Monday, June 18, 2007

ibible

OK I've gotta say at the outset since I moved to Stoke-on-Trent seven and a half years ago my understanding of who God is and what Christianity is has changed a great deal. Views that I would not have entertained I now consider carefully and others that I would have embraced warmly I would not consider with all the money in Bill Gates' account.

Not everything I slap on a blog or link I necessarily agree with 100%. Sometimes I slap it on or distribute it by e-mail because it's thought provoking.

That's more the case with this one. I don't usually go in for doing more YouTube posts than straight texts and images, but when I saw this one I thought it would be good to slap on for effect.

Having said that, it wouldn't surprise me in the least if something along these lines is either going to come out (you never know when it comes to Apple and those Mac people) or is out already.

In any case - enjoy

Favorite Bible Stories Part Two

OK starting off by apologising for the Chaka vid not working. That's cos the good people at YouTube have taken off the guy who put it on originally. Hopefully they won't do the same with this hombre especially as it's original material. This crew really know what they're up to and I love this one in particular, especially the way the guy talks about Gideon being the original Chuck Norris - yeah, ace. People should be making those links with stuff they read in the bible, especially as it makes it what it is - a real life action drama book.

Enjoy

Friday, June 15, 2007

Thank God For ... Married Life

Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, (Eph. 3:20)

Ephesians 3:20 is often used way out of context to justify the kind of ‘God as Tescos’ mentality of consumer Christianity. Thankfully Authrine is a living testimony of how God did exceedingly above all that I asked or thought. I have a joke of God’s ways being better than mine in a number of different ways and the selection of the wife is one of them.

In 1999 I helped out my good friend Ruth Harris with an academic assignment and in thanks she and her husband, another good friend Reuben, took me out to dinner. I recall that the night was good for food – especially as they were paying and it was particularly good for the company as Ruth and Reuben make for good dinner company. Among the various conversation pieces that made the night so memorable came the issue of marriage. Now I’ve always felt kind of awkward when it came to that subject as I have when it came to women in general anyway. Awkward because as an outsider – despite being accepted in various circles – I didn’t feel that I belonged to a group to feel confident about developing relationships with women with a purpose beyond casual friendship. What also didn’t help was the lack of options open to me.

So when asked about the qualities of my wife, I went into surface mode mostly paying glib attention to same faith and preferably same church. I then outlined what I thought would be a good wife for me. She would have to be younger, for sure, maybe 5 years younger just so that we both knew who the man was. She would definitely need to be well blessed in the breast department (might as well be real with my friends, eh?). Most importantly of all she could not be Jamaican. No chance. No way on God’s green earth was I marrying a Jamaican woman. Can you imagine the trauma of dealing with someone with an attitude like that – the mouth, the pride, the stubbornness, the headaches … no chance. I’d be better off taking my chances with at least an anglicised black woman – if she had to be black, cos I wasn’t too bothered about that either.

Unbeknownst to me, my mother was serious about praying for her son, for she was seriously concerned that her son would bring home a white girl (God alone knows the heart attack she may have suffered had I introduced a lady of Oriental or Indian look – hey forgive her, I’m sure there’s issues that we’d confess to being far from God’s ideal).

It was barely four months after that dinner where Christopher Dryden’s unmovable statutes concerning the future Mrs Christopher Dryden were outlined. Now in Stoke-on-Trent God introduced Authrine to me and it was not a case of love at first sight, but I was definitely interested in developing a friendship with this woman. As that friendship grew I became aware of a heartache for her that lead me to want to see the very best for her. The characteristics of my wife were indeed beyond all that I ever thought about in a wife – which is something when you consider the kind of thinker that I am.

She’s such a spiritually sensitive aware woman, who is a hard worker and industrious to the maximum. She’s dogged and diligent in a given task and is loyalty incarnated. Such is her integrity and honesty that it has appealed to people wherever she’s gone and her character is so infectious you have to be strong to ignore her. She compliments me well in so many areas and I know that God has given me someone for whom I am so grateful it brings me to tears.

Our married life for these four years has been tumultuous and has allowed me to realise things about myself that I could never have known otherwise. I’ve experienced depths of despair and depression I never thought possible, I’ve done things that I regret bitterly and caused more pain to this woman of God than really should be allowed. Yet God has seen it fit to develop in this woman a heart of grace, love, care and tenacious devotion at the very least to the covenant she has made with God to be with this man. Now of course there are the small issues of the fact that she’s seven years older than me, is not necessarily the buxom babe I had envisaged and actually didn’t come from the same church as my own which definitely came with serious challenges of their own. Then of course there's the issue of her being Jamaican - if that doesn't show God has a sense of humour, I don't know what does. (By the way it doesn't mean I was wrong on everything when it comes to Jamaican women! There goes my invite to Jamaica.) In spite of all this God has indeed shown me how the power that works within me can grant me a lot more than even my thoughts could conceive and I would have it no other way as I am satisfied with the bride of my life sent from the Father Himself.

So I give God thanks for my wife – the supreme queen the one Authrine.

For His Name Sake
Shalom
da man cd

Sunday, June 10, 2007

Chaka - Night In Tunisia - and other notes

There are cetain clips on YouTube that I watch over and over and over again because they're just brilliant. This is on of them. The music is for me the best version of the track I've heard and there are at least three of them on the site and I've heard a couple of them in audio as well.

There's something about the freedom of jazz that I find appealing and if you watch this live set there's no sense of being stuck in a straitjacket. Love this track, the solos are great, don't ignore the drummer enjoying himself at around 6:45.

You could argue that a selection like this belongs in Among Friends - but tough!

Look out for a report of a recent escapade on a blog near you!

Thursday, June 07, 2007

Andrae Crouch - Perfect Peace

Remind me to tell you about my family upbringing when it came to Andrae Crouch. It really is a fascinating story. Needless to say, this isn't actually Andrae Crouch. They are not even his official back-up singers. Despite all this they do a brilliant job covering this 70's gospel classic.

One of the reasons why I slap this up today is because of the abundant assurance I get every time I hear and watch it. My life at times can be very busy with stuff and it's easy to get caught up in decisions and issues and forget the important things in life - like the eternal values of knowing God. So it's great to be reminded of the Word of God in such a groovy, funky way. Not only is my spirit calmed and refocussed on the God who actually cares about my issues and is available to keep me whole during it, but I can also bob me head to the track as well.

And this is a really cool rendition of the track. Really cool - give it a chance!

God's Gift For You - Knowledge


Sunday, June 03, 2007

Blame It On The Sun - Jose Feliciano

I set myself the unenviable task of seeing if I can get the text written to these YouTube blog entries while the track itself is playing, so here goes another challenge.

It was thanks to YouTube that I came across this dude Jose Feliciano who undoubtedly has immense talent in singing and playing. The fact that like Stevie he's blind makes it all the more remarkable.

This particular track holds some bittersweet memories for me and it's just to say that whatever you say about relationships the first place to start in any breakdown is the self. I remember sitting in on a conversation where one party was listing the many faults of their friend which brought an end to the friendship. As I sat listening it made me sad to see someone going to great lengths to appear to be the hurt party when the reality was apparent that their lack of taking responsibility for their actions could have been just as crucial to the breakdown.

I don't want to blame others for things first before clearing myself of akk areas where I'm at fault. As my heart will usually blame it on me anyhow.

Friday, June 01, 2007

MLK - For The Last Time

I reckon MLK is overrated. Yeah I know that's a heavy statement, but I really believe that the guy never went in for all of this - all the acclaim. I reckon he just wanted to contribute to justice. So don't get me wrong, his efforts for real justice, not just civil rights, are rightfully documented in history. Yet he himself is not as lauded as the publicity would suggest.

For all that, though, he was a great orator and shared with his audience the whole point of living - and that's to live for each other to experience real freedom and real justice.

That's just my opinion.

As you cogitate take in bits of his brilliant last speech before his fatal ending.

Sleep well MLK.

You're Missing Out

There's more to my blogging life than just this, if you want to be among friends, check this particular link out!


You may wonder what's the point in having two. Well it's one where I'm looking for others to contribute and chip in whatever they have to offer. I could easily just do something to link to other groovy stuff I see online, which as you'll notice I've already started doing. As well as that it's a site where I can let my hair down ... what's left of it. Not to say this isn't a relaxed blog ... just that ... well ... just check it!


For His Name's Sake

Shalom

da man cd