When I'm In A Funk In The Twilight Zone

As I’m appreciating all the more, life is not about what we want and desire at any given time. I am appreciating that it is about flexing around the needs of others and being sensitive to the responsibility that vocation brings about in your life. So even when you don’t have your own ICT equipment, the world does not stop turning, your pregnant wife does not stop requiring your love and devotion, your children do not stop needing your paternal attention and care, your workplace does not stop requiring your services for the people that live and work there. Life goes on.

Ideally, left up to me, I’d be at me own home this evening merrily typing away at some inspiration that I’d want to turn into something or other, whilst listening to quality music and also having the girls scampering around to the music. We don’t live in an ideal world and as people know at such a crazy period as moving, the interim period can be a bind. So I find myself in that crazy twilight zone of having moved to Salford already – the vast majority of the earthly possessions of Christopher Dryden are now there. Yet my time at work in Stoke has not yet ended. So mentally, emotionally and in every other way I’m already up there busy thinking about to sort things out for the next step. Physically though I’m still here. Tough life, but someone’s got to live it because the pregnant wife, the children, the workplace, etc. don’t stop even if I want to!

Something that provides encouragement and motivation in this limbo period is good company. I’m blessed to have a Saviour who doesn’t just save to fly away, but saves and then settles within and through the Comforter I am not alone in limbo. So He keeps me going with promptings of opening up things that I didn’t see before when I considered even the most basic scriptures. For example did you know that the end of Genesis 2 defies the most basic thing we learn in mathematics? The implications of that are greater than just a maths quandary. Not only things like that, but he also gives me an insight into the kind of fun things that are ahead even if it would be challenging.

Good company takes you out of the funk you maybe in and keeps your eyes on the prize – that prize is the high calling in Christ, that prize is eternity with Him – no more moving, thank God!

For His Name’s Sake
Shalom
dmcd

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

He's My Brother

Today my only biological brother celebrated his 31^st birthday. David joins my father and I in not being that much bothered about birthday celebrations. Then again the whole point about these things is that you don’t have to be bothered when other people will be bothered for you. When it comes to being bothered about David Dryden I make a habit of it.

I trust my brother. I implicitly trust him in a way that I trust no other human being with the exception of my wife. I trust my brother like I trust no other man including my own dad. When everyone else gave up on me, my brother never gave up on me. When everyone else misunderstood me, my brother stuck around and even when it was a case of others not wanting to stick around, he stuck up for me like no other person has ever stuck up for me. The Bible suggests that faithful are the wounds of a friend and my brother has been faithful in challenging my beliefs, deflating my ego and on occasion giving me some hard home truths.

There was a point in which I hoped he and his beautiful wife Nicola would stay with me in the area. It is a point of how highly I regard him that I desperately wanted that to be the case. As it happened it worked out for the best that he chose to remain in Milton Keynes as it has meant I’ve had the opportunity to enjoy many great weekends down his yard and seeing what it is to enjoy the Sabbath rest, have wonderful warn relaxed fellowship and good food.

David as a brother has been brilliant this year in the understated ways as well. This year has been crucial for him to grow up and he’s risen well to the challenge. It is the greatest joy to know he’s made it being a father. The devotions he has and the undoubted love he has for his wife and his son are a quality trait to be admired by most men and I’m glad he’s not made some of the elemental early mistakes that I made in a similar position.

My brother remains a man of integrity committed to the truth at any cost especially on himself. He’s been willing to walk in places that few would dare to tread on the basis of his conviction of his beliefs. He’s taken that road alone at times, but he has shown incredible strength of character to not only persist in the area but also to gain strength and wisdom from it.

It is his character development over recent years that have been particularly pleasing to me. His skill and talent were never in question, but his priority of character over theses has allowed him to pay some costly prices in this regard. That bravery is something I hope will be a hallmark of his son and others. I pray that his circle of influence will indeed continued to be impressed by his character.

David faces some hard days ahead and I’m sure wouldn’t say no to prayers for him and his family, yet I remain confident in God that my brother will walk through these challenges with a great commitment to the truth and expression of it in his daily life. I know I continue to appreciate his advice and words of wisdom that remind me of what it’s all about. I know these will be entrenched even further because of his choosing his path of righteousness.

He’s a great friend to me and means far more than flesh and blood. I trust he will go from success to success in every aspect of his life. He ain’t heavy …

For His Name's Sake

Shalom

dmcd

Getting By With A Little Help ...

Well here we go, This is a bit unusual, but here I am blogging at this time of day and it made a whole heap of sense to do it.

I’ve noted on maybe a few occasions that my tendency is to be a bit of a loner. It is nothing to me to be in my own company carrying along merrily with whatever task I set my mind to – reading a book, watching a movie, writing a blog, studying me Bible, whatever. My own company is brilliant – solitude has not really been an issue to me.

Yet over the years the value of relationships, companionships, friendship, fellowship and all the other ships in the same company have come to the fore and I enjoy being able to call someone, email someone or even that quaint notion of sitting down and face to face sharing with someone. I love it. This has even contributed to the number of personal tributes I’ve made to special people in my life from my darling wife to my dear friend (you didn’t think I forgot that trip did you?) Mavia.

The growing realisation is as well that I am the product of other people. I have aspects of me that are unique and God-given and the like, but for the large part I’m a result of the impact of other people. The book that influences me is the mind of another person. The food that gives me satisfaction how mechanised the process is still the labour of love of another person. The television programmes and web-sites are obviously the product of another person. I am indeed not a rock or an island by myself It would be the height of being foolhardy to discount just how many people have made me who I am today.

So in reflecting on that I came across this familiar song and thought it appropriate once more the celebrate good friends and the blessing that God has given me in being a relational being to realise that I get by with a little help from my friends. There is of course a friend who sticks closer than a brother, so in that case I’m also indebted to the enormous help that has got me by from Jesus.

For His Name's Sake

Shalom

dmcd

What's Really Important

Do you ever ask yourself what’s really important? Do you ever answer yourself by a changed life – not drastically, but noticeably? Do you catch up on yourself when you said you would do something, or be somewhere and then find that you’ve wandered far from that goal, despite still having a desire to achieve that goal?

It’s fine if you don’t ask those questions or engage in that sort of inner-monologue, we’re not all meant to be that reflective, for some people it’s too much to deal with. I am intrigued by how many people I know have an active life that keeps them busy so that they don’t ever stop to consider these things. They are irrepressible in their zeal to get the job done, whatever it is. Their energy makes them almost indefatigable in their conquest. Yet when life happens as it invariably does with those things that arrest us all of a sudden we’re not prepared to answer those issues, yet have to be forced to develop the capacity to do so or face a miserable time looking to avoid it.

Stuff happens in life that allows me to recognise how attached I am to material things. It is a bit like the songwriter suggests in the inimitable voice of Joni Mitchell – you don’t know what you’ve got til it’s gone. As you may note, I enjoy the pleasures of being able to write and save stuff and publish it online. I love that whole thing and have been tremendously blessed with the resources I’ve gained online whether it’s audio works or pdf files on interesting subjects.

I have thus invested a considerable amount of time on this here ICT equipment and a considerable amount of my creativity and energy. As with anything of this nature, that means the stuff becomes valuable because I’ve invested myself in it. Unsurprisingly hard-drives and computers have become very important to me. Yeah, take me telly. Take me Skybox, take some of my books and other than that there really is not many earthly materials that I have to my name. Touch my hard-drive, though and that becomes an issue. I’m making progress in this area.

I remember not so long ago a friend of mine sought to help me out with some difficulties I was having with my hard-drive and subsequently went and got the thing irreparably damaged. It was like a death in the family. It was as though someone had ripped my heart out because all that time and effort that I had saved and deposited on that hard-drive was just gone. Now that to me was more valuable than money, than jewels, etc. it was me that was gone – or a large part of it.

Sadly that’s not the only time hard-drives have failed me for one reason or another. Yet with each time, it’s as though I’m given a reminder of that question I asked at the top – what is really important in life? What could I not live without?

My friends mean a lot to me, I so appreciate their company and companionship. I remember asking God for friends and now recalling the ones I get to engage with, I’m really grateful for them. Yet I could live without them (not that I’d want to but you get my drift). My daughters are incredibly precious to me, but one day soon as they get older I appreciate there will come a time when they will fly away and have families of their own. Even my wife, herself, the very heart-beat of our family and love of my life has a death contract on her – no it’s not a serious threat by the Mafia, it is the inevitability that we are all destined to die. So I’ve learnt and am learning, whenever I forget and get hung up on things, that the things that are important are the things that last forever. Values of love, peace, justice, hope and faith. More importantly relationships that last forever – the source of all that I enjoy and respect.

My friends and family are vitally important, I know however that when they fail and when hard-drives pass away, the love of Jesus lasts for ever. Now it’s the tricky thing of shaping and moulding my life around that conviction. God help me.

For His Name's Sake

Shalom

dmcd

On This Special Day

I first met Andy Kind in 2007. He was developing his craft as a stand-up comedian and he also happened to be a Christian as well. My boss at work linked us together with the thought that perhaps Andy could do some workshops. It turned out to be one of the best things that’s happened in the time that I’ve been at the YMCA. Not only did Andy do the workshops, he also put on monthly trips to the Frog and Bucket up in Manchester on a free night where they did the Beat the Frog competition.

These acts of kindness I was to discover later were very much like the offer Jesus gives to invite those who won’t be able to pay you back to banquets and feasts. Andy in his way was giving people who would never pay him back an insight into some much loved experiences and occasions. Typical of Andy, though, he never acknowledged even this as he was working out his Christianity slowly but surely. He definitely didn’t set himself up as the standard by which all believers should be met. In that sense Andy typified the quality of humility – not thinking of himself higher than he ought. This is quite a feat for Andy …

Over time working on various projects and get-togethers, Andy turned out to be a really good friend. I enjoyed spending time in his company. You know how it is with a comedian you can easily fall into the expectation that everything they say must be funny, or you have to be funny to show him how you can be just as good as him, or maybe in the hope that he’ll say those magical words “That’s really funny, I think I’ll use that in my next set”. Getting over this, though, I felt Andy and I were able to relate on a level that went beyond one-liners and got to the nitty-gritty of life’s issues. It wasn’t about things being overbearing and sombre, but serious things were addressed honestly.

Andy kindly let me have a look at his world and what he does and how he does it. He was very good to me and my family in one way or another. I recall spending a lot of precious moments with Andy and he has been tremendous for me in understanding more about love, grace, compassion, fallibility and what it is to walk by faith and not by sight. Andy is a dear friend for whom I give God much thanks just for the time we’ve shared together.

Now that may read as somewhat anti-climactic as if it’s come to a tragic end, and I don’t want to give that impression at all. I do hope our friendship will continue to grow and blossom. It’s just that he’s moved to Manchester now and more appropriately for the benefit of this particular time, after waiting eagerly Andy has found the one with whom he’d like to spend the rest of his life. Today my friend and brother in Christ gets married. Now that’s good news. That’s great news. So I thought I’d use the opportunity to celebrate with this blog and again reaffirm my love and admiration for Andy knowing that as a dear brother I’ll continue to pray with and for him as he’s committed into the institution! Hopefully the experiences will be beautiful and bring out the best of Christ in life, even in the hardship and challenges that await as well as the brilliant times of intimacy.

In honour of the occasion it was only fitting to dedicate the song below to the newlyweds.

For His Name's Sake

Shalom

dmcd

Hughie Lawrence - How Deep Is Your Love?

There are some things that I’m really surprised about concerning this blog. One of them is that I’ve only mentioned Hughie Lawrence once before. I struggle to believe that in all that I’ve written in well over 500 posts I’ve only mentioned him once when he’s been fairly pivotal to the Christopher Dryden Story over the last 10 years at least. Not that he’d mind I’m sure. He’s not really one to draw attention to himself as in look to get people to think of him. He’s relatively self-deprecating in that sense (key word – relatively), but that shouldn’t stop me from writing about the guy.

Sure the last time I did write about the guy it was a fulsome blog of thanks for all the good that he has done for me, but he still has continued to be quite a force in my life. Indeed over the last year or so he has been the source of much of my personal issues. What has remained outstanding about this guy is that he really gets me thinking about that question the Bee Gees asked – How Deep Is Your Love?

The other day, Hughie paid me one of the highest compliments I’ve heard another human being give me – and that includes my wife (probably … oh hold on she’s reminding me who holds the purse strings, so I’ll retract that immediately). He mentioned that I’ve been one of the greatest blessings in his life. Now I’m not usually good with compliments anyway, but it took all the 18-year home training at dead-pan poses to maintain an unruffled outer visage at that. Inside, meanwhile, I was in turmoil as I’ve never really seen myself that way … at all.

Then I got thinking. You see Hughie isn’t a Machiavellian author of spin and manipulation, but he’s no slouch when it comes to saying something multi-layered either. So in a real sense I can see where he’s coming from, because from my perspective I can see where I’ve blessed him in developing a closer walk with Christ. We’ve been working particularly closely together for almost 10 years now and in that time I have continued to be a pain for one reason or another. Whether it was the level of immaturity and inconsistency in the first few years, or the inevitable challenges of the changes that come after married life in the middle years or the restless growing pain issues of recent years, I have stuck around to be a persistent thorn in his side. In all my errors he has on most occasions channelled the love of Christ in dealing with me and that’s definitely not been about the arm round the shoulder bit, but saying the right words or giving space where needed.

I know for sure that I’ve changed in that ten years and without exercising false humility I can recognise areas of growth. Despite being his underling and junior brother, I can say that I have likewise seen changes in him as a man, leader and brother. When I first came across him he was very much predisposed to being a closed book rarely willing to give up a point of view or concede a position he held. I definitely knew that he was unlikely to reveal much about himself. Yet especially recently perhaps over the last year or so, he has been more vulnerable and transparent with his church family. He has let people into his inner sanctum to some extent and opened up about the challenges and his need for prayer and help in general. That level of openness is immediately encouraging and sometimes I’ve felt he’s almost preached as if he’s about to die.

His commitment to the Kingdom and what he believes God is telling him has pushed him harder than ever before as he believes God for things that would make a lesser man withdraw with haste. He is still one of the most charismatic communicators I’ve seen in action and his failings only reinforce his openness to the leading of the Lord. His leadership qualities are evident in the achievements he has led others to bring about. He still manages to get people to do things they don’t want to do to help them discover what God has for them. He has faith that helps people move beyond their previous position to a closer one with God.

Things are changing between Hughie and I as they must as people get older and things change. Things are changing here in Stoke-on-Trent and we must change with them. That change, as I’m learning, does not mean that the love for each other recedes. It definitely does not mean that the level of respect diminishes. On the contrary as I look back at the privilege I’ve had in witnessing this man of God in action in good times and bad over the last 10 years I recognise what an honour it is to see God at work mightily in the life of His son. That respect, that admiration and that honour for a man is burnt deep into my psyche and wherever we go and whatever changes by the grace of God that connection will remain.

Today he celebrated another birthday and I’m sure he got what he needed for it. Of far greater importance is that reward that awaits him as he remains faithful to the call God has made on his life. I pray that God keeps him and continues to mould him to be a vessel of honour. I pray that God will allow him to be further refined to be an even more fruitful branch attached to the True Vine. I pray that his heart’s desires are realised as they merge with kingdom plans. He deserves so much for the level of sacrifice he’s given over the years. I remain humbled to know Hughie Lawrence – may he go from strength to strength as he follows the paths of righteousness and grows in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour.

For His Name's Sake

Shalom

dmcd

Food, Focus, Football and Changes

Quite a lot to put out tonight and it’s a job to keep it all in perspective, but I’ll give it me best shot.

First of all there is a saying that in terms of the meals of the day that it’s best to have breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a pauper. I’ve never really lived by that ethic at all always looking forward to dinner like a king, lunch like a prince and breakfast like the pauper’s apprentice. Still, today I enjoyed the benefits of such a lifestyle.

Not sure if I’ve told you, but my dearly beloved mother is currently with us here in Stoke-on-Trent. That means she cooks. Authrine has no problem with that at all and doesn’t see it as a slight to her cooking. In fact I get the impression she sees it as a weight off her domestic responsibilities. In any case the mother cooks and of late she has been feeding me as if I needed to be bolstered with the goodness that comes with heaps of food. Seriously two full plates of food are not unusual for meals whilst the rest of the family muddle through their single plate. She loves me, I guess. I’m not complaining.

This has a bearing, though, for Sunday breakfasts because such is the filling nature of those breakfasts that I seriously don’t have to think about eating again for the rest of the day. That was definitely the case yesterday when another one of her beauties had me almost out for the count for the rest of the day. It was bad enough that I had a real long relaxing soak in a bath, to come out of that into the kind of breakfast that I received; I was seriously of no use to anyone until I had a two hour nap!

Anyway, because of that I seriously didn’t need anything to eat for the rest of the day and we came back home from the party rather late as I may have mentioned. So this morning now, Mum wants to make the most of the food that’s been coming in so sets up a breakfast for me. Well you shouldn’t need me to tell you how big that breakfast was. And as a result again I did not require another meal for the rest of the day.

I got some chips from a chip shop and it was meant to be a large portion but it was fairly pathetically small in content for a large portion, but even that didn’t bother me as the morning’s shipment would see me through with that minimal top up.

Moral of the story – if you’re filled up properly in the day it should last you for the rest of the day. That’s not just about the importance of breakfast – that’s about the importance of feasting full of the Spirit to be able to motor through the day because you’ve been filled.

Also as a sub-plot moral – it’s good to have a generous, loving mother on your side and an equally kind and loving wife only too willing to allow the mother to get on with what she does best so that her son can keep on trucking through the day.

Believe or not, that’s not the main reason for blogging this evening.

I had the privilege of watching Liverpool vs. Aston Villa at my mate Matt’s house this evening. Last season we watched the equivalent fixture in a pub in Shelton (a district of Stoke-on-Trent for those who live outside the centre of the known universe). In that match Villa was soundly thrashed 5-0 by Liverpool.

On this occasion Villa deservedly walked away from Anfield with the three points for the first time in about eight years. They won 3-1 and it was no less than their performance merited.

Now you may recall that I’ve resolved to look at my approach to football in the light of looking to honour God in that pursuit, so it’s not about being emotionally distraught at the result of a football match or getting over analytical on what that means for events still to be decided over the next nine months. What it does provide is good entertainment for watching the match with a friend.

Young Matt, you see, is a Villa fan and although he’s relatively young in the Lord, he’s not young in the Villa and as an engrained fan it too everything in him not to gloat at the victory. Although that did not stop him celebrating at the key turning points in the match. It was amusing watching him endeavour to compose himself as we related further just to see if I was still alright and needed anything … like tissues. All good quality fun and a privilege as I said to just watch it with the brother at his crib.

I could go into analysis about why Liverpool lost the match, but there’s a principle in it that has bearings for far more significant issues. I link that, however, to the reading that I was doing as I walked from Matt’s house back to my own. As you may know I love reading and I especially enjoy reading whilst walking if I can manage to do that on a long journey from one place to another. Doing so increases the reading time – which is a good thing, and also drastically cuts down on any transport costs that may have been incurred had I sought a taxi or public transport.

So as I stated in a previous blog I’m reading McKinstry’s bio on Sir Alf Ramsey and it has reached the point where Ramsey has taken a small provincial club like Ipswich and got them promoted up through the Third to the Second to the First Division and now in their first season in the top flight they win the League Championship itself to the surprise of all the pundits. Such a remarkable achievement eventually gets him recognition from the FA who approaches him to become the next England manager back in 1962.

One of the provisos of accepting the post is that he completes the 1962/63 season with Ipswich. It is during that season that the Champions suffer dramatically and the principle to which I’m referring emerges. A critique of Ramsey is that he remains too loyal to the players and the system that won him the Championship. By now other clubs have sussed it out and are taking points off the team. The decline sets in so that the season after he leaves the club gets relegated.

So what is the principle in question? It is this – what gets you somewhere is not necessarily what will keep you somewhere. Different methods are required at different stages to maintain growth otherwise stagnancy sets in and worse still rather than progressing we regress.

McKinstry points out that Ramsey’s loyalty to players and systems would also be at the heart of his downfall as England manager. The link to the Liverpool match is that although Rafa adjusted tactics, he was slow to change them sufficiently sticking to a system that no longer met the need of the time. Such loyalty to such a system when you don’t really have the personnel for it can lead to results like the one tonight.

Likewise every day’s challenges have a specific tactic that will ensure success in that day. That particular tactic, however, is not applicable to the following day, or even the day after that. The overall objective remains – to grow – but the method in which that is done must be relevant to the circumstances.

We have to be sensitive to divine instructions to allow us to know how to approach every day, not by relying on yesterday’s methods alone, but seeing what wisdom there is for today through God’s Word. Otherwise we run the danger of not progressing, but stagnating and regressing.

Its application in my life is that I’m clear that I’m all about glorifying God in body with all I have in me. To do that, I need to focus on the author and finisher of my faith – Jesus Christ. In order to do that, however, I need to be filled by, led by and able to walk in the Spirit that rose JC from the grave. Getting all of that done is to be on the look-out for the daily bread God provides me every day in my YMCA work, in my family life, in my church interactions, in the books I read, football matches I watch, conversations I have, food I eat – especially at breakfast, etc.

Being responsive in this fashion allows me to know when my season is to bring forth fruit and then work in line with the season that I’m in.

Just wanted to share that with you.

For His Name's Sake

Shalom

dmcd

The Cost of Focus

You may recall a blog entry I posted around March/April outlining what was a manifesto pledge for what I’m all about. Since then I’ve been busy working that out in various ways and seeing how that works … and doesn’t in some cases. It is still a work in progress and thankfully there have been more good days than bad.

Today I attended the Stoke-on-Trent carnival – Six Towns One City: United Strength Is Stronger. I’m not the world’s greatest party animal and neither does a day out at a carnival strike me as the thing to do. I have, however, committed myself to it and it’s a church initiative more than anything to support the ethos of being a church in the community. As I sat and watched the world go by I met a friend who I hadn’t spoken to in a while. I shared how although I had his phone number I hadn’t called him and so wondered if the number remained the same. He replied that it was the same and he similarly had not called me. He went onto explain how his life at the moment had certain priorities which consumed most of his time and occasions like the carnival were the only ones that reminded him of some friends that he hadn’t kept up with for some time. I could definitely empathise with that position.

As I hinted at with yesterday’s blog entry, sometimes the enemy of the best is the good and the saying is true that the road to hell is paved with good intentions. So as to avoid that it is best to be clear on the path to be taken and stick to that. Such an approach is bound to get people’s back up. I know that as a result of the focus that I have seen certain valued relationships take a hit. There are people who I regard highly that I haven’t been in touch with for months. The point I was making yesterday emerges again. It’s not just about stop doing the negative it is about what you do instead. Conversely if you’re positively chasing the goal that you’ve set yourself some noble things will go by the wayside.

Not long before it was time for Jesus to be taken up to heaven, he made up his mind to go to Jerusalem. (Luke 9:51)

Reading Luke 9:51-62 is a bit like what it costs to be focussed. This section is often read as the cost of discipleship as well. Why I refer to it as the cost of focus though is because of the example of Jesus in it, especially as set in that key verse. The responses to the three wanna-be disciples, talks about what discipleship and life is all about at its best. Some things just are not as important as doing whatever it takes to reach that goal, whether that’s appreciating living difficulties, forsaking family or rebuking an inclination to look behind.

I understand why I don’t hear from certain people who I revere. I appreciate that in a lot of cases it is out of sight – out of mind. In some crucial cases it is just the case that I do not fall within their one-track mind about following life as they see it. This is not a bad thing at all, but something to be encouraged in everyone. Thus the issue becomes what is more important being liked or fulfilling life by making those goals. Jesus focus on Jerusalem and the mission to complete allowed him to let any would-be followers be quite clear on what is required of them. Focus is key. For me as a believer, whatever manifestos I pronounce and job titles I put down, my focus is to be like Jesus. Now if that costs me relationships, opportunities, money, prestige and other things that must be the case. There are a lot of things that Christ will not want from me, but He will see if I’ve been faithful and faithfulness is based on being focussed.

For His Name's Sake

Shalom

dmcd