Nathan Daniel Blake
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sevenstorypilgrim.bsky.social
Nathan Daniel Blake
@sevenstorypilgrim.bsky.social
Appalachian writer & post-evangelical wildling. Comforting the troubled & troubling the comfortable. New Monastic Abbot. Aspiring hiker trash. 🌿➕📿

www.storyofndblake.com
Pinned
Okay … let’s give Bluesky a real go.

I’m talking about …

* Post-Evangelical Christianity
* Wilderness as Spiritual Discipline
* Rewilding Christianity
* Theology of Place
* Appalachia
* Liberation Theology
* Practical & Contextual Theology
* Empire vs The Kingdom of God
* New Monasticism
Don Lemon, a journalist, was arrested for a non-violent protest in a church while a masked agent who murdered an unarmed man was whisked away to safety and preserved anonymity.

This is the America we live in.
This is the America of Western Evangelicalism.

Christ haver mercy on us. (+)
January 30, 2026 at 3:29 PM
My top 5 outdoor companies when considering quality, value, ethos, & customer service.

(no particular order & not sponsored)

This is who I use and trust.

Gossamer Gear
Durston
ULA Equipment
Zpacks
Outdoor Vitals
January 30, 2026 at 1:53 PM
I carried my old handle "storyofndblake" for years ... but it began to like it was no longer who I was.

When I created it I wanted to write my story as I saw fit. I was the storyteller and the actor. But I am no longer that man.

So, today, I changed my handle to reflect who and what I've become.
January 29, 2026 at 7:17 PM
Seems to me the only laws we wish scripture to inform are "pelvic sins" which scripture spends significantly less time talking about than matters concerning the way we systematically oppress & "other" individuals & groups for our own gain & feelings of self-righteousness.

via @brcremer.bsky.social
January 29, 2026 at 3:06 PM
The issue I have with the church is the same the Celtic monastics had with Rome. I want the connection. I want the theological history. I even want accountability.

But I'm not willing to sign a spiritual blank check to an institution that has historically desired compliance over contemplation.
January 27, 2026 at 9:02 PM
Peaceful, prayerful protests are now cause for arrest. This is ACTUALLY religious persecution if you're someone on the right who likes to claim persecution for getting pushback on your ideas.

Real persecution means arrest and oppression of your religious practices by the ruling political empire.
As clergy pray, arrests begin
January 23, 2026 at 6:56 PM
If any of you cause one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for you if a great millstone were fastened around your neck and you were drowned in the depth of the sea. (Matt 18:6)

If you feel that a misinterpretation, look up how early childhood trauma works.
January 22, 2026 at 7:36 PM
God never asked us to prove God exists.

What God asks us to do from the beginning is to forego our own ideas of rightness by participating in the divine nature.

I wonder if our obsession with apologetics are just another form of ego rebellion -- a way to keep our selves at the center.
January 22, 2026 at 1:23 PM
If you believe the prophetic voice of the church should be leveled at those outside of its walls more-so than those finding their home within, then we need to sit down & chat because I'm not sure we're reading the same scriptures.

To not hold the church to account flies is to lose our witness.
January 20, 2026 at 5:03 PM
Battling the symptoms we're currently facing in the US is important work.

Battling the systemic spiritual causes that led to these symptoms is even more important.

Until we face & cut out the root pursuit of wealth & power at any cost within our national DNA, we'll never be a free country.
January 20, 2026 at 1:54 PM
There is no way to turn the Gospel of Jesus Christ into an oppressor of any sort and remain faithful to its teachings of liberation, redemption, and victory over sin, death, and a spirit of empire (Antichrist).

None. Zero. Full Stop.
January 19, 2026 at 2:05 PM
Some of you Gen Xers and elder Millennials didn’t listen to enough Ice Cube, Rage Against the Machine, Pearl Jam, or Johnny Cash, and it’s showing in the taste of boot leather on your breath.
January 18, 2026 at 11:17 PM
Let's normalize listening to albums again instead of playlists.

Today, I'm starting my morning off with The Gorillaz eponymously named debut album from 2001.

open.spotify.com/album/0YvYmL...
Gorillaz
Gorillaz · Album · 2001 · 18 songs
open.spotify.com
August 18, 2025 at 12:09 PM
What would it look like for the Church to confront the daily injustices in our world while also reclaiming its role as prophet & pastor in the valleys of dry bones that produced these dark days in the first place?

We have to avoid the trap of treating only the symptoms of the sickness.
August 3, 2025 at 2:27 PM
From a scriptural point of view, an argument can be made that using people as props as you write your own story is one of the most egregious things we can do in the eyes of God.
August 3, 2025 at 12:42 PM
If your country is funding policies that end with children holding empty pots and dishes through a fence hoping for some rice or stew, you’re NOT on the right side of history.
July 23, 2025 at 3:03 PM
So, how many of you went back to Twitter eventually because engagement was abysmal everywhere else?
July 23, 2025 at 2:13 PM
Modernity taught us to eschew the mystery in exchange for scientific methods.

You can’t find the beauty of birdsong by dissecting the bird.
July 23, 2025 at 1:18 PM
The blog drop from last week: Being Clothed in Christ

www.storyofndblake.com/p/the-24-rhy...
The 24 Rhythms of Hearth & Hinterland: Being Clothed in Christ
Words on Presence, Leadership, & Dying Well While You Can Still Live
www.storyofndblake.com
July 21, 2025 at 2:15 PM
I’ve taken to wearing suspenders. I think they are superior to belts in every way except when you want to wear a shirt untucked.

My wife said, “Oh man, you’re firmly entering your old man phase.”

But I ask you, what gives more elderly vibes … suspenders or moo-moos?
July 20, 2025 at 12:17 PM
Generational “sin” is actually generational trauma.

A rose by any name still has thorns.

Talk amongst yourselves.
July 8, 2025 at 1:25 PM
Side note: I put suspenders on this morning with my dress clothes, and I’ve never felt more confident.

Take that pants. You’re not going nowhere!
July 7, 2025 at 1:19 PM
History is going to condemn to our generation. They will look at the data and wonder how we ever got here, and why we stood by complicity and watched it happen.

There's a chance we will be judged more harshly than Nazi Germany. I don't believe we're there yet, but we're pacing ahead of the curve.
July 4, 2025 at 5:05 AM
Man, I’ve really neglected this space. When engagement drops, it takes all the fun out of it.

But I keep collecting followers somehow, so maybe it’s time to spend more time here.

Are my post-evangelical, parish-focused, new monastic friends still here?
July 2, 2025 at 5:35 PM
The irony of what is happening in LA, the makeup of ICE as far right extremists, and the reaction of the population is that THIS is the true meaning of “Don’t Tread on Me”.

No flag needed.
June 8, 2025 at 2:58 PM