It's that time of year again and a week before Brotherhood, just like last year, I finally find out I'm attending, having decided that the cost was just too much to bear at this current time of austerity.
This threw everything up in the air for me as I had to start mentally preparing (if you've read last year's you'll know why!) to see what God was going to say to me through the aforementioned speakers; Ps. Glyn Barrett (our home preacher) & John Cameron (from Arise Church in New Zealand).
Let's see how things went...
Laying the Foundations
John started the readings from 1 John 5 and I'll be incorporating the scriptures into my blog to save you having to switch windows: -
1 John 5:1-5 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him. (2) By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. (3) For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. (4) For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. (5) Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?
I was on teams the first night, having only found out about it the day before as I was missed out of an email chain. But don't let that fool you into thinking I'm bothered about that because I still got to experience the event, albeit from the back of the auditorium overseeing the resources we were to sell.
Anyway, it started off as a bit reflective for me as John was talking about not giving in, you know, when all around you cries out for you to "just give up" , which naturally reminds me of a song: -
This is where the song came in because of that chorus "You, wake within me, wake within me, You're in my heart forever" and I instantly thought of times in the past where I allowed a certain sense of negativity to creep in and affect my thinking.
I'm sure you all understand the power of negative thinking don't you?
The adverts/professionals tell us to "think positive" or "dream your way to a better life" and there are a certain amount of truths to be garnered from those concepts because to be negative is to be like the proverbial black hole in your circumstances.
Living on my own like I do, I did not see the damage it was doing to me firsthand because there was no one there to tell me to "snap out of it" or offer advice on lifting your gaze upward to a better trajectory; a higher one if you like.
This naturally then reminds me of that time I was on my way home from visiting my good friend Rachel in Preston and how I felt I was just "drifting" through life, which kinda reminds me of another song (yep, by the time I've finished this blog will be peppered with them!): -
Think of how the singer's emotion comes across in the chorus "you're driftwood, hollow and of no use..." - there you have pretty much what I was feeling on my birthday two years ago no less!
Shocking huh?
A matter of months later though and I would be investigating starting up my own business in photographic restoration & preservation (which to this day stays on hold until I can get a better financial footing before taking out any kind of a loan).
Couple this with an "all-in" encounter I had with God where I realised there was no point in being CEO of my universe any longer; I might as well live for a higher praise!
From nowhere to purpose-driven life methinks!
In the next segment, I'll cover the rest of the Friday session before moving onto the Saturday session.
Until then...
Peace out!
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