1. I’m alive, and I could die any day now. My mom died when I was four, so death is a reality I’ve thought about a lot, and still think about every day. Every moment is a precious, not promised.

2. There are lots of people living without Jesus. Not only do they lack true peace in this life, they will be spending the next life in eternity.

3. People in our world are suffering. People have HIV/AIDS, they are being traded as slaves, they are addicted to drugs, they are living without homes, without water, without clothes.

4. Some people are dying because of their faith in Jesus. That could be me, if I were born in another place. More importantly, would it be me, if I had to live under that kind of pressure, that kind of sacrifice?

So excuse me if your space in heaven is certain and I happen to hurt your feelings because I haven’t the desire to waste time navigating your insecurities, catering to your ego, or telling you what you want to hear.

I know this is harsh. I know this isn’t a license to trample people’s feelings in a firestorm of false zeal that is really just self righteousness. It’s not a blank check to say whatever I want. When I hurt some one’s feelings I want to know about it, and most of the time I genuinely feel regret and change so that it doesn’t happen again.

However, there is a sense of urgency I constantly feel, and this leads me to fits of intensity and passion.