Every Man's Battle

Jonah suffered for it. Pride. As a reluctant preacher he didn't want to communicate the existence of God to them because of the way they were living.
God gave Jonah a purpose to preach to the Assyrian city of Ninevah.
Basically. I can't be bothered with destructive pride.
I want a home.

Get out of jail free

That card doesn't exist. It is just another farse in this illusion of life. You can run from a conviction but you'll never be free of it. ou can bury a skeleton in the back garden but weathering of time will expose for all to see.
I'm fed up with conviction. There are things that need to be dealt with. And if these things go undealt with then life gets awkward.
I hate confrontation. I hate my human pride. Swallowing your human pride and humbling yourself to confront something that needs dealing with is damned hard. It's the worst thing ever.
But it has to be done though doesn't it! To become more manly then i spose we gotta face these things. Jesus never ran from confrontation. Jesus never rejected.
Sort it ou Dan.

Mini I AM

First of all...as naff as it sounds - I believe I can fly...what a tune! But only when it's done live by Yolanda Adams. I have this live recording that i bought off itunes...AWESOME stuff.

I watched Napoleon Dynamite last night with some cronies at my gaff. I expect I've already put this down somewhere but when i watched it I was struck by a great sense of empathy for the Uncle Rico character who is desperate to go back in time and change some things about his life and alter the way things turned out by living out his dreams. I don't want to be Uncle Rico. & I wont be.

When someone falls in love with you on the premise of what you look like in a photo is that real love?

Since an inspired discussion with some people from my church I've been giving the whole 'what do i want in a wife' thing a tbit of thought. And you know what...i have absolutely no idea what i want in a wife! When the right one comes along you always know. But then again...maybe I am going to go through life without a mate until i actually know what i want? No i don;t believe that. I've heard far too many stories of people who have said 'i don't want any involvement with men/women (applicable to respective genders)' and actually ended up rather soon after that statement meeting their spouse and shacking up! But i don't wanna make a decision kinda half looking over my shoulder expecting something.
Thats not how God works.
God is never early, he is never late...he is always bang on time. That can be frustrating sometimes. But in retrospective it's so much better for us as people. As individuals doing life.

Clearing the air with a friend is always a good thing. Makes life easier.

Listen to the Cinematic Orchestra - Man With a Movie Camera...amazing album.

Dymo

Right. I work in a christian bookshop. I wont say which one but if you know me and where i live then im sure youre able to put 2 and 2 together.
What really hacks me off about christian music is that no-one wants to do anything different. Everyone is just reinventing the same old stuff. But I say let us not be different for the sake of being different but pioneer a whole new movement! Pioneer a whole new musical sound of music be it for worship or whatever. But PLEASE someone help to take music somewhere new because I fear for the generations of christians to come with the current state of christian music.

(At work blatantly being lazy)

Slowly Surely

I wanna quit my job and play bass.

Broken post

So i stubbed my toe at work today and think i broke it. so i took a trip to the hospital with my housemates...was kinda like a gang outing. So i gotta rest it for the next week and not do too much exercise..shouldn't be too hard.
I'm listening to the cinematic orchestra at the mo which is quite cool actually. didn't think i'd enjoy it that much but its good fun....
need to go to bed...tired and fat.
god bless xx

recovery positional breathing

one thing i've realised...i need to love myself and bear in mind that god loves me so much that he gave christ...you seen the passion?...that was for me...and for you...that just dwarves all my issues...gods love is bigger than anyone, anything, and any force...besides god

You look just like your father

I got a message on my land line no. from someone called claire wishing me a happy easter...I don't know anyone called claire who would have my land line no.
If it was you raise your hand.

What am i doing? I need to be getting my butt in gear with this dissertation...i feel like i'm finished though. I feel like the degree is over and i can get on with life...but i'm not so i need to get my stuff together.

Get your act together boy.

Silence

It's so funny...one of the biggest cliches ever - silence is so loud. You wait in anticipation for something...like a thunderbolt or an answer and the surrounding silence just screams like a juvenile that misses a parent.
Stories. Thats what life is. That's how you learn most effectively i think. When you look through the bible, all that jesus tells us is in the form of story. It's what captivates peoples imaginations and just...
I'm staring at my bookshelf and there are loads of books that i don't need. Sure there are theres things in there that i may find intersting and that might teach me a thing or two. But you don't learn from reading...you learn from the application of ideas to situations.
What can i apply to my life...what do i need to apply to my life?

You know what i think? I think that too many people are going through the world disappointed.

If we spend a few minutes in silence each day gathering thoughts and thinking objectively about life then maybe we would be collectively happier?

(Listening to Norma Jean)

The beginners challenge

Where am i today? Where do i feel like being? do i feel like making a mountain from a molehill or do i feel like being realistic or even pesimistic...truth be told i don't know.
I'm quite excited about going to see Israel and New Breed tonight in london and catching up with a friend.
My life is in my hands. And if i dare to dream then who's to say that the dreams i dream to dream really will come true? (HAHA!!)
If you've spent more than an evening with me or counselled me til the late hours of the morning then you'll know that all i need from time to time is perspective. Thank God for healing.
Thank God for the healing that he brings through the power of the holy spirit.
At least if i was screwed up over it I'm not anymore because of the magic thing that is prayer.
(listening to jill scott when im at work...baaaad)()

Edit Moderation

by going for something in life that you don;t want to do - failing is not disappointment. but attempting to reach your dreams and really going for them comes with what may seem to be a higher risk and sense of anticipation.

Don't be afraid of taking a risk. Greater satisfaction will come from at least attempting your dreams than getting through life having never looked upon them as a viable option.

Why should the fire die?

My sister and brother in law are going to Australia for a year in a few days....it's daunting.
This marks the beginning of a new era. Dan, God and the World....Amazing how much difference one phone call can make. The last few days i've been stuck in a lull...no the last 10-14 days. I've felt sleepy and like...real down...but when you world strikes you down you get back up and you fight. You fight til your knuckles go white from clenching them as fists. I want to defend the desires of my heart and plans that god has made for me from the disruption of sex drugs and drink.
I want to enter this world and...just do what i'm meant to...so i gotta try different things...otheriwse if i don't try how will i know what i'm sposed and not sposed to do?
This is it. This is the start. The start of the rest of my life. And maybe the beginning of an amazing journey...where will it go? I don't know...and to all intents and purposes...i don;t care. As long as I'm living something then i will hoipefully be able to discern whats right for me and what's not.

(Check out Nickel Creek)

Beauty killed the beast

Yes I watched King Kong...who do i contact in regards to getting the last 3 hours of my life back?!
Sure the blonde chick was hot...but the film had pretty much NO substance to it. People go to island insearch of film-making opportunity then find kong. beauty falls in love with the beast. but the film sucks. Life is not happily ever after. life involves struggles that we don't see on film. hollywood is one big farse and i'm growing tired of it. where's the truth? where is the honesty in the media and in the world?
Give us a well tuned and gritty honest break!

i just can?t seem to get past it

Power and purpose

I'm desperatly searching. I'm searching for something to fill the void within. By searching I'm reverting to old ways - old mindsets that I thought and hoped I had left behind.
I don't have the self confidence i should as a christian. I'm searching for personal affirmation and I don't know where to find it. Underneath the cool calm exterior lies a cracked, fragile child longing for a companion.
God should be all of this. I should allow God to be all these things to me and until i do i don't think that i'll find what i'm looking for.
God let my affirmation come from you. Let who i am not be based on the friends i keep or the social circles i move in, but in the blood of the risen king, my christ.
God be my purpose.
i hate this. it happens alot to me. maybe its the attack that i get. god protect me and guard and affirm me with your loving hand

Living Next Door to Malice

1. Neighbours episode titles provide amazing blog post titles
2. ...Home is great...but in small doses.

Thig change. People change. Friendships and relationships change.
I've been on the isle of wight for a few days and the rest has been well recieved. Sleeping til 10 in the morning has been truly amazing.
I went to a little place called Libertys on Union Street and had a hot choc and did the journal thing.
There are so many memories here. Places, smells (not good ones...flippin raw sewage). I've been contemplating coming home to study next term...and ive almost definatly decided against it. It'll be good next term as ill be able to travel and come home more.
These days have felt quite like limbo. Life hasn't really gone anywhere.
Weekend soon...sorry for a break from the profound.

(lestening to israel & new breed)

Easyvision

God i pray that you would help me to see straight. and not get caught up with myself. Thats all i seem to do...is wrap spiderwebs around myself all the time...i have the power to break out from them but i keep spinning them around me.
I don;t want to be a self fulfilling prophecy. I want to break tradition. I want to break curses. I want to reach out from under this self imposed rock and grab hold of the fresh green grass and roll around in the warm moist meadow in the warmth of the sun. I want to stand at the edge of a cliff and scream with every ounce of my body with the frustration that builds up from no-where, i want to run into the sea...I WANT GOD...every fibre in my body is yelling out for its creator...I want to yell out to my creator...I want to commune with God on the highest level.
Father, show me the desires and dreams of my heart.
Help me to rest.
In your name i pray

One Thing

Do you think God cares abot grammar?

Hold on a minute...let me just gather my thoughts

As my good friend DC has told me many a time...University is an awfully strange time for people. You have a new home but it's not really your home because you're never that 100% settled because where you live is where you study. And I'm just coming to the end of that I spose. I just finished the penultimate term of my degree and it feels like now is the end and i just have this overwhelming feeling of uncertainty over my future. I'm searching for the security and certainty of life that society tells us we need. So much of society is based on sex and as a christian im a no-sex-before-marriage-er i feel like we have engrained in us that we have to have a partner and someone to be complete. But because as a christian i don't go down that particular path of life it's almost as if society is screaming at me that i'm incomplete, that i should be in a relationship going somewhere.
But I, Daniel Charles Geroge Barrett, am not in a relationship find myself pining for this feeling that will fill the gap that society tells me there is in my life...*BREEEATHE*...and I realise that...hold on...i need to figure this out...


I can't stop my life from moving into places that god wants me to go because i'm afraid of missing out on something because then i may well be missing out on the very thing that i'm searching for... :-| ...


So what can I do?... first and foremost i thnk i have to figure out what my dreams are. What have i always dreamt of doing? I think that i need to pray about these things and write them down otherwise i'm afraid that i'll end up having a life where i am in full time regret. And i dont want to live a life of regret...i want to live a life where i can say that i didn't miss out on any of lifes opportunities by not being in the right place at the right time.
So what does this mean?...Prayer i suppose. I feel that only through prayer will i realise the true desires of my heart. So i guess i gotta pray and fast and fast and pray. Thing is that fasting isn't really voluntary at the moment! HA!

Anyway...I'm gonna get back to work. Looking forward to sleep!
Dx
(listening to Israel and New Breed Album - Real)

An Affair to Dismember

Stuborness. Not cool. I'm just watching neighbours and it's the whole stef story line with her cancer and not wanting treatment because she's pregnant. It maddens me to see the stubborness of this woman who won't listen to those around her. I can't understand women. They seem to have a bond with kids that men can only build through time.
I kinda half feel mad because this woman won't listen.
After a long absense from here due to having to finish coursework, it's good to be back.
I feel frustrated. I feel annoyed at something and i can't quite figure it out. It's like i can't understand life. We're not supposed to understand life though are we? But I also feel quite disconnected from the world. It's important that as christians we stay connected with each other and since i've had my head buried in my computer and books for the end of term essays etc. But i feel well drained.
There are things that i wish i could figure out. At the moment i just feel like i want to get to the end of this degree as soon as possible. I just want to get on with my life. I feel like i want to be at home. Not as is go back to the Isle of Wight for a long time but i wanna be in a house or in a place where i feel at home.
What is home? Where is home? Why don't i feel as if i'm there?
It's going to take me a few weeks to get over this whole debacle i think.
Lots of rest and sleep and connecting back in and i'm sure everything will be right as rain.