Confessional Community - In The Bigger Picture

You’re aware that I’ve talked before about confessional community (there was this one, then that one before the other one). It is something that I desperately desire and there have been experiences where I’ve caught a glimpse of what that life might look like. This evening I had the chance to talk with a dear friend of mine about how some of our church experiences actually prevent that level of confession and transparency to take place and how some of the leadership junk we take on board further alienates us from getting the help we so need when the way of Christ actually promoted brotherhood.

I love that honesty and vulnerability not just to satiate the therapeutic side of me, but to really deal with what it will take for Christ to be formed in me. That is a love for someone else to enter their hurt and pain on the understanding that it likewise leaves you open to someone else entering your hurt and pain in a bid for presence and love to help heal that hurt and pain however long it takes.

Today was another one of those highly compressed, potentially mega stressed scenarios. It didn’t all work in my favour and I was frustrated at times and it was so easy to get absorbed in my own problems to the neglect of others. God as ever though stopped that self-indulgent rubbish almost immediately. Another friend of mine came to see me today right in the middle of all the busyness and shared with me how his marriage is on the rocks and he’s currently separated from his wife.

This guy is a Christian. This is a man who has shown a tremendous servant heart in helping others not the least of whom is me. Here is a guy who I know makes every endeavour to follow the path that God has set for him. Yet here he is facing such a heart-rending and painful period. Not only that, rather than hide it in religiosity and busyness, he’s choosing to share the issue with a brother, who himself in going through the wringer albeit in another area of life.

So what are we supposed to do just keep it to ourselves, just muddle through on our own? No. Are we meant to get into a group huddle and sob over our issues as if we’re a self-help group? That’s not what fellowship is about – that’s not what confessional community promotes. Bearing each other’s burdens, confessing our faults one with another is submitting ourselves to each other and to Christ in that effort to leave ourselves open to His mercy and slowly but surely having our characters conformed after His own.

That at times requires challenging each other to holiness as well as compassionately walking with brethren through some very difficult decisions.

I am glad that following Jesus is not about getting the right answers, or having things work out as we would like them. I am glad that following Jesus takes us through valleys as well as mountaintop experiences. I am glad that following Jesus is just as much about living in my weakness and pain as it is about rejoicing in victories.

This song has ministered to me in terms of what our loving Father does and how our anguished cry to Him in those dark nights of the soul has to be for our precious Lord to take our hand and lead us home. Remember my friend in your prayers. Remember me in your prayers as well, so that this amazing love that we experience every day may swell our hearts with a desire for His presence and a passion to see the broken-hearted healed by sharing this amazing love.

For His Name's Sake

Shalom

dmcd

Dealing With Cares: Sing A Song

You know I’ve been mentioning assignments of late, well tonight is a very interesting one as I have to complete another one. I believe it really is the last proper assignment that I’ll have to do for a while, so if I can put in the effort over the next hour or so then I should be fine. Trouble is, I’ve been grappling with it since about 2pm this afternoon and that’s a rather long time to be dealing with an assignment that in other worlds I could polish off in a few hours. Such is the life of a man with a lot on his mind.

So what to do when there’s much on the mind? What to do when you’re in a challenging spot in life? Well sing a song of course! Even thinking about it in the run up to doing this blog piece as an illuminative ad-break from the assignment I chuckled at that whole concept. You’re in a spot of bother so sing a song. The Bible is replete with episodes of that happening. Whether it’s the suggestion of the prophet of God to Jehoshaphat when they were going out to war, or the response of the people in the Exodus on making it through the Red Sea as their enemy was flushed out.

The most outstanding episode that springs to mind is the one with Paul and Silas in Acts 16 who have just had the snot beaten out of them as punishment for upsetting the social order with their scandalous gospel talk. So then whilst locked up and presumably coughing and spluttering from the beatings they have received, what better way to pass the time behind bars than to sing a song or two.

Now I obviously don’t have a clue what they were singing. For most people the highlight is the bit afterwards where the earthquake comes and gives the prisoners a chance to do a runner. The guard wants to kill himself only to have Paul and Silas reassuring him that there’s no break-out today and there a gospel invitation is given and the guard and his family get in the business. That’s worth a big shout out right there and then. That’s great to see.

I’m still stuck on the singing business, though. Now the Praise and Worship fanatics will make a big deal of the usual mantra ‘when the praises go up, the blessings comes down’ and do the spiritual hokey-cokey and turn around because that’s what it’s all about. Sing a song – praise Him and He turns up and everything’s alright.

There are of course elements of truth in this glorious approach to life with God. There is however, something about singing a song that doesn’t just put our spiritual debit card to withdraw a blessing from God. There is something in singing a song that turns the words into the melody of the heart that brings them to life, giving them feeling and power that sometimes on their own would not be possible at all.

What it also engenders is presence. For as many people who have experienced ‘victory’ in praise, there are others who through singing a song endure and keep their hope set in God even when the circumstances continue to look dim only because of the Presence it engenders. It’s almost as though as we sing our hearts are intimately connected with the One who gave us the song in the first place. It’s no longer a matter of ‘getting results’ but it’s a reminder of where our first love rests. Music is surely powerful in evoking those sentiments of the soul and heart.

So it comes to me on this Sunday evening with loads on my plate mentally speaking. No I’ve not been beaten physically and imprisoned, but the last year or so has been rather harrowing on occasion. As things build up to the current day there is a great temptation to become overwhelmed with it all, until someone throws a song my way.

No ordinary song as you can hear, but one that says it is more than understandable to have issues. It is life to have many cares and then to deal with them is to follow the advice of Psalm 55:22, which Pete would repeat later on – throw those cares on God. Literally pick them up and throw them in God’s direction and having done so rest assured (two words that really need to be embedded into our psyche) that God Himself will keep us going. Not only will we keep going, but we won’t fall.

Now on that point I think it’s important to be very clear that the kind of fall I envisage hear is very much like the walking over a cliff fall – as in a fatal fall. God allows slip ups, but He will not let His righteous ones fall (especially from that height). So at this hour with things cracking off left, right and centre, I just sing a song and I am reminded of His wonderful love for me and His presence with me, so that I need not carry my cares at all.

A dear friend of mine gave me those words of assurance that I could let go of all the stuff that I’ve been carrying. He was confirming this verse. I can let go of it all, I can throw it at God’s feet and rest assured of His sustaining work in my life. It will literally be not me carrying myself or keeping myself going by sheer power of my will. It is God keeping me going. That is the reality for my situation. He is sustaining me. He is enabling me to keep on loving my wife and children. He is enabling me to keep up with my responsibilities … like finishing assignments on time. He and He alone is doing this and I am so glad that He is.

For His Name's Sake

Shalom

dmcd

The Neglected Command We Crave

It’s been bugging me for a number of weeks now. I brought it up in a text conversation with my brother a week or so ago. The more I think about it, the more it makes sense.

I am convinced that the most neglected command of the 10 is not about Sabbath, but is rather about coveting. There are laws and movements defending all the other 9 to some extent, but there’s a sparse response to the 10^th. In fact I reckon the only reason why church folk would remember it is because the KJV has reference to a shortened term for the donkey which gets all the chuckles.

I think about it and there’s something on divorce to deal with adultery business. Lying and murder have laws in place against them. There’s still that effect of having a special day (even if it persists in being the wrong one) in the week. Honour for parents still has some level of credibility (sure it’s tarnished, but there’s an argument that suggests its been tarnished since it was enshrined).

Think to yourself, though, what is there for coveting? In fact I’m convinced that society actively promotes coveting. Where do you think consumerism comes from? What you think propels capitalism? Altruistic values of benevolence? Do me a favour! When was the last time you saw a campaign against coveting? When was the last time you used the word covet in a sentence? It’s completely neglected, because it is completely rampant and actually hits the core of who we are as people.

There is a way of seeing it as the natural cyclical point to the first command which is a question of worship – the whole thing, there is a good argument posited, is a statement of worship. It’s a statement of love. Here is God who expresses love by liberating you from slavery. Now it makes sense to show love back by desiring Him and Him alone. That should thus mean there’s no room to desire what your neighbour has. That’s why Jesus would come back and say that the enemy of God in the serving stakes is not the devil but Mammon. It gets back to what apparently Rockefeller said about how much money is enough – more. That covetous spirit that desires more, but not more of God. Indeed what we require more of exposes our hearts to what we treasure above all else.

This brings me neatly into the devotional Deborah and I shared this evening before she retired to sleep. She is a beautiful girl is my Deborah and I enjoy spending these devotional times with her. Abigail had already flaked out from the week’s exertions. She’s done well to make it through, has our Abigail, after a week of roughing it with some puny/weakly displays. Anyway, she’d already said goodbye to the world of awake and so left it to her older sister to keep her end up.

Below is the series of cartoons we watched and prayed about as our devotional. It’s not about its strict biblical accuracy – save that for another day. It’s about the linking of key themes of the Kingdom exemplified in Christ and how that’s about valuing not what my neighbour has, or desperately desiring more stuff, but finding the true treasure in Christ. It’s a poignant issue, because it exposes my heart to just what the fundamental driving values are for me and it asks are my investments heavenly ones? How would I know? Good questions with which to embrace a Sabbath rest that says He is al my sufficiency.

For His Name's Sake

Shalom

dmcd

He Will Be There

The nature of a blog like this is to give room to be fairly frank and open in a way that you wouldn’t get in the regular run of things. So if you are eating, or about to eat or have just eaten you will have to excuse this next word picture. I am somewhat verbally constipated. In fact I really mean there’s so much to release through words and ones especially written that it’s a challenge to be disciplined and stay on track with what is to be shared. So if this one rambles on and on don’t be surprised. Although something tells me that won’t be an issue, still, you have been warned.

So as mentioned, and not for the first time, there is so much I could say at this time about some significant developments in my life that have enormous bearing for life as I live it and those around me. For this season, however, I have to keep things under wraps (although thankfully I get to unload and unleash in prayer and through journaling or note-taking as I prefer to refer to the exercise). I am confident there is a time coming soon where I’ll get to share at least some of what’s been going on for so long. Until then …

One of the scary things about spirituality outside the safety of my confines and upbringing is that God really is bigger than I made Him out to be. He thus pops up in the most surprising places, or maybe they’re just surprising because I’ve not dared to believe God is greater than my small mind. That’s of course very scary because then it means that I no longer have a hold on exclusive truth as I comfortably had because of the doctrinaire that I swallowed as a child and took into adulthood. It doesn’t leave things open to the relativistic, individualistic set up that a pluralist society would want to promote, God isn’t that wild. It keeps me, however, from making cast-iron judgements on all spiritual expressions, and it keeps my eyes more keenly open for where He will express Himself.

So in a move that really surprises me, I’ve only made scant reference in this blog to Michael McDonald (oh but it is a good entry, read it, I think it’s alright). Over in the other place I’ve not been that generous to the brother either. That’s a crying shame. He really is a most gifted singer and songwriter as well as pianist/keyboardist. What I like about the brother is how generous he is in collaborating with other artists on other tracks. He’s sung with the likes of Aretha Franklin, Billy Preston, Christopher Cross and others and he’s just a generous operator – or he appears that way and that’s always important.

One particular collaboration for which he’ll be forever famous is with James Ingram on their 80’s hit Yah Mo Be There. Now I’d heard it before growing up, but didn’t pick up on the lyrics. It sounded alright at that the time, but I never really embedded it into me system. It was another pop song, so just let it go. In the last year or so, especially as I picked up interest in McDonald (not by his farm or fast food franchise) I came across the song again.

With the wonders of YouTube we don’t just have to get the official music video but as you’ll notice we get live versions as well in different contexts. Now this isn’t necessarily the best live version of the track – scoot around for yourself and you’ll probably bump into better renditions. What I like in all of them, though, is Mike’s open reference to the Deity as the one to whom they are referring who will be there.

That puts the whole song on a really interesting slant, because it’s an appeal to people who are slipping in life to reach out and call on God and He will be there. Not just as a spectator in your situation, but to get all biblical on you, a very present HELP in the time of storm. That appeal is made in the light of recognising being in a world where ‘take from each other, and give nothing at all’. How insightful are those lyrics?

I cannot say enough for the truth of this sentiment that God/Yah will be there. In these challenging times for me on so many different aspects of life, He is a very present help. He is right there. He is encouraging and challenging, prompting and stimulating, providing and amazing along the way in a manner that I could never expect even from my best friend. Just when I think I know Him, He surprises me again with another encounter through another situation. He is there. He is not there to necessarily pander to my ‘felt needs’. Nor is He there to boost my self-esteem. He is there to remind me that I am His and He is mine and my identity found in Him is a very safe place for me to be in, whatever storms rock the boat in which I’m doing this life thing.

It can only be – it is only His presence that allows me to have peace and joy in what in other circumstances would be stuff to send people over the edge. Because He is there, because he cares, because He leads, because He chastises, because He challenges, because He remains by my side when even I have given up on myself, that is more than words could ever mean to me.

So as I relax and enjoy this Sabbath evening in the company of a loving wife and two beautiful daughters, the experience of rest is heightened not just because of knowing I’ll have some kip and can chill, but also knowing that the Greatest Company of all is right there with me. That’s good news.

For His Name's Sake

Shalom

dmcd

Messy Genius Necessary? And Happy Birthday Sesame Street

When last I blogged (not that long ago was it) I was sharing about the assignment run that I’m on at the moment and you catch me right in the middle of another assignment, so again this is not going to challenge War and Peace for length in any shape of form whatsoever.

I tend to use these blog breaks as a way to keep the old mental matter ticking, but give it a break from whatever rigours it has undergone in the time previous to it. As a writer I need atmosphere and momentum to get stuff done. Although I can work off inspiration a great deal, I’m not always one who can just sit down and start typing on the given subject matter at hand. Sometimes I need to gear myself up for what I’m about to write and that takes a bit of mental doodling and messing around online or with other documents and electronic stuff knocking about on the laptop on which I work, before that clear zone is seen and I can effortlessly shift into hyper-work gear and get some serious stuff done. It’s how it worked last night when I got that first assignment complete and although it wasn’t perfect, for what was required in the circumstances I was fairly pleased at getting the job done.

At this time I find myself in a similar situation in at least getting the job done in the perspective and context of that which has been asked of me, for that I’m really grateful with the opportunities to set the infrastructure in place for me to have the run that I’ve had tonight in completing the job.

As I mentioned, though, I need to create the environment. That environment is as much an audio one as it is a spatial one. So for example, I’m more than content working in what others call a mess, because my only focus is the writing implement that I’ll be using as the receptacle in which to pour the mind-juice. However the sound has to be right. That’s why I’m not always keen on working in the same room with other people when I’m doing some typing work or the likelihood is I’m going to be distracted. So I have to be alone. Not only that but there has to be a good background stimuli sound. Usually that’s a playlist I’d have set up with the appropriate tunes determined by the subject matter on which I’m writing. Sometimes however a playlist or the range of songs I have doesn’t quite cut the muster and I need a little something different.

Tonight was one of those nights. After a bit of a listless time searching through to discover what would be appropriate I started wandering around YouTube to see if they had anything that would be of interest. I came across this intriguing playlist in the life of Miles Davis. How I am able to do it is something that God Himself knows, but I am able to pay attention to the nature of the documentary whilst still rattling off the words for the assignment which perhaps says something about the assignment as well as the level of commitment I need to get job done. Hey perhaps it also says something about the level of preparation that’s been put into this in the first place.

Anyway, I was mostly troubled by what was being stated about the man’s life. Now these were contributions made by ‘the people who would know him best’. It painted a picture of an undoubted musical pioneer and yeah perhaps a genius. There would be no doubt that his contributions not just to jazz but music as a whole have been breathtaking in how they have mesmerised and spellbound listeners and influenced those who have come behind him to make him the envy of peers. Those are accolades and tributes that many a man would be pleased with.

Yet the brother’s character comes off all wrong. Riddled with addiction issues and evident pride complexes that would sometimes make him as insufferable as it would make him inspirational to others. I know there is the thing about being driven and focussed, but do you really have to bear severe character flaws to be accepted as genius? Do you really have to be that messed up to be the perfect vessel for works that will have the world applauding? Is that the price for fame and a lasting musical/artistic legacy?

Don’t get me wrong I think the whole thing about Christianity is that it works best with people who are only too aware of how messed up they are. The whole humility and meekness deal is dependent on the implicit admission of total inadequacy and a complete competence to mess anything up given our own way. Some of the best Christian biographies are of those with the greatest character flaws and challenges – that’s not the issue. The difference between Miles Davis and Billy Graham to pull a random Christian out of the hat is that the latter was not only in touch with his ‘greatness’ but was more than aware that this was not from him as it were and the appropriate position then was one of humility. Passionate about preaching? Sure. Gifted at communicating that passion to others? Sure. But all the results and anything came from the One who commissioned him, as opposed to some sense as if his genius was inevitable and others should just be privileged to be breathing the same oxygen.

I have no aspirations for greatness as the world defines it. I’m not seeking after the fame and fortune as it were, but I am very much aware of my pride and ability to take the gifts I’ve been given for granted as if I’m just good that way. As a result I am all the more desperate to live off my dependence on God as the one who sustains me and allows any aspect of my gift to emerge, even on something like writing an assignment.

Speaking of which … we shall meet again should the Lord spare our lives.

Oh but before I go, Google were reminding today that today was the 40^th Anniversary of the most important television programme in my developmental years. I’m sure I’ve blogged it before elsewhere, but I’m happy to blog it again. Happy Birthday Sesame Street – now there’s a creation of genius that didn’t require the guy to live off any significant character failings!

For His Name's Sake

Shalom

dmcd