life in Middle school.

In Middle school, there is a Scholars Program designed to accommodate intellectually advanced students. I would very much like to get into this program. Scholars program can help me exercise my growing intellect and hopefully provide me with extra challenge to occupy my free time. Middle school is a chance to go farther on the path to becoming a scholar. The term scholar means an educated person who is a specialist in a particular branch of learning. To be a part of the Scholars program is important to me because I don't want to be sitting around at home, finished with homework, and doing nothing. I want to be continually challenging myself.

Gaining new scholarly attributes will help me not only in Middle school but in the future. Being a scholar is being a highly educated person. Being educated can help you to earn the opportunity to have a great job and also not struggle to maintain good grades throughout high school and college.

To recap, my top three goals in Middle school are to stay organized, to get into the Scholars program, and to bring up new scholarly attributes. Meeting these three goals will help me a lot in Middle school.

There are many other scholarly attributes that will help me meet the goals I set for Middle school. I need to have as many attributes as I can to become a scholar and I'll need to develop them quickly. I sometimes don't ponder enough on subjects so I don't understand them. If I want to understand something in Middle school, I'll need to think and ponder more deeply. These are only a few scholarly attributes I can develop but as I grow I will get closer and closer to becoming a scholar.

A lot of times my strengths are not enough. When I need help to accomplish something, my immediate community can help me. This includes my friends, my family, and my teachers. I can ask teachers to help me with schoolwork that I don't understand; they will surely help me because that's their job. My family is an integral and important part of the community that I can reach out to, all the time. They can give me helpful advice with school, different or difficult situations, problems that may arise, and especially challenges associated with teenage life. My friends can help me get motivated when I am acting lazily. They can cheer me on to work harder, to be proactive and not procrastinate, to support and encourage me when I need them..

Middle school is a very different experience compared to El Rincon. Thinking about goals to set and ways to improve work habits is an important way to prepare. Developing scholarly attributes is another thing to think about. Becoming a scholar means you're a good student and you think about things in different ways. I want to become and act like a scholar all the time. In Middle school, there are a lot of new things to get used to, more things to manage and prioritize. Fortunately, I can always depend on my community to help me where I need them the most.

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2006 Exit Portfolio # 3

Nathan Mosher

This high school graduation, I have been chosen to receive the PERSEVERANCE award. This award was given to me for not giving up in all the challenges I have gone through over the past years. My parents are so proud of me for winning this award and I am just as happy with myself as they are. Everybody clapped for me when I went up to receive the award on stage. It was a new experience being in front of so many people. I wanted to thank my family and I wanted to share with everyone the whole story of my success. When I walked up, I had a chance to share my memories of persevering in all my years of school.

In Elementary School, I learned from my teachers how to not give up. I first learned what perseverance meant when I was in kindergarten. I read a story entitled "Perseverance" which is about a boy who never gave up. My teacher explained the story's moral lesson was to never give up and to not be a quitter. I soon learned that she was right when I joined organized sports at the age of 5. It is very possible to lose games. If I just gave up whenever I lost a game, there would not be any hope for winning.

When I first joined a basketball team, I was prepared and ready to play. I knew I would make mistakes but I would also learn from them. There were times I shot the ball in the wrong basket and worse, maybe even score for the opponent team. My team still cheered me on and it made me happy. I didn't give up even if we were losing by 50 points but I continued to try my best. Also when I started to play soccer, I tripped and fell and it hurt a lot. There were times when I couldn't get up and let my team down. However, most times I got back up and stole the ball. I experienced playing different positions in the field through rotations, and wherever I was placed, I never gave up. I have been playing baseball for the Culver City National Little League for the third year. This year, I am a pitcher for my team and it is very hard work. There is a lot of pressure for me to pitch well so I can strike out the opponent team. At one of our last 2 games, we were losing 7 to 3 but we came back and scored more. Even though we lost in the end with a score of 10 to 8, we didn't lose hope and worked hard through the entire game. We did win a couple of days after that with a very tight score of 7 to 6.

There were many goals I set to get through high school. I tried my best to persevere in every thing and every situation. I promised to never give up and it was very hard. Many people supported me but it was mainly my family and friends. My mom and dad encouraged me to do my very best at everything and they said I will do well at anything if I try. My friends also encouraged me to "Just do it!" and to keep trying. Their words of wisdom helped me in school and sports, and gave me knowledge on how to persevere.

here were three steps I took in order to get this award. First, I set goals and envisioned myself persevering. I set goals to do all my work even when I didn't understand the work expected of me. Next, I asked for help on how to persevere and learn more about anything I didn't comprehend. I read books like the one I read in kindergarten and I also asked for help from my parents. Lastly, I tried to persevere in school, in sports and in everything that I do. All these three steps helped me persevere in everything. I still practice these steps and I am happy that I learned what kind of a person "perseveres" in all that he does.

I am so happy that now I am on the stage and I have this PERSEVERANCE medal in hand. All my work throughout high school and every year of school paid off. I have truly learned what it means to persevere, how to persevere, and why it is good to persevere. Everyday in my life, I will make mistakes and sometimes fail. However, if I rebound back from those mistakes or try again, I know can do anything. Nothing will be impossible. I will live by the motto "When the going gets tough, the tough gets going!" I want to be remembered as a "tough" person, someone who won't quit but perseveres under any circumstance!

This has been a PPDK Production. We invite you to Press Play on Your Purpose.

Sincerely Yours,

The Paraprosdokianist

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At PPDK Productions, we set the stage for the truest stories never told, uplifting accidentally entertaining testimonies, encouraging you to “press play on purpose”.

On Sunday, it’s the first show officially produced by PPDK PRODUCTIONS, which includes myself, Nehemiah Williams, and the multitude of help we are receiving and hopefully more partners down the line.

This was the last show we shot in its entirety.

You can get tickets the next show here:

WHAT IS FUN TO YOU? (TICKETS)

I hope you enjoy the work we do. I can’t wait to share it with you.

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I take in the beauty of a perfect day

And here where I sit I could forever stay

Admiring the world through open eyes 

And in this moment I feel so alive

- the words of a beautiful soul gone too soon

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The question of this episode was, “Who Would You Be if You Weren’t Afraid of Suffering?” meaning, “who” as in the character of who you would be if you willingly embraced suffering. As part of the music I chose to present in order to answer this question I chose to do a mash-up/ cover of a song by a soul gone too soon. Lost to the world of schizophrenia and the whirlwind whimsy of the spirit realm, he was lost to this plane of existence far before his body left the Earth. But while he was here, he left a plethora of beautiful lyrics, songs, and sentiments.

The two songs above are reminders of a peace on Earth that can be seen in Nature and in song, and in letting oneself be subsumed by the rhythms of God’s creation and the breath of Life moving throughout the beloved beings of Life we calls humanity.

I’m flowing down the river but I don’t know why

I stare at the moonlight with a glimmer in my eye

Time stands still but only for a moment

And I know this circle will never be broken 

It goes on and on and it never ever dies

The river made the valley and everything is alright

‘Cause this is the song that never ends it goes on and on as long as this world spins

Some say it’s about destiny but I don’t know, I can only sing

“Oh yea”

As I move forward in this crazy world I call home, tethered to the sanctity of my mind, heart, body, and soul, I remember that sanity is a fragile dance of trust and surrender, and sometimes we just have to say, “I don’t know, I can only sing”.

Hopefully your soul finds rest in the next life Jonny, but until then, we’ll keep singing your songs into the light as we turn away from whatever darkness tries to take us captive.

In less than two weeks we’re filming another episode of “Nathanael Philip Mosher Has Friends” and the question is, “What is Fun (to you)?” The last show was a little more somber, yet still having its moments of raw, unadulterated joy and fun. This one is going to be a bit more childish, free flowing, and most of all, filled with surprised moments of pure, unexpected awe. I cannot understate how many surprises there are packed into this upcoming show.

Attend The Taping of Episode 2

It’s also going to be a fundraiser, a launch of a production company, and the start of a new partnership which I can only hint at because it’s one of those once-in-a-lifetime surprises that involve, let’s just say “lifetime love in a fun way”. If you can’t make it, be sure to stay tuned for releases of the footage on all the platforms @onelinerone is part of (pretty soon it’s going to become @ppdkproductions. Comment and ask me why, I’d love to tell you!

For now, be sure to subscribe and share anything you like and tell people about what we’re doing. Pretty soon we’re going to tell stories that are about “being inspired to overcome by grace through faith”, otherwise known as testimonies. I can’t wait, it’s going to be a blast.

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Get more from Nathanael Philip Mosher in the Substack app

Available for iOS and Android

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I’m excited to announce we secured a venue for the next show and will hopefully be starting a monthly series in the new year!

This is the first of a hopefully fruitful partnership with "W/ Love Market and Cafe", a community-based local market and cafe. Stay for the entire show as we will be making some very special announcements, letting you know about the launch of our new production company, "PPDK Productions", as well as selling merchandise to fundraise for the many projects we have in the works. At the end there will be a walloping surprise you don't want to miss! Don't lose out on this unique and once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be part of the start of something new! Get tickets!!! =) vvv

TICKETS TO THE BIRTH OF SOMETHING NEW

Very soon after this, my Substack and media presence will be moving towards the vision of the production company, which will house the projects I’ve already been working on while fostering the capacity to facilitate the testimony of others! Stay tuned to hear more about what we’re up to. But for now, we’d love to see you at the show so that we can move forward with the newfound revelation of what God has in store for his vision on my life.

Watch the last episode here so you can get a taste of what the show is! This one will be wildly different and yet maintain the original spirit. But believe me when I say, THE SURPRISE AT THE END IS SOMETHING YOU DON’T WANT TO MISS! (Think the start of a new partnership (one that is holy)). I can’t say more without giving it away!

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“They say don’t compare, compete, and so I joined a recreational basketball league. What I learned is that I’m not good enough to recreationally compete in the sport of basketball. My new goal is to get injured at every pickup basketball court in the country.” - a comedian I once knew, in his living room.

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Now, comparing myself to others is not a sport foreign to me, nor is it to most people in this society, country, neighborhood, school, or wherever you are in this world of flesh and blood. I sit typing this post with a slightly deviated septum after I got head-butted yesterday straight to the nose while trying to defend a drive to the paint at LA Fitness. Man, was I “cooking” the game before, as my new pickup acquaintances told me. I scored the first 6 out of our meager 10 points until we got edged out by a bigger and stronger team. I’ve been working on my “killer instinct” as Tim Grover calls it, the trainer to both Michael Jordan, Dwayne Wade, and Kobe Bryant respectively, and I waited on the sidelines to unleash another level of defensive prowess so that I could continue to “cook”.

The team I was playing with was a lot better this time around and I knew the game of some of my teammates. I tried to play my favorite way, facilitating the good of others and focusing on their strengths. I’ve been working on my pick-and-roll game and being able to dish dimes, as well as shoot from all three distances on the court at a moment’s notice, refining my quick reflexes in much the same way I’ve honed my skills as a blitz chess player.

Luckily, my team was making plays for me and so I decided to lock into the defensive end, trying to front the driving lines and get into people’s spots before they got there. However, in pickup basketball, one of the annoying, yet potentially freeing facets of the style of play is that there’s no referee, which means call your own fouls, preparing yourself to be ready to fight with your game, your mouth, and as a last resort, your fist. Now, I’m not much of a fighter, but this moment showed me that maybe that needs to change.

As a fast break developed I went to the left block and tried to set my feet to take a charge. In the previous game I had done the same, gotten knocked straight to the floor, and called offensive foul to no avail. An offensive foul is one that’s usually reserved for a referee to call, because it’s one of those fouls which questions the bravado of the man who called it. Taking a charge doesn’t usually get rewarded in pickup basketball, because one is expected to take force willingly and dish it back all the same. “Stand your ground”, as they say.

I sort of agree with this sentiment, because ultimately, we were at a gym, and the object of us being here was to get stronger. So if it means getting knocked down despite my feet being set, I’ll use it as motivation to get out and hit the weights later.

However, this time around, as I set my feet and got ready to stand my ground, my opponent banged his head against my nose, immediately drawing blood. I screamed out, “Bro! You head-butted me in the nose, that’s an offensive foul!”

To which he retorted, “It wasn’t intentional, that’s not a foul.”

I shouted, “Bro, I’m bleeding!”

As blood started to drip down my face, another player came up to me and said, “Bro, you okay?”

I shouted, “I’m bleeding!”

As it finally started to dawn on everyone that I was profusely dripping blood, I stormed off the court to find first aid, exasperated at the fact that my opponent’s first response wasn’t to see if I was okay, but to deny the intentionality of potentially fracturing my nose.

I put my hands up in exasperation pleading, “At least call a dead ball! Even if it’s not a foul, you broke my nose bruh! What is wrong with you?!”

However, to his defense, he was just playing by the rules, by which I mean, in pickup basketball, there are no rules.

The same way that you can take the king in speed chess, you can hurt your opponent in pickup basketball, to which one might say, “But, that’s a foul”.

Well, yes. And then what? There are three steps to generally resolve a dispute in basketball without a ref:

1. Argue.

2. Shoot for it: “Ball don’t lie.”

3. Fight me.

As the front desk clerk told me, “I’m a lover, not a fighter, and that’s why I don’t play basketball.”

Behind any bark must come a bite, and behind any harsh words, there must always be the threat of credible force.

“Diplomacy is a tactic, not a strategy.” - Ben Shapiro

As many political pundits have said in regards to foreign policy, “F around and find out.”

Whenever there is an arbiter present, one only trusts his arbitration when the threat of credible force is apparent. This is why a military exists in the first place, to protect the sovereignty of king and country.

But I’m a Christian, how does this make any sense within the framework of non-violence Jesus preaches about?

“The meek shall inherit the Earth.”

“Turn the other cheek.”

How does the threat of credible force lie behind the sovereignty of our King who stood faithfully by his Father while they nailed him to a cross, all the while saying, “Forgive them, Father, for they know not what they do”?

“For we wrestle not against flesh and blood”.

“Jesus was gentle with the person, yet violent with the spirit.” - Jon Tyson, “Fighting Shadows”

Jesus had the threat of credible force always behind him, the sovereign king of all nations, “Yahweh”, yet as the son of God, he willingly sacrificed himself to pay for the sins of all, to end once and for all the need for human blood, human sacrifice, and the need to use physical violence to protect the sovereignty of king and country, because most importantly, His kingdom is not of this Earth.

So, how does a Christian resolve a dispute with blood dripping down their face, knowing that they can’t argue, they can’t shoot for it, and they can’t fight back?

4. Do better

Otherwise known as “repent”.

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Jordan Peterson says that when one looks at the translation of, “The meek shall inherit the Earth”, the word, “meek” more clearly connotes to “one who keeps their sword sheathed”, because as one Redditor, defmacro-jam, clarifies, “one can only be gentle or mild when coming from a position of strength”.

Jesus also said, “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a person's enemies will be those of his own household.”

And as Paul later clarifies in Hebrews, the sword is the Word of God. The Truth cuts through the heart of Man, for “every man has sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.”

The Christian is “gentle with the person, but violent with the spirit.” We rebuke the Enemy in Truth, and if it means sacrificing our own life to save the soul of a brother in Christ, we let flesh fall so that we may show the Truth in love for one another. Above all, we resist the Enemy, for he is the author of all lies. We tell the truth.

But what if someone head-butts you in the nose to the point of blood dripping down your face and denies your plea for penalty in the form of an offensive foul?

1. Argue (didn’t work)

2. Shoot for it (you might make it but then you can’t keep playing and soak the entire gym with your blood)

3. Fight me (and then what, it’s not going to lead to any foreseeable win because you have to leave the game anyways)

4. Do better.

So what do I need to do to “do better”? I have to get stronger so that I can be more gentle. No one runs straight into a brick wall without understanding they might get knocked down. No one barks one’s threats to bite when they know they might get bit back harder. No one trash talks a baller who’ll torch them at a moment’s notice. No one fights someone they wish they had on their team.

Well, they might, but they’ll “F around and find out.”

When Kobe jabbed a ball from the sideline straight into Matt Barnes face to psych him out, Barnes didn’t flinch, and the next season Kobe recruited him.

Even if I convinced my opponent that it was an offensive foul and that I deserved recompense, it wouldn’t have done any good, because my nose was dripping bullets of blood. The only recourse I had in that moment was to think of all the ways I could get stronger, so that next time, he wouldn’t think twice about trying to knock me over in the first place.

I went to get first aid, stuffed my nose with some tissues, went straight to the squat machines, got as many max reps as I could get in, then went home to replenish with water, electrolytes, salt, and food. I took a shower, prayed, and brainstormed all the ways I could get physically stronger, and more importantly, arm myself with all the weapons I could use as a potential fighter.

Not because I wanted to fight the guy, but because I wanted to know I knew how.

I’m a skinny guy who doesn’t know how to fight, and that makes me an easy target, especially when deciding whether or not to go straight at someone towards the rim.

It’s not that I want to learn to kill, it’s that I want to learn to take a punch, and not get knocked down.

My ex loved two things, scuba diving and capoeira. I used money as an excuse, but it was fear that was the driving force behind my reluctance to embark in those activities. I wrote about my fears here:

I finally went scuba diving and reflected on it here:

I think it’s finally time to invest in learning to fight. Not so that I can be violent and indulge the killer instinct, but so that I know how to subdue it.

Recently, I read Tim Grover’s, “Relentless”, his book about the lessons he learned training Jordan, Wade, Kobe, and all the others who have learned to cultivate and control the “killer instinct”.

Well, it turns out the killer instinct is talked about in Genesis. In fact, the first ever human being born, killed his brother. His name is Cain. Adam and Eve were the first human beings created by God. The first ever human being, the firstborn of Adam and Eve was Cain. And he killed his brother Abel.

Abel gives the first of his flock and his sacrifice is favored by God. Cain gives some of his crop, not necessarily the best - Genesis doesn’t specify - and this might be why his sacrifice is not looked on with favor by God.

And so, in Genesis 4:

“Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast. Then the Lord said to Cain, ‘Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.’”

Then Cain goes and kills his brother. God punishes him saying,

“What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground. Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you.”

The descendants of Cain become the first to make cities, weapons of war, and turn away from the life of the land.

God continues, “You will be a restless wanderer on the earth.”

Then Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is more than I can bear. Today you are driving me from the land, and I will be hidden from your presence; I will be a restless wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.”

But the Lord said to him, “Not so, anyone who kills Cain will suffer vengeance seven times over.” Then the Lord put a mark on Cain so that no one who found him would kill him.

And thus began the cycle of violence which let blood beget blood until Jesus came to take the sin of Man upon Him such that we may be saved and granted peace in the kingdom of Heaven, which is not of this Earth.

If you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.

The killer instinct is not meant to be indulged with murderous violence, it is meant to be mastered.

I had been zoning in the game before, letting every failure bring me closer to the place of not thinking. I was “cooking”, and everyone knew it, but it still wasn’t enough to win. So the next game I tried to go deeper, and something happened, I was tempted with sin and violence.

If you’ve made it this far in this article, I’ll let you in on an intimate secret: the play before I got head-butted in the nose, I heard the thought, “I want blood.”

And the next play I got decked straight in the face, blood dripping down.

The killer instinct was unleashed, and it was up to me to have mastery over it.

I will master it, but only with the sovereignty of king and country behind me, my Lord, Jesus Christ, who reigns over Heaven and Earth, and who wants me above all to repent and Do Better.

Not because he thinks me a wretch undeserving of his mercy and grace, but because He loves me deeply and knows that I can and will Do Better.

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Please consider becoming a paid subscriber so I can continue to learn and pray and tell stories worthy of God’s grace. The latest episode of NPM Has Friends is up and it talks about my relationship with basketball, temptation, and spiritual strength. It’s got some jokes I’m really proud of because they attempt to worship the Lord through the understanding of my failures, foibles, and follies. If sin is “missing the mark”, focusing on God is the best way for me to get as close as possible. Hopefully my jokes are true enough to warrant his favor on my sacrifice, otherwise I will repent and try to Do Better.

Satan is the Enemy of Fun and in the next show we tackle the question, “What is Fun (to you)?”

Get tickets to November 17 here:

Episode 2: "What is Fun?"

Until next time:

Yours Truly,

Nathanael Philip Mosher

AKA The Paraprosdokianist

This is my attempt to grapple with the doubts I have about becoming a Christian comedian.

Tomorrow I’ll post the interview.

Thanks to Justin Simmons, Shon Williams, and Liam Blackburn for their thoughtful responses. Thanks to Tom for helping write the intro and my Mom for dancing along.

I’ll be uploading pieces of the podcast onto Substack, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, and Spotify in culmination of the release of the full.