Unhindered

Unhindered Praise, Unhindered Worship.

There’s something about having that Audience of One mentality that can lead to a worship and praise lifestyle free from being inhibited by the thoughts of others and the issues going on within you. It is something particularly experienced in those intimate times on your own with God where the full range of emotions can come out and you can be as honest as you can with God. That is based on reminding ourselves of the character, covenant and consistency of God, reflecting on His awesomeness.

It is so clear, that true worship by people is often heavily hindered as well as genuine personal expressions of worship are sidelined for a more acceptable form to conform to on what it is thus reinforcing that sense of being hindered in true worship whether that be declarative or contemplative, emotive or reflective. Sometimes it doesn’t need to be expressed through words shouted but through quiet sombre murmurs to oneself. In any case the desired outcome should be the same and that is to experience that intimacy with the Creator and Saviour of all mankind in whom we now have a hope we could never have imagined.

I love those opportunities as they arise and when I see my brothers and sisters so obviously trapped behind a façade of formality, my heart’s desire is for them to join in with that liberty that comes with the Spirit of the Lord. This can often be experienced as we practice the Presence in private and inevitably that which is done in private will bear fruit in public. The refreshing thing about that liberty is that is not for show or public display primarily it remains that unhindered worship and unhindered praise to that Audience of One who is worthy of it.

For His Name's Sake

Shalom

dmcd

And The Rest …

This week through many different encounters and experiences I’ve been reminded about how essential and difficult it is to follow Jesus and Jesus only. There are so many competing issues and factors that can demand so much of us. Some of them normal and understandable factors, others less so, but the similarity between them is that they often compete to take dominance in our lives to the cost of the Lordship of Christ. Realising that we are hid in Christ and when the Father considers us, He considers His Son has a dramatic effect on issues of identity.

My name is Dryden because my dad is Dryden. Many personal characteristics have been inherited from him and concepts of manhood have been heavily influenced by his manhood. I am my dad’s son and carry that with me wherever I go whether conscious of it or not. I am not a facsimile of my dad, but there can be no denying to whom I belong. Once I am reconciled to the heavenly Father my identity is like that of His Son’s – I am His and He is mine. I can refer to Him as Dad on the understanding that I have personal contact with Him as His son. His characteristics slowly become my own (sometimes too slowly, perhaps), His issues slowly become my own and I find my priorities being done in a manner to be pleasing to Him as my Dad.

Previously before connections with the heavenly Dad I was often conflicted on issues of identity. To be fair even after being hooked up again with God as Father I was still not getting who I am and what it meant to be a child of His. In the confusion I fell into pressure – pressure to live up to people’s expectations of me. What was I meant to do and be as a Christian? What does that look like? Whenever those questions are asked formality is easy to fall into – being a Christian is doing this, wearing this, saying this, acting like this. All nice instructions, but without Spirit and intent it can be lifeless forms of godliness with no power behind it. Worse still it can also lead to judgementality based on that image of Christianity.

In actuality the freedom that the Spirit offers is not one of conforming to such rigid formality, but being transformed by the renewing of the mind to actually fit God’s will for how I’m to be shaped by His Word. That’s why His Son was so controversial, because He never came to reinforce the common concepts of formal worship; rather He came to liberate people to engage with the Father in Spirit and truth. That makes the whole identity issue something that is not so rigid, formal and oppressing. It doesn’t relieve you of personal issues and challenges but all of a sudden where there were pressures and conflicts God genuinely offers peace.

I cannot tell you what a joy it is to approach Sabbath every week (although it’s not the first time I’ve spoken of it and it’s worth having a blast from the past with reading what I said all those years ago). I so long to enjoy the rest offered in it as a window of opportunity to embrace what Jesus invited me to when He called me to follow Him. I love the thought of bathing in my identity not being based on what I do, but what He has done and the promise to be fulfilled in the time to come when this corruptible will put on incorruptible.

Hebrews in establishing the supremacy of Christ above all things past, present and future, especially under pressure to conform to the status quo, highlights the hope we look forward to in the rest. I so love Jesus for reinforcing a time to rest in who He is and to do that in community with other brothers and sisters who share such a hope and joy. I so love Jesus for giving us a time to enjoy that rest in Him through the cessation of everyday work and just reflecting that in our engagement with our community and God’s creation. To me observing the Sabbath is not about legalism, but about liberation and I’m just grateful for it.

For His Name's Sake

Shalom

dmcd

So Where Was I?

Here’s an indication of how things have been in 2009.

The first quarter has been crazy. I don’t type straight onto a blog. I tend to do a Word document with the … words … that I’ll put in the blog. So I’ve kept the files of most of the entries I’ve done this year that don’t involve YouTube clips.

First Quarter records – The January folder has 7 files, the February folder has a whopping 19, yes 19 files and March has a creditable 12 files. That’s a good quarter. That’s a healthy set of stuff written for the purpose of the blog in which I can take a great deal of pleasure in being so productive. I like that.

Now compare that to the Second Quarter records – April’s folder with three entries, May’s folder with a paltry 2 files and … I don’t even have a June folder! Thirty-eight files in the first quarter against five in the second quarter. In business they would call that … bad.

It certainly doesn’t reflect my desire to be more prolific in my writing this year, but I can honestly say I had no idea that the personal traumas and upheavals in that second quarter of the year would be so disruptive to my blogging. Funnily enough although it’s been detrimental to my blogging, it’s had the opposite effect to my Twittering and I’ve been merrily tweeting about this that and the other. But there’s tweeting and there’s blogging and there’s a world of difference between the two. Both have their place, both have their uses and I’m glad to have them both. I love Twitter – it’s ace. But my first love and the foundation of all my serious writing is blogging and not just video posting, but blogging like I do here on the home of homes when it comes to blogging.

So it has been necessary that I spend so much time away from blogging here. I’ve missed it greatly, but it was necessary as I hope to be able to share in future posts. That may have been the case in the second quarter of the year, but with the on-set of this third quarter things will hopefully pick up a bit more and you’ll have the benefit of some more blog posts on here as well as a resumption of services on LJN. I’ll have to do both LJN stuff on the Blogger account and Wordpress account while my technical team (i.e. my brother) gets on the job of setting up a proper rss feed so that I can help another brother out with getting info from there.

Lots of notes have still be made in the second quarter and there’s tons of thoughts that I hope to be able to share with you right here as well keeping productive on the sister and brother blogs LJN, AF and StokeCog one. Words are so important for so many purposes and I have a love of them, so it only makes sense that I make the most of that love in sharing that with you as it comes to me, even just as a record and posterity for others to pick up on.

I am back. Don’t know if it will be a first quarter level of consistency or second quarter level of being sparse – I pray it will exceed even the first, but will just look to take things one blog and day at a time. Keep praying for dmcd that I’ll just be the best dmcd that the Father created me to be and that’s more than blogging that’s about a character reflecting the Master.

For His Name's Sake

Shalom

dmcd

Knowing God — A Better Way to Live

This comes at exactly the right time for me! Wonderful stuff matching the knowing to the doing. Enjoy.

For His Name’s Sake
Shalom
dmcd

Precious Memories - David and Nicola's 4 Year Anniversary

With seven days to go before my wife and I celebrate six years of marital bliss (?) my brother only goes and celebrates his marriage publicly thus raising the bar for anything I have to offer. No pressure there then.

For His Name’s Sake
Shalom
dmcd