Back For Good (No, Not A Take That Tribute)

Right off the bat I have to admit that I’m being a bit naughty with the heading of this post. One thingthe last three months have taught me again and again is that it doesn’t matter how much I believe certain things are permanent and unmoveable, as long as I live there will be no such thing other than the enduring faithfulness of God. I would love to believe that this blogging deal is back on and will stay for the long term, but I know that won’t be the case and won’t bank on it.

I can say, that the idea was still to blog regularly. I remember at the outset of the year being really keen ongetting a blog entry out every day – it was a realistic goal and it still is, but even the best laid goals countfor little if they clash with life issues. I didn’t breakdown when the streak ended, there were perfectly reasonable explanations for the loss which I could go into, but it’s not worth it other than to say a criminal activity took place of which I was the victim and it ended with no one hurt and eventually here I am back online again.

The sporadic blogging was painful for me in the sense that I’ve grown accustomed to at least having this as an avenue to express whatever there was to express and without it and the daily regime of writing andbeing disciplined to put together what was there. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn’t, some stuff was good, some stuff wasn’t, but it was there and for those high points it was worth it. Yeah there’s an element of an audience that’s important, but even that has to be taken with a pinch of salt in comparison to the importance of ensuring that what is produced is the best of what I can produce to the only audiencethat matters.

So what I mean by the title of this blog is not that I’m not back for ever and there’s nothing that is goingto get in my way of posting regularly. Rather it means I’m back for the point of posting good stuff onthis blog. That is the good that I’m back for. I do hope to pick up the level of regularity that summed up earlier this year, but even more than that I’m in it to make sure whatever is on here is classed as good.

There is a lot to catch up on, there are a lot of things I have been thinking and acting out and there are still things occupying my thoughts that I’m eager to write about to get the internal conversation out there. Someof it is about spiritual/churchy/Jesus related stuff and there are off-shoots of that regarding implications forkey relationships, personal vocation, attitudes to politics and the rest.

For example as with some of the stuff that was written earlier this year, I’m still considering some of thebasics. It would be easy to take some stuff for granted, but I have three daughters that I am responsiblefor in terms of their upbringing. Now a lot of that isn’t about verbal communication but the example theysee and the way of integrity in which my fundamental motivating forces of life are expressed. I have to explain to these girls about God, Jesus, the Bible, church, relationships, family, love and righteousness (yeah, Deborah can say that word like a pro now … almost, just got to get Abigail into it). I cannot afford to take things for granted in the hope that they will not grow up to do so.

It’s good to have to go back and recount again why I believe what I believe and exactly what that is – evenif I’m not 100% sure, even if it is not convincing, even if it leaves more questions than answers. It’s good,and if the girls are anything like their father then I’m sure they’ll explore these things further as they lookto live out what will be a faith of their own should they choose to accept the divine relationship.

It is an interesting juncture to be exploring these issues with the flux that I’m going through, but it is no less important and the findings that I am reaching and living out. Hopefully the entries in the blog will reflect that as with all the other aspects that comprise life with the man CD. In the meantime, thanks for your patience and here’s to some more entries – for good!

For His Name’s Sake

Shalom

dmcd

Just and Only

I am still on an enforced sabbatical from blogging and am slipping this one through the net by means of good resources.  I am hopeful that this enforced sabbatical will come to a close sooner rather than later, but I cannot say when that will be and just ask that you continue to hold on for the change that should come.  I’ll explain more as and when time allows.

Meanwhile what has motivated this little missive is the amazing way God teaches lessons through life experiences and the particular lesson learnt was about how focus on God and His instructions can save heartache and headache.  The imagery used to help with this lesson is of that of the crowded living room.

The typical home in my part of the world tends to have among other places what I term a living room where much of the recreational (indoor obviously) and communal activities take place.  In our case we only have one TV and it is located in the living room.  It is here that we will entertain guests in a relaxed setting and it is here every Friday evening that I enjoy nothing better than to relax in the company of my dear family.

So in this room there is enough space for a certain amount of people to converse and congregate.  Once that space is eaten up with too many people – by allowing too many people in the room – then things get congested, noisy, uncomfortable and an all round nuisance.  This is more often than not because more people are in the room than should be and the extras are usually uninvited and non-requested add-ons who have been allowed in out of courtesy but actually make no positive contribution to the space. 

Accommodating all becomes virtually impossible and instead there is a headache and heartache about how to deal with the claustrophobic pandemonium that is about to break out.  Sure, it would be nice if people took the hint and left because of the cramped space, but these people want to have their desires met whether it’s a casual conversation or a tearful confession.  All well and good for them, but far too much for the individual.

What happens to alleviate this is the stark action of clearing out those who are uninvited and unwelcome – once these negative, time-wasting, energy-draining influences are removed all of a sudden there is space and room to breathe and enjoy the company of the room and the people.  Tensions ease and peace remains because the focus has allowed things to settle.

What this has to do with life is that recently there have been a number of potentially upsetting and distracting incidents that have been designed to get me to lose my peace.  Some are so nonsensical, others are rather more serious but yet inexplicably mishandled by others.  What they all have in common is that I engage with someone else and the things blow up out of all proportion. 

So, for example, I enter into a conversation with someone to resolve an issue that is pressing and important.  My desire is singular and straightforward, and yet the other individual rather than listening and understanding comes in with all other kinds of arguments along specious and irrelevant lines trying to shift from the singular theme that I’m pressing home that is still very much in their favour.  Their other arguments are very much like the undesirables in the living room.  They endeavour to take up time, space and energy for no good whatsoever.  If I’m not careful I can get dragged down by all that and miss the point. 

Thankfully on that occasion, rather than get bogged down in it all, I was able to settle the bottom line with the other person and although they were still rankled, I left with peace because I did not allow the other irrelevant elements to distract me from the best outcome to the conversation.

This is where the just and only bit comes into it.  Life is complex enough.  When we can establish the line that we just need to take and only that line then it offers a focus that can give us a guide whenever we’re in danger of being distracted.  I am just doing this and I will only do this.  Like a follower of Jesus – I am just following Jesus and I am only following Jesus.  Regardless of other agendas that people might want to pursue, I know that these will only waste time, space and energy – I have none to waste – so that single mind and focus establishes a great deal of peace in an often turbulent and confusing situation. 

That is not to say there is no room for flexibility and being quick to discern when another path has to be taken or an important alternative comes to light.  It is to say that getting that focus right – what is the ‘only’, what is the ‘just’ – isn’t negatively limiting and restricting, rather it is liberating and fulfilling.  It is like the verse that says God keeps them in perfect peace whose minds are stayed on Him because they trust Him – the deal is that focus and singular focus prevents any undesirables from causing significant heartache and headache.

Just wanted to say that – and only that!  (Hope to be back soon.)

For His Name’s Sake

Shalom

dmcd

David – A Man After God’s Heart

Yeah I know what you might be thinking: how can I possibly apply such a great biblical characteristic of a great biblical character to my brother?  Read on and you’ll see where I’m coming from.

Today my brother celebrates 32 years on planet earth.  Of course at this point I enjoy pointing out that for the next month, week and a day we will share the same age – 32.  I think that’s really cool and every year during that period I refer to him as my co-bro – cos we’re not twins yet we’re together for the same age.  It tickles me pink.

Anyway, David is the most important man in my life.  My Dad is very precious, I admire him greatly and still now look up to him as my role model for manhood especially in terms of maturity, responsibility and consistency.  Yet for all that David just edges it in terms of important men in my life.  I’ll tell you why.

But first, growing up David and I had an interesting relationship dynamic when we were growing up in the same home.  With us being so close in age I never got the impression that he ‘looked up’ to me as his older brother.  He has come across as a person more than content to go his own direction.  Although there are elements of conformity about him, there is a greater streak of almost a stubbornness that refuses to compromise his essential burning quest for truth.  More than anyone else in our home, David has taken on board a heart for God – a pursuit after the heart and understanding of who God is and how that affects his life.  That pursuit has lead to a great divergence in theological thought between us as brothers, but I do not doubt for a minute the sincerity and conviction of his actions.  This is what makes him so remarkable.  His conformist tendency could not overwhelm his commitment to truth.

That already leaves him at the tender age of 32 as a decent role model already of a genuine humble and meek pursuit of godly character.  Only too willing to acknowledge most of his faults and forever seeking that place where he belongs and to become all that he is to be not in a physical sense but in his relationship with God and others.

Unsurprisingly it is a pleasure and a privilege to be his brother.  After so many years I acknowledge us as co-bros because he’s my equal, not so much my younger.  There is enough for me to look up to in his character and the way he has gone about ordering and living his life is a real credit to his devotion to God and his respect for the family from which he comes.  I’m sure Dad would be immensely pleased with the son he has in David as I know the rest of his family admire, appreciate and love him dearly and deeply for the great friend, son, brother and companion he is.

Unlike his brother, David is not likely to get a swell-head, so I can say these things and he knows the heart from which they come and even this does not begin to explain what an extraordinary man my brother is.  My heart’s desire for him as he proceeds in this 33^rd year of living is to intensify further his pursuit for the heart of God and for him to experience further the blessings that await in that pursuit.

For His Name’s Sake

Shalom

dmcd

Where He’s Coming From – All Glory

So it’s my brother’s 32nd birthday today and it’s an honour and pleasure to celebrate such a significant step in his life’s journey.  It’s also fitting to start his day with something he put together himself – as in wrote the song, performed the instruments, sang all the parts and compiled, edited and produced the video.  Not bad is he really. (He makes me sick … hold on still typing, got to remember to keep private thoughts out of these things!)

Enjoy a sample of his talents and there’s more of a tribute coming later.

For His Name’s Sake

Shalom

dmcd

Psalm 142

The Psalms are usually set to music and we don’t have the music notes to hand, which is why I love it when people actually do that themselves, especially when it works like a treat.  In preparation for my brother’s birthday tomorrow, it’s definitely worth taking this in – to me it is a remarkably touching and passionately written song to the words that his biblical namesake recorded for our benefit.  I’m a big fan of my brother’s work and not just because he’s my brother, but I genuinely hear and witness a creative genius at work and it’s a privilege to get to take this in and allow it to minister to me.

If you have been in a similar situation of seeming as though the odds you face are greater than you and you need to cry out to God, read the Psalm for yourself and then listen to this rendition and realise above everything else that however dark the day, when you cry out in the darkness, the light can break through however small the slither and in the meantime the hope and knowledge that He is on hand to deliver is a comfort and strength where there appears to be none.

For His Name’s Sake

Shalom

dmcd

Ledisi – Thank You

Yeah I know I’ve done this song before, but it’s worth doing again, cos I like it and it is a different singer singing it, so there!

For His Name’s Sake

Shalom

dmcd