The Process of Purging

John 15:1-8 (KJV)
I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.

The purging of a branch indicates that God is pleased with it. One would think that God would purge the branch that doesn't yield any fruit whatsoever so that it would start to bring forth. Alas, God's ways are not our ways, nor His thoughts our thoughts. It is the fruitful branch - the productive child of the King - that receives this purging process.

The reason is simple: the Lord wants more fruit from this already producing branch. We are cleansed by His words. His words flow toward us as nutrients flow from a tree to its branches. A continual intake of the Word of God will secure eternal truths in our lives. Lest one think it will be an easy task of receiving from the Lord, it is important to remember Hebrews 4:12 at this point:

Hebrews 4:12 (KJV)
For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

The Word of the Lord will indeed allow more fruit to be produced by the believer, but the believer must prepare themselves for the sword to come and purge - or prune - that which hinders greater fruit. It will divide the areas of our lives that do not compliment the areas that are sanctified to the Lord. When we see the clear line of distinction between what helps and what hinders our spiritual relationship with the Lord we can confidently leave those hindrances behind and continue to walk in the Spirit.

Fare thee well blog land...

For now, at least, my blogging days are on pause. The depth of the ocean ahead of me - one filled with hope, victory, choices, reflection, loss, truth, life, death - will require a keen sense of perception, perspective, purity, and purpose far beyond the road that has brought me to the shores of my future.

Until next time, farewell blog land. It was interesting while it lasted. Perhaps one day in the future I will post again. (Of course, by then, a completely different way of divulging one's thoughts to the world will have risen, but oh well...)

peace-
-db

The Mouth

After completing a 21-day Daniel fast, I was quite sad to go back to normal food.  Of course my mouth was happy, but not so my stomach, body, mind, spirit, and strength.  And, I suppose, that is one of the points of fasting: to show what member of our body is the culprit in bringing us into many troubles…our mouths.
And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell.
(James 3:6)

My name

I just found out the true meaning of my first name:

DUANE
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Irish
Pronounced: DWAYN, də-WAYN [key]
Anglicized form of the Gaelic name Dubhan which means "little and dark", derived from dubh "dark, black" combined with a diminutive suffix.

In other words, my name is Little and Dark Black.

Oh man....

Sometimes, life makes you react this way....

Sometimes I ask a question to my students.   This is the face I get....
Sometimes I'm asked questions by adults.  This is the face I give....
Sometimes I do and say weird things.  This is the face others give me....
Sometimes life happens.  Then I hear that same music in my head....
 (I cannot stop laughing at the sight of this poor dog....!)

Whistle while you work....

Over the years, I find myself becoming more and more like Zaraki. I just hope the reason isn't the same as what Kusajishi says....My commentary follows:
Rukia: Captain Zaraki, we are working on a top secret mission!  Could you please keep the events that took place today a secret?
(Others: "Hey, did you hear what happened? We thought you...oh, cause, well, hm. Oh well, no worries! haha....  Are you coming / going? Huh? Didn't you get the email? You should be here, or there, everywhere!   Oh, that was 2 weeks ago, even though it directly affects you, it's old news.  Eh?...you didn't know about it? Nevermind....haha!  Yea, this and that are happening next week.  Oh, you have work? school? assignments? busy? Hm, oh well...nevermind! hahaha...we'll send you report in the mail, read what happened and try to understand! Haha!...")
Zaraki: I dont even know why all that stuff happened.  And I dont have enough time on my hands to remember stuff I dont understand.
(Me: "Huh? Oh, I see.  I don't know what you're talking about, but as long as you do, it's ok...haha!  Well, how about that.... Oh? Is that so?  Wow, that sounds great.  Mmm hm, yea, I don't know, but ok! haha!") 
(Me: *goes off whistling*)
Kusajishi: Cuz Ken-chans stupid!
(whistling, or purring (!), keeps this from happening)
 :-)

The Longing for Wholeness in Relationships is Fulfilled by Love

The first commandment is to love our God with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength.
The second, as well as the new commandment given by Christ, is to love my neighbor as myself, and to love my fellow brother as Christ loved me.
Next to all the worship, praise, and glorifying types of songs that I desire to sing to my Lord, this song most excellently describes the song I would like to sing to my fellow human.  It is a soft song, one that denotes a quiet atmosphere of genuine conversation, reconciliation, and two individuals wanting to truly understand each other.  Something lacking in our world...
It is not so much the specific words this artist chose to use, but the principle behind them: a simple invitation to allow the love of Christ to gently bring us back to each other in the midst of the hurried, sometimes tulmultous times of our days, months, years, and lives.
At the end of it all, we all just want to be loved, understood, treated with patience, kindness, gentleness, and to tread softly...quietly...with each other.   These can only be done through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Jesus did that for us...He did that for me.  His love in our hearts will cause us to pray that love would wash away a multitude of sins....
When it was over and they could talk about it
She said there's just one thing I have got to know
What in that moment when you were running so hard and fast
Made you stop and turn for home
He said I always knew you loved me even though I'd broken your heart
I always knew there'd be a place for me to make a brand new start

Oh love wash over a multitude of things
Love wash over a multitude of things
Love wash over a multitude of things
Make us whole

When it was over and they could talk about it
They were sitting on the couch
She said what on earth made you stay here
When you finally figured out what I was all about
He said I always knew you'd do the right thing
Even though it might take some time
She said, Yeah, I felt that and that's probably what saved my life

Oh love wash over a multitude of things
Love wash over a multitude of things
Love wash over a multitude of things
Make us whole

There is a love that never fails
There is a healing that always prevails
There is a hope that whispers a vow
A promise to stay while we're working it out
So come with your love and wash over us
(c) Sara Groves, Add to the Beauty, 2005

Taking a bite out of life...one bite at a time

The baby is me. The watermelon is my life now. Ah, no matter... I know
the One who made the watermelon...and who made me....and my teeth.
(Let him that readeth understand...)

The other night at prayer meeting our prayer leader said something along the lines of, "You know, if you say you're too busy to do everything you have to do...maybe you're just too busy."

I was like....

A Tribute To Granddaddy

Click here to play!

A plethora of words would fail me, nor would they do justice to the man I called grandaddy. Others had different names for him: warrior, pastor, friend, bishop, the Martin Luther King of the Valley (area he lived and worked in), corrector, teacher, father I never had, hard, a man full of wisdom beyond measure, patient, kind, suffering, acquainted with hardships and troubles, conqueror, etc. These were only a few I heard over the 3 days of funeral activities.

All I could think to do in honor of him was to make this video. Those who knew him would understand. I could write volumes upon volumes about what this man did and who he was to the countless number of people around him. Somehow, words, again, fail me.

Good night, granddaddy. See you soon one day...we're going to pick up the mantle and legacy you left for us....for the world.

See you in a little while...

1924 - 2009

Wow…tihs is rlleay ietetrnsnig!

What some kids was doing the whole 14+ hours on my flight home .  I kid you not…

I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid aoccdrnig to rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn’t mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae.  The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm.  Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wolhe.  Amzanig huh?

New Year’s Resolution 2009

“I don’t want to be a product of my environment.  I want my environment to be a product of me.” –Jack Nicholson

What is home?

a tree someplace in Australia

Is it a place where one feels the company of like minded people, where conversations revolve around topics of similar interests, humor, and pursuits, where one could speak and others listen, comment, and/or consider with mutual commitment to each other’s value and worth? Is this one’s home?
Is it a place only where one does the  most activities, has meetings, needs to communicate the most, where they are called upon to do ‘things’ or ‘duties’ such that their absence would affect the function of the operations at hand, a place where should the duty, job, or activity cease so too would the relationships with the others cease also? Is this one’s home?
Is it a place that holds the fondest memories in life, where one had  some of the greatest experiences, though long gone and over with, and holds great joy whenever one thinks about it?  Was this one’s home?
Is it a place of friends, comrades, those with whom one can become transparent, vulnerable, tough, and honest all at the same time, a place of strong individual identity yet held together by the group’s unity no matter what the situations call for? Is this one’s home?
Is it a place where one’s blood family (mother, father, sisters, brothers, cousins, aunts, etc) reside regardless of their closeness or interaction, a place where one’s immediate and extended family reside? Is this one’s home?
Is it a place where one finds supreme solitude and sanctuary, where culture doesn’t matter and one is free to be oneself wholly, where everyday vernacular is understood, commonality is comforting, and an underlying thread of a shared history is apparent, where the food, weather, and the like make one say in their heart, “ahh…”?  Is this one’s home?
(I suppose it is nice if a person could reside in a place where all of these renditions of what a home is were true at the same time.  For me, each of these places is a different place…hardly the makings of a comfortable existence. To constantly juggle these does become wearisome at times. However, this reality doesn’t sadden me, at least not too much.  For those whose home include all of the above it is hard to explain.  But there is one more definition I’ve thought about…one that has kept me on this journey of life thus far:
Perhaps one’s true home is a place of destiny, a place one has yet to know, but one that is sure to come,  a place promised by a Greater One preparing for those who realize that home is no where to be found on this Earth, a place of promise, of rest, of joy, of never ending love, of enduring peace…a place where eyes nor ears have yet to experience, a place of no death, face to face reality, a place that many of us are living…and dying…for.
There are others who looked for the same thing…
8 By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went. By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise: For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God….For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country….they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city.
Heb 11:8-10, 14-16 (KJV)
28 Then Peter began to say unto him, Lo, we have left all, and have followed thee. And Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel's, But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life. But many that are first shall be last; and the last first.
Mark 10:28-31 (KJV)
24 For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? 25 But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.
Romans 8:24-25 (KJV)

Home Part 2

A few things that have happened since I've been away from home....
1. My sister has graduated university.  :-)

2. My hometown (Ridgefield) hasn't changed much.  Still has that good ‘ol New England flavor, feel, and familiarity. 
3. My dentists (both of them) got married to each other. At least now they have something to talk about when they go home.
4. My mom became an ordained minister.
5. One of my cousins had 2 kids, another had 3, another had 1. Haven't met any of them as of yet.
6. My winter clothes still fit me! I've been happy as a bee wearing my favorite type of clothing - sweaters, jackets, gloves, boots, etc.
7. My dad took down our fence that separated our front from our back yard.
8. Everyone in my family has aged...especially my granddad. Missed a lot over the years…
9. One of my cousins won the state championship for football in Texas. you GO boy!
10. None of my equipment at home is broken (my DVD player, TV, tape deck, VCR deck, amp, speakers)
11. My mom's library has increased in size. She has many of the books I have to read for PI.
12. Memories that have waited for me have only grown stronger and were welcomed with more gratitude and appreciation than I expected from my own heart.
13.  Me.
In reality, it feels as if I never left.  Like I was just here yesterday.

Home Part 1

Click here to play!

On describing God..she's still got it

A dear sister in my church a while back posted this on her blog. Of all the things I've read in my life that attempt to describe God, her words still have no rival. I adore these words....words born from a heart that adores Him.

"and i still dont know what to say about God. i am always afraid that He will be reduced in the saying, that i'll end up making Him sound cliche or redundant, the bread of the masses, the point the weak cling to because they are afraid of the blankness of eternity. and so at the end of this post i still cannot describe to you what He is like, this constant Song. But if i did, it would be something about wholeness, and rest and love, and other deep unexplainable things."

"It is a hard thing to be a walker when you are surrounded by eagles. But sometimes walking is the best we can offer God. WALKING COUNTS TOO. Keep walking, because what we wait for is not more important than what happens to us while we are waiting. Now it is just a matter of time.”
-Bishop Willoughby (2006)

And thou shalt remember all the way which the LORD thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or not. And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live....Who fed thee in the wilderness with manna, which thy fathers knew not, that he might humble thee, and that he might prove thee, to do thee good at thy latter end.
(Deu 8:2-3, 16)

Others may. You may not.

The road rough, the way weary,
but the path powerful, and the in the end eternity....with Him. -db

If God has called you to be really like Jesus He will draw you into a life
of crucifixion and humility, and put upon you such demands of obedience,
that you will not be able to follow other people, or measure yourself by
other Christians, and in many ways He will seem to let other people do
things which He will not let you do.

Other Christians and ministers who seem very religious and useful, may
push themselves, pull wires, and work schemes to carry out their plans,
but you cannot do it, and if you attempt it, you will meet with such
failure and rebuke from the Lord as to make you sorely penitent.

Others may boast of themselves, of their work, of their successes, of
their writings, but the Holy Spirit will not allow you to do any such
thing, and if you begin it, He will lead you into some deep mortification
that will make you despise yourself and all your good works.

Others may be allowed to succeed in making money, or may have a legacy
left to them, but it is likely God will keep you poor, because He wants
you to have something far better than gold, namely, a helpless dependence
upon Him, that He may have the privilege of supplying your needs day by
day out of an unseen treasury.

The Lord may let others be honored and put forward, and keep you hidden
in obscurity, because He wants to produce some choice fragrant fruit for
His coming glory, which can only be produced in the shade. He may let
others be great, but keep you small. He may let others do a work for Him
and get the credit for it, but He will make you work and toil on without
knowing how much you are doing; and then to make your work still more
precious He may let others get credit for the work which you have done,
and thus make YOUR REWARD TEN TIMES GREATER WHEN JESUS COMES.

The Holy Spirit will put a strict watch over you, with a jealous love, and
will rebuke you for little words and feelings or for wasting your time,
which other Christians never feel distressed over. So make up your mind
that God is an Infinitely Sovereign Being, and has a right to do as He
pleases with His own. He may not explain to you a thousand things which
puzzle your reason in His dealings with you, but if you absolutely sell
yourself to be His love slave, He will wrap you up in Jealous Love, and
bestow upon you many blessings which come only to those who are in the
inner circle.

Settle it forever, then that you are to DEAL DIRECTLY WITH THE HOLY
SPIRIT, and that He is to have the privilege of tying your tongue, or
chaining your hand, or closing your eyes, in ways that He does not seem
to use with others. Now, when you are so possessed with the living God
that you are, in your secret heart, pleased and delighted over this
PECULIAR, PERSONAL, PRIVATE, JEALOUS GUARDIANSHIP AND MANAGEMENT
OF THE HOLY SPIRIT OVER YOUR LIFE, then you will have found the vestibule
of Heaven.

-by G. D. Watson (1845-1924)

what an angry world!

An accelerated season of waiting quickly for the fast growth of slow patience.

Trusting in the Good Book.
-picture from The Neverending Story (a favorite childhood movie of mine)